Humanistic sociology

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Humanistic sociology is a domain of sociology which originated mainly from the work of the

sociologist, Florian Znaniecki. It is a methodology which treats its objects of study and its students, that is, humans, as composites of values and systems of values.[clarification needed][1] In certain contexts, the term is related to other sociological domains such as antipositivism
. Humanistic sociology seeks to shed light on questions such as, "What is the relationship between a man of principle and a man of opportunism?"

Origins

Humanistic sociology is a domain of sociology that grew from

humanist principle. The outbreak of World War I
led Znaniecki to join Thomas at Chicago.

Unfortunately for Thomas, he encountered political problems, ending his career as an academic. However, he went on to produce important works at the

New School for Social Research, working with other notable scholars, such as Harold Laski
. As a result, his role in the origins of Humanistic sociology is often understated.

Znaniecki went on to a distinguished academic career, taking the chair of sociology at the

Stalinist authorities in 1951 (as the Polish Sociological Association). Ossowski maintained the noted and considerable resistance by Znaniecki to the "ideological control of science".[5]

The principle of analytic induction

Socratic Method or Karl Popper's falsification, the researcher sets out to disprove his theory by maximizing the chance of producing negative evidence. Analytic induction was Znaniecki's answer to the problem of induction
. Znaniecki believed analytic induction was a new process for conducting social research that is capable of universal and precise results.

Structuralism vs Functionalism

There is a debate between two competing schools of sociological thought,

Conceptual objects
involved. Does a researcher consider the structural objects and their relation to the system as a priority, or does the researcher consider the function of the object as the priority? The problems found in each school will lead to static analysis.

Structuralism

Znaniecki's model was derived independently of Max Weber and Émile Durkheim. The concept of agency derived by Claude Lévi-Strauss provided the foundations for structuralism and the later work of sociologists such as Pierre Bourdieu. Structuralists influenced by humanistic sociology will interpret data in terms of opposing valuations, contrasts, and relations. Interpretation of the data must be contextual. Structuralism allows for a realist analysis (structures represent an organized reality) in relation to the larger social system. By understanding the larger social system, you are differentiating from post-modernism, which seeks to describe society by its lack of structure, or fragmentation.

Functionalism

Functionalists seek an objective understanding of the social world. They have a more positivist view of social science, believing objective results can be obtained by techniques like surveys and interviews. They discount the inherent bias of the intellectual, believing their results are value-free. Functionalism grew from the work of Max Weber and Émile Durkheim. Functionalism was popular in the US during the period from 1930 to 1960. Humanistic sociology had a role in the decline of functionalism. This can be seen in the rise of later models which returned to a focus of the subjective nature of human experience, for example, the later popularity of post-modern thinking highlighting the subjective basis of semantics. Humanistic sociology also differentiates itself from functionalism in promoting the need for freedom of thinking in the practices of research. Functionalists reject the idea of a realist or structural analysis, seeking instead a more observable explanation with external validation outside the social system.

Structural functionalism

Some functionalists actually regard themselves as proponents of

conflict theory. Conflict theory contradicts functionalism. Structural functionalism is usually associated with the work of Talcott Parsons
. Again humanistic sociology had a role in the decline of structural functionalism. In the humanistic model, there exist dynamical systems of values obtained from social actions in an evolutionary sense.

Symbolic interactionism

Many will claim that

poststructuralism
.

Ethnomethodology

axiological constructions mapped by symbolic expressions. A humanistic sociologist will follow the path pointed to by Znaniecki and reject the naturalistic
view.

Post-modernism

Post-modernism, by its emphasis on subjectivity, implies that no one set of values is any better than any other (This is criticised by some as moral relativism). It is however quite possible to equate a scientific analysis of value systems with post-modernism. The analysis of globalisation is one such application of the analysis within post-modernism. By a focus on the subjective nature of experience, a humanistic sociologist can be a post-modern thinker. However a humanistic sociologist has core values and beliefs with which it is possible to assign a positive or negative evaluation to a value, for example, the priority of the "inner dignity of man".[6] Just as in the practices of humanistic research or humanistic social work,[7][8] a value is positive to the extent that it leads to creative and constructive social activity.[9] It is therefore wrong to equate post-modernism with humanistic sociology, which above all seeks an irreducible representation
of the human world.

See also

References

  1. ^ Halas, Elsbieta (December 2001). "The Humanistic Approach of Florian Znaniecki". University of Munich. Archived from the original on 2008-06-04.
  2. ^ Thomas, William and Florian Znaniecki, ed. Eli Zaretsky (1996). The Polish Peasant in Europe and America: A Classic Work in Immigration History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
  3. ^ Znaniecki, F. (1934). The Method of Sociology. New York: Farrar & Rinehart.
  4. ^ Davies, Norman (2004). Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw. Viking Books.
  5. ^ Connelly, John (December 1996). "Internal bolshevisation? Elite social science training in stalinist Poland" Minerva, vol. 34, no. 4.
  6. ^ Znaniecki, F. (1986). The Social Role of the Man of Knowledge. New Brunswick: Transaction Books.
  7. ^ Payne, M. (2011). Humanistic Social Work, Core Principles in Practice. Chicago: Lyceum, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
  8. ^ Stefaroi, Petru. (2014). Humane & Spiritual Qualities of the Professional in Humanistic Social Work: Humanistic Social Work - The Third Way in Theory and Practice, Charleston: Createspace, USA.
  9. ^ Znaniecki, F. (1983). Cultural Reality. Houston, Texas: Cap and Gown Press.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Humanistic_sociology&oldid=1138320256"