A2 Religion - summer research

1, http://www.educationforum.co.uk/sociology_2/functmarx.htm
Go to this page and fill in the blanks and follow the instructions at the bottom of the page.

2, Answer the 40 mark question - Assess the view that religion is mainly a source of conflict in society.

3, Summarise the following studies in to no more than 200 words.

Think about PEEEL when you are doing this - What are the main points? What evidence and examples are there to support it? What evaluative points can be made?

Neo-Marxism
Gramsci
Maduro

Gender and Feminism
Jean Holm
Karen Armstrong
Simone de Beauvoir
El Saadawi
Helen Watson

Interpretative
Max Weber
Stark and Bainbridge

Phenomenological Approach
Berger & Luckman

Good luck, work hard, have fun and enjoy your summer!

Durkheim - The Sacred and the Profane

S
A
C
R
E
D

A
N
D

P
R
O
F
A
N
E

Explain Durkheim using each letter to start your sentences by Weds 18th.

Nudism

NUDISM


Society has been corrupted by the ruling class, they have set in place rules and regulations to restrict our natural urges and instincts, its time we rebelled and bare our bottoms for the world to see!

We came in to the world wearing only what the good lord gave us and we should be proud of it whether you’re big, small, or skinny.

In the religion of ‘ Nudism ‘ the source of authority is God … God is the creator of everything in the universe and even though he provided us with the intellectual capabilities ‘nudist’ believe that we should not totally neglect nature because it is part of who we are as human beings.

There are not really any rules to the’ nudism’ faith however to be a member of this religion all you need to do is bare everything for all for at least 4 hours a day weather that be popping down to the local café for morning breakfast or simply plumping your backside on the couch to watch a bit of Jeremy Kyle.

Its time for change …. And its time to bare all and shake what your muma gave you!

MNMism

M.N.M. ism

Basis points/ main teachings
This religion is based on the teachings of living life to the fullest. This religion believes that life should be about having fun and fulfilling your destiny (which is whatever you wish it to be).

Holidays
28th of February-celebrates the birth of the first prophet (founder of the religion)
19th may- celebrates the birth of the second prophet (founder of the religion)
29th July-celebrates the birth of the third prophet (founder of the religion)

The creation of the earth
Who cares, we are here now so is doesn’t matter. If it really bothers you the make something up.


The after life
Everyone has a place in heaven- all you can eat buffet with foods from all over the world (including desserts) no one gets fat, No natural disasters, peace, everyone can fly, no money needed everything is free, do what you want.

Prophets
Martha O.D.
Nana O.A.
Mohammed M.

Rules
Ø Do what you want as long as you don’t hurt anyone
Ø If someone treats you like rubbish then treat them like rubbish if they treat you good then treat them good.
Ø No age restrictions on having sex- age, gender ect
Ø Education should be made your priority.
Ø Weed for all- made legal to smoke and sell

Reasons for the religion
To be happy

Phoodism by Samuel, Laila and Salome

Phoodism
In this religion there is no religious authority
People should do the things they want to do rather than doing it because of fear
Food should be provided as a way of mingling with fellow members within the congregation
People should feel free to express their feelings with other people which may be able to help them grow
Backbiting rudeness and evil speaking is forbidden in this religion as it leads to conflict and revenge
People who attend this congregation are urge to help one who is in need of help this maybe people in the congregation or people within the community, as an act of service.
People should enjoy being in this religion and should motivate and urge others to be happy as well.
After life is determine on how well we help other people

Create your own Religion!

Add your new religion here as a comment and then we will vote and comment on them!
The religion with the most new followers will win a prize!
Also - check out the links on the right to useful sites.
Mr Spiers

C+D £5 Essay Plans!!

The rules:

1. it must be your own work
2. it must include concepts, theory, evaluation and named studies
3. only one per question
4. there may also be rewards for people who add to and evaluate other plans

If you have any queries or problems with the site please let me know via spierse@babbey.bardaglea.org.uk

Remember to use the links on this blog.

Good luck with your revision and remember to DO, not just read!

How does the panopticon work?

PM, Crime and Globalisation Haiku's!

