Challenge and Change This course examines the theories and methodologies used in anthropology, psychology, and sociology

to investigate and explain shifts in knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviour and their impact on society. Students will analyse cultural, social, and biological patterns in human societies, looking at the ways in which those patterns change over time. Students will also explore the ideas of classical and contemporary social theorists, and will apply those ideas to the analysis of contemporary trends.1 The three main disciplines mentioned above, Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology, are absolutely massive. The intention of the course is to gain an understanding of the fundamental aspects of each, so that we can explore important topics and issues from each perspective. Naturally then, we will start with an introduction to each discipline, and much of the first unit will be devoted to this task. We will also take some time to look at research methodology and the 'Social Scientific Method' to learn how anthropologists, psychologists and sociologists develop their theories. This will be important as you will be conducting studies of your own as you move through the course. Why are the Social Sciences Important? Many people undertake a study of the social sciences without ever considering what their real world value may be. Disciplines like business, chemistry and accounting all have tangible, obvious values, but what about the social sciences? What about them makes them worth studying? Simple as it may seem, this has much to do with curiosity. Social scientists arent so much concerned with what humans have done, but with why people do what they do. The answers to this question, apart from being interesting, are also intensely valuable, as the knowledge provided can help to shape and improve our societies. When we study the social sciences, we are studying how societies have been constructed. To fully understand them, we have to understand the forces that shaped them: the cultural and biological factors (anthropology), the behaviours and mental processes (psychology), and the group dynamics (sociology) at play. By studying these things, we become better informed about how societies can be made better. As a hypothetical example, say a multicultural city like Toronto was experiencing problems of racial violence between two ethnic groups in a specific area. Social programs designed to curb the violence have been put in place by the city, but to no avail. In this situation, an anthropologist might study the cultural differences between the two groups to determine a conflict, a psychologist might study the effect of the violence on the behaviour of youths, and a sociologist might conduct a study regarding income levels in the area to determine a correlation. While all three are doing something different, theyre all helping to compile information that would hopefully lead to a better solution.

Overall, then, it is important to study social sciences so that we can get the sorts of information that can help us create better societies. Studying them can provide us with so many important answers and observations that may help improve the understanding of our lives, and thus help us to improve our interactions with each other. The social sciences can provide insight into all types of social situations such as raising children, romantic relationships, family relationships, friendships, work place relationships, interactions with strangers, cultural differences, and so on.1 The disciplines of anthropology, psychology and sociology constantly overlap and this is why they are best taught together at an introductory level. Over the course of this unit, we will look more thoroughly at each in turn, so that you may develop a better understanding of their differences, before we move into exploring specific issues in the rest of the course. Introduction-Anthropology The first of the three broad disciplines that we will learn about in this course is anthropology. The term anthropology is derived from the Greek words anthrpos and the suffix -logia which mean human being and the study of respectively. And that is essentially what anthropology is; the study of human beings. It is the study of humanity throughout the world, throughout history and focuses heavily on culture and social organization. Culture can refer to beliefs, values, morals, art, law, entertainment, and government within a given society. Though easy to define, anthropology is difficult to describe. Its subject matter is both exotic (e.g., star lore of the Australian aborigines) and commonplace (anatomy of the foot). And its focus is both sweeping (the evolution of language) and microscopic (the use-wear of obsidian tools). Anthropologists may study ancient Mayan hieroglyphics, the music of African Pygmies, and the corporate culture of a U.S. car manufacturer.1

A Brief History of Anthropology

While studies of cultures have existed since the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans, it was always intermingled with history and could be considered more of an afterthought or commentary. The writings of early historians like Herodotus and Tacitus are still invaluable to modern anthropologists though as they hold within them some of the only surviving descriptions of long dead Celtic and Germanic cultures, but neither of these men ever set out to carefully examine and compare cultural differences. In fact, most of the information of anthropological significance collected over the last two millennia has come in the form of the writings of historians and travelers. Marco Polo, famous for his 24 year journey that took him from Italy through central and east Asia and back again, is considered by many to be the father of modern Anthropology. His accounts of the cultures he encountered brought Europe some of their earliest information regarding the Chinese.

