Standard

R State Standard £ Institutionally Developed College: N/A

SOC 1101 – Introduction to Sociology

Course Description

Explores the sociological analysis of society, its culture, and structure. Sociology is presented as a science with emphasis placed on its methodology and theoretical foundations. Topics include: basic sociological concepts; socialization; social interaction and culture; social groups and institutions; deviance and social control; social stratification; social change; and marriage and family.

Competency Areas	Hours
Basic Sociological Concepts	Class	5
Socialization	D. Lab	0
Social Interaction and Culture	P. Lab/O.B.I.	0
Social Groups and Institutions	Credit	5
Deviance and Social Control
Social Stratification
Social Change
Marriage and Family

Prerequisite:	Program admission.
Corequisite:

Course Guide

Competency	After completing this section, the student will be able to:	Hours
		Class	D.Lab	P.Lab/ O.B.I.

Basic Sociological Concepts		5	0	0
Sociology as a science	Describe the sociological perspective.
	Describe the main characteristics of the other social sciences.
Theoretical perspectives	Discuss the major theoretical perspectives and explain their use.
Research methods	Explain the major research methods used in sociology.
	Identify the problems researchers face in conducting valid research.
Socialization		8	0	0
Heredity vs. environment	Recognize the different perspectives on the role of heredity and environment in the socialization process.
Theories of development	Identify the major theories or processes of development.
Agencies of socialization	Explain the importance of agencies of socialization such as family, school, religion, peer groups, mass media, and the workplace.
Types of socialization	Identify the major types of socialization.
Views of socialization	Explain the two major perspectives of socialization.
Social Interaction and Culture		5	0	0
Culture and society	Define culture and discuss the elements of culture including beliefs, values, norms, and language.
Social structure	Describe the functions of status, roles, groups, and institutions in maintaining social structure.
SOCIAL GROUPS AND INSTITUTIONS		10	0	0
Types of groups	Identify the major types of groups.
	Explain the structure and processes of small groups.
Institution	Recognize and describe the major roles of such sociological groups as the family, religion, education, health care providers, and political and economic institutions.
Organizational models	Identify types of formal organizations.
Government and economic systems	Identify and discuss the major types of government and economic systems.
DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL		5	0	0
Explanations of deviance	Describe the sociological and nonsociological approaches to deviance.
Sources of crime	Discuss the functionalist and conflict views of crime.
Social control	Explain the functioning of internal and external social controls.
	Differentiate between formal and informal social controls.
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION		5	0	0
Stratification systems	Define social stratification.
	Identify the two types of stratification systems.
Theories of stratification	Describe the functionalist, conflict, and evaluation theories.
Socioeconomic issues	Explain how socioeconomic status is measured.
	Describe the major social classes found in the United States.
	Identify some of the consequences of social stratification.
Inequality issues	Discuss the social sources of prejudice and discrimination.
	Identify the psychological factors involved in prejudice and discrimination.
	Explain the consequences of discrimination.
	Identify the primary racial and ethnic minorities in America.
	Discuss the sources and extent of gender stratification.
	Identify and discuss the major problems related to age and social inequality.
SOCIAL CHANGE		10	0	0
Theories of change	Discuss the major theories of social change.
Sources of change	Identify the major sources of change.
Collective behavior	Define collective behavior.
	Discuss the various forms of collective behavior and the conditions necessary for development.
Social movements	Describe the types of social movements.
	Trace the development of social movements.
World population growth	Describe current patterns of population growth and social problems related to that growth.
Urban society	Describe the processes of urban change.
	Identify the three theories of urban structure.
	Discuss the major problems faced by American cities and some of the programs developed to resolve them.
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY		2	0	0
Courtship and mate selection	Discuss aspects of mate selection such as endogamy, exogamy, and homogamy.
Variations in family life	Describe social class differences, racial and ethnic differences.
Child rearing	Discuss patterns of parenting and grandparenting.
	Discuss adoption, dual-income families, single-parent families, stepfamilies.
Divorce	Define some statistical trends in divorce.
	Discuss Factors associated with divorce.
	Discuss the impact of divorce on children.
Diverse Lifestyles	Discuss cohabitation, marriage without children, single parents, alternative lifestyles.
Family	Describe the theoretical views of family.

Suggested Resources

Media Print Audio/Visual Web Other
Print	Farley, J. E. (1998). Sociology. (4^th ed.) Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
	Incurdi, J. A., and Rothman, R. A. (1990). Sociology principles and applications. San Diego: HarcourtBrace Jovanovich.
	Light, D. and Keller, S. (1984). Sociology (4^th ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
	Persell, C. H. (1990). Understanding society (3^rd ed.). New York: Harper & Row.
	Sullivan, T. J. (1990). Sociology: concepts, issues, and applications. (2^nd ed.). New York: Macmillan.
	Thio, A. (1988). Sociology: An introduction (2^nd ed.). New York: Harper & Row.

Posted: 10/08/08