A Level Sociology

Everything I learn in my Sociology A Level class for revision lmao.

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Masterlist

Started: 28/08/2022

Updated: 30/08/2022

Introduction To Sociological Theory

What Is Sociology?

Introduction To Sociological Theory

Functionalism

New Right

Marxism

Feminism

Interactionism

Postmodernism

Theory Of Education

Functionalism

Functionalist View On Education

Functionalism: Secondary Socialisation

Functionalism: Specialist Skills

Other

Recommended Textbooks For A Level Sociology

Hayley Goes Up A Class Documentary

Angry Wimmin Documentary: Radical Feminism And The Family

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Functionalism: Specialist Skills

Durkheim argues that schools teach children the skills they need to be able to perform their role in the workplace. For example, workers have to be able to read and write, but also have skills such as leadership and problem solving. School teaches students these skills.

Criticisms:

Postmodernists argue against this view saying that it is outdated. This is because Postmodernists believe that the education system is now flexible and can be accessed throughout life.

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Functionalism: Secondary Socialisation

Parsons argues that education passes on the key shared norms and values of society to the next generation.

He says that the education system is like a Bridge as it teaches us how to behave in society and cope in the wider world.

Functionalists believe that school mirrors society as it is meritocratic; that everyone is equal in educational opportunity. This means that every child, no matter their gender, ethnicity, disability or class has an equal chance of developing their talents and abilities.

Criticisms:

Wrong, an Interactionist theorist, argues that Functionalists ignore free will as not all students passively accept school rules.

The New Right argue that this 'Bridge' lacks contemporary relevance because the 2011 Wolf Review found that the education system is now failing to prepare students for work.

Bowles and Gintis, Marxist theorists, say that Meritocracy is a Myth and that not every student has equal opportunities in education, e.g. Pupils from middle/upper classes have a more chance of getting high qualifications and well-paid jobs than pupils in working-class families due to their ability to get into private/better schools.

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Functionalist View On Education

Functionalists see education as a means to Social Order. They believe it does this through the process of Socialisation, teaching students the shared norms and values within society.

Functionalists say that education prepares young people for adulthood and the workplace, providing Social Mobility, the ability to move up or down the Social Hierarchy, for everyone.

They believe that education has four main functions:

Secondary Socialisation

Specialist Skills

Social Solidarity

Sifting and Sorting

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Postmodernism

Postmodernism rejects all other sociological theories, saying that they are outdated as they are all based on Modern Society.

Postmodernists believe that we have passed this Modern Society and have been in a POSTmodern Society since the 1970s.

They believe that this Postmodern Society involves more choice, diversity and Globalisation. Postmodernists also believe that individuals are now able to choose their own identities and be who they want to be due to the Postmodern Society having a lot more fluidity.

They say that the reason for this change in society is technology as it helps individuals create an identity.

Globalisation is a process that involves interconnected changes in the economic, cultural, social, and political spheres of society. It involves the ever-increasing integration of these aspects between nations, regions, communities, and even seemingly isolated places.

Postmodernism is neither a Structural or Action Theory, but they do believe that we are now free to make our make our own choices and be whoever and whatever we want to be.

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Interactionism

Interactionists take a micro approach, looking at small scale interactions rather than the whole of society.

The theorist Erving Goffman sees everyone as Social Actors, saying that humans are performers who have adopted individual roles. This is called Impression Management, where we constantly try to manage others' impressions of us.

One research area for Interactionists is Labelling. This is when you categorise someone into a common group, and so judging certain groups of people. Labelling can be a positive and a negative thing. An impact of Labelling is creating a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, where an individual internalises the label placed on them and becomes that label, whether it be positive OR negative.

Because Interactionists look at small scale interactions they ignore the root of labels; the power structures that cause them, e.g. racism, class inequality, gender inequality. They only look at the labels themselves and the impact that has on the people being labelled.

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Feminism

Feminism is the movement of women's rights to achieve equality between the sexes.

Feminism is a Conflict Theory, believing that we live in a Patriarchal Society which is male-dominated.

