TyroCity: Sociology BA LLB

Kamala and Amala

Sociology BA LLB — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 05:41:42 +0000

The story of two young girls, Kamala and Amala, is one of the most famous cases of feral children. Kamala was 8 years old and Amala was said to be 1 ½ when they were found in 1920. Both girls had spent most of their lives abandoned and alone. The two were found in Midnapore, India in a wolves’ den. Despite being found together, those who investigated the case believe that the two were not sisters but were simply abandoned around the same time or taken by wolves. The girls were found after stories spread throughout the village of two “ghostly spirit figures” that were often seen with the wolves that lived in the Bengal jungle. The local villagers were scared of the said spirits and called in a Reverend, Joseph Singh, to get to the bottom of it all. To see what was really going on, Singh hid in a tree above the cave and waited. When he saw the wolves exit the cave he waited and then saw two hunched over figures peek their heads out of the cave. He wrote down what he saw, describing them as “hideous looking with foot and body like a human being.” He said that the girls ran on all fours and had no real traits of being human.

Singh eventually captured the girls, though he had no experience in rehabilitating them. The girls slept curled together, growled, tore off their clothing, ate nothing but raw meat, howled, and were physically deformed. The tendons and joints in their arms and legs shortened, making it impossible to walk upright. The two also had no interest in interacting with humans. Some say that their senses were impeccable, especially when it came to hearing and seeing, but even their sense of smell was sharp. Amala eventually died due to a sickness, which then caused Kamala to go into a long-stage of mourning. Singh thought she would die but she did not and he started a rehabilitation program to help heal her- she eventually learned to walk upright and say a few words. She died of kidney failure in 1929.

Nature of Sociology

Sociology BA LLB — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 05:41:42 +0000

Sociology, as a branch of knowledge, has its own unique characteristics. It is different from other science in certain respects. An analysis of its internal logical characteristics helps one to understand what kind of science it is. The following are the main characteristics of sociology as enlisted by Robert Bierstedt in his book, " The social order". An always of its internal logical characteristics helps one to understand what kind of science it is.

Sociology is an Independent Science.
Sociology is a Social Science and not a physical Science.
Sociology is a categorical and not a Normative Discipline.
Sociology is relatively and Abstract Science and not a concrete Science.
Sociology is pure science and not an Applied Science.
Sociology is a General Science not a special Science.
Sociology is a Generalizing and not a particularizing or Individualizing science.
Sociology is Both a Rational and Empirical Science.

Sociology is an independent science:

Sociology has now emerged into an independent science. It is not treated and studied as a branch of any other science like philosophy or political philosophy or history. As an independent science it has its own field of study, boundary and method.

Sociology is a social science and not a physical science.

Sociology belongs to the family of social sciences and not to the family of physical sciences. As a social science, it concentrates its attention on man, his social behaviour, social activities and social life. As a member of the family of social science it is intimately related to other social sciences like history, political sciences, economics, psychology, anthropology etc. The fact that sociology deals with the social universe distinguishes it from astronomy, physics, chemistry, geology, mathematics and other physical sciences.

Sociology is a categorical and not a normative discipline:

Sociology 'confines itself to statements about what is, not what should be or ought to be'. As a science, sociology is necessarily silent about questions of value. It does not make any kind of value-judgements. Its approach is neither moral nor immoral but amoral. It is ethically neutral. It cannot decide the directions in which sociology ought to go. It makes no recommendations on matters of social policy or legislation or programme. But it does not mean that sociological knowledge is useless and serves no purpose. It only means that sociology as a discipline cannot deal with problems of good and evil, right and wrong, and moral or immoral.

Sociology is a Pure Science and not an Applied Science:

A distinction is often made between Pure Sciences and applied sciences. The main aim of pure sciences is the acquisition of knowledge and it is not bothered whether the acquired knowledge is useful or can be put to use. On the other hand, the aim of applied science is to apply the acquired knowledge into life and to put to use. Each pure science may have its own applied field. For example, Physics is a pure science and engineering is its applied fields. Similarly the pure sciences such as economics, political science, history, etc., have their applied fields like business, politics, and journalism respectively. Sociology as a pure science has its applied fields such as administration, diplomacy, social work etc. Each pure science may have more than one application.

Sociology is a pure science, because the immediate aim of sociology is the acquisition of knowledge about human society, not the utilization of knowledge. Sociologists never determine questions of public policy and do not recommend legislators what laws should be passed or repealed. But the knowledge acquired by a sociologist is of great help to the administrator, the legislator, the diplomat, the teacher, the foreman, the supervisor, the social worker and the citizen. But sociologists themselves do not apply the knowledge to life and use, as a matter of their duty and profession.

