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Contents GCSE Citizenship Today for Edexcel GCSE
3
AQA GCSE 9–1 Sociology
4
AQA GCSE 9–1 Sociology and Psychology Revision
5
A-level NEW AQA A-level Psychology Revision Student Support Materials for AQA
6 6
A-level Sociology AQA A-level Sociology, 4th edition
7
AQA A-level Sociology Themes and Perspectives
8
How to be a Sociologist
9
How to be a Social Researcher
10
Sociology Themes and Perspectives, 8th edition
10
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GCSE
Citizenship Today Revised Fourth Edition Authors: Jenny Wales and Victoria Marston
Fully updated and designed to motivate students to become active and engaged citizens and to help prepare them for examination success.
Student Book •
Compact, economical course offers a practical and focused way to meet the new requirements for GCSE
•
Each Student Book chapter closes with a section on the exam,
The Student Book is endorsed by Edexcel
combining advice and practice questions to ensure success •
Combines clear coverage of the 2023 Edexcel specification with an engaging approach and layout
Teacher's Guide (digital download) •
Save time on planning with a full two-year scheme of work
•
Detailed guidance and practical resources to assist non-specialist teachers, with ready-to-use lesson plans, activities and assessment material
•
Adapt the resources to the needs of your classes with the editable Word files
1.4 What’s happening to the UK population?
After the Second World War, the UK was short of people to work in the health service and other jobs. People were encouraged to come from the West Indies and other Commonwealth countries to take up these roles. As a member of the European Union (EU), the UK agreed that people could move freely from one EU country to another. Since the UK left the EU, immigrants come from the rest of the world rather than the EU.
What’s causing the change? Since 1971 the population of the UK has grown by over 10 million people. Most of this growth has happened since 2001. There are two main factors that cause a change in the size of the population.
England and Wales population (millions)
Is the population growing?
Is the population ageing? If more babies are being born than the number of people who die, the average age of the population will fall. If it is the other way round, the average age will rise and the population will be ageing. As medical care improves, people are living longer. If the population is ageing, the bars at the top of the pyramid graph will grow longer. One third of people born today can expect to live to 100.
59.6 56.1 52.0
49.9
48.7
48.5
1971
1981
England and Wales population in millions
1991
2001
2011
2 People are living longer, so what problem does this cause for the government?
2021
Source: Office for National Statistics
An ageing population generally means that there are more people with disabilities. The government has to work out how to pay for more pensions, healthcare and looking after older people. United Kingdom – 2021
The UK population has grown steadily throughout history. Many babies used to die at a young age in the early 20th century. Today the survival rate is much higher.
90+ 80–99 70–79
People used to die much earlier than most people do today. This is because most people now have a better diet and better healthcare. The size of the population has also been affected by world events. The pyramid graph shows the number of males and females in each age group in 2021. A lot of babies were born in the years after the Second World War. These people are now all heading for age 80. You can see that the bars showing 70–79 year olds are longer than you might expect. At the beginning of the 21st century, the number of babies fell, and then rose again. In recent years there has been another fall – as you can see from the shorter lines for the Under 9s.
60–69 40–49
• Economic migrants come because they are looking for a better life. They want to find work and support themselves and their families.
2 Migration The number of immigrants coming into the country and the number of emigrants who go to live in other countries will affect the size of the UK population. As you found out on page 10, there has always been migration into the UK. As the numbers rise and fall, the total number of people in the country will be affected.
• Asylum seekers come because they want to put in a request to be allowed to stay here because they are refugees. Their claim will be assessed and will be accepted if they are considered to be genuine refugees.
Action
1 What is happening to the size of the UK population? 2 Why is it changing? 3 What effect will the change in age structure have on the country? 4 Since the Second World War, which areas have people come from? 5 What different groups of people want to come to live in the UK?
Use a search engine to find ‘ONS UK population pyramid interactive’. Look carefully at the data and compare where you live with a different sort of place. Look at expected future changes too.
