Susan Samara
Soc 385
10-3-2012
Social Facts
The way we act and behave in life is attached to a psychological study only, right? If someone was to commit suicide, decided to rob a bank, decides to murder someone else etc., most of us would believe it is a psychological behavior. Research has always made us believe that the way we behave and act, whether our actions are normal or not, have always been a psychological thing. However, after reading and learning Durkheim’s view and take on our behaviors and actions as a society, it has changed my mind a bit. How we behave and act in life is somewhat attached to sociology and as Durkheim calls it a “social fact”.
Durkheim defines a Social Fact as “every way of acting, whether fixed or not, which is capable of exercising an external constraint on the individual, or, which is general throughout a given society, whilst having an existence of its own, independent of its individual manifestations”(Durkheim, 3). Basically, the way we act and behave in life, whether it involves emotions, craziness, bad behavior etc. it all links to a Social Fact, especially when it has society written all over it. Durkheim wants us to treat Social Facts as things and believes that they are considered as things. He also describes those things as a “su generis”. The things are particularly within their characteristics and are the effect of creation of how humans act, human’s activities, and agency and so on. However, they are not intended and are not the product of conscious intentions. On the other hand, Social Facts as “things” are the unanticipated consequence of human behavior. Durkheim taught us that Social Facts are ways of acting and thinking, they compromise practices, beliefs and institutions that will eventually crystalize and reduce the possible forms of individual’s actions and then forms consciousness. It all goes back to collective consciousness, which Durkheim believes is why Social Facts existed in the first place. An example of that is religious beliefs and what we grew up to believe. How we grew up to behave within our religion and society.
Durkheim was able to provide us with examples like crime and suicide rates; all that link to a Social Fact. That was his best known comparison and explanation within his discovery of a Social Fact. He compared suicide and crime rates and linked all of that to the police. Without the police, we wouldn’t be able to discover crime or suicide rates. If the Police didn’t exist, then crime and suicide rates wouldn’t exist as well. He compared suicide rates within the world and discovered how such behavior is not just an individual behavior. It all links to our society and how we behave as a society. If I were to give an example of my own, I would say the behavior behind abortion. Even though some people may disagree with me, but I believe that abortion is the same as a crime committed. Why did such behave in that crucial way? How can someone have no heart and treat an unborn baby in that way? Abortion is not committed without someone behaving or acting in a way that is not normal. There is reasoning behind those actions. Abortion, in my opinion, links to a Social Fact. Social Fact would be the reasoning behind someone committing abortion and we are able to compare those abortion rates within our society. We are able to compare how many abortions are committed per year. However, how we are able to compare those rates without doctors, hospitals etc. Another example that I can provide is if someone who has never smoked pot/weed in their entire life, decides to smoke it with his/her friends for the first time. Why did he/she act and behave in that way? Was it peer pressure? Did his/her friends influence them? We can argue that a behavior like that links to Durkheim’s “Social Fact” because of our surroundings, who influences us and our consciousness. It all links to the Society we live in.
Soc 385
10-3-2012
Social Facts
The way we act and behave in life is attached to a psychological study only, right? If someone was to commit suicide, decided to rob a bank, decides to murder someone else etc., most of us would believe it is a psychological behavior. Research has always made us believe that the way we behave and act, whether our actions are normal or not, have always been a psychological thing. However, after reading and learning Durkheim’s view and take on our behaviors and actions as a society, it has changed my mind a bit. How we behave and act in life is somewhat attached to sociology and as Durkheim calls it a “social fact”.
Durkheim defines a Social Fact as “every way of acting, whether fixed or not, which is capable of exercising an external constraint on the individual, or, which is general throughout a given society, whilst having an existence of its own, independent of its individual manifestations”(Durkheim, 3). Basically, the way we act and behave in life, whether it involves emotions, craziness, bad behavior etc. it all links to a Social Fact, especially when it has society written all over it. Durkheim wants us to treat Social Facts as things and believes that they are considered as things. He also describes those things as a “su generis”. The things are particularly within their characteristics and are the effect of creation of how humans act, human’s activities, and agency and so on. However, they are not intended and are not the product of conscious intentions. On the other hand, Social Facts as “things” are the unanticipated consequence of human behavior. Durkheim taught us that Social Facts are ways of acting and thinking, they compromise practices, beliefs and institutions that will eventually crystalize and reduce the possible forms of individual’s actions and then forms consciousness. It all goes back to collective consciousness, which Durkheim believes is why Social Facts existed in the first place. An example of that is religious beliefs and what we grew up to believe. How we grew up to behave within our religion and society.
Durkheim was able to provide us with examples like crime and suicide rates; all that link to a Social Fact. That was his best known comparison and explanation within his discovery of a Social Fact. He compared suicide and crime rates and linked all of that to the police. Without the police, we wouldn’t be able to discover crime or suicide rates. If the Police didn’t exist, then crime and suicide rates wouldn’t exist as well. He compared suicide rates within the world and discovered how such behavior is not just an individual behavior. It all links to our society and how we behave as a society. If I were to give an example of my own, I would say the behavior behind abortion. Even though some people may disagree with me, but I believe that abortion is the same as a crime committed. Why did such behave in that crucial way? How can someone have no heart and treat an unborn baby in that way? Abortion is not committed without someone behaving or acting in a way that is not normal. There is reasoning behind those actions. Abortion, in my opinion, links to a Social Fact. Social Fact would be the reasoning behind someone committing abortion and we are able to compare those abortion rates within our society. We are able to compare how many abortions are committed per year. However, how we are able to compare those rates without doctors, hospitals etc. Another example that I can provide is if someone who has never smoked pot/weed in their entire life, decides to smoke it with his/her friends for the first time. Why did he/she act and behave in that way? Was it peer pressure? Did his/her friends influence them? We can argue that a behavior like that links to Durkheim’s “Social Fact” because of our surroundings, who influences us and our consciousness. It all links to the Society we live in.