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Subject: Sociology
LL.B. Part 1 (5Years)
OUTLINE OF CHAPTERS
1: INTRODUCTION
a. What is Sociology
b. Origin and Development of Sociology
c. Sociology and other social sciences
d. Sociology and common senses/Stereotype
e. Sociological perspective
f. Key terms- Social problem/ sociological issues
A. Structuralism
a. Structural functionalism
b. Social conflict
B. Social Action
a. Symbolic Interactionism
C. Feminism
2: CULTURE
a. What is culture?
b. Elements of culture
c. Culture diversity
d. Relationship between Culture, Crime and Law
3: SOCIALIZATION
a. Socialization and its importance from law perspective
b. Agents of Socialization
c. Socialization through the life course
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4: i. C.H. Cooley
ii. George Herbert mead
iii. Sigmud Freud
iv. Kohelberg
6: SOCIAL INTERACTION
i. Social structure
a. Status
b. Status set
c. Achieved & ascribed status
d. Master status
e. Role
f. Role set
g. Role conflict
h. Role strain
i. Role exit
8. DEVIANCE
a. Deviance, Crime and Social control
b. Types of Crime
c. Criminal Justice system of Pakistan
d. Factors behind deviancy & its implication on society
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9. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
a. Systems of Stratification
b. Dimensions of Stratification
c. Social Mobility: Brief explanation
d. Poverty
e. Stratification, Deviancy & Crime
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Lecturer: Nimra Ishtiaq
Subject: Sociology
LL.B. Part 1 (5Years)
1- INTRODUCTION:
a. WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY:
Definitions:
The word “sociology” is derived from the Latin word “socius” (companion) and the Greek
word “logos” (speech or reason), which together mean “reasoned speech about companionship”.
It is basically the scientific study of social relations. Where we study human and their relation to other
institutions from different perspectives in different societies and time period.
It studies patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and culture of everyday life as well.
People influence their society and society influences the members.
A key insight of sociology is that the simple fact of being in a group changes your behavior. The group
is a phenomenon that is more than the sum of its parts. Why do we feel and act differently in different
types of social situations? Why might people of a single group exhibit different behaviors in the same
situation? Why might people acting similarly not feel connected to others exhibiting the same behavior?
These are some of the many questions sociologists ask as they study people and societies.
Sociologists study all aspects and levels of society. A society is a group of people whose members
interact, reside in a definable area, and share a culture.
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b. ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY:
Today’s sociology has gone through many steps and procedures to be where it is now.
It was originated as a special discipline in 1836 by “August Comte”.
It was originally founded by Allama Ibn-e-Khaldun (1332-1406 A.D). He was a Muslim historian of
Tunis. The name he gave to this new science was “Ilmul-Imran”-Study of people.
There are numerous Muslim and European thinkers who worked in the field of sociology and studied it
i.e. Al-Raazi, Al-Farabi, Ibn-e-Sina, Imam Ghazali, Shah Wali Ullah Dehlvi, Aristotle, Socrates, Plato,
Thomas Hobbes, Kant etc.
What happens around us and in our social life falls in the area of sociology because it understands and
explains issues from various aspects and perspectives.
Humans spend their entire life in different groups which in result impact and change their behaviors.
This in result makes the social behavior complex.
To study as these aspects is the basic aim of Sociology.
The reason for the origin and development of sociology was to describe a new way of looking at society.
Thinkers of that time were more interested in imagining the ideal society than in studying society as it
really was. They all cared about how society could be improved, but their major objective was to
understand how society actually operates.
Comte saw sociology as the product of a three-stage historical development;
o Theological stage- from the beginning of human history to the end of the European Middle
Ages- people took a religious view that society expressed God’s will.
o Metaphysical stage- of history in which people saw society as a natural rather than a
supernatural system.
o Scientific stage - Comte’s contribution came in applying the scientific approach—first used to
study the physical world—to the study of society
Comte’s approach is called Positivism, “a way of understanding based on science”.
Comte believed that society operates according to its own laws, much as the physical
world operates according to gravity and other laws of nature.
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With the passage of time inventors used new sources of energy to operate large machines in mills and
factories.
Instead of laboring at home or in small groups, workers became part of a large and anonymous labor
force, under the control of strangers who owned the factories.
This change in the system of production took people out of their homes, weakening the traditions that
had guided community life for centuries.
Political Change
Europeans in the Middle Ages viewed society as an expression of God’s Will.
As cities grew, tradition came under attack
Shift in focus from a moral obligation to God and king to the pursuit of self-interest.
In the new political climate, philosophers spoke of personal liberty and individual rights.
Every person has “certain unalienable rights,” including “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
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The law is important because it acts as a guideline as to what is accepted in society. Without it there would be
conflicts between social groups and communities. It also plays an important indirect role in regard to social
change by shaping a direct impact on society.
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o Certain actions by the company will affect its customers based on their cultural and economic
backgrounds. For example, if your company conducts business in another part of the world, your
PR person must know the history of that area to modify the message and image of the company.
e. SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE:
Perspective on human behavior and its connection to the society.
i. SEEING THE GENERAL IN THE PARTICULAR
o Sociologists look for general patterns in the behavior of particular people.
o e.g. Marriage- General pattern
o Spouse selection in different social classes- Particular people.
o Within all this debate power of society guides our feelings, thoughts and actions.
o Different factors are involved in our decision making (age, gender, social class etc)
ii. SEEING THE STRANGE IN THE FAMILIAR
o Society shapes what we think and what we do.
o e.g. job, degree, selection of college/university, marriage etc.
o Society tell us which traits are best suited besides our preferences.
iii. SEEING SOCIETY IN OUR EVERYDAY LIVES
o Society shapes our personal choices e.g. marriage, number of kids, education etc.
iv. SOCIOLOGY AND PERSONAL GROWTH
o We become more: active, aware and critical.
i. The sociological perspective helps us see the opportunities and constraints in our lives
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a. So we can pursue our goals more effectively
ii. The sociological perspective empowers us to be active participants in our society.
a. We may support society as it is, or we may set out with others to change it.
iii. The sociological perspective helps us live in a diverse world
a. To critically think about weakness and strengths of all ways of life, including one’s own.
SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY:
A theory is a statement of how and why specific facts are related. The job of sociological theory is to
explain social behavior in the real world.
In building theory, sociologists face two basic questions;
o What issues should we study?
o And how should we connect the facts?
In the process of answering these questions, sociologists look to one or more theoretical approaches as
“road maps.”
o Basic image of society that guides thinking and research
STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM
A framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to
promote solidarity (mutual support/agreement) and stability (safety/ security)
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This approach points towards two things;
Social structure
Social functions (of structure)
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS:
1- AUGUSTE COMTE:
Structural functional approach owes much to Auguste comte BECAUSE,
He pointed out the need to keep society unified/merge/combine at a time when many traditions were
breaking down.
2- EMILE DURKHEIM:
Establish the study of sociology in French universities.
Based his work on this approach.
3- HERBERT SPENCER:
Compared society to the human body.
Just as the structural parts of the human body function interdependently to help the entire organism
survive, social structures work together to preserve society.
This approach leads sociologists to identify various structures of society and investigate their functions.
4- ROBERT K. MERTON:
Expanded our understanding of the concept of social function
Pointed out that any social structure probably has many functions, some more obvious than others
Manifest functions & Latent functions
Manifest (visible) Functions: (these are the primary goals)
The recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern.
Consciously and deliberately designed to be beneficial in its effect on society
Example- higher education function is to provide young people with the information and skills they need to
perform jobs after graduation.
Latent (hidden) Functions: (extra things like peer group etc)
The unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern.
Another opinion and assumption of Merton;
Not all the effects of social structure are good--> "Social dysfunction" is any social pattern that
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may disrupt the operation of society.
