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Table of contents

1. The concept, subject, object and method of sociology (Subject, object of sociology. Definition of sociology as a science. The concept of society as the main category of sociology. The concept of "social". Basic approaches to sociological analysis)
2. Functions, tasks of sociology, its connection with other sciences (Tasks and functions of sociology. Sociology in the system of the humanities)
3. The structure and levels of sociological knowledge (Approaches to determining the structure of sociology. The concept of general sociological theory. The concept of empirical sociology. The concept of "middle-level theory". The concept of micro- and macrosociology. Elements of a system of sociological knowledge)
4. The concept of social law and its types (The concept of social law and its types)
5. The origin and development of sociology in the XNUMXth century (The origin and development of sociology in the XNUMXth century. Stages of development of sociology)
6. The works of scientists of the XIX century, which contributed to the development of sociological knowledge)
7. Society as a social organism (Society according to G. Spencer. Factors of social processes in the theory of G. Spencer. The concept of social control in the theory of G. Spencer)
8. The sociological doctrine of Karl Marx (K. Marx on alienation. Exploitation in social relations. Marxist sociology after K. Marx)
9. Emile Durkheim and his theory of social development (Emile Durkheim's sociological realism. "Sociologism" as a social theory. E. Durkheim's theory of social fact. The structure of sociology according to E. Durkheim. The problem of social connection in E. Durkheim's theory. Types of social solidarity. Analysis by E. Durkheim of the Social Causes of Suicides Typology of Suicides According to E. Durkheim)
10. Sociology of Max Weber (Understanding sociology of M. Weber. The concept of "ideal type". The concept of social action. Ideal types of social actions. The concept of rationalization of social life. Sociology of domination by M. Weber and its types. The concept of bureaucracy in the theory of M. Weber)
11. History of foreign sociology of the XX century. Research approaches to the study of society and the main paradigms of modern sociology
12. Sociology in Russia (Peculiarities and stages of development of sociology in Russia. The main provisions of the sociological heritage of P. Sorokin)
13. Society as a system. Social relations (The concept of "society" and its interpretation. The modern concept of society and culture. Society as an object of study of megasociology. Social structures, groups and communities)
14. Culture as an object of study of sociology (The concept of culture. The concept of material and non-material culture. Sociological approach to the study of culture. Basic theoretical approaches in the study of culture. Elements of culture. Functions of culture. Cultural universals and diversity of cultural forms)
15. Human and society. Personality socialization (The concepts of "man", "individual", "personality". Sociological theories of personality. Socialization of personality. Stages of socialization. Personality in the system of social statuses and roles)
16. Social interaction as the basis of social phenomena (The essence of social interaction. Theories of social interaction. The concept of social exchange. The concept of symbolic interactionism. The concept of impression management)
17. Social institutions (The concept of a social institution. Types of social institutions. Functions of social institutions. Basic characteristics of social institutions. Development of social institutions and institutionalization)
18. Social systems and social organizations (System approach: general provisions. Systemological concepts. The concept of "social system". The concept of social organization. Social organization as a type of social system. Types of social organizations. Elements of organization. Management of organizations)
19. The social structure of society and stratification (The essence and causes of social inequality. The concept, content, foundations of social stratification. The foundations of stratification. The concept of one-dimensional and multidimensional stratification. classes Social stratification of modern societies The concept of "lifestyle" Social mobility and its types Intragenerational and intergenerational mobility Vertical and horizontal mobility Individual and group mobility The concept of migration
20. Small groups as an object of sociological research (The concept of a small group. Typology of small groups. Structure of a small group. Social and psychological parameters of a small group. Dynamic processes in a small group. Leadership in a small group)
21. Public opinion (Concept, subject and object of public opinion. Means and stages of public opinion formation. Functions and characteristics of public opinion. Methodology for studying public opinion. Public opinion and social stereotypes as the results of mass communication. Rumors as an example of informal communication)
22. Deviant behavior and social control (The concept and types of deviant behavior. Explanation of deviant behavior in the theory of labeling. Explanation of deviation from the position of the theory of social solidarity. Anomic concept of deviation. The essence and forms of social control. The main components of social control)
23. Social conflicts and ways to resolve them (The concept of conflict. Sociological theories of conflict. Conflict as an indicator of contradictions. The structure of social conflict. Typology of conflicts. Components of a conflict situation. Classification of conflict strategies)
24. Methodology and methods of sociological research (The purpose of applied sociology and its social significance. The system of concepts of sociological research. General characteristics of a specific sociological research (CSI). Types of sociological research. Program of sociological research. Characteristics of the structural elements of CSI. Sociometric techniques. Focus group methodology)

1. Subject, object of sociology

Under the object, as a rule, understand the range of phenomena (phenomena) subject to its study. The object of sociological knowledge is society. The term sociology comes from the Latin "societas" - society and the Greek "logos" - "doctrine", meaning in literal translation "the doctrine of society". In a wide scientific circulation, this term was introduced in the middle of the nineteenth century. French philosopher Auguste Comte. But even before that, the great scientists and philosophers of mankind were engaged in research and understanding of the problems of society, various aspects of its functioning, leaving the world a rich heritage and unsurpassed work in this area. Comte's project of sociology implied that society is a special entity, distinct from individuals and the state, and subject to its own natural laws. The practical meaning of sociology is participation in the improvement of society, which, in principle, lends itself to such improvement.

Social life is closely connected with the life of an individual and affects the behavior of each person. Thus, the object of study of sociology is social reality, the person himself and everything that surrounds him, which he created with his own hands.

The subject of research is usually understood as a set of characteristics, qualities, properties of an object that are of particular interest to a given science. The subject of sociology is the social life of society, that is, a complex of social phenomena arising from the interaction of people and communities. The concept of "social" is deciphered as referring to the life of people in the process of their relationships. The vital activity of people is realized in society in three traditional spheres (economic, political, spiritual) and one non-traditional - social. The first three give a horizontal section of society, the fourth - a vertical one, implying a division according to the subjects of social relations (ethnic groups, families, etc.). These elements of the social structure in the process of their interaction in traditional spheres form the basis of social life, which in all its diversity exists, is recreated and changes only in the activities of people.

Society can be represented as a system of interacting and interconnected communities and institutions, forms and methods of social control. The personality manifests itself through a set of social roles and statuses that it plays or occupies in these social communities and institutions. At the same time, the status is understood as the position of a person in society, which determines access to education, wealth, power, and so on. Thus, sociology studies social life, that is, the interaction of social subjects on issues related to their social status.

It is the totality of such actions that forms the social process as a whole, and in it some general tendencies can be distinguished, which are sociological laws. The difference between sociological laws and mathematical, physical, chemical laws is that the former are approximate and inaccurate, they may or may not occur, because they completely depend on the will and actions of people and are of a probabilistic nature. You can predict events in advance, manage them and calculate possible alternatives, choosing the preferred option. The role of sociology and sociological research immeasurably increases in crisis situations, when it becomes important to take into account public opinion, its reorientation and change of ideals and paradigms.

Sociology studies the social structure of society, social groups, cultural system, type of personality, recurring social processes, changes occurring in people, while emphasizing the identification of development alternatives. Sociological knowledge acts as a unity of theory and practice, empiricism. Theoretical research is an explanation of social reality based on laws, empirical research is specific detailed information about the processes taking place in society (observations, surveys, comparisons).

2. Definition of sociology as a science

The definition of sociology as a science is formed from the designation of the object and subject. Its numerous variants with different formulations have a substantial identity or similarity. Sociology is defined in a variety of ways:

1) as a scientific study of society and social relations (Neil Smelser, USA);

2) as a science that studies almost all social processes and phenomena (Anthony Giddens, USA);

3) as a study of the phenomena of human interaction and phenomena arising from this interaction (Pitirim Sorokin, Russia - USA);

4) as a science of social communities, the mechanisms of their formation, functioning and development, etc. The variety of definitions of sociology reflects the complexity and versatility of its object and subject.

3. The concept of society as the main category of sociology

Society is the main category of sociology, the main subject of its study. In the broad sense of the word, society is an integral organization of people within which they live together, it is a single social organism that has its own elements, spatial and temporal boundaries. The degree of organization of societies varies depending on historical and natural conditions. But society is always a multi-level system, which can be conditionally divided into separate floors. At the same time, society will be presented in its entirety on the top floor. Slightly lower are social institutions - groups of people that maintain stability and stable forms for a long time (marriage, family, state, church, science), social communities of people (such as a nation, people, class, group, layer). And, finally, the lower floor is the individual world of a person.

Society consists of subsystems: economic (material sphere), political (control system), social (social ties - ethnic, national, cultural, religious relations).

4. The concept of "social". Basic approaches to sociological analysis

The social is a combination of certain properties and features (social relations) of social communities (classes, groups of people) in the process of their joint activity in specific conditions, manifested in their relationship to each other, to their position in society, to the phenomena and processes of social life. A social phenomenon or process occurs when the behavior of even one individual is influenced by another individual or social group. It is in the process of interacting with each other that people influence each other and thereby contribute to the fact that each of them becomes the bearer and exponent of any social qualities. Thus, social connections, social interaction, social relations and the way they are organized are objects of sociological research.

We can distinguish the following main features that characterize the specifics of the social.

First, it is a common property inherent in different groups of people and is the result of their relationships.

Secondly, this is the nature and content of relations between different groups of people, depending on the place they occupy and on the role they play in various social structures.

Thirdly, it is the result of "the joint activity of various individuals", manifested in communication and in their interaction.

The social arises precisely in the course of people's interaction, and is conditioned by the differences in their place and role in specific social structures.

Basic approaches to sociological analysis. In the sociological analysis of society, two traditions, two approaches are observed: macro- and micro-sociological. The macrosociological or organic approach (represented by Plato and Aristotle) ​​suggests that society is a single whole, structured into parts. The method used by scientists within the framework of this approach is philosophical analysis (induction, deduction, analysis, synthesis).

The microsociological or atomistic approach (representatives of Democritus and Leibniz) implies that the main thing is a person, and society is the sum of individuals. The method of use is empirical, i.e., experimental analysis (observations, surveys, experiments). It is important to be able to combine these two approaches, and reliable sociological knowledge is a consequence of the fact that macro- and micro-levels are considered in close relationship.

LECTURE No. 2. Functions, tasks of sociology, its connection with other sciences

1. Tasks and functions of sociology

Sociology as an independent science has its own tasks. Sociology, studying social life in various forms and spheres, firstly, solves scientific problems that are associated with the formation of knowledge about social reality, the development of methods for sociological research. Secondly, sociology studies the problems that are associated with the transformation of social reality, the analysis of ways and means of purposeful influence on social processes.

The role of sociology is especially growing in the context of the transformation of our society, since every decision made, every new step taken by the authorities, affects social interests, changes the position and behavior of many interacting groups. Under these conditions, the governing bodies urgently need complete, accurate and truthful information about the real state of affairs in any sphere of public life, about the needs, interests, behavior of social groups in a given situation, as well as the possible impact of their behavior on social processes.

An equally important task of sociology is to provide a reliable "feedback" to the management of society. After all, the adoption of the most correct and necessary decision by the highest authorities is the first step in the transformation of reality. This makes it necessary to constantly monitor the implementation of decisions, the flow of specific processes in society.

We must also not forget about such an important task of sociology as the formation of social thinking among people, and the activation of human activity, the social energy of the masses and directing it in the direction that society needs. This task is addressed primarily to sociologists.

The tasks facing sociological science determine its functions.

Sociology performs many different functions in society. The main ones are:

1) epistemological - gives new knowledge about society, social groups, individuals and the patterns of their behavior. Of particular importance belongs to special sociological theories that reveal patterns and prospects for the social development of society. Sociological theories provide scientific answers to topical problems of our time, indicate real ways and methods of social transformation of the world;

2) applied - provides specific sociological information for solving practical, scientific and social problems. Revealing the patterns of development of various spheres of society, sociological research provides the specific information necessary to exercise control over social processes;

3) social forecast and control - warns about deviations in the development of society, predicts and models trends in social development. On the basis of sociological research, sociology puts forward scientifically based forecasts regarding the development of society in the future, which are the theoretical basis for building long-term plans for social development, and also gives practical recommendations developed by sociologists for more effective management of social processes;

4) humanistic - develops social ideals, programs for the scientific, technical, socio-economic and socio-cultural development of society.

2. Sociology in the system of the humanities

Sociology occupies a special place in the system of the humanities. This is due to the following reasons:

1) it is a science about society, its phenomena and processes;

2) it includes a general sociological theory, or the theory of society, which acts as the theory and methodology of all other humanities;

3) all the humanities that study various aspects of the life of society and man always include the social aspect, i.e. those laws that are studied in a particular area of ​​public life and are implemented through the activities of people;

4) the technique and methods of studying a person and his activity, which are developed by sociology, are necessary for all social and human sciences, since they are used by them for their research;

5) a whole system of research has developed, which is carried out at the intersection of sociology and other sciences. These studies are called social studies (socio-economic, socio-political, socio-demographic, etc.).

The specificity of sociology lies in its borderline position between natural science and socio-humanitarian knowledge. It simultaneously uses the methods of philosophical and socio-historical generalizations and the specific methods of the natural sciences - experiment and observation. Sociology studies both the general laws of being (ontology) and the general principles of cognition (epistemology, logic, methodology). But philosophy penetrates most deeply into the structure of sociology, becoming part of its theoretical system (especially social philosophy). The connection between sociology and history is also important. Sociology makes extensive use of historical data.

An important role for sociology is played by statistics, which gives it a concrete scientific character.

Sociology closely interacts with psychology. Social psychology is a branch of scientific knowledge that arose at the intersection of sociology and psychology.

With all the sciences of society, sociology is connected by the social aspect of his life; hence socio-economic, socio-demographic and other studies, on the basis of which new "frontier" sciences are born: social psychology, sociobiology, social ecology, etc. In the system of socio-humanitarian knowledge, sociology plays a special role, since it gives other sciences about society scientifically substantiated theory of society through its structural elements and their interaction; methods and techniques of human study.

The significance of sociology for other sciences lies in the fact that it provides a scientifically based theory about society and its structures, provides an understanding of the laws of interaction of its various structures.

LECTURE No. 3. Structure and levels of sociological knowledge

1. Approaches to defining the structure of sociology

In modern sociology, three approaches to the structure of this science coexist.

A meaningful approach requires the presence of three main interrelated components:

1) empiricism, i.e. a complex of sociological research focused on the collection and analysis of real facts of social life using a special methodology;

2) theories - a set of judgments, views, models, hypotheses that explain the processes of development of the social system as a whole and its elements;

3) methodology - a system of principles underlying the accumulation, construction and application of sociological knowledge. The second approach is targeted. Fundamental sociology (basic, academic) is focused on the growth of knowledge and scientific contribution to fundamental discoveries. It solves scientific problems related to the formation of knowledge about social reality, description, explanation and understanding of the processes of social development. Applied sociology is focused on practical use. This is a set of theoretical models, methods, research procedures, social technologies, specific programs and recommendations aimed at achieving a real social effect.

The third approach - large-scale - divides science into macro- and microsociology. The first studies large-scale social phenomena (ethnic groups, states, social institutions, groups, etc.); the second - the spheres of direct social interaction (interpersonal relations, communication processes in groups, the sphere of everyday reality).

In sociology, content-structural elements of different levels are also distinguished: general sociological knowledge; sectoral sociology (economic, industrial, political, leisure, management, etc.); independent sociological schools, directions, concepts, theories.

2. The concept of a general sociological theory

General sociology, depending on the basic approaches that it uses in the process of studying social phenomena, can develop in various directions. In this regard, sometimes they talk about the dominant paradigm in this direction. The concept of a paradigm denotes "the original conceptual scheme, a model for posing problems and solving them, research methods that dominated during a certain historical period in the scientific community." With regard to sociology, this means a certain set of views and methods of scientific research generally recognized by all representatives of a given science (or its separate trend).

In its sociological use, this concept was first mentioned in the work of T.S. Kuhn on the nature of scientific change. According to T. Kuhn, scientists work within paradigms, which are general ways of understanding the world and dictate what kind of research work needs to be done and what types of theory are considered acceptable. In sociology, this concept has an indefinite meaning, denoting sociological schools, each of which develops relatively independently, developing its own methods and theories.

3. The concept of empirical sociology

Empirical sociology is a set of methodological and technical methods for collecting primary sociological information. This is a fairly independent scientific discipline, which has other names. The corresponding academic discipline is called "Methods and Techniques of Concrete Sociological Research". Empirical sociology is also called sociography. This name seems to be more accurate, since it emphasizes the descriptive nature of this discipline.

4. The concept of "theory of the middle level"

Any empirical sociological research is aimed at identifying or solving a specific problem in a specific place and at a specific time. Therefore, the information obtained in the course of such a study is accumulated and comprehended in one or another branch (or special) sociological theory. They are now increasingly referred to as middle-level theories. This concept was introduced into scientific circulation by the American sociologist Robert Merton. A brief definition of "theories of the middle level" R. Merton formulates as follows: these are theories that are in the intermediate space between particular, but also necessary working hypotheses that arise in many in the course of everyday research, and all-encompassing systematic attempts to develop a unified theory that will explain everything observable types of social behavior, social organization and social change.

Middle-range theories include:

1) those sociological concepts that are developed at the intersection of sciences (sociology of law, medical sociology, economic sociology, sociology of management, etc.);

2) various branches of institutional sociology - a special area associated with the study of sustainable forms of organization and regulation of social life (sociology of religion, sociology of education, sociology of marriage and family, etc.);

3) middle-level sociological theories related to the study of certain spheres of social life (agrarian sociology, urban sociology, the sociology of reading, etc.).

5. The concept of micro- and macrosociology

Macrosociology is the theoretical and empirical study of large collectivities (cities, churches) or, more abstractly, social systems and social structures, economic and political systems, the identification of more or less large social changes, as well as the factors influencing such changes. In addition, macrosociology includes such influential theoretical currents as structural functionalism, conflict theory, and neo-evolutionism. Microsociology includes concepts and schools that study the mechanisms of people's behavior, their communication, interaction, and interpersonal relationships. Thus, the theories of exchange and symbolic interactionism are referred to as microsociological. Microsociology is more closely associated with empirical research. Its very formation as an independent field of research is associated with the vigorous development of the technique of applied sociological research of experimental procedures in the 20s and 30s. XNUMXth century Despite certain disagreements and contradictions between representatives of both directions, each of them enriches sociological theory in its own way.

6. Elements of the system of sociological knowledge

The system of sociological knowledge as elements includes social facts, that is, substantiated knowledge obtained as a result of describing certain fragments of reality.

The establishment of social facts is served by such elements of sociological knowledge as:

1) general and special sociological theories (for example, the theory of stratification, the theory of cultural relativism, etc.). The task of these theories is to resolve the issue of the possibilities and limits of knowledge of society in certain aspects. These theories develop within certain theoretical and methodological directions: macro- or microsociology, functionalism or symbolic interactionism;

2) sectoral sociological theories, such as economic sociology, sociology of the family, sociology of the city. Their task is to give a description of individual spheres of the life of society, to substantiate the programs of specific sociological research, to provide an interpretation of empirical data; 3) data collection and analysis methods serve to create an empirical base and primary generalization of empirical data (mass survey, observation, document analysis, experiment). The choice of research method depends on the specification of the object and the objectives of the study, for example, the mood of voters can be studied using a voter survey, an expert survey, or an in-depth interview with a typical voter. According to the method of data collection, the method of their analysis is chosen.

LECTURE No. 4. The concept of social law and its types

1. The concept of social law and its types

Social law is an essential, stable, recurring relationship between social phenomena and processes, primarily in the social activities of people or their actions. Two groups of social laws should be distinguished.

The first group is the laws that have been in force throughout the history of the development of society (the law of the determining role of the mode of production, the law of the consistent causal dependence of various aspects of the life of society, the patterns of transition from one social formation to another, etc.). These laws determine the most general trends in the development of society. They, like all other social laws, are implemented through the activities of people. These laws are the way in which society functions and develops (the law that determines the role of the mode of production).

The second group is the laws that follow from the circumstances that have developed earlier and in which the leading trend in the development of society is manifested, due to the objective laws of its activity and development. This type of social regularity is nothing but the result of concretely developing circumstances that are determined by the objective position of production and society and depend to a greater extent on the will and actions of the classes, groups, and individuals that make up society.

The essence of social laws lies in the fact that they determine the relationship between different individuals and communities, manifesting themselves in their activities. These are relations between peoples, nations, classes, socio-demographic and socio-professional groups, city and countryside, as well as between society and the labor collective, society and family, society and the individual. Laws differ in terms of their duration. General laws operate in all social systems (for example, the law of value and commodity-money relations). The effect of specific laws is limited to one or more social systems (for example, laws associated with the transition from one type of society to another or the period of primary accumulation of capital).

LECTURE No. 5. The origin and development of sociology in the XNUMXth century

1. The origin and development of sociology in the XNUMXth century

The first place among the immediate predecessors of sociology is occupied by Charles Louis de Montesquieu (1689-1755). He began to study the problems of the so-called civil society, explored the types of political devices. At the same time, he went beyond the leveling of the state with society, but presented the political characteristics of society as the main ones deserving the greatest attention of social scientists.

In his work "On the Spirit of Laws", he showed that behind the variety of random phenomena, customs, mores, habits, there are deep reasons caused by the very nature of things, that is, objective laws, and that all social phenomena can be combined into typical groups. He distinguishes three types of laws: civil, criminal and laws of the political system. This formulation of the problem, which is close to sociological, was not fully realized by him.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) completed the development of the social contract theory begun by C. Montesquieu. In the treatises "Did the revival of the sciences and arts contribute to the improvement of morals", "Discourse on the origin and foundations of inequality between people", "On the social contract" and others, he criticized contemporary society and proposed an ideal model of social organization. Both that and another was done by him on the basis of reasoning about the "natural state" of pre-social man.

Adam Smith (1723-1790) is known as a classic of bourgeois political economy, who stimulated the sociological research of capitalist society and armed sociologists with a number of original ideas. The main one is the understanding of society not only and not so much as a state, but as a "labor and exchange union of people", that is, as an economic system. Without denying the need for knowledge of political relations, he insisted on the paramount importance of studying the economic relationships of people.

So, by the combined efforts of C. Montesquieu, J.-J. Rousseau, A. Smith and other thinkers of the XNUMXth - early XNUMXth centuries. social science was brought to such a state when there was a need to create a new science of society based on the integration of the achievements of social philosophy and the practice of studying social phenomena using the methods of the natural sciences.

The birth of sociology is usually associated with the name of the French naturalist Auguste Comte (1798-1857). He was the first to raise the question of creating a science of society that would model itself on the model of the natural sciences. It is no coincidence that this science was called by him "social physics". In the 30s. XNUMXth century O. Comte creates his main scientific work "The Course of Positive Philosophy", where the new name of the science of society sounded - sociology. In the teachings of O. Comte, the most important were his ideas about the application of scientific methods in the study of society and the practical use of science in the field of social reforms.

2. Stages of development of sociology

40th century called the "golden age" of classical sociology: new approaches to the study of society were being formed - positivism (O. Comte, G. Spencer) and Marxism (K. Marx, F. Engels), theoretical science was developed, the first scientific schools and trends were created, sectoral sociological knowledge. Conventionally, this time is called the first stage in the development of sociology and dates it back to the 80-XNUMXs. HGH c.

At the origins of sociology were representatives of social philosophy, political economy, mathematics and empirical social research. Thanks to them, the understanding of society as a system of human interactions gradually crystallized, forming the fundamental structures of social life, which mutually determine each other, function and develop according to objective laws. Since these laws have not been studied before by any science, and since it is impossible to manage social life without their knowledge, there was a need to create a new science of society - sociology. The first attempts to understand these laws showed that this requires new methods of thinking, special theories and ways of obtaining sociological information.

The evolution of sociology since the 90s 20th century until the 1858s. 1917th century at the second stage, it was associated with the development of methods of sociological thinking and the formation of a categorical apparatus. The professionalization and institutionalization of sociology, the creation of specialized periodicals, the growth in the number of new scientific schools testified to the entry of science into its heyday. But sociology became more complex in content and acquired a pluralistic character. The positivist doctrine of O. Comte and G. Spencer found its development in the works of the French scientist Emile Durkheim (1864-1920), the author of a functional theory based on an analysis of the functions of social institutions. In the same years, representatives of the anti-positivist approach to the study of society - humanitarianism - also declared themselves. A school of social action was formed by the German sociologist Max Weber (XNUMX-XNUMX), who was the founder of "understanding" sociology, which, according to him, understands social action and tries to causally explain its course and results. In the development of sociology, this period was a period of crisis of classical science and the search for a new worldview.

20-60s 1902th century characterized by stabilization. This is the beginning of the rapid development of empirical sociology, the wide dissemination and improvement of the methods and techniques of specific sociological research. US sociology came to the fore, trying to correct the "imperfections" of society with the help of empirical research. The most significant theoretical concept of this stage was the structural functionalism of the sociologist Talcott Parsons (1979-1916), which made it possible to present society as a system in all its integrity and inconsistency. T. Parson enriched the theoretical developments of Comte, Spencer, Ducrame. The sociology of the United States was also represented by new theories of the humanist persuasion. A follower of M. Weber, Professor Charles Wright Mills (1962-XNUMX) created a "new sociology" that marked the beginning of critical sociology and the sociology of action in the United States.

