...Uzochi Ihebuzor Assess different sociological explanations of suicide The study of suicide has a unique place in sociology because it was the subject that Durkheim chose to use in order to demonstrate that sociology had its own distinctive contribution to understanding human behaviour. Early Positivists such as Comte and Durkheim argued that sociology was a science therefore they believed that its studies should mirror that of the natural sciences. They advocated scientific and logical methods in order to find law like generalizable patterns and cause & effect relationships. New Positivists aim to develop their theories, whereas Interpretivists sought to abolish this they criticise this theory as such methods are at the expense of actors individual meanings Durkheim suggested that suicide was a social fact. Features of a social facts are that they are external and greater than the individual, they constraint their behaviour therefore shaping the way they act. He argued that factors e.g. climate had no effect on suicide rates. He also claimed that psychological theories were inadequate as he rejects the views that only psychological factors can explain the differences in suicide rates taking the macro structuralist approach. In order to show evidence of his theory Durkheim studied the suicide rates of Catholics and Protestants in the 19th century he found that suicide rates remained constants and rates varied between different groups. He measured social integration and...
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...using material from Item A and elsewhere assess the different sociological explanations of suicide. (21 marks) Sociologists have explained the suicide phenomena in different ways. For example, while positivists sought to achieve a scientific explanation of suicide, interpretivists sought to demolish it by focusing on the meaning of suicide to those involved and the meanings they attach to it. Durkheim used the positivists approach to explain the suicide phenomena. According to him, our behaviours are caused by social facts norms and values that exercise a social constraint which surpasses an individual. He argues that suicide is a social fact. Using quantitative data from official statistics, Durkheim analysed the suicide rates for various European countries and noted four regular patterns. The suicide rate for any given society remained more or less constant over time. When the rates of suicide did change, they coincided with other changes for example they fell during war times but rose during economic depression or prosperity. Different societies had different suicide rates. Within a society, the rates varied constantly between social groups for example Catholics had lower rates that Protestants. He identified the two social facts that determined suicide as social integration the extent to which an individual feels a sense of belonging to a group and obligation to its members and moral integration the extent to which an individual's actions and desires are kept...
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...have explained the suicide phenomena in different ways. For example, while positivists sought to achieve a scientific explanation of suicide, interpretivists sought to demolish it by focusing on the meaning of suicide to those involved and the meanings they attach to it. Durkheim used the positivists approach to explain the suicide phenomena. According to him, our behaviours are caused by social facts; norms and values that exercise a social constraint which surpasses an individual. He argues that suicide is a social fact. Using quantitative data from official statistics, Durkheim analysed the suicide rates for various European countries and noted four regular patterns. The suicide rate for any given society remained more or less constant over time. When the rates of suicide did change, they coincided with other changes for example; they fell during war times but rose during economic depression or prosperity. Different societies had different suicide rates. Within a society, the rates varied constantly between social groups for example; Catholics had lower rates that Protestants. He identified the two social facts that determined suicide as social integration; the extent to which an individual feels a sense of belonging to a group and obligation to its members and moral integration; the extent to which an individual’s actions and desires are kept in check by society’s norms and values. Therefore, Durkheim concluded that these patterns were evidence that suicide rates couldn’t simply...
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...them becoming criminals later, or on the threat of punishments to deter current criminals. Instead, it makes specific changes aimed at influencing the decision or ability of offenders to commit particular crimes in particular situations. Like rational choice theory, SCP sees criminals as acting rationally. By making certain crimes less rewarding, more risky or needing greater effort, SCP makes criminals less likely to choose to commit them. 02 Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the usefulness of conflict theories for an understanding of crime and deviance in contemporary society. (21 marks) Jan 2010 Read Item A below and answer the question that follows. 02 Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that ethnic differences in crime rates are the result of the ways in which the criminal justice system operates. (21 marks) June 2010 Read Item A below and answer the question that follows. 02 Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess sociological views of the relationship between crime and the mass media....