Example: Globalization of the economy may be good for some companies, but it also can cost workers
their jobs as production moves overseas.
What is functional for one category of people may well be dysfunctional for other categories of people.
CONCLUSION:
Main idea of the structural-functional approach= its vision of society as stable and orderly.
Main goal of the sociologists who use this approach is to figure out “what makes society tick.”
In the mid-1900s, most sociologists favored the structural-functional approach.
In recent decades, however, its influence has declined.
CRITICS-By focusing on social stability and unity, critics point out, structural-functionalism ignores
inequalities of social class, race, and gender, which cause tension and conflict. Its focus on stability at the
expense of conflict makes this approach somewhat conservative.
SOCIAL CONFLICT:
- Frame work for building theory that sees society an arena of inequality that generates conflict and
change.
- Highlights inequality and change.
- Sociologists investigate how factors such as social class, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation,
and age are linked to a society’s unequal distribution of money, power, education, and social prestige.
- Conflict analysis rejects the idea that social structure promotes the operation of society as a whole.
- Instead it focuses on how social patterns benefit some people while hurting others.
- Sociologists - look at;
Ongoing conflict between dominant and disadvantaged categories of people—
The rich in relation to the poor
White people in relation to people of color
Men in relation to women
- People on top try to protect their privileges while the disadvantaged try to gain more for themselves.
- Example: schooling- for rich and poor has a lot to do with social background.
KARL MARX supported the cause of the workers in what he saw as their battle against factory owners.
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SOCIAL CONFLICT APPROACH ALSO INCLUDES; GENDER CONFLICT AND RACE
CONFLICT APPROACH
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS:
1- Harriet Martineau (1802–1876) is regarded as the first woman sociologist.
- Translated the writings of Auguste Comte from French into English.
- In her own publication: documented about evils of slavery.
- Argued for laws to protect factory workers, defending workers’ right to unionize.
- Particularly concerned about the position of women in society and fought for changes in
education policy so that women could have more options in life than marriage and raising
children.
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS:
- Ida Wells Barnett (1862–1931)- Worked for racial equality.
- William Edward Burghardt Du- studied the black communities across the United States. spoke out
against racial inequality
o Believed that sociologists should not simply learn about society’s problems but also try to solve
them.
o pointing to numerous social problems ranging from educational inequality to a political system
that denied people their right to vote
CRITICISM: Any conflict analysis focuses on inequality; it largely ignores how shared values and
interdependence unify members of a society.
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- Conflict approaches pursue political goals, they cannot claim scientific objectivity.
- Supporters of social conflict approaches respond that all theoretical approaches have political
consequences.
- Final criticism: Both the structural-functional and the social conflict approaches is that they paint society
in broad strokes—in terms of “family,” “social class,” “race,” and so on.
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A. SOCIAL ACTION: “Action is social when the actor behaves in such a manner that
his/her action is intended to influence the action of one or more other persons”
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM:
Structural-functional and social-conflict approach highlights macro-level orientation, a broad focus
on social structures that shape society as a whole
o looks at the bigger picture
Sociology also uses a microlevel orientation, a close-up focus on social interaction in specific
situations. E.g. how pedestrians respond to homeless people they pass on the street.
o Micro-level sociology tries to show how individuals actually experience society.
DEFINITION: The symbolic-interaction approach, then, is a framework for building theory that sees
society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals.
According to this approach society is nothing more than the shared reality People make for
themselves as they interact with one another.
Human beings live in a world of symbols, attaching meaning to almost everything.
We create “reality”
We define our surroundings, decide what we think of others, and shape our own identities.
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS:
1- Max Weber: emphasized on the need to understand a setting from the point of view of the people in
it.
2- George Herbert Mead: explored our personalities develop as a result of social experience
3- Erving Goffman: Dramaturgical analysis describes how we resemble actors on a stage as we play
our various roles.
4- George Homans and Peter Blau: Social-exchange analysis social interaction is guided by what
each person stands to gain or lose from the interaction.
DRAWBACK:
This approach risks overlooking the widespread influence of culture, as well as factors such as
class, gender, and race.
B. FEMINISM:
“Support of social equality for women and men, in opposition to patriarchy and sexism”.
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The global idea of feminism refers to the belief that men and women deserve equality in all
opportunities, treatment, respect, and social rights.
In general, feminists are people who try to acknowledge social inequality based on gender and stop it
from continuing.
There is a relationship between sociology and law. Basically all laws are meant for the betterment of
society, which is core subject matter of sociology. A good lawyer must try to understand how laws are
impacting the society. Laws also have to be amended in various times according to the changes in
society. So there is an inseparable exist between law and society.
Law is a form of social control in sociology. Social control is simply a mechanism used by the
government which regulates the activities of all individuals within any society, with law being a perfect
example. The judicial system (courts) and law enforcement agencies, such as the police or even the
military, are also used as forms of social control as they are able to exert punishment upon the populace
if any law is broken. People are therefore coerced by these powers into following the law by the letter
and know the consequences if they do not. This is known as the “rule of law” (more prominent in
political theory than sociology), where it is law that governs a country. Other institutions may also be
used as forms of social control, such as the education system, religion or the media, depending on how
and to the extent which they are used. For instance, all of them have the capability of teaching people a
set of moral principles, which is also a form of social control.
Sociology is one of those subjects which help in decoding the intention behind the legislation, and how
law really influences the society. If one cannot understand the societal behavioral pattern or reaction, it
would be difficult to understand how people react in a certain manner and perform efficiently as
lawyers.
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In short, Laws are basically rules which everyone has to follow. If these rules aren't followed or if
someone deviates from these rules, then that person is going against the normal. He or she is going
against the rules of that society or community, so in a way you can say that law shapes human behavior,
the way we act as an individual. It shapes our conception of what acts are accepted in society and what
is not. Sociology deals with society and how individuals within it function in order to sustain society.
Therefore, in order to know how a society functions we need to take into account individual behavior,
one of the factors that affect the behavior of an individual is the law of the land or the rules of society.
For a sociologist to understand a certain society, city, county or a community, it is very necessary to
understand the law of that land or community. Clearly, there are individuals who do break the law and
these cases are cases of ‘deviance’ or acts that are beyond the accept standards of society.
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Lecturer: Nimra Ishtiaq
Subject: Sociology
LL.B. Part 1 (5Years)
Session 2019-2020
1- CULTURE
a. What is culture?
b. Elements of culture
c. Culture diversity
d. Relationship between Culture, Crime and Law
a. WHAT IS CULTURE?
“The ways of thinking, the ways of acting, and the material objects that together form a people’s way
of life”.
People living together in a society actually “grow” their way of life over time.
It is society’s entire way of life.
It is both our link to the past and our guide to the future.
To understand Culture two things are considered: Thoughts and things (Non-material & Material
Culture)
Nonmaterial culture is the ideas created by members of a society.
Material culture is the physical things created by members of a society.
In everyday conversation, people rarely distinguish between the terms “culture” and “society,” but the
terms have slightly different meanings, and the distinction is important to a sociologist.
A society describes a group of people who share a common territory and a culture. By “territory,”
sociologists refer to a definable region—as small as a neighborhood, as large as a country or somewhere
in between. To clarify, a culture represents the beliefs, practices and artifacts of a group, while society
represents the social structures and organization of the people who share those beliefs and practices.
Neither society nor culture could exist without the other.
Behavior based on learned customs is not a bad thing. Being familiar with unwritten rules helps people
feel secure and “normal.” Most people want to live their daily lives confident that their behaviors will
not be challenged or disrupted.
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What happens when we encounter different cultures? As we interact with cultures other than our own,
we become more aware of the differences and commonalities between others’ worlds and our own.
CULTURAL UNIVERSALS:
Often, a comparison of one culture to another will reveal obvious differences. But all cultures share
common elements. Cultural universals are patterns or traits that are globally common to all societies.
