SOCI 301/321 Foundations of Social Thought Session 6 Emile Durkheim (cont d) Lecturer: Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, UG Contact Information: ddzorgbo@ug.edu.gh College of Education School of Continuing and Distance Education 2014/2015 2016/2017
Session Overview Introduction This session concludes the works and ideas of Emile Durkheim Goals and Objectives At the end of the session, you should be able to: identify and explain his leading ideas and views about the nature of society and human behaviour compare and contrast his ideas and views with the earlier founders you have studied apply his ideas and theories to understand society, aspects of it and human behavior Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, Sociology Dept. UG Slide 2
Session Outline The key topics to be covered in this session are as follows: Suicide Religion Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, Sociology Dept. UG Slide 3
Reading List ALLAN K. (2005) EXPLORATIONS IN CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY: SEEING THE SOCIAL WORLD, LONDON: PIN FORGE PRESS ASHLEY D. AND D. M. ORENSTEIN (2001) SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY: THE CLASSICAL STATEMENTS, BOSTON: ALLYN AND BACON. DZORGBO, D-B. S. (2013) SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY: CLASSICAL IDEAS AND THEIR APPLICATION IN THE AFRICAN CONTEXT, ACCRA: WOELI PUBLISHING SERVICES DZORGBO D-B. S. (2009) SOCIOLOGY: FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL THOUGHT: LEGON-ACCRA: CENTER FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF GHANA. RITZER G. (20O8) SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY, BOSTON: MCGRAW HILL RITZER G. & DOUGLAS J. GOODMAN, (2004) CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY, BOSTON: MCGRAW HILL Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, Sociology Dept. UG Slide 4
Suicide The book titled Suicide demonstrates the subject matter of sociology (social fact) and also shows that the positivistic methods that is, the methods followed in the natural sciences), is possible within sociology. Suicide is Durkheim s most positivistic study and one of the best within the sociological field For Durkheim, individuals find their happiness in groups and if they are not integrated to groups they would feel isolated and unhappy and in the extreme conditions would commit suicide. Thus the weakness of social bonds has negative effects on the individual s social and mental well-being. Thus the social fact in this case weak social bond causes suicide. Thus Durkheim hypothesized that suicide varies inversely with the degree of integration in society. Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, Sociology Dept. UG Slide 5
Suicide: Types 1. Egoistic suicide= where social integration is weak 2. Altruistic Suicide= where social integration is strong 3. Anomic Suicide = Where social regulation and norms are weak, or absent that is there situation is anomic 4. Fatalistic Suicide= where social regulation and control is strong Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, Sociology Dept. UG Slide 6
Durkheim and Religion Durkheim religion is a social fact. In The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912/1965), Durkheim sought to study primitive or the most simplistic or elementary form of religion in order to shed light on the role of religion in modern society. Definition of Religion The Sacred and the Profane Religion and Traditional Society: Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, Sociology Dept. UG Slide 7
Durkheim and Religion (cont d) Totemic objects as Religious objects: the Arunta ethnic group of Australia The social significance of religion Manifest and Latent functions of Religion Durkheim s Theory of Religion for Understanding Rituals and Festivals Society as Living Organism Anomie or Normlessness Moral Education and Socialization Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, Sociology Dept. UG Slide 8
CONCLUSION According to Durkheim sociology s subject matter is social fact meaning that sociologist should study how society extent influences on our behaviour. It does this through its institutions, activities, culture and shared value systems social facts society integrates and exerts pressure on all of us so that to a large extent we are not always totally free to acts as we wish Society and groups particularly their levels of integration and regulation to a great extent can precipitate suicide Durkheim s idea that sociologists should study social facts would however not be accepted by all sociologists, particularly symbolic interactionists and ethnomethologists. Today sociology s subject matter is wider than what Durkheim carved for it Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, Sociology Dept. UG Slide 9
Conclusion (cont d) Social solidarity helps us to understand why and how social order and consensus is possible in society. His idea of mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity also help us to understand the nature and functioning of traditional societies and modern societies and to explain the different behavioural patterns that characterize members of these societies. His idea that society is like a living organism and the role of religion plays in society helps us to understand the interrelatedness of social institutions and their functions, likewise the importance of rituals, festivals and national celebrations. He provided a fertile ground for the development of modern functionalist theory. Among the founders of sociology, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx and Max Weber are considered the greatest. Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, Sociology Dept. UG Slide 10