Sociology is relatively an abstract science and not a concrete science:

This does not mean sociology is an art and not a science. Nor does it mean, it is unnecessarily complicated and unduly difficult. It only means that sociology is not interested in concrete manifestations of human events. It is more concerned with the form of human events and their patterns. For example, sociology is not concerned with particular wars and evolutions but with war and revolutions in general, as social phenomena, as types of social conflict. Similarly, sociology does confine itself to the study of this society or that particular society or social organization, or marriage, or religion, or group and so on. It is in this simple sense that sociology is an abstract not a concrete science.

Sociology is a Generalizing and not a particularizing or Individualizing science:

Sociology tried to find out the general laws or principles about human interaction and association, about the nature, form, content and structure of human groups and societies. It does not study each and every event that takes place in a society. It is not possible also. It tries to make generalizations on the basis of the study of some selected events. For example, a sociologist makes generalizations about the nature of secondary groups. He may conclude that secondary groups are comparatively bigger in size, less stable, not necessarily spatially limited, more specialized, and so on. This, he does, not by examining all the secondary groups but by observing and studying a few.

Sociology is a General Science and not a special social science:

The area of inquiry of sociology is general and not specialized. It is concerned with human interaction and human life in general. Other social sciences like political science, history, economics, etc., also study man and human interaction, but not all about human interaction. They concentrate their attention on certain aspects of human interaction and activities and specialize themselves in those fields. Accordingly, economics specializes itself in the study of economic activities, political science concentrates on political activities and so on. Sociology, of course, does not investigate economic, religious, political, legal, moral or any other special kind of phenomenon in relation to human life and activities as such. It only studies human activities in a general way. This does not, however, mean that sociology is the basic science nor does it imply sociology is the general social science. Anthropology and social psychology often claim themselves to be general social sciences.

Finally, Sociology is both a Rational and an Empirical Science.

There are two broad ways of approach to scientific knowledge. One, known as empiricism, is, the approach that emphasizes experience and the facts that result from observation and experimentation. The other, known as rationalism, stresses reason and the theories that result from logical inference.

The empiricist collects facts; the rationalist co-ordinates and arranges them. Theories and facts are required in the construction of knowledge. In sociological inquiry both are significant. A theory unsubstantiated by hard, solid facts is nothing more than an opinion. Facts, by themselves, in their isolated character, are meaningless and useless. As Immanuel Kant said, " Theories without facts are empty and facts without theories are blind". All modern sciences, therefore, avail themselves of both empirical and rational resources. Sociology is not an exception.

it is clear from the above that sociology is an independent, a social, a categorical, a pure, an abstract, a generalizing, both a rational and an empirical and a general social science.

Scope of Sociology

What is the Scope of Sociology? What is the Subject matter that is Studies? There are two main Schools of thought among the Sociologist on this issue.

Specialist or Formalistic and 2) Synthetic

The Specialist or Formalistic School

This school of thought is led by the German sociologist George Simmel. The other main advocates of this school are Vierkandt, Max Weber, Von Wiese and Tonnies.

Simmel and others are of the opinion that sociology is pure and independent science. As a pure science it has a limited scope. Sociology should confine itself to the study of certain aspects of human relationship only. Further, it should study only the forms of social relationships but not their human relationship only. But not their contents. Social relationship such as competition, sub-ordination, division of labor etc, are expressed in different fields of social life such as economic, political, religious, moral, artistic, etc. Sociology should disentangle the from of social relationship and study them in abstraction, Sociology as specific social science describers, classifies and analyses the form of social relationships.

Vierkandt says that sociology concern itself with the ultimate form of mental or psychic relationship which links men to one another in society. He maintains that in dealing with culture, sociology should not concern itself with the actual contents of cultural evolution but it should confine itself to only the discovery of the fundamental forces of change and persistence. It should refrain itself form making an historical study of concrete societies.

Max Weber opines that the aim of sociology is to interpret or understand social behavior. But social behavior does not cover the whole field of human relations; He further says that sociology should make an analysis and classification of types of social relationships.

Small insisted that sociology has only a limited field. Von Wiese and Tonnies expressed more or less the same opinion.

Criticism

The views of the Formalistic school are widely criticized.

The formalistic school has unreasonably narrowed the fields of sociology. Sociology should study not only the general forms of social relationships but also their concrete contents.
The distinction between the forms of social relations and their contents is not workable. Social forms can not be abstracted form the content al all, since social forms keep on changing when the contents change.
Sociology is not the only science that studies the forms of social relationships. Other sciences also do that. The study of international law, for example, includes social relations like conflict, war, opposition, contract etc. Political science, Economics also study social relationships.

Synthetic School

The synthetic school of though conceives of sociology as a synthesis of the social sciences. It wants to make sociology a general social science and not a pure or special science.

The main argument of this school is that all parts of social life are intimately inter-related.

The views of Emile Durkheim: one of the stalwarts of this school of thought, sys that sociology has three main divisions or fields inquiry.