E.g. In many Asian cultures, for example, family members from all generations commonly live together
in one household. In these cultures, young adults will continue to live in the extended household family
structure until they marry and join their spouse’s household, or they may remain and raise their nuclear
family within the extended family’s homestead.
b. ELEMENTS OF CULTURE:
Symbols, Language, Values , Norms
SYMBOLS:
“Anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture”
NORMS:
“Rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members”
In everyday life, people respond to each other with sanctions, rewards or punishments that
encourage conformity to cultural norms.
As Culture is, broadly, a way of thinking and acting it covers the major aspects of society and human
life in general. How people react and respond to situations define them. Whereas Crime is defined as
the violation of criminal laws enacted by a locality, a state, or the federal government. Law on the other
hand is defined as a rule of civil conduct prescribed by the supreme power in a state, commanding what
is right, and prohibiting what is wrong- Blackstone, Commentaries (1847), p.44.
Every society has certain ways of acting (culture) which is or isn’t acceptable to them and on the basis
of it right and wrong acts are defined which in further steps is legalized or banned by their local
authorities and if someone breaches them they are punishable on legal level.
The whole purpose of it is to control negative behaviors of people in order to maintain decorum and
peace of their society.
Functionalists view society as a system in which all parts work—or function—together to create society
as a whole. In this way, societies need culture to exist. Cultural norms function to support the fluid
operation of society, and cultural values guide people in making choices. Talcott Parsons referred to the
function of culture as “latent pattern maintenance” meaning that the cultural practices that reproduce and
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circulate symbolic meanings and codes serve the function of maintaining social patterns of behavior and
facilitating orderly pattern change. Culture functions to ensure that the “meaning of life” remains stable.
Symbolic interactionism is a sociological perspective that is most concerned with the face-to-face
interactions between members of society. Interactionists see culture as being created and maintained by
the ways people interact and how individuals interpret each other’s actions. Proponents of this theory
conceptualize human interactions as a continuous process of deriving meaning from both objects in the
environment and the actions of others. This is where the term “symbolic” comes into play. Every object
and action has a symbolic meaning, and language serves as a means for people to represent and
communicate their interpretations of these meanings to others. Those who believe in symbolic
interactionism perceive culture as highly dynamic and fluid, as it is dependent on how meaning is
interpreted and how individuals interact when conveying these meanings.
Conflict perspective view social structure as inherently unequal, based on power differentials related to
issues like class, gender, race, and age. For a critical sociologist, culture is seen as reinforcing and
perpetuating those inequalities and differences in power. Unlike the functionalists who examine culture
in terms of the general interests it supports, or symbolic interactionists who emphasize how people come
to mutual understandings through cultural practices and interactions, critical sociologists examine how
inequalities and power relationships are maintained by a culture’s value system.
ETHNOCENTRISM:
Ethnocentrism, as sociologist William Graham Sumner (1906) described the term, involves a belief or
attitude that one’s own culture is better than all others e.g. Someone from a country where dogs are
considered dirty and unhygienic might find it off-putting to see a dog in a French restaurant.
o A high level of appreciation for one’s own culture can be healthy; a shared sense of community
pride, for example, connects people in a society. But ethnocentrism can lead to disdain or dislike
for other cultures, causing misunderstanding and conflict.
Ethnocentrism can be so strong that when confronted with all the differences of a new culture, one may
experience disorientation and frustration. In sociology, we call this “culture shock”.
o Culture shock may appear because people aren’t always expecting cultural differences.
CULTURAL CHANGE:
Cultural change is a concept that denotes some internal and external factors leading to change in
the cultural pattern of societies.
E.g. students previously More importance on developing life’s philosophy NOW more interested in
making money in less time.
Change in one part of a culture usually sparks changes in others.
Cultural integration, the close relationships among various elements of a cultural system.
o Cultural integration is a form of cultural exchange in which one group assumes the beliefs,
practices and rituals of another group without sacrificing the characteristics of its own culture.
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o e.g. today women more into making career than their previous generation late marriages or
high divorce rate.
o
CULTURAL LAG:
Some elements of culture change faster than others.
The fact that some cultural elements change more quickly than others, disrupting a cultural system.
E.g. in Pakistani society moving into your own apartment at the age of 18.
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Lecturer: Nimra Ishtiaq
Subject: Sociology
LL.B. Part 1 (5Years)
Session 2019-2020
3- SOCIALIZATION
a. SOCIALIZATION AND ITS IMPORTANCE FROM LAW PERSPECTIVE:
Socialization to refer to the lifelong social experience by which people develop their human potential
and learn culture.
It is the process through which people are taught to be proficient members of a society. It describes the
ways that people come to understand societal norms and expectations, to accept society’s beliefs, and to
be aware of societal values. Socialization is not the same as socializing (interacting with others, like
family, friends, and coworkers); to be precise, it is a sociological process that occurs through socializing.
The term “socialization” refers to a general process, but socialization always takes place in specific
contexts. Socialization is culturally specific: people in different cultures are socialized differently, to
hold different beliefs and values, and to behave in different ways. Sociologists try to understand
socialization, but they do not rank different schemes of socialization as good or bad; they study practices
of socialization to determine why people behave the way that they do.
It is an activity of mixing socially with others.
Social experience is also the foundation of personality, a person’s fairly regular patterns of acting,
thinking, and feeling.
Kimball Young writes, “Socialization will mean the process of inducting the individual into the social
and cultural world; of making him a particular member in society and its various groups and inducting
him to accept the norms and values of that society. Socialization is definitely a matter of learning and
not of biological inheritance.
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IMPORTANCE:
It is the process of learning how to become part of a culture.
One learns the culture’s language, their role in life, and what is expected from them.
The state is an authoritarian agency. It makes laws for the people and lays down the
modes of conduct expected of them. And it is compulsory for people to obey these laws.
If they fail to adjust their behavior in accordance with the laws of the state, they may be
punished for such failure. Thus the state also molds our behavior.
To examine why individuals choose to obey or disobey the law is one of the crucial
element.
Factors that affect how these attitudes develop include cognitive developmental variables,
such as legal reasoning, and social learning variables, such as salient features of the
environment. Other factors that need to be considered are resiliency, psychosocial
maturity, individual difference variables, culture, and attitudes.
One of the reasons for the increasing crime in society is the failure of the socializing
agencies to properly and adequately to socialize the child.
Legal socialization is the process through which, individuals acquire attitudes and beliefs
about the law, legal authorities, and legal institutions. This occurs through individuals’
interactions, both personal and vicarious, with police, courts, and other legal actor.
Parents’ attitudes toward legal systems influence children’s views as to what is legally
acceptable.
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gradually become able to see ourselves through the eyes of others, learning who we are and how we fit into the
world around us. In addition, to function successfully in society, we have to learn the basics of both material
land nonmaterial culture, everything from how to dress ourselves to what is suitable attire for a specific
occasion; from when we sleep to what we sleep on; and from what is considered appropriate to eat for dinner to
how to use the stove to prepare it. Most importantly, we have to learn language—whether it is the dominant
language or one common in a subculture, whether it is verbal or through signs—in order to communicate and to
think. As we saw with Danielle, without socialization we literally have no self. We are unable to function
socially.
b. AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION:
Socialization helps people learn to function successfully in their social worlds. How does the process of
socialization occur? How do we learn to use the objects of our society’s material culture? How do we
come to adopt the beliefs, values, and norms that represent its nonmaterial culture? This learning takes
place through interaction with various agents of socialization, like peer groups and families, plus both
formal and informal social institutions.