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...can cram in!). You also need to show ‘conceptual confidence’ – this just means that you should make it clear to the examiner that you know and understand the important concepts, e.g. anomie, relative deprivation.Make sure you make reference to the item – both essay questions will have their own item. You can often use the information in the item as a springboard into the essay in the introduction. However, you will be penalised for ‘overuse of the item’, so don’t just copy it out. You can use short quotes or statistics from the item though. | Question: | What to include: | Assess the view that ethnic differences in crime rates are the result of the ways in which the criminal justice system operates. | This question is essentially about the presence (or not) of institutional racism in the police, courts and penal system. You will need to compare the importance of this as opposed to explanations that argue that ethnic minorities do commit more crime - either as a result of relative deprivation (left realism) or poor upbringing, absent fathers, etc (new right). * Try to include some stats, reference to patterns of offending, stop and search, ethnic make-up of prisons. There may well be some in the item for this question. * Black people make up 2.8% of the general population, but 11% of the prison population. 7 times more likely to be stopped and searched than the white population. * Police racism – Phillips and Bowling – oppressive policing of ethnic minority communities...
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...Assess the different sociological explanations of suicide- (21 marks) Suicide is define different by many sociologists. The overall definition is for an individual to cause harm to themselves, with the intent to kill themselves. Many different sociologists believe in different reasoning to acts of suicide and uses different research methods including qualitative and quantitative data. I will uses sociologists such as Durkheim, Douglas, Atkinson and Taylor to assess this view. Durkheim takes a positivist view and believes that social factors is the main factor for why people commit suicide. He suggests that suicide rates are social facts. He used quantitative data (official statistics) and discovered certain patterns: that suicide rates remained constant over time, the differed in different society, if rates did change it was coincided with other changes and within society, the suicide rates differ in different social groups. He believes the social factors are social integration and moral regulations. Social integration is when the individual feels apart of a group, and has a stronger bond. Moral regulations suggest strong norms and values in which individuals desire to follow. Durkheim say without these, people’s desires are infinite and incapable of satisfaction. Durkheim states four types of suicide: egoistic, altruistic, fatalistic and anomic suicide. Egoistic is when an individual has too little integration and becomes selfish and isolated in which they feel they do not...
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...Social policy refers to a government initiative, central or local, that aims to meet the welfare needs of the population. They govern many areas of social life such as educations and health and aim to address social problems such as racism and youth offending. Giddens (2001) states that there are four benefits to studying sociology which make up why it informs social policy. Firstly, sociological study can develop understanding of social situations both factually, allowing development of judgement or theory, and theoretically, enabling us to provide and explanation as to why something is happening. Secondly, it can inform policymakers of perspectives that are different from their own, such as the awareness of cultural differences, from this discrimination can be combatted, for example, governments have tackled discrimination against disability and ethnic minorities through social policy. Thirdly, sociological research helps to assess the results of policy initiatives, all government initiatives require evidence that programmes they have put into place are working. Finally, sociology may generate greater self-understanding, this knowledge allows people to reflect upon their experiences of life which may lead to questioning of government policies and creation of protest groups with non-government initiatives enabling people to liberate themselves, for example sociology has shown the extent to which homosexuals have been discriminated, as a result the gay community demanded gay...
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...deviance, social order and social control * The distinction between sociological theories of crime and other theories (eg biological, psychological); crime and deviance as socially constructed * Functionalist theories of crime: Durkheim, anomie, collective conscience; Merton’s strain theory; manifest and latent functions; functionalist subcultural theories * Marxist and neo-Marxist theories of crime: classical Marxism, laws reflecting class interests; Neo-Marxism, hegemony, the CCCS studies, critical and new criminology * Interactionist theories of crime: labelling theory, the self-fulfilling prophecy * Feminist theories of crime: patriarchy, male control of women’s lives * Control theory and other contemporary approaches to crime: social bonds, communitarianism, situational prevention; postmodern theories; Foucault on individualisation and surveillance * Realist theories: New Left Realism and Right Realism * The relevance of the various theories to understanding different types of crime, and their implications for social policy. 2 The social distribution of crime and deviance by age, ethnicity, gender, locality and social class, including recent patterns and trends in crime * Study of statistics and other evidence on the social distribution of crime by age, ethnicity, gender, locality and social class, including recent patterns and trends * Issues related to and explanations of the social distribution of crime and deviance by age:...