20–29 10–19 0–9 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 Age Males (millions) Females (millions) group Source: Office for National Statistics
Sample from Citizenship Today Student's Book ISBN
Price
Student’s Book
978-0-00-861315-0
£27.99
Teacher’s Guide (digital download only)
978-0-00-861316-7
£220.00
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Another point of view ‘We should welcome everyone who is escaping war, persecution or disaster.’
asylum seeker: someone who says he or she is a refugee, but whose claim has not yet been definitively evaluated Commonwealth: a voluntary group of independent countries, some of which were former British colonies economic migrant: a person who travels from one country or area to another in order to improve their standard of living European Union: a group of 27 countries which work together in fields such as the environment, social issues, the economy and trade refugee: a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster
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• Refugees come because they have been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster.
Check your understanding
30–39
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People have many reasons for wanting to come to live in the UK. They generally fall into one of the following categories.
1 Life expectancy If people live longer and more babies survive, the population will grow.
Key terms
50–69
Why do people want to come to the UK?
1.4 What’s happening to the UK population?
Theme A: Living together in the UK
Where have the migrants come from?
Getting you thinking
1 Make a list of the way the government will have to support these children as they grow up and grow old.
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You will explore the changes that are taking place in the structure of the UK. population.
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GCSE
AQA GCSE 9-1 Sociology Third Edition Authors: Pauline Wilson, Allan Kidd, Simon Addison and Jon-Paul Craig
Fully matched to the AQA GCSE Sociology specification, this third edition focuses on the knowledge and skills that students need to succeed in their exams.
Student Book • • • •
Inspire students with modern sociology through case studies, research and examples Build the key skills students need to succeed with a focus on research skills, theory and making connections between topics Prepare students for assessment with exam-style questions, sample answers and examiner commentary for every AQA topic Reduce your planning time – each double-page spread works as a lesson, including learning objectives, key terms, summary points and ‘check your understanding’ questions
1. 6
Chapter 1 . Topic 6
What are the key ideas of Emile Durkheim? Emile Durkheim is one of the founders of sociology as an academic subject. His worldview or perspective is very different from that of Marx in important respects.
function in helping to bring people together. Punishment reinforces the values and beliefs that the majority of people in society hold. By binding people together in this way, crime can contribute to social cohesion.
Objective • Describe the key ideas of Emile Durkheim
How far do you think that religion binds people together? Explain your ideas.
FOCUS ON THEORY: WRITTEN ACTIVITY Durkheim and Marx Durkheim focused on the functions of crime and the way crime can bind people together and contribute to social cohesion.
Glossary terms function, functionalism, social cohesion, structural approach, worldview
Did Marx focus more on social cohesion or on conflict between social groups? Write a sentence to explain your thinking.
FOCUS ON KEY THINKERS Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) Place of birth: France
Similarities between functionalism and Marxism
Key contribution to the development of sociology: Durkheim was a main figure in the origins of functionalism, an important perspective in sociology. This approach was popular, particularly among North American sociologists in the mid-20th century. Durkheim made a major contribution to sociologists’ understanding of the functions of crime, education and religion. He also showed how individual actions such as suicide are shaped by the wider society.
Focus on Key Thinkers covers the key sociological texts in the 2017 AQA specification and introduces key sociological perspectives
Although functionalism and Marxism are different in important ways, they are both structural approaches. This means that they focus on the structure of society and how this influences and directs human behaviour. However, not all sociologists agree with structural approaches. Critics argue that these approaches view people as being like puppets who are at the mercy of social forces beyond their control.
Durkheim was a key thinker behind functionalism.
The functionalist perspective
The functionalist approach explains social institutions (such as families, education systems and social stratification systems) in terms of the functions they perform for the wider society.
In the same way, functionalism views society as made up of different parts that interlock and fit together. The different social institutions such as the family, education and religion are important organs in the body of society. Functionalism examines these institutions in terms of their functions, that is, the job they perform to help society run smoothly. The different social institutions meet the needs of society by performing functions to ensure its survival. Durkheim studied crime, religion and education by focusing on the functions they fulfil in meeting the needs of society. For example, he argued that the punishment of criminals has an important
FOCUS ON SKILLS: DISCUSSION ACTIVITY Are people simply puppets?
