Durkheim and Social Fact Essay

Emile Durkheim’s â€Å"The Rules of Sociological Method† posits the existence of various ‘social facts’ which, according to him, should be the scope of all sociological study and discourse. Durkheim’s discourse defines social facts as, †¦a category of facts with very distinctive characteristics: it consists of ways of acting, thinking and feeling, external to the individual, and endowed with a power of coercion, by reason of which they control him. (Durkheim 3) Thus the three main features of social facts are surfaced; as being external to the individual, emanating from a general and higher level than the individual and that these coerce or force an individual to act in accordance to them for the purpose of control. These facts, according to Durkheim, must be considered things, which he defines as realities that may be observed and classified. These things are posited to exist on the level of society, completely outside the realm of the individual and are used to control a person’s thoughts, actions and feeling from being otherwise. Should a person refuse to submit to this coercion, he would find himself the object of negative reactions ranging from ridicule, isolation or even concrete punishment or sanction. The implications of this definition initially cast sociology’s field of study as all-encompassing, referring to all realities and processes of human life and behavior, thus Durkheim seeks to clarify and establish the meaning of the descriptor ‘social’ as opposed to other adjectives such as ‘biological’, psychological’ and ‘philosophical’. Each individual drinks, sleeps, eats, reasons; and it is society’s interest that these functions be exercised in an orderly manner. If then, all these facts are counted as â€Å"social† facts, sociology would have no subject matter exclusively its own, and its domain would be confused with biology and psychology. (Durkheim 1) As mentioned above, Durkheim perceives the social fact as the scope of sociological study, and uses other fields of study to show what sociology should underscore. Biological facts and study deal with characteristics of the physical body of a person and are therefore not social, since the need to follow these facts (such as sleeping, eating and breathing) emanate from the physiological needs of an organism to survive. Psychological study deals with thought processes and phenomena that occur within an individual’s consciousness. Durkheim posits that ‘social’ facts emanate not from one person’s consciousness nor from a person’s physiological needs, but from the level of society itself, â€Å"†¦ this term [social] fits them quite well, for it is clear that, since their source is not the individual, their substratum can be no other than society. † (Durkheim 3) Another implication of his definition is that social facts exist only with the presence of social institutions which enforce them and create them. For Durkheim, it is imperative to clarify that in most cases a social institution exists with the social fact, but it must not be thought that for a social fact to exist, a social institution must be present to have created it. Rather, the reverse of the causation is in place. Social facts create social institutions which enforce and perpetuate them, but there are also other social facts which do not require the presence of an institution to sanction them. Durkheim defines such deinstitutionalized social facts as ‘social currents’, â€Å"They come to each one of us from without and carry us away in spite of ourselves. † (4) He uses the example of crowd euphoria and feeling to illustrate these. Social facts are further classified into the ‘normal’ and the ‘pathological’. Durkheim classifies social facts under these two categories in order to illustrate the coercive nature of social facts and how society has been shaped to perpetuate and enforce them. Normal social facts refer to â€Å"those which conform to given standards† while pathological social facts refer to â€Å"those which ‘ought’ to be different† (Durkheim 47). Normal social facts are those most widely occurring in the society in question and function in such a way that their presence maintains social order and accepted social life. Durkheim further posited that for a social fact to be considered normal, it would contribute to the health of a society, as mentioned earlier, it maintains accepted social processes, it promotes and is naturally coherent with accepted social norms. The vague nature of this definition and its subjectivity was borne from Durkheim’s goal of trying to contextualize and take into consideration the diversity of social life across different cultures and societies. This implies the existence of facts that are produced to control people to act in accordance to accepted norms and values, and the existence of facts whose purpose is to illustrate what is a deviation from the previously-mentioned accepted norms and values. The characteristic of social facts that posits a force that coerces people to adhere to them is what required Durkheim to make this categorization. He defined social facts as things, as realities, and thus he would seek to define the normal and the abnormal things and realities that are placed under the domain of what are considered ‘social’. If social facts exist outside the individual and are imposed upon him, what of the phenomenon that occur which are deviations from the norm, how are these to be explained as sociological when they do not adhere to society? Pathological social facts are therefore things or realities that occur in less cases than the normal social facts to show that these things are what are considered ‘abnormal’ or have some form of ‘morbidity’ that characterizes them as deviations. Durkheim compared this analogy with physiological studies, which first deal with a healthy, ‘normal’ human body and then would study the ‘abnormalities’ of the body, the possible symptoms and causes of sickness or ‘morbidity’. As the physiologist studies diseases within the human body, so does a sociologist study the pathological or ‘morbid’ phenomenon that occurs outside the individual’s consciousness. Another argument that Durkheim presents in defining the normal social fact is that ‘normal’ phenomena are often present not because of social norms and values but because of logical necessity. He argues that normal facts differ across species, but these facts are present mostly because the species has to adapt to