As a distinct social science however, anthropology can be considered a child of the Enlightenment. The term itself had been around since the late 16th century, but it was not until Immanuel Kant (one of historys greatest philosophers) published his treatise Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View that the need for a field devoted to studying culture began to be recognized by the greater academic community. The reason that many people believe that it took so long for anthropology to become its own field is that until the times of mass colonialization by the European powers, most people would spend their entire lives within miles of their place of birth. They would never need a study devoted to understanding another culture because they most likely would never experience one other than their own. This all changed as Britain, Spain and other European powers began to colonize Africa, southern Asia, and North and South America. They were constantly encountering new cultures, and although they often saw them as human primitives, there was still a need to understand their languages and cultures. This led to massive growth in the field, and with this growth, anthropology began to define itself more carefully, eventually splitting into four major branches which will be discussed in the next lesson. 1 http://www.bu.edu/anthrop/about/what-isanthropology/

Anthropology/The Four Major Branches

As anthropologists worked to further define their area of study, the field gradually divided itself into four main branches. While all of these are recognized today, they are quite interrelated, and it is not uncommon to find them grouped together at many colleges and universities. This often depends on the size of the department as well as on the personalities and preferences of the people in charge. Some academic institutions have seen their anthropology departments split and occasionally reunified due to this, but the four major branches are still widely recognized.

1. Cultural Anthropology
Cultural Anthropology is heavily concerned with understanding the variations of knowledge, morals, laws, religious beliefs, customs and habits that occur between different societies of human beings. They look at everything from political organization, to gender roles, to mating rituals, and much more. Cultural anthropologists work not only to gain knowledge of cultural variations, but strive to determine why and how these variations came into being. Many people working in this field will spend significant amounts of time living among their culture of study to obtain the best possible grasp of how the people live and interact. This tactic is known as participant observation, and due to the time commitment required, it is not uncommon for a cultural anthropologist to devote their entire lifes work to the intense study of one culture or cultural subgroup. Participant observation entails living within a culture as a member and recording observations about that culture

In recent years, the effects of globalization, increased trade and communication on cultures that had for a long time remained insulated from others has become a popular area of study. How smaller cultures react and adapt (or dont) to increased contact with the western world is offering cultural anthropologists a special chance to study cultural change. 2. Physical/Biological Anthropology Biological Anthropology can be considered the most scientific of the fields subdivisions. Although it has shady roots in the 18th century racial classifications created by Europeans to justify slavery, biological anthropology has been essential in the evolution debate. With the emergence of genetics, biological anthropologists gained an important tool that would help to focus the study into two further subdivisions.

3. Paleoanthropology
Paleoanthropologists study fossils in the hopes of finding evidence for human evolution. They work to determine things like the time and manner in which hominids began to walk on two feet, or what effects of nature might have driven the evolution of the opposable thumb. You will have likely heard at one point or another how genetics have shown how closely related humans are to chimpanzees. Paleoanthropologists look at these connections, but go back in time much farther to study our ancient shared ancestors, the most famous of which is an Australopithecus named Lucy. At 3.2 million years old, Lucy was the most ancient hominid skeleton found at the time of her discovery in 1974, and provided anthropologists with evidence to help them fill a piece of the massive gap in human evolution. In 1994, another hominid was discovered, name Ardi, that dethroned Lucy as the earliest known hominid, and is estimated to be 4.4 million years old. To learn more about Lucy and Ardi, feel free to visit the links below:

Lucy - Australopithecus Afarensis Ardi - Ardipithecus Ramidus

partial skeleton remains.

Human Behavioural Ecology

This subdivision focuses primarily on studying human adaptation and the mechanisms of biological evolution. One of the main aims of Human Behavioural Ecology is to explain the reasons behind variations in human behavior. It does this by examining the adaptive design of traits and behaviours and, as such, it is strongly married to evolutionary theories such as natural selection and sexual selection. Linguistic Anthropology

As the world moved into the 20th century, the negative impact of the practices of the colonial age on native cultures began to be more carefully explored. Entire cultures had been decimated the world over, and many languages that had existed and developed over centuries began to fade from use. Linguistic Anthropology began as a means of documenting these endangered languages before they disappeared completely. The careful study of these languages led many linguistic anthropologists to begin drawing conclusions about the interrelationship of languages with culture, and over the past century the field has grown, from what was basically an archiving department, to encompass almost any aspect of language structure and use.1 Today, linguistic anthropology investigates how language shapes culture and vice-versa by determining how it affects communication, how it can shape identity, and how it can impact socialization and the development of ideologies. An example of this can be found in the study of pidgins or creoles such as the Jamaican Patois. Many Jamaicans have ancestors who were slaves brought from West Africa by the British. These slaves learned English, but modified it to suit their own purposes and cultural background. Patois uses many English words, but their pronunciation in often very different. While English is still spoken in Jamaica, and is the common written language, Patois is learned at a very young age and is used as the common spoken language between Jamaicans. Linguistic anthropologists would investigate how this creole language is used to see what it can teach them about how Jamaican culture has developed. Archaeology Archaeologists spend much of their time searching for ancient architecture, artifacts and environmental data left behind by civilizations that they will then analyze in the hopes of gaining a better understanding of the human society that left them, as well as other civilizations that it would have interacted with and influenced. Though the pop culture conception of an archaeologist often involves Indiana Jones, the reality is that ancient artifacts are discovered by a painstaking process of research and digs that can go on for years. Amazing places and objects are discovered, but a lot of hard work often goes into the process. In some academic institutions, Archaeology is considered a separate discipline from Anthropology, and for many of the topics we will be exploring in this course, it will have little impact. What is important to remember about it though, is that many of the theories of cultural, biological and linguistic anthropologists would not be possible without the discoveries of archaeologists. Anthropology-Schools of thought 1. Functionalism The easiest way to understand the functionalist school of thought is through the organic analogy. Functionalists were very concerned with attempting to describe how a culture was created by examining the relationships of all the different parts of a society. They

