Sociology and Emile Durkheim

Emile Durkheim was a French sociologist in the late 1800s and early 1900s who came up with the concepts of social regulation and integration. These concepts have to do with the state of societies and how they work. More specifically, social regulation is the norms created by either formal laws or social pressure. The way people are expected to live and perform their daily tasks or jobs are somewhat decided by social regulation. In its most basic form, it’s what is and isn’t deemed acceptable by societies standards. Social integration on the other hand is the extent to which the group or society matters. This brings up the importance of the individual as opposed to the importance of the society. Strength of social ties within the community are big influences on how socially integrated a society is. These two concepts helped Durkheim better form an understanding for things such as suicide rates.

The theoretical works of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber still influence sociological theory. Though their works are decades old they still are a major part of what sociology is today. Though their theories can seem very different, there are some similarities. To become a great sociologist one most learn and understands how to use all sociological perspectives. To do this one must understand and use the different theoretical perspectives created by Marx, Durkheim, and Weber.

The importance of social factors over the individual can also be seen in Durkheim’s work on suicide (Stones, 2008). Suicide was explained in terms of two independent variables, integration in society and regulation by society. Low levels of integration led to egoistic suicide, while low levels of regulation led to anomic suicide. Durkheim cited egoism and anomie as the main causes of suicide in the modern world; a world which he believed showed less interaction and people thinking more about themselves than others. As a result, people are less bound to one another, there is less community and social control is weaker (Stones, 2008). Durkheim applied his

Marx stressed that history is a continuous clash between conflicting ideas and forces. He believed that conflict is necessary in order to produce social change and a better society. Ax Weber said that sociology should be value free and people should become more aware of how others see the world. Marx and Max Weber shared the similarities that exist was that they both felt like sociology should be studied but in different ways. They both studied on social change in society and agreed on the idea of the economy causing class conflict.

During the Christian era, authors such as Saint Augustine, Dante, and Marie de France focused on the importance and significance of God enacting true and ultimate justice upon people based on the circumstances that they are in. Authors like this allow the origins of justice to have a true beginning, and there is less debate about it being right because people believe that God’s motives are always pure and true. A person has to allow God to enter and be the focus of their life, in order to believe that situations where just action is necessary. This motion of getting closer to God is the way that people are then able to fully understand justice. This is because God is justice in the world, and He places in one’s life so that they have the capability to find it. In Confessions, it takes Saint Augustine time to progress to a state where he has been instilled with justice, and it is only then that he realizes God’s true justice. When people are put in situations that they have no control over, God is who they turn to because he will always make the right choices, and take the right action that is just and necessary. Therefore, people rely on God to be, and carry out, the justice that they want to see in their lives.

In his study he found that certain social groups where more likely to commit suicide than others; for example, Protestants were more likely to commit suicide than Catholics; as ‘the Catholic Religion integrated its members more strongly into a religious community’ (Haralambos and Horlborn, 2000: 975). Durkheim based this upon the

Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber are all important characters to be studied in the field of Sociology. Each one of these Sociological theorists, help in the separation of Sociology into its own field of study. The works of these three theorists is very complex and can be considered hard to understand but their intentions were not. They have their similarities along with just as many of their differences.

Edgar Allen Poe lived a very traumatic life and faced very hard obstacles which would later inspire him to write or in other words form the gothic and horror genre. He was born on January 19, 1809 and unfortunately passed away on October 7th, 1849. His grief started at a young age when his father walked out on him and his mother passed away at the age of two. With the loss of his mother who he loved dearly and having to move away from his siblings also appended to the grief Edgar faced. Yet again when he was forced to move off to college his stepfather refused to help Edgar pay for school. This caused him to spiral into a deep depression. Many other students would come to look at his artworks and poems. Edgar used many stories to incorporate his

statistics displayed that some categories of people were more prone to take their own lives,

Merton focused on two elements of social structure and culture, desirable goals and legitimate means which are available in attaining those goals. Lack of integration and what the culture calls for and what the structure permits, results in deviant behaviour, "social structures exert a definite pressure upon certain persons in the society to engage in nonconforming rather than conforming conduct" (Brym, 2001, p. 455).

When people look at the world, they see it is structured in a specific way. Each perspective varies depending on the person. For instance, when looking at classical theory in sociology, there exists three viewpoints on society. Karl Marx believed the world based on conflict while Weber made sense of it by viewing the meanings. As for Durkheim, he made sense of it through social cohesion. Unlike Marx, whose primary focus was conflict, Durkheim’s writing centered around how people were capable of coexisting harmoniously.

Along with Marx and Weber, Durkheim is considered one of the founding members of modern sociology. He is also credited with making sociology a science through his application of scientific and empirical research. Durkheim believed that sociology should be seen as a science separate from other sciences such as psychology, by studying “social facts” objectively as things. (Kiviston, 2011)

Max Weber a German sociologist born in 1864. He was primarily concerned with the modern western society. He saw that the behaviour of individuals was increasingly

The sociological inquiry is the methodical analysis of the inspirations and behaviour of individuals within a group. It is the study of the social world as a whole and focusing on how elements such as the family, religion, school, community and government effect it. Sociological inquires most standard goal is to simply obtain a more clear understanding of the observable social world that we live in. In this essay I will be looking into the sociological theories of Marx, Weber and Durkheim, and recognising if their approaches are still relevant today.

Human science as indicated by Weber isn't restricted to investigation of social activity alone. It examines certain different factors also. In any case, the essential truth is that social activity which as indicated by Max Weber is that activity is social in so far as by ideals of the subjective significance appended to it by acting individual it assesses the conduct of others and is in this manner arranged in its course.