its environment and are necessary (Durkheim 60) Rejecting other definitions of normal facts, Durkheim posited that normal facts are relative to the specific species in question during a specific time in its evolutional phase. Normal facts are therefore not permanent nor are they universal. He emphasizes this because of his previous statements that because of the normalcy and frequency of these facts they are attributed to be superior in nature. Durkheim decides what constitutes ‘normal’ social facts by evaluating the causal conditions that govern a certain fact. If, at a certain point in the society’s development, the social fact is acceptable, then the fact is normal. An example would be the practice of a girl asking a boy to engage in a social, romantic relationship with her. In these modern times, this is considered a normal fact because of the rise of female empowerment and liberalism. However, if this social fact was to be classified during the Renaissance period, it would have been classified as abnormal, because women did not enjoy empowerment or the same power they enjoy today. A social fact’s nature is intrinsic to society’s norms and causal functions that create it at a certain point in time, and not with the wideness of occurrence or moral acceptability. Durkheim takes into account how social facts may change their nature as normal and pathological over time, especially through the process of evolution, â€Å"After having established by observation that a particular fact is general, he will go back to the conditions which determined this generality in the past and will then investigate whether these conditions are still given in the present or if, on contrary they have changed. † (Durkheim 61) Contention between the two types of social fact and the rough definition that Durkheim posited may be seen in the presence of crime within a society. Crime, at first glance would be characterized as a pathological social fact, as it would feature morbidity and abnormality. This is a common perception that all criminologists would adhere to. However, crime is posited by Durkheim as a normal social fact. Durkheim showed that crime is present in all societies but in different forms, as normal and pathological facts differ across societies and evolutionary phases (65). He further stated that even in societies where crime rate is high and incidences rampant, a change may occur depending on the future state of the society which will lessen the rate of normalcy of crime (66). Crime for Durkheim is separate and different from criminal behavior and criminal acts, since these are able to be explained on levels other than on the societal. Thus Durkheim posited that the act of doing a criminal deed is not what is normal, but the presence of crime within society which is normal (67). The presence of deviations from the norm may be seen in all societies, but since the act in itself is brought about by psychological reasons and other factors that may be apparent on the individual level, criminal behavior may be part sociological and part psychological. Crime is posited to be variant and subjective across cultures and societies, and is always present no matter how rigid the norms in a society are. Crime is defined in a society based on the norms and values it holds in importance. Durkheim’s ‘collective conscience’ that governs society is what is held responsible for defining the criminal act. Again, in an effort to take into account the diversity of societies, Durkheim posits crime as subjective and dependent on social norms, with the level of tolerance of the society in question dictating what is considered crime and what is considered aberrant or curious behavior worthy or mere ridicule and oddity. Crime is always present in any society no matter how ordered and rigid it is, but with the higher control present in a society, the level of the sophistication of crime and the intricacy and effort used in committing a criminal act increases as well, in relation to the difficulty in crime commission. Statistics may then be inferred by the student to be one concrete manifestation of a social fact because of its nature of describing trends and social phenomenon, but Durkheim posited otherwise. He posited that statistics is used to represent the ‘collective mind’ which is the sum of the individual cases that adhere to social facts, whether normal or pathological. Statistics is used to isolate these specific trends. Though individual cases no doubt have other mitigating biological and psychological factors for occurring, statistics provides a way to neutralize or eliminate the individualistic factors that may constitute the cases as not within the realm of sociology. Durkheim justifies the normalcy of crime in a given society by citing that there is not society where crime is not present. Criminal acts are always regarded with negative sentiments in any society (Durkheim 66). However, Durkheim showed that the presence of crime affirms the normal social facts, that it enforces the normal by existing as a source of punishment for its own commission. In a society that has the strictest and most rigid structure of rules and normal fact that must be adhered to at all times, crime is not entirely eliminated but actually more apparent, more frowned-upon and more heavily sanctioned. Thus, the presence of crime is considered normal and the commission of criminal acts is pathological. With all this said about the social fact, the idea of a ‘social system’ would create some contentions. Social facts are thought to emanate from the societal level through a collective consciousness, where the individual is forced to conform and adhere to. A social system would imply that the relationship between individuals and society would not be so linear and one-sided. A social system would imply that as society exerts a force on the individual, so does an individual upon society. Durkheim’s ‘collective consciousness’ would then be debunked as an illusion which is perpetuated in society. A systems framework for sociological study would then take into consideration the effect of individuals in society as social institutions and structures that are composed of individuals. Durkheim’s theory on social fact would then be debunked as emanating from an illusion and would lose its objectivity and its characteristic of being grounded on reality. Works Cited Durkheim, Emile. The Rules of Sociological Method. New York: The Free Press, 1938.