saw the parts as similar to the organs of a living creature. All parts are interdependent and every part functions for the good of the culture. Like a biological organism, a society was able to maintain its essential processes through the way that the different parts interacted together. Institutions such as religion, kinship and the economy were the organs and individuals were the cells in this social organism. Functionalist analyses examine the social significance of phenomena, that is, the function they serve a particular society in maintaining the whole.1 1 Edwards, Jessica, Kimberly Neutzling and Eric Porth. Functionalism. http://anthropology.ua.edu/cultures/cultures.php?culture=Functionalism 2. Structuralism Another important approach to anthropology that became popular in the middle of the 20th century was that of Structuralist thought. Claude Levi-Strauss, considered by many to be the founding father of the theory (though heavily influenced by Emile Durkheim), believed that culture had much in common with language. There is a theory in linguistics that states that there are hidden rules in each language that people are unable to articulate, but which are implicitly understood by everyone who learned them as their primary language. Without the implicit understanding of these hidden rules, people would not know how to structure sentences, and communication would be very difficult. Levi- hidden rules that govern the behavior of (their) practitioners.1 Thus, the main goal of structuralism is to discover these hidden rules in cultures, as to Levi-Strauss, the differences in these rules would be what made cultures unique. A method for uncovering these rules was also developed, and it involves another paradigm of structuralism, that of binary oppositions. Proponents of the structuralist approach believe that,
the structure of human thought processes is the same in all cultures, and that these mental processes exist in the form of binary oppositions binary opposites Some of these oppositionsinclude hot-cold, male-female, culture-nature, and raw-cooked. Structuralists arguethat binary oppositions are reflected in various cultural institutions, (and that)anthropologists may discover underlying thought processes by examining such things as kinship, myth, and language. It is proposed, then, that a hidden reality exists beneath all cultural expressions. Structuralists aim to understand the underlying meaning involved in human thought as expressed in cultural acts.2 Printable View - HSB4M f1 BCS, Challenge and Change in Society, 12,... https://www.virtualhighschool.com/d2l/lms/content/print/actions/view_pr...

Paradigm: Used in Science to describe a distinct concept Hot and Cold - An Example of a Binary Opposition While structuralists often closely examine these binary oppositions, it is important to remember that this approach to anthropology stresses that any element of culture cannot truly be understood without understanding their relationship to the entire system. Structuralism is very much an all or nothing approach.

1 Briggs, Rachel and Janelle Meyer. Structuralism. http://anthropology.ua.edu/cultures

/cultures.php?culture=structuralism 2^

3. Cultural Materialism This anthropological research orientation was first defined in 1968 by Dr. Marvin Harris. Heavily influenced by Marxist Materialism, and like this school of thought, cultural materialism proposes that there are three distinct levels involved in any societal framework, and refers to these as the infrastructure, structure, and superstructure. The infrastructure consists of technological and economic factors which cultural materialists believe directly influence the structure (family systems and political organization) and the superstructure (ideological and symbolic aspects of society such as religion). Cultural Materialism essentially sees the technology and economic methods developed by a society as the key to understanding everything else about it. Proponents of this theory also believe that all structure and superstructure related systems (government, religion, law, family organization, etc.) are developed solely for the purpose of propping up and promoting the production capabilities allowed by the type of infrastructure. Due to this, cultural materialists feel that cultural variation and change occurs based on the technologies a culture develops/adopts, or if demographic or environmental changes occur. In this sense, Cultural Materialism is also in support of the idea of determinism. As a final note on anthropological schools of thought, it is important to note that there are more than just the three of them. In fact, there are quite a few, and while some fall out of favour as new ideas emerge, it is not uncommon to find that the theories borrow heavily from each other. It is also important to recognize that just as anthropology, psychology and sociology often cross over, so do their schools of thought. In the Sociology module we will see this in the combined theory of structural-functionalism. Buzney, Catherine and Jon Marcoux. Cultural Materialism. http://anthropology.ua.edu/cultures/cultures.php?culture=Cultural%20Materialism Psychology: The second of the three major disciplines that we will be using for our inquiry into challenge and change is psychology. Considered to be the study of the mind, psychology combines aspects of traditional social scientific inquiry with modern neurobiology in an attempt to understand behaviour and mental processes in individuals and groups. Concepts such as perception, cognition, attention, emotion, motivation and personality are just some of the areas currently being explored by psychologists. While most psychologists are involved in a therapeutic role, diagnosing and treating patients, there is still significant research going on, and modern psychology can be considered the most scientific of the social sciences. Psychoanalysis