The current stage in the development of sociology, which began in the mid-1960s, is characterized by both the expansion of the range of applied research and the revival of interest in theoretical sociology. The main question was about the theoretical basis of empiricism, which caused in the 1970s. "theoretical explosion". He determined the process of differentiation of sociological knowledge without the authoritarian influence of any one theoretical concept. Therefore, the stage is represented by a variety of approaches, concepts and their authors: R. Merton - "the average value of the theory", J. Homans - the theory of social exchange, G. Garfinkel - ethnomethodology, G. Mead and G. Bloomer - the theory of symbolic interactionism, Koder - the theory conflict, etc. One of the directions of modern sociology is the study of the future, covering the general long-term prospects for the future of the earth and mankind.

LECTURE No. 6. The works of scientists of the XIX century, which contributed to the development of sociological knowledge

The fathers of sociology, its classics, can rightfully be called the English philosopher and naturalist Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) and the German scientist, publicist Karl Marx (1818-1883). G. Spencer expanded the rationale for the need for sociology begun by O. Comte, emphasizing not only but also its practical significance for society, legislators, rulers, leaders of local societies.

G. Spencer (the main work "The Foundation of Sociology") was the author of the organic theory, which was based on the assimilation of society to biological organisms, and the theory of social Darwinism, transferring the natural principle of natural selection to society.

K. Marx (the main work "Capital") is an outstanding theorist of capitalism, who explained social development as the result of a change in formations occurring under the influence of economic and socio-political factors (mode of production, classes, class struggle). "What is society, whatever its form?" - K. Marx asked himself and answered: "The product of the interaction of people." Interactions are different: face-to-face and correspondence, direct and indirect, different in terms of reasons and occasions, the measure of duration and constancy, dependence on the consciousness and will of people, importance for individuals and society. Those interactions that determine the content and character of society, function and develop according to objective laws, K. Marx called social relations, highlighting three types in them: economic, political and spiritual.

Along with the above, K. Marx spoke about social relations.

Narrowly understood social relations, according to K. Marx, are objectively predetermined relationships between social groups, primarily social classes.

LECTURE No. 7. Society as a social organism

1. Society according to G. Spencer

From the point of view of organic analogy, G. Spencer considered society as a social organism. He pointed out the following main similarities between social and social organisms:

1) just like a biological organism, society increases in size, grows.

2) as both biological and social organisms grow, their internal structure changes and becomes more complicated;

3) in both biological and social organisms, the complication of structure entails an ever-deepening differentiation of the functions of their various organs;

4) simultaneously in the course of the evolution of the second and third processes, the interaction and mutual influence of all the organs that make up the structure develop and increase;

5) both in society and in a biological organism, when the life of the whole is upset, individual parts can continue their own independent existence for some time. At the same time, while no catastrophe has occurred that shortens the life of the unit, the life of the whole is much longer than the life of its individual components. Spencer points out that it is impossible to identify biological and social organisms. The totality of individual parts of a biological organism forms a concrete (from Latin concretus - "condensed, compacted, fused"). The constituent units of the social organism - society are discrete (from Latin discretus - "separated, intermittent"): the organs that make up the body are closely interconnected by an inextricable link, being in constant contact with each other; and the living units that make up society are spatially separated, free, not in contact with each other, can leave this community, uniting with individuals of another community and entering into its composition.

The very connection between the constituent parts is purely physical in a biological organism. In society, however, its individual units are interconnected in a different way, most often by no means through simple physical contact, but through intellectual and emotional conductors of interaction. These conductors, as well as the results of the interaction, G. Spencer calls supraorganic products. The most important of them is speech, language, with the help of which the interdependence of the elements and parts of society is established, which ensures its organization.

2. Factors of social processes in the theory of G. Spencer

G. Spencer identifies primary and secondary factors. In turn, the primary factors are divided into external and internal. External factors include such as climate, the nature of the relief of the earth's surface, its flora and fauna. To internal - the intellectual and emotional qualities of social units - individuals that make up society. Secondary, or derivatives, are those that are caused by the very process of social evolution, but in the future they begin to influence it - for example, the consequences of deforestation, abundant irrigation or, on the contrary, drainage of the soil, which are caused by purposeful (but not always rational) human activity.

One of the most important factors of social development G. Spencer calls the growth of society, which is both a cause and a consequence of social evolution. Indeed, the division of labor cannot be deep in the small size of society, where there are a small number of individuals who can take on a limited number of functions. As human communities increase in size, they begin to exert ever stronger influence on each other, either through military clashes or through the strengthening of trade and industrial relations. Gradually more and more influential causes of further social changes are constantly accumulating and becoming more complex supraorganic products - both material and purely spiritual.

The growth of society is due to three processes, which take place either together or separately:

1) due to the simple reproduction of members of society, which leads to an increase in their number;

2) internal growth factor;

3) by combining various, originally independent groups into large ones.

The second process, according to G. Spencer, is preferable (more precisely, more common), since the primitive social group never reaches any significant size through simple reproduction. The formation of larger communities is accomplished by combining small groups into larger ones (sometimes voluntarily, but more often by force, by force), and the process of evolution, as a rule, benefits from this.

3. The concept of social control in the theory of G. Spencer

According to G. Spencer, the social organism consists of three main bodies (institutions): regulatory (management), production (supporting) and distribution (means of communication, transport, trade, etc.). All social control, according to Mr. Spencer, rests on fear. Both of these social institutions arose and gradually developed from the simplest embryonic forms that existed in primitive society. Social control of people's behavior in everyday life is carried out by "ceremonial institutions" that are older than the church or the state, and often perform their functions more efficiently than they do.

One of the main features of G. Spencer's system of philosophical and ethical views is that he was a consistent supporter of the idea of ​​individual freedom as an independent value. He was firmly convinced that society exists for individuals, and not vice versa. He considered the condition for the successful development of society to be the assertion of the principle of equal freedom of individuals, which is limited only by the possibilities of ensuring freedom for other individuals, the equal influence of all members of society and social strata on political decision-making, as well as free competition.

G. Spencer considered socialism unacceptable, since this system, in his opinion, in any of its forms implied slavery.

LECTURE No. 8. The sociological doctrine of Karl Marx

1. K. Marx on alienation

Alienation is a special kind of relationship that develops between people. They are presented in the form of a loss of control by a person over some objects or even his own qualities that make up his own essence. The essence of alienation is most clearly manifested in property relations and in relations of market exchange.

Marx, in a number of his works, beginning with the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844, goes far beyond such an interpretation of alienation. He believed that the foundations of relations of alienation are rooted in the very social structures that deny people their essential human nature. He was convinced that the human essence is realized in labor, creative activity receives its logical conclusion in cooperation with others, through which people transform the world outside themselves. The process of production is one of the "objectifications" through which people create material objects that embody human creativity, but at the same time stand as entities separate from their creators. Alienation takes place in those cases when, having become objectified, a person does not recognize himself in his product, which becomes alien to him, "is no longer his property" and "opposes him as an autonomous force."

Marx singled out four specific manifestations of alienation in capitalist society:

1) the worker is alienated from the product of his labor, since what he produces is appropriated by others, and he does not control the future fate of this product;

2) the worker is alienated from the act of production. Work becomes an alienated activity that gives no inner satisfaction, presses on the worker as an external coercive force, and ceases to be an ending in itself and yet includes labor at a price offered by someone else as forced labor. In fact, work becomes an object of trade, which is sold and whose only value for the worker is the demand for it as an agent of production;

3) the worker is alienated from his human nature or from his "generic being" because the first two aspects deprive him of the specifically human qualities of productive activity which separate it from the activity of animals and thus determine proper human nature;

4) the worker is alienated from other people, since capitalism transforms all his relations with other people into market relations; people are judged by their position in the market rather than by their purely human qualities. People begin to consider each other as some kind of "incarnation" (as a worker, capitalist, boss or subordinate), not as individuals. Capital itself is a source of further alienation within a developed capitalist economy. This is due to the fact that capitalist accumulation itself gives rise to its own needs, which reduce people to the level of commodities. Workers become agents of capital, and their activities are dominated by their ability to benefit the employer rather than by their own human needs and essences.

The concept of alienation is used today in modern sociological theory to describe a fairly wide range of social phenomena. This includes, in particular, any feeling of dissatisfaction of the individual with the society in which he lives; and the feeling that moral decay reigns in society, and the feeling of powerlessness before the stronghold of social institutions.

2. Exploitation in social relationships

According to K. Marx, the essence of social relations between the owners of production and workers who do not have such property, but who work with the help of these means of production that do not belong to them, finds its expression in exploitation. Moreover, exploitation is not the prerogative of capitalism alone. "Wherever a part of society has a monopoly on the means of production, the worker, whether free or not free, must add to the labor time necessary for his own maintenance, surplus labor time in order to produce the means of subsistence for the owner of production."

Exploitation is nothing but the gratuitous appropriation of a part of the product of labor of the direct producer.

Labor theory of value. The concept of exploitation underlies the theory of surplus value. The part of the product of labor appropriated free of charge by the owner of funds is measured by surplus value. Suppose the working day is ten hours. During part of it, say six hours, the worker will produce commodities whose value is equal to the value of his existence. During the remaining four hours, the worker will create surplus value, which is appropriated by the capitalist. Thus, surplus value is nothing but the value remaining after the value of the reproduction of his labor power is deducted from the total value of the product produced by the worker - a necessary value measured under capitalism by wages.

It is important enough for understanding many Marxist concepts (especially for the theory of socio-economic formations) to realize the essence not so much of surplus value itself, but of the ratio of necessary and surplus value in the total volume of produced value. The averaged-but-generalized value of this proportion, characteristic of a given society, can give an idea of ​​many parameters of the development of a given society: the level of development of the productive forces, the degree of exploitation, and the dominant nature of property. The very appearance of surplus value signifies the possibility of the emergence of private property and commodity-money relations.

3. Marxist sociology after K. Marx

A huge number of works have been written about the fate of Marxist teaching, including in Russia, especially in the 90s. XNUMXth century Marxism as a whole is a rather complex, multi-layered complex of interrelated theories, including philosophical, economic, political concepts and ideological doctrines. There are a number of areas in sociology where the work of K. Marx has spread and where at least some of his principles remain true. Let us point out some of these trends, mentioning the most prominent authors whose concepts have received the greatest recognition in sociological science:

1) in the analysis of the class structure, some early Marxists argued that the scheme of K. Marx should be revised, since there are no real signs of the collapse of capitalism or the strengthening of the class struggle. Much of the effort has been spent trying to adapt the main idea of ​​the inevitable conflict between capital and labor to the conditions of modern capitalism. This took the form of new theories of class conflict that took into account changes in the way property was owned, the rise of a middle class, and changes in industrial relations. In addition, some Marxists, and above all A. Gramsci, V.I. Lenin and D. Lukacs paid special attention to the concept of class consciousness as a prerequisite for the class struggle;

2) in the analysis of the political life of society, the argument that the state is an instrument of the ruling class opened the way for a more complex analysis of the state as relatively autonomous from the ruling class, responding to pressure from the working class through the institution of parliamentary democracy, but ultimately acting primarily in the interests of capital;

3) revisions of Marx's economic views took the form of distinguishing between different fractions of capital and taking into account the monopoly phase of capitalism, which differs significantly from the earlier phase of free competition that dominated during the life of K. Marx;

4) a characteristic feature of capitalism of the XX century. was his ability to seek markets in undeveloped countries, and often to colonize these countries and take them under his control. Many studies have linked the chronic underdevelopment of some societies with the satisfaction of capitalism's need for expansion;

5) in the Marxist sociology of the XNUMXth century. interest in the analysis of the role that ideology plays in the life of society has increased significantly. It has been argued, in particular, that capitalism owes its long-term survival to the establishment of ideological control exercised by the ruling class. This type of analysis was inspired by the notion of hegemony put forward by A. Gramsci and the work of the Frankfurt School;

6) there is a continued interest in the study of the philosophy and method of Marxism, in particular in the Frankfurt School, Critical Theory, as well as in the later works of J. Habermas and the followers of L. Althusser. Often the study of methodology was supplemented by attempts to purge Marxism of positivism;

7) many sociologists used the work of Marxist historians, who analyzed social changes through class struggle, and in more recent times, resorting to the concept of the mode of production for this.

LECTURE No. 9. Emile Durkheim and his theory of social development

1. The sociological realism of Émile Durkheim

Emile Durkheim is widely known as one of the "godfathers" of modern sociology, whose work has largely helped to define the subject content and establish the autonomy of sociology as a scientific and academic discipline. He was one of the most prominent figures in the sociology of the classical stage of its development. The very institutionalization of sociology in France, the country where this science was born, is closely connected with the name of E. Durkheim. Many consider him a consistent successor of positivism in the study of society. This is probably partly true and quite natural, since the authority of O. Comte as the founder of sociology was quite high. Indeed, E. Durkheim, being the successor of the Comte positivist tradition in sociology, was largely guided by models of natural science analysis (especially in the early stages of his scientific activity), placing at the forefront of his scientific method the need for empirical validity, accuracy and evidence of theoretical positions.

At the same time, it should be noted that E. Durkheim, considering himself to a certain extent a follower of the founder of sociology, treated his creative heritage with a certain degree of criticism. Recognizing the value of empirical observation, he at the same time gave due credit to the need for a purely speculative theoretical analysis in order to understand the underlying causes and origins of social phenomena. Gradually, E. Durkheim forms his own sociological method, which is most clearly outlined in the work "Method of Sociology".

2. "Sociologism" as a social theory

The theoretical and methodological basis on which E. Durkheim built his system of sociological views was the so-called "sociologism", which is considered one of the varieties of sociological realism. The main feature of this trend was to oppose itself to nominalism. Sociological realism proclaims as its paradigm the need and requirement to recognize human society as a special reality (along with the reality of the natural environment and the reality of the inner mental world of a person). This social reality as a special subject of study before the advent of sociology was not dealt with by any of the scientific disciplines.

E. Durkheim tried to show that society has its own reality, which cannot be reduced to psychological facts. As he argued, society is "a reality existing in itself / sui generis /". Society resists our thoughts and desires because it has an objectivity that is comparable to the objectivity of nature, although it is not the same.

Strictly speaking, sociologism does not claim to have a completely special interpretation and explanation of social life as a separate general sociological theory. The essence of this philosophical and sociological concept is rather the assertion of a certain initial position: the recognition of the paramount and exceptional importance of social reality in human existence, as well as the use of sociological methods to explain this existence.

Since society is recognized not only as a specific, but also as a dominant, higher reality, the sociological way of explaining everything that happens in the world around us (sociologization) is proclaimed as the only true one. It must either exclude other methods or include them as a special case.

The ontological (essential) aspect of sociologism consists primarily in affirming the autonomy of social reality in relation to other types of reality - physical, biological, psychological. This reality is included in the universal world order. It is solid, stable and subject to the action of certain laws.

3. E. Durkheim's theory of social fact

The content of social reality consists of social facts, which should not be reduced to economic, legal, or any other facts of reality. These social facts have the following independent characteristics:

1) objective existence, i.e., not dependent on any single individual. In order to understand the essence of social facts, they must be observed from the outside, rediscovered, as we discover the facts of physical reality. Therefore, says E. Durkheim, "... social facts should be considered as things. Things are everything that is given to us, that appears or, rather, is imposed on observation." The main error of all previous scientific disciplines that studied society, according to E. Durkheim, was that in their study of social phenomena they proceeded from the meaning that we ourselves attach to them; meanwhile, their real significance can be discovered only with the help of objective scientific research;

2) the ability to put pressure on any single individual by coercive force, and therefore determine his actions. The regulation of an individual's behavior in society is determined by the totality of social facts operating in the society in which he lives, and pushing him to commit just such and not other acts. As one of the most important tasks of sociological science, E. Durkheim defined the study of these social facts, which, in fact, depreciated explanations of social action from the point of view of "free will". E. Durkheim divided the entire set of social facts into two main groups: morphological and spiritual. Morphological, forming a kind of "material substrate" of society, include, for example, population density. It really does not depend on the actions and intentions of any of the individual individuals; but their living conditions depend on the density quite strongly. At the same time, it is necessary to distinguish between the physical density of society and the moral one, by which E. Durkheim meant the frequency of contacts or the intensity of communication between them. The combination of these two types of density determines the features of social differentiation or social division of labor in a given society. When explaining social phenomena, E. Durkheim used demographic and socio-ecological factors (including the structure and degree of complexity of social groups). Morphological social facts are phenomena, the totality of which forms the material conditions of people's lives and are not of a natural nature, but are generated by the activity of society itself.

As for spiritual social facts, they are no less objective (that is, they have an external nature in relation to each individual member of society, do not depend on him and have coercive power) than morphological ones, although they do not have such a "material" embodiment. . These include "collective representations", the totality of which forms a collective or general representation.

Social norms and other social factors influence the behavior of individual members of society through certain mechanisms of their assimilation, and the effectiveness of the action of social regulators is manifested in the fact that the implementation of the norms becomes desirable for the individual himself.

4. The structure of sociology according to E. Durkheim

The structure of sociology, according to E. Durkheim, should be three main branches: morphology, physiology and general sociology. Social morphology, like anatomy, should study how society is organized and what are the material forms of manifestation of its structure: social organizations, composition and density of the population, distribution over the occupied territory, etc. Social physiology studies various spheres of the life of society and is divided into a number of particular sociological theories: the sociology of religion, the sociology of morals, the sociology of law, economic sociology, etc. And, finally, general sociology synthesizes the achievements and conclusions of the first two sections and establishes the most general social laws.

5. The problem of social connection in the theory of E. Durkheim

The theme of studying the nature and nature of social communication is central to all the scientific work of E. Durkheim. Whatever he turns to - to the problems of the typology of societies or to the identification of social factors of suicide, to the study of the social division of labor or the disclosure of the role of religion - everywhere he is constantly occupied with one thing: what makes people rally together, and what separates them?

"Everyone knows that we love someone who is like us, who thinks and feels like us. But the opposite phenomenon is no less common. It often happens that we feel attracted to people who are not like us, precisely because they are not like us."

Based on this, he considers it necessary to distinguish between two forms of social solidarity, which he calls mechanical and organic. He introduces these concepts in his first work "On the social division of labor", believing that it is the nature and depth of the division of labor that reflect the level of development of society and form one or another dominant type of social connection. E. Durkheim here was largely based on the idea of ​​constructing ideal types of societies, between which there is a certain historical and logical continuity. Solidarity is seen as the highest universal principle, the highest moral value. Therefore morally and the very division of labor.

6. Types of social solidarity

Mechanical solidarity prevails, according to E. Durkheim, in archaic or primitive societies. It is, to use his own terminology, solidarity due to similarity. Members of a community or community are attracted to each other due to the fact that they have a lot in common: language, customs, beliefs, even common historical memories (for example, in the form of oral traditions), in the same situations they experience the same feelings. The same mechanisms lead to repulsion from representatives of other tribes. This is solidarity on the principle of "friend or foe."

The organic solidarity that takes shape in more developed, advanced societies is a product of the differentiation of the functions of its members, the deepening of the division of social labor. People here, the farther away, the more they differ from each other in a variety of characteristics. However, precisely because of this, they need each other more and more, they cannot do without each other: the exchange of functions, activities and its products leads to a deeper interdependence, and hence to an ever greater cohesion of these "social particles".

Each of the people individually is imperfect, complementing each other, they create a powerful integration. This type of solidarity is called "organic" by analogy with the organs of a living being, each of which is not like the others and performs its own specific functions, and only together they create opportunities for the functioning of the organism as a whole.

Under the dominance of mechanical solidarity, individual consciousness is absorbed by the collective. The emergence of human individuality is possible only in those societies where organic solidarity dominates.

For all the persuasiveness of distinguishing two types of solidarity and asserting their predominance in societies of different levels of development, this differentiation is largely analytical in nature. Of course, in modern industrial societies there is a considerable number of manifestations of mechanical solidarity: for example, at the basis of family and kinship ties. National, religious, and even party-political relations are nothing but manifestations of mechanical solidarity, since they are built on the basis of interrelations of the "friend or foe" type.

7. E. Durkheim's analysis of the social causes of suicide

One of the most famous works of E. Durkheim - "Suicide" - is devoted to the analysis of social connection, the nature and various types of manifestation. This book is regarded as a classic sociological work. In this study, E. Durkheim turned to the social causes of suicide. Suicide is one of the most unique individual acts that only humans are capable of. Durkheim showed, using statistical data, that social grounds are decisive in determining the likelihood of suicide. The first large section of this book examines factors of an extra-social nature that can influence the change in suicide statistics in a particular society: psychopathic conditions; racial and hereditary characteristics; seasonal fluctuations in climatic conditions; imitation mechanisms. Based on extensive statistical analysis, E. Durkheim concludes each part of this section with the conclusion that none of them can satisfactorily explain the suicide rate. The summary of the first section is as follows: "... in every social group there is a completely specific inclination to suicide, inexplicable neither by the physico-organic structure of individuals, nor by the physical nature of their environment. From this, by the method of elimination, it follows that this inclination must inevitably depend on social causes and represent is a collective phenomenon. And, consequently, only sociological science is able to satisfactorily explain the causes of suicide.

Analyzing statistical data, E. Durkheim draws the reader's attention to a number of patterns: in cities, the proportion of suicides is higher than in rural areas; Suicide is more common among Protestants than Catholics; bachelors are more prone to suicide than married people, the percentage is especially high among divorced people; women are less likely to commit suicide than men. The number of suicides is significantly reduced during periods of wars and disasters on a national scale. All this suggests that the main factor in suicide as a more or less mass phenomenon is, first of all, the nature and strength of social ties inherent in a particular social community. The weakening or even rupture of the individual's social ties can lead him to the conclusion that his further existence is aimless and the decision to die. "If the ties connecting a person with life are broken, then this is because his connection with society has weakened." However, the excessive strength of social ties can also push the decision to die for some individuals in certain circumstances. In accordance with this, E. Durkheim develops his own typology of suicides.

8. Typology of suicides according to E. Durkheim

Selfish suicide. Trying to understand how the predominant affiliation to one or another type of religion can affect suicide statistics, E. Durkheim comes to the conclusion that "the stronger private judgments are manifested in a group of believers, the less the role of the church in people's lives, the weaker it is." solidarity and vitality. Therefore, "the predominance on the side of Protestantism in the sphere of suicide comes from the fact that this church is essentially less integral than the Catholic one."

Approximately these are the social mechanisms of differences in suicide rates in urban and rural communities: in the former, people are largely separated and left to their own devices, while social ties between the inhabitants of rural communities are stronger (due to their traditional nature). The reasons for the increased tendency to suicide among the single (and especially divorced and widowed) are primarily that "spouses have a better physical and moral organization than the celibate."

Consideration of a number of options for this kind of suicide allows E. Durkheim to come to the conclusion of an egoistic suicidal type.

Altruistic suicide. This type of suicide, which E. Durkheim also calls "endemic", is directly opposite to the one discussed above and occurs "in the case when the public completely and without a trace absorbs ... individuality." Such suicides include, in particular, the customs of old people known from the history of some peoples to commit suicide "when life became a burden to them," or the self-immolation of widows at the funeral of her husband, customary in Hinduism. According to E. Durkheim, altruistic suicide, i.e. suicide in the name of group interests, was the result of strong group pressure and social approval.

According to E. Durkheim, "society requires such self-sacrifice in social interests."

Anomic suicide. This type is associated with the nature of the regulation of social relations by society. Anomie is "a social condition characterized by an explosion of norms that govern social interaction", or "a state of society in which a significant part of its members, knowing about the existence of norms that bind them, treats them negatively or indifferently." Such a situation quite often arises in transitional periods, in eras of reforms and social cataclysms, when the old norms, to which the majority of members of society have adapted and are accustomed to fulfilling them, cease to operate, and the new ones have not yet taken hold. It is clear that many in such a situation feel as if they are in a regulatory vacuum and lose their social orientation.

E. Durkheim examines the reasons for the surge in the suicide curve during periods of economic crises. He believes that in societies there are social groups that are distinguished by internal discipline according to the very conditions of their lives, accustomed in advance to abstinence and moderation; these people "with much less effort of will can endure the new necessary hardships." At the same time, those who, by the nature of their occupation and way of life, strive for the fastest possible progress, have no support in the past and present, and therefore more often become victims of economic crises, up to voluntary death.

Anomia can also affect the marriage and family sphere. E. Durkheim compares different regions of France, Germany, Switzerland and comes to the conclusion that there is a stable positive correlation between suicide statistics and divorce statistics. This gives him reason to assert that the breakup of the family (which is also anomie in many respects) acts as one of the factors in suicides.

LECTURE No. 10. Sociology of Max Weber

1. Understanding sociology of M. Weber

Positivism from the very beginning acquired a dominant position in sociology. However, as it develops, M. Weber proceeds from the fact that sociology must learn the meanings that people attach to their actions. For this, the term "verstehen" is introduced, which literally translates from German as "understand".

At the same time, sociology, being a science that studies human behavior in the most generalized form, cannot devote itself to identifying the motives of each individual individual: all these motives are so different and so unlike one another that we will not be able to compose how many of them some coherent description or create some kind of typology. However, according to M. Weber, there is no need for this: all people have a common human nature, and we just need to make a typology of the various actions of people in their relationship with their social environment.

