SOCIOLO

GICAL
PERSPECT
IVE
WHAT IS
SOCIOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE?
• a sociological mindset in regards to being
able to connect individual experiences and
societal relationships.
• the lens that an individual chooses to view
the scope of society from.
• go beyond the obvious and question what
is accepted as true or common sense.
WHY DO WE NEED A
SOCIOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE?
• To help us to see general
social patterns in the
behavior of particular
individuals
• To offers insights
about the social world
that extend far beyond
explanations that rely on
individual quirks and
personalities
SOCIOLOGICAL
IMAGINATION
• “...the vivid awareness
of the relationship
between experience and
the wider society.”
• going beyond the individual and
understanding how structural
forces shape individuals and their
action.
3 MAJOR SOCIOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVES
• Symbolic Interactionism
• Structural-Functionalism
• Conflict Theory

These offer sociologists theoretical

paradigms for explaining how society
influences people, and vice versa.
JEREMY &
Jeremy and Kim broke up
KIM last year. When Jeremy
received an email from
Kim to go out he agreed
and they went to a bar.

Then Kim started talking

about their happier days.
A confused Jeremy
offered to take her home.
The night didn’t end
well.
SYMBOLIC
INTERACTIONISM
• directs sociologists to consider the
symbols and details of everyday life, what
these symbols mean, and how people
interact with each other.
• Originated from Max Weber's assertion
that individuals act according to their
interpretation of the meaning of the
symbols
 SYMBOLIC INTERACTION
MODEL

Individual Interaction Individual

Analysis of the Interaction by

other Persons
QUICK
QUESTIONS:
• Who is in charge of spiritually nurturing a child?
• Who is in charge of disciplining a child?
• Who is in charge of taking care of a child’s rights?
• Who is in charge of teaching our children about various
knowledge areas like reading, writing and arithmetic?
STRUCTURAL-
FUNCTIONALISM
• Also known as the “Consensus
Theory”
• A sociologist with this
perspective will try to identify
the structures of society and
how they function.
• Stresses that relations among
the individuals, groups and
societies follow well-defined
patterns of social organization.
• Emphasizes Stability, Harmony
and Evolution
THE STRUCTURAL
FUNCTIONALIS
M MODEL

Social structures provide

pre-set patterns, which
evolve to meet human
needs.

Stability, Order and Harmony Maintenance of Society

WHO HAS A BIGGER
CHANCE OF ATTENDING
COLLEGE?
CONFLICT
THEORY
• Addresses the point of stress
and conflict in society and
the way they contribute to
social change.
• View a society’s legal system
as a political instrument used
by the wealthy and powerful
to protect and extend their
privileges, not a rational tool
for the resolution of conflict
and preservation of order.
• Society is not about solidarity
or social consensus but
about competition.
THE CONFLICT THEORY
MODEL
Social Structures produces
patterns of inequality in
the distribution of scarce
resources.

Conflict

Reorganization and Change

Culture and
Norms
CULTURE
DEFINED
• Excellence of taste in the fine
arts and humanities (high culture)
• An integrated pattern of human
knowledge, belief, and behavior that
depends upon the capacity for symbolic
thought and social learning
• The set of shared
attitudes, values, goals, and practices that
characterizes an
institution, organization, or group
ELEMENTS OF
CULTURE
• Language
• Norms
• Values
• Beliefs and ideologies
• Statuses and Roles
• Cultural Integration
LANGUA
GE

• a set of symbols used to assign and communicate meaning.

• a way of signaling identity with one cultural group and
difference from others
• a way of signaling cultural rank
• a social product, as it is not a creation of an individual
 NORM
S
• the agreed-upon expectations and rules
by which a culture guides the behavior of
its members in any given situation.
• Members of a culture must conform to its
norms for the culture to exist and
function.

Internalize Socialize Control

KINDS OF
NORMS
• Folkways - sometimes known as
“conventions” or “customs,” are standards
of behavior that are socially approved but
not morally significant.

Example: Belching loudly after eating dinner

at someone else's home breaks an American
folkway.