FOCUS ON SKILLS: WRITTEN ACTIVITY Comparing society to the human body
One debate between sociologists focuses on how far society moulds us and controls our behaviour and how far we create and influence society. To what extent do you agree that society influences us and directs our behaviour? Can you think of ways in which we can influence, challenge or change society?
Brain
To understand functionalism, a biological analogy (or comparison) can be used. In other words, we can compare society to the human body. If we want to understand the human body and how it works, we could start by identifying the vital organs such as the heart, lungs or liver. We might then focus on one organ such as the heart and look at its job or function in pumping blood around the body. Next, we might examine how the heart is connected to other parts of the body such as the blood vessels. Finally, we could look at how the heart contributes to the survival of the body as a whole.
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Focus on Theory puts theories into context with activities to get students thinking about sociological methods and theories
Stretch and Challenge
Make a note of your ideas. Lungs Heart
Criticisms of functionalism
Liver Kidneys
The different parts of the body each have a function.
1 Identify one similarity between society and a human body. 2 How useful do you think it is to compare society to a living body?
The functionalist approach focuses on the positive functions that things such as crime and religion perform for society. However, critics argue that functionalism overlooks their dysfunctional (or negative) aspects. In reality, crime and religion do not always perform positive functions for society. For example, knife crime can have devastating effects on individual victims and on communities; religion can cause long-term conflicts between different social groups such as Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.
Check your understanding 1
Describe what sociologists mean by the term ‘function’. (3 marks)
2
Identify and explain one criticism of functionalism.
Chapter 1: The sociological approach
(4 marks)
Key points
• Durkheim is one of the founders of sociology and a key figure behind the functionalist perspective. • Durkheim made an important contribution to sociologists’ understanding of the functions of crime, education and religion.
What are the key ideas of Emile Durkheim?
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Focus on Skills features discussion and written activities to help students apply their knowledge in the exam and beyond the classroom 23
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Teacher Guide • • • •
Support your teaching with additional activities and exam-focused support for every chapter in the Student Book Deliver stimulating lessons with 15–20 activity ideas per AQA topic and further suggestions in the Scheme of Work Prepare your students for final assessment with exam practice activities for every AQA topic Cater for students of all abilities with differentiation suggestions and extension tasks for each activity
Title
ISBN
Price
Student Book
978-0-00-822014-3
£27.99
Teacher Guide
978-0-00-822015-0
£175.00
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GCSE
AQA GCSE 9–1 Revision & Practice Unbeatable value – a revision guide, workbook and full practice paper in one book.
• • •
Revision guide – clear and concise coverage of every topic Workbook – topic-by-topic practice with video solutions Exam-style practice paper with answers
Title
ISBN
School Price
AQA GCSE 9–1 Sociology Complete Revision and Practice
978-0-00-853502-5
£5.50
AQA GCSE 9-1 Psychology Complete Revision & Practice
978-0-00-864643-1
£6.00
AQA GCSE 9-1 Workbooks •
All the practice students need with topic-by-topic questions and video solutions to build confidence
Title
ISBN
School Price
AQA GCSE 9–1 Sociology Workbook
978-0-00-853507-0
£3.00
AQA GCSE 9-1 Psychology Workbook
978-0-00-864646-2
£3.00
AQA GCSE 9-1 Sociology Revision Cards • • •
Revise key sociological terms and concepts Mix up the cards to test knowledge and understanding Includes 200 cards with key concepts, definitions and contexts
Title
ISBN
School Price
AQA GCSE 9–1 Sociology Revision Cards
978-0-00-839932-0
£7.80 +VAT
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A-level
AQA A-level Organise and Retrieve your Knowledge NEW
• • • •
Annotate each topic with key words, responses to key questions, and concise summaries Engaging videos clarify challenging concepts for deeper understanding Practice questions reinforce knowledge retention A complete exam-style paper is included
Title
ISBN
School Price
NEW AQA A-level Psychology Organise and Retrieve your Knowledge (February 2027)
978-0-00-883166-0
£11.50
Student Support Materials for AQA A-level Sociology Support sociology students with additional guidance and exam-practice questions for key AQA topics.