Creating a Business Plan Project and Presentation (Course-Advanced PowerPoint

Creating a Business Plan Project and (Course-Advanced Business Dimensions of Health Care) - PowerPoint Presentation Example In order to achieve the mission the health care unit has objected different objectives such as creating awareness, treatment, offering clinical services as explained later in this paper. The operations of the mission will specifically be in New Jersey in connection to other units designated in other countries on the same network. The unit will be set in the existing health center at the selected location in order to improve the services as demand rises, which are unavailable in the country. The new health unit is also set to act as a center for the campaign and awareness for advocating better health services and advices to the increasing cases of youth pregnancies. Teenage pregnancy is a real threat to the society in terms of the social and economic development status quo of the people and their existence. The problem has caused many cases of maternal death due to lack of better health cares on such cases. However, the problem occurs for lack of awareness and advices to the young relationships such as sexual education in order to avoid the unplanned pregnancies. This results many families from riches to rags and eventually begging since the parents of the children were not prepared for their task ahead. The real solution of spread of Teenage pregnancies lies within each one in the country to participate in its eradications, which will be through education of sexual consequences. It’s very much sure that women are infected at a younger stage than men. In this case, the teen pregnancy has become a priority of the New Jersey state. This is because of its complexity as their expose themselves in the poor social and economic conditions. This status includes low attainment of education, overcrowded or inadequate housing, language barriers, literacy, and violence in the families, negligence, and gang abuse. The teen pregnancy also causes their involvement in crime

Environmental Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Environmental Analysis - Assignment Example It seems all of these are basic and generic strategies used by Toyota which is found from the theory of competitive advantage by Porter (1980). This only proves that Porter’s theory of competitive advantage still applies until today. Due to this competitive move that Toyota is trying to achieve, the company was able to cut cost while ensuring customers about its cutting-edge technology. With this move, Toyota will be able to cut cost for the price of its offerings but it is still to ensure customers with its standard quality products. Toyota has become the leading car manufacturer and producer in the world because of its quality line of offerings and cutting-edge technology. This remarkably was able to gain social acceptance. This is due to the fact that the society is eager to accept something new and in line with the age of technological revolution. However, the real threat behind this smooth social acceptance for the products manufactured by Toyota is actually on the fact t hat they are assets of the company. Toyota’s products are certainly its assets. However, recent world-wide recalls of products produced by Toyota have triggered social concerns. This particularly includes quality and safety issues. It was noted that in the year 2009, Toyota paid $10 million to four families in the UK who were killed from a runaway Lexus car due to faulty design (BBC News, 2010). Within 12 months up to November 2010, there were reported 229 products recalled in the UK due to health and safety issue, production and design flaw and other related quality issues which part of them were car products (BBC News, 2011). This only shows that the market in the UK is very determined to stand on the quality of offerings which might be difficult for Toyota to get through after it had suffered from issues on quality related matters. Considering that Toyota’s products are its assets in obtaining its target revenue, the incidence of quality problem has substantially tr iggered social concerns among buyers. This is due to the fact that in the UK alone, quality is tantamount to safety and value for the money invested on certain products. This can be clearly observed how the government had responded aggressively to product recalls as initiated by Toyota Motors. The problems affecting Toyota are not only focused on social issues but they also include highly political concerns. With the increasing concern on cutting-edge technology, government has brought forward the necessity to conduct thorough investigations on product quality and implementation of efficient technology. It is therefore clear in here that there is a strong link between political and technological concerns. On the part of Toyota Motors, there is a strong downside of technological exploration. However, on the part of the law, Toyota Corporation still has to face any noted violations as believed by the law to be beyond reasonably doubted. For the law, this is just to ensure social safet y and corporate responsibility. Thus, Toyota was fined particularly in the US for about $16.4 million, the highest so far in history due to legacy issue on car recalls in line with quality issues (BBC News, 2010). Another important aspect that needs to be understood is in line with environmental concerns. The emission of green house gases leads to global concern about the environment. In other countries for instance,