Social Morphology: social morphology studies the territorial basis of the life of people and also the problems of population such as volume and density, local distribution etc
Social physiology: social physiology has different branches such as sociology of religion, of morals, of law, of economic life and of language etc.
General Sociology: general sociology can be regarded as the philosophical part of sociology. It deals with the general character of the social facts. its function is the formulation of general social laws.

Morris Ginsberg

Ginsberg, another advocate of the synthetic school, says that the main task of sociology can be categorized into four branches:

Social Morphology: Social Morphology deals with the quantity and quality of population. It studies the social structure, social groups and institutions.
Social Control: Social Control studies-formal as well as informal-means of social control such as custom, tradition, morals, religion, convention and also law court legislation, etc. It deals with the regulating agencies of society
Social Process: Social Process tries to make a study of different modes of interaction such as cooperation, competition, conflict, accommodation, assimilation, isolation, integration, differentiation, development, arrest and decay.
Social Pathology: Social Pathology studies social mal-adjustment and disturbances. It also includes studies on various social problems like poverty, beggary, unemployment, over-population, prostitution, crime etc.

Oxana Malaya

Sociology BA LLB — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 05:41:42 +0000

In 1991, Oxana Malaya, who lives in Ukraine, was found and considered to be a feral child. At the time she was found, she was only 8 years old and is said to have lived amongst dogs since she was 3 years old. She was kept in a kennel in the backyard of her home. Because of this she picked up common behaviors that dogs exhibit: barking, growling, and even protecting the pack, so to speak. She even walked on four legs as a dog does and sniffed out her food before she ate it. When authorities came to rescue Oxana, the other dogs growled and attempted to attack them while Oxana barked and growled as well. Because of her lack of human interaction, Oxana had no vocabulary except the words “yes” and “no.”

She was of course put through intensive therapy to attempt to help her to learn necessary social and verbal skills. She was able to learn how to speak, though therapists say she has deep issues with attempting to communicate and express herself emotionally. Today she lives at the Baraboy Clinic in Odessa and spends a lot of her time tending to the cows at the hospital’s farm, though she has expressed that she really feels best when she is around dogs.

Nepalization

Sociology BA LLB — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 05:41:42 +0000

‘Nepalization refers to the process by which members of other ethnic communities in Nepal adopt the language , religion and other cultural practices of the country’s dominant Brahman-Chetri ethnic groups. These practices are the cultural template for a Nepali national identity.’- Arjun Guneratne – 2002 wrote in her book Many Tongues, One People: The Making of Tharu Identity in Nepal:

Features of Nepaization

Change in mother tongue:
People leaving abandoning their mother tongue and accepting Nepali language.Change in religion
People who are not Hindus declaring themselves as Hindus.

Change within Hinduism
Hindu Madheshi and Hindu Newars following Hinduism that are practiced by Parbatiya Brahmins and Chettris.

Use of language in government offices.

Only Nepali mother used in government offices (pre 2006 People’s Movement)

Rest is similar to Sanskritization

History of Nepalization 1774 Nepali state had granted autonomy to Limbu elites in a 1774. Kipat system so that they would join the Nepali or erstwhile Gorkha state.

Nepalization during the into Gorkha was done in the four following manners during the pre Rana period:

Cultural assimilation and reward as in case of Gurung and Magars who were told they were Hindus and Gorkhas.

They received large share of land ownership.

Gurungs were given lordship over large areas of Rai and Limbu land for their help to Prithivi Narayan Shah.

Their caste system increased along with other Khas groups.
Accommodation through Concession : Kirat area came under Gorkhas when the Gorkhas promished the Kirats that Kirats will be allowed to hold land according to Kipat sustem.

Kirats (Rai and Limbus) who had Kipat land were not required to pay land tax to Gorkha empire.

Raikar land in rest of Nepal except in Kirat area had to pay tax to Gorkhas.

Labour exploitation: Tamang community were exploited as labourers for military and mercantile purposes. This also took place in Kumaon and Garhwal.

Vengeance and fear: Newars (mass mutilation in Kirtipur) and other Khas kingdoms and feudal warlords especially in Karnali basin had to face ruthless vengeance of Gorkhali. Torture in Karnali is still called Gorkhali Lathi.

Another historical process of Hinduization and Nepalization began with the recruitment of non Hindu Janajatis into Gorkha army:

GORKHA ARMY AND NEPALIZATION

Khas-Bahun commander and powerful Janajati sub commanders composed of Gorkha army.
In many cases Magars and Gurungs were powerful commanders of Gorkha army

Gorkha army did not have a one culture group character as if it was the only Khas army.It had multi ethnic military character
To make sure that Magars were part of Gorkha empire’s campaign to unify Nepal the Gorkha king Prithivi Narayan Shah had claimed ‘I am king of Magars’

Harka Gurung claimed that Gorkha army and British Gorkha army Hinduized and Parbatiyaized the Janajati soldiers.