1- FAMILY:
Family is the first agent of socialization. Mothers and fathers, siblings and grandparents, plus members
of an extended family, all teach a child what he or she needs to know. For example, they show the child
how to use objects (such as clothes, computers, eating utensils, books, bikes); how to relate to others
(some as “family,” others as “friends,” still others as “strangers” or “teachers” or “neighbours”); and
how the world works (what is “real” and what is “imagined”). As you are aware, either from your own
experience as a child or your role in helping to raise one, socialization involves teaching and learning
about an unending array of objects and ideas.
It is important to keep in mind, however, that families do not socialize children in a vacuum. Many
social factors impact how a family raises its children.
Sociologists recognize that race, social class, religion, and other societal factors play an important role in
socialization. For example, poor families usually emphasize obedience and conformity when raising
their children, while wealthy families emphasize judgment and creativity.
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2- SCHOOL:
Students are not only in school to study math, reading, science, and other subjects—the manifest
function of this system. Schools also serve a latent function in society by socializing children into
behaviors like teamwork, following a schedule, and using textbooks.
Provides environment to children where they interact with people from different background.
School and classroom rituals, led by teachers serving as role models and leaders, regularly reinforce
what society expects from children. Sociologists describe this aspect of schools as the hidden
curriculum, the informal teaching done by schools.
This helps them understand things from different viewpoints and important factors like race and social
class.
Schooling helps them to mix up with people from different background.
Schools have built a sense of competition into the way grades are awarded and the way teachers evaluate
students. Students learn to evaluate themselves within a hierarchical system as “A,” “B,” “C,” etc.
When children participate in contests and competitions, they learn that there are winners and losers in
society.
When children are required to work together on a project, they practice teamwork with other people in
cooperative situations.
Hidden curriculum prepares children for a life of conformity in the adult world. Children learn how to
deal with bureaucracy, rules, expectations, waiting their turn, and sitting still for hours during the day.
The latent functions of competition, teamwork, classroom discipline, time awareness and dealing with
bureaucracy are features of the hidden curriculum.
Schools also socialize children by teaching them overtly about patriotism and nationalism.
GENDER:
School also plays just as important role in socialization as family.
Experiment show at school boys engage in more physical activities+ spend more time outdoors
(aggressive)
o Girls More likely to help teachers with various housework tasks. (quieter)
4- MASS MEDIA
“The means for delivering impersonal (neutral/ unbiased) communications to a vast audience”.
Media originated from medium which means connecting it with two people or audience.
Mass media= communication technology spreads—knowledge, information via tv, radio, internet,
film etc—On large scale
Influence on attitude and behavior.
Media greatly influences social norms.
People learn about objects of material culture (like new technology and transportation options), as well
as nonmaterial culture—what is true (beliefs), what is important (values), and what is expected (norms).
1.CHILDHOOD:
Childhood—roughly the first twelve years of life—as a carefree time for learning and play.
Definition of Childhood has changed with the passage of time
o Reason biologically immature
o Other aspect CULTURE have more important role in definition of childhood than biology
Rich countries not everyone has to work
Childhood can be extended to allow time for young people to learn the skills they will
need in a high-technology workplace
“Hurried child syndrome” results from changes in family
o High divorce rates
o Both parents in the labor force— child with no adult supervision
o Today’s children are far more grown up, have more exposure as compare to previous generation
o Today’s children, compared to kids fifty years ago, have higher levels of stress and anxiety
3. ADULTHOOD
Time when most of life’s accomplishments take place, including pursuing a career and raising or settling
for a family etc.
MIDDLE ADULTHOOD
Roughly ages forty to sixty-five
People sense that their life circumstances are pretty well set.
Become more aware about;
o Delicacy of health, which the young typically take for granted
o Women who have spent many years raising a family find middle adulthood emotionally tiresome
(irritating).
o Children grow up and require less attention
o Husbands become absorbed in their
o Women who divorce also face serious financial problems
For everyone, growing older means experiencing physical weakening, a viewpoint our culture
makes especially challenging for women.
o Because;
Good looks are considered more important for women
Men can never reach earlier life Career goals OR
Price of career success has been neglect of family or personal health
4- OLD AGE
Mid Sixties
Societies attach different meanings to this stage of life.
One perspective older members of traditional societies who typically control most of the land and
other wealth.
o traditional societies change slowly
o Older/elder More respectful because of their wisdom (knowledge) about every aspect of life.
Industrial societies most younger people work and live apart from their parents
o Become independent of their elders.
o Rapid change “youth orientation” more important and elder people are less important.
Elderly may seem out of touch with new trends and fashions, and their knowledge and
experience may seem of little value.
Growing up means entering new roles and taking on new responsibilities,
o but growing old is the opposite experience—> leaving roles that provided both satisfaction and
social identity.
o E.g. retirement for some period of restful activity
Others losing valued routines and even complete dullness.
Like any life transition, retirement demands learning new patterns while at the same time letting
go of habits from the past.
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1- DENIAL may be because of FEAR Or CULTURE tends to ignore the reality of death
2- ANGER when a person facing death sees it as a UNCULTURED INJUSTICE.
3- NEGOTIATION person imagines the possibility of avoiding death by striking a bargain
with God.
4- RESIGNATION psychological depression
5- ACCEPTANCE no longer paralyzed by fear and anxiety,
The person whose life is ending sets out to find peace
Makes the most of whatever time remains.
29
Lecturer: Nimra Ishtiaq
Subject: Sociology
LL.B. Part 1 (5Years)
Session 2019-2020
THE SELF:
o Significant concept
o Part of an individual’s personality composed of self-awareness and self-image
o Mead sees Self Product of social experience
o Second part
Self-works as an objective side “ME”
The way we imagine other sees us
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SIGMUND FREUD: Elements of Personality
Freud gradually turned to the study of personality and mental disorders and eventually developed the
celebrated theory of psychoanalysis.
o He proposed first complete theory of personality.
o A person’s thoughts and behaviors emerge from tension generated by unconscious motives and
unresolved childhood conflicts.
o Psychoanalytic approach: psychoanalysis is both an approach to therapy and a theory of
personality.
Emphasizes: unconscious motivation- the main causes of behavior lie buried in the
unconscious mind.
Personality Development:
o To the id-centered child, the world is a bewildering assortment of physical sensations that bring
either pleasure or pain. As the superego develops, however, the child learns the moral concepts
of right and wrong. Initially, in other words, children can feel good only in a physical way (such
as by being held and cuddled), but after three or four years, they feel good or bad according to
how they judge their behavior against cultural norms (doing “the right thing”).
o The id and superego remain in conflict, but in a well-adjusted person, the ego manages these two
opposing forces. If conflicts are not resolved during childhood, Freud claimed, they may surface
as personality disorders later on.
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o Culture, in the form of the superego, represses selfish demands, forcing people to look beyond
their own desires. Often the competing demands of self and society result in a compromise that
Freud called sublimation. Sublimation redirects selfish drives into socially acceptable behavior.
For example, marriage makes the satisfaction of sexual urges socially acceptable, and
competitive sports are an outlet for aggression.
33
Lecturer: Nimra Ishtiaq
Subject: Sociology
LL.B. Part 1 (5Years)
Session 2019-2020
Socialization is more than just what we learn when we are at school. It is the effect of our families and
those around us, including the media, our peers.
The most dominant way of learning these socially acceptable norms and values is through our
communication with others. Primary and secondary socialization plays an important role in mind setting
of an individual from early stage. Behaviorist psychology draws upon the idea that external stimulus, or
the effects of our environment affect the way we behave.
Socialization is the development of culture within a person, teaching him or her values, norms and roles.
This also creates self-awareness as individuals interact with others, for this reason socialization is a life-
long process. Deviance, by contrast, is an aversion from the common values, and norms of one’s own
culture. Crime on the other hand is when one deviates from a norm that is considered a law, and
enforced by government bodies. All three of these have a large effect on the society they exist in.
