Lecture 4: Sociology as an Academic Discipline

A. What Does Sociology Mean?

• Etymology:
o Socius (Latin) - Companion
o -ology (Latin) - The study of;
o λόγος (lógos) (Greek) - Word, knowledge
• Coined in 1780 by Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès as ‘science of society’.
• Defined by Auguste Comte in 1838 as a new way of looking at society.

Definition:

• Social Science discipline that studies society.

• Interplay between individuals & social contexts.
• Fundamentally concerned with how society influences individuals.
• Individuals are placed in various social contexts (economic, political, cultural).

B. Origin and Development

• Sociology of the Social Sciences:
o Product of a specific social context.
o Arisen within the changing world due to industrialization and urbanization.
• Important Thinkers addressed social causes and effects during rapid changes.

Historical Context:

• Industrialization:
o Factories and large-scale production.
• Urbanization:
o Growth of cities due to migration from rural areas for industrial jobs.

Implications:

1. Society is distinct from the sum of individuals.

2. Processes of society are yet to be fully known.
3. Systematically understood through scientific methods (positivistic or non-positivistic).
C. Three Major Sociological Perspectives
1. Functionalism

• Society as a living organism.

• All parts of society must work together.
• Each part has specific functions.
• Norms and values are the glue holding it together.
• Emile Durkheim:
o Mechanical Solidarity: Social bonding through shared experiences.
o Organic Solidarity: Social bonding through interdependency.

2. Conflict Theory (Marxism)

• Focus on exploitation and domination.

• Karl Marx:
o Social (class) conflict: Struggle between segments of society over valued resources.
o Capitalist society: Based on exploitation of workers, producing class conflict.
o Calls for revolution for workers' self-determination and freedom.

3. Symbolic Interactionism

• Understand social phenomena through meanings conveyed by people.

• Participant observation and interviews are key methods.
• Max Weber:
o Verstehen: Understanding social action by studying the context and meanings of
behaviors.

D. Fields of Study Concerning Sociology

1. Socialization

• Social Experiences shaping attitudes, values, and behaviors.

• Agents of Socialization:
o Family
o Peers
o Schools
o Mass Media (TV, Radio, Internet...)
2. Crime and Deviance

• Deviation: Behavior violating societal norms. (disrupt our picture of reality)

• Crime: Violation of criminal laws by the government.
o Types: Crimes against person/property, hate crimes, victimless crimes.

3. Social Institutions

• Structured ways to satisfy societal needs:

o Family, Religion, Government, Economy, Education.

4. Globalization

• Global Integration: Engaging universal processes.

o Components: Space/time concept changes, cultural interactions, global problems,
transnational actors/organizations.

E. Social Problems
1. Social Inequality

• Exists in all societies.

• Results from gender, age, class, race, ethnicity.

Social Stratification:

• Hierarchical division into unequal layers based on power, wealth, status.

2. Environment

• Human interactions with the environment.

• Social impacts and efforts to resolve environmental issues.
• Multilevel analysis from global to local.
F. Linkage with Other Social Sciences Disciplines
Integration with:

• Social Work: Addressing practical societal problems.

• Criminology: Study of deviance and criminal justice.
• Psychology: Understanding individual behavior.
• Politics and Public Administration: Policy implications.
• Geography: Urbanization and urban studies.

Distinctive Approach:

• Sociology's use of a wide range of units of analysis:

o Micro, Meso, Macro levels.
 Lecture 5: Social Work as a Discipline of Social Sciences
A. Social Work Intervention Approaches
Case Work

• Definition: Intervening with individuals and families to assist them in improving their
lives.
• Focus: Attention to both interpersonal systems and personality systems.

Group Work

• Use: Sharing effective solutions, providing mutual support, promoting self-esteem,

confidence, and identity.
• Benefit: Group members facilitate empowerment and reduce isolation.

Community Work

• Use: Necessary when individual, family, or group level intervention does not address
issues like environmental poverty, unemployment, and poor housing.

B. Non-Government Organizations (NGOs)

Characteristics

• Over 160 NGOs providing subvented services.