The best known of the psychology schools of thought, psychoanalysis was initially developed in the 1890s by Sigmund Freud. An Austrian born neurologist, Freud was very interested in discovering the causes of neurotic and hysterical symptoms in his patients. His first explanation for these symptoms was that repressed memories of disturbing events were the cause, and these memories were almost always directly or indirectly sexual. In fact, one of the reasons psychoanalysis is so well known in popular culture today, where its contemporary schools of thought are not, is due to the taboo sexual nature of so many of Freuds theories. In 1905, Freud claimed that hed discovered what he coined the psychosexual phases. These phases were: oral (ages 02), anal (2-4), phallic-oedipal (today called 1st genital) (3-6), latency (6-puberty), and mature genital (puberty-onward)1. His research into these phases led him to believe that anxiety and its physical symptoms could largely be the result of repressed sexual wishes that an individual had pushed into an unconscious state due to societal restrictions and beliefs about sex. This work would lead to Freuds most important contribution to psychoanalysis; the structural theory. In his book The Ego and the Id, Freud presented his theory on the id, the ego, and the superego, which he believed to be the three integral parts of the human psyche.

The id is unconscious and contains the basic instinctual drives. Freud believed that it acted according to the pleasure principle and would always seek to avoid pain and satisfy its instinctual needs. Since the id is unconscious, psychoanalysts believe they can study it by studying dreams, where the id can take over. The ego is described as the rational, organized and realistic part of the psyche. The ego is the consciously aware of the three, and works to please the ids drives in realistic ways. The ego is in a perpetual state of conflict, as the id will never completely yield its instinctual desires. The superego, like the id, is mostly unconscious and is where the ideals and values that a person learns from their parents or role models are stored. Freud believed that the superego is a persons conscience and acts directly in opposition to the id. The superego is responsible for feelings of guilt, which act as a means of maintaining morality after giving in to the wants of the id.

As you will see from the video below, psychoanalysis is still a popular theory today. Though it has changed much since Freuds death in 1939, many of its core elements are still intact, among them, the belief that the unconscious mind has much more control over our actions than most people would expect. Behaviourism Though behavioural experimentation began in the 1890s, the theory of behaviourism was not thoroughly defined until the mid 20th century when American psychologist B.F. Skinner began publishing heavily about the topic. Though there are now many variations of behaviourism, its supporters tend to believe that everything that an organism does can be regarded as a behaviour. This would include observable physical actions as well as

internal actions such as thinking and feeling. One of the main goals of behaviourism is to discover how it is that people and other animals learn. In behaviourism, this process of discovery has tended to involve experiments with animals.

Behavioural Experiments
Classical Conditioning

In the 1890s, one of the earliest and most famous behavioural experiments was carried out, despite the fact that no true theory of behaviouralism existed yet. A Soviet (Russian) physiologist named Ivan Pavlov noticed that dogs he was experimenting on tended to begin to salivate before they received their food. Pavlov believed that this was a learned behaviour and set up an experiment to test his hypothesis. Pavlov would ring a bell every time he fed the dogs and would measure their salivation levels. Despite the salivation being necessary only to help the dogs digest the food, eventually Pavlov was able to make the dogs salivate just by ringing the bell without providing food. The dogs had been conditioned to associate the ringing of the bell with the arrival of food. Check out a classical conditioning experiment conducted by an American college student in the video below. Do not try this at home! Operant Conditioning One of the most significant figures in behaviourism was a man named Burrhus Frederic Skinner. Skinner believed that understanding behaviours and their causes was an essential part of understanding why humanity has evolved into what it is today. He also felt that all behaviours were a result of reinforcing consequences. Skinner described two possible types of behaviour strengthening reinforcement: positive, where reward or praise is given for a certain behaviour, and negative, where the avoidance of an undesirable outcome is achieved by a certain behaviour (for example, wearing oven mitts when removing food from an oven avoids the undesirable outcome of burning oneself). It was also believed by Skinner that by applying a punishment, or by removing a stimulus, a behaviour could be weakened. Through multiple experiments conducted with rats and pigeons, Skinner was consistently able to condition them to respond to certain stimuli to produce desired behaviours by using positive reinforcement. Watch the video below for an example. Strange Psychology At one point near the end of the second world war, B.F. Skinners operant conditioning methods were so successful, that he was recruited by the United States military to help them develop a Pigeon Guided Missile! Though it may sound ludicrous, government money actually funded this idea. Basically, pigeons were trained by Skinner using operant conditioning to peck in the center of a