The essence of using "verstehen" is to put yourself in the position of other people in order to see exactly what meaning they attach to their actions or what goals they believe they serve. Exploring the meanings of human actions is, to some extent, simply an extension of our daily attempts to understand the actions of the many different people around us.

2. The concept of "ideal type"

As one of the important research tools in his social analysis, M. Weber uses the concept of an ideal type. An ideal type is a kind of mental construction that is not extracted from empirical reality, but is created in the researcher's head as a theoretical scheme of the phenomenon under study and acts as a kind of "standard". M. Weber emphasizes that the ideal type itself cannot provide knowledge about the relevant processes and connections of the studied social phenomenon, but is a purely methodological tool.

M. Weber assumed that sociologists select certain aspects of behavior or institutions that are available for observation in the real world as characteristics of the ideal type, and exaggerate them to forms of a logically understandable intellectual construction. Not all characteristics of this design can be represented in the real world. But any particular situation can be understood more deeply by comparing it with the ideal type. For example, particular bureaucratic organizations may not exactly match the elements of the ideal type of bureaucracy, but knowledge of this ideal type can shed light on these real variations. Therefore, ideal types are rather hypothetical constructions formed from real phenomena and having explanatory value.

M. Weber, on the one hand, assumed that the revealed discrepancies between reality and the ideal type should lead to a redefinition of the type, and on the other hand, he also argued that ideal types are models that are not subject to verification.

3. The concept of social action

One of the central concepts of Weberian sociology is social action. Here is how M. Weber himself defines it: “We call action a person’s action (regardless of whether it has an external or internal character, whether it comes down to non-intervention or patient acceptance), if and since the acting individual or individuals associate subjective meaning with it. We call a social action such an action that, according to the meaning assumed by the actor or actors, is correlated with the action of other people and is oriented towards it.

Thus, firstly, the most important sign of social action is subjective meaning - personal understanding of possible behaviors. Secondly, the conscious orientation of the subject to the response of others, the expectation of this reaction, is important. Social action differs from purely reflex activity (rubbing tired eyes) and from those operations into which action is divided (preparing a workplace, getting a book, etc.).

4. Ideal types of social actions

Purposeful action. This most rational type of action is characterized by clarity and awareness of the set goal, and this is correlated with rationally meaningful means that ensure the achievement of precisely this, and not some other goal. The rationality of the goal can be verified in two ways: firstly, from the point of view of its own content, and secondly, from the point of view of expediency. As a social action (and therefore oriented towards certain expectations on the part of other people), it involves the rational calculation of the acting subject on the corresponding reaction from the people around him and on the use of their behavior to achieve the set goal. Such a model is primarily an ideal type, which means that real human actions can be understood through measuring the degree of deviation from this model.

Valuable action. This ideal type of social action involves the commission of such actions, which are based on the belief in the self-sufficient value of the act. Value-rational action, according to M. Weber, is always subject to certain requirements, in following which the individual sees his duty. If he acts in accordance with these requirements - even if rational calculation predicts a greater likelihood of adverse consequences for him personally, then we are dealing with value-rational action. A classic example of a value-rational action: the captain of a sinking ship is the last to leave him, although this threatens his life. The awareness of such an orientation of actions, their correlation with certain ideas about values ​​- about duty, dignity, beauty, morality, etc. - already speaks of a certain rationality, meaningfulness.

Traditional action. This type of action is formed on the basis of following tradition, i.e., imitation of certain patterns of behavior that have developed in culture and are approved by it, and therefore are practically not subject to rational understanding and criticism. Such an action is carried out largely purely automatically according to established stereotypes, it is characterized by the desire to focus on habitual patterns of behavior that have developed on the basis of one's own experience and the experience of previous generations. Despite the fact that traditional actions do not at all imply the development of an orientation towards new opportunities, it is precisely this that makes up the lion's share of all actions performed by individuals. To some extent, people's commitment to committing traditional actions (manifested in a huge number of options) serves as the basis for the stability of the existence of society and the predictability of the behavior of its members.

Affective action is the least meaningful of the ideal types listed in the table. Its main characteristic is a certain emotional state: a flash of passion, hatred, anger, horror, etc. An affective action has its "meaning" mainly in the speedy removal of the emotional tension that has arisen, in detente. An individual acts under the influence of an affect if he seeks immediately to satisfy his need for revenge, pleasure, devotion, blissful contemplation, or to relieve the tension of any other affects, however base or subtle they may be.

The above typology can serve as a good illustration for understanding the essence of what was defined above as the "ideal type".

5. The concept of rationalization of social life

M. Weber is firmly convinced that rationalization is one of the main tendencies of the historical process. Rationalization finds its expression in an increase in the share of goal-oriented actions in the total volume of all possible types of social actions and in strengthening their significance from the point of view of the structure of society as a whole. This means that the way of managing the economy is being rationalized, management is being rationalized, the way of thinking is being rationalized. And all this, according to M. Weber, is accompanied by a colossal strengthening of the social role of scientific knowledge - this most "pure" embodiment of the principle of rationality.

Formal rationality in Weber's understanding is, first of all, the calculability of everything that can be quantitatively accounted for and calculated. The type of society in which this kind of dominant appears is called industrial by modern sociologists (although C. Saint-Simon was the first to call it that, and then O. Comte used this term rather actively). M. Weber (and after him most modern sociologists) calls all previously existing types of societies traditional. The most important feature of traditional societies is the absence in the social actions of the majority of their members of a formally rational principle and the predominance of actions that are closest in nature to the traditional type of action.

Formal-rational is a definition applicable to any phenomenon, process, action, which is not only amenable to quantitative accounting and calculation, but, moreover, is largely exhausted by its quantitative characteristics. The movement of the very process of historical development is characterized by a tendency for the growth of formal-rational principles in the life of society and the increasing predominance of the purposeful-rational type of social actions over all others. This should also mean an increase in the role of intelligence in the general system of motivations and decision-making by social subjects.

A society dominated by formal rationality is a society where rational (i.e., prudent) behavior acts as a norm. All members of such a society behave in such a way as to use material resources, technology, and money rationally and for the benefit of all. Luxury, for example, cannot be considered rational, since it is by no means a reasonable expenditure of resources.

Rationalization as a process, as a historical trend, according to M. Weber, includes:

1) in the economic sphere - the organization of factory production by bureaucratic means and the calculation of benefits with the help of systematic evaluation procedures;

2) in religion - the development of theological concepts by intellectuals, the gradual disappearance of the magical and the displacement of the sacraments by personal responsibility;

3) in law - the erosion of specially arranged lawmaking and arbitrary judicial precedent by deductive legal reasoning on the basis of universal laws;

4) in politics - the decline of traditional norms of legalization and the replacement of charismatic leadership with a regular party machine;

5) in moral behavior - greater emphasis on discipline and education;

6) in science - the consistent reduction of the role of the individual innovator and the development of research teams, coordinated experiments and government-directed science policy;

7) in society as a whole - the spread of bureaucratic methods of management, state control and administration.

Rationalization is the process by which the sphere of human relations becomes the subject of calculation and control in all social spheres: politics, religion, economic organization, university management, in the laboratory.

6. Sociology of domination by M. Weber and its types

It should be immediately noted that M. Weber distinguishes between power and domination. The first, he believes, precedes the second and does not always have its characteristics. Strictly speaking, domination is rather a process of exercising power. In addition, dominance means a certain probability that orders given by some people (who have power) will meet other people's willingness to obey, to carry them out.

These relations, according to M. Weber, are based on mutual expectations: on the part of the manager (the one who gives orders) - the expectation that the given order will be certainly executed; on the part of the managed - the expectation that the manager has the right to give such orders. Only with confidence in such a right does the controlled receive motivation to carry out the order. In other words, legitimate, i.e. legal, domination cannot be limited to the very fact of the use of power, it needs faith in its legitimacy. Power becomes domination when it is regarded by people as legitimate. At the same time, says M. Weber, "... the legitimacy of the order can only be guaranteed internally, namely:

1) purely affective: emotional devotion;

2) value-rational: belief in the absolute significance of order as an expression of the highest immutable values ​​(moral, aesthetic or any other);

3) religiously: belief in the dependence of good and salvation on the preservation of a given order.

There are three ideological foundations of legitimacy that can empower rulers: traditional, charismatic, and legal-rational. In accordance with this, M. Weber substantiates three ideal types of domination, each of which is named according to its ideological basis. Let's consider each of these types in more detail.

Legal-rational domination. Here the main motive for subordination is the satisfaction of one's own interests. At the same time, people obey generally accepted laws, rules that are expressed by other people and on behalf of which they act. Legal-rational domination implies obedience to formal rules established by "correct" public procedures. Hence the important role that bureaucracy plays in the legal-rational domination as an integral element of a rational society, and the great attention that M. Weber pays to it in his studies.

traditional dominance. It rests on a habitual, most often not quite conscious conviction in the sanctity and inviolability of generally accepted traditions and in the legitimacy of the prerogatives of power granted by them. The adherent of traditional authority adopts rules that embody custom and ancient practice. Within this type of domination, the right to power is most often hereditary (like this: "I serve this man because my father served his father, and my grandfather served his grandfather"). In its purest form, this is patriarchal power. The concept of "patriarchy" in sociology is usually used to describe the dominance of men over women, and it can manifest itself in various types of societies. The term is also used to describe a certain type of household organization in which the older male dominates the entire family, including younger males. One of the most common varieties of traditional domination, according to M. Weber, is patrimonialism. In patrimonial systems, administrative and political power is under the direct personal control of the ruler. Moreover, support for patrimonial power is provided not so much by those forces that are recruited from the landowning aristocracy (which is typical, for example, for feudalism), but with the help of slaves, regular troops or mercenaries. M. Weber, considering patrimonialism, singled out the following features:

1) political instability, since he is the object of intrigues and palace coups;

2) an obstacle to the development of rational capitalism.

In other words, patrimonialism acted as one aspect of Weber's explanation of the reasons for the lack of capitalist development in various Eastern societies dominated by personal rule.

charismatic dominance. It is based on the exceptional qualities attributed to the leader. The very term charisma (from the Greek "harisma" - "divine gift, grace") was introduced into the sociological conceptual apparatus by the German theologian E. Troelch. With this type of dominance, orders are carried out because the followers or disciples are convinced of the very special character of their leader, whose authority transcends the usual existing practice.

Charismatic dominance is based on an extraordinary, perhaps even magical ability that the master possesses. Here, neither origin, nor the heredity associated with it, nor any rational considerations play a role - only the personal qualities of the leader are important. The presence of charisma means direct, directly exercised domination. Most of the prophets famous in history (including all the founders of world religions), generals and prominent political leaders were charismatics.

As a rule, with the death of a leader, disciples spread charismatic beliefs or turn them into traditional ("official charisma") or legal-rational forms. Therefore, in itself, charismatic power is unstable and temporary.

7. The concept of bureaucracy in the theory of M. Weber

The concept of "bureaucracy" has two meanings:

1) a certain way of management;

2) a special social group that carries out this management process. M. Weber singled out rationality as the main characteristic feature of any bureaucratic organization. Bureaucratic rationality, according to M. Weber, should be considered as the embodiment of capitalism; therefore, the decisive role in the bureaucratic organization must be played by technical specialists who have received special training and use scientific methods in their work. The bureaucratic organization is characterized by a number of important features, among which M. Weber identifies the following:

1) efficiency, achieved mainly due to a clear division of duties between the employees of the apparatus, which makes it possible to use highly specialized and highly qualified specialists in each of the positions;

2) a strict hierarchization of power, which allows a higher official to exercise control over the activities of a lower one;

3) a formally established and clearly fixed system of rules that ensures the uniformity of management activities and the application of general instructions to particular cases, as well as does not allow uncertainty and ambiguity in the interpretation of orders; employees of a bureaucratic organization are primarily subject to these rules, and not to a specific person who expresses them;

4) the impersonality of administrative activity and the emotional neutrality of relations: each functionary acts as a formal bearer of social power of a certain level, a representative of his position.

Other characteristic features of the bureaucracy also include the following: administration based on written documents; recruitment of personnel based on the abilities obtained through special education; long term service; promotion based on seniority or merit; separation of private and official income.

Modern scientific analysis of the position of M. Weber argues that his idea of ​​the rationality of bureaucracy contains two slightly different moments. In one sense, the rationality of bureaucracy is that it maximizes technical efficiency. In another sense, bureaucracy is a system of social control or power that is accepted by members of an organization or social community because they view rules as rational and just - a "legally-rational" value system. The main goal of M. Weber was a broad historical comparative analysis of the methods of political administration and their impact on society, he sought to identify the bureaucratic ideal type. Real bureaucratic organizations quite often turn out to be ineffective: along with rational features, they carry a lot of irrational ones, along with formal relations - informal ones. Not to mention the fact that obedience here often turns into an end in itself, and power is legitimized by the very fact of being in office.

Lecture No. 11. History of foreign sociology of the XNUMXth century

1. Research approaches to the study of society and the main paradigms of modern sociology

Theoretical sociology consists of many scientific schools, but all of them are based on two main approaches to the study and explanation of society - positivism and humanitarianism.

Positivism arose and began to dominate the sociology of the XNUMXth century. as opposed to speculative reasoning about society. This is a rational approach based on observation, comparison, experiment. His starting positions are as follows:

1) nature and society are united and develop according to the same laws;

2) a social organism is similar to a biological one;

3) society should be studied by the same methods as nature.

XNUMXth century positivism is neopositivism. Its initial principles are much more complicated: it is naturalism (the generality of the laws of development of nature and society), scientism (accuracy, rigor and objectivity of social research methods), behaviorism (the study of a person only through open behavior), verification (the obligatory presence of an empirical basis for scientific knowledge), quantification (quantitative expression of social facts) and objectivism (freedom of sociology as a science from value judgments and connection with ideology).

On the basis of positivism and its second wave - neopositivism, the following areas of sociological thought were born, functioned and exist: naturalism (biologism and mechanism), classical Marxism, structural functionalism. Positivists and their followers of the twentieth century. consider the world as an objective reality, believing that it should be studied, discarding their values. They recognize only two forms of knowledge - empirical and logical (only through experience and the possibility of verification) and consider it necessary only to study facts, not ideas.

Humanitarianism or phenomenology is an approach to the study of society through understanding. His starting positions are:

1) society is not an analogue of nature, it develops according to its own laws;

2) society is not an objective structure that stands above people and does not depend on them, but the sum of the relationships between two or more individuals;

3) the main thing is the decoding, interpretation of the meaning, the content of this interaction;

4) the main methods of this approach: the ideographic method (the study of individuals, events or objects), the method of qualitative analysis (understanding the phenomenon, and not its calculation), the methods of phenomenology, i.e., knowledge of the causes and essence of social phenomena, for example: linguistic method (the study of what is available to the language), the method of understanding (knowledge of society through self-knowledge), the method of hermeneutics (the interpretation of meaningful human actions), the method of feeling, etc.

Most representatives of humanitarianism are subjectivist, rejecting "freedom from values" as impossible in sociology - a science that affects the interests of people.

Modern sociology is a multi-paradigm science. A paradigm is a method recognized and accepted by the scientific community for solving a certain range of scientific problems. There are three main paradigms of modern sociology:

1) structural-functional, which sees society as a relatively stable system of interrelated parts based on widespread agreement on what is morally desirable, where each part of society has functional implications for society as a whole;

2) conflict-radical, which proceeds from the fact that society is a system characterized by social inequality, when some categories of people benefit more from the structure of society than others. At the heart of this inequality is conflict, which promotes social change;

3) symbolic interactionism, which, unlike the first two paradigms, presents society as a constant process of social interaction in specific conditions. This process is based on communication through symbols, while individual perceptions of social reality are unique and changeable.

LECTURE No. 12. Sociology in Russia

1. Features and stages of development of sociology in Russia

The formation and evolution of the sociology of Russia were due to the peculiarities of Russia itself, generated by the uniqueness of its geographical position between the West and the East, its scale, customs, traditions, etc.

Interest in a person in society, in the joint fate of people, their future manifested itself at two levels: mass-everyday (in folk tales and legends, for example, in "The Tale of the City of Kitezh"; in the works of writers and poets) and professional (in theories of specialists-researchers - philosophers, historians).

At the heart of Russian sociological thought there are both ideological and academic developments. The first were associated with the revolutionary tradition of Russia, the second - directly with science. Domestic sociological thought was not devoid of social utopias. So, in the XIX - early XX centuries. representatives of the democratic trend in the revolutionary tradition of Russia (A. Radishchev, A. Herzen, N. Chernyshevsky, M. Bakunin, G. Plekhanov, V. Ulyanov-Lenin, and others) came up with utopias.

Domestic sociological thought was closely connected with the French Enlightenment, the English school of economics and German romanticism. The duality of origins determined the inconsistency of the sociological thought of Russia, which manifested itself in the confrontation of orientations towards the West (Westerners) and towards their own identity (Russophiles). This confrontation also characterizes modern sociology. Nevertheless, Russian sociological thought has become part of European culture.

Sociology as a science was formed in Russia in the second half of the XNUMXth century. It directly depended on the socio-political conditions in the country, on the level of its democracy, therefore it went through periods of rise and fall, prohibition, persecution and underground existence.

In the development of domestic sociology, two stages are distinguished: pre-revolutionary and post-revolutionary (the turn of 1917). The second stage, as a rule, is divided into two periods: 20-60s. and 70-80s. XX century, although almost every decade had its own characteristics.

The first stage is characterized by the richness of sociological thought, the diversity of theories and concepts of the development of society and man. The most famous were:

1) the theory of "cultural-historical types" by N. Danilevsky. In his opinion, civilizations develop like biological organisms;

2) the subjectivist concept of the all-round development of the individual as a measure of progress by N. Mikhailovsky, who denounced Marxism from the standpoint of peasant socialism;

3) the geographical theory of Mechnikov, who explained the unevenness of social development by changing geographical conditions and considered social solidarity as a criterion of social progress;

4) the doctrine of social progress by M. Kovalevsky, a historian, lawyer, sociologist-evolutionist, engaged in empirical research;

5) the theory of social stratification and social mobility of the sociologist P. Sorokin;

6) the positivist views of the Russian sociologist E. Roberti, a follower of O. Comte.

In pre-revolutionary sociology, five main directions coexisted: politically oriented sociology, general and historical sociology, legal, psychological and systematic sociology. Theoretical sociology of the late XNUMXth century. was influenced by the ideas of K. Marx, but it was not comprehensive. Sociology in Russia developed both as a science and as an academic discipline. In terms of its level at that time, it was not inferior to the western one.

The second stage in the development of Russian sociology is complex and heterogeneous.

The first decade (1918-1928) was the time when sociology was recognized by the new authorities and the period of its certain rise: the institutionalization of science was carried out. Departments of sociology were created at the Petrograd and Yaroslavl universities, the Sociological Institute was opened (1919) and the first in Russia

faculty of social sciences with a sociological department at the University of Petrograd (1920). A scientific degree in sociology was introduced, and an extensive sociological literature (both scientific and educational) began to be published. The peculiarity of the sociology of these years consisted in the still remaining authority of non-Marxist sociology and, at the same time, in the strengthening of the Marxist trend and fierce discussions in it about the relationship between sociology and historical materialism. During these years, the problems of the working class and the peasantry, the city and the countryside, population and migration are being studied, empirical studies are being carried out that have received international recognition.

In the 1930s sociology was declared a bourgeois pseudoscience and banned. Basic and applied research was discontinued until the early 1960s. Sociology was one of the first sciences to fall victim to the Stalinist regime. The revival of sociological research began with the advent of the "Khrushchev thaw", and even then under the guise of economic and philosophical sciences. Sociological empirical research received the "right of citizenship", but only those results were recognized that did not run counter to the "party policy" and contained a positive aspect of the country's social development, while alarming signals about the state of Soviet society were ignored and even condemned.

In the 1970s-1980s. attitude to domestic sociology was contradictory. On the one hand, it received semi-recognition, on the other hand, it was hampered in every possible way, being directly dependent on party decisions. But the organizational development of sociology continued. In 1968, the Institute of Sociological Research was established, in 1988 - the Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences, departments of social research appeared in the institutes of Moscow, Novosibirsk, Sverdlovsk and other cities. Textbooks for universities began to be published; since 1974, to publish the journal "Sociological Research" (later "Sotsis"). By the end of this period, administrative-bureaucratic interference in sociology began to intensify, and the mechanisms were almost the same as in the 30s. XNUMXth century Theoretical sociology was again denied, the quantity and quality of research decreased.

The consequences of this second "invasion" in sociology could have been the most tragic for science, if not for the new situation in the country. Sociology was restored to civil rights in 1986. The question of its development was decided at the state level - the task was set to develop fundamental and applied research in the country. The sociology of modern Russia is being strengthened in terms of content and organization; it has been revived as an academic discipline. Sociology today is accumulating material about society at a turning point and forecasting its further development.

2. The main provisions of the sociological heritage of P. Sorokin

Pitirim Alexandrovich Sorokin (1889-1968) is considered an American sociologist, but he began his scientific career in Russia. P. Sorokin's outstanding contribution to sociology is his creation of social analytics, social mechanics (considering the processes of human interaction), social genetics (dealing with the birth and development of social life and its institutions), practical sociology (within which the theory of stratification and social mobility was developed - vertical and horizontal).

The sociocultural dynamics of P. Sorokin explained the historical process as a movement of types of cultures based on sensual, rational and idealistic cognition of reality. He put forward the problem of social equality of people before the law, condemned the destruction that the revolution brings, emphasized that the main thing is the creation of values ​​and creative work. In the last years of his life, he put forward the theory of convergence, that is, the merging of capitalism and socialism into a single society.

P. Sorokin dealt with the issue of classes within the framework of the problem of social mobility. He believed that classes arose in modern times in connection with the formation of a surplus product and the growth of inequality, the transition to commodity capitalist production and the struggle between producers of goods and owners of the product of production. P. Sorokin divided all theories of classes into 2 large groups: monistic, when classes were determined on the basis of one attribute, and pluralistic, when many attributes were taken as a basis.

P. Sorokin singled out the forms of people's penetration from one layer to another - individual and collective transitions, divided mobility by type (economic, political, professional), by types, identified horizontal and vertical mobility. Horizontal mobility is the movement of an individual or object from one group to another, located at the same level (change of family, religion, work, place of residence). And vertical is a transition in ascending or descending from one layer to another (for example, a person received a higher education, and his status became higher). In a totalitarian society where movement is limited and people are attached to one place of residence and work, social mobility can be zero. It can be intense in a democratic society where the initiative and enterprise of the worker is valued. P. Sorokin found out that the intensity of social mobility varies in time and space, but there are no constant trends. The regularity of social development consists in balancing the strata.

LECTURE No. 13. Society as a system. social relations

1. The concept of "society" and its interpretation

"Society" is a fundamental category of modern sociology. Society is a historically developing set of relations between people, emerging in the process of their life.

The sociological thought of the past explained the category "society" in different ways. In ancient times, it was identified with the concept of "state".

In the Middle Ages, the idea of ​​identifying society and the state again reigned. Only in modern times in the X\T century. in the works of the Italian thinker N. Machiavelli, the idea of ​​the state as one of the states of society was expressed. In the XNUMXth century the English philosopher T. Hobbes forms the theory of the "social contract", the essence of which was the giving by members of society of part of their freedoms to the state, which is the guarantor of compliance with this contract. XNUMXth century was characterized by a clash of two approaches to the definition of society: one approach interpreted society as an artificial formation that contradicted the natural inclinations of people, the other - as the development and expression of natural inclinations and feelings of a person. At the same time, economists A. Smith and D. Hume defined society as a labor union of people connected by the division of labor, and the philosopher I. Kant - as humanity taken in historical development.

Early XNUMXth century was marked by the emergence of the idea of ​​civil society. It was expressed by G. Hegel, who called civil society the sphere of private interests, distinct from the state ones. The founder of sociology, O. Comte, considered society as a natural phenomenon, and its evolution as a natural process of growth and differentiation of parts and functions.

According to K. Marx, society is a historically developing set of relations between people that develop in the process of their joint activities.

2. The modern concept of society and culture

In modern sociology, a society is considered to be an association of people, which has the following features:

1) is not part of any other larger system;

2) its replenishment is mainly due to childbearing;

3) has its own territory;

4) has its own name and history;

5) exists longer than the average life expectancy of an individual;

6) has a developed own culture.

Thus, we can say that society is people interacting in a certain territory and having a common culture. Culture is understood as a certain set (complex) of symbols, norms, attitudes, values ​​inherent in a given social group and transmitted from generation to generation.

3. Society as an object of study of megasociology

Sociological theories are divided according to the level of generalization into a general theory (megasociology), middle-level theories (macro-sociology, which studies large social communities) and micro-level theories (microsociology, which studies interpersonal relationships in everyday life). Society as a whole is the object of study of general sociological theory. It is considered in science according to the following main problem blocks in their logical sequence: What is society? How does it change? What are the sources of change? What are the types and patterns of changing societies? The problem block (What is society?) includes a set of questions about the structure of society, its components, the factors that ensure its integrity, and the processes taking place in it. They are reflected in numerous versions of scientists, in the theories of the socio-demographic and social class structure of society. The problem of changes in society implies two questions: Is society developing? Is its development reversible or irreversible? The answer to them divides the existing general sociological concepts into two groups: theories of development and theories of historical circulation. The former were developed by the Enlighteners of the New Age, the theorists of positivism, Marxism and others, who proved the irreversibility of the development of society. The latter are permeated with the idea of ​​cyclicity, that is, the movement of society as a whole or its subsystems in a vicious circle with a constant return to its original state with cycles of revival and decline.