• Mores – norms of morality. Breaking mores

will offend most people of a culture

Example: Attending church in the nude

KINDS OF
NORMS
• Laws - a formal body of rules enacted by
the state and backed by the power of the
state.

Example: Child abuse is against U.S. and

Philippine laws.

• Taboos – absolutely forbidden by a

certain culture.

Example: Incest is a taboo in Philippine and

American culture.
SOCIAL
CONTROL
• Internal social control
• Ideologies, beliefs, values

• External social control

• Informal Sanctions
• Physical and verbal reactions.
• Embarrassment and stigma.
• Avoidance and ostracization.
• Formal sanctions.
• Formal sanctions in large organizations.
• Governments, laws, and police.
• Courts, hearings, trials, and punishments.
VALU
ES
• anything members of a culture aspire to or hold in high
esteem.
• things to be achieved, things considered of great worth
or
value
• Can be complimentary (set of values) as well as contradictory
(equity and justice vs. compassion and humanitarianism

Filipinos generally value:

BELIEFS &
IDEOLOGIES

• Collective social agreements produced during interaction and

reified over time. What is "true" or "factual" for a given
people is what they collectively agree to be true at that point
in time.

• Sets of beliefs and assumptions connected by a common

theme or focus.
STATUSES AND
ROLES
• Status - a slot or position within a group
or society. They tell us who people are and
how they "fit" into the group.
• Can be ascribed or achieved
• Roles - norms specifying the rights and
responsibilities associated with a particular
status.

Cultural Integration
• The increasing integration of the
different cultures found throughout
the world and the diffusion of a
dominant “global culture”.
FILIPINO POSITIVE
VALUES
FILIPINO
VALUES

• Defined as “the set of values or the value system that a

majority of Filipino people have historically held important in
their lives.”
• rooted primarily in personal alliance systems, especially those
based in kinship, obligation, friendship, religion
(particularly Christianity), and commercial relationships. (U.S.
Library of Congress)
 COMMON
FILIPINO
VALUES
Have positive and negative aspects

• Strong religious faith

• Respect
• Smooth interpersonal relationships
• Hiya
• Utang na loob (indebtedness)
• Close family ties
Joyful
We are known for
our smiles that can
warmth the hearts of
anyone. We have an
innate sense of happiness
and we can even find
humor in our problems.
 Filipinos have cheerful
and positive disposition in
life even bombarded with
problems.
We have positive
outlook, a sense of humor,
and strong fighting spirit
that contribute Filipinos as
known to be happy people.
Respectful

Filipinos are taught to

be respectful.
 WE USUALLY USE “PO”
AND “OPO” WHEN
ADDRESSING SOMEONE
OLDER THAN US.
God-Fearing
Even though Filipinos
sometimes argue to
what religion is
dominant; they
essentially have God as
a center of their lives.
 Filipinos have deep faith
in God.
Our innate religiosity
enables us to comprehend and
genuinely accept reality in the
context of God’s will and plan.
 Tragedy and bad
fortune are accepted
with optimism and full
belief that God is there
to help.
Bayanihan System
A Filipino
community spirit and
cooperation wherein a
group of individuals
extends a helping hand
without expecting any
remuneration.
Brave
Filipinos are known for
showing bravery and
prowess most especially
when the family and
our lives are threatened
by other people.
WE ARE
READY TO
PROTECT
AND RISK
OUR LIVES
JUST TO
HELP OUR
FAMILY.
STRONG
FAMILY TIES
Filipino usually belongs
to large families of 6 to
12 children. Early on
their lives, children are
taught to look after their
siblings when parents are
working.
EVEN AS
THEY
GROW
INTO
ADULTHO
OD THEY
CHOOSE
TO LIVE
TOGETHE
R.
Hospitality

Filipino trait of being

receptive and
generous to guests.
HARDWORKI
NG
Filipinos have the capacit for hard work given proper conditions. The
desire to have a better lif makes the Filipinos to an strive and work hard.