5, 7 and 5 syllables please - add yours as comments!

Globalisation
Brings new opportunities
For criminals too

Functionalism by Sanna and Karan - let us know what you think!

Functionalism

Durkheim: - crime and deviance were central to any understanding of how society functions. There are two different sides of crime and deviance for the functioning of society, a positive and negative side. The positive side which helped society change and remain dynamic, and the negative side which saw too much crime leading to social disruption.
Positive side:
§ A limited amount of crime is necessary for a society
§ Basis of society was a set of shared values that guide our actions, which he called the collective conscience
§ The collective conscience provides a framework with boundaries, which sets apart the actions that are acceptable and those that are not
§ The boundaries are not clear and are shown in 3 elements:
(1) Re-affirming the values/boundaries
(2) Changing values
(3) Social cohesion
Negative side
§ Anomie – in times of stress the collective conscience would be freed from its control and be used in selfish ways
Criticism: - Merton argued that anomie was a situation where socially approved goals were not available to people.

Hirschi: - bonds of attachment
§ There are 4 crucial bonds that attach society together:
(1) Attachment
(2) Commitment
(3) Involvement
(4) Belief
§ The greater a person’s attachment to society the less crime that is committed.

Lombroso: - researched and developed the theory of biological deviance, which states that some people are genetically predisposed to criminal behaviour
§ Influenced by Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution
§ Many criminals shared similar physical characteristics (skinny, dark-skinned, big nose, etc.)
Criticism: - accused of being racist to criminals and people were from a poor background, diet could explain their deformities

Merton: - strain theory (is developed from Durkheim’s anomie concept)
§ Stressed the importance of the American dream
§ Society internalises the idea that materialism, status, and success are crucial for status worth
§ Not everyone has an equal chance – which creates STRAIN
§ Those at the bottom of the class system stand the least chance to succeed are still living the dream
§ This forces people to react to the pressure to succeed

Parsons: - consider age to be important in the past
§ Since industrialisation people have become more socially mobile and age groups have become more important
§ They provide role sets – a group sharing the same set of roles expected
§ Age is like a mechanism – allows people to evolve from one age group to the other
Criticisms: - functionalists tend to focus more on youth groups than the elderly and the elderly disengage with society to an extent to make room for the younger group

Functionalist – sub cultural approaches

Cohen: - status frustration
§ Offending behaviour was for the thrill of the act not economically motivated
§ Lower class boys strove to follow middle class values but lacked the means to attain success
§ This led to status frustration – a sense of personal failure
§ Rejected patterns of ‘acceptable’ behaviour
Criticisms: - no mention of females and fails to prove that school is the key place where failure and success are demonstrated

Miller: - focal concerns and WC life
§ Argued WC possess a separate culture from the rest of the society – value different things and behave differently
§ They possess a range of focal concerns which frame their social engagement
§ MC value achievement and WC their focal concerns:
Feast
Excitement
Autonomy
Smartness
Trouble
Toughness
Because of these factors WC culture was a ‘generating milieu’ for gang delinquency.

Matza: - criticised Marxist and functionalist subculture theory
§ Believed the assumptions of different values was wrong
§ We all have
(1) conventional values – typical values
(2) Subterranean values – beneath the surface
§ we use the techniques of neutralisation to justify our deviant acts
(1) denial of responsibility
(2) denial of victim
(3) denial of injury
(4) condemnations of condemns
(5) appeal to higher loyalties

Environmental Theory by Hardeep + Preeya - please comment and feedback

The City as a crime producing area
Ÿ A common theme in sociological writing about crime, is the corrupting effect of city life.
Ÿ that inner cities have reputations as major locations for, and causes of, criminal activity.
Ÿ In Europe, during the 19th century, writers such as Durkheim and Tonnies had stressed the breakdown of community under the pressures of urbanisation and industrialisation.
Ÿ People, it was argued, felt less bonded to others and were more likely to become selfish.
Ÿ This selfishness is linked not just to urban living, but to the rise of individualism.
Ÿ In this approach, the explanation for deviance was first sought, not within the individual, but outside the person, in society as a whole. The causes of deviance can thus be found in society.
Ÿ Such an idea was put forward by George Simmel (1969)

