Sociological Perspectives: What is Sociology?

Sociology is the study of human beings and human society. It is a way for us to take a scientific look at ourselves, our societies, our cultures, our institutions, everything that we are and have created as human beings. It is a way to compare and contrast different cultures, countries and societies so that we can better understand ourselves as we are today and how we may be in the future.

There are many, many reasons to study sociology. They encompass everything from the macroscopic - learning about and understanding major societal institutions and changes so that you make predictions about whole societies - to the macroscopic - understanding the inner workings of society and how individuals fit in so that you can provide aid through counseling or social work.

One of the things I find most beneficial about studying sociology is the way it enables us to examine and understand the institutions that we take for granted everyday. Institutions like the family. There is so much that be learned by looking the contrast between what we, as a society, have decided is the 'proper' family structure and the structure that we actually live with and in during our daily lives. To this day, Americans are glued to the idea of the nuclear family structure. A family that consists of a mother, a father and their children. But this is not the structure that we find prevalent in American households and in fact, by examining family structures from other cultures, we even realize that the nuclear family is not the ideal family form.

The nuclear family does not allow for caretaking of the elderly, nor does it allow for the caretaking of the young, should something happen to one or both parents. Especially considering the nuclear family model envisions the husband as the breadwinner and the wife as the stay-at-home caretaker. In our 'ideal' American family, the functionality of the unit is destroyed if anything ever happens to the husband/father figure. Through sociology, however, we can examine other approaches to the institution of family and we see that matrifocal societies are really much better equipped for keeping the economic unit that is the family strong even if the family loses one or more parent. We learn that communal families and child-rearing really do provide a more stable environment for the young and the old alike.

Study of the family is just one of innumerable reasons to study sociology. For any aspect or facet of society you can think of, there is a facet of sociology that will enable you to delve into it more deeply.