picture of a target building. Then, three of these pigeons would be placed into the nose cone of a missile that had lenses which would allow the pigeons to see out of the missile as it was being dropped towards its target. The pigeons would see the building through the lenses and peck at it. So long as the pigeons continued to peck at the center of the lens, the missile would stay on course. If however, they began to peck at the side of the lens, it would turn the lens, which would activate a mechanism that would, in theory, correct the missiles course. Despite promising early results, other projects involving non-organic guidance systems were also in the works, and the pigeon project was scrapped. In the 1960s and 1970s classical and operant conditioning were considered very valuable treatment methods for undesired behaviours, but would fall out of favour near the end of the 20th century due to certain controversies regarding electric shock conditioning. Despite this, behaviourism has made a recent comeback, as certain conditioning methods, when combined with cognitive psychological practices, have been found to be very successful treatments for certain types of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and addictions. Cognitive Psychology While behaviourism reigned as the supreme school of psychological thought for much of the middle part of the 20th century, it did still have its critics. One of the strongest criticisms of behaviourism came from Noam Chomsky who argued that conditioning could never fully explain the acquirement of language. Cognitive psychology, or cognitivism, began in the 1950s, mostly as a rejection of behaviourisms assertion that thinking is a behaviour. Cognitivism is not an outright rejection of behaviourism, but cognitive psychologists argued that thinking impacts behaviour and could therefore not be one. Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, perceive, remember and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics. Many psychologists accepted the existence of mental states, and began to believe that further study was required. Unlike their predecessors, however, cognitive psychologists strove to make their studies of thought and the cognitive architecture as scientific as possible. Despite criticisms of the scientific validity of cognitive psychological theories, new technology in the field of neuroscience, has provided evidence of physiological brain states that directly correlate with mental states - thus providing support for the central assumption of cognitive psychology.1 Cognitive psychology is currently one of the most popular schools of thought, and significant research is ongoing in the hopes of developing better understanding of perception, memory, language acquisition, choice, logic, etc.

If you happen to have an intense interest in cognitive psychology, the University of Houston has put up an entire course consisting of 26 recorded lectures on YouTube. The link to the first lecture can be found below, but you are by no means required to watch it, and will not be tested or assessed on material in the videos.

Sociology

Introduction The last of the three major disciplines which we will look at and later use in our investigation of social issues is that of sociology. The sociological field can be described as one that, uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop and refine a body of knowledge about human social activity.1 Possibly the topically broadest of the three disciplines we are learning about, sociology examines many different subjects in the attempt develop an understanding of human systems and social structures. These subjects include, but are not limited to:

Social class Law Religion Deviance Health Corrections Institutions; and even, The Internet

Branches of Sociology: 1. Demography While there are many branches of sociology, we will briefly take a look at three of them in the following lessons: Demography, Criminology and Nationalism Studies. The first of these three, demography, has been around in some form or another for a very long time. One of the most important tools of the demographer, the census, has been in use with varying levels of accuracy and depth for thousands of years. Basically, demography uses statistics to study and analyse human populations. Areas of interest for demographers include, but are certainly not limited to birth and mortality rates, aging and migration. Censuses and surveys, especially in modernized countries, provide demographers with ease of access to information regarding these areas of interest, and as the information changes over the years, demographers draw conclusions regarding the direction of societies, which often help to directly influence laws and policies of nations.

For example, through census data, demographers can see that Canada has an aging population. The Baby Boomer generation (which we will look at more closely later in the course) makes up a significant percentage of Canadas population and are reaching the age of retirement. Taxes paid by the working age population need to substantial enough to support this older generation, and in recent years demographers have concluded that this would be very difficult under current circumstances. This conclusion can lead policy makers to allow for more immigration to bring in new tax paying citizens, as well as tax incentives for families that have more children, in the hopes that the birth rate will increase, so there will be more tax paying citizens in the coming years. The conclusions drawn regarding data collected by demographers can have longstanding impacts on the direction of a society, and in recent years technological advancements have allowed for data collection on a much grander scale and in a much wider variety of subject matter. The Google Public Data Explorer is a wonderful new tool that allows you to explore and create graphs using data from countries all over the world on everything from life expectancy to percentage of population with cell phones. Check it out by clicking the link below: 2. Criminology Another of the many branches of sociology is criminology; the study of the nature, causes and control of criminal behaviour in individuals and society. Criminologists aim to understand the causes of crime in the hopes that societies may shape their policies in such a way as to remove influences or create successful deterrents for criminal behaviour. Criminologists also work closely with the sociological subfield of penology which deals primarily with the punishment and rehabilitation systems set up for criminals by society. Where demography belongs almost wholly to the field of sociology, criminology has become an interdisciplinary study that also relies heavily upon the research of psychology and anthropology. Psychological research assists criminologists by examining individuals who, for example, commit violent crimes, or consistently re-offend, helping to develop criminal types which can become useful for the quantitative research of criminologists. Anthropology has also been valuable to the field of criminology as comparisons between different cultures have discovered that most cultures have certain core values that have led them to create laws prohibiting murder, rape, assault and theft. By comparing how different cultures enforce these laws, and punish their offenders, criminologists are able to acquire significant data that allows for greater analyses regarding prevalence of crime, success or failure of deterrents, etc. Criminology can be a very interesting branch of sociological study as it relies heavily on the study of deviance. It has also, at times, been a very controversial field, as determining widespread factors for causes of crime has led to theories that have caused racism and prejudice. Is a person more likely to commit a crime based on the colour of