According to social learning theory, whatever we see and observe happening in our surrounding that act
or action becomes so normal for us that we accept and practice it without even giving it a second
thought. Same goes for crime. If violation of laws is been constantly observed and practiced in one’s
surrounding, he/she becomes immune and normal towards that act and that very thought becomes
acceptable for him/her to breach the law and consider it normal.
A debate that continues to spawn controversy in many scientific disciplines is on the topic of heredity
and the influence genetics has on the overall character of a human being. There are several factors that
impact an individual’s destiny and through various studies, explanations, and theoretical models it
becomes very apparent that one isolatable factor is nearly impossible to distinguish.
Sociologists linked social-psychological interactions to criminal behavior.
Social psychology examines the way groups and social structures shape individuals—their perceptions,
beliefs, identities, attitudes, emotions, and behaviors—and how individuals acting together create,
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maintain, and change social structures. It is basically the study of human interactions and relationships
that explain such issues as group dynamics and socialization.
Criminal behavior is learned in the process of interaction and communication with others. And most
importantly the learning takes place within the intimate groups. Techniques of executing crime, its
motives all are learned. These methods could change and modify with the passage of time.
Once an individual crosses over into the justice system, it is our responsibility as a society to make every
attempt possible to rehabilitate.
It is widely accepted that the model for the development of human behavior is extremely fluid and
effected by several factors, not just genes or environmental factors alone but in fact an interaction
between the two. There are several important theories that do not advocate the influence of heredity or
environmental factors over one another but in fact display the importance of their interaction in
determining an individual’s behavior. An individual’s genetic disposition is important in that it lays
down a fundamental framework that can be a guide for propensities of certain courses of action. It is a
fact that someone may be born with the disposition for a higher than average intelligence but
environmental factors play a tremendous role in how this trait would be expressed. If an individual were
to grow up in an environment that fostered the pursuit of academic interests, this intellect trait would
have the ability for increased expression rather than if the individual were in an environment that placed
little value on learning. This can in turn relate to criminal behavior and social deviance. Various
developmental and sociological factors play a role in an individual’s inclination towards exhibiting
criminal behavior.
Social and environmental factors have been shown to influence behavior. Individuals with certain
genetic dispositions may be effected more than those without these traits but in all situations it has been
determined that these factors can be attributed to shaping criminal behavior.
One of the most important environmental factors during childhood development is that
of socialization or the way a child is ‘taught’ how to act. Children learn to merely obey the rules of their
society. Certain actions are repeated because of directly correlated consequences. A child does not
intuitively know that stealing is wrong; they have to be taught through negative consequences that this
behavior is not acceptable. They then internalize these rules and eventually believe them to be
fundamentally correct. In other words, socialization refers to the developmental period where the ideals
of morality and socially acceptable behavior are instilled in a child. If a child is consistently taught how
to act through both positive and negative reinforcement, the child will begin to exhibit certain
characteristics because they believe them to be inherently correct. If a child is not taught how to properly
act or inconsistently reinforced, clear-cut moral obligations may not be instilled leading to effected
social judgment and a disposition towards criminal behavior.
An important point to make is that levels of education have been determined to be significant in the
manifestation of criminal behavior. Individuals with learning disabilities have been shown to be more
prone to violent behavior. The major reason for this is given in an interrelated causal pattern of events
with education at the center. School achievement is predictive of pro-social behavior or behaviors
designated as upholding the moral values of a society. This is because academic achievement is
interrelated in our society with several other variables such as financial success, high self-esteem and an
internal locus of control. This particular model may account for reasoning behind the general idea that
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individuals with a high IQ generally have fewer tendencies for criminal behavior than individuals with a
low IQ.
Different theoretical perspectives explain this relationship between crime and socialization in different
aspects.
o Social learning theory: This suggests that people can learn the techniques and attitudes of crime
from close and intimate relationships with criminal peers. Crime in short is a learned behavior.
o Social control theory: Everyone has the potential to become a criminal but that most people are
controlled by their bonds to society. Crime occurs when the forces that bind people to society are
weakened and broken.
o Social reaction theory: Labelling theory says that people become criminals when significant
members of society label them as such, and they accept those labels as a personal identity.
36
Lecturer: Nimra Ishtiaq
Subject: Sociology
LL.B. Part 1 (5Years)
Session 2019-2020
6: SOCIAL INTERACTION
1. Social structure: stable arrangement of institutions in which people act and react in
relation to others
The way a society is organized.
Status: A social position that a person holds. E.g. president, professor etc.
Status set: All the statuses a person holds at a given time. E.g. A girl- daughter, sister, student
Achieved status: A social position a person takes on voluntarily that reflects personal ability and
effort. E.g. Doctor, engineer, president etc.
Ascribed status: A social position a person receives at birth or takes on involuntarily later in life. E.g.
Girl, boy, Pakistani etc.
Master status: Status that has special importance for social identity, often shaping a person’s entire
life. E.g. a job is a master status reveals about person’s social background, education, and income
Role: Behavior expected of someone who holds a particular status. E.g. Status student leads –Role
attending classes and completing assignments.
Role set: Identify a number of roles attached to a single status. E.g. Women- Wife (Status) Domestic
duties (role set)
Role conflict: Conflict among the roles connected to two or more statuses. E.g. working mother
(professor + researcher) might quit job because of household responsibilities.
Role strain: Tension among the roles connected to a single status. E.g. college professor may enjoy
being friendly with students. At the same time, however, the professor must maintain the personal
distance needed to evaluate students fairly
Role exit: The process by which people disengage from important social role.
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THEORIES OF SOCIAL INTERACTION
a. Social construction of reality
b. Ethnomethodology
c. Dramaturgy
b. Ethnomethodology:
The study of the way people make sense of their everyday surroundings.
How ordinary people make sense of their social world.
How people speak to each other and interact in everyday conversation and relationships.
Ethnomethodology studies procedures people carry out in order to create a sense of orderliness within a
particular institution or community.
It is the analysis of the ways in which we actively, make sense of what others mean by what they say
and do.
Ethnomethodology’s goal is to document the methods and practices through which society’s members
make sense of their worlds.
Ethnomethodology is different from traditional sociology because it is not as concerned by the analysis
of society, but rather by the procedures through which social order is produced
Most of the time, we take social reality for granted.
Example: asking HOW ARE YOU answer in general, but you might really be wondering how the
person is dealing with a specific physical, mental, spiritual, or financial challenge. However, the person
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being asked probably assumes that you are not really interested in details about any of these things, that
you are just “being polite.”
In short it is a theory that looks at how we make sense of everyday situations. Though we may view a
situation differently from those around us, our backgrounds provide us with some basic assumptions
about everyday life. Ethnomethodology studies what those background assumptions are, how we arrive
at them, and how they influence our perceptions of reality.
Sociologist Erving Goffman developed the concept of Dramaturgy, the idea that life is like a never-
ending play in which people are actors. Goffman believed that when we are born, we are thrust onto a
stage called everyday life, and that our socialization consists of learning how to play our assigned roles
from other people. We enact our roles in the company of others, who are in turn enacting their roles in
interaction with us. He believed that whatever we do, we are playing out some role on the stage of life.
The study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance.
People live their lives much like actors performing on a stage.
Goffman described each individual’s “performance” as the presentation of self, a person’s efforts to
create specific impressions in the minds of others. This process, sometimes called impression
management, begins with the idea of personal performance.
As we present ourselves in everyday situations, we reveal information to others both consciously and
unconsciously.
As individuals in society we all have certain status (statuses) and we perform roles according to it. And
how we perform our role and display yourself in that situation and in the eye of others varies as per need
and environment.
When we interact with our surrounding we observe and adopt certain behaviors, which could possibly
disturb the society, without even realizing. And those observations become the base of our thought
process and actions.
REASONS:
How much you interact, whom you interact with, for how long you interact, has a lot do with one’s behavior.
