Founding Fathers of Sociology
He is known as the "Father of Sociology" and emphasized studying society scientifically.
Auguste Comte
Shared beliefs, values, and practices that a group passes from generation to generation.
culture?
These are organized patterns of beliefs and behavior centered on basic social needs.
social institutions?
Behavior that violates social norms.
deviance?
This German sociologist focused on class conflict and wrote The Communist Manifesto.
Karl Marx?
These are rules of behavior that define what is acceptable and expected in a society.
norms?
This institution is responsible for teaching values, skills, and knowledge to the next generation.
education
This is society’s formal system for enforcing laws.
criminal justice system
This French sociologist studied how societies maintain order and introduced the concept of “social facts.”
Émile Durkheim
Physical objects like clothing, technology, or art that represent a culture.
material culture?
This institution manages power, authority, and law in society.
government?
Émile Durkheim said deviance serves a function by clarifying these.
moral boundaries
This sociologist developed the concept of the “sociological imagination.”
C. Wright Mills
The feeling of disorientation when you experience a culture very different from your own.
culture shock?
The institution that organizes production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
economy
The theory that deviance results from being labeled as deviant.
labeling theory
This German thinker emphasized Verstehen — understanding social behavior from the actor’s point of view.
Max Weber
The tendency to judge another culture by the standards of one’s own culture.
ethnocentrism?
A system of beliefs and practices related to the sacred
religion
Merton’s theory that deviance results when there’s a gap between cultural goals and means.
strain theory