their skin, their socio-economic standing, or their place of birth? The man considered by some to be the earliest criminologist, Cesare Lombroso, believed that physical traits like a pronounced brow ridge or cleft palate could make a person more likely to commit crime. This theory (and many others like it) has long since been rejected, but the fact that it existed at all underlines how necessary it is for todays criminologists to be as cautious and objective as possible with their theories, so as not to promote prejudice. 3. Nationalism Studies Though nations as we know them today began to emerge in the 18th century, and some scholarly research and discussion regarding the subject has gone on since that time, nationalism studies did not really have enough of a following to become a true branch of sociology until the early 1990s. Clearly one of the youngest sociological branches, nationalism studies looks at the phenomena of the nation-state in an attempt to explain how and why nations form and split, how they socialize and indoctrinate their citizens, and how the idea of nationalism could be used to promote atrocious acts of violence based on ethnicity or geographical location of birth. The last of three topics is what really brought nationalism studies to the forefront. Though, the genocide committed by the Nazis under the command of Adolf Hitler caused discussion in this area, it was not until the world saw the Rwandan genocide, and ethnic cleansing in the republics of former Yugoslavia that significant research into this field began. Since that time, world renowned colleges and universities have begun offering entire programs in nationalism studies, and one of the main goals of the field is to understand how nationalism, considered by a great many people to be a progressive stage in the development of human societies, could be used to incite massive groups of people to commit terrible acts of violence. Sociology Schools of Thought Structural-Functionalism As was seen earlier when examining anthropological schools of thought, both structuralism and functionalism aim to understand cultures as a whole through the examination of all of their smaller systems (functionalism), hidden rules and binary oppositions (structuralism). Early sociologists felt very much the same, and many of the original sociological theories regarding how societies work and endure were developed with the belief the best way to interpret a society was by examining all of the interrelated parts of the overall structure. Structural-Functionalism tended to be biased towards the examination of institutions of capitalist western societies that had already undergone the process of industrialization. This was mostly due to the birthplace and circumstances of those exploring the topic, but it is important to keep in mind when studying the theories of early sociologists. As one of the most influential early sociologists, mile Durkheims theories would have a profound impact on the shaping of the entire discipline. Durkheim was very concerned

with how some societies were able to endure and maintain internal stability where others fell apart. He felt that successful societies had separate, equivalent parts that were held together by shared values and an increasing interdependence as labour in modern society became more specialized. Structural-functionalism holds that all of the separate roles and systems work together out of the recognition of their necessity to the survival of the society. This is very similar to the organic analogy used in cultural anthropology, and this metaphor strongly influenced Durkheim and his contemporaries. The tendency of structural-functionalism to emphasize a system where all social phenomena are functional and work together toward the common cause of societal survival did not sit well with all theorists though, and would lead to development of conflict theories that examine societies through their social problems and inequalities, one of which we will explore in the next lesson. 2. Marxism More than just a school of thought, the theories of Marxism encompass an economic and socio-political worldview that has had a tremendous impact on ideas in the areas of history, politics, economics, education and the social sciences to name a few. Developed primarily by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the mid 19th century, Marxism favours a materialistic interpretation of history and the development of societies believing that the type of economy a civilization adopts will play a substantial role in determining the type of society it will become. Basically, Engels and Marx believed that the economic type (mode of production) would heavily influence the values, ideals, morals, social hierarchies, legal and governmental structures, etc. In this, you can see the influence that Marxism had on Cultural Materialism, which you learned about earlier in the Anthropology module. Most of Marx and Engels work revolved around capitalism as the mode of production, as it was (and still is today) the most commonly employed by the countries they worked and lived in. Both men felt that capitalism would inevitably lead to a great disparity in wealth distribution, which would eventually lead to class struggle. The concept of class struggle, between the owners of production and the producers who worked for them, was an essential part of Marxism, and helped Marx to shape important theories regarding alienation and exploitation. Marxism survives today in many varied forms. The ideas of Marx and Engels have influenced a great deal of sociologists and philosophers, and aspects of the original ideas can be seen in many theories including Socialism, Communism, structural Marxism, Marxist humanism, etc. The Marxist belief that social institutions, such as churches, schools and prisons, are designed to perpetuate the division between the powerful and powerless has also influenced forms of anarchism. Engels belief that the social institution of monogamous marriage worked in such a way to guarantee the male social domination of women, has been very important in the development of Marxist feminism.