According to Harka Gurung out of 10 Gorkha regiment in British army in India only 1 was reserved for Thakuri and Chetri combined.

These majority Janajati armies were Hinduized

They were Instructed in Nepali language

They were taught Nepali script

Since they earned more and had more respect in their village than than non army Janajatis hence when they returned to their village they were able to further Hinduize and Nepalize other Janajatis
Between 1914-18 some 100,000 Gorkhas support British in World War I. Most of these were from Janajati community who were Nepalized, Sanskritized and Hinduized by the British.

Panchayat period and Nepalization

The Panchayt system failed to unite the Parbatiya and non-Parbatiya, Hindus and non-Hindus, so-called-high-caste and Dalits. Panchayat ideologues were working towards the fusion of modernism and Hinduism for an alternative non-Indian Hinduisms and non-western modernism. The arrival of Panchayat as the dictatorial system in 1960 was a desperate attempt to forcefully impose a new version of the Nepali Nationalist Ideology based on Hinduism, Nepali language and Parbatiya culture. This has been called as Nepalization in sociology and anthropology in Nepal although many scholars have challenged this term.

Nepali nationalism during the Panchayat era was based on the following 4 core issues:

Extreme loyalty to the king.
Fluent Nepali language
Hill Hindu religion
Parbatiya culture (dress and arts)
Education materials to support the above four pillars

Effects of the social contract

Sociology BA LLB — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 05:41:42 +0000

Hobbes: People will live in peace but without rights except for the right to self-defense
Locke: The three natural rights which exist in the State of Nature will be easier to enforce by the government. Those who have given express consent will be bound by the contract; those who have given tacit consent can opt out and leave.
Rousseau: Life will be fair for all if we employ the general will and set aside our personal interests.
Kant: The people will be fairly represented by the Sovereign without actually having to participate.
Rawls: We will have decided on a system that is fair for everyone, using the “Veil of Ignorance.”

Urbanization

Sociology BA LLB — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 05:41:42 +0000

‘Urbanization concerns the movement of population from agricultural to industrial work and from rural to urban places of residence. People are attracted to the city by visions of a better life or they feel compelled to leave rural places because they are disadvantaged there’.
– By Rajendra Kumar Sharma

‘Urbanization refers to the process of growth in the proportion of population living in urban areas. Historically, the concept of urbanization has been related to specialization, industrialization and consequent economic development. Although the form of this relationship has remained contested, there is a general consensus among scholars that a fundamental characteristic of urbanization is the structural shift in employment from agriculture to non-agriculture pursuits.’
– Dr. Pitamber Sharma

Features of urbanization

Growth in non agriculture based population
Growth in city based population
Weakening of traditional cultures
Higher economic class based consciousness compared to rural areas
Higher politically conscious population
A center of conflict between tradition and modernity(in most rural places there is a dominance of traditionalists)
Westernization, Modernization and urbanization are interconnected and mostly urban areas starts westernization. Then move towards modernization and later de westernizes itself.

Urbanization in Nepal

Urban Population: The urban population (population residing in 58 municipalities) constitutes 17 % (4,523,820) of the total population. Based on the recorded urban population, Kathmandu Metropolitan City is the most crowded city with the population of 24.3 percent (Population–1,003,285) of the total urban population. Dhulikhel Municipality has the least proportion (0.31%) of the total urban population. Population Density in Kathmandu Metropolitan City has found about 20,289 per square km

Total Population by urban-rural residence and urban population as a percent of rural population. Nepal, 1952/54 – 2001

	1952/54	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001	(2011)
Urban Population	238,275	336,222	461,938	956,721	1,695,719	3,227,879
Urban Population as Percent of Nepal Population	3.0	3.7	4.2	6.8	10.1	16.2	17%

Urban life & experience

Emotional-psychological responses

You take for granted encounters with strangers
You become tolerant of difference
You accept impersonal forms of social coordination (e.g. walk-signals, laws, regulations)
You accept a wide range of specialized authorities (police, doctors, EMS, bouncers, librarians, etc.)
Your extended family probably takes a back seat to a wide range of non-family social ties
You think of yourself in terms of “what you do” which means a specialized job or profession

Physical-biological impacts

You live longer than hunter-gatherers and early farmers
You are protected from wild animals, many bugs, and some (but not all!) natural hazards & therefore
Your food supplies are more secure, leading to less malnutrition but also a struggle against obesity
Your health suffers in “special” urban ways
- Noise pollution can affect your tension levels, sleep patterns, concentration, etc.
- Air pollution affects your eyes, lungs & brain
- Urban jobs can cause you to physically atrophy
- Urban routines (colonization of night for leisure) can affect your sleep cycles
- Your reproductive choices are greatly multiplied, which leads to better health over many generations
You internalize particular ways of moving (e.g. driving a car, a bike, a motorcycle, walking a certain way …)