Chicago Sociology
Ÿ In the USA, urbanisation occurred later than in Europe and also took a different form to European urbanisation, in that cities developed as a result of massive waves of immigration from Europe.
Ÿ Chicago, for example, grew from a population of 10,000 in 1860 to one of 2,000,000 by 1910.
Ÿ sociologists at the University of Chicago between 1914-1940 carried out the original urban studies.
Ÿ The most famous of these researchers are Robert Park and Ernest Burgess.
Ÿ Chicago sociology was characterised by two quite distinct elements: the biological and the sociological

The biological analogy that stressed the natural and innate
Ÿ Park were strongly influenced by ideas of natural selection, and the struggle for space - concepts that were biologically based and drawing on versions of the Darwinian theory of evolution.
Ÿ Park argued that cities were characterised by a biotic balance and that this was disturbed by new waves of immigrants, and conflicts occurred.
Ÿ The struggle for space was a part of this.
Ÿ Individuals compete for the best habitats and those that lose out remain in the area of minimum choice - slums (inner cities).
Ÿ Park extended this work to offer an explanation of the different types of behaviour found in urban areas, he suggested the existence of moral regions within a city.

Social disorganisation that stressed the generation of meaning through interaction
Ÿ Park's work gave rise to the writings of Shaw and McKay and was an extension of the work of Burgess who claimed that Chicago (and other large cities) was divided into distinctive zones.

Zone 1: central business district very few occupants, the centre of banking and business
Zone 2: zone of transition. cheapest zone for housing, the first one settled by new immigrants.
Zone 3: The respectable working class district.
Zone 4: Suburbia. The pleasanter middle class districts further out of the city.
Zone 5: outer fringe of the city where the wealthy live.

Ÿ Shaw and McKay suggested that as each successive wave of immigrants arrived in the city, they were forced into the cheapest zone. As they settled and some were successful, they moved outward. Their places were taken by new arrivals.
Ÿ Shaw and McKay thought that the high population turn-over produced a state of social disorganisation defined by Thomas and Znaniecki
Ÿ This appears to mean that informal methods of social control, that usually restrain people from deviant activity were weak or absent, and this released people to commit criminal act

Criticism
· If disorganisation results from high population turnover, then this seems appropriate only in the early years of settlement, but less appropriate in explaining patterns of crime that follow initial settlement.
· Labelling theory would criticise the use of official statistics. Higher rates of crime in the zone of transition might not be a result of different behaviour patterns, but of different enforcement and reaction patterns.
· This approach cannot, indeed, does not seem to comprehend or explain white-collar crime.
· The next shift in the Chicago school approach came in the later writing of Shaw and McKay and was then taken up by Sutherland. The meaning of social disorganisation changed. In the early writing the stress was on disorganisation, resulting from a lack of coherent values, the later writing stressed a distinctive, but coherent, set of values providing alternative values to those of mainstream society. This new version became the starting point for sub-cultural theory.

Left Realism by Chuko - please give me feedback or comment

Left Realism

Emerged in 1980’s as a reaction to left idealist and right realist approaches to crime in modern society.
Jock young was the key thinker and the view was expressed in ‘What is to be done about law & order’ - Lea & young.
They tried to focus on the reality of crime especially street crime which they see as ‘the most transparent of all injustices’.
For Left realists crime requires an examination of the following:


1. The victims – They look at public’s fear of crime through victim surveys as it ‘allows us to give voice to the experience of people’. It is disadvantaged groups living in inner city areas that are more at risk of street crime and are more affected by petty theft as they live in relative poverty.
2. The offenders – accept the picture of offenders created by official statistics.
Relative deprivation- people see themselves as deprived in comparison to other people. 1970’s = growth in relative deprivation. This causes discontent which CAN be expressed through crime along with many other ways.
Marginalisation – individuals or certain groups of people feel separate from wider society. They feel as thought they have no importance and don’t count for much
Subcultures – a group of people who have a culture that is different from that of the wider society to which they belong
3. The State and formal control – good policing can play an important role in reducing crime.
4. The public and informal control – Multi-agency intervention is needed. Local authorities must coordinate their various departments; housing, education and social services to rebuild disintegrating communities.

