absolutley desperate

Just a website that you might find useful...

http://www.hewett.norfolk.sch.uk/curric/soc/durkheim/durk.htm

yup, thats the one im working from

thanks

but bollocks if you can find it, it might not pull the wool over my lecturers eyes

im fucked, totally fucked

yeah, the only problem there though methinks, is that they will know i have copied the whole thing.

this is what ive got so far - does it make sense?

am i a knob for not doing it before?

are you getting bored being hassled about my essay?

What contribution does Durkheim make to sociological thinking?

Emile Durkheim (1858 – 1917) was one of the first sociologists to originate from France. His work and theories are far reaching and are still studied by people today. Swept up in the wave of the ‘new science’ that was Sociology, which at this time was not recognized by universities, Durkheim was keen to help establish the subject as a credible one. His research was done in the field of the workings of society, and the social laws and constraints that surrounded it. His view that the methods of natural science can be applied to the study of society was influenced by the positivist philosophy of Auguste Comte. This view that, like any other science, sociology had to be studied scientifically in order to gain the recognition and integrity that it needed. Durkheim completed many books throughout his life, the major books he wrote were The Division of Labour in Society (1893), The Rules of Sociological Method (1895), Suicide (1897), and The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (1912). Many consider Durkheim’s work to be one of the leading works in the field of sociology, and he as the “Grandfather of Sociology”. His theories made much impact over the years, but never so much as the concept of social solidarity. "...Social harmony comes essentially from the division of labour. It is characterized by a cooperation which is automatically produced through the pursuit by each individual of his own interests. It suffices that each individual consecrate himself to a special function in order, by the force of events, to make himself solidarity with others."
(Durkheim, 1933, p.200). If we can divide ourselves into different social groups, then between those social groups there is an agreement, shared beliefs and common values. Durkheim said “Societies are stitched together as we all contribute with the different jobs we do.” Although the idea originated around feudal society where this quote seems to be more applicable, it is still true in modern society. Common interests may unite a society or social group in one case but divide them in another.
In feudal societies where individuality was suppressed in various ways and people were considered to be of equal standing, there was a unity and social harmony based on similarities. In modern societies however the emphasis is on the individual, and the individuals attributes determine where they will fit into society and work together with others to attain unity and social harmony. This interdependence is the reason that modern society does not break down through its lack of similarities.

The change from traditional to modern society was described by Durkheim as a change from an mechanical society, where the purpose of the law is to “repair social fabric” and improve society, to a organic society where the purpose of the law is to repress the individual and mark their behaviour as wrong and deviant. The mechanical society was dependant on rituals, routines, likeness and similarity; this was the glue that was used to bind society together by rejecting deviance, and upholding moral standards. By doing so, the individuals internalised the feelings of the society, the ‘general consensus’ that to be different was wrong and almost unheard of. When society’s feelings become internalised by the members of it, it goes unnoticed and feels ‘natural’ in that the feelings and thoughts have always been there and that this is nothing new to fear. If anything, Durkheim reacted more favourably towards mechanical society, as it was not the threat of incarceration that was feared, but society’s persecution. When Durkheim talks about organic solidarity, so called as the organs of a body work together keeping things ticking over, individuals are highly specialised and work together as such, for example, if all doctors and nurses simply stopped working, there would be a high level of illness on our hands. Much like a chain reaction when one component of society, as in a social group, stops working or is not working effectively, the whole machine slowly starts to disintegrate, and this is the point that Durkheim tries to make when he talks about the different societies and solidarity.
With his theory, Durkheim encountered criticism, as he had set out to only deal with observable facts – and ‘mechanical’ and ‘organic’ societies were not observable. Durkheim is often criticised in this way and does somewhat hamper his credibility, today’s sociologists often think of him as a founder of sociology but not without seeing his shortcomings.
One of the other ideas for which he is renowned in the sociological world is the concept of anomie, this he investigates further in his book “Suicide”. Anomie is referenced as - The breakdown of the influence of social norms on individuals within a society, the weakening of the social bond. In the dictionary it is listed as i) Social instability caused by erosion of standards and values, or ii) Alienation and purposelessness experienced by a person or a class as a result of a lack of standards, values, or ideals. Preoccupied with social change, Durkheim looked into suicide through the window of social change. He looked in particular at two social groups, Protestants and Catholics. By bringing religion into the argument, this added another dimension to the so called ‘facts’ of sociological thinking. Durkheim suggested that people have higher or lower levels of integration to their social group (in this case the Catholics or Protestants) and that a very low or very high level of integration into these groups creates pressure on the individual. Catholics had more social control and therefore experienced less suicide than Protestants, as low levels of social integration caused disorganisation which “caused people to turn to suicide as a last resort” and high levels of social integration which caused people to “kill themselves to avoid being a burden on society.” This study is often seen as a classic sociological study in which Durkheim shows that even in an act that is so personal and relevant to an individual’s perspective, it can be a consequence of society. There are four types of suicide according to Durkheim, Egotistic suicide, in which there is insufficient social integration and excessive individualism, Altruistic suicide, where there is excessive social integration and excessive selflessness, Anomie suicide in that there is insufficient moral regulation and a breakdown of normative order such as an economic crisis and finally, Fatalistic suicide, where there is excessive moral regulation and too much normative order and physical or mental deprivation. Since Durkheim’s train of thought is that of the society being greater than the individuals that make it up “Sociology is the study of this level of existence, and psychology is the quite separate study of the make-up of the individuals who live in society“(Durkheim, 1933). Although primarily concerned with society as a whole, Durkheim looked at what happened to the goal of individuals through anomie. As the social restraints on society were made frail, the individuals in society do not have such binding limits on their dreams and levels of aspiration. In suicide, Durkheim comments on this "one does not advance when one proceeds toward no goal, or -- which is the same thing -- when the goal is infinity. To pursue a goal which is by definition unattainable is to condemn oneself to a state of perpetual unhappiness" (Durkheim, 1951) so in effect, this is another form of anomie, which leads to further breakdown and ‘normlessness’.


what do you reckon?

anything i need to expand on? I think i did pretty well for a night of work!

You're in the same position as me. I've got an essay ("Using one Case Study from China, Assess How and Why Contestation arises over Environmental Issues. Case Study: Population Policies") due tomorrow, and although I've known about it for 4 weeks now I've only just started it today. Got 212 words of 1,500

I also have a 1,000 word practical exercise report to do for midday tomorrow

...Looks like an all-nighter

Oh no I could have helped u but all my sociology notes are at home in York!
Good luck!