Your impact on the city

Environmental degradation
Pollution in “ordinary ways” such as
- Human wastes
- Solid waste
- Driving
- maintaining a lawn
- Using mass transit or driving
- Pollution in “deviant ways”
- Graffiti & vandalism

Emile Durkheim:

In urban areas there is organic solidarity
There is Anomie (normlessness)

Georg Simmel:

Apathy, privacy

Louis Wirth

In urban areas there is
Aloof
Selfishness and self centeredness
Social segregation by class
Lack of social support except for impersonal (and less adequate) forms of support
Vulnerable to neurosis, chemical abuse, and other forms of deviance

Dilemmas

In either case, the city raises difficult moral and ethical issues
- What can be done?
- How much can be done?
- What is the best means of addressing “urban pathologies”?
- What are urban pathologies and what are lifestyle choices?
- Homelessness
- Drug addiction
- Prostitution
- Homosexuality

Westernization

Sociology BA LLB — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 05:41:42 +0000

‘Cultural homogenization, Americanization, westernization, the global village even modernity itself are all variants of myth-a cultural narrative to use the terms of this study-whereby the West imagines its own being and becoming and that of the rest of the world.’ - BOOK Suitably Modern: Making Middle-class Culture in a New Consumer Society

By Mark Liechty

Historically Western civilization is European civilization. In the modern era, Western civilization is Euroamerican or North Atlantic civilization. Europe, America and the North Atlantic can be found on a map; the West cannot. The name “the West” has also given rise to the concept of Westernization and has promoted a misleading conflation of westernization and modernization: it is easier to conceive of Japan “Westernizing” than “Euroamericanizing”. European-American civilization is however, universally referred to as Western civilization and that term despite its serious disabilities will be used here…In the earlier phases of change, Westernization thus promotes modernization. In the later phases modernization promotes de-Westernization and the resurgence of indigenous culture…’-Samuel Phillips Huntington (BOOK: The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order)

Features or characteristics of Westernization

Anglicization
- Prominence and dominance of English language
- Though the term is westernization but the linguistice dominance is that of English
- Language of study, entertainment
Rationalization
- Westernization is based on rationalization
- Modernization and westernization are both based on rationalization.
Individualism
- Individuals are given more importance than the family or group.
Weakening of religious values
- Westernization means weakening of religious values
- Dominance of scientific and rational.
Weakening of family ties
- The westernization means people have less attachment with their family
Nuclear family
Flexibility in marriage
- Seriousness of marriage will be in decline.
Relaxation in sexuality
- Sex is no longer viewed as evil, impure or dangerous.
- Sexual relationship outside marriage is seen as natural
Prominence of western education
- Westernization means use of western education in non western societies.
Dominance of western perspective of the world
- History and philosophy of the west gets prioritized
Dominance of western art and culture
Deification of the west

Westernization in Nepal

Westernization in Nepal began before 1950s but it was only after 1950 that when Nepal was finally opened to foreign tourists that westernization began in Nepal with more force.
The western tourists who came to Nepal began westernization in their own small way.
In 1970s Nepal and India’s Goa became the center outside California for Hippie youths of America who were spiritual, rebellious, anti-government, and anti-war.
- Kathmandu was popular for marijuana and hashish which was not illegal till then.
- Hippies came in large number in Kathmandu and settled in Jhose which till this date is called freak street.
- Hippie did not directly bring westernization but they showed Nepali youths that western culture was different.
- Youths were attracted to them.
The culture of sending the children of upper and middle class to westernized schools in India (Darjeeling, Kalingpong, Dehra Dun) also started after 1950s.
In 1990 Nepal overthrew autocracy and accepted the multiparty democracy.
The multi-party democratic system uplifted all the restrictions on foreign literatures, and medias.
The foreign medias and influx of large number of foreigners to Nepal started westernization in Nepal among youths.
The upper and middle class began to send their children to expensive westernized private school within Nepal.
The post 2000 Nepal saw the explosion of internet and internet related subculture (facebook, chat etc).

Traian Caldarar

Sociology BA LLB — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 05:41:42 +0000

Another recent case of a feral child, Traian Caldarar (found in 2002) is often referred to as ‘the Romanian Dog Boy’ or ‘Mowgli,’ after the main character in the Jungle book. He had lived apart from his family for 3 years since the age of 4. When he was found at the age of 7 he was said to be the size of an average 3 year old due to a lack of proper nutrition. His mother was a victim of domestic violence who left her husband. It is believed that Traian also ran away from the home sometime afterwards. Traian lived in the wild and when he was found in 2002 in Brasov, Rom?nia. He found shelter in a cardboard box covered with a sheet. Traian had a severe case of rickets, poor circulation, and infected wounds. Because of his age, those who discovered Traian believed that stray dogs helped to keep him alive.