Criticism

Positive –
It has highlighted the causes and problems of street crime that affect the weaker members of society
It includes other concepts such as relative deprivation and marginalisation
Has had effect on institutions, police in particular, therefore it must be useful

Negative –
The idea that society has a collective conscience can be questioned
It focuses too much on street crime and doesn’t explain such crimes as murder and rape
Disregards female crime
Fails to explain the causes of street crime

Theory Revision

For your perspective you must include:
Be creative use pics, youtube, ppt, voice recording etc

1. Key points summarised and explained.
2. Concepts.
3. Named Studies.
4. Evaluation and theoretical evaluation - positive and negative points.
5. Synoptic links - to other topics and to methods.
6. Contemporary examples e.g. recent news stories linked appropriately

Deadline = Thurs 3rd April.

Studies Checklist - so far......

As of March 27th you should have summaries on the following:

1. Durkheim - functions of crime
2. Lombroso - biological
3. Hirschi - bonds of attachment (func)
4. RK Merton - strain (func)
5. A. Cohen - focus on functions of deviance
6. Parsons - deviance as boundary maintenance
7. Chambliss - Marxism
8. Sutherland - white collar crime (Marx)
9. Miller - sub culture (func)
10. A.Cohen - sub culture (func)
11. Cloward & Ohlin - sub culture (func)
12. Matza - sub culture, delinquency and drift
13. Anderson - sub culture code od the streets
14. Hall et al - Policing the CrisisTaylor
15. Walton and Young - the New Criminology
16. Lea and Young - ethnicity and crime
17. Gilroy - ethnicity and crime
18. Cicourel - OCS and the construction of delinquents (int)
19. Becker - int labelling
20. Young - int labelling
21. Lemert - primary and secondary deviance
22. Goffman - labelling
23. Wilson - New Right/Right Realism
24. Murray - New Right
25. Jock Young - Left Realism

Obvioulsy there are others and some have been HW, some in class etc, but you do need to know these.

Yr 13 studies and cover for Monday 3rd March

Hall et al - Policing the Crisis
Taylor, Walton and Young - the New Criminology
Lea and Young - ethnicity and crime
Gilroy - ethnicity and crime

Apologies for the late notice and do start these studies today.
I will check where you are tomorrow!
Thanks
Mr S
ps - Arsenal fans get your chocolate ready!

Summarise the studies and answer all the question on the Official Statistics handout.
BY MONDAY 3rd March.

More studies!

The next 4 studies, due Friday 8th February:

4. A. Cohen - focus on functions of deviance

5. Parsons

6. Chambliss - Marxism

7. Sutherland - white collar crime

8, 9, 10 and 11 are Miller, A.Cohen (again), Cloward & Ohlin and Anderson and are to be done creatively in groups. However, each member of the group must enter a strength or weakness of their study here as a comment. This is your homework for Monday! No duplications so get in there quick!

Yr 13 Crime and Deviance

The following studies should be completed by Friday 1st Feb:

1. Durkheim
2. Lombroso
3. Hirschi
4. RK Merton

More studies will follow on Monday.

I would also like you to consider ways in which we could use a link with a school in San Diego, California. They are going to be looking at some aspects of Crime and Law. What do you want to know about the US system? How can we work together? Post any ideas here!

Have a good weekend.

Mr S

Year 12 Research Methods

A reminder for my group that your studies are due in on Monday 11th February and your first essay is due in on Monday 4th February. If you are having trouble finding some of the studies please speak to me and do the best you can. Also use this blog to exchange info and sites to help eachother.

Key terms you need to know so far:

1. Validity
2. Reliability
3. Positivism
4. Interpretivism
5. Generalisability
6. Representativeness
7. Quantitative data
8. Qualitative data
9. Primary data
10. Secondary data

Learn these as you will be tested on them next week!

Have a good weekend.

Mr S

Welcome back

Check out the links and the poll to the right and please register and start posting!
You can start by telling me what you think of the look of the site and/or what else you want to see on here. Feel free to mention new links to good sites too.