• • •
Provide the essentials of each AQA topic alongside practice and guidance needed for exam success Support students in planning and managing their revision with topic summaries, examiners’ tips and helpful key studies, tables and diagrams Help students achieve their best possible grade with complete practice exam papers, a breakdown of what each question is asking and sample responses at Grade C and Grade A with examiners’ comments
Title
ISBN
Price
Education with Research Methods
978-0-00-822163-8
£11.99
Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods
978-0-00-822164-5
£11.99
Beliefs in Society
978-0-00-822165-2
£11.99
Families and Households
978-0-00-822166-9
£11.99
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A-level
AQA A-level Sociology Fourth Edition Authors: Steve Chapman, Martin Holborn, Stephen Moore and Dave Aiken
Tried and trusted support to help your students master the knowledge, evaluation and analysis skills to excel in their studies.
• • • • •
In-depth coverage of every topic in the AQA AS and A-level Sociology specifications, approved by AQA Develop strong research skills with practical tasks Up-to-date case studies and questions help students with application, analysis and evaluation Plenty of practice questions to help assess progress Student Books AQA approved
TOPIC 1 EDUCATION
Class and eduCational aChievement
Evaluation of interactionist perspectives FOCUS ON RESEARCH: CHAVS, CHARVERS AND TOWNIES imposed on them by others from non-working-class backgrounds, and the middle-class students were keen to emphasise that they did not belong to these three groups. Indeed they looked down on what they saw as their immoral, anti-social behaviour and their poor taste. They saw them as arrogant, flashy, loud, uninterested in learning and lacking in self-control. While the middle-class students saw themselves as investing in their educational future, they saw the working-class pupils who were chavs, charvers or townies as lacking in the desire to succeed and therefore likely to fail. Research by Hollingworth and Williams (2009) examined the way in which some working-class pupils were labelled and devalued as ‘chavs’ by their middle-class peers. The study involved interviews with white, urban, middle-class families whose students went to one of three inner-city comprehensive schools: ‘Norton’ (in north east England), ‘Riverton’ (in south-west England) and a London school.
Focus on Research provides real-life sociological studies and questions for students to answer
They interviewed 124 families with parents and children together, 180 mothers or fathers individually and 68 students individually. The students were aged between 12 and 25, and those who had left school talked about their previous school experience. In all the schools the students could identify distinct subcultures: ‘hippies’ or ‘poshies’ (Norton), ‘goths’ and ‘emos’ (Norton and Riverton), ‘skaters’ or ‘jitters’ (Norton and Riverton), ‘rockers’ and ‘gangsters’ (London), and ‘townies’ or ‘chavs’ or ‘charvers’ (predominantly Norton and Riverton) (Hollingworth and Williams, 2009, p. 470). Most of these groups were predominantly middle-class, but those seen as chavs, charvers or townies were invariably working class. None of the working-class pupils gave themselves these labels – they were
who don’t fall neatly into one category. However, not all interactionists fall into this trap. For example, Peter Woods (1983) identified eight different groups in schools. ‘Opportunists’, for example, fluctuated between trying to gain the approval of their teachers and of their peer group.
› By concentrating on processes within the education
› Many of the studies have been based on male peer
› Labelling theory sometimes sounds deterministic: success and failure seems to be entirely determined by the attitudes of pupils, which gives pupils little apparent control over their own achievement. It is clear that not all pupils live up to labelling by teachers. For example, a study by Margaret Fuller (1984) found that a group of black working-class girls who were labelled as likely failures responded by working harder to achieve success. Rather than a self-fulfilling prophecy taking place, they rebelled against the low expectations of their teachers.
1. Examine the subcultures (if there are any) in your own school or college. What are the similarities and differences compared to the subcultures found in this research? 2. Evaluate whether the type of school used in the research (inner-city comprehensives) could explain the similarities and differences you discussed in answering question 1. 3. Identify the possible advantages and disadvantages of using interviews to study subcultures?
UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT
4. Suggest an alternative research method for this type of research and explain why it might be useful.
Most people feel that most of the time they can choose how they behave. However, sociologists tend to claim that, to some extent, social factors can explain behaviour. This suggests that people don’t have a free choice and that their behaviour is shaped by outside forces. Deterministic theories take this view to the extreme. They don’t acknowledge that individuals have any choice about how they behave instead arguing that circumstances shape what they do. For some, labelling is a deterministic theory which claims that people will always live up to a label imposed on them by other people. However, most labelling theorists recognise that sometimes individuals will refuse to live up to their labels. These labelling theorists do not therefore support a deterministic version of labelling theory.
5. On the basis of this research, explain the view that it is not just teachers who can give pupils negative labels. 6. Applying this research, analyse how the labels attached to some working-class pupils might affect their educational progress.
Research by Mairtan Mac an Ghaill (1994) examined working-class students in a Midlands comprehensive. Because the school divided pupils into three sets, three distinct male, working-class peer groups developed rather than two:
› In the highest set, the predominant subculture was
› In the lowest set the main subculture was that of the
› The middle set was dominated by the ‘new
‘macho lads’. They were academic failures who became hostile to the school, showed little interest in school work, and were usually from less skilled working-class backgrounds.
Although interactionist perspectives have been very influential, and they show that factors operating within school can have a significant impact upon educational achievement, they have been criticised in a number of ways: system, they fail to explain where wider class inequalities come from. They tend not to look at the wider context that gives rise to stereotypes of the working class, inequality in access to successful schools, and so on. They therefore ignore or downplay factors outside the schools. (Paul Willis, who combines the study of interaction in schools with Marxist analysis, is an exception here.)
Questions
of the ‘academic achievers’. They were academic ‘successes’ usually from more skilled working-class backgrounds. They tried hard at school and were aiming to progress to higher levels of study.
› Some interactionists may have simplified models of
enterprisers’. They had a positive attitude to school and school work, but they saw the vocational curriculum as a route to career success rather than academic subjects.
pupil subcultures and do not identify the full range of responses to schools. By identifying just two or three subcultures, they ignore groups and individuals
groups and are less useful for understanding female groups (see Chapter 4 for more discussion on gender differences in education).
› Interactionist approaches tend not to look at the effect of social policies in any detail, yet these too can have a major impact on whether factors in the education system promote greater equality of opportunity or make class differences in achievement more pronounced. These are discussed in the following section, Social policy and social class.
Think about relationships and peer groups in the school or college where you study. Are there distinct peer groups? Do they tend to be based on streams or sets and are they linked to social class? Are there more than two or three subcultures? What do your observations suggest about interactionist theories of class and achievement?
Key concepts defined Social policy clearly and social class on each page Educational policies relating to class can be divided into two main types:
› those specifically aimed at reducing class inequalities › more general policies that have had an impact on class inequalities in education even though this is not their main aim. Many policies aimed directly at reducing class inequality have been based upon cultural deprivation theory (which sees working-class culture as lacking the necessary attributes to promote success in education). These policies have led to the idea of positive discrimination in the form of compensatory education – where the working class are given extra help in the education system to compensate for the supposed inadequacy of their socialisation. A variety of schemes have aimed at providing extra help for the working class such as Sure Start, launched In 1998. Sure Start has provided additional pre-school education to try to compensate for any lack of educational stimulation from parents. However, critics such as Whitty (2002) believe that all these schemes tend to place blame for failure on the child
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Title
ISBN
Price
Year 1 and AS Student Book
978-0-00-759747-5
£27.99
Year 2 Student Book
978-0-00-759749-9
£27.99
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Fantastic book. A must-have for A-level. Amazon reviewer
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A-level
AQA A-level Sociology Themes and Perspectives Authors: Michael Haralambos, Martin Holborn, Tim Davies and Pauline Wilson
Tailored to the 2015 AQA AS and A-level Sociology specifications, these accessible student books offer detail and clarity with in-depth exam support.