Traian was only found because a car belonging to a shepherd named Manolescu Ioan broke down and he had to walk through pastures, during which he spotted the boy. When he was found, the body of a dog was found nearby and many assume that he was eating the dog as a way to stay alive. Once he was taken into care, he would sleep under his bed instead of on it and would often want to eat. When he didn’t have food he became very irritable and often slept right after meals.

In 2007, it was reported that Traian was doing well under the care of his grandfather and in grade 3 at school. When asked about his school, he said “I like it here, coloring, play and learn to write and read. We have toys, cars, teddy bears, and the food is very good,” (translasted from Romanian newsite

Victor of Aveyron

Sociology BA LLB — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 05:41:42 +0000

Victor ‘the Wild Boy of Aveyron’ is another name on the list that you may sound familiar. Some say that he could be the first documented cause of autism, but he is definitely a well known case of a child that was left alone in the wild. At the end of the 18th century, several people saw Victor wandering in the Saint Sernin sur Rance woods, which is located in southern France. Victor was captured a first time and somehow escaped. It wasn’t until January 8, 1800 that he was caught again after coming out of the woods on his own, though he was spotted several times in 1798 and 1799. At this time he was said to be about 12 years old. His body was covered in scars and he was unable to speak a word. He was taken back to town where he was generally accepted, though once the news spread, many came forward wanting to examine him.

A biology professor, Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre, decided to examine Victor, taking off his clothes and putting him outside in the snow. Victor began to run around in the snow, showing no ill-effects of the cold temperature on his bare skin. It is said that he lived in the wild for about 7 years, so it is no surprise that his body was able to take such extreme weather. Roch-Ambroise Cucurron Sicard then took over and decided to try to teach the boy, though he soon became frustrated at his lack of progress. Though he was probably born with the ability to talk and hear, he never did so properly after being left in the wild. He was eventually taken to the Paris Institution des Sourds-Muets where he lived with Mme Guérin and died at the age of 40.

The Syrian Gazelle Boy

Sociology BA LLB — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 05:41:42 +0000

Jean-Claude Auger, an anthropologist from the Basque country, was traveling alone across the Spanish Sahara (Rio de Oro) in 1960 when he met some Nemadi nomads, who told him about a wild child a day’s journey away. The next day, he followed the nomads’ directions. On the horizon he saw a naked child “galloping in gigantic bounds among a long cavalcade of white gazelles”. The boy walked on all fours, but occasionally assumed an upright gait, suggesting to Auger that he was abandoned or lost at about seven or eight months, having already learnt to stand. He habitually twitched his muscles, scalp, nose and ears, much like the rest of the herd, in response to the slightest noise. He would eat desert roots with his teeth, pucking his nostrils like the gazelles. He appeared to be herbivorous apart from the occasional agama lizard or worm when plant life was lacking. His teeth edges were level like those of a herbivorous animal. In 1966 an unsuccessful attempt was made to catch the boy in a net suspended from a helicopter; unlike most of the feral children of whom we have records, the gazelle boy was never removed from his wild companions.

Introduction to Cases of growth of Self and Social Heritage

Sociology BA LLB — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 05:41:42 +0000

A feral child is a human child who has lived away from human contact from a very young age, and has little or no experience of human care, loving or social behavior, and, crucially, of human language. Feral children are confined by humans (often parents), brought up by animals, or live in the wild in isolation. There have been over one hundred reported cases of feral children, and this is a selection of ten of them.

Social Control

Sociology BA LLB — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 05:41:42 +0000

What Is Social Control?

Any action, deliberate or unconscious, that influences conduct toward conformity, whether or not the persons being influenced are aware of the process.
The primary function of law is to establish and maintain social control.
Why is social control necessary?
- Peaceful coexistence
- Predictable coexistence

Meaning of Social Control

The Social Control Theory instead of asking what drives people to commit crime or rebel (as in case of Marxist and feminists), they ask why do most people not commit crime( or do not rebel against the injustice in society as in case of Marxists).
All human beings suffer from innate human weaknesses which make them unable to resist temptation to commit crime and rebel but they don’t. This theory or different theories tries to answer the why part.
The theory is focused on analyzing the restraining or “controlling” factors that are broken or missing inside the personalities of criminals (as in case of normal social control theories) or inside rebels (as in case of Marxists and other left oriented theories).
Control theory investigate the ways in which our behavior is regulated, including the influences of family, school, morals, values, beliefs, etc.
It is this regulation that is seen as leading to conformity and compliance with the rules of society

Emile Durkheim, 1858-1917

Emile Durkheim studied societies during the peak of the industrial revolution in the late 19th century. It was a type of society in which the social solidarity or what he called mechanical solidarity or a sense of bond and attachment people had with each other had collapsed. Due to this the individuals were alone and culturally lost.