Few agents and interaction frequency with them defines possible behaviors in return are as following
Mass media- It is the main force of making public opinion and socializing people. We get guidance
from it in every walk of life. Negative use of it is harmful for youth and especially for teenagers.
Usually, those teens and youth who misuse it are found in drug addiction, immoral and unethical
activities. Teenagers learn new techniques of crime or deviance from movies, dramas and other related
programs.
Lack of Religious Education and Morality- If morality fails to direct toward normative way of life the
way to delinquent behavior becomes easy. Failure of religious and moral values is the main cause of
deviant behavior and delinquency. Sometimes misinterpretation of religious teaching leads individual to
path of destruction and disturbance which eventually affect their way to behave in society.
Broken Family and Improper Socialization- Family is the first institution teaching norms of social
life. Parents play important role in this process. Siblings are the second to socialize their members of
family. If both or one of the parents is absent by death or other reason, the child fails to get proper
learning, required affection and 'needs satisfaction' in the family. He becomes disturbed emotionally and
seeks protection in the company of others outside the family. He learns anti-social activities like
smoking, gambling, pick pocketing, abusing, telling lie and deviating others in association of bad
neighborhood. He gets into the habit of Deviance and becomes delinquent. Delinquency enters into his
social life.
40
Lecturer: Nimra Ishtiaq
Subject: Sociology
LL.B. Part 1 (5Years)
Session 2019-2020
a. Types of groups
Social group is two or more people who identify with and interact with one another.
Primary Group a small social group whose members share personal and lasting relationships.
First groups we experience in life.
People spend a great deal of time together.
Display a personal orientation.
Bound to others by emotion and loyalty.
Members of a primary group view each other as unique and irreplaceable.
Group members think of themselves as “we.”
Secondary Group is a large and impersonal (less emotional) social group whose members pursue a
specific goal or activity.
Relationships involve weak emotional ties and little personal knowledge of one another.
Many secondary groups exist for only a short time.
Secondary groups have a goal orientation what they can do for each other remain formal and
polite.
Groups do not think of themselves as “we”.
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Reference Group: a social group that serves as a point of reference in making evaluations and
decisions.
In-Group: social group toward which a member feels respect and loyalty.
Out-Group: a social group toward which a person feels a sense of competition or opposition
b. Leadership styles
1- Authoritarian leadership focuses on instrumental concerns.
o Takes personal charge of decision making.
o Demands that group members obey orders.
o This leadership style may win little affection from the group.
2- Democratic leadership is more expressive.
o Makes a point of including everyone in the decision-making process.
o Less successful in a crisis situation.
o Democratic leaders generally draw on the ideas of all members to develop creative solutions to
problems.
3- Laissez-faire leadership allows the group to function more or less on its own (means “leave it alone”).
o Least effective in promoting group goals.
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2- Normative organizations ( rules of behavior)
3- Coercive organizations (forced, powerful, strong)
1. UTILITARIAN ORGANIZATIONS:
2. NORMATIVE ORGANIZATIONS:
People join these not for income but to achieve some goal they think is morally meaningful/
important.
Another term use for it is voluntary associations (they want to do work like this as per their choice)
E.g. political, religious organizations, NGO’s
Mostly high-income, democratic countries
3. COERCIVE ORGANIZATIONS:
Membership in coercive organizations is involuntary (forced to join)
Forced to join these organizations as a form of punishment or treatment
E.g. prison, mental hospitals, rehabilitation centers
These organizations have physical features as well e.g. locked doors, barred windows and some security
as well.
They isolate people, whom they label “inmates” (prisoners) or “patients,” for a period of time in order to
deeply change their attitudes and behavior.
CHARACTERISTICS:
1- SPECIALIZATION;
Bureaucracy assigns people highly specialized jobs as compare to our ancestors
2- HIERARCHY OF POSITIONS;
Bureaucracies arrange workers in a vertical ranking (from down to Up or Up to down)
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Each person is controlled/ managed by someone of higher position in the organization
With few people at the top and many at the bottom, bureaucratic organizations take the form of a
pyramid
4- TECHNICAL COMPETENCE:
Officials in these have technical skills and abilities to carry out their duties
Hire new members according to set standards and then monitor their performance
5- IMPERSONALITY:
Bureaucracy puts rules ahead of personal wish so that both clients and workers are treated in the same
way
44
Lecturer: Nimra Ishtiaq
Subject: Sociology
LL.B. Part 1 (5Years)
Session 2019-2020
8. DEVIANCE
a. Deviance, Crime and Social control
Deviance is the recognized violation of cultural norms.
Crime is the violation of criminal laws enacted by a locality, a state, or the federal government.
Social Control is the attempts by society to regulate people’s thoughts and behavior.
o All societies practice social control, the regulation and enforcement of norms. Social control can
be defined broadly as an organized action intended to change people’s behavior (Innes 2003).
The underlying goal of social control is to maintain social order, an arrangement of practices
and behaviors on which society’s members base their daily lives.
o One means of enforcing rules are through sanctions. Sanctions can be positive as well as
negative. Positive sanctions are rewards given for conforming to norms. A promotion at work is
a positive sanction for working hard. Negative sanctions are punishments for violating norms.
Being arrested is a punishment for shoplifting. Both types of sanctions play a role in social
control.
b. Types of Crime
1- Crimes against the person, also called violent crimes, are crimes that direct violence or the threat of
violence against others.
E.g murder and manslaughter
Aggravated assault (purpose of serious body injury)
Forcible rape
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Robbery
2- Crimes against property: also called property crimes
Crimes that involve theft of property which belongs to others
Burglary (illegal entry of a building with intent to commit a crime)
Larceny-theft (the unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the
possession of another)
Auto theft
Arson (any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn the personal property of another)
3- Victimless crimes: Violations of law in which there are no obvious victims. Also called crimes without
complain.
E.g illegal drug use, prostitution, and gambling.
People who commit such crimes are both offenders and victims.
The term “victimless crime” is misleading
Public views of victimless crimes vary greatly
White-collar crime: Crime committed by people of high social position in the course of their
occupations.
o Do not involve violence
o White-collar criminals use their powerful offices
o Causing significant public harm in the process
o E.g. Government officials
“crime in the suites”
o End up in a civil hearing
Blue-collar crime: is a term used to describe crimes that are committed primarily by people who are
from a lower social class
Hate crime is a criminal act against a person or a person’s property by an offender motivated by racial
or other bias
o race, religion, ethnicity or ancestry
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Before 2007, there were only two institutions in Criminal Justice System i.e. Police and Judiciary and
there was no concept of independent Prosecution Department in Pakistan. It was only after 2007 when
all Provinces established independent and specialized Prosecution Departments. Due to its short life and
other reasons, Prosecution is still not independent and fully functional in Pakistan’s Criminal Justice
System.
The criminal justice system of Pakistan has been inherited from the British. This system aims to reduce
crime, bring more offenders to justice and raise public confidence that the system is fair and will deliver
justice for law-abiding citizens.