The next problematic block reveals the direction of development of society by posing questions about whether society, man, relations between people, relations with the natural environment are improving, or the reverse process is underway, i.e., the degradation of society, man and relations with the environment. The content of the answers to these questions divides the concepts into two groups: theories of progress (optimistic) and theories of regress (pessimistic). The former include positivism, Marxism, theories of technological determinism, social Darwinism, the latter include a number of theories of bureaucracy, elites, pessimistic versions of technological determinism, partly the concept of L. Gumilyov, J. Gobineau, and others.

The problem of the relationship between the importance of the individual and the role of social communities in the process of social change is associated with those theories that either give preference to communities as the main driving force (statism, fascism, leftist pseudo-Marxism, ethno-nationalism), or emphasize the priority of the individual over any communities (positivism, K. Marx, neo-Marxism). The problem of the type and model of the development of society is revealed in the theories of their absolutization (reductionism) and synthesis (complex theories).

In megasociology, on the issue of periodization of the development of society, two approaches are most widely used: formational (K. Marx) and civilizational (G. Morgan, F. Engels, F. Tennis, R. Aron, D. Bell, etc.). According to K. Marx, the basis of the typology of societies is the criterion of the mode of production. In accordance with the formational approach, society in its development goes through a number of socio-economic formations:

1) primitive communal;

2) slaveholding;

3) feudal;

4) capitalist.

The civilizational approach is more heterogeneous, since the very category of "civilization" is very multifaceted. In practice, this criterion is most often reduced to a territorial one (for example, a European society or civilization) or a religious one (for example, an Islamic society).

4. Social structures, groups and communities

Society is a system, since it is a set of elements that are in interconnection and relationships and form a single whole, capable of changing its structure in interaction with external conditions. This is a social system, that is, connected with the life of people and their relationships. Society has an internal form of organization, that is, its own structure. It is complex and identifying its components requires an analytical approach using different criteria. The structure of society is understood as its internal structure.

According to the form of life manifestation of people, society is divided into economic, political and spiritual subsystems, which are called in sociology social systems (spheres of public life). According to the subject of public relations in the structure of society, demographic, ethnic, class, settlement, family, professional and other subsystems are distinguished. According to the type of social connections of its members in society, social groups, social institutions and social organizations are distinguished.

A social group is a collection of people who interact with each other in a certain way, are aware of their belonging to this group and are considered members of it from the point of view of other people. Traditionally, primary and secondary groups are distinguished. The first group includes small groups of people, where direct personal emotional contact is established. This is a family, a company of friends, work teams, etc. Secondary groups are formed from people between whom there is almost no personal emotional relationship, their interactions are due to the desire to achieve certain goals, communication is predominantly formal, impersonal.

During the formation of social groups, norms and roles are developed, on the basis of which a certain order of interaction is established. The size of the group can be very diverse (starting from two people).

Social communities include mass social groups that are characterized by the following features: statistical nature, probabilistic nature, situational nature of communication, heterogeneity, amorphousness (for example, demographic, racial, gender, ethnic, and other communities).

Social communities are relatively stable aggregates of people who are distinguished by more or less similar conditions and lifestyle, similar interests. Societies of various types are forms of joint life activity.

Commons are:

1) statistical (nominal social categories). They are constructed for the purposes of statistical analysis;

2) real;

3) mass (aggregates);

4) group (small and large social groups).

For example, townspeople can be a statistical (by registration) and a real community. Mass communities are collections of people distinguished on the basis of behavioral differences.

Group communities - large and small social groups. Large social groups include:

1) ethnic communities (races, nations, nationalities, tribes);

2) socio-territorial communities (sets of people permanently residing in a certain territory, having a similar lifestyle). They are formed on the basis of socio-territorial differences;

3) socio-demographic communities (divided according to gender and age characteristics);

4) social classes and social strata (sets of people who have common social characteristics and perform similar functions in the system of social division of labor). Classes are distinguished in connection with the attitude to the ownership of the means of production and the nature of the appropriation of goods. Social strata (or strata) are distinguished on the basis of differences in the nature of work and lifestyle (it is the differences in lifestyle that are most obvious).

LECTURE No. 14. Culture as an object of study of sociology

1. The concept of culture

Culture is a diverse concept. This scientific term appeared in ancient Rome, where the word "cultura" meant the cultivation of the land, upbringing, education. With frequent use, this word has lost its original meaning and began to denote the most diverse aspects of human behavior and activity.

The sociological dictionary gives the following definitions of the concept of "culture": "Culture is a specific way of organizing and developing human life, represented in the products of material and spiritual labor, in the system of social norms and institutions, in spiritual values, in the totality of people's relations to nature, among themselves and to ourselves."

Culture is phenomena, properties, elements of human life that qualitatively distinguish a person from nature. This difference is connected with the conscious transforming activity of man.

The concept of "culture" can be used to characterize the behavior of the consciousness and activities of people in certain areas of life (work culture, political culture). The concept of "culture" can fix the way of life of an individual (personal culture), a social group (national culture) and the whole society as a whole.

Culture can be divided according to various criteria into different types:

1) by subject (bearer of culture) into social, national, class, group, personal;

2) by functional role - into general (for example, in the system of general education) and special (professional);

3) by genesis - into folk and elite;

4) by type - into material and spiritual;

5) by nature - into religious and secular.

2. The concept of material and non-material cultures

All social heritage can be viewed as a synthesis of material and non-material cultures. Non-material culture includes spiritual activity and its products. It combines knowledge, morality, upbringing, enlightenment, law, religion. Non-material (spiritual) culture includes ideas, habits, customs and beliefs that people create and then maintain. Spiritual culture also characterizes the inner wealth of consciousness, the degree of development of the person himself.

Material culture includes the entire sphere of material activity and its results. It consists of man-made items: tools, furniture, cars, buildings and other items that are constantly being modified and used by people. Non-material culture can be viewed as a way of society's adaptation to the biophysical environment through its appropriate transformation.

Comparing both these types of culture with each other, one can come to the conclusion that material culture should be considered as the result of non-material culture. The destruction caused by World War II was the most significant in the history of mankind, but despite this, cities were quickly restored, as people have not lost the knowledge and skill necessary to restore them. In other words, non-destroyed non-material culture makes it quite easy to restore material culture.

3. Sociological approach to the study of culture

The purpose of the sociological study of culture is to establish the producers of cultural values, the channels and means of its dissemination, to assess the influence of ideas on social actions, on the formation or disintegration of groups or movements.

Sociologists approach the phenomenon of culture from different points of view:

1) subject, considering culture as a static entity;

2) value, paying great attention to creativity;

3) activity, introducing the dynamics of culture;

4) symbolic, asserting that culture consists of symbols;

5) gaming: culture is a game where it is customary to play by your own rules;

6) textual, where the main attention is paid to language as a means of transmitting cultural symbols;

7) communicative, considering culture as a means of transmitting information.

4. Main theoretical approaches in the study of culture

Functionalism. Representatives - B. Malinovsky, A. Ratk-liff-Brown.

Each element of culture is functionally necessary to meet certain human needs. Elements of culture are considered from the point of view of their place in an integral cultural system. The system of culture is a characteristic of a social system. The "normal" state of social systems is self-sufficiency, balance, harmonious unity. It is from the point of view of this "normal" state that the functionality of the elements of culture is assessed.

Symbolism. Representatives - T. Parsons, K. Girtz.

The elements of culture are, first of all, symbols that mediate the relationship of a person with the world (ideas, beliefs, value models, etc.).

Adaptive-activity approach. Within the framework of this approach, culture is considered as a way of activity, as well as a system of non-biological mechanisms that stimulate, program and implement the adaptive and transformative activities of people. In human activity, two sides of it interact: internal and external. In the course of internal activity, motives are formed, the meaning that people give to their actions, the goals of actions are selected, schemes and projects are developed. It is culture as a mentality that fills internal activity with a certain system of values, offers choices and preferences associated with it.

5. Elements of culture

Language is a sign system for establishing communications. Signs distinguish between linguistic and non-linguistic. In turn, languages ​​are natural and artificial. Language is considered as the meanings and meanings contained in the language, which are generated by social experience and the diverse relationship of man to the world.

Language is a relay of culture. It is obvious that culture is spread by both gesture and facial expressions, but language is the most capacious, accessible relay of culture.

Values ​​are ideas about the significant, important, which determine the life of a person, allow you to distinguish between desirable and undesirable, what should be strived for and what should be avoided (assessment - attribution to value).

Distinguish values:

1) terminal (goal values);

2) instrumental (mean values).

Values ​​determine the meaning of purposeful activity, regulate social interactions. In other words, values ​​guide a person in the world around and motivate. The subject's value system includes:

1) life-meaning values ​​- ideas about good and evil, happiness, purpose and meaning of life;

2) universal values:

a) vital (life, health, personal security, welfare, education, etc.);

b) public recognition (industriousness, social status, etc.);

c) interpersonal communication (honesty, compassion, etc.);

d) democratic (freedom of speech, sovereignty, etc.);

3) particular values ​​(private):

a) attachment to a small homeland, family;

b) fetishism (belief in God, striving for absolutism, etc.). Today there is a serious breakdown, a transformation of the value system.

Norms of admissible actions. Norms are forms of regulation of behavior in a social system and expectations that determine the range of acceptable actions. There are the following types of norms:

1) formalized rules (everything that is officially recorded);

2) moral rules (associated with people's ideas);

3) patterns of behavior (fashion).

The emergence and functioning of norms, their place in the socio-political organization of society are determined by the objective need to streamline social relations. Norms, ordering the behavior of people, regulate the most diverse types of social relations. They are formed into a certain hierarchy, distributed according to the degree of their social significance.

beliefs and knowledge. The most important element of culture are beliefs and knowledge. Beliefs are a certain spiritual state, a property in which the intellectual, sensual and volitional components are combined. Any beliefs include in their structure certain information, information about this phenomenon, the norm of behavior, knowledge. The connection between knowledge and beliefs is ambiguous. The reasons may be different: when knowledge is contrary to human development trends, when knowledge is ahead of reality, etc.

Ideology. As noted above, as their basis, beliefs have certain information, statements that are justified at the theoretical level. Accordingly, values ​​can be described, argued in the form of a strict, logically justified doctrine or in the form of spontaneously formed ideas, opinions, feelings.

In the first case, we are dealing with ideology, in the second - with customs, traditions, rituals that influence and convey their content at the socio-psychological level.

Ideology appears as a complex and multi-layered formation. It can act as the ideology of all mankind, the ideology of a particular society, the ideology of a class, a social group and an estate. At the same time, the interaction of different ideologies takes place, which, on the one hand, ensures the stability of society, and on the other hand, allows you to choose, develop values ​​that express new trends in the development of society.

Rites, customs and traditions. A rite is a set of symbolic collective actions that embody certain social ideas, ideas, norms of behavior and evoke certain collective feelings (for example, a wedding ceremony). The strength of the rite is in its emotional and psychological impact on people.

A custom is a form of social regulation of the activities and attitudes of people taken from the past, which is reproduced in a particular society or social group and is familiar to its members. The custom consists in steadfast adherence to the prescriptions received from the past. Custom - unwritten rules of conduct.

Traditions are social and cultural heritage passed down from generation to generation and preserved for a long time. Traditions function in all social systems and are a necessary condition for their life. Neglect of traditions leads to a violation of continuity in the development of culture, to the loss of valuable achievements of the past. Conversely, worship of tradition breeds conservatism and stagnation in public life.

6. Functions of culture

The communicative function is associated with the accumulation and transmission of social experience (including intergenerational), the transmission of messages in the course of joint activities. The existence of such a function makes it possible to define culture as a special way of inheriting social information.

Regulatory is manifested in the creation of guidelines and the system of control of human actions.

Integrating is associated with the creation of a system of meanings, values ​​and norms, as the most important condition for the stability of social systems.

Consideration of the functions of culture makes it possible to define culture as a mechanism for the value-normative integration of social systems. This is a characteristic of the integral property of social systems.

7. Cultural universals and diversity of cultural forms

cultural universals. J. Murdoch singled out common features common to all cultures. These include:

1) joint work;

2) sports;

3) education;

4) the presence of rituals;

5) kinship systems;

6) rules for the interaction of the sexes;

7) language.

The emergence of these universals is connected with the needs of man and human communities. Cultural universals appear in the variety of specific variants of culture. They can be compared in connection with the existence of East-West supersystems, national culture and small systems (subcultures): elite, popular, mass. The diversity of cultural forms raises the problem of the comparability of these forms.

Cultures can be compared by elements of culture; manifestation of cultural universals.

elite culture. Its elements are created by professionals, it is focused on a trained audience.

Folk culture is created by anonymous creators. Its creation and functioning are inseparable from everyday life.

Mass culture. These are cinema, print, pop music, fashion. It is publicly available, targeted at the widest audience, and the consumption of its products does not require special training. The emergence of mass culture is due to certain prerequisites:

1) the progressive process of democratization (destruction of estates);

2) industrialization and the associated urbanization (the density of contacts increases);

3) the progressive development of means of communication (the need for joint activities and recreation). Subcultures. These are parts of a culture that belong to certain

social groups or associated with certain activities (youth subculture). The language takes the form of jargon. Certain activities give rise to specific names.

Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. Ethnocentrism and relativism are extreme points of view in the study of the diversity of cultural forms.

The American sociologist William Summer called ethnocentrism a view of society in which a certain group is considered central, and all other groups are measured and correlated with it.

Ethnocentrism makes one cultural form the standard against which we measure all other cultures: in our opinion, they will be good or bad, right or wrong, but always in relation to our own culture. This is manifested in such expressions as "chosen people", "true teaching", "super race", and in negative ones - "backward peoples", "primitive culture", "rough art".

Numerous studies of organizations conducted by sociologists from different countries show that people tend to overestimate their own organizations and underestimate all others.

The basis of cultural relativism is the assertion that members of one social group cannot understand the motives and values ​​of other groups if they analyze these motives and values ​​in the light of their own culture. In order to achieve understanding, to understand another culture, it is necessary to connect its specific features with the situation and the characteristics of its development. Each cultural element must be related to the characteristics of the culture of which it is a part. The value and meaning of this element can only be considered in the context of a particular culture.

The most rational way of development and perception of culture in society is a combination of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism, when an individual, feeling pride in the culture of his group or society and expressing adherence to samples of this culture, is able to understand other cultures, the behavior of members of other social groups, recognizing their right to Existence.

LECTURE No. 15. Man and society. Personality socialization

1. The concepts of "man", "individual", "personality"

The primary agent of social interaction and relationships is the individual. In order to understand what a person is, it is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of "man", "individual", "personality".

The concept of a person is used to characterize the qualities and abilities inherent in all people. This concept indicates the presence of such a special historically developing community as the human race. An individual is a single representative of the human race, a specific bearer of human traits. He is unique, unrepeatable. At the same time, it is universal - after all, each person depends on social conditions, the environment in which he lives, the people with whom he communicates. An individual is a person insofar as in relations with others (within specific social communities) he performs certain functions, implements socially significant properties and qualities in his activities. We can say that personality is a social modification of a person: after all, the sociological approach singles out the socially typical in personality.

A person becomes a person by entering into social relations, in connection with other people. In these connections and relationships, the individual acquires various social properties and thus combines individual and social qualities. A person becomes a personified bearer of social qualities, a personality.

A person occupies a certain position in the system of social relations, belongs to a certain class, social stratum, group. In accordance with his social status, a person plays certain social roles.

2. Sociological theories of personality

In sociology, the following theories of personality are best known.

The theory of the mirror "I" (C. Cooley, J. Mead). Supporters of this theory understand personality as a set of reflections of the reactions of other people. The core of the personality is self-consciousness, which develops as a result of social interaction, during which the individual has learned to look at himself through the eyes of other people, that is, as an object.

Psychoanalytic theories (Z. Freud). They are aimed at revealing the inconsistency of the inner world of a person, at studying the psychological aspects of the relationship between the individual and society. The scope of the human psyche includes:

1) the unconscious - id (natural instincts);

2) the consciousness of the individual - the ego, which is the regulator of instinctive reactions;

3) super-ego - laws, prohibitions learned in the process of education.

Such a three-layered nature makes the personality extremely contradictory, as there is a struggle between natural instincts, inclinations, desires and the requirements and standards of society, aimed at subordinating social norms.

Role theory of personality. R. Minton, R. Merton, T. Parsons describe her social behavior with two basic concepts: "social status" and "social role". Social status refers to the specific position of the individual in the social system, which implies certain rights and obligations. A person can have several statuses - prescribed, natural, professional and official, and the latter, as a rule, is the basis of the main status, which determines the position of a person in society.

Each status usually includes a number of roles. A social role is understood as a set of actions that a person with a given status in the social system must perform.

The Marxist theory of personality considers personality as a product of historical development, the result of the inclusion of an individual in a social system through active objective activity and communication, while the essence of personality is revealed in the totality of its social qualities, due to belonging to a certain type of society, class and ethnicity, features of work and image life.

3. Personal socialization

The most important type of social interaction, during which the formation of any person as a full-fledged and full-fledged member of society, is socialization. Sociologists use the term to describe the process by which and by which people learn to conform to social norms. Socialization as a process makes possible the continuation of society and the transmission of its culture from generation to generation. This process is conceptualized in two ways.

Socialization can be understood as the internalization of social norms: social norms become obligatory for the individual in the sense that they are rather established by him for himself than imposed on him by means of external regulation and are thus part of the individual's own individuality. Due to this, the individual feels an internal need to adapt to the social environment surrounding him.

Socialization can be thought of as an essential element of social interaction based on the assumption that people are willing to add value to their own image by gaining approval and status in the eyes of others; in this case, individuals are socialized to the extent that they measure their actions in accordance with the expectations of others.

Consequently, socialization is understood as the process of assimilation by a person of patterns of behavior of society and groups, their values, norms, attitudes. In the process of socialization, the most common stable personality traits are formed, which are manifested in socially organized activities, regulated by the role structure of society. The main agents of socialization are: family, school, peer groups, mass media, literature and art, social environment, etc.

In the course of socialization, the following goals are realized:

1) the interaction of people on the basis of the development of social roles;

2) the preservation of society due to the assimilation by its new members of the values ​​and patterns of behavior that have developed in it.

4. Stages of socialization

The stages of socialization coincide (conditionally) with the stages of the age development of the individual:

1) early (primary) socialization. It is associated with the acquisition of general cultural knowledge, with the development of initial ideas about the world and the nature of human relationships. A special stage of early socialization is adolescence. The special conflict nature of this age is connected with the fact that the possibilities and abilities of the child significantly exceed the rules prescribed for him, the framework of behavior;

2) secondary socialization:

a) professional socialization, which is associated with the acquisition of special knowledge and skills, with familiarization with a particular subculture. At this stage, the social contacts of the individual expand, the range of social roles expands;

b) the inclusion of the individual in the system of social division of labor. It assumes adaptation in a professional subculture, as well as belonging to other subcultures. The speed of social changes in modern societies leads to the fact that there is a need for resocialization, the assimilation of new knowledge, values, instead of outdated ones. Resocialization covers many phenomena (from reading and speech correction to professional training or a change in value orientations of behavior);

c) retirement age or disability. It is characterized by a change in lifestyle due to exclusion from the production environment.

Consequently, the socialization of the individual begins at birth and lasts throughout life, this process at each stage is carried out by special institutions. These include: family, kindergartens, schools, universities, labor collectives, etc. Each stage of socialization is associated with the action of certain agents. The agents of socialization are the people and institutions associated with it and responsible for its results.

5. Personality in the system of social statuses and roles

Status is a certain position of a person in society and a set of rights and obligations associated with it. A role is the dynamic, behavioral side of a status. The status of a person is determined by age, sex, origin, profession, marital status.

Distinguish between innate status (social origin, nationality) and achievable (education, qualifications, etc.). A person can change his social status, raise it, having received a good education, or, on the contrary, lower it. Each person performs many roles, and his behavior varies depending on what social role he performs at the moment (the role of a father, husband, head of an enterprise, voter, member of a political party, public organization, etc.).

A person can have several statuses, but most often only one determines his position in society. It often happens that the main status is due to the position of a person. Social status is reflected in external behavior and appearance (clothes, jargon and other signs of social and professional affiliation) and in the internal position (in attitudes, value orientations, motivations, etc.).

There are also natural and professional-official statuses.

The natural status of a person presupposes essential and relatively stable characteristics of a person (men, women, maturity, old age). Professional and official is the basic status of the individual, for an adult, most often it is the basis of an integral status. It fixes the social, economic, production and technical status (banker, engineer, lawyer, etc.).

Prestige is a hierarchy of statuses shared by society and enshrined in culture, in public opinion. This is a kind of magnet. In the zone of influence of a prestigious status, special social tension is created, the most active, prepared, ambitious members of society are concentrated. And in this regard, the prestige of a particular status has a significant impact on self-perception, the assertion of one's own "I".

Social status means the specific place that an individual occupies in a given social system. The totality of requirements imposed on the individual by society forms the content of the social role. A social role is a set of actions that a person holding a given status in the social system must perform. Each status usually includes a number of roles. The set of roles arising from a given status is called a role set.

If status is the functions, rights and obligations themselves, then the social role is the expectation of behavior typical of people of a given status. In other words, the concept of social role is simple. Each person in various groups and collectives occupies some position with which patterns of behavior are associated, and the group expects from its members that, in occupying this position, they will behave in accordance with this pattern, which determines the behavior recognized as ideal.

The variety of social roles performed by us becomes the cause that gives rise to various phenomena of individual life. First of all, we note that each personality has only its inherent set of roles. The uniqueness of the combination of social functions and roles acts as one of the aspects of the individual personality, the features of its spiritual properties and qualities. But the most important thing is that the variety of roles gives rise to internal role conflicts of the individual.

Orientation to two parallel, contradictory social roles leads to the internal struggle of the personality, its bifurcation. The conflict of roles acts directly as a struggle of motives, behind each of which there is an idea of ​​a desirable, approved model for the performance of certain social functions.

LECTURE No. 16. Social interaction as the basis of social phenomena

1. Essence of social interaction

Social interaction is a generalized concept, central to a number of sociological theories. This concept is based on the idea that a social figure, individual or society is always in the physical or mental environment of other social figures - factors (individual or group) and behaves in accordance with the social situation in which he finds himself.

The structural features of any complex system depend on how they are interconnected, what influence they have on each other.

Interaction is a process of direct or indirect influence of subjects on each other, as well as the organization of their joint activities.

P. Sorokin introduces and analyzes three main conditions for the emergence of any social interaction:

1) the presence of two or more individuals that determine the behavior and experiences of each other;

2) the commission by them of some actions that affect mutual experiences and actions;

3) the presence of conductors that transmit these influences and the effects of individuals on each other.

A fourth condition can be added to this list:

4) the presence of a common basis for contacts, contact. Let us consider in more detail the conditions of social interaction:

1) the presence of two or more individuals that determine the behavior and experiences of each other. These individuals must have the ability and desire to influence each other and respond to such influence;

2) the commission by individuals of some actions that affect mutual experiences and actions. Interaction occurs only when at least one of the two individuals has an impact on the other, in other words, performs some act aimed at the other;

3) the presence of conductors that transmit the influences and influences of individuals on each other. This condition is quite closely related to the fact that the information transmitted in the course of interaction is always imprinted on some kind of material carriers. The most significant difference between social interaction and communication between animals is the presence of the so-called second signaling system. This is a system of conditioned reflex connections, peculiar only to a person, formed under the influence of speech signals. The second signal system, being the basis for the emergence of generalized abstract thinking, can develop only in the course of specifically social interaction;

4) the existence of a common basis for contacts between social actors. In the most general case, this means that any effective interaction can occur only when both parties speak the same language. We are talking not only about a single linguistic base of communication, but also about the same understanding of the norms, rules, principles that guide the interaction partner.

2. Theories of social interaction

The concept of social interaction is one of the central ones in sociology. There are a number of sociological theories that develop and interpret its various problems and aspects at two main levels of research - the micro level and the macro level. At the micro level, the processes of communication between individuals who are in direct and immediate contact are studied; such interaction proceeds mainly within small groups. As for the macro level of social interaction, this is the interaction of large social groups and structures; here the interest of researchers covers primarily social institutions.

The most famous theoretical concepts are: exchange theory, symbolic interactionism, impression management theory.

3. The concept of social exchange

The conceptualization of social interaction, social structure, and social order in terms of exchange of relationships has a long history in anthropology, although it has only relatively recently been adopted by sociologists. One of the initial prerequisites on which the theory of exchange is based is the assumption that a certain rational principle is embedded in a person’s social behavior, which encourages him to behave prudently and constantly strive to obtain a wide variety of benefits - goods, money, services, prestige, respect, approval. , success, friendship, love, etc.

In the early 1960s The American sociologist George Homans came to the conclusion that such concepts as "status", "role", "conformism", "power" and others, which have become established in sociology, should be explained not by the action of macrosocial structures, as is customary in functionalism, but from the point of view of the social relations that give rise to them. The essence of these relations, according to Homans, is the desire of people to receive benefits and rewards, as well as in the exchange of these benefits and rewards.

