Insight Into Human Behavior in Sociology

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Recommended: how gender and sexuality are socially constructed

Sociology is the study of societies. Sociology analyses the various social phenomena, such as ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, to gain a better understanding of the dominating values [and 'norms'] that underpin a society’s function and provides an individual with a sense of belonging or attachment. This insight into human behaviour, both as an individual and as part of a group, has been the foundation for sociological thinking in the past and is still relevant in understanding the present and future. This essay is broken into three main points - the history; legacy systems and thinking; and institutions role in modern society - to support sociology's role in helping us to understand 'sex, gender, and sexualities' as important social phenomena.
Holmes, Hughes and Julian (2012, pg 22) introduce us to Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Karl Marx - the three prominent social thinkers of the 19th century. Through their respective works, we are presented with ‘social integration, social inequality and social reproduction’ as the three models that are still highly relevant in sociological studies today. Durkheim, Weber, and Marx each used historical, critical and comparative methodologies to support their theories. Today, these methodologies, when employed together, are known as the ‘sociological imagination’. The sociological imagination provides meaning to the history that created the current configuration; compares the circumstances from the past and present; and critically analyses how these meanings affect an individual in their current environment (Holmes, Hughes; and Julian, 2012, pg )
Marx’s theoretical thinking is based on inequality and social reproduction – most evident in his interpretation of capitalism. Generally, we associa...

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...onomic globalization and women's status in the labor market: A cross-national investigation of occupational sex segregation and inequality. Sociological Quarterly, 44(3), 351-383. Retrieved from: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/sociology/docview/234980716/30D720B052324D20PQ/2?accountid=10344

Thelwall .M. (2008), Social networks, gender and friending: An analysis of MySpace member profiles, in Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Volume 59, Issue 8, pp1321-1330. Retrieved from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/10.1002/asi.20835/full Vaux .A. (1985), Variations in Social Support Associated with Gender, Ethnicity, and Age, in Journal of Social Issues, Volume 41, Issue 1, pp 89-110. Retrieved from:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1985.tb01118.x/abstract

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