C. Understanding Social Work

Definition

• Art, science, and profession helping people solve personal, group, and community
problems through practice, including casework, group work, community organization,
administration, and research.
• The professional activity of helping individuals, groups, or communities to enhance or
restore their capacity of social functioning.
• Creating societal conditions favorable to that goal
 Working Definition of Social Work (Bartlett, 1958)

• Social work practice, like the practice of all professions, is recognized by a constellation /
group of value, purpose, sanction, knowledge, and method.
• No part alone is characteristic of social work practice nor is any part described
here unique to social work.
• It is the particular content and configuration of this constellation which makes it social
work practice and distinguishes it from the practice of other professions.

Global Definition (IFSW, IASSW, 2014)

• Social work as a practice-based profession and an academic discipline promotes social

change, development, cohesion, empowerment, and liberation. Principles of social
justice, human rights, collective responsibility, and respect for diversities are central.

D. Purposes of Social Work

• Enhance social functioning by focusing on social relationships.
• Three main functions:
o Restoration of impaired capacity.
o Provision of individual and social resources.
o Prevention of social dysfunction.

E. Social Work Processes

1. Problem Identification
2. Data Collection
3. Assessment
4. Goal Setting
5. Planning
6. Implementation/Intervention
7. Evaluation
8. Termination
F. Biestek’s Seven Instrumental Values
• Acceptance
o Perceive and engage with clients as they truly are, recognizing their strengths,
weaknesses, positive and negative qualities, and attitudes.
o Treat clients with inherent dignity and worth.
o Convey genuine concern and mutual respect.
• Non-judgmental Attitude
o Avoid assigning guilt & blaming clients; provide meaningful intervention solutions.
• Individualization
o Recognize each client's uniqueness and provide unbiased, non-stereotypical
support.
• Purposeful Expression of Feeling
o Encourage clients to express feelings for constructive purposes.
• Controlled Emotional Involvement
o Maintain professional sensitivity and appropriate response to clients' feelings.
• Self-determination
o Ensure clients' freedom to make their own decisions without coercion.
• Confidentiality
o Respect clients' right to privacy and obtain consent for information disclosure.

G. Ecosystemic Model
• Assumptions:
o Individuals function within physical and social environments.
o Problems can stem from internal processes, interactions, environments, or a
combination.
o Changes in one part of a system affect other parts.
o Assessment and Interventions are multi-level (Intrapersonal, Interpersonal,
Environmental).

Levels of Focus:

1. Intrapersonal Level
o Focus: Internal processes.
o Skills Needed: Interviewing, assessment, counseling.
2. Interpersonal Level
o Focus: Interactions between persons and environments.
o Skills Needed: Group assessment, family therapy.
3. Environmental Level
o Focus: Impacts of the environment.
o Skills Needed: Community assessment, facilitation of social change.
H. Different Levels of Intervention
• Micro Level: Emotional, social, intellectual, and behavioral development of children;
family issues (communication, parenting, couple relations).
• Mezzo Level: Schooling, teacher-student relations, peer relations, community support.
• Macro Level: Education, housing, economic policies, social welfare, healthcare, women's
rights.

I. Roles of social workers:

• Primary intervention: To provide universal help (for students in general)
• Secondary intervention: To provide selective help (for vulnerable students)
• Tertiary intervention: To provide indicated help (for students with risk of suicide)
 Lecture 6: Introductory Criminology

A. Pre-Classical and Classical Criminology

Pre-Classical Notions of Crime & Criminals

• Demonological explanations of crime waned in the 18th century during The

Enlightenment period.
o Shift towards viewing the world and humanity more rationally.
• The Enlightenment period led to:
o Movement away from harsh, inconsistent punishments.
o Emphasis on individual dignity, fairness, and rights.

Enlightenment Thinkers

• Focus on the dignity and worth of individuals.

• Influences in law and the treatment of criminal offenders.

The Classical Scholars

• Modern criminology stems from:

o The Classical School (18th century)
o The Positivist School (19th century)

Cesare Beccaria and Reform

• Cesare Beccaria: Father of classical criminology.