Based on this, Homans explores social interaction in terms of the exchange of actions between the "actor" and the "other", assuming that in such an interaction each of the parties will seek to maximize the benefits and minimize their costs. Among the most important of the expected rewards, he refers, in particular, to social approval. The mutual reward that arises in the course of the exchange of actions becomes repetitive and regular, and gradually develops into relationships between people based on mutual expectations. In such a situation, the violation of expectations on the part of one of the participants entails frustration and, as a result, the emergence of an aggressive reaction; at the same time, the very manifestation of aggressiveness becomes, to a certain extent, satisfaction.

4. The concept of symbolic interactionism

Symbolic interactionism is a theoretical and methodological direction that analyzes social interactions mainly in their symbolic content. The followers of this approach argue that any actions of people are manifestations of social behavior based on communication; communication becomes possible due to the fact that people attach the same meaning to a given symbol. At the same time, special attention is paid to the analysis of language as the main symbolic mediator of interaction. Interaction is seen as a continuous dialogue between people, during which they observe, comprehend each other's intentions and react to them. The very concept of symbolic interactionism was introduced back in 1937 by the American sociologist G. Bloomer, who summarized the basic principles of this approach from the standpoint of three assumptions:

1) human beings perform their actions in relation to certain objects on the basis of the values ​​that they attach to these objects;

2) these meanings arise from social interaction;

3) any social action results from the adaptation to each other of individual lines of behavior. The difference between man and any active creature of a different breed, according to Mead, includes the following two differences:

1) all types of active beings, including man, are equipped with a brain, but only man has a mind;

2) all other species, including man, have bodies, but only man has a sense of his own exclusive and unique personality.

Human forms of cognition are characterized by a process in which the social mind endows the biological brain with the ability to know the world around it in very special forms. The mind can fill the brain with information to the extent (and to the extent) to which the individual incorporates the points of view of other people into his actions.

Social life depends on our ability to imagine ourselves in other social roles, and this acceptance of the role of the other depends on our ability to internally talk to ourselves. Mead envisioned society as an exchange of gestures that included the use of symbols.

5. The Concept of Experience Management

From the point of view of Erwin Hoffman, a person appears as an artist, a creator of images. His life is the production of impressions. To be able to manage impressions and control them means to be able to manage other people. Such control is carried out with the help of verbal and non-verbal means of communication.

The main idea of ​​Hoffman's theory is that in the process of interaction, people usually play a kind of "show" for each other, directing the impressions about themselves perceived by others. Social roles are thus analogous to theater roles. Consequently, people design their own image, usually in ways that best serve their own purposes. The regulation of interactions between people is based on the expression of symbolic meanings that are beneficial to them, and they often themselves create situations in which, as they believe, they can make the most favorable impression on others.

LECTURE No. 17. Social institutions

1. The concept of a social institution

Social institutions are stable forms of organization and regulation of social life. They can be defined as a set of roles and statuses designed to meet certain social needs.

The term "social institution" in sociology, as well as in everyday language or in other humanities, has several meanings. The combination of these values ​​can be reduced to four main ones:

1) a certain group of persons called to perform tasks that are important for living together;

2) certain organizational forms of a set of functions performed by some members on behalf of the entire group;

3) a set of material institutions and means of activity that allow certain authorized individuals to perform public impersonal functions aimed at satisfying the needs or regulating the behavior of group members;

4) some social roles that are especially important for the group are sometimes called institutions.

For example, when we say that a school is a social institution, then by this we can mean a group of people working in a school. In another meaning - the organizational forms of the functions performed by the school; in the third sense, the most important for the school as an institution will be the institutions and means that it has at its disposal in order to fulfill the functions entrusted to it by the group, and finally, in the fourth sense, we will call the social role of the teacher an institution. Therefore, we can talk about different ways of defining social institutions: material, formal and functional. In all these approaches, however, we can identify certain common elements that form the main component of the social institution.

2. Types of social institutions

In total, there are five fundamental needs and five basic social institutions:

1) the need for the reproduction of the genus (the institution of the family);

2) needs for security and order (state);

3) the need to obtain means of subsistence (production);

4) the need for the transfer of knowledge, the socialization of the younger generation (institutions of public education);

5) the need for solving spiritual problems (the institute of religion). Consequently, social institutions are classified according to public spheres:

1) economic (property, money, regulation of money circulation, organization and division of labor), which serve the production and distribution of values ​​and services. Economic social institutions provide the entire set of production relations in society, connecting economic life with other areas of social life. These institutions are formed on the material basis of society;

2) political (parliament, army, police, party) regulate the use of these values ​​and services and are associated with power. Politics in the narrow sense of the word is a set of means, functions, based mainly on the manipulation of the elements of power to establish, execute and maintain power. Political institutions (state, parties, public organizations, court, army, parliament, police) in a concentrated form express the political interests and relations existing in a given society;

3) the institutions of kinship (marriage and family) are associated with the regulation of childbearing, relations between spouses and children, and the socialization of young people;

4) institutions of education and culture. Their task is to strengthen, create and develop the culture of society, to pass it on to the next generations. These include schools, institutes, art institutions, creative unions;

5) religious institutions organize a person's attitude to transcendental forces, i.e., to supersensitive forces acting outside the empirical control of a person, and the attitude to sacred objects and forces. Religious institutions in some societies have a strong influence on the course of interactions and interpersonal relations, creating a system of dominant values ​​and becoming dominant institutions (the influence of Islam on all aspects of public life in some countries of the Middle East).

3. Functions of social institutions

Social institutions perform the following functions or tasks in public life:

1) create an opportunity for members of society to satisfy various kinds of needs;

2) regulate the actions of members of society within the framework of social relations, i.e. ensure the implementation of desirable actions and carry out repressions in relation to undesirable actions;

3) ensure the stability of public life by supporting and continuing impersonal public functions;

4) carry out the integration of the aspirations, actions and relationships of individuals and ensure the internal cohesion of the community.

4. Basic characteristics of social institutions

Taking into account E. Durkheim's theory of social facts and proceeding from the fact that social institutions should be considered the most important social facts, sociologists have deduced a number of basic social characteristics that social institutions should have:

1) institutions are perceived by individuals as an external reality. In other words, the institution for any individual person is something external, existing separately from the reality of thoughts, feelings or fantasies of the individual himself. In this characteristic, the institution resembles other entities of external reality—even trees, tables, and telephones—each of which is outside the individual;

2) institutions are perceived by the individual as an objective reality. Something is objectively real when any person agrees that it really exists, and independently of his consciousness, and is given to him in his sensations;

3) institutions have coercive power. To some extent, this quality is implied by the two previous ones: the fundamental power of the institution over the individual is precisely that it exists objectively, and the individual cannot wish it to disappear at his will or whim. Otherwise, negative sanctions may occur;

4) institutions have moral authority. Institutions proclaim their right to legitimation - that is, they reserve the right not only to punish the violator in any way, but also to issue him a moral censure. Of course, institutions vary in their degree of moral strength. These variations are usually expressed in the degree of punishment imposed on the offender. The state in an extreme case can deprive him of his life; neighbors or co-workers may boycott him. In both cases, punishment is accompanied by a sense of indignant justice in those members of society who are involved in this.

5. Development of social institutions and institutionalization

The development of society goes largely through the development of social institutions. The wider the institutionalized sphere in the system of social ties, the more opportunities society has. The diversity of social institutions, their development is, perhaps, the most accurate criterion for the maturity and reliability of a society. The development of social institutions manifests itself in two main variants: first, the emergence of new social institutions; secondly, the improvement of already established social institutions.

The formation and formation of an institution in the form in which we observe it (and take part in its functioning) takes a rather long historical period. This process is called institutionalization in sociology. In other words, institutionalization is the process by which certain social practices become sufficiently regular and long-lasting to be described as institutions.

The most important prerequisites for institutionalization - the formation and establishment of a new institution - are:

1) the emergence of certain social needs for new types and types of social practice and the socio-economic and political conditions corresponding to them;

2) development of the necessary organizational structures and related norms and rules of conduct;

3) internalization by individuals of new social norms and values, the formation on this basis of new systems of individual needs, value orientations and expectations (and hence ideas about the patterns of new roles - their own and correlated with them).

The completion of this process of institutionalization is the emerging new kind of social practice. Thanks to this, a new set of roles is formed, as well as formal and informal sanctions for the implementation of social control over the corresponding types of behavior. Therefore, institutionalization is the process by which a social practice becomes sufficiently regular and continuous to be described as an institution.

LECTURE No. 18. Social systems and social organizations

1. System approach: general provisions

The word "system" comes from the Greek "systema", which means "a whole made up of parts." Thus, a system is any set of elements that are somehow connected to each other and, thanks to this connection, form a certain integrity, unity.

There are some general features of any system:

1) a set of some elements;

2) these elements are in a certain relationship with each other

3) thanks to this connection, the aggregate forms a single whole;

4) the whole has qualitatively new properties that do not belong to individual elements as long as they exist separately. Such new properties that arise in a new holistic formation are called emergent in sociology (from the English "emer-ge" - "appear", "arise"). "The social structure, - says the famous American sociologist Peter Blau, - is identical to the emergent properties of the complex of its constituent elements, that is, properties that do not characterize the individual elements of this complex."

2. Systemological concepts

The entire array of systemological concepts can be conditionally divided into three groups.

Concepts that describe the structure of systems.

Element. This is a further indivisible component of the system with this method of dismemberment. Any element cannot be described outside of its functional characteristics, the role it plays in the system as a whole. From the point of view of the system, it is not so important what the element itself is, but what it does, what it serves within the framework of the whole.

Integrity. This concept is somewhat more vague than an element. It characterizes the isolation of the system, the opposition to its environment, everything that lies outside it. The basis of this opposition is the internal activity of the system itself, as well as the boundaries separating it from other objects (including system ones).

Connection. This concept accounts for the main semantic load of the terminological apparatus. The systemic nature of an object is revealed, first of all, through its connections, both internal and external. We can talk about interaction links, genetic links, transformation links, structure (or structural) links, functioning links, development and control links.

There is also a group of concepts related to the description of the functioning of the system. These include: function, stability, balance, feedback, control, homeostasis, self-organization. And finally, the third group of concepts are terms that describe the processes of system development: genesis, formation, evolution, etc.

3. The concept of "social system"

Social systems are a special class of systems that differ significantly not only from inorganic systems (say, technical or mechanical), but also from such organic systems as biological or ecological. Their main feature is the fact that the elemental composition of these systems is formed by social formations (including people), and the most diverse social relations and interactions (not always of a "material" nature) between these people act as links.

The concept of "social system", being a generalized name for a whole class of systems, is not quite unambiguously and clearly outlined. The range of social systems is quite wide, stretching from social organizations as the most developed type of social systems to small groups.

Social systems theory is a relatively new branch of general sociology. It originates in the early 50s. 1950th century and owes its birth to the efforts of two sociologists - Talcott Parsons of Harvard University and Robert Merton of Columbia University. Although there are significant differences in the work of these two authors, both of them together can be considered the founders of a school called structural functionalism. This approach to society sees the latter as an evolving system, each part of which functions in one way or another in connection with all the others. Then any data about society can be considered from the position of functionality or dysfunction, from the point of view of maintaining the social system. In the XNUMXs structural functionalism, has become the dominant form of sociological theory in America, and only in recent years has begun to lose its influence.

A thorough and deep search for stable elements of social life leads to the conclusion that this life is an infinite number of intertwining interactions of people, and, therefore, the attention of researchers should be focused on these interactions. According to this approach, it can be argued that social systems are not simply made up of people. Structures are positions (statuses, roles) of individuals in the system. The system will not change its structure if some specific individuals stop participating in it, fall out of their "cells", and other individuals take their place.

4. The concept of social organization

A social organization is an association of people who jointly implement a certain program or goal and act on the basis of certain procedures and rules.

The term "organization" in relation to social objects means:

1) a certain instrumental object, an artificial association that occupies a certain place in society and is intended to perform certain functions;

2) some activity, management, including the distribution of functions, coordination and control, that is, a targeted impact on the object;

3) a state of order or a characteristic of the order of some object.

Taking into account all these aspects, the organization can be defined as a purposeful, hierarchical, structured and managed community.

Organization is one of the most developed social systems. Its most important feature is synergy. Synergy is an organizational effect. The essence of this effect is the increase in additional energy that exceeds the sum of individual efforts. The source of the effect is the simultaneity and unidirectionality of actions, the specialization and combination of labor, the processes and relations of the division of labor, cooperation and management. The organization as a social system is distinguished by complexity, since its main element is a person who has his own subjectivity and a wide range of choice of behavior. This creates significant uncertainty in the functioning of the organization and the limits of controllability.

5. Social organization as a type of social system

Social organizations are a special kind of social system. N. Smelser defines the organization briefly: it is "a large group formed to achieve certain goals." Organizations are purposeful social systems, that is, systems formed by people according to a predetermined plan in order to satisfy a larger social system or to achieve individual goals that coincide in direction, but again - through the promotion and pursuit of social goals. Therefore, one of the defining features of social organization is the presence of a goal. A social organization is a deliberately targeted community, which causes the need for a hierarchical construction of its structure and management in the process of its functioning. Therefore, hierarchy is often referred to as a distinctive feature of an organization, which can be represented as a pyramidal structure with a single center, and "the hierarchy of the organization repeats the tree of goals" for which the organization was created.

The main factor in bringing people together in an organization is, first of all, in the mutual strengthening of their members as a result of such a union. This serves as an additional source of energy and the overall efficiency of the activity of this population of people. This is what prompts society, when faced with some problems, to create organizations as special tools specifically for solving these problems. We can say that the creation of organizations is one of the functions of the system called "society". Therefore, the organization, being itself a systemic formation, repeats to a certain extent, reflects those systemic properties that society carries in itself as a large social system.

6. Types of social organizations

Social organizations vary in complexity, specialization of tasks, and formalization of roles. The most common classification is based on the type of membership people have in an organization. There are three types of organizations: voluntary, coercive, or totalitarian, and utilitarian.

People join voluntary organizations to achieve goals that are considered morally significant, to obtain personal satisfaction, increase social prestige, the possibility of self-realization, but not for material reward. These organizations, as a rule, are not associated with state, government structures, they are formed to pursue the common interests of their members. Such organizations include religious, charitable, socio-political organizations, clubs, interest associations, etc.

A distinctive feature of totalitarian organizations is involuntary membership, when people are forced to join these organizations, and life in them is strictly subject to certain rules; prisons, army, etc.

In utilitarian organizations, people enter to receive material rewards, wages.

In real life, it is difficult to single out the pure types of organizations considered; as a rule, there is a combination of features of different types.

According to the degree of rationality in achieving goals and the degree of efficiency, traditional and rational organizations are distinguished.

You can also distinguish the following types of organizations:

1) business organizations (firms and institutions that arise for commercial purposes or to solve specific problems).

In these organizations, the goals of employees do not always coincide with the goals of the owners or the state. Membership in an organization provides workers with a livelihood. The basis of internal regulation is the administrative order associated with the principles of unity of command, appointment and commercial expediency;

2) public unions, the goals of which are developed from within and are a generalization of the individual goals of the participants. Regulation is carried out by a jointly adopted charter, it is based on the principle of election. Membership in the organization is associated with the satisfaction of various needs;

3) intermediate forms that combine the characteristics of unions and entrepreneurial functions (artels, cooperatives, etc.).

7. Elements of organization

Organizations are highly variable and highly complex social formations in which the following individual elements can be distinguished: social structure, goals, participants, technologies, external environment.

The central element of any organization is its social structure. It refers to the patterned, or regulated, aspects of relationships between members of an organization. The social structure includes a set of interrelated roles, as well as ordered relationships between members of the organization, primarily the relationship of power and subordination.

The social structure of an organization differs in the degree of formalization. A formal social structure is a structure in which social positions and the relationships between them are clearly specialized and defined independently of the personal characteristics of the members of the organization occupying these positions. For example, there are social positions of the director, his deputies, heads of departments and ordinary performers.

Relationships between the positions of the formal structure are based on strict rules, regulations, and provisions and are enshrined in official documents. At the same time, the informal structure consists of a set of positions and relationships formed on the basis of personal characteristics and based on relations of prestige and trust.

Goals - for the sake of their achievement and carried out all the activities of the organization. An organization without a purpose is meaningless and cannot exist for a long time.

The goal is considered as the desired result or the conditions that the members of the organization are trying to achieve using their activity to meet collective needs.

The joint activity of individuals gives rise to their goals of different levels and content. There are three interrelated types of organizational goals.

Goals-tasks are assignments issued from the outside by a higher-level organization, designed as programs of general actions. They are given to enterprises by the ministry or dictated by the market (a set of organizations, including subcontractors and competitors) - tasks that determine the purposeful existence of organizations.

Orientation goals are a set of goals of participants implemented through the organization. This includes the generalized goals of the team, including the personal goals of each member of the organization. An important point of joint activity is the combination of goals-tasks and goals-orientations. If they diverge significantly, the motivation to fulfill the goals-tasks is lost and the work of the organization may become ineffective.

System goals are the desire to preserve the organization as an independent whole, that is, to maintain balance, stability and integrity. In other words, this is the desire of the organization to survive in the conditions of the existing external environment, the integration of the organization among others. Goals-systems should organically fit into goals-tasks and goals-orientations.

The listed goals of the organization are the main, or basic, goals. To achieve them, the organization sets itself a set of intermediate, secondary, derivative goals.

Members of the organization, or participants - an important component of the organization. This is a set of individuals, each of which must have a certain set of qualities and skills that allow him to occupy a certain position in the social structure of the organization and play an appropriate social role. Collectively, the members of the organization are personnel who interact with each other in accordance with the normative and behavioral structure.

Possessing different abilities and potential (knowledge, qualifications, motivation, connections), the participants of the organization must fill in all cells of the social structure without exception, i.e. social positions in the organization. There is a problem of personnel placement, combining the abilities and potential of participants with the social structure, as a result of which it is possible to combine efforts and achieve an organizational effect.

Technology. An organization in terms of technology is a place where a certain type of work is performed, where the energy of participation is used to transform materials or information.

In the traditional sense, technology is a set of processes for processing or processing materials in a particular industry, as well as a scientific understanding of production methods. Technology is also commonly referred to as a description of production processes, implementation instructions, technological rules, requirements, maps, schedules. Therefore, technology is a set of basic characteristics of the production process of a particular product. The specificity of the technology is that it algorithmizes the activity. The algorithm itself is a predetermined sequence of steps aimed at obtaining data or results in general.

External environment. Every organization exists in a specific physical, technological, cultural and social environment. She must adapt to him and coexist with him. There are no self-sufficient, closed organizations. All of them, in order to exist, function, achieve goals, must have numerous connections with the outside world.

Studying the external environment of organizations, the English researcher Richard Turton identified the main factors influencing the organization of the external environment:

1) the role of the state and the political system;

2) market influence (competitors and labor market);

3) the role of the economy;

4) the influence of social and cultural factors;

5) technology from the external environment.

Obviously, these environmental factors affect almost all areas of the organization.

8. Management of organizations

Every organization has an artificial, man-made nature. In addition, it always strives to complicate its structure and technology. These two circumstances make it impossible to effectively control and coordinate the actions of the members of the organization at the informal level or at the level of self-government. Each more or less developed organization should have a special body in its structure, the main activity of which is the performance of a certain set of functions aimed at providing the participants in the organization with goals, coordinating their efforts. This type of activity is called management.

For the first time, the characteristics of the management of an organization were determined by Henry Fayol, one of the founders of the scientific theory of management. In his opinion, the most common characteristics are: planning a general course of action and foresight; organization of human and material resources; issuing orders to keep the actions of employees in the optimal mode; coordinating various actions to achieve common goals and controlling the behavior of members of the organization in accordance with existing rules and regulations.

S. S. Frolov notes that one of the modern systems of management functions can be represented as follows:

1) activity as a leader and leader of an organized association, integration of members of the organization;

2) interaction: formation and maintenance of contacts;

3) perception, filtering and dissemination of information;

4) allocation of resources;

5) prevention of violations and management of employee turnover;

6) negotiating;

7) carrying out innovations;

8) planning;

9) control and direction of actions of subordinates.

9. The concept of bureaucracy

Bureaucracy is usually understood as an organization consisting of a number of officials whose positions and posts form a hierarchy and who differ in formal rights and duties that determine their actions and responsibilities.

The term "bureaucracy" of French origin, from the word "bureau" - "office, office". Bureaucracy in its modern, bourgeois form arose in Europe at the beginning of the XNUMXth century. and immediately began to mean that official positions, officials and managers with special knowledge and competence, become key figures in management.

The ideal type of bureaucrat, his distinctive features are best described by M. Weber. In accordance with the teachings of M. Weber, the following properties are characteristic of bureaucracy:

1) the individuals included in the management bodies of the organization are free and act only within the framework of the "impersonal" duties that exist in this organization. "Impersonal" here means that duties and obligations belong to offices and offices, and not to the individual who may hold them at a given time;

2) a pronounced hierarchy of posts and positions. This means that a certain position will be dominant over all subordinate and dependent in relation to positions above it. In a hierarchical relationship, an individual occupying a certain position can make decisions regarding individuals occupying lower positions, and is subject to the decisions of persons in higher positions;

3) a pronounced specification of the functions of each of the posts and positions. It assumes the competence of individuals in each position on a narrow range of problems;

4) individuals are hired and continue to work on the basis of a contract;

5) the selection of acting individuals is made on the basis of their qualifications;

6) people holding positions in organizations are paid a salary, the amount of which depends on the level they occupy in the hierarchy;

7) the bureaucracy is a career structure in which promotion is made on merit or seniority, regardless of the judgments of the boss;

8) the position occupied by the individual in the organization is considered by him as the only or at least the main occupation;

9) the activities of representatives of the bureaucracy are based on strict service discipline and are subject to control.

Having determined the specific properties of bureaucracy, M. Weber thus developed the ideal type of organization management. Bureaucracy in this ideal form is the most efficient management machine based on strict rationalization. It is characterized by strict responsibility for each area of ​​work, coordination in solving problems, the optimal operation of impersonal rules, and a clear hierarchical dependence.

However, such an ideal situation does not exist in reality, moreover, the bureaucracy, originally intended to achieve the goals of the organization, in fact often departs from them and begins not only to work in vain, but also to slow down all progressive processes. It brings the formalization of activities to the point of absurdity, being protected by formal rules and norms from reality.

LECTURE No. 19. The social structure of society and stratification

1. The essence and causes of social inequality

Inequality is the living of people in conditions in which they have unequal access to resources. The concept of "social stratification" is used to describe the system of inequality. On the basis of inequality, a hierarchy of estates and classes is created. Signs of social differentiation:

1) gender and age characteristics;

2) ethno-national characteristics;

3) religion;

4) income level, etc.

The reason for inequality is the heterogeneity of labor, which results in the appropriation of power and property by some people, the uneven distribution of rewards and incentives. The concentration of power, property and other resources in the elite contributes to the formation of social conflicts.

In Western societies, the reduction of social distance occurs through the middle class (small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, the prosperous part of the intelligentsia, enterprise workers, small proprietors), which is the guarantor of stability.

2. Concept, content, foundations of social stratification

People differ among themselves in many ways: gender, age, skin color, religion, ethnicity, etc. But these differences become social only when they affect the position of a person, a social group on the ladder of the social hierarchy. Social differences determine social inequality, which implies the existence of discrimination on various grounds: skin color - racism, gender - sexism, ethnicity - ethno-nationalism, age - ageism. Social inequality in sociology is usually understood as the inequality of the social strata of society. It is the basis of social stratification. Literally translated, stratification means "to make layers", that is, to divide society into layers (from "stratum" - "layer", "facere" - "to make"). The four main dimensions of stratification are income, power, education and prestige. A stratum is thus a social stratum of people who have similar objective indicators on the four scales of stratification. The stratum includes the same layer of people with the same income, education, power and prestige.

In the 20s. XNUMXth century P. Sorokin introduced the concept of "stratification" to describe the system of inequality in society. Stratification can be defined as structured inequalities between different groups of people. Societies can be seen as consisting of strata arranged in a hierarchical fashion, with the most privileged strata at the top and the least privileged at the bottom. The foundations of the theory of stratification were laid by M. Weber, T. Parsons, P. Sorokin and others.

Social stratification performs a dual function: it acts as a method of identifying the strata of a given society and at the same time represents its social portrait. Social stratification is distinguished by a certain stability within a particular historical stage.

In sociology, there are several approaches to the study of social stratification:

1) "self-evaluative", when the sociologist grants the respondent the right to attribute himself to the population group;

2) the method of "assessment", in which the respondents are asked to evaluate the social position of each other;

3) here the sociologist operates with a certain criterion of social differentiation.

3. Grounds for stratification

Social stratification is a central theme in sociology, as it explains the stratification into rich and poor. The four main dimensions of stratification are income, power, education and prestige. Inequality between statuses is the main property of stratification.

T. Parsons identified three groups of differentiating features. These include:

1) characteristics that people have from birth - gender, age, ethnicity, physical and intellectual characteristics, family ties, etc.;

2) signs associated with the performance of the role, i.e. with various types of professional and labor activities;

3) elements of "possession", which include property, privileges, material and spiritual values, etc.

