Understand the nature and influence of society’s most powerful social institutions (e.g. family and marriage; religion; education; government and politics; work and the economy)

INTRODUCTION

In sociology, the focus is often on what people do, but sometimes systems are set up with rules and norms that tick along without people having to worry about them. These may be like the automatic pilot on an airplane, or the thermostat in your home. We don’t even notice how they work until something goes wrong.

For instance, we all talk about “the economy,” but we cannot hold one in our hands. Depending on our status in the society, we may experience the economy very differently from one another, but the economy matters greatly to us all.

The same is true of families. In sociology, we say that family is the most important social institution, but if we compare who “belongs” to our families, we will notice a wide diversity of this institution.

Words like parent, step-parent, mother-in-law and father-in-law, grand-parent, sibling, step-sibling, half-sibling, child, stepchild, foster child,  or adoptive child all have meaning in our families. Sometimes we consider non-family individuals as part of our family, even if we are not related by blood or marriage. Our families may have different structures, but they have similar purposes. We learn our family’s world-view and sometimes we duplicate the beliefs and activities of our family, and sometimes we do not.

In addition to the institution of family, there are other institutions such as religion, education, peer groups, politics, government and others that impact our lives in myriad ways.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Identify important social institutions and describe their functions in society
• Describe and explain trends in family, marriage, and courtship in the US
• Identify and explain how major sociological perspectives view religion
• Explain how major sociological perspectives approach the relationship between education and society
• Analyze the role of politics and government from each theoretical perspective
• Differentiate between different types of economic systems and describe the theoretical perspectives approach to studying the impact of work and the economy on society
• Analyze health and medicine from each of the major theoretical perspectives
• Explain the significance of the social construction of health, medicalization of deviance, and the “sick role”

Okay, let’s get started!