A supreme principle of the criminal justice system is that an accused is punished only after his or her
guilt is proved beyond a shadow of doubt. Similarly, justice demands that in the trial of a civil case, the
dispute must be decided strictly in accordance with the law and on the principles of equity, justice and
fair-play. Such universally recognized and time-tested principles are also in accordance with the
commands of Islam as the Holy Quran orders that Muslims must avoid injustice, oppression and
destruction.
o The Criminal Justice System in Pakistan comprises of five components i.e. the police, judiciary,
prisons, prosecution, probation and parole.
o Effective criminal justice system is a prerequisite for uploading the rule of law that underpins
political rights, civil liberties and mechanisms of accountability which in turn guarantees the
right to equality of all individuals before the law.
o The Criminal Justice System in Pakistan is outdated and in dismal condition that it is very easy
for any influential and wealthy person to get himself acquitted after committing any sort of
offence.
o Each step has many slips and shorts at enforcement, judicial process and correction stages.
o The inbuilt inadequacies are rendering the system ineffective.
o
o The criminal justice system in Pakistan is known to be faulty, exploitative and inequitable. These
problems are most certainly some of the main causes behind high crime rates. The civil and
criminal justice system in Pakistan is confronted today with the serious crisis of abnormal delays.
o The major and important deficiencies and weaknesses of the criminal justice system of Pakistan
are accurate reporting of crime to the police, malpractices during litigation, delayed submission
of challans to the courts by public prosecutors, lopsided and long duration of trials where the
47
accused is considered to be the favorite child of the court, overcrowding of jails due to a large
number of under-trial prisoners, underdeveloped system of parole and probation and capacity
issues. These weaknesses, especially capacity issues, are not restricted to any one segment of the
criminal justice system – all components including law enforcement, judiciary and
corrections/prisons equally fall short.
o
FACTORS/CAUSES:
Broken family and improper socialization
Lack of interest in education
Lack of religious education and morality
Lack of basic facilities
Desire of accumulation of wealth through any means
Mass media exposure
9. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
a. Systems of Stratification:
A system, by which a society ranks categories (group) of people in a hierarchy (order).
It has four basic principles;
o Social stratification is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences.
o Social stratification carries over from generation to generation.
o Social stratification is universal but variable.
o Social stratification involves not just inequality but beliefs as well.
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SYSTEMS OF STRATIFICATION
Sociologists distinguish between two types of systems of stratification. Closed and Open System
Closed systems accommodate little change in social position. They do not allow people to shift levels
and do not permit social relationships between levels.
Open systems, which are based on achievement, allow movement and interaction between layers and
classes. Different systems reflect, emphasize, and foster certain cultural values and shape individual
beliefs.
Stratification systems include Class systems and Caste systems, as well as Meritocracy.
Caste systems:
o Caste systems are closed stratification systems in which people can do little or nothing to change
their social standing.
o A caste system is one in which people are born into their social standing and will remain in it
their whole lives. People are assigned occupations regardless of their talents, interests, or
potential. There are virtually no opportunities to improve a person’s social position.
o E.g. in the Hindu caste tradition, people were expected to work in the occupation of their caste
and to enter into marriage according to their caste. Accepting this social standing was considered
a moral duty. Cultural values reinforced the system. Caste systems promote beliefs in fate,
destiny, and the will of a higher power, rather than promoting individual freedom as a value. A
person who lived in a caste society was socialized to accept his or her social standing.
Class systems:
o A class system is based on both social factors and individual achievement. A class consists of a
set of people who share similar status with regard to factors like wealth, income, education, and
occupation. Unlike caste systems, class systems are open. People are free to gain a different level
of education or employment than their parents. They can also socialize with and marry members
of other classes, which allow people to move from one class to another.
o In a class system, occupation is not fixed at birth. Though family and other societal models help
guide a person toward a career, personal choice plays a role.
Meritocracy:
o Meritocracy is an ideal system based on the belief that social stratification is the result of
personal effort—or merit—that determines social standing. High levels of effort will lead to a
high social position, and vice versa.
o The concept of meritocracy is an ideal—because a society has never existed where social rank
was based purely on merit. Because of the complex structure of societies, processes like
socialization, and the realities of economic systems, social standing is influenced by multiple
factors—not merit alone.
o Inheritance and pressure to conform to norms, for instance, disrupt the notion of a pure
meritocracy. While a meritocracy has never existed, sociologists see aspects of meritocracies in
modern societies when they study the role of academic and job performance and the systems in
place for evaluating and rewarding achievement in these areas.
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b. Dimensions of Stratification
Following are the elements of social stratification which are prevalent in society;
1. Economic resources
2. Occupation
3. Prestige
4. Power
5. Caste
6. Education
d. Poverty:
Poverty is the inability to maintain minimal standards of food, clothing, shelter and health care.
Reasons:
There are many reasons of poverty but few prominent and globally present ones are given below.
1. Inadequate access to clean water and nutritious food
2. Little or no access to livelihoods or jobs
3. Conflict/warfare
4. Discrimination and social inequality
5. Lack of education
6. Centralization of power and corruption
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7. Imbalanced taxes
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g. Mass Communication
h. Role of Institutions in developing law abiding society
i. Institutions, deviancy & Crime
j. Implication of dysfunctional institutions on Society
FAMILY:
Affect socialization the most and is very important as compare to rest of the agents.
High income parents wants think for themselves + be popular + more successful
o More educated jobs that demand independence + imagination + creativity
o Want their children to follow these things and qualities
o Want their children to achieve more and push them to do so
o Provide them will better and best education along with extracurricular activities
PARENTS ACT IN WAYS THAT ENCOURAGE THEIR CHILDREN TO FOLLOW IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS
EDUCATION:
The process whereby the social heritage of a group is passed on from one generation to another as well
as the process whereby the child become socialized.
Educational institutes shape our attitude and prepare us for behaving in a certain manner in defined
situation.
It supplies us with the instruments by which we can realize our social goals.
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It is the reconstruction of experience.
TYPES OF EDUCATION:
Formal education- School, college, universities
o Provides environment to children where they interact with people from different background.
o This helps them understand things from different viewpoints and important factors like race and
social class.
o Schooling helps them to mix up with people from different background.
GENDER:
o School also plays just as important role in socialization as family.
o Experiment show at school boys engage in more physical activities+ spend more time outdoors
(aggressive)
o Girls More likely to help teachers with various housework tasks. (quieter)
FUNCTIONS:
i. Cultural transmission
ii. Social integration
iii. Direction for future occupation selection
iv. Techniques of learning skills
v. Socialization
vi. Rational thinking
vii. Self-awareness
viii. Importance of relations
ix. Character building
RELIGION:
“It is a unified system of beliefs and practices related to sacred things that set apart and are forbidden,
which unite people into a moral community”.
“A social institution involving beliefs and practices based on recognizing the sacred”.
“System of beliefs and practices, which are standardized, formalized and viewed by virtually all
society’s members as necessary and true”.
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ELEMENTS OF RELIGION:
i. Rituals
ii. Emotions
iii. Belief
iv. Organization
v. Sacred objects
vi. Symbolism
vii. Sect
Religion is a matter of faith, belief based on conviction rather than on scientific evidence.
We define most objects, events, or experiences as profane, “outside the temple”, included as an
ordinary element of everyday life.
Some things sacred, set apart as extraordinary, inspiring awe and reverence. Setting the sacred
apart from the profane is the essence of all religious belief.
FUNCTIONS OF RELIGION:
i. Removes fear and anxiety
ii. Relation between man and universe
iii. Relation between man and God
iv. Judgement of right and wrong
v. Preservation of values
vi. Religion creates purity and cleanliness
vii. Religion is a socializing institution
viii. Religion creates social solidarity
WORLD RELIGIONS:
Islam
Christianity
Judaism
Hinduism
Buddhism
Confucianism
ECONOMIC STRUCTURE:
Property ownership
Labour force
Distribution of production
Economic norms
Exchange value
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FUNCTIONS OF ECONOMIC STRUCTURE:
Social stratification
Power an authority
Interdependence of other institutions
Socialization
Need satisfaction
Income generation and employment
Division of labor and specialization
SECTORS OF ECONOMY:
Primary Sector: The part of the economy that draws raw materials from the natural environment.
o The primary sector—agriculture, raising animals, fishing, forestry, and mining—is largest in
low-income nations.
Secondary sector: The part of the economy that transforms raw materials into manufactured goods.
o It includes operations such as refining petroleum into gasoline and turning metals into tools and
automobiles.
Tertiary sector: The part of the economy that involves services rather than goods.
ECONOMIC SYSTEMS:
Every society’s economic system makes a statement about justice by determining who is entitled to
what. Two general economic models are capitalism and socialism. No nation anywhere in the world has
an economy that is completely one or the other; capitalism and socialism represent two ends of a
continuum along which all real-world economies can be located.