Nature of social control
Durkheim was very clear in his argument that social control was stronger in rural areas and in non industrialized societies. In rural society people had strong attachment with the group and as a result they did not feel alone and lost. In urban setting people had organic solidarity which was the weakening of the “collective force of society”. Due to this there was weakening of social bonds. This led to extreme individualism and caused suicide (anomie led suicide). Anomie is a social condition of normlessness under which individuals feel less or almost no pressure to conform to social norms. This leads to deviance.

Purpose of social control
Durkheim argued that the modern individual in industrialized urban societies were insufficiently integrated into society because of the weakening bonds, collapse of social and the controlling influence of society on the animal desires and interests of the individuals. The purpose of social control is to control these wild instructs of people and integrate them into society. If these wild instincts are not controlled then individuals lose interest in society and as a result die of anomie (meaning and purposelessness)

Mechanism of social control
Durkheim argued that religion and education are some of the major mechanisms of social control. Religious ceremonies he argued brought people together and gave them a sense of solidarity. Durkheim believed that education served as an instrument to reinforce social solidarity. School is a society in miniature: it has a similar hierarchy, rules, expectations to the “outside world,” and trains people to fulfill roles. Durkheim was clear that anomie is a social construct not an individual attribute (anomia).Social control comprises all mechanisms at preventing anomie

Max Weber’s authority as social control

Nature of social control
Traditional society is controlled by traditional values and sometimes by values of new charismatic leaders. But social control in traditional society is by traditional authority. In modern system however the social control is done through rational authority. That means a highly rational and calculative system controls modern society.

Purpose of social control
The purpose of social control in society is goal attainment through efficient system . The goal attainment could be profit or power.

Mechanism of social control
In traditional society, the mechanism was traditional organizations like family, religion.

In modern society, the mechanism is bureaucracy based on meritocracy and rationality.

Karl Marx

Nature of social control
Those who control the economy are the exploiters. They need to create superstructure (law and ideology) to secure the economic system.

Purpose of social control
The purpose of social control is to prevent the exploited class from revolting against the system so as to run the system in a smooth manner.

Mechanism of social control
Marx argued that all ideology manufacturing institutes like religion, law, and education were controlled by the economic elites hence the ideology and education they manufactured were aimed at producing people who could not revolt against the system.

Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman

In the book Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (1988), by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky. The two authors talk about media as social control.

Nature of social control

The model suggests the existence of a set of news “filters”, which dilute the raw news content into a content that suits the dominant corporate and governmental interests. Herman and Chomsky’s “propaganda model” describes five editorially distorting filters applied to news reporting in mass media:

FILTER 1: Corporate ownership:Size, Ownership, and Profit Orientation: The dominant mass-media outlets are large firms which are run for profit. Therefore they must cater to the financial interest of their owners – often corporations or particular controlling investors. The size of the firms is a necessary consequence of the capital requirements for the technology to reach a mass audience. The media is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small number of private companies, owned by wealthy individuals.
FILTER 2: Financial reliance on advertising: Since the majority of the revenue of major media outlets derives from advertising(not from sales or subscriptions), advertisers have acquired a “de-facto licensing authority”. Media outlets are not commercially viable without the support of advertisers. News media must therefore cater to the political prejudices and economic desires of their advertisers. This has weakened the interest of the working class.
FILTER 3: Reliance on PR for information: Sourcing Mass Media News: Herman and Chomsky argue that “the large bureaucracies of the powerful subsidize the mass media, and gain special access [to the news], by their contribution to reducing the media’s costs of acquiring […] and producing, news. The large entities that provide this subsidy become ‘routine’ news sources and have privileged access to the gates. Non-routine sources must struggle for access, and may be ignored by the arbitrary decision of the gatekeepers.”
Flak and the Enforcers: “Flak” refers to negative responses to a media statement or program (e.g. letters, complaints, lawsuits, or legislative actions). Flak can be expensive to the media, either due to loss of advertising revenue, or due to the costs of legal defense or defense of the media outlet’s public image. Flak can be organized by powerful, private influence groups (e.g. think tanks). The prospect of eliciting flak can be a deterrent to the reporting of certain kinds of facts or opinions.
Anti-Communism: This was included as a filter in the original 1988 edition of the book, but Chomsky argues that since the end of the Cold War (1945–91), anticommunism was replaced by the “War on Terror”, as the major social control mechanism.

Purpose of social control
The purpose of social control is to prevent people from having access to the truth so that they will accept society as it is.

Mechanism of social control
Social control is through media which is controlled by economic elites.