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...deviance, social order and social control * The distinction between sociological theories of crime and other theories (eg biological, psychological); crime and deviance as socially constructed * Functionalist theories of crime: Durkheim, anomie, collective conscience; Merton’s strain theory; manifest and latent functions; functionalist subcultural theories * Marxist and neo-Marxist theories of crime: classical Marxism, laws reflecting class interests; Neo-Marxism, hegemony, the CCCS studies, critical and new criminology * Interactionist theories of crime: labelling theory, the self-fulfilling prophecy * Feminist theories of crime: patriarchy, male control of women’s lives * Control theory and other contemporary approaches to crime: social bonds, communitarianism, situational prevention; postmodern theories; Foucault on individualisation and surveillance * Realist theories: New Left Realism and Right Realism * The relevance of the various theories to understanding different types of crime, and their implications for social policy. 2 The social distribution of crime and deviance by age, ethnicity, gender, locality and social class, including recent patterns and trends in crime * Study of statistics and other evidence on the social distribution of crime by age, ethnicity, gender, locality and social class, including recent patterns and trends * Issues related to and explanations of the social distribution of crime and deviance by age:...
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...Lecture #1: Defining Sociology and Using our Sociological Tools; Please read Ch. 1 Hello everyone and welcome to the start of what will hopefully be a wonderful semester. This semester we will be examining and analyzing science and technology using a sociological discipline. In the beginning of every lecture I will introduce the vocabulary. These words will be significant for the lecture, so put them to memory because you just might see them later, wink, wink, and wink. Vocabulary: Sociology: The systematic study of human societies. It is the scientific study of human social life, behavior, groups, culture and societies. Culture: A way of life including widespread values (about what is good and bad), beliefs (about what is true), and behavior (what people do every day). Social Problems: A condition that undermines the well-being of some or all members of a society and that are usually a matter of public controversy. Sociological Imagination: Is the quality of mind that enables one to see the connection between personal troubles and social structures. Theory: A statement of how and why specific facts are related. Structural-Functional: A theoretical framework that sees society as a system of many interrelated parts. Social-Conflict: A theoretical framework that sees society as divided by inequality and conflict. Symbolic-Interaction: A theoretical framework that sees society as the product of individuals interacting with one another. Technology: the practical use...
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...Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the usefulness of different sociological approaches to suicide. Suicide can be defined as an intentional act of killing oneself, it is thought that the study of suicide would be more appropriate to be studied by psychologists since the main reason of suicide is the consequence of mental illness. However, a positivist sociologist, Emile Durkheim rejected this view. He believes that suicide has social causes and is a social fact that has predictable patterns. Nonetheless, this is a controversial topic and there are many other sociologists who have contributed to the study by offering their own points of view of how to categorising and interpreting data. We shall discuss their different approaches further in this essay. As it is said, Durkheim rejects the psychological theories of suicide; evidently he shows that while Jews had higher rates of mental illness than Protestants, they had lower suicide rates. In Durkheim’s view, our behaviour is constrained by social facts – according to Steven Lukes, they are greater and out of reach of individuals and they shape our behaviours. These social facts vary in different groups and societies, explaining the differences in suicide rate. There are two social facts that determine the rate of suicide: social integration, which is the extent to which individuals experience a sense of belonging to a group and obligation to its members. They feel a strong bond and duty towards others. The other...
