1. Emile Durkheim

2. 1. Structure: Society Beyond Ourselves • Society is more than the individuals who compose it. • Norms, values and beliefs are established structures and are considered to be social facts. • Society has the power to guide our thoughts and actions. • Once it is established, society takes on a life of its own.

3. 2. Function: Society as a System • Everything has a function • Even crime has a vital function in the operation of society.

4. 3. Personality: Society in Ourselves • Humans internalize social facts • We think and feel based on how society nurtures us • Humans are naturally insatiable and are in constant danger of being taken over by desires • Society gives us life, but also reins us in. • Durkheim suggested that people with weak social ties are more prone to self-destructive behavior.

5. Vocabulary • Anomie – a condition in which society provides little moral support (Macionis p. 108) • Mechanical solidarity – social bonds based on common sentiments and shared moral values, that are strong among members of preindustrial societies. (Macionis p. 109) • Organic solidarity – social bonds, based on specialization and interdependence, that are strong among members of industrial societies (Macionis p. 109) • Division of labor – specialized tasks or specialized economic activity

6. Discussed social bonds (the forces that hold societies together) The key to social change is the expanding division of labor Durkheim’s Theory

7. More technology = Greater personal freedoms • Greater personal freedoms = declining morality and greater risk of anomie • Durkheim had more hope for modern society than Marx or Weber.