1.051MWF Debriefing the Lifeboat and the Founding Paradigms of Sociology

 Sensitive Subject Warning for today's lesson:

Sociology examines all aspects of society - including those that can be emotional.  Today's lesson briefly involves the topic of suicide.

Debrief from the lifeboat.

Who did our class set adrift in the activity?  How do you think this compares to other classes that have done this?  

Who do you think has never been set adrift?

1.Able-Bodied Sailor Jones:                                  

2.Ship’s Officer O’Maley:  Mr./Ms. O’Malley:             

3.Quarter Master MacDonald:                              

4.Self-Made Millionaire Douglas:                          

5.College Student Mr/Ms Parsons:                        

6.Nobel Prize Winner in Literature, Dr. Lightfoot     

7.Nobel Prize Winner in Physics, Dr. Singleton         

8.Football Player Mr. Small:                                 

9.Cheerleader Mrs. Small:                                     

10.Army Captain Thomas:                                   

11.Draft Evader Samuels:                                    

12.Peace Corps Volunteer Mr./Ms. Davidson:           

13.Med Student Mr./Ms. Ryan:                               

14.Elderly man Mr. Eldridge:                                

15.Elderly woman Mrs. Eldridge:                          

16.Travelling Poet Mr/Ms Carpenter:                     

Here are the results of 20 years of doing this activity:

Out of 71 times, here are the totals:

1.Able-Bodied Sailor Jones:                                  22

2.Ship’s Officer O’Maley:  Mr./Ms. O’Malley:             2

3.Quarter Master MacDonald:                               56

4.Self-Made Millionaire Douglas:                           54

5.College Student Mr/Ms Parsons:                         60

6.Nobel Prize Winner in Literature, Dr. Lightfoot      35

7.Nobel Prize Winner in Physics, Dr. Singleton          0

8.Football Player Mr. Small:                                  15

9.Cheerleader Mrs. Small:                                      6

10.Army Captain Thomas:                                    15

11.Draft Evader Samuels:                                     59

12.Peace Corps Volunteer Mr./Ms. Davidson:            5

13.Med Student Mr./Ms. Ryan:                                0

14.Elderly man Mr. Eldridge:                                 65

15.Elderly woman Mrs. Eldridge:                           62

16.Travelling Poet Mr/Ms Carpenter:                      41

Macrosociological perspective
On the macro level, sociologists look for the influences of large-scale social groups on individuals.  So, for the simulation, let's examine the similarities for who your class kicked off the boat compared to the other classes that I have taught.

Our class is made up of different people than any other class that has done this activity.  I have done this activity with hundreds of students going back more than twenty years!  In fact, this class is so different, that some students are from a different generation!  For example, I have been doing this activity long enough that two of my students married!  They met in my class as the football player and cheerleader in 2002, and then continued to date after college. They got engaged in 2012 and asked me to be the officiant at their wedding!  Here is my sociological sermon that I wrote for their wedding.  The point is that even though they are old enough to be a different generation than my current class, and yet - similarities still exist between their class and yours.  

What are the choices that your class made that is similar to the choices above by other classes?

Why do these patterns emerge across generations?  There are social forces that lead to/construct similar results.  Think about the larger groups that you share with the other students that have done this over the years:

What did you have in common? Group memberships affect how we think about the world and what we value.  

What commonalities might have played a role in shaping the same decisions?

Despite all of the individual differences among students who have done this, what does our class share in common with all of the other classes that I have done this with?  All the people who have done this in my class over the years have been a part of several large (macro) groups.   For example, everyone that has done this simulation has been: students, teens, people studying sociology, people living in Chicagoland, and, Americans. These large groups are on a macrosociological level - they have so many members in them that you can't know all the members or interact with them all. 

The most important macrosociological group in this exercise, in my opinion, is Americans, our cultural group.  As people living in America, we have cultural values that we all are influenced by.  For example, Americans value pragmatism/practicality and students consistently save the characters who they believe are useful, especially the medical student and the Nobel prize winner in Physics.  And, Americans value youth and strength and students consistently reject the elderly and the sick (quartermaster, college student).  Finally, Americans love to believe that they are personally in charge of their own future so all of the students who have done this attempt to make choices that they believe are "correct" as opposed to simply choosing at random and leaving it up to fate or destiny. Macro-sociological forces influence people all over the country to value these traits and thus make these choices when on the boat.   

Google Form

Sociological Imagination

1.  How might this activity play out in a different place?  How might different cultures approach the decision of who to set adrift?  

2.  How might this play out in a different time?  How might Americans from a different time, such as the 1920s or 1820s, approach the decision?

Perhaps in another culture, different cultural values might lead to different choices:

• some cultures that value the elderly might save the oldest people first.
• some cultures that value education might save the most educated people.
• some cultures that believe in fate/destiny might pick numbers out of a hat.
• some cultures that value equity might save the weakest/those with the most obstacles.

