The title of Chapter 2 is: Seeing and Thinking Sociologically. The chapter builds on the material in Ch. 1 by providing further examples of how to use a “sociological imagination”. The examples at the start of the chapter (the Rwandan genocide) among others, are used to illustrate how individuals shape – and are shaped – by society and culture. Sociology is all about exploring the complex dynamic between individuals and social structure. Ch. 2 introduces you to key concepts and theoretical perspectives that will allow you to more carefully and accurately explore/articulate ideas about this dynamic relationship. I want to see you “practice” using these terms and theories as you work on developing a ‘sociological imagination’ through these discussions. For this discussion, I would like you to consider:
how the material in Chapter 2 (and earlier material) relates to the additional material I posted in the module (videos on Milgram & Zimbardo experiments; the article on the My Lai Massacre)
share what you consider to be the key sociological points being made here
dig deeper: can you think of other instances when/where seemingly “ordinary” people are involved in something extraordinary (positive and/or negative)? Or examples when/where your individual lives have been influenced by larger social forces? how can we understand this ‘sociologically’ (vs. psychologically or biologically). Note: you are not being asked to ‘evaluate’ or judge the people or behaviors in the examples or the experiments on whether they were ‘right/wrong’ or ‘good/bad’ – that’s besides the point – which is to develop your ability to approach the materially using a sociological approach informed by key concepts/terms and theories. Please do NOT provide a detailed summary of the text examples or the experiments – in other words: you do not need to explain the Rwandan genocide or outline the experiments – we’ll assume that everyone has read / watched them and focus on synthesizing the material and presenting an analysis of them geared towards identifying links and perhaps connecting these key points to additional examples you identify & share. A few notes about the Milgram and Zimbardo experiments: these experiments (Milgram & Zimbardo) would no longer be allowed to take place because of the more stringent ethical guidelines which are used across the Social Sciences. In fact – one of the reasons why we view them is to gather an historical context for understanding the development of Sociology as an academic discipline – it also links to a later discussion we’ll have about the “nature vs nurture” debate (Ch. 5) – it’s important to situate these experiments and the psychologists who conducted them within their appropriate social / historical CONTEXT – which some of the videos and links help illustrate. the focus is not so much on whether these experiments are “right” or “wrong” or “good” or “bad” but to see them for their broader significance – 1. to the Social Sciences (i.e. ethical guidelines) and 2. to our understanding of human social behavior (i.e. that individuals are impacted by social forces). Sometimes students start to focus so much on their personal opinions about how these studies were done / why / why they shouldn’t have been, etc. and they don’t focus on the key points – which I’ve just summarized – and, which should now allow you to more easily develop some ideas on their connections. Post at least 1 original response and comment on at least 2 other students’ posts for the full credit.
Extra detail = opportunity to earn extra po