• • • • • •
Easy to navigate with a clear and accessible structure mapped to the AQA specification Engage students with the latest research, theoretical developments and contemporary issues Challenge students with depth and detail, as well as detailed evaluation and tasks to support students aiming for the highest grades Complement your teaching with a range of activities, including images, viewpoints, data and research scenarios to prompt discussion Build the skills required for exam success with exam practice for each topic and sample responses at different levels for each question type Includes a specially commissioned Then and Now feature: in their own words, the authors of ground-breaking sociological studies revisit and assess the relevance of their work to contemporary society
These two books are probably the best introductions to sociology that I’ve come across. The writing is always clear and easy to understand throughout. Even when the topic is demanding, these authors never fail to deliver. Amazon reviewer
Title
ISBN
Price
AQA A-level Sociology Themes and Perspectives, Year 1 and AS
978-0-00-824277-0
£27.99
AQA A-level Sociology Themes and Perspectives, Year 2
978-0-00-824278-7
£27.99
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A-level
How to be a Sociologist
An introduction to A-level Sociology Authors: Dr Sarah Cant and Dr Jennifer Hardes Dvorak
Equip your students with the skills to think like a sociologist with this short, up-to-date and accessible introduction to sociology at A-level and beyond. • • • • •
Give students a flavour of the key ideas they will encounter at A-level Spark your students’ sociological imagination with the latest thinking from expert authors Equip students with information about the career and higher education opportunities sociology can lead to Use throughout the A-level course or set as prior summer reading Beneficial aid at open evenings and sixth-form student recruitment assemblies
Case Study: Critical race glasses and mental illness
W.E.B Du Bois and beyond C is for colour, colonialism and raCism William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868–1963), a contemporary of Marx, Durkheim and Weber, should be given his rightful place as a founding father of sociology, and credited with drawing attention to the pervasive reality of racial inequality, segregation and discrimination. Du Bois argued that the ‘most significant problem of the 20th century is the colour line’ (1903/1968:1) and as such, this was the proper subject matter for sociology.
GLOSSARY absolute poverty when a person’s household income is not enough to sustain a basic standard of living and meet essential human needs (food, shelter, clothing) agency the notion that individuals have the capacity to act freely, often contraste d with determinism and social structure alienation (Marx) a process in which someone becomes disconnected from their work and from other humans anomie an absence of shared norms or values (integration) and guidance (regulatio n)
beliefs ideas about the world that people hold to be true, although they may not be based on evidence; beliefs lead us to take on certain values that are deemed socially important (see also values) Black feminism feminism that focuses on the way that women’s subordination is rooted in racism and classism as well as sexism; it calls for an intersectional understanding of inequality and a recognition that women’s experiences are not homogeneous bourgeoisie (Marx) the social class that owns the means of production and so is made up of more powerful members of society
Glossary explains and gives context to key terms
Title
breaching experiment (Garfinkel) an experiment that intentionally disrupts (breaches) social norms bureaucracy (Weber) a hierarchical organisation that operates according to rational sets of rules and procedures capital (Bourdieu) a set of skills and resources that take numerous forms; Bourdieu identifies five types of capital – cultural,
In The Philadelphia Negro (1899), Du Bois described an in-depth
economic, physical, symbolic, and social – study of the lives of African Americans based on census data and and it is the accumulation of diff2,500 erentin-person types ofinterviews. At this point in time, although over capital that constitutes someone’s slavery had been officially abolished in 1865, American society William Edward social status remained highly segregated. A number of laws were passed Burghardt Du Bois cultural capital knowledg in thee,1890s that established separate drinking fountains, lifestyle bathrooms, restaurants, hotels, trains, beaches, parks and theatres along the colour choices, values, leisure activities line. Du Bois drew attention to continued structural racism and focused on revealing and education the racial inequalities produced through capitalism, showing how racism served the economic capital how much income interests of the (White) capitalist class. Racism permitted both extreme exploitation and and wealth someone hasprevented radical social change, he argued. He called for African Americans to develop a physical capital bodilydouble consciousness dispositio ns and – to see themselves as ordinary people, members of families and shape (including how attractive communities, but also to be aware of the way that they were seen through the eyes of someone White people, who viewed them as inferior. is deemed to be) A segregated water-cooler social capital a person’s social networks , in Oklahoma, USA, 1939 relationships and who they know symbolic capital a person’s status and prestige capital (Marx) economic relations and wealth
Mary Wollstonecraft and beyond C is for cages, constraint and patriarChy In this section, we begin with the work of Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–97), a writer regarded as one of the first feminists. Within the broad church of feminism there are, however, many iterations, and it is better to talk of feminisms. What joins most of the work is a concern to understand gender divisions within society, and the powerful and enduring differences that characterise men’s and women’s lives. Feminists are especially interested in how the social structure of patriarchy shapes social experiences and this is deemed to be the proper subject matter of sociology.