These features are the initial theoretical basis of a multidimensional approach to the study of social stratification. Sociologists identify various cuts or dimensions in determining the number and distribution of social strata. This diversity does not exclude the essential features of stratification. First, it is connected with the distribution of the population into hierarchically organized groups, i.e., upper and lower strata; secondly, stratification consists in the unequal distribution of sociocultural benefits and values. According to P. Sorokin, the object of social inequality are four groups of factors:

1) rights and privileges;

2) duties and responsibilities;

3) social wealth and need;

4) power and influence.

Stratification is closely connected with the dominant system of values ​​in society. It forms a normative scale for evaluating various types of human activity, on the basis of which people are ranked according to the degree of social prestige. In empirical studies in modern Western sociology, prestige is often generally defined using three measurable features - the prestige of the profession, income level, education level. This indicator is called the index of socio-economic position.

4. The concept of one-dimensional and multidimensional stratification

P. Sorokin distinguishes two ways of social stratification: one-dimensional and multidimensional stratification. One-dimensional stratification is based on distribution according to one attribute (religion, profession, property, etc.). Such one-dimensional stratification can consist of the following groups: sex and age trait; socio-demographic; professional; racial communities; objects and subjects of power and management; on religion and language; on property ownership.

There are many criteria by which any society can be divided:

1) according to the division of labor and the prestige of the position (organizational, executive, mental, physical, qualified, creative, etc.). There are several categories of workers:

a) the highest class of professionals;

b) mid-level technical specialists;

c) workers performing managerial functions;

d) skilled workers;

e) ordinary workers.

All of them have different prestige. So, it is obvious that being a university teacher is more prestigious than a laborer at a construction site. Today, however, prestige is often shifted and associated with the level of income from the occupation: the higher the income, the greater the prestige of the job;

2) by income level. Income is the amount of money that an individual or family receives during a certain period of time (month, year);

3) access to resources of property and power. Power - the right and ability to dispose of someone or something, to subordinate people to their will.

However, there is also a multidimensional stratification, when several signs are taken as a basis at once. Throughout the history of mankind, there have been many such communities:

1) slavery - enslavement of people, bordering on complete lack of rights;

2) castes - groups of people who observe ritual purity. Each caste is a closed group. The place of each caste is manifested in the system of division of labor. There is a clear list of occupations that members of this caste can engage in. The position in the caste system is inherited, the transition to another caste is almost impossible:

a) estates - peculiar social and legal groups in pre-capitalist formations that were relatively closed and hereditary;

b) ethnic communities of people, which are stable groups - tribes, nationalities, nations;

c) socio-territorial communities (cities, villages, regions), differing in place in the social division of labor, style, standard of living;

d) social classes, strata, groups as multidimensional social communities.

5. The concept of a nation

Nation - type of ethnic group; a historically emerging socio-economic and spiritual community of people with a certain psychology and self-consciousness.

There is no single approach to the definition of this extremely complex phenomenon. Representatives of the psychological theory see in the nation a cultural and psychological community of people united by a common destiny. This view was shared by O. Bauer, R. Springer and N. Berdyaev, who defined the nation as a unity of historical destiny, and national consciousness as the awareness of this destiny.

The largest supporters of the materialistic concept focused on the commonality of economic ties as the basis of the national community.

One of the classics of modern sociology, P. Sorokin, considers the nation a complex and heterogeneous social body, an artificial structure without its own substance. Some researchers name common territory, economic ties, language, psychological make-up, history, culture and self-consciousness among the essential features of a nation.

The processes of nation formation are objectively connected with the formation of states. Therefore, K. Kautsky considered the national state to be the classical form of the state. However, the fate of far from every nation is connected with statehood; rather, this is an ideal coincidence. According to the concept of K. Kautsky, the most important factors in the consolidation of people into a nation were commodity production and trade. Most modern nations were born in the process of the formation of bourgeois relations (from the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries), but they also formed and developed before capitalism. In countries where development was hindered for centuries by colonialism, this process continues to the present.

Last third of the XNUMXth century marked by the emergence of national statehood on the ruins of pseudo-federal and allied states.

6. The concept of ethnicity

Ethnos (from Greek - "society", "group", "tribe", "people") - a stable community of people, a cultural and historical group, whose members were originally united by a common origin, language, territory, economic, life, and over time and spiritually on the basis of a common culture, historical traditions, socio-political ideals.

Types of ethnos - nations, nationalities, ethnic and ethnographic groups. Their representatives can live compactly with or without their own national statehood, or they can be distributed among other peoples.

Unlike a nation, a nationality is a socio-ethnic community with a relatively identical ethnic composition, a common consciousness and psychology, and less developed, stable economic and cultural ties.

An ethnic group is a small community, the basis of which is the language, common origin, culture, way of life and traditions.

An ethnographic group is a community that speaks the same language with a particular nation, nationality, but also has specifics in everyday life, traditions, and customs.

Relationships between the types of an ethnic group are of a socio-ethnic and inter-ethnic (personal) nature. The totality of methods and means regulating these relations constitutes the content of the state's interethnic policy.

7. Historical types of stratification

Social stratification is a certain orderliness of society. At the stages of human existence, its three main types can be traced: caste, estate and class. The primitive state is characterized by a natural structuring by age and gender.

The first type of social stratification is the division of society into castes. The caste system is a closed type of society, i.e. status is given from birth and mobility is practically impossible. The caste was a hereditary association of people connected by traditional occupations and limited in communication with each other. Caste system took place in Ancient Egypt, Peru, Iran, Japan, in the southern states of the USA. Its classic example was India, where the caste organization turned into a comprehensive social system. The hierarchical ladder of access to wealth and prestige in India had the following steps:

1) brahmins - priests;

2) kshatriyas - military aristocracy;

3) vaishyas - farmers, artisans, merchants, free community members;

4) Shudras - not free community members, servants, slaves;

5) "untouchables", whose contacts with other castes were excluded.

This system was banned in India in the 50s. XX century, but caste prejudices and inequality still make themselves felt today.

The second type of social stratification - class - also characterizes a closed society, where mobility is strictly limited, although it is allowed. The estate, like the caste, was associated with the inheritance of rights and obligations enshrined in custom and law. But unlike caste, the principle of inheritance in estates is not so absolute, and membership can be bought, bestowed, recruited. Class stratification is characteristic of European feudalism, but was also present in other traditional civilizations. Its model is medieval France, where society was divided into four estates:

1) the clergy;

2) nobility;

3) artisans, merchants, servants (city dwellers);

4) peasants. In Russia, from the reign of Ivan the Terrible (from the middle of the 1762th century) to the reign of Catherine II, a hierarchy of estates was formed, officially approved by decrees (1785-XNUMX) in the following form: nobility, clergy, merchants, bourgeoisie, peasantry. The decrees stipulated the paramilitary estate (sub-ethnos), the Cossacks and the raznochintsy.

Class stratification is characteristic of open societies.

It differs significantly from caste and class stratification. These differences appear as follows:

1) classes are not created on the basis of legal and religious norms, membership in them is not based on hereditary status;

2) class systems are more mobile, and the boundaries between classes are not rigidly delineated;

3) classes depend on economic differences between groups of people associated with inequality in the ownership and control of material resources;

4) class systems mainly carry out connections outside of a personal nature. The main basis of class differences - inequality between conditions and wages - operates in relation to all professional groups as a result of economic circumstances belonging to the economy as a whole;

5) social mobility is much simpler than in other stratification systems, there are no formal restrictions for it, although mobility is really constrained by a person's starting capabilities and the level of his claims.

8. The main theoretical approaches in the definition of classes

Classes can be defined as large groups of people that differ in their general economic opportunities, which significantly affect their types of lifestyle.

The most influential theoretical approaches in the definition of classes and class stratification belong to K. Marx and M. Weber.

According to Marx, a class is a community of people in direct relation to the means of production. He singled out the exploiting and exploited classes in society at different stages. The stratification of society according to Marx is one-dimensional, connected only with classes, since its main basis is the economic situation. All other rights and privileges, power and influence fit into the "Procrustean bed" of the economic situation and are combined with it.

M. Weber defined classes as groups of people who have a similar position in a market economy, receive similar economic rewards and have similar chances in life. Class divisions arise not only in control of the means of production, but also in economic differences not related to property. Such sources include professional excellence, rare specialty, high qualifications, intellectual property ownership, and others. Weber gave not only class stratification, considering it only a part of the structuring necessary for a complex capitalist society. He proposed a three-dimensional division: if economic differences (by wealth) give rise to class stratification, then spiritual (by prestige) - status, and political (by access to power) - party. In the first case, we are talking about the life chances of social strata, in the second - about the image and style of their life, in the third - about the possession of power and influence on it. Most sociologists consider the Weberian scheme to be more flexible and appropriate for modern society.

9. Non-Marxist approaches to the definition of classes

In various schools of sociology, such as the American and English schools, class theories have developed in somewhat different directions. Post-war American sociologists generally viewed their society as classless. This was partly due to the fact that they believed that there were no longer sharp differences in the distribution of material rewards. Rather, they adopted Weber's view of status and developed a multidimensional approach that treated social status and prestige as independent factors that weakened or even supplanted the economically determined class.

British sociologists during this period initially accepted the division of labor as the decisive determinant of class and defined the basic principle of class division as the boundary between manual and non-physical labor. There is a condensed version of the six socioeconomic classes, which are described as:

1) professionals;

2) employers and managers;

3) clerks - intermediate and junior workers of non-physical labor;

4) skilled manual workers and independent (self-employed) non-professionals;

5) semi-skilled manual workers and service personnel;

6) unskilled manual workers.

This kind of distinction was largely artificial, and sociologists rarely use this classification in theoretical class analysis.

At present, the generally accepted sociological model of class structure in some countries (for example, in Great Britain) is the division of the population into three classes - working, intermediate and upper. Manual workers belong to the working class; low-level non-manual workers, such as clerks and lower technicians, are classified as an intermediate class; managers, administrators and professionals - to the higher.

The non-Marxist trend as a whole is characterized by the separation of simply "higher" and "lower" classes in the class structure. To be more precise, the traditional division adheres to a four-term structure:

1) the upper class (Upper Class), characterized by the highest levels of wealth and power;

2) the middle class (Middle Class), which is formed by a very motley conglomerate of social groups - from medium-sized entrepreneurs to medium-paid engineers and clerks;

3) working class (Working Class), uniting workers of manual labor;

4) the lower class (Underclass), which includes, as a rule, representatives of ethnic minorities, as well as individuals employed in the lowest paid, least safe and least attractive jobs.

At the same time, most sociologists are clearly aware that such a large-scale division is clearly not enough for a more in-depth analysis of the class structure.

10. Social stratification of modern societies

The Stalin-Brezhnev model of stratification was reduced only to forms of ownership and, on this basis, to two classes (workers and collective farm peasantry) and a stratum (intelligentsia). The existing social inequality, the alienation of classes from property and power in Soviet science were not subjected to open structuring until the mid-1980s. However, foreign researchers were engaged in the stratification of social inequality in Soviet society. One of them - A. Inkels - analyzed the 1940s-1950s. and gave a conical model of the hierarchical division of society in the USSR. Using the material level, privileges and power as bases, he outlined nine social strata: the ruling elite, the upper intelligentsia, the labor aristocracy, the mainstream intelligentsia, the middle workers, the wealthy peasants, the white collar workers, the middle peasants, the underprivileged workers, and the forced labor group ( prisoners).

The inertia of a society closed to study turned out to be so great that at the present time the domestic stratification analysis is just unfolding. Researchers turn to both the Soviet past and the current Russian society. Variations of three layers are known (business layer, middle layer, lumpen layer) and a model of eleven hierarchical levels (apparatus, "comprador", "national bourgeoisie", directorate, "merchants", farmers, collective farmers, members of new agricultural enterprises, lumpen- intellectuals, working class, unemployed). The most developed model belongs to Academician T. Zaslavskaya, who identified 78 social strata in modern Russia.

Western sociologists in the XX century. use different approaches to social stratification:

1) subjective - self-evaluative, when the respondents themselves determine their social affiliation;

2) subjective reputational, when the respondents determine the social affiliation of each other;

3) objective (most common) - as a rule, with a status criterion.

Most Western sociologists, structuring the societies of developed countries, divide them into the upper, middle and working classes, in some countries also the peasantry (for example, France, Japan, third world countries).

The upper class stands out for its wealth, corporatism and power. It makes up about 2% of modern societies, but controls up to 85-90% of the capital. It is made up of bankers, owners, presidents, party leaders, movie stars, outstanding athletes.

The middle class includes non-manual workers and is divided into three groups: the upper middle class (professionals - doctors, scientists, lawyers, engineers, etc.); intermediate middle class (teachers, nurses, actors, journalists, technicians); the lower middle class (cashiers, salespeople, photographers, policemen, etc.). The middle class makes up 30-35% in the structure of Western societies.

The working class - the class of manual workers, accounting for about 50-65% in different countries, is also divided into three layers:

1) workers of skilled manual labor (locksmiths, turners, cooks, hairdressers, etc.);

2) workers of manual semi-skilled labor (seamstresses, agricultural workers, telephone operators, bartenders, orderlies, etc.);

3) workers of unskilled labor (loaders, cleaners, kitchen workers, servants, etc.).

An important feature of modern society is that, by supporting in the mass consciousness the idea of ​​the necessity and expediency of a social hierarchy, it gives everyone a chance to test their strength in the most difficult ascent of the steps of the stratification ladder.

Thus, conditions are created for directing the energy generated by dissatisfaction with one's position in the hierarchical structure, not to destroy the structure itself and the institutions that protect it, but to achieve personal success. A stable idea is being created in the mass consciousness about personal responsibility for one's own destiny, for one's place in the pyramid of power, prestige and privileges.

11. The concept of "lifestyle"

Another key concept of stratification (especially in American studies) is lifestyle. This concept, first introduced by Weber, refers to a common culture or way of life of different groups in a society. Some American sociologists emphasized lifestyle instead of economic factors and thought through this to provide an unambiguously non-Marxist way of studying stratification. This is especially true of stratification studies in America, stimulated by the work of Lloyd Warner. In the 1930s-1940s. L. Warner conducted a detailed field study of the social structure of the Newburyport community in Massachusetts (following the usual rule of anonymity in field work, Warner called this community "Yankee City"). At the same time, he took reputation as the main typological feature, or rather, how his neighbors and countrymen defined someone's class affiliation.

Warner's study is also interesting in that it is one of the few works that shows the difference in the dominant spiritual values ​​among representatives of different strata - in particular, moral ones. In conducting his research, Warner tried to identify the particular style of life common to most members of each stratum, and those aspects of it that would not be too directly related to obvious differences in access to economic resources.

Lifestyle is a very broad concept that includes subjective and objective factors. The first means the subjective needs of a person, the second - the specifics of work, life and leisure. The lifestyle consists of several components - it is both a way of producing material goods, and the environment, the political system of society, life, traditions, habits.

12. Social mobility and its types

The concept of "social mobility" was introduced by P. Sorokin. A person does not remain at the same level of status throughout their life; sooner or later he will have to change it by moving to a new status position. Such processes, occurring in any society continuously and covering almost all of its members, are described in sociology by the concept of social mobility. Social mobility means the movement of individuals and groups from one social strata, communities to others, which is associated with a change in the position of an individual or group in the system of social stratification.

The possibilities and dynamics of social mobility differ in historical contexts. P. Sorokin refers to the following social institutions as channels or "elevators" of social mobility: the army, the church, educational institutions, the family, political and professional organizations, the media, etc.

For most people, it is very difficult to move up the stratification ladder, some of them cannot adapt to new conditions. The reasons for achieving success in moving up the stratification ladder are the social status of the family, the level of education, nationality, advantageous marriage, abilities, upbringing, place of residence.

Social institutions that are channels of vertical mobility - the school, the army, the church, organizations - sort of filter and select individuals, carrying out a kind of selection. The family also serves the interests of social selection, but now it is not the origin and nobility of the family that is valuable, but personal qualities.

The options for social mobility are diverse:

1) individual and collective;

2) vertical and horizontal;

3) intragenerational and intergenerational.

13. Intragenerational and intergenerational mobility

Intragenerational (within one generation) mobility compares the positions achieved by the same individual at different points throughout his or her life (as a rule, this refers to a work biography, and therefore a career). Therefore, some researchers prefer to call it occupational or labor force mobility, because it is usually related to occupation rather than social status. Thus, intragenerational mobility means that a person changes his position in the stratification system throughout his life.

Intergenerational (between generations) mobility compares the current positions of individuals with the positions of their parents, i.e., it denotes a change in the son's social status in comparison with the social position of his father.

14. Vertical and horizontal mobility

In connection with the orientation of mobility, vertical and horizontal are distinguished. Strictly speaking, only the first of them refers to social mobility as such, that is, to the rise or fall of status within the stratification system. Horizontal mobility, on the other hand, refers to such changes in social position, when its subject remains within the same stratum. For example, a manager of an organization who becomes deputy director undergoes vertical mobility. But a manager who moves from one department to another without being promoted is subject to horizontal mobility, which, in all likelihood, does not affect his overall rank in the occupational stratification scheme. Thus, vertical mobility is a change in the social position of an individual, which is accompanied by an increase or decrease in his status, and horizontal mobility is a change in the social position of an individual, which does not lead to an increase or decrease in his status.

Vertical mobility, in turn, is divided into ascending and descending. These concepts largely speak for themselves. Ascending mobility characterizes an increase in social status, a transition to a stratum located higher in the hierarchical ladder; descending means, on the contrary, a descent along the same hierarchical ladder, a decrease in social rank.

15. Individual and group mobility

An individual can make his ascent to the pyramid of social status through his own efforts and personal achievements. In this case, one speaks of individual mobility.

Group mobility occurs when the status of an entire class, class, caste decreases or rises. The causes of group mobility are the following factors: social revolutions, foreign interventions, interstate wars, military coups, political regime changes, peasant uprisings, the struggle of aristocratic families, the creation of an empire.

There are many cases in history when entire social groups drastically changed their status as a result of some events. As a result, the status of practically all individuals belonging to this group also changes. Sorokin cites the October Revolution as an example. As a result, her entire privileged class of nobility made a collective social descent in the 1920s-1930s. To be proud of a title of nobility and put it on public display in Soviet Russia was not only not prestigious, but also downright dangerous for well-being and life itself. On the contrary, the worker-peasant origin here became a sign of trustworthiness and opened the way for many to increase their social status.

16. The concept of migration

Migration is the movement of people from country to country, from one region to another, from city to village and back. In other words, these are territorial movements. They are seasonal, depending on the time of year, and pendulum, that is, regular movements. There are also immigration and emigration. Migration is the movement of a population within one country; emigration - leaving the country for a long time or permanent residence; immigration - entry into a country for a permanent or long-term residence.

Thus, migration refers to the movements of people in geographic space and has nothing special to do with social mobility, which describes the movements of subjects in social space.

Migration processes can be carried out under the influence of various factors: natural disasters (earthquakes, floods, environmental changes), ethnic conflicts, wars, an unfavorable economic situation, relevant policies (for example, the policy of industrialization of a society contributes to the migration of the rural population to the city), etc. d.

Solving the problems of resettling people in new places of residence, ensuring their employment, living and cultural living conditions is the essence of the state's migration policy. Ignoring such tasks, the lack of a promising migration policy serve as an additional source of social and political conflicts in society.

LECTURE No. 20. Small groups as an object of sociological research

1. The concept of a small group

A small group is defined as a small association of people in which social relations take the form of direct personal contacts. A small group is not just any contacts between people (because there are always some contacts in an arbitrary random meeting of people), but contacts in which certain social ties are realized and which are mediated by joint activities. Thus, a small social group is an association of people who have direct contact with each other, are connected by joint activities, emotional or family closeness, are aware of their belonging to a group and are recognized by other people.

Small groups serve as the main object not so much for sociology as for another scientific discipline - social psychology. Sociological interest in a small group is mainly due to two points: firstly, it is in groups that the vast majority of interaction processes arise and proceed in the most direct and immediate form; secondly, in the microenvironment of the group one can find a wide variety of models of social relations that are also found in the macroenvironment, in larger associations.

The boundaries of a small group are determined by qualitative features, the main of which are contact and integrity. Contact is the ability of each member of the group to regularly communicate with each other, perceive and evaluate each other, and exchange information. Integrity is defined as the social and psychological community of people in a group, allowing them to be perceived as a single whole.

In addition to the qualitative characteristics of a small group, its quantitative indicators are distinguished. The lower limit of the size of a small group is three people, since in a group of two people (dyad) group socio-psychological phenomena proceed in a special way. The upper limit of a small group is determined by its qualitative features and usually does not exceed 20-30 people. The optimal size of a small group depends on the nature of the joint activity and is in the range of 5-12 people.

2. Typology of small groups

The abundance of small groups in society suggests their great diversity. Currently, about fifty different bases of classification are known.

So, according to the level of group consciousness, the following types of groups are distinguished (according to L. I. Umansky):

1) a conglomerate group - which has not yet realized the single goal of its activity (the concepts of a diffuse or nominal group are similar to this);

2) an association group with a common goal; all other signs (preparedness, organizational and psychological unity) are absent;

3) group-cooperation - characterized by the unity of goals and activities, the presence of group experience and preparedness;

4) a group-corporation, which is placed above cooperation by the presence of organizational and psychological unity (sometimes such a group is called autonomous). The corporation is characterized by the manifestation of group egoism (opposing oneself to other groups, individuals, society) and individualism up to asociality (for example, a gang);

5) collective - a group distinguished by the highest level of social development, goals and principles of high humanism;

6) a gomphotheric ("downed") team - in which psychophysiological compatibility is added to all other qualities (for example, the crew of a spaceship).

According to the nature of the predominant orientation of the activity of groups, two types of them are distinguished.

The activity of a group of type "internal" (int-groups) is directed inside the group, on its members (all together or separately). These are children's clubs, psychotherapeutic groups, etc.

The activity of an "external" type group (ext-group) is directed outside of it. This type includes associations of volunteers, Masonic lodges, etc.

Small groups are also divided into formal and informal. For the first time this division was proposed by E. Mayo during his famous Hawthorne experiments. According to Mayo, a formal group is distinguished by the fact that all the positions of its members are clearly defined in it, they are prescribed by group norms. Accordingly, in a formal group, the roles of all members of the group are also strictly distributed, in the system of subordination to the so-called power structure: the idea of ​​vertical relations as relations defined by a system of roles and statuses.

Informal groups are associations of people that arise on the basis of internal needs inherent in individuals for communication, belonging, understanding, sympathy and love.

Very often, for an individual, the primary group to which he belongs is one of the most important referential groups. This term denotes that group (real or imaginary), the system of values ​​and norms of which acts as a kind of standard for the individual. A person always - voluntarily or involuntarily - correlates his intentions and actions with the way those whose opinion he values ​​\uXNUMXb\uXNUMXbcan evaluate them, regardless of whether they are watching him really or only in his imagination. The reference group can be the group to which the individual belongs at the moment, the group of which he was a member before, and the one to which he would like to belong. The personified images of the people who make up the reference group form an "internal audience" to which a person is guided in his thoughts and actions.

By the time of existence, temporary groups are distinguished, within which the association of participants is limited in time (these can be participants in one conference, neighbors in the cabin or tourists who make up a tourist group). Stable, the relative constancy of which is determined by their purpose and long-term goals of functioning (family, employees of one department and students from one group).

Groups are divided into open and closed - depending on the degree of arbitrariness of a person's decision to enter a particular group, participate in its life and leave it.

3. Small group structure

The structure of a small group is a set of connections that develop between its members. Since the main areas of activity of representatives of a small group are joint activities and communication, when studying small groups, the following are most often distinguished:

1) the structure of connections and relations generated by joint activities (functional, organizational, economic, managerial);

2) the structure of connections generated by communication and psychological relations (communicative structure, structure of emotional relations, role and informal status structure).

To study the informal structure of a small group, the sociometry method proposed by D. Moreno is most often used.

4. Socio-psychological parameters of a small group

The following socio-psychological parameters of a small group can be distinguished: group composition, group compatibility, socio-psychological climate, value-personal orientations, group cohesion coefficient, group norms and values.

The composition of the group can be described in different ways depending on whether, for example, the age, professional or social characteristics of the group members are significant in each particular case.

A very important characteristic of a group, which is manifested in the ability of its members to coordinate their actions and optimize relationships, is group compatibility. There are such types of it as: physiological, psychophysiological (for example, temperaments), psychological (in particular, according to interests) and the highest level - ideological (includes value-oriented unity).

Each group has a socio-psychological climate - the qualitative side of interpersonal relationships. It manifests itself in the form of a set of psychological conditions that contribute to or hinder productive joint activities and the comprehensive development of the individual in the group. Each member of the group affects the socio-psychological climate of the team, creating and changing it. But the very socio-psychological climate of the team has an impact on each individual member of the team, forcing him to think and act adequately to the general mood.

Very important characteristics of the group are its value-personal orientations (CLO) - personality traits that are most valued in this group. It can be talent, position in society, charm, business qualities, etc.

The group is characterized by such a parameter as the coefficient of group cohesion (CGC). The higher it is, the stronger the group is, as a rule, although sometimes it indicates only a large number of mutually sympathetic pairs of individuals, which can be "balanced" by no less number of mutually antagonizing pairs.

Group norms are certain rules that are developed by the group, adopted by it, and to which the behavior of its members must obey in order for their joint activities to be possible. Norms perform, thus, a regulatory function in relation to this activity. Group norms are associated with values, since any rules can be formulated only on the basis of acceptance or rejection of some socially significant phenomena. The values ​​of each group are formed on the basis of the development of a certain attitude to social phenomena, dictated by the place of this group in the system of social relations, its experience in organizing certain activities.