• Dei Delitti e Della Pene (On Crimes and Punishment) (1764):
o Plea to humanize and rationalize the law.
o Advocated for just and reasonable punishment.
• Deterrence Principle:
1. Specific punishments deter offenders from reoffending.
2. Fear of punishment prevents others from committing crimes.

Jeremy Bentham and Human Nature

• Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789):

o Philosophy based on the principle of utility.
o Judging the morality of an action by its effect on community happiness.
• Hedonism:
o Achievement of pleasure or happiness is the main life goal.
o Hedonistic calculus: Weighing benefits against costs logically.
 • Utilitarianism:
o Moral action maximizes utility.
o Opposes egoism (self-interest at others' expense).

Basic Elements of Classical Criminological Theory

1. Free will to choose between criminal or lawful solutions.

2. Criminal solutions can be more attractive due to lesser work and greater payoff.
3. Fear of punishment (probability of being caught) can control criminal behavior.
4. Severity, certainty, and swiftness of punishment enhance its control over criminal
behavior.

Legacy of the Classical School

• Modern criminal justice systems assume people are free agents deserving punishment when
transgressing the law.
• Enlightenment period led to consistent rational punishment methods.

B. Positivist Criminology
Positivists

• 19th-century shift from classical assumptions to a scientific view of behavior.

• Understanding that crime results from internal/external forces influencing behavior.

Biological Positivism: Cesare Lombroso

• Criminal Man (1876): First book on causes of criminality.

• Atavism: Criminals seen as evolutionary throwbacks, resembling ancestral forms of life.

Enrico Ferri and Social Defense

• Disputed Lombroso's biological focus, emphasizing psychological characteristics.

• Influences like hate, greed, vanity affecting moral sense.

Legacy of Positivism

• Positivism shifted focus from philosophizing about human behavior to scientific methods.
• Emphasis shifted to individual offenders.
Summary and Comparisons of the Classical and Positivist Schools

Aspect Classical Positivist

Historical Period 18th-century Enlightenment 19th-century Age of Reason
Leading Figures Cesare Beccaria, Jeremy Bentham Cesare Lombroso, Enrico Ferri
Purpose of Apply scientific methods to
Reform legal and penal systems
School criminology
Humans are hedonistic and rational
Behavior determined by
Image of Human
psychological, biological, or social
Nature Behavior is motivated by maximizing
forces
pleasure and minimizing pain
Same as noncriminals
Image of Different due to inferiority in some
Criminals They commit crimes after calculating way
costs and benefits
Definition of
Strictly legal Based on universal human abhorrence
Crime
Purpose of
Deterrence, applied equally Social defense, rehabilitative
Punishment

C. Sociological Focus on Crime

Sociological Criminology

• Adolphe Quetelet:
o Studied influence of social factors like season, climate, population composition,
and poverty on crime.
• Émile Durkheim:
o Believed crime is normal in society.

Chicago School

• Pioneered by Robert Ezra Park, Ernest Burgess, and Louis Wirth.

• Compared the city to an ecosystem:
• Concentric Zones: Industrial zone (inner), Zone in transition, Residential zones (outer).
• Social Disorganization: Characteristics causing high delinquency rates (population
heterogeneity, transient population, physical decay, poverty/inequality).
• Crime was a social phenomenon that could be controlled/eradicated by improving social
and economic conditions.
 Hirschi's Social Control Theory:

• Delinquent adolescents lack societal bonds:

1. Attachment to parents, peers, and school.
2. Occupational and educational commitment.
3. Academic involvement.
4. Belief in social rules and conventions.

D. Some Modern Perspectives

Predicting the Future

• Human capacity for change and reorganization provides a lifelong chance for recovery and
adaptation.

Early Intervention

• Focus on multidisciplinary services to enhance health and wellbeing from birth to five.

Developmental Pathways and Transitions

• Series of phases and points of change across life.

• Interventions can effectively occur at these transition points.

Timing of Intervention

• Intervene early in the developmental pathway.

• Critical transition points guide the timing of intervention.

