Reminder & Some Lecture Notes

First, let me remind you that your papers are due tomorrow and we will begin class presentations on them, starting at the top of the alphabet (as determined by the cut of the cards). Again, aim for a presentation of around 10 minutes. Secondly, I will hand out a write-up of our final essay assignment in class tomorrow.


LECTURE NOTES: Since we do not have much class time left, I will be blogging some lecture notes over the next week and a half. So be looking for these and be sure to print them out or copy them and insert them with your other class notes.

Chapter 13: Society, Self, and Mind (Cooley, Mead, and Freud)

A. The authors open this chapter with a point that I would have to agree with: "When sociology teachers complain that they are having trouble getting their students to think sociologically, they usually mean getting them to think about society as a whole. In the United States we are more attuned to individual-level explanations." (p. 310)

1. And Cooley, Mead, and Freud certainly provide insight into that individual-level (or group-level) interaction, although I would also insist that they were aware of that larger social environment which plays a role in the development (and dysfunction) of individuals.

Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929)

A. He grew up, was educated, and taught at the University of Michigan. In 1918 he became president of the American Sociological Society. His work helped lay the foundation for social psychology and symbolic interactionism.

1. He was influenced by Spencer but did not agree with his more wholistic organismic analogy. He argued that Spencer did not fully appreciate the significance of individual interaction.

B. "Sociological concepts, for Cooley, must be anchored in the real social world of interacting individuals." (p. 312) At one point, the authors describe Cooley's understanding of social life as "mentalistic."

C. Three key concepts for Cooley:

1. "Looking-glass self" -- that our sense of who we are is developed in reference to others. You understand yourself, who you are, in terms of your understanding of what others think or imagine you to be.

2. How people choose to define you, look upon you -- as a criminal, a nerd, a leader, etc. -- will strongly influence your identity. Creates what Cooley may have been the first to call a "self-fulfilling prophecy," which I would argue is especially relevant when talking about the identity of racial and ethnic minorities.

3. And these individual interactions usually take place in "primary groups." (See definition of primary groups at bottom p. 313) And "Because primary groups are the major, universal groups, they form the basis of 'what is universal in human nature and human ideals.'"
"If primary groups are critical to human social and moral development, and to solidarity with others, then any threat to an individual's contact with significant primary groups will result in problems for the individual and society. Thus, it is very important that the child not be deprived of consistent, long-term contacts in early years." (p. 314)


George Herbert Mead (1863-1931)

A. Although there are several references to it, there is no direct mention of his major work which is his main claim to fame in sociology -- Mind, Self, and Society -- published 3 years after his death in 1934 and really put together from notes taken by his graduate students.

B. Mead himself was a philosopher and two of his most important influences were pragmatist philosopher William James (who also influenced Cooley) and German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt, from whom Mead came to appreciate the role of gestures, symbols, signs in human communication and interaction.

C. The authors do a good job of presenting a very basic aspect of Mead's thought, crucial to the later development of symbolic interactionism, and that is his view of personality development being socially based, involving three distinct stages which all hinge on the concept of "role-taking."

1. Those three stages being the, PLAY, GAME, and GENERALIZED OTHER stages, the last being the most significant. This "generalized other" stage represents the culmination of this process of self development through role-taking. It is the "synthesized view" of others' attitudes and expectations built up over a long period -- primary group interactions especially. I've always thought of the "generalized other" as similar to the conscience or Freud's "superego."

D. The authors go on to note that because of Mead's emphasis on mind and self, we tend to overlook his views on the nature of society. But mind and self only develop in the context of society, society itself being basically an outgrowth of individuals interacting. It was Mead's student, Herbert Blumer, in a seminal essay, "Society as Symbolic Interaction," (1937) who develops more of the societal implication of this theory of personality development.


Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

A. Without getting into the nitty-gritty of psychoanalysis and the explanation it offers for various psychological disorders, I believe it is important to have a general overview of the Freudian view of the personality structure, and the sociological implications of that view for the relation between the individual and society (or civilization). The sociological dimension comes through clearly in his book, Civilization and Its Discontents (1930).

B. Let me defer to the authors' succinct overview of the three elements of the personality structure -- the id, ego, and super-ego. (See bottom, p. 330-331)

C. In terms of the impact of civilization, he saw it as coercive, controlling our basic instinctual drives -- eros - sexual & thanatos - aggressive or death instinct -- something that in the end makes us sick or unhappy.


That brings me up to the handout, "Freud and the Fundamentalist Urge," which I will address in class next week.