Literature and Laboratory Skills Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Literature and Laboratory Skills - Thesis Example This paper looks at the process of developing a bioreactor and subsequently using it to grow cyanobacterial species that release cylindrospermopsins. It then investigates the isolation and detection of the innate compounds present in cylindrospermopsin in significant quantities through chromatographic (HPLC) and immunologic assays (ELISA). This research hopes to mitigate the negative effect of cylindrospermopsin through a thorough understanding of its growth. The study will test the first hypothesis by analyzing fresh water samples from various water bodies around various countries and making a comparison. This will either support or refute this hypothesis. The second hypothesis is tested by investigating the biological activity of cylindrospermopsins in living organisms, paying keen interest to the toxicity levels and the impact of cylindrospermopsins on metabolic pathways. Significant biological activity or impact on metabolic pathways will support this hypothesis. The therapeutic activity of modified CYL is investigated in the third hypothesis. Cylindrospermopsin alkaloids are three water-soluble toxins consisting of cylindrospermopsin (CYN) (1), 7-deoxy-cylindrospermopsin (7-deoxy-CYN) (2), and 7-epi-cylindrospermopsin (7-epi-CYN) (3). They are metabolic products of a range of cyanobacterial species. The unique structural feature of these alkaloids consists of a uracil ring covalently linked to a sulfonated tricyclic guanidine. These natural metabolites are reported to contain toxicological properties. Therefore, there is the need to detect their presence in water and subsequently remove them. Cylindrospermopsin was first extracted in 1992 from the cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii and characterised using a combination of NMR and mass spectroscopy. 7-deoxy-cylindrospermopsin was later discovered and characterised in 1999 by HPLC

Blogs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Blogs - Essay Example However, what we miss to realize is that those who fail to make a good impression does not necessarily translate to someone’s real potential at something. Just like today’s notion of a not so service-centric yet title focused notion of leadership, I would say that this diminishes the impact of leadership to people & society as a whole. What society misconstrues is that it looks at leadership closely based on what it is called, highlighting the role of being a â€Å"leader† instead of looking at it as a responsibility of being able to lead a group with different capacities, beliefs & personalities. With this said, I would say that the most effective leader is measured not only based on whether a certain goal is achieved but most importantly, how one imparted wisdom & helped each member of a team to perform significantly in a group. As it is said, it is not only the destination that counts, but also the journey where all the learning happens. The first clear shot each of us had on leadership would probably be in school when we are required to work in groups for a certain project. Though each of us have different experiences what is common to all would be the fact that in the real world, some people would have to take on the role of a leader while others as followers. Though a lot of us still have not learned to appreciate the beauty of a follower’s role, one of the things that we might miss from focusing too much on taking the role of a leader would be the fact that being a follower intensely shapes one’s character more than being a leader. Why? Well, first of all, being a follower which is invisibly looked down on in society would teach one to be humble especially when one gets his or her first run on obedience. Aside from which, what makes it even harder would be when you encounter a situation where your adrenaline knows deep down that your idea is better than what is being presented but you have to submit just because