While studying Marxism, it is necessary to be cautious with your sources. Due to the many variants of Marxism and the twisting of the theory to suit the purposes of Josef Stalins brutal reign oven the Soviet Union, there are a great deal of misconceptions regarding this school of thought. The American Marxist scholar Hal Draper put it best when he said of Marx and Engels, there are few thinkers in modern history whose thought has been so badly misrepresented, by Marxists and anti-Marxists alike.1 3. Symbolic Interactionism One of the most popular sociological perspectives of the twentieth century has been that of symbolic interactionism. Created by Herbert Blumer as an extension of the work of his mentor George Herbert Mead, symbolic interactionism focuses on micro-scale social interactions and can be summarized as the belief that , people act toward things based on the meaning those things have for them; and these meanings are derived from social interaction and modified through interpretation.1 Symbols are very important to this theory and in it are defined as culturally derived social objects having shared meanings that are created, maintained and changed through social interaction. Basically, people act in the manner they do based upon how they personally define symbols and situations, and society is the product of this interpretation/communication process. This school of thought adheres to the theory that people will be best understood if studied in their own environment, and thus often uses participant observation as its main means of gathering information. This is one area where symbolic interactionism is quite different from other major sociological schools of thought which prefer the use of quantitative data (surveys, experiments, etc.) over qualitative data (case studies, interviews, etc.), and it has been criticized for this practice. However, not everything can be learned from quantitative data, and despite symbolic interactionisms neglect of the general sociological goal of understanding societies on a large scale, it can be considered more of a social-psychology cross that has provided valuable insights.

The Looking Glass Self

One important topic in this field is that of how peoples self-images are shaped. Charles Horton Cooley, another important influence on Blumer, believed that a persons identity is largely shaped by the way they perceive how others perceive them. Cooley called this concept the Looking Glass Self and summed it up best with his statement that, I am not what I think I am and I am not what you think I am; I am what I think that you think I am.2 A persons identity or self is essentially a mash-up of all these different perceptions created through social interactions, and thus a persons identity will continue to modify itself unless they become a hermit and cease all social interaction. 4. Feminist Theory

The feminist movement began in the late 19th century with the goal of establishing equal rights and opportunities for women in all spheres of life. Though the early stages were slow going, the movement underwent significant growth in the middle of the 20th century in the wake of the Second World War. Feminist theory arose as a sociological school of thought in the midst of this struggle with the goal of understanding the nature of gender inequality. Feminist theory has been applied to many disciplines and in the social sciences has been important in the development (or redevelopment) of theories regarding family origins and the process of patriarchy. The early feminist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir played an integral part in shaping later theories by asking the simple question, What is a woman? In her work, Beauvoir concluded that a woman, rather than just a gender, was a mythological type and accepted symbol in society that served the purpose of oppressing women. As you learned in the previous lesson, symbols can be changed through social interaction, and though the world is still far from perfect gender equality, great steps have been made toward this goal in the western world. Other important themes explored by feminist theory include

Discrimination, Stereotyping; and Sexual Objectification

The Stanford Prison Assignment Field observations are an important tool which sociologists use to study group behavior. The following case study called, The Stanford Prison Experiment, is an outstanding, though highly controversial, field study used to study group behaviour, roles, role conflict, and social hierarchy within the prison institution.

The Stanford Prison Experiment Please go to the following link to read about the study and then complete the following questions. Full sentence answers are expected.

The Stanford Prison Experiment

1. Describe the study in detail. (4) 2. What roles are being studied in this experiment? What are the experimenters expecting to find? (5) 3. Were the conditions of the field of study effective in replicating a real world situation? Explain. (4) 4. What tactics did the guards use to establish hierarchal control in the prison study? (5)

5. What did this study find about conformity and obedience in society? (6) 6. Should this type of study be allowed? Why or why not? (6) Be sure to cite all sources.