5. ​​Dynamic processes in a small group

The term "group dynamics" can be used in three different senses:

1) this term denotes a certain direction in the study of small groups in social psychology, the school of K. Levin;

2) these are certain methods that are used in the study of small groups and which were mainly developed in the Levin school. "Group dynamics" in this case is a special kind of laboratory experiment, specially designed for the study of group processes; 3) this is a set of those dynamic processes that simultaneously occur in a group in some unit of time and which mark the movement of the group from stage to stage, i.e., its development.

From the point of view of the third approach, group dynamics includes the following processes:

1) cohesion or disunity of groups;

2) the process of formation of informal groups within formal groups;

3) the formation of group norms (this is the most important process), spontaneously emerging standards of individual behavior. A holistic view of the development of a group according to the characteristics of group processes is based on a detailed analysis, when the development of group norms, values, the system of interpersonal relations, etc. is separately studied.

In its development, the group goes through the following four stages:

1) the verification and dependency stage. For newly formed groups at this stage, the formation of a sense of belonging to a group, the emergence of a desire to establish relationships with other participants, orientation in group tasks and norms, and the distribution of group roles are characteristic. Existing small groups go through this stage again under certain conditions, for example, the appearance of a new member of the group, a change in the goals of the group;

2) the stage of internal conflict. It is characterized by the fact that cohesion in the group falls, tension and discontent increase, the process of distribution of roles begins. However, the processes taking place with the group during this period must be distinguished from the processes taking place in an interpersonal conflict. This stage is of great importance for the subsequent development of the group, since the effectiveness of the next stage depends on it. The success of the group passing this stage is determined by its leader or leader;

3) the stage of productivity. At this stage, group cohesion develops, group members begin to effectively interact with each other, solving their goals;

4) the stage of cohesion and attachment. Group members establish a closer emotional connection, they get together only to communicate with each other, while (if it is, for example, a production team), its immediate goals and objectives recede into the background.

6. Small group leadership

The concept of leadership and its various concepts arose for the first time in Western science on the basis of empirical studies of small groups. Many researchers have studied leadership as a socio-psychological phenomenon from various points of view, highlighting one or another of its aspects.

Leadership in a small group is the phenomenon of the influence or influence of one of the members of the group on the opinions, assessments, attitudes and behavior of the group as a whole or its individual members. Leadership is a natural socio-psychological process in a group, built on the influence of the individual's personal authority on the behavior of group members.

The main features of leadership are:

1) higher activity and initiative of the group leader in solving joint tasks by the group;

2) greater awareness about the problem being solved, about the members of the group and about the situation as a whole;

3) a more pronounced ability to influence other members of the group;

4) greater compliance of behavior with social attitudes, values ​​and norms adopted in this group;

5) greater severity of personal qualities, the reference for this group.

The main functions of a leader are organizing joint life activities in its various areas, developing and maintaining group norms, external representation of the group in relations with other groups, taking responsibility for the results of group activities, establishing and maintaining favorable socio-psychological relations in the group.

According to some authors, leadership is determined by the interaction of a number of variables, the main of which are:

1) individual psychological characteristics of the personality of the leader himself;

2) socio-psychological characteristics of members of a small group;

3) the nature of the tasks to be solved and the peculiarities of the situation in which the group finds itself.

LECTURE No. 21. Public opinion

1. Concept, subject and object of public opinion

Public opinion reflects the real state of public consciousness, interests, moods, feelings of classes and groups of society. This is the attitude of social communities to the problems of social life.

The origin of this term is English. In 1759, John Solburn first used it in a parliamentary speech.

The most important factor in shaping public opinion is the interests of the people. Public opinion arises where a question of great practical importance is put forward, or a question of a debatable nature. The mechanism of formation of public opinion involves the struggle of individual opinions.

What is the essence of public opinion? First, it is the result of the mental activity of people. Secondly, in the formation of public opinion, the selection criterion is public interests and needs. Thirdly, mass judgments of people have varying degrees of objectivity, sometimes, if there is no scientific foundation, an erroneous public opinion arises, often prejudices are passed off as public opinion. Fourthly, public opinion is the driving force of people to practical activity. Fifth, the fusion of individual opinions, where non-linear addition occurs.

The subject of public opinion - the majority of the people - has an internal structure, the consideration of which is important for sociological research. These are classes, separate layers, groups and other communities, individuals. It is within these communities that public opinion is formed.

The object of public opinion is something about which public opinion is formed. The stronger the object affects the interests of people, the more clearly public opinion manifests itself.

For example, environmental problems or problems of social inequality.

2. Means and stages of public opinion formation

In the course of development, public opinion goes through the stages of emergence, formation and functioning. It can be formed both spontaneously and consciously. The main methods of formation are suggestion, persuasion, imitation. The main means (channels) of formation are the mass media, oral propaganda, political agitation, interpersonal communication.

Stages of formation of public opinion: the emergence of individual opinions, the exchange of opinions, the crystallization of a common point of view from many opinions and the transition to a practical state. In real life, these processes proceed simultaneously and have qualitative leaps and mutual transitions in the development of individual, group and public opinions.

Almost always public opinion had its leaders. In the tribal organization, these were elders, wise by experience, later ministers of worship - priests, came to the fore, then various parties and forces appeared that sought to influence public opinion. Finally, a layer of ideologists formed who were able to formulate and justify the dominance of a certain opinion, the elites of countries sought to make public opinion develop in their favor (often, the elite acts with the help of propaganda, censorship, methods of social psychology to promote the spread of prejudices).

The formed public opinion has an integrative character, it is not a simple sum of opinions, but a concentrated expression of the collective mind, a fusion of society's opinions. The content of the prevailing public opinion consists only of those assessments that are shared by the majority, even if they are not true.

3. Functions and characteristics of public opinion

Public opinion, depending on the preferences of the subject, may have a positive or negative orientation, or be indifferent. Being formed, it can maintain stability for a long time, and sometimes it can even gain a foothold in customs and traditions.

Public opinion has its own spheres of regional and social distribution.

Mature public opinion is distinguished by special competence, social orientation and significant prevalence. The spheres of manifestation of public opinion are politics, law, morality, religion, science, and culture.

Opinion can be classified as follows: individual, group and public. Public opinion is rooted in the social environment, often manipulated by parties and movements to achieve their goals. It always arises in the confrontation of opinions of all strata of society. Sometimes a semblance of public opinion is created. To prevent this from happening, people need objective information, they must be enlightened and literate.

The following functions of public opinion can be distinguished:

1) control, which controls the institutions of power and the state;

2) advisory, when it gives advice to the authorities;

3) directive, when decisions on problems of social life are made through a referendum;

4) estimated.

Public opinion is sometimes formed under the influence of emotions, but it is better if it is based on constructive, analytical research. It can act in the form of positive and negative judgments.

Sociology cannot do without the question: what does the people think and feel, what does it want? In our country, sociological surveys of the population began relatively recently, but now they are conducted regularly, the results of public opinion polls are published and announced on television.

4. Methodology for studying public opinion

The basis for the study of public opinion is its methodological and methodological base, in particular, the compilation of a questionnaire. Gallup Institute back in the 40s. XNUMXth century based on the experience of predicting the course of election campaigns, he developed a five-dimensional plan, which had the goal of improving the methodology for studying public opinion.

It turned out that the most important thing is the choice and wording of questions. The shortcomings identified in this area occurred in unskilled surveys. Questions were asked to people who had no idea about the subject of discussion; no distinction was made between those who answered without thinking and those who weighed the answer. Questions were formulated in such a way that they could have different meanings for different groups of people; some questions could not be answered unambiguously; the fact why the respondent holds this particular opinion was ignored

Gallup's plan called for a study of 5 different aspects of public opinion:

1) knowledge of the subject about the subject;

2) his general views;

3) the reasons why he holds these views;

4) his specific views on specific aspects of the problem;

5) intensity of the expressed opinion.

The five-dimensional plan uses five categories of questions: filtering, open, causal, specific, revealing the intensity of opinions. The Five Dimensional Plan can be called the standard of public opinion polling. But now in developed countries there are a great many types of surveys: open regional and national surveys; closed confidential surveys commissioned by clients, firms, associations, unions, other organizations; pilot surveys of institutions carried out for applied and academic purposes.

5. Public opinion and social stereotypes as the results of mass communication

A social stereotype is a simplified image of social objects or events that has significant stability. The persistence of stereotypes may be related to the reproduction of traditional ways of perceiving and thinking. In turn, such ways of perceiving and thinking can reproduce the dominance of some social groups over others. The existence of stereotypes can influence the formation of public opinion.

The positive value of stereotypes is to help you navigate in circumstances that do not require analytical thinking.

The negative value is associated with the possible emergence of hostility, enmity between national groups; and also with the fact that they replace the analysis of information with the reproduction of standards of behavior and evaluation.

In interpersonal perception, when assessing the roles and personal characteristics of others, people, as a rule, rely on established standards. The standards are based on the belief in a stable relationship between certain features of appearance and certain role and personality traits of a person. Identifying the interlocutor with the standard according to some observable features, we simultaneously attribute to him many other features that, in our opinion, are found in people of this kind. At the same time, the stereotypical perception of people according to standards is associated with a number of specific errors:

1) the projection effect - when we tend to attribute our own merits to a pleasant interlocutor, and our shortcomings to an unpleasant one, that is, to most clearly identify in others those features that are clearly represented in ourselves;

2) the effect of the average error - the tendency to soften the estimates of the most striking features of another person towards the average;

3) the order effect - when, with conflicting information, more weight is given to the data received first, and when communicating with old acquaintances, on the contrary, there is a tendency to trust more recent information;

4) the halo effect - when a certain attitude is formed towards a person according to his any act; the halo can have both positive and negative coloring;

5) the effect of stereotyping, which consists in attributing to a person features characteristic of certain social groups (for example, professional ones: teachers, sellers, mathematicians.

A social stereotype is a stable idea of ​​any phenomena or signs characteristic of representatives of a particular social group. Different social groups, interacting with each other, develop certain social stereotypes. The most famous are ethnic or national stereotypes - ideas about members of some national groups from the point of view of others, for example, stereotypical ideas about the politeness of the British, the frivolity of the French, or the mysteriousness of the Slavic soul.

6. Rumors as an example of informal communication

Rumors - information, the reliability of which is not established and which is transmitted from person to person through oral speech. Rumors are a message that quickly spreads through informal channels, based on a true fact, but which differs in content from this fact and carries a shade of unreality, distortion. Rumors can spread in any society, but only in a mass society are they the most characteristic feature of social interactions.

Rumors are distinguished by content, by information content, by needs.

The disseminators and users of rumors are, as a rule, high-status groups. Rumor spreading factors:

1) a problematic situation that creates an information need;

2) unsatisfactory or lack of information, information uncertainty;

3) the level of anxiety of individuals.

The results of the impact of rumors (by levels of interaction):

1) individual level:

a) adaptation to the environment;

b) disintegration of the individual;

2) group level:

a) rallying;

b) disconnection;

3) mass level: changes in public opinion and collective behavior.

The ambiguity of the results of the impact of rumors makes them almost uncontrollable. Rumor prevention can be reduced to the dissemination of timely, extensive and persuasive information.

LECTURE No. 22. Deviant behavior and social control

1. The concept and types of deviant behavior

Socialization is aimed at the development of a conforming person, that is, one who would fulfill social standards, correspond to social standards. Deviation from them is called deviation. Thus, deviant behavior is determined by conformity to social norms.

A social norm is not necessarily actual behavior, and normative behavior is not just the most commonly encountered pattern. Since this concept refers mainly to social expectations (expectations) of "correct" or "proper" behavior, norms imply the presence of some kind of legality, carry a connotation of consent and prescription, i.e. requirements to do something or, on the contrary, a ban on an action.

Deviant behavior is not always negative, it can be associated with the desire of the individual for something new, progressive. Therefore, sociology does not study any deviations from the norms, but those that cause public concern. Deviation is understood as a deviation from the group norm, which entails isolation, treatment, imprisonment, etc. It traditionally includes: crime, alcoholism, drug addiction, prostitution, suicide, and others.

Deviant, i.e. deviating from the norms, behavior covers a huge range of human actions. Depending on the amplitude of the deviation, as well as on the nature of the violated norms, three degrees of it can be distinguished:

1) a slight deviation from the norms of morality and etiquette is called properly deviant;

2) violations of the rule of law, but not so significant that they are subject to criminal liability, are called delinquent behavior in sociology. The concept of "delinquent behavior" covers a fairly wide range of violations of legal and social norms. And in criminology, it is defined as a typical youth (youthful) offense, which indicates a rather high level of offenses subject to judicial or administrative prosecution, committed by young people between the ages of twelve and twenty;

3) serious violations of the norms of criminal law, called crimes, could be called criminal behavior.

A. I. Kravchenko makes such a distinction between actually deviant and delinquent behavior: “The first is relative, and the second is absolute. What is a deviation for one person or group, then for another or others it may be a habit ... Deviant behavior is relative, because only to the cultural norms of a given group. But delinquent behavior is absolutely in relation to the laws of a given country."

Deviant studies quite often include a wide variety of behaviors, from drug abuse to football hooliganism and even the practice of witchcraft and magic, as behavior labeled as deviant and even delinquent. The sociology of deviation thus takes as its object of study broader, more heterogeneous categories of behavior than traditional criminology.

2. Explanation of deviant behavior in the theory of labeling

In the theory of labeling, deviant behavior is treated not as a product of individual psychology or genetic heredity, but as the consequences of the influence of social structure and social control.

This theory is based essentially on two assumptions. The first is that deviant is not just a violation of the norm, but in fact any behavior that is successfully defined as such, if it can be labeled as deviant. Deviation is contained not so much in the action itself, but in the reaction of others to this action. The second proposition states that labeling produces or propagates deviation. The deviant's response to social response leads to re-deviation, whereby the deviant comes to accept a self-image or definition as a person who is permanently locked into the deviance of his role. The peculiarity of the approach here is that it draws attention to deviation as a result of social accusations and the manifestation of social control over the actions of its members.

The process of acquiring a criminal identity is also called stigmatization. Stigma is a social sign that discredits an individual or even an entire group. There are stigmas of the body (defect or deformity), individual character (homosexuality) and social collectivities (race or tribe). In other words, deviation is a kind of stigma that social groups with power put on the behavior of other, less protected groups.

3. Explanation of deviation from the standpoint of the theory of social solidarity

Sociologists who rely on the theory of social solidarity. developed by Durkheim, argue that deviation in general and crime in particular are necessary; they carry a special functional load, since they objectively contribute to strengthening social integration. This integration arises from a greater or lesser degree of unanimity with which the "normal" part of society condemns the deviant actions of those of its members who violate generally accepted norms. The sense of unity is enhanced through commonly accepted rituals of judgment.

Another idea of ​​Durkheim served as the starting point for the creation of an influential sociological theory of deviation. This is the idea of ​​anomie. This concept describes a social situation characterized by the decline of the norms that govern social interaction. Durkheim argues that quite often deviations (to which he refers, in particular, suicide) occur due to the lack of clear social norms. In this case, the general state of disorganization, or anomie, is aggravated by the fact that the passions are least willing to submit to discipline precisely at the moment when it is most needed.

4. Anomic concept of deviation

Based on the idea of ​​anomie, Robert Merton developed the anomic concept of deviation. He argued that the underlying cause of any deviation is the gap between institutional cultural goals and the availability of socially approved means to achieve these goals. Among the many elements of the social structure, R. Merton singles out two, in his opinion, especially important ones. The first is the intentions and interests determined by the culture of a given society, which act as "legitimate" goals - acceptable to the whole society or its individual sections, socially approved. These intentions and interests are called institutional. The second element defines, regulates socially approved means (methods for achieving these goals) and controls their use. The main hypothesis of R. Merton is that deviant behavior from a sociological point of view can be considered as a symptom of a mismatch between culturally prescribed aspirations and socially structured means of their implementation.

In accordance with this hypothesis, R. Merton considers five types of people's adaptation to socially and culturally given goals and means.

Conformity is, in fact, the only type of behavior that is not deviant. The social order - the stability and sustainability of social development - depends on the degree of its prevalence in society. Moreover, the very orientation of a mass of people towards generally accepted cultural values ​​can speak of a large mass of people as a single society.

Innovation. This form of adaptation arises from the fact that the individual has accepted for himself generally recognized cultural values ​​as life goals, shares them. However, he does not consider those means of achieving these goals that are available to him as effective, allowing him to achieve success. This type of deviation is quite widespread in societies with a dynamically developing economy, where changes in social norms simply do not keep pace with the rapidly changing economic situation, especially since in the field of entrepreneurship the boundaries between legal and illegal, moral and immoral are sometimes very blurred.

Ritualism presupposes the abandonment or lowering of too high cultural goals, great monetary success, and rapid social mobility where these aspirations can be satisfied. In other words, in those cases where the content of the goal and the possibilities of achieving it for a given social factor come into conflict, the individual prefers unconditional observance of institutional norms and abandons the goal.

This is the position of an overly cautious person, which is characterized, firstly, by the desire to avoid the danger of being exposed to negative social sanctions at all costs, secondly, by the desire to avoid dangers, disappointments and failures, and thirdly, by a strong adherence to the routine institutional norms. Thus, this type of deviation is somewhat opposite to innovation, with its propensity for risk and readiness to circumvent social norms when they stand in the way of a desired goal.

Retreatism. This type of deviation could be characterized as a desire to escape from reality, rejection of one's own social world. Members of society with this orientation do not accept either the dominant social goals in the minds of most social goals, or the socially approved means of achieving them. These are people "not of this world" - hermits, dreamers, poets. Purely statistically, the number of such individuals cannot be large in any society, it is simply not able to accommodate a sufficiently large number of such "strange" people.

Rebellion as a type of deviation is most widespread in societies that are in a state of deep crisis, on the verge of social fractures. Such deviations can hardly be attributed to the forms of "individual adaptation to society" in the full sense of the word, since rebellion is rather an active refusal to adapt to the existing norms of social life. Rebellion, according to Merton, is a transitional reaction, expressed in the desire to institutionalize throughout society, including those of its members who do not share the rebellious orientation, new goals and new ways of behavior. Insurgency seeks to change existing cultural and social structures rather than adapt to them.

5. Essence and forms of social control

The efforts of society aimed at preventing deviant behavior, punishing and correcting deviants are described by the concept of "social control". It includes a set of norms and values ​​of society, as well as the sanctions applied to implement them.

The term "social control" itself was introduced into scientific circulation by the French sociologist and social psychologist Gabriel Tarde. He considered it as the most important means of correcting criminal behavior and returning the criminal to "normal" society. The most developed theory of social control was developed by American sociologists E. Ross and R. Park. Ross tried to find and study ways to achieve a balance between ensuring social stability, on the one hand, and individual freedom, on the other. He considered necessary, first of all, internal ethical and social control, based on the internalization of social values. Robert Park, one of the founders of the Chicago school, the author of the "classical" socio-ecological theory, believed that society is control and consent. He understood social control as a special means that provides a certain relationship between human nature and social forces.

Talcott Parsons in his work "The Social System" defined social control as a process by which deviant behavior is neutralized through the imposition of sanctions and thereby social stability is maintained. He analyzed three main methods of exercising social control:

1) isolation, the essence of which is to put impenetrable partitions between the deviant and the rest of society without any attempts to correct or re-educate him;

2) isolation - limiting the deviant's contacts with other people, but not complete isolation from society; such an approach allows for the correction of deviants and their return to society when they are ready to fulfill generally accepted norms again;

3) rehabilitation, seen as a process in which deviants can prepare for a return to normal life and the correct performance of their roles in society.

Two forms of social control can also be distinguished:

1) formal, including criminal and civil law, internal affairs bodies, courts, etc.;

2) informal, providing for social reward, punishment, persuasion, reassessment of norms.

Thus, the essence of social control lies in the desire of society and its various constituent communities to strengthen the conformity of its members, cultivate "socially desirable" forms of behavior, prevent deviant behavior, and return the deviant to the mainstream of social norms.

6. Main components of social control

A typical social control system includes eight main components:

1) individual actions that are manifested in the course of an active interaction of an individual with his social environment are any acts of a productive, cognitive and adaptive nature;

2) a social rating scale, on the objective existence of which the reaction of the surrounding social environment to these actions depends in society;

3) categorization, which is the result of the functioning of a social rating scale and the assignment of one or another individual action to a certain evaluation category (in the most general form, social approval or social censure);

4) the nature of public self-consciousness, on which, in turn, the categorization of any individual action depends, including public self-esteem and assessment by the social group of the situation in which it acts (social perception);

5) the nature and content of social actions that perform the function of positive or negative sanctions, which directly depend on the state of public self-consciousness;

6) an individual rating scale, which is a derivative of the internal system of values, ideals, vital interests and aspirations of the individual;

7) self-categorization of an individual (acceptance of a role, self-identification, identification with a certain category of persons), which is the result of the functioning of an individual rating scale;

8) the nature of individual consciousness, on which the self-categorization of the individual depends; the subsequent action of the individual, which will be a reaction to the evaluative social action, also depends on it.

Thus, the most important tool for exercising social control is a social sanction. The system of social sanctions that exists in society is aimed at ensuring the proper execution by members of society of the prescriptions related to their social roles. Any institution, in addition to the principles, rules and norms governing a particular sphere of social life, usually includes the sanctions that will be imposed for non-compliance or violation of these rules.

There are positive sanctions - encouragement for the commission of actions approved, desirable for society or a group, and negative sanctions - punishments or censures for disapproved, undesirable, non-institutional actions, for various deviant actions. In addition, it is possible to divide sanctions into formal - imposed by officials or bodies specially created by society, within the framework recorded in written sources, and informal - approval or censure expressed (or manifested in non-verbal forms) by unofficial persons, usually the closest environment.

LECTURE No. 23. Social conflicts and ways to resolve them

1. The concept of conflict

Conflict is a form of relationship between potential or actual subjects of social action, the motivation of which is due to opposing values ​​and norms, interests and needs. The sociology of conflict proceeds from the fact that conflict is a normal phenomenon of social life; identification and development of the conflict as a whole is a useful and necessary thing. Society will achieve more effective results in its actions if it does not turn a blind eye to conflicts, but follows certain rules aimed at regulating conflicts. The meaning of these rules in the modern world is to:

1) avoid violence as a way to resolve conflicts;

2) to find ways out of impasses in cases where violent acts nevertheless took place and became a means of deepening conflicts;

3) seek mutual understanding between the parties opposing in the conflict.

The role of conflicts and their regulation in modern society is so great that in the second half of the XNUMXth century. a special field of knowledge - conflictology - was singled out.

There are five different ways in which the term "conflict" can be used:

1) the conflict as “happened”, in relation to which various technical formations are built up, bringing the actual clash of the parties to the full structure of the conflict (negotiating technique, mediation, observers in the conflict, etc.);

2) conflict as a means of a researcher (analyst). In this case, the conflict is seen as a kind of screen that allows you to reveal and see what is invisible in the normal course of affairs (psychoanalysis, various forms of intelligence, etc.).

3) conflict as a mechanism artificially created by the organizer to intensify thinking and activity (a tool used in problematization and collective ways of solving problems).

4) conflict as an area of ​​specialization of scientific subjects (interpersonal conflicts in psychology, group interactions in sociology, etc.).

5) conflict as an object of study. Thus, conflict relations are considered in game theory as a special case of a game.

Conflicts can be hidden or overt, but they are always based on a lack of agreement. Therefore, we define a conflict as a process of interaction between subjects or groups regarding the difference in their interests.

2. Sociological theories of conflict

The English philosopher and sociologist H. Spencer (1820-1903) considered conflict "an inevitable phenomenon in the history of human society and a stimulus for social development."

Conflict is most often associated with aggression, threats, disputes, hostility. As a result, there is an opinion that conflict is always undesirable, that it should be avoided as far as possible, and that it should be resolved immediately as soon as it arises. K. Marx's concept of social class conflict examines the contradictions between the level of productive forces and the nature of production relations, which are the source of social conflict. Their discrepancy turns production relations at a certain stage into a brake on the development of productive forces, which leads to conflict. The solution to the conflict is contained in the social revolution, the classical formulation of which was given by K. Marx: “At a certain stage of its development, the productive material forces of society come into conflict with the existing production relations within which they have been developing so far. From the forms of development of the productive forces, these relations turn into their fetters. Then the epoch of social revolution sets in. With the change in the economic basis, a revolution takes place more or less rapidly in the entire vast superstructure." The dialectical concept of the conflict of Ralf Dahrendorf follows, it would seem, in line with the Marxist concept, but differs significantly from the latter. The basis for dividing people into classes, according to Dahrendorf,

is their participation or non-participation in the exercise of power. It is not only the power of employers over workers that creates the basis for conflict. Conflict can arise in any organization (in a hospital, university, etc.) where there are managers and subordinates. To designate these organizations, Dahrendorf uses the Weberian concept of an imperatively coordinated association (ICA), which is a well-organized system of roles. The resolution of the conflict in IKA is aimed at the redistribution of authority and power in it. Conflicts are becoming more diverse. Instead of a society that has been sharply polarized, a pluralistic society with overlapping interests, and therefore with various conflicts, is emerging. In the Western post-capitalist society, there are great opportunities for regulating the class conflict, which is not eliminated, but localized within the enterprise. For successful conflict management, according to Dahrendorf, three circumstances are important:

1) recognition of different points of view;

2) high organization of the conflicting parties;

3) the presence of the rules of the game.