Argument essay for or against the DREAM Act (Development, Relief and

Argument for or against the DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) - Essay Example Therefore, they share a lot in common with second generation Americans since for most of their life has been spent in the USA. Having grown up here, they would have little or no attachment to their country of origin. Usually, they are bicultural and sometimes bilingual; however, they speak fluent English (65). A good number do not have an idea they are actually undocumented immigrants. The situation is so until they apply for college or a driver’s license. Once they apply for these legal documents, they realize they do not have Social Security numbers and other documents that are needed. This paper offers an in-depth analysis of the DREAM Act and supports it. The experiences these youths go through can be discouraging. They represent broken dreams, shattered hope and lost ambitions. Since most of them have lived in the U.S almost all their lives, they complete their education here. In school, they take roles of athletes, valedictorians, class presidents and honor roll students (Perez 115). They are aspired to be teachers, doctors, scientists and engineers like all other children in America. However, the fact that they are documented immigrants, their lives change dramatically. Their day-to-day lives took a completely different course and their futures are no longer certain. They can neither work nor vote. As a matter of fact, something as ordinary as driving is a pleasure they cannot enjoy. At times, some are deported to a country they do not know at all. They are a direct result of economic and political significance. Sadly, only about 5-10% of these undocumented young high school graduates make it to college (110). This is usually because they cannot afford to pay their tuition or because they are not allowed to enroll. Typically, they do not even finish high school and thus end up in gangs and other illegal activities. The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM Act) has however to the rescue of these helpless high school graduates. The DREAM Act offers a pathway for them to attain legal status for undocumented high school graduates every year. The DREAM Act was introduced by Representative Howard Berman and Senator Richard Durbin on May 11th, 2011. Today, the DREAM Act has 2 co-sponsors in the House and an overwhelming 32 in the Senate. Organizations from States in the United including California, Kentucky, Oklahoma and New York have come together in order to support the DRAM act (American Immigration Council). Many undocumented students and their classmates as well as teachers have met up with their members of congress, held rallies, sent letters and even staged hunger strikes in the hopes of making this act a reality. In June 2010, an undocumented student who studies in Harvard was held in detention. After this incident, Harvard president Drew Faust stated that these children need to be given a chance to pursue their post secondary education in their country. The DREAM act has more advantages than disadvanta ges. The DREAM act will boost the economy of the United States as well as the labor in the US. Additionally, the Act will jumpstart the process to citizenship (American Immigration Council). This will be a huge investment on human capital and service to the US. Since DREAM act beneficiaries are all high school graduates, it means that they will get decent jobs. This way, there will be more taxable income in the country and thus in return more revenue for the government. On average a college graduate earns $750,000 throughout their lifetime more than the high school graduate (American Immigration Council). In addition, the Dream Act allows talented individuals to remain in the United States (Arnold 95).

Cyber Bullying in Schools Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Cyber Bullying in Schools - Term Paper Example The paper also seeks to critically analyze the legal framework and policies that are in place to combat the problem of cyber bullying. To this end, the paper has relied on information from various pieces of legislation. The paper will concentrate on implementation of legislation and school programs to prevent and stop cyber bullying in schools. The research will therefore not explore in detail the other ways of combating cyber bullying; like reporting cyber bullying to parents, not responding to emails that are meant for bullying, among others. The paper recognizes that cyber bullying is not only a vice found among children but also adults. The study however does not look into the issue of cyber bullying among adults. Outline The paper is divided into three major parts. The first part is an introduction of the paper. This part outlines the concept of cyber bullying giving the various definitions that have been given by various authors. The introduction gives the various methods used in cyber bullying including use of the internet as well as mobile phones. This part also introduces the concepts of implementation of legislation and school programs to combat cyber bullying. These are the major action plans identified by the paper as solutions to the problem of cyber bullying. The introduction also identifies the various stakeholders who are the key players in the proposed solutions. These are also the audience of the paper, and these are identified as lawmakers, school heads, parents and students. The second part of the paper provides a background and a historical perspective of cyber bullying. In this part, cyber bullying is identified as a form of bullying that emerged as a result of the... This research will begin with the definition of bullying as an act of frightening or harassing a person who is supposedly weaker or smaller. This behavior is triggered by various aspects. For instance a person can be bullied because of their race, their gender, their sexual orientation, religion, weight, disability or even talent. Bullying can take many forms including physical bullying where a person can be kicked, hit or pushed. Bullying can also be verbal or through technology, which is referred to as cyber bullying. Bullying mostly occurs in schools and is mostly physical and verbal but cyber bullying is fast emerging as the preferred way of bullying. Bullying has two players involved, namely the bully and the victim. The victims of bullying vary depending on the form of bullying. For instance bullying can take place as early as kindergarten; this is especially for physical and mostly verbal bullying. At this stage however it is very rare to have cyber bullying for example. Cyber bullying is mostly common among teenagers, who are the frequent users of technology and more so the cyberspace. Canadian teacher Bill Belsey is recognized for having coined the word cyber bullying. Belsey described cyber bullying as the use of technology for repeatedly communicating harmful and hostile messages to others. In understanding cyber bullying, one must realize that there are various forms of cyber bullying and there are tools that are used to commit cyber bullying.