Issues that Feminists have with this Patriarchal Society include:

Gender pay gap

Sexual harassment

Over sexualisation

Men's decisions over women's rights

There are different types of Feminists within the Feminist Theory, e.g. Liberal Feminists and Radical Feminists.

Liberal Feminism focuses on women's ability to gain and maintain their equality through their own actions and choices. These types of Feminists believe that, though progress has been made, there is still a gender inequality between men and women. They say that the solution to this would be to change Gender Role Socialisation and to challenge stereotypes.

Radical Feminism focuses on reordering the Patriarchal Society into a society where male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts. This type of Feminism view society as fundamentally a Patriarchy in which men dominate and oppress women. Their solution to this is Separatism, Political Lesbianism and a Baby Strike.

Separatism: The idea that if you separate the sexes then is is not possible for one to dominate the other.

Political Lesbianism: The idea that your sexual orientation is a political and Feminist choice. Radical Feminists see lesbianism as a positive alternative to heterosexuality as you do not have to be with a man.

Baby Strike: The idea that women do not reproduce so you're not confined to the motherhood role.

Angry Wimmin Documentary: Radical Feminism and the Family

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Marxism

Marxism is a Conflict Theory rather than a Consensus Theory. This means that Marxists see a conflict within society between the owners of businesses and the workers in those businesses.

The developer of this theory is Karl Marx, who believed the workers are exploited by the business owners in order to make a profit.

Marxists see Capitalism as the driving force behind everything in society and they don't like that, wanting to change it to a fairer system; Communism.

Capitalism is an economic system where businesses are privately owned by individuals and so profits are therefore in their control.

Communism is an economic system where means of production are owned communally and private property is non-existent.

Marxists believe that Capitalism exploits the working-class (Proletariats) to benefit the middle and upper classes (Bourgeoisie).

Hayley Goes Up A Class Documentary

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New Right

The New Right share a lot of ideas with Functionalists, such as the views that shared norms and values and the Nuclear Family is how society runs smoothly.

What differs Functionalists and the New Right is that, while Functionalists believe society runs harmoniously, the New Right are worried that society has broken down and no longer functions properly.

The New Right are worried about multiple things, e.g. the rise in Single-Parent Families, the decline in the Nuclear Family and the rising dependency on the Welfare State System.

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Functionalism

Functionalism is based on the work of Emile Durkheim around the time of the Industrial Revolution. He was interested in how Social Order was possible, how society could run smoothly.

Durkheim took a Consensus Approach: He believed all individuals had an agreement on shared norms and values and that this is how Social Order was possible.

The process of learning these shared norms and values is called Socialisation and someone who has not been through this Socialisation process is called a 'Feral Child'.

Durkheim believes that the 'ideal' family type is the Nuclear Family, consisting of a married man and woman with children. He says that this family type is what allows society to run smoothly.

Functionalists believe that men and women are naturally different and have natural separate roles, learned through Gender Role Socialisation. This refers to the teaching of what is seen as 'appropriate' for your gender, e.g. girls liking makeup and boys liking sports.

Gender Role Socialisation consists of Canalisation and Verbal Appellations.

Canalisation is the 'channelling' of children towards toys and activities seen as normal for their sex, e.g. dolls for girls and cars/trucks for boys.

Verbal Appellations refers to the use of different words or phrases with different sexes, e.g. "strong" for boys and "beautiful" for girls.

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Introduction To Sociological Theory

In Sociology there are Structural Theorists and Action Theorists.

Structural Theorists are passive. They are constrained by society, meaning society shapes their behaviour.

Examples of Structural Sociological Theories are:

Functionalism

New Right

Marxism

Action Theorists are active. They choose their own behaviour and can change society.

An Example of an Action Sociological Theory is:

Interactionism

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Recommended Textbooks For A Level Sociology

AQA A Level Sociology Book One

AQA A Level Sociology Book Two

These books are quite expensive. I personally don't own them for that reason and I'm doing alright without them, so don't worry about buying them! These books are just what my teacher recommended to me when I asked.

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What Is Sociology?

Sociology is the study of society.

In Sociology, all aspects of social life are examined, e.g. the family, gender differences, education health, work, religion, politics, crime, class, poverty and more!