Ivan Nye

Nature of social control
Ivan Nye argued that there are three types of social control in society:

Direct control, by which punishment is imposed for misconduct and compliance is rewarded. For example a thief is sent to jail or a coldblooded murder is given death sentence.
Indirect control, by which a individuals refrains from delinquency because such acts might cause pain/disappointment to their loved ones or significant others
Internal control, by which a individuals are taught that to violate social norms is bad. They feel guilty when they are engaged in delinquent acts

Purpose of social control
The main purpose of social control is to prevent youths from performing deviant or delinquent behavior.

Mechanism of social control
Family is the most important agent of social control according to him. The more young individuals need for affection, security, and recognition through the family, the less they will deviate from social norms.

Travis Hirschi’s social bond theory

Nature of social control
Travis Hirschi’s social bonding theory may be the most popular criminological theory in criminology. It was first presented in 1969. Hirschi questioned why people do not commit the crime. Hirschi theorized that crime is more common among individuals who had a weak relationship with social institutions such as family and religion.

Purpose of social control
For Hirschi, the purpose of social control was to control delinquency and crime.

Mechanism of social control
Travis Hirschi assumes that all people have the capacity to be delinquent. Preventing most people from engaging in law-breaking is a “bonding” to society. Hirschi identifies 4 elements to the social bond which can prevent crime:

1. Attachment:

Attachment to parents, teachers, peers (attachment to parents is the most important).
Attachment deters criminal activities

2. Commitment:

The more an individual is attached with parents or loved ones the more he or she is committed to social goals.
The more an individual is attached to social goal the more likely that a person will not commit crime as the crime could disturb her from achieving the social goal

3. Involvement:

A person who wants to achieve a social goal will be busy in the activities that help him to achieve his social goal.
People who are involved with social goal-oriented activities will not be able to find time to commit a crime

4. Belief:

People who believe that laws and social values are good for them and for society will respect the law and will not break it.

Basically, Hirschi is arguing that if a person is bonded to society, they are not as likely to break the law.

they have too much to lose
they have little time to break the law
they are too sensitive to the feelings of others to victimize them

David Matza and Gresham Skyes' neutralization theory

Nature of social control
Matza and Skyes argue that criminals do not enjoy or feel good when they are committing crime. They actually feel guilty when committing crime. They, however, have developed a psychological technique called neutralization to justify their criminal activities.

Purpose of social control
The purpose of social control for Matza and Skyes is to control delinquency or crimal behavior.

Mechanism of social control
Criminals according to Matza and Skyes used neutralization as an instrument to justify their crime. These neutralization techniques are as follows:

1. Denial of Responsibility – behavior is due to forces beyond their control

For example, an exploiter in a factory may claim ‘I have to exploit workers otherwise I will not be able to send my children to expensive private schools. I can’t help it’

2. Denial of Injury – no one was hurt

Paying less money to the workers is okay because they can still send their children to schools that are less expensive. Less expensive schools also have good teachers so my exploitation of workers is okay and not that injurious to them.

3. Denial of the Victim – they deserved it

I have to exploit workers. If today I raise their wages or salaries then tomorrow they might demand extra holiday. I have to exploit them.

4. Condemnation of the Condemner – they made me do it.

I had to beat my servant. He was not working properly. He made me hit him.

5. Appeal to Higher Loyalties – I had no choice. If I don’t beat my servants then they will not work. If they don’t work then my money is wasted. So I have to beat him.

Containment Theory of Walter Reckless

Nature of social control
This theory was developed in the 1950s by Walter Reckless. Reckless proposed that positive self-concepts imposed by society on an individual such as being a good daughter could protect individuals from committing crimes. These concepts were instilled by one’s immediate family and other social forces.

Containment Theory assumes that almost every individual can be prevented from committing crime by using outer and internal containment. Reckless suggests that the probability of deviance is directly related to the extent to which internal pushes and external pulls are controlled by one’s inner and outer containment. The primary containment factor is found in self-concept.

Purpose of social control
To prevent people from committing crime.

Mechanism of social control
Criminal behavior can be controlled by outer and internal containment

Internal social control lies within the individual and is developed during socialization. You are practising internal social control when you act according to your conscience (ie. you do something because it is the right thing to do).
- Most people act according to this internal social control (ie. they do the right thing) – most of the time.
- The process of socialization does not ensure that all people will conform all of the time. For this reason, external social control must also be present.
External social control is based on social sanctions – rewards and punishments designed to encourage desired behavior.
- Positive sanctions (eg. smile of approval, awards, raises) are used to encourage conformity.
- Negative sanctions (eg. criticism, fines, imprisonment) are intended to stop socially unacceptable behavior.

Albert J. Reiss

Nature of social control
Delinquency is a result of the failure of individuals to internalize socially accepted norms and behavior.

Purpose of social control
To prevent people from delinquent behavior.

Mechanism of social control
Social control can be activated by creating internal control by convincing people that breaking the law is wrong or by social rules which control people by telling them how they are punished for breaking these social rules (the family, the school, and other important social groups).