Mary Wollstonecraft
Feminist writers make an important distinction between sex and gender and this continues to be useful. Sex refers to the biological traits that society associates with being male or female, while gender refers to the learned ways of being male or female. Historically, feminists have tended to focus on the concept of gender rather than sex. More recently, however, the simplicity of this binary has been questioned, and towards the end of this section we look at some of the contemporary ways that sex has also been viewed as a social category, and how transgender has been conceptualised and studied. Finally, because feminism mainly concentrates on the experiences of women, we close this section with a short focus on men’s studies and masculinity.
capitalism (Marx) a system defined by its economic relations of production, where goods and services are bought and sold for profit, and in which two distinct ‘classes’ 2 BE CONCEPTUAL: PUTTING ON SOCIOLOGICAL GLASSES Du Bois campaigned against racism and cultural assimilation, demanding equal rights emerge – those who own theand championing the cultural achievements of people of African descent. It is therefore goods and services (the bourgeoisie) andastonishing those whothat his work has taken so long to be considered central to the sociological canon. have to sell their labour to earn a living 12920_P001_188_How to be a Sociologist.indd 43 (the proletariat) 2 BE CONCEPTUAL: PUTTING ON SOCIOLOGICAL GLASSES 40 causation the scientific belief that a variable (‘x’) directly impacts on, and changes, another variable (‘y’) cisnormativity the dominan 12920_P001_188_How to be a Sociologist.indd 40 02/06/2021 13:46 t social belief that a person’s gender corresponds with their biological sex at birth citizen a person who belongs to a community and has equal rights and duties under law class, social
an individual’s How to be a Sociologist: An introduction totheirA-level Sociology economic position, and also social status
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Contemporary case studies highlight up-to-date research
Sociology demands that we document, understand and question the ways that racism shapes people’s lives. Important sociological work, for instance, charts the link between racism and mental illness (Littlewood and Lipsedge, 1997 and Fernando, 2010). This has a long history. For example, enslaved people who attempted to escape from their ‘owners’ were diagnosed with a mental illness called drapetomania – their desire to flee was explained by their individual mental fragility rather than the terrible conditions in which they were held. Nazroo et al (2020) showed how structural, institutional and interpersonal racism continue to explain why more minority ethnic people are diagnosed with mental illness than the White majority in the UK today. They draw on evidence to show that minority ethnic groups are economically disadvantaged, subject to interpersonal racism in their everyday lives, and experience prejudice in the health service, leading to over-representation in the mental health system and the potential over-diagnosis of mental illness by psychiatrists. These particular glasses focus on the multiple ways that racism underscores the experience of mental illness.
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This is an intellectually stimulating and compact
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How to be a Social Researcher Using Sociological Studies Authors: Dr Sarah Cant and Dr Jennifer Hardes Dvorak
Show students how to be a rigorous social researcher with this incisive and engaging guide to the most relevant, cutting edge and inclusive research methods. • • • •
Examine each major sociological method in depth through classic and contemporary studies on crime, family life and education Can easily be used to supplement and enhance the current A-level specifications Provide valuable subject knowledge for non-specialist teachers of Sociology Help students add depth and nuance to their A-level studies, supplying them with the tools to succeed in their exams
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Sociology Themes and Perspectives Eighth Edition Authors: Michael Haralambos and Martin Holborn
The 8th edition of the bestselling ‘Blue Bible’ of Sociology. • •
Raise standards and engagement in sociology with in-depth coverage of every topic in an easy-to-follow and full colour format Develop understanding with informative, clear and concise explanations of all sociological concepts and theories
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Sociology Themes and Perspectives
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