The Study of Sociology

Paper Summary:

The paper explains that in every society there are those individuals who do not fit in and so are considered deviant or nonconforming. The paper discusses how negatively judging these people leads to racism, religious prejudice and discrimination, with American slavery and the extermination of millions of Jewish people by the Nazis as extreme examples. The paper looks at the concept of stigmatizing and outlines the debates concerning the underlying cause of discrimination and whether it is possible to put an end to prejudice.

From the Paper:

"From the beginning of the study of society or sociology, sociologists have been interested in the definition of society and other similar question. For example, Talcott Parsons in Harvard's Department of Sociology, dealt with major concerns that of interest from sociology's beginnings: What keeps a society together? What is the relationship between beliefs and institutions? How do these beliefs change? Other sociologists, such as Robert Merton, who looked at the structure of society, and Paul Lazarsfeld, who helped developed quantitative methods, asked similar questions. George Herbert Mead integrated sociology and psychology and looked more closely at American urban life (Straus, 1994)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bilton, T. (1996) Introductory Sociology, London: Macmillan
• Giddens, A. (1997) Sociology. London: Polity Press.
• Pickering, AJS (1991). Emile Durkheim. Critical Assessments of Leading Sociologists. London: Routeledge.
• Straus, R. (1994) Using Sociology. New York: Rowman and Littlefield.

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