E. Situational Approach
Situational Crime Prevention

1. Primary Crime Prevention: Reducing opportunities for crime through:

o Rational choice
o Routine activity
o Crime prevention through environmental design
 Marcus Felson: Routine Activities Theory

• Crime occurs when:

1. Suitable target
2. Absence of a capable guardian
3. Likely offender

5 Ways to modify a situation

1. Increase the Effort: Harden targets, control access, screen exits.

2. Increase the Risks: Strengthen formal surveillance, reduce anonymity.
3. Reduce the Rewards: Conceal targets, remove targets.
4. Reduce Provocations: Reduce frustrations, avoid disputes.
5. Remove Excuses: Set rules, post instructions, control drugs and alcohol.

F. Crime Mapping and Geographic Profiling

Role in Crime

• Understanding spatial and temporal patterns.

• Identifying hotspots and analyzing geographical influence.

Future Research

• Explore where and when crimes occur, including predictive modeling.

 Lecture 7: Psychological Imaginations
A. What is Psychology?
• Psychology: The scientific study of the mind, brain, and behavior.
• Behavior: Overt or observable actions and reactions.
• Mental Processes: Internal, covert activities of the mind, e.g., thinking and feeling.

What Psychology is Not

• Not solely about mental disorders and therapy.

• Not focused only on diagnosing and treating mental problems.

Major Subfields of Psychology

• Cognitive Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Biopsychology
• Health Psychology

B. The Scientific Method

A 4-Step Process

1. Developing a Hypothesis:
o A statement predicting the outcome; the relationship among variables.
o Uses Operational Definitions: Exact procedures and measurements.
2. Gathering Objective Data:
o Pieces of information used to test the hypothesis.
3. Analyzing the Results:
o Based on statistical analyses, the hypothesis is accepted or rejected.
4. Publishing, Criticizing, and Replicating the Results:
o Study is presented to the scientific community for further examination.
o Replicate: Redoing an experiment to verify results.
C. Types of Psychological Research
Correlational Studies vs. Experiments

• Independent Variable: The condition manipulated by the researcher. (Cause / Source)

• Dependent Variable: The outcome affected by the independent variable. (Result /
Outcome)

Example of Experiment Design

• Mediterranean Diet and Cognitive Function:

o Hypothesis: Mediterranean diet slows cognitive decline.
o Experimental Groups: Mediterranean diet + olive oil, Mediterranean diet + nuts.
o Control Group: Low-fat diet.
o Conclusion: Improved cognitive function in the experimental groups.

Correlation Types

• Positive Correlation: If X increases, Y increases.

• Negative Correlation: If X increases, Y decreases.
• Zero Correlation: No relationship.
• Correlation Coefficient (r): Ranges from -1 to +1.

Example of Correlational Study

• Raw Fruits/Vegetables Intake and Mental Health:

o Higher intake of raw fruits/vegetables associated with better mental health.

D. From Laboratory to Real Life and Vice Versa

Sleep and Academic Performance

• Poor sleep negatively affects academic performance.

• Various studies showing the negative impact of sleep deprivation:
o Korean High School Students: Negative correlation between sleepiness and
academic achievement.
o Middle School Students - Ohio: Daytime sleepiness related to reduced educational
outcomes.
o Medical Students: Poor sleep quality impacts learning and academic performance.
 Sleep Deprivation and Learning

• Sleep deprivation impairs motor memory in humans.

• Example: Pursuit rotor task performance decreases after sleep deprivation.

E. Challenges in Psychological Research

Translating Knowledge into Practice

• From Adolescence to Early Adulthood:

o Longer sleep duration in young adulthood.
o Changes in sleep patterns related to age and hormonal changes.

Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI)

• 13 items assessing behaviors leading to poor sleep.

• Tips for better sleep:
1. Consistent sleep schedule.
2. Quiet, dark, and comfortable sleep environment.
3. Remove electronic devices.
4. Avoid large meals, caffeine, and alcohol before bed.
5. Regular exercise.

Issues with Self-Report Measures

• Concerns about reliability and validity.

• Potential for dishonesty and response biases.

Solutions

• Forced-choice format: Mitigates socially desirable responding.

• Biomarkers: Objective measures of psychological states (e.g., cortisol levels for stress).