d
 With jobs abroad,
OFW’s tend to have two
or more jobs. The result is
productivity and better
life for the family left in
the country.
CREATIVITY
Filipinos are creative,
resourceful, quick
learners and have the
ability to improvise and
make use of whatever is
on hand in order to
create and produce.
 FILIPINOS MAKE NEW INVENTIONS
OUT OF SCRAPS, CAPACITY TO CREATE
NEW THINGS OUT OF OLD MACHINES
AND MAKING NEW THINGS FROM
NOTHING. THIS IS ALSO A REASON WHY
FILIPINOS HAVE THE ABILITY TO
ADAPT LIFE IN ANY PART OF THE
WORLD.
FILIPINO NEGATIVE
VALUES
Laziness

It the most common trait

in Filipinos today.
“TAMBAYS” VERY EARLY IN THE
MORNING, GAMBLING, DRINKING
LIQUORS, CHATTING WITH
FRIENDS AND MANY MORE
DESPITE OF LOW INCOME OF THE
FAMILY.
Colonial Mentality
The Filipinos’ colonial
mentality comes in two
dimensions: lack of
patriotism or awareness,
appreciation and love
for the country and
actual preference for
foreign things.
Filipino culture is
characterized by openness
to the output-side,
adapting and incorporating
the foreign elements into
our image of ourselves. We
tend to copy the western
culture as to foreign
fashion, music,
entertainment, lifestyle,
technology and consumer
items.
Kanya-Kanya Syndrome (Crab Mentality)
Filipinos have a selfish, self-serving attitude that
generates a feeling of envy and
competitiveness towards others, particularly
one’s peers who seem to have gained some
status and prestige.
Seeing others
became
successful, we
tend to get
jealous and make
a move to put
that person
down.
Bahala Na Attitude
Filipinos are generally passive and lacking in
initiative. One waits to be told what has to be
done. There is strong reliance on others to
do things for us.
 FILIPINO
S IS TOO
PATIENT,
LONG-
SUFFERING
AND TOO
EASILY
RESIGNED
TO ONE’S
FATE.
Ningas-cogon
Being enthusiastic only
during the start of
new undertaking but
ends dismally in
accomplishing
nothing.
Lack of Self-Analysis
There is tendency in the
Filipino to be
superficial and even
somewhat flighty. In
facing serious
problems, both
personal and social,
there is lack of analysis
or reflection.
WE JOKE
ABOUT THE
MOST SERIOUS
MATTERS AND
THIS
PREVENTS
LOOKING
DEEPLY INTO
THE PROBLEM.
Lack of Discipline
Filipinos lack of discipline
encompasses several related
characteristics. We have a casual
and relaxed attitude towards
time and space which manifest
itself in lack of precision and
compulsiveness, in poor time
management (Filipino Time) and
in procrastination.
WE HAVE AN AVERSION IN FOLLOWING
STRICTLY A SET OF PROCEDURES AND
THIS RESULTS IN LACK OF
STANDARDIZATION AND QUALITY
CONTROL. WE ARE IMPATIENT
TOWARDS MAKING DECISIONS
RESULTING TO USE OF SHORT-CUTS.
FILIPINO WORLDVIEW 1 :
FAMILY

• Family is the focus of the Filipino worldview.

• The welfare of the community and the nation takes a less
prominent role.
• “Do not bring shame to the family”
• Possibly responsible for nepotism and government
corruption.
FILIPINO
VALUES AND
WORLDVIEW
FILIPINO WORLDVIEW 2:
NON- DUALISM
-> MEANS THAT THE FILIPINO WANTS TO HARMONIZE THE
OBJECT AND THE SUBJECT, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME,
HOLDING BOTH AS DISTINCT.

• Filipino as Man: non-dualism urges him to harmonize his

faculties as well as be in support with his fellowmen

• Filipino and the World of Things: the non-dualistic principle

appears in the Filipino’s harmony-with-nature orientation

• Filipino and the Other World: non-dualism is the basis of the

non-dichotomy between the profane and the sacred