The Scientific Method

Introduction Social scientists use the scientific method to properly develop and test their theories. This is especially true in psychology which tends to use experimentation more frequently than anthropology or sociology. The following steps and examples illustrate how the scientific method is used in psychology. The use of these steps is essential for two reasons; making sure that an experiment is undertaken safely, and making sure that the results can be verified. No matter how brilliant an experiment is, its results will not be considered valid if the scientific method is not used properly.

1. Observation
For example, you notice that men seem to hit each other more than women do. "Why are men more aggressive than women?

2. Gather Information/Research
Try to find the answer. Maybe other people have already answered the question. You will find a lot of different suggestions as to why men are more physically aggressive than women.

3. Hypothesis (an educated guess)

Based on the information you have gathered, predict the answer to your question and specific outcome to the test you've planned.

4. Methodology/Test Hypothesis
Create a step by step testing plan on your approach.

Experimental approach: You give testosterone injections to half the men and women (experimental group, the group receiving the experimental treatment) and give saline injections to the other half of the men and women (control group, the comparison group that does not receive the actual experimental treatment).

5. Conclusions

Communicate your results.

Evaluate Your Results: In your experiment, maybe you found that the testosterone injection had no detectable effect and your hypothesis is invalid. Evaluate Your Hypothesis: How does your hypothesis measure up against your empirical findings? All you can say is whether the test supports or fails to support your original hypothesis. Based on one test, you will almost never be able to say you have proven or disproven the hypothesis.

The Scientific Method

Ethics
In the social sciences, and especially in the study of psychology, there must be tremendous consideration placed on the safety of human participants when conducting experiments. Since psychology involves the study of the mind, it shouldn't be too difficult to imagine the types of problems that can (and have) occurred when the safety of participants is not a priority. The following is a list of guidelines that must be met when using people in experiments today.

Ethical Guidelines for Research with Human Subjects:

1. Psychologists must consider both the risks and benefits of research involving human subjects before undertaking such research. In order to justify the research, the benefits to human welfare and psychological science must outweigh the risks to the subjects involved. The psychologist must consider alternative ways to conduct the research which might minimize risks to the subjects. 2. Psychologists must show respect and concern for the welfare and dignity of human subjects participating in research. 3. Psychologists must be aware of and adhere to federal and state regulations and professional standards which apply to research with human participants. 4. If research assistants are used to help with the research, the psychologist in charge still has responsibility for ensuring that they comply with ethical guidelines and state and federal regulations. 5. Psychologists inform subjects of the purpose of the experiment and the risks involved in their participation prior to beginning the research. That is, psychologists obtain informed consent from human subjects. 6. If it is necessary to deceive subjects as to the purpose of an experiment, psychologists must ensure that the benefits of the deception outweigh the risks, that they have carefully considered alternative strategies, and that subjects will be informed of the true purpose of the experiment as soon as possible after completion of the study. 7. Psychologists respect the rights of human subjects to withdraw from participating in an experiment at any time.

8. Psychologists protect humans participating in research from mental and physical harm which may arise from their participation in the experiment. 9. When research inadvertently results in some form of harm to human subjects, the psychologist has a responsibility to try to repair the damage. 10. Information about human participants which is obtained in the course of psychological research is considered confidential unless otherwise agreed in advance. 11. When the research is completed, the psychologist provides participants with information about the purpose of the study and the findings obtained. Many of these guidelines were developed as a result of the repercussions of earlier experiments. Read the article below to see why these guidelines became necessary.

Top 10 Unethical Psychological Experiments

Ethics Case Study - The Milgrim Experiment Summative: Ethics Case Study - The Milgrim Experiment The Milgram Experiment is a classic study of obedience and authority. It is an extremely controversial topic for psychologists because it took place after World War II and it researched why people would conform when given orders. The Milgram Experiment replicated a situation of conformity and obedience to orders, but it did so by purposefully ensuring that the subjects did not know what was actually being studied. The misinformed human participants were shocked, in many cases, to find out that they could do great punishment to another human being when given orders. At this point in time, there were no ethical guidelines to follow when performing psychology experiments on human subjects. Read about the Milgram Experiment by clicking on the link below. Be sure to watch all three parts of the video attached to the article.

Stanley Milgrim Experiment (1961)

Read the case study and answer the following questions: 1. 2. 3. 4. What did psychologists intend to study in the Milgram experiment? (3) What were the findings of this study? (3) Why would this experiment be considered harmful in the field of psychology? (4) How would a psychologist explain the behaviour which occurred in the Milgram experiment? (5) 5. How do you feel about experiments which fall in an ethical grey area? Is an experiment that we gain knowledge from acceptable despite potential risks? Where would you draw the line, and is this an acceptable experiment? (5)

6. Lastly, try to be honest with yourself, if you had been a participant in this experiment, how far do you think you would have gone? Would you have given shocks all the way to 450 Volts? (5) Marks: 25 Go to the next page to access the Dropbox.