R. Park, one of the founders of the Chicago school, included conflict among the four main types of social interaction along with competition, adaptation, and assimilation. From his point of view, competition, which is a social form of the struggle for existence, being conscious, turns into a conflict, which, thanks to assimilation, is designed to lead to strong mutual contacts, to cooperation and to promote better adaptation.

Social conflict can also become a means of stabilizing intra-group relations and is fraught with a social explosion. It depends on the nature of the social structure, under the influence of which the conflict develops. The following conflict functions are distinguished:

1) the discharge of tension, i.e., conflict, serves as an "exhaust valve" for tension;

2) communicative-informational, that is, as a result of collisions, people check each other, receive new information about the environment and find out their balance of power;

3) creation, i.e., confrontation helps the group to unite, and not collapse in difficult times;

4) the integration of the social structure, i.e. the conflict does not destroy integrity, but maintains it;

5) rule-making, i.e., conflict contributes to the creation of new forms and social institutions.

3. Conflict as an indicator of contradictions

The sources of claims are contradictions that arise where there are:

1) mismatch of value orientations according to moral norms, views, beliefs. If there are differences in beliefs and moral incompatibility, the emergence of claims is inevitable;

2) mismatch of expectations and positions. Such misunderstanding usually occurs between people of different ages, professional affiliations, life experiences and interests. And the greater these differences, the deeper the misunderstanding between them can become and give rise to mutual hostility;

3) mismatch of knowledge, skills, abilities, personal qualities. Differences in the level of education lead to the fact that people become of little interest to each other. There are psychological barriers due to possible individual differences of an intellectual nature ("too smart"), which can generate dislike and lead to enmity. Such individual personality differences in the properties of temperament as impulsiveness, irascibility, and such character traits as the desire to dominate, arrogance in handling and others give rise to tension in human relations;

4) mismatches in understanding, interpretation of information. Not all people are naturally endowed with the same ability to understand what is happening to them and around them. What is obvious to one person may become an insoluble problem to another;

5) mismatch of assessments, self-assessments. In relation to themselves and the situation for each of the participants, they can be adequate, underestimated or overestimated and not the same;

6) mismatches of physical, emotional and other states ("a well-fed one is not a friend to the hungry");

7) mismatch of goals, means, methods of activity. Potentially explosive is a situation in which two or more people have conflicting, incompatible behavioral motives. Each of them, pursuing their personal goals, consciously or unconsciously hinders the achievement of goals by other individuals;

8) mismatch of management functions;

9) mismatch of economic, technological and other processes.

Conflict is an indicator of existing contradictions. In the process of conflict interaction, its participants get the opportunity to express different opinions, to identify more alternatives when making decisions, and this is precisely the important positive meaning of the conflict.

4. Structure of social conflict

The structure of social conflict can be represented as follows:

1) the contradiction that is expressed in the problem and is an objective prerequisite for the conflict (the source of the conflict);

2) people as carriers of this contradiction, representing various social interests (subjects of the conflict);

3) the object of the conflict (hidden needs) - the benefits, resources, over which the conflict arises;

4) the subject of the conflict (open needs) - material formations associated with it (the conflict);

5) clash of the subjects of the conflict (process, active phase), in which, as it were, "contradiction in action" occurs. The collision is also characterized by emotional coloring and psychological attitudes of the subjects. Since the conflict is the highest (active) stage in the development of a contradiction, in the absence of the last component (collision) we are dealing with a latent, i.e. hidden conflict, the identification of which is most difficult. Such a conflict can also be called "underdeveloped" due to the stoppage of its development at the stage of contradiction.

5. Typology of conflicts

There are four main types of conflicts: intrapersonal, interpersonal, between an individual and a group, intergroup.

intrapersonal conflict. This type of conflict does not fully correspond to our definition. Here, the participants are not people, but various psychological factors of the inner world of the individual, often seeming or being incompatible: needs, motives, values, feelings, etc. Intrapersonal conflicts associated with work in an organization can take various forms. One of the most common is role conflict, when different roles of a person make conflicting demands on him. For example, being a good family man (the role of father, mother, husband and wife, etc.), a person must spend the evenings at home, and the position of a leader may oblige him to stay late at work. The reason for this conflict is the mismatch of personal needs and production requirements. Internal conflicts can arise in the workplace due to work overload or, conversely, the lack of work if you need to be at the workplace.

Interpersonal conflict. This is one of the most common types of conflict. It manifests itself in organizations in different ways. According to the subjective sign, the following types of interpersonal conflicts can be distinguished in the internal life of each organization:

1) conflicts between managers and managed within a given organization, and conflicts between a leader and an ordinary performer will differ significantly from conflicts between a leader of the first hand and managers of lower levels;

2) conflicts between ordinary employees;

3) conflicts at the managerial level, i.e. conflicts between leaders of the same rank. These conflicts, as a rule, are closely intertwined with personal and personnel conflicts, with the practice of promoting personnel within a given organization, with the struggle for the distribution of the most important positions in its own structure. They may also be associated with the development of various strategies for the behavior of the relevant organizations, with the development of criteria for the effectiveness of its overall activities.

Conflict between the individual and the group. Informal groups establish their own norms of behavior and communication. Deviation from the accepted norms is considered by the group as a negative phenomenon, a conflict arises between the individual and the group.

Another common conflict of this type is the conflict between the group and the leader. Here one should distinguish between conflicts between the head and the subdivision subordinate to him, the subdivision and the head of another group, between the heads of different subdivisions, if members of the group (s) are involved in the conflict. Conflicts can develop into intergroup ones. The most difficult such conflicts occur with an authoritarian leadership style.

Intergroup conflict. The organization consists of many formal and informal groups between which conflicts can arise, for example, between management and performers, between employees of various departments, between informal groups within departments, between administration and the trade union.

6. Components of a conflict situation

The most important components of a conflict situation are the aspirations of the parties, their strategies and tactics of behavior, as well as the perception of the conflict situation.

Parties' motives. Motives in a conflict are incentives to enter into a conflict associated with meeting the needs of an opponent, a set of external and internal conditions that cause the subject's conflict activity. The basic motivator of the opponent's activity is his needs, which are states of need for objects (resources, power, spiritual values) necessary for his existence and development. Opponents' motives are concretized in goals. The goal in the conflict is to represent its participant about the final, anticipated useful (from the point of view of this person) result of the conflict. The general (final) and private goals of the opponents are singled out.

Conflict behavior consists of oppositely directed actions of the participants in the conflict. Conflict behavior can be divided into strategy and tactics. The strategy is considered as the orientation of the individual in relation to the conflict, its installation on certain forms of behavior in a conflict situation (avoidance, adaptation, compromise, rivalry, cooperation).

7. Classification of conflict strategies

The classification of conflict strategies is based on the following grounds:

1) the nature of the actions (offensive, defensive and neutral);

2) the degree of activity in their implementation (active - passive, initiating - response);

3) the focus of these actions (on the opponent, on third parties, on oneself).

The chosen strategy (general line) is implemented through specific tactics. Tactics of behavior - a set of methods of influencing the opponent, a means of implementing the strategy. The following types of tactics of influencing the opponent are distinguished (according to A. Ya. Antsupov, A. I. Shipilov):

1) hard:

a) tactics of capturing and holding the object of the conflict (used in conflicts where the object is material);

b) tactics of physical violence (destruction of material values);

c) causing bodily harm, blocking someone else's activity, etc.;

d) tactics of psychological violence (insults, rudeness, negative personal assessment, slander, deceit, misinformation, humiliation, etc.);

e) tactics of pressure (presentation of demands, orders, threats, blackmail, presentation of compromising evidence);

2) neutral:

a) tactics of demonstrative actions (drawing attention to one's person by publicly stating complaints about the state of health, absenteeism from work, demonstrating suicidal actions, etc.);

b) sanctioning (influencing the opponent with the help of a penalty, increasing the burden, refusing to comply with the requirements, etc.);

c) coalition tactics (forming alliances, increasing groups in order to increase one's rank in the conflict);

3) soft:

a) the tactics of fixing one's position (the use of logic, facts to confirm one's position in the form of expressed judgments, suggestions, criticism, etc.);

b) tactics of friendliness (emphasizing the common, expressing readiness to solve the problem, presenting the necessary information, offering help, etc.);

c) tactics of transactions (mutual exchange of benefits, promises, concessions, apologies).

A kind of mediating link between the characteristics of the participants in the conflict and the conditions for its course, on the one hand, and conflict behavior, on the other, are images of a conflict situation - a kind of ideal maps that include the following elements:

1) representations of the participants of the contradiction about themselves (about their needs, capabilities, goals, values, etc.);

2) representations of the participants in the conflict about the opposite side (about its needs, capabilities, goals, values, etc.);

3) representations of each of the participants regarding how the opponent perceives him;

4) representations of the conflicting parties about the environment and conditions in which the conflict proceeds.

Why is analysis of images of a conflict situation necessary? This is determined by two factors:

1) it is the subjective picture of the conflict, and not the reality of the contradiction, in itself, that directly determines the conflict behavior;

2) there is a real and effective means of resolving the conflict by changing these images, which is carried out through external influence on the participants in the conflict.

The degree of discrepancy between the image and the real picture is different. For example, a conflict situation may exist, but not be recognized by the parties as such, or vice versa.

Distortion of a conflict situation can be as follows:

1) the whole situation is distorted as a whole - the situation is simplified, perceived in black and white (polar) assessments, information is filtered, it is misinterpreted, etc.;

2) distortion of the perception of the motives of behavior in the conflict - for example, attributing to oneself socially approved motives, and to the opponent - base, vile motives;

3) distortion of the perception of actions, statements, deeds - is fixed in the following statements in relation to oneself: "I am forced to do this", "everyone does this"; and in relation to the opponent: "he does everything to my detriment", etc.

4) distortion of the perception of personal qualities: here the effect of searching for a mote in the eye of another works, downplaying negative qualities in oneself and exaggerating in an opponent. In 1972, K. Thomas and R. Kilmenn identified five main styles of behavior in a conflict situation:

1) cooperation - an attempt to jointly develop a solution that takes into account the interests of all parties. Collaboration is effective when:

a) there is an opportunity (time, desire) to deeply understand the reasons forcing the parties to adhere to their positions;

b) compensatory elements can be found in disagreements;

c) it is necessary to develop various solutions;

d) it is possible to constructively resolve emerging contradictions;

e) the parties are ready to discuss ways out of the conflict;

2) competition, rivalry - an uncompromising struggle for victory by any means, stubbornly defending one's position. The most acute form of conflict resolution. Its use is justified when:

a) there is confidence in the correctness and legitimacy of one's position, and there are means of protecting it;

b) the conflict affects the area of ​​principles and beliefs;

c) the opponent is a subordinate who prefers an authoritarian style of management;

d) refusal of the taken position is fraught with irreparable serious losses;

e) in case of defeat, there will be a loss of authority and comrades.

This strategy requires the selection of weighty arguments for discussion and an adequate assessment of the positions of opponents, as well as the availability of resources to defend their positions;

3) evasion, ignoring - an attempt to get out of the conflict, avoiding it. Dangerous strategy. You can use it if:

a) the source of the conflict is so trivial, and the consequences are so insignificant that they can be neglected;

b) the conflicting parties can sort it out without your intervention;

c) there is confidence that time will ease the tension of the situation and everything will resolve itself;

d) the conflict does not affect production problems in any way;

e) involvement in the conflict will not allow solving more important tasks.

Ignoring the conflict can lead to its uncontrolled growth;

4) adaptation - the desire to smooth out contradictions, often by changing one's position. This is effective in cases where:

a) there is a desire to resolve the conflict at any cost;

b) the conflict and its results have little effect on personal interests;

c) there is a willingness to make unilateral concessions;

d) defending one's position can take a lot of time and take a lot of energy (when "the game is not worth the candle").

5) compromise - conflict resolution through mutual concessions. Compromise is effective when:

a) the arguments of the conflicting parties are sufficiently convincing, objective and legitimate;

b) it is necessary to resolve the conflict by making a decision acceptable to the parties in the conditions of lack of time;

c) the parties are ready to resolve the conflict on the basis of a partial solution of the problem;

d) by small concessions, important business or personal contacts can be maintained.

Any conflict action can have four main outcomes:

1) complete or partial subordination of another;

2) compromise;

3) interruption of conflict actions;

4) integration.

LECTURE No. 24. Methodology and methods of sociological research

1. The purpose of applied sociology and its social significance

Applied sociology is an integral part of sociology as a science. It is aimed at understanding social phenomena and processes by studying the causes of their origin, the mechanism of functioning and the direction of development. Applied sociology relies on the theoretical achievements of fundamental science using methods of empirical testing and formalized procedures.

Domestic applied sociology, in the form of specific empirical research, occupied a prominent place in scientific life even in pre-revolutionary Russia, and especially in the early 20s. 1960th century The next three decades were a time of silence for applied scientists, caused by the prohibition of sociology. Applied sociology's right to exist was recognized only in the early XNUMXs, when the "Soviet school" of applied sociologists revived, largely borrowing the methodological experience of Western (more often American) sociological schools.

The main reason for turning to sociological research is the need for extensive and up-to-date information that reflects those aspects of the life of society that are hidden from the "outside eye", but which must be taken into account in the practice of sociological management. Sociological research has great potential: it reveals the leading trends in the development of social relations; determine the best ways and means of improving relations in society; substantiate plans and management decisions; analyze and predict social situations, etc. But sociological research is not a solution to all problems - they act as one of the means of obtaining information. The decision to conduct a sociological study must be substantiated by practical or scientific expediency.

2. The system of concepts of sociological research

The same system of actions within the framework of sociological research is called by some authors a method, others - a technique, others - a procedure or technique, and sometimes - a methodology. This confusion makes it difficult to study sociology, so let's specify the meaning that is embedded in these concepts.

Method - the main way to collect, process and analyze data.

Method tools - a set of research documentation (questionnaires, forms, diaries of an observer, etc.) that ensure the implementation of the method.

Method procedure - one single operation of the method implementation (for example, filling out the researcher's diary).

Method technique - special techniques that increase the effectiveness of the method (development of its tools and implementation of procedures).

The technology of a method is the sequence of procedures and techniques of the method used.

The methodology of sociological research is a collective concept that summarizes all the methods used in research, their tools, procedures, techniques and technologies.

3. General characteristics of a specific sociological research (CSI)

Concrete sociological research (CSI) is a system of theoretical and empirical procedures that allows you to gain new knowledge about a social object (process, phenomenon) for solving fundamental and applied problems. Sociological research consists of four interrelated stages:

1) preparatory;

2) field;

3) preparation for the processing and processing of information;

4) analysis of information and preparation of the results of research documents.

At the preparatory stage, the research topic is specified, a theoretical concept is developed, a research program, methodological documents are prepared, tools are determined, research groups are formed, work schedules are drawn up, logistics issues are resolved.

The field stage (collection of primary information) is work in the practical zone of a sociologist, work on the street, at work, in classes, at home. Information is collected by questioning, questioning, observation, analysis, experiment, etc. This stage is called field because it is carried out in natural conditions that are different from laboratory ones, that is, those in which the previous research work mainly took place.

The stage of preparation and processing of information is associated with the study of the collected material, its reconciliation with the calculated parameters. A program for processing information on a computer is compiled. It is no coincidence that the information obtained in the course of field work is called primary. Proceeding from it, it is impossible to establish those dependencies that form the basis of sociological conclusions and recommendations. Therefore, it needs to be transformed into secondary information presented in the form of tables, graphs, equations, coefficients and other indicators. The essence of this transformation is the generalization and convolution of primary information, its transformation into a convenient one for subsequent analysis.

Analysis of information and preparation of the results of documents is the final stage. Conclusions are drawn about the confirmation or refutation of hypotheses, social ties, trends, patterns, contradictions, and new social problems are identified. The results of the study are presented. The analysis and interpretation of data is carried out within the framework of the theoretical processing of the information received and directly depends on the professionalism of sociologists, their hypotheses, the verification of which is carried out first of all. The main tool for sociological analysis is statistics and the use of computers; there are many universal statistical software packages for a sociologist.

The results of the work are poured into official documents: a report, an appendix to the report and an analytical report containing conclusions and recommendations. The final document is a reference, an information note, an analytical note, a research report.

4. Types of sociological research

There are three main types of sociological research:

1) aerobatic (reconnaissance);

2) descriptive;

3) analytical.

A pilot study is a trial study that precedes the main one. It is intended to test the quality of the main study and covers small populations based on a simplified syllabus. In its course, all elements of the future study are checked, difficulties that may be encountered during its implementation are identified. Often, during a pilot study, new hypotheses are formed and operational sociological data is collected. Usually it is carried out among 50-100 people.

Descriptive research is more complex, since in terms of its goals and objectives it involves obtaining a holistic view of the phenomenon under study. It is carried out according to the full program with the appropriate tools. Descriptive research is carried out when the object of study is a large community of people, characterized by a variety of characteristics. You can identify and compare the links between them, make a comparison and comparison.

Analytical research is the most in-depth type of sociological analysis. Its purpose is to identify the causes underlying the process and determining its specificity. Its preparation takes a lot of time. It is complex.

Depending on whether the subject is being studied in statics or in dynamics, there are point (one-time) and repeated studies. Dotted reflects the instantaneous cut of the characteristics of the object. Repeated studies are trend, panel and long-term.

Trend ones are carried out on similar samples with a time interval within a single general population. They are divided into cohort (when they study a certain age group - a cohort) and historical (when the composition of cohorts changes).

A panel study is a survey of the same people at regular intervals. It is important to maintain uniformity. Information is received about individual changes. The main difficulty is the preservation of the sample from one study to another.

If the moments of the repeated study are chosen taking into account the genesis (development over a long time) of the studied population, then this study is called longitudinal.

A particular case study may also be large-scale or local.

During the conduct of all studies, the so-called social monitoring is carried out - the creation of programs and databases using a computer.

5. Sociological research program

Direct preparation of the study involves the development of its program, work plan and supporting documents. A research program is a specially developed scientific document containing a description of the main premises of this scientific research. The program is the language of communication between the sociologist and the customer; it is a strategic research document. It is a thesis presentation of the concept of the organizers of the work, their plans and intentions. It is also considered a comprehensive theoretical substantiation of methodological approaches and methodological techniques for studying social facts.

The program consists of two parts - methodological and methodical. The first includes the formulation and justification of the problem, the indication of the goal, the definition of the object and subject of research, the logical analysis of the basic concepts, the formulation of hypotheses and tasks; the second is the definition of the surveyed population, the characteristics of the methods used to collect primary sociological information, the logical structure of the tools for collecting this information and the logical schemes for its processing on a computer.

The program substantiates the need to use specific methods for collecting sociological information (questionnaires, interviews, document analysis, observation, etc.).

The logical structure of the toolkit reveals the focus of a particular block of questions on certain characteristics and properties of the object, as well as on the order of the questions.

The logical schemes for processing the collected information show the expected range and depth of the analysis of sociological data.

6. Characteristics of the structural elements of the CSI

The program determines what problem will be investigated, what result it will be aimed at. The problem is always something that has not been studied. A social problem is a contradictory situation created by life itself. Problems are classified according to the purpose, the carrier, the extent of prevalence, the duration of the contradiction and its depth. When the problem is comprehended, the research is purposeful. As a result, the problem allows you to get new knowledge about the subject.

The purpose of the research should always be result-oriented, should help to identify ways and means of solving the problem through implementation.

Research objectives - a system of research questions, the answer to which ensures the achievement of the research goal. They are divided into basic (focused on identifying the essence of the problem) and additional, relating to individual aspects of the problem. Research tasks are formulated in a systematic way according to the rules of logic, while additional tasks act as concretizations and details of the main ones. The number of tasks depends on the problem, the degree of its study, the purpose of the study, the interests of the customer, as well as the potential of researchers, their ability to penetrate the essence of the problem.

The formulation of tasks is a responsible procedure, because one or another of their formulations will oblige all subsequent components of the research program to be designed in accordance with these formulations. Tasks are formulated in accordance with the goal and hypotheses. From the point of view of defining tasks, research can be theoretical and applied.

The object of the study is real social processes that contain contradictions or a problematic situation. The subject is just that which most fully expresses the contradiction contained in the object. The object of study has the following features: spatial (city, country, region), temporal (period and timing), sectoral (type of activity under study). It is considered as part of the whole and as a kind of autonomous beginning. Sometimes the object is quantitatively large, then the general population is determined and taken into account in the results of the study, but the analysis is carried out selectively.

The subject is the sides, properties, relations of the object, the boundaries within which the object is studied in this case. The logical analysis of the basic concepts implies the selection of concepts that define the subject, an accurate and comprehensive explanation of their content and structure.

A large role in the study belongs to the hypothesis. This is a kind of movement towards new knowledge. A hypothesis is a preliminary assumption that explains a social fact for the purpose of its subsequent confirmation or refutation.

There are three types of hypotheses:

1) quantitative ratios (they can be exact, approximate, preliminary);

2) to explain and identify the elements of the system (when it is necessary to explain why it happens this way and not otherwise);

3) forecast, foresight, prediction (is complex, reveals the mechanism of causation).

7. Sociometric methods

The term "sociometry" has three main meanings. They are designated:

1) the theory of small (directly contact) groups created by J. Moreno;

2) any mathematicized procedures for measuring social processes and phenomena (based on the etymology of this word, derived from the Latin societas - "society" and the Greek metreo - "I measure");

3) a set of methods for studying the psycho-emotional relations to each other of members of social groups characterized by a small number and experience of joint life.

We are interested in the last meaning of this concept. Sociometric techniques are used by sociologists to identify:

1) informal leaders of small groups, those members who have the greatest impact on others;

2) "outcasts" of the team, i.e. people rejected by the majority of the group;

3) candidates who deserve a recommendation for promotion to the positions of official team leaders;

4) the nature of the socio-psychological climate of the team and the tendencies of its transformation;

5) differentiation of primary (i.e., not officially divided into smaller components) groups into social and psychological groupings that have actually developed in it;

6) causes and driving forces of intra-collective conflicts (interpersonal, personal-group and intergroup);

7) many other problems, the solution of which can optimize the activities of primary labor collectives and other small social groups.

It should be noted that in solving the above problems, sociometric methods can play the role of both main and additional methods. But in any case, they are necessarily interfaced with other methods - analysis of relevant documentation, observation, interviews, expert surveys, testing, etc.

Sociometric methods include special techniques for questioning, processing and interpreting data.

In a sociometric survey, each member of the team is asked to choose those members who, in the opinion of the chooser, correspond to a certain sociometric criterion. These criteria are formulated in the questions themselves, for example, as follows: "Which of the members of your team would you like to work with, and with whom not? If it becomes necessary to reduce the size of your team, then who, in your opinion, should be fired first ?" Answers to questions of this kind by all members of the group make it possible to reveal the contours of the structure of socio-psychological relations that have developed in it, primarily along the vector of mutual sympathies and antipathies.

Sociometric surveys cannot be completely anonymous - by the names appearing in the answers, the researcher determines who gave these answers. This circumstance can lead to a decrease in the measure of sincerity of answers. To reduce this risk, special procedures are applied. When instructing respondents, the researcher carefully explains the scientific nature of the survey, guarantees the secrecy of everyone's answers.

The processing of the information received is carried out by converting it either into a sociogram, or a sociomatrix, or both.

8. Focus group technique

The focus group method has become widespread in recent years as one of the most efficient and effective ways of collecting and analyzing social information. Note that it is used, as a rule, in combination with quantitative methods, and can play both an additional and a key role. In addition, it includes elements of quantitative methods (participant observation, the rule of representative sampling, etc.).

The implementation of this method involves the formation of several discussion groups (usually 10-12 people each) and the discussion of the problem under study in them in order to better understand it and find optimal solutions. At the same time, the focus of attention of the participants in group discussions is focused on one, naturally important, aspect of the problem, and the attention of researchers is focused on clarifying the opinions of the participants on the issue, on the significance of different points of view of representatives of different social categories, as well as on finding possible ways to reach consensus. .

A focus group discussion of the problem under study is much more productive than finding out opinions about it using questionnaires and individual interviews. It is preferable due to the following factors:

1) the interaction of respondents in a focus group usually stimulates deeper responses and provides an opportunity for new ideas to emerge during the group discussion;

2) the customer of the study can himself observe the discussion of the problem of interest to him and receive first-hand information about the behavior, attitudes, feelings and language of the respondents, draw his own conclusions about the ways to solve the problem, which will (or will not receive) the support of public opinion;

3) the focus group method is faster and cheaper than questionnaires or interviews. Its use saves not only time, financial, but also labor costs of researchers;

4) this method allows you to determine the causes of the problem under discussion in a short time (for example, to understand why a certain variety of a particular product is not in demand in one region, although it is sold well in neighboring regions. If consumers of this product participate in a focus group discussion , then they usually accurately indicate the list of the main causes of this phenomenon).

The main limitation of the use of the focus group method is that on its basis it is possible to study not all, but only those problems of social life on which the opinions of the focus group participants are quite competent and contradictory.

Author: Gorbunova M.Yu.

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