Perhaps in another time, Americans may have chosen to save:

• women and children first
• people by race
• people by social class

Microsociological Perspective
On the microsociological level, sociologists study how groups interact in face-to-face conversation. In face-to-face interaction the words we use matter - they hold shared meaning and values.  Additionally, how we use the words matters, such as: who makes eye contact, how loud people speak, where they sit, who is the leader, etc... So, the microsociological data from each time that the activity is done, might be different based on the interaction.  This includes the words students use.  For example, if the poet focuses on being a poet, people might see that as undesirable and kick him off.  But if the poet reinforces that he is useful because of his sailing skills, that might save him because usefulness is a shared value in our culture. 

3. What were the microsociological reasons that some people were sent overboard?  More specifically:

Did it matter where students sat on the boat? 

Did it matter if they spoke up or how they talked?

How did students play their role?

What words did students use that may have affected the dynamic? 

 

Social Construction of Reality 

Each person's experience on the boat was created by the way other people thought about their characters.  Thinking with the Social Construction of Reality, one might ask: How are the experiences of those on the boat shaped by the larger society? What are the meanings that each person's status holds on the boat?  

Each person's status(es), or social positions, on the boat create a very real experience for the people in the simulation.  Some statuses become master statuses, a position within a group that define how others see that person.  For example, elderly is a master status that is hard for the group to see past.  Other master statuses might include pregnant, being a poet, being a med student.

The Founding Paradigms of Sociology

Emile Durkheim's Structural-Functional Paradigm

 

The first paradigm we will consider is called Structural-functional.  This paradigm was created by Emile Durkheim.  Durkheim studied suicide and found that within industrial Europe, the rate of suicide varied from country to country but it also stayed stable within each country.   So, something that seemed like an individual choice, such as suicide, was really a product of the country a person lived in.  Someone living in Britain was much more likely to commit suicide than someone living in Italy.  In other words, something was happening in British society that was creating a problem for the individuals living there.  Suicide was not an individual problem, it was a social one.  Durkheim called these social problems dysfunctions.  

Durkheim said that societies have a structure made up of different systems that function to keep order in society.  Just like a body has different systems such as a respiratory, circulatory, digestive and nervous system, a society has different systems like family, education, economy, religion and government etc…  These systems serve a function of keeping order in society by creating a structure for stability and continuity.  Therefore, Durkheim's paradigm becomes known as structural-functional.  Durkheim says that when the structures help to make life healthy for individuals, the structures are functional, whereas structures that are not healthy for individuals are called dysfunctional.

 

In sum, The institutions/structures provide stability and continuity for individuals - like helping individuals survive and thrive. The structures help us understand what is expected of us and provide an identity and a purpose. This is functional.

Dysfunctions are when aspects of these institutions do not meet those needs and instead individuals are harmed by the dynamics of society. 

 

Any questions so far about the beginnings of sociology and Durkheim and his Structural-Functional Paradigm?  

 

 

Applying the Structural Functional Paradigm

 

A Structural Functionalist might analyze the picture above by asking:

Is this scene dysfunctional? Why?  What systems are contributing to this?

 

For the Lifeboat Activity that we did, a sociologist using the the Structural-Functional paradigm might ask, "How were the decisions on the boat a result of the influence of education, government policies, family influence, the economy?"  "Are these decisions functional or working together to create a productive and sustainable society?"

 

Small Group Discussion: 

 

Pro tip -

One of the best ways to learn something is to have to teach it to someone or explain it.  This is the philosophy behind small group discussion.  Please try to explain your example to each other.  Ask questions about each other's ideas and how to apply them.  If you have trouble, call me over.

 

If you are absent, here is today's Google Form.

 

Applying the Structural Functional Paradigm

For the Lifeboat Activity that we did, a sociologist using the Structural-Functional paradigm might ask;

• How were the decisions on the boat a result of the influence of society?
• Society has influenced participants in the simulation to value usefulness, health, and youth.
• How do structures in society like education, government, family, economy influence people in society?  How are they all interrelated/contributing to this outcome?
• Though we can't see it on the boat, all of these structures have led the participants in the simulation to make similar choices. A Structural-Functionalist might research how each of those structures contributed to that.
• Are these decisions functional or working together to create a productive and sustainable society? 
• If the boat came to an agreement and all of the different groups of participants over the years are choosing similar people then there is some stability within society and general values that are agreed upon. That might be considered functional according to Durkheim.

1b. How might a Structural-Functionalist view covid and school shutdowns through a Structural-Functional lens.

1c.  How might the paradigm apply to college?  In other words, what might a Structural-Functionalist study about college?  What questions might they be interested in studying?