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...Assess the usefulness of sociological approaches to suicide (21) Durkheim argues our behaviour is caused by social facts; social forces found in the structure of society. Lukes argues social facts have three features; they’re external to individuals, they constrain individuals shaping their behaviour and they’re greater than individuals, they exist on a different level from the individual. Durkheim argues the suicide rate is a social fact. Using quantitative data from official statistics Durkheim analysed the suicide rate from various European countries. He noted four regular patterns. The suicide rate for any given society remained more or less constant over time. When the rates did change they coincided with other changes. For example rates fell during wartime, but rose during economic depression. Different societies had different rates. Within a society the rates varies considerably between social groups. For example Catholics had lower rates than Protestants. For Durkheim these patterns were evidence that suicide rates couldn’t simply be the result of the motives of individuals. Durkheim explains the suicide rate as the effect of social facts acting on the individual. In different societies these forces act with different degrees of intensity resulting in different suicide rates. Durkheim argues suicide results from either too much or too little social integration. He creates a typology of suicide. Egoistic suicide is caused by too little social integration. Durkheim...
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...Assess the view that Positivist methods are inappropriate for investigating society. There are two types of sociologists Positivists and Interpretivists. Positivists assume sociological explanations should be like those of natural sciences and sociologists should use logic, methods and procedures of natural science. They also use structural approaches in their work like how society controls individual behaviour. On the other hand Interpretivism was developed from the work of Weber, Dewey, Cooley, Thomas and Mead. Weber’s ‘Verstehen’ (empathetic understanding of human behaviour) sociology emphasised the meaning of social action as understood by the social actors involved. Mead (1934) emphasised the concept of self in understanding social action. Interpretivists tend to prefer analysing individuals and groups that play an active role in creating society. Therefore necessary to understand their individual meanings and motivations, involving a micro or small scale approach. Whereas Positivists think that society acts as a constraint on individuals and is therefore necessary to examine these social structural constraints, involving a macro or large scale approach. Positivist’s methods could be inappropriate for investigating society because they are associated with structural perspectives. Positivists see society as puppets on a string and say that we are controlled and constrained by social forces. Individuals represent behaviour at the institutional level of society and people...
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...ensure that the members of society developed an understanding of how they were to interact with other members of the community. Durkheim focused a great deal of his writings on the concept of social integrations. Analyzing suicide rates in nineteenth century Europe provided concrete data to attach the individual to society. It also provided a mechanism to study the cause of these events in addition to the overall impact and consequences. Durkheim viewed the act of suicide as a departure from the duties of society, abandoning the cohesive bonds that had been formed. The individual who chose this method to escape their duties and responsibilities to the group. In pre-modern society, he identified that suicide was often a result of failed expectations. These are situations where the individual feels that they have let their community down in such a manner that their existence is no longer warranted. Egotistic suicide defined just the opposite. In this condition, individuals have become self-oriented and these acts occur with little or no regard to how they will impact the greater community. These suicides often come as a result of the perception of an internal failure, such as a lack of perceived success within a career field. Finally, anomic suicide, comes from the failure of societal norms. This can be a result of community expectations, or following a natural disaster or other social upheaval. Individuals are unable to perceive how they will be able to carry on their...
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...Outline and assess the usefulness of official statistics in measuring crime. Official statistics are a source of secondary data found in police records published by the Home Office, a government department responsible for law and order, since 1857. In order for a crime to appear two things must happen; the crime must be reported to the police and the crime must then be recorded by the police. People may be reluctant to report a crime to the police for a number of reasons; they could see the crime as trivial, they could have been blackmailed to remain silent, they could personally know the criminal, they could be scared to report the crime or they may be involved in the crime. Similarly, some crimes which are reported to the police may not be recorded as an official crime. This could be because the crime was too trivial, the police were too busy, the law was not in fact broken or because there was not enough evidence. The other alternatives to measuring crime rates include self-report studies and victim surveys, which now form part of the official crime statistics. Victim surveys involve asking a sample of the population what crimes they have been a victim of, in the previous 12 months. These are effective as they include crimes which may have not been recorded by the police. As well as measuring crime the Crime Survey for England and Wales, a victim survey conducted by the Office of National Statistics, looks at those most at risk of crime, people’s attitudes towards crime and...
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