Capitalism: An economic system in which natural resources and the means of producing goods and
services are privately owned.
o Private ownership of property
o Pursuit of personal profit
o Competition and consumer choice
Socialism: An economic system in which natural resources and the means of producing goods and
services are collectively owned.
o Collective ownership of property
o Pursuit of collective goals
o Government control of the economy
Communism: a hypothetical economic and political system in which all members of a society are
socially equal.
o Karl Marx- viewed socialism as one important step on the path toward the ideal of a communist
society that abolishes all class divisions.
o Communist goal has not been achieved in any country.
Welfare capitalism: An economic and political system that combines a mostly market-based economy
with extensive social welfare programs.
o Under welfare capitalism, the government owns some of the largest industries and services, such
as transportation, the mass media, and health care etc.
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o Sweden, Italy etc.
State capitalism: An economic and political system in which companies are privately owned but
cooperate closely with the government.
o Governments work in partnership with large companies, supplying financial assistance and
controlling foreign imports to help their businesses compete in world markets.
o Japan, South Korea, Singapore etc.
Totalitarianism- highly centralized political system that extensively regulates people’s lives.
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o Such governments have a total concentration of power, allowing no organized opposition.
Denying the people the right to assemble and controlling access to information, these
governments create an atmosphere of personal isolation and fear.
o Socialization in totalitarian societies is intensely political with the goal of obedience and
commitment to the system.
SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF POLITICAL SYSTEMS:
To regulate relationship with society.
Welfare work.
Defense against foreign danger.
To create social control.
Elections.
Legislations.
Implementation of law.
International law.
Evaluation of other institutions.
FUNCTIONS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT:
Institutionalization of norms.
The decision conflicts.
The enforcement of norms.
The defense of society.
Ethical Issue:
o Now that technological advances are giving human beings the power to draw the line separating
life and death, we must decide how and when to do so. In other words, questions about the use of
medical technology have added an ethical dimension to health and illness.
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Today, medical personnel, family members, and patients themselves face the burden of
deciding when a terminally ill person should die.
o What about Mercy Killing?
Mercy killing is the common term for euthanasia, assisting in the death of a person suffering
from an incurable disease. Euthanasia (from the Greek, meaning “a good death”) poses an
ethical dilemma, being at once an act of kindness and a form of killing.
MEDICINE the social institution that focuses on fighting disease and improving health.
o Holistic medicine an approach to health care that emphasizes the prevention of illness and takes
into account a person’s entire physical and social environment. There are three foundations of
holistic health care;
Treat patients as people
Encourage responsibility, not dependency
Provide personal treatment
MASS COMMUNICATION
Process of dissemination of news and information to one another.
It includes print (newspaper, books, magazine) and electronic media (radio, television).
Mass media have an enormous influence on our attitudes and behavior.
The Extent of Mass Media Exposure- television makes children more passive and less likely to use
their imagination.
o Researchers explain that most television is not itself harmful to children; however, watching
television prevents children from engaging in other activities—especially interacting with other
children and adults—which is vital to social and mental development.
Television and Violence- a study found a strong link between aggressive behavior and the amount of
time elementary school children spend watching television and playing video games.
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wrong behavior he/she is punished according to the formal or informal act. Following are sources through
which social control can be achieved in society.
By socialization
By need satisfaction
By social sanctions
By integration
Institutions are the rules for structuring economic, political, and social life. When fulfilling their
promise, institutions create win-win outcomes by stabilizing actors’ expectations and identifying what
actions are permitted, prescribed, and prohibited.
Over time, even well-functioning institutions can begin to fail or become dysfunctional.
Any social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society.
Any institution when fails to perform its duties, the system of society disrupts in result.
Institutional dysfunction has become increasingly common in important social, political, and economics
arenas. Opinion polls show a decline in trust and confidence in major actors and institutions, including
inter-governmental organizations, governments, firms, NGOs, and religious organization.
For instance, if the institution of Law and government fails to control its citizen, fail to protect the rights
and lives of its citizens, eventually the system of whole society gets disturbed. Crime rate will increase.
Distinction between right and wrong will eventually be eliminated from the minds of citizens. In short
the whole system of society will change, and that too in negative aspect.
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Lecturer: Nimra Ishtiaq
Subject: Sociology
LL.B. Part 1 (5Years)
Session 2019-2020
b. Environmental aspects:
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Natural forces and factors play an important role in unifying or disintegrating the society.
A storm, earthquake, flood, drought, disease and similar natural events even today can disrupt the social
system. Natural calamities like floods, earthquakes, draughts, famines and other natural disasters always
force changes in the social conditions and life of the affected people.
On the one hand these factors and forces act as a source of big loss for the victims; on the other hand
these initiate efforts aimed at rapid reconstruction and development.
The cultural life of the people depends upon the physical environment.
The climate always affects the socio-economic activities of the people.
Change can be through the impact of environmental factors such as drought and famine. The degree of
natural disasters between different countries and regions also lead the different social changes between
the countries. The shift from collecting, hunting and fishing to agriculture may have happened because,
in some areas, the human population grew too large to be sustained by existing resources.
c. Collective behavior:
Activity involving a large number of people, often spontaneous and sometimes controversial.
Collective behavior normally centers around a phenomena which is essentially temporary in nature.
Any group behavior that is not mandated or regulated by an institution.
Unplanned.
It isn’t regulated by any set of rules or procedures.
Unpredictable.
Rumors and misinformation normally run widespread during collective behavior.
This kind of behavior is triggered by rumors, guided by beliefs, hopes, fears, hatred etc.
There are four primary forms of collective behavior: the crowd, the mass, the public, and social
movements.
It takes a fairly large number of people in close proximity to form a crowd. Examples include a group of
people attending a Neil Young concert, attending Canada Day festivities, or joining a worship service.
Turner and Killian (1993) identified four types of crowds. Casual crowds consist of people who are in
the same place at the same time, but who are not really interacting, such as people standing in line at the
post office. Conventional crowds are those who come together for a scheduled event, like a religious
service or rock concert. Expressive crowds are people who join together to express emotion, often at
funerals, weddings, or the like. The final type, acting crowds, focus on a specific goal or action, such as
a protest movement or riot.
d. Social movements:
“It is a collective effort to promote or resist change”.
Social movements are purposeful, organized groups striving to work toward a common goal. These
groups might be attempting to create change to resist change, or to provide a political voice to those
otherwise disenfranchised. Social movements create social change.
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE:
The functionalist perspective looks at the big picture, focusing on the way that all aspects of society are
integral to the continued health and viability of the whole. A functionalist might focus on why social
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movements develop, why they continue to exist, and what social purposes they serve. On one hand,
social movements emerge when there is a dysfunction in the relationship between systems.
The conflict perspective focuses on the creation and reproduction of inequality. Someone applying the
conflict perspective would likely be interested in how social movements are generated through
systematic inequality, and how social change is constant, speedy, and unavoidable. In fact, the conflict
that this perspective sees as inherent in social relations drives social change.
The symbolic interaction perspective studies the day-to-day interaction of social movements, the
meanings individuals attach to involvement in such movements, and the individual experience of social
change. An interactionist studying social movements might address social movement norms and tactics
as well as individual motivations.
Characteristics:
Collective action
Oriented towards social change
Ideology behind movement
Organizational framework
Techniques and results
Types:
General social movements
Specific movements
Expressive movements
Characteristics:
The decline of small, traditional communities.
The expansion of personal choice.
Increasing social diversity.
Orientation toward the future and a growing awareness of time.
Characteristics:
o In important respects, modernity has failed
o The bright light of “progress” is fading
o Science no longer holds the answers
o Cultural debates are intensifying
o Social institutions are changing
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