Overview of Social Phenomenology

Overview of Social Phenomenology Social phenomenology is an approach within the field of sociology that aims to reveal what role human awareness plays in the production of social action, social situations and social worlds. In essence, phenomenology is the belief that society is a human construction. Phenomenology was originally developed by a German mathematician named Edmund Husserl in the early 1900s in order to locate the sources or essences of reality in the human consciousness. It wasn’t until the 1960s that it entered the field of sociology by Alfred Schutz, who sought to provide a philosophical foundation for Max Weber’s interpretive sociology. He did this by applying the phenomenological philosophy of Husserl to the study of the social world. Schutz postulated that it is subjective meanings that give rise to an apparently objective social world. He argued that people depend upon language and the â€Å"stock of knowledge† they have accumulated to enable social interaction. All social interaction requires that individuals characterize others in their world, and their stock of knowledge helps them with this task. The central task in social phenomenology is to explain the reciprocal interactions that take place during human action, situational structuring, and reality construction. That it, phenomenologists seek to make sense of the relationships between action, situation, and reality that take place in society. Phenomenology does not view any aspect as causal, but rather views all dimensions as fundamental to all others. Application Of Social Phenomenology One classic application of social phenomenology was done by Peter Berger and Hansfried Kellner in 1964 when they examined the social construction of marital reality. According to their analysis, marriage brings together two individuals, each from different lifeworlds, and puts them into such close proximity to each other that the lifeworld of each is brought into communication with the other. Out of these two different realities emerges one marital reality, which then becomes the primary social context from which that individual engages in social interactions and functions in society. Marriage provides a new social reality for people, which is achieved mainly through conversations with their spouse in private. Their new social reality is also strengthened through the couple’s interaction with others outside of the marriage. Over time a new marital reality will emerge that will contribute to the formation of new social worlds within which each spouse would function.

7 Different Types of Crimes

7 Different Types of Crimes A crime is defined as any act that is contrary to legal code or laws. There are many different types of crimes, from crimes against persons to victimless crimes and violent crimes to white collar crimes. The study of crime and deviance is a large subfield within sociology, with much attention paid to who commits which types of crimes and why. Crimes Against Persons Crimes against persons also called personal crimes, include murder, aggravated assault, rape, and robbery. Personal crimes are unevenly distributed in the United States, with young, urban, poor, and racial minorities both more often affected by these crimes and arrested for them  than white, middle- and upper-class people are. Crimes Against Property Property crimes involve the theft of property without bodily harm, such as burglary, larceny, auto theft, and arson. Like personal crimes, young, urban, poor, and racial minorities are arrested for these crimes more than others. Hate Crimes Hate crimes are crimes against persons or property that are committed while invoking prejudices of  race, gender or gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. The rate of hate crimes in the U.S. remains fairly constant from year to year, but there have been a few events that have caused surges in hate crimes. In 2016, the election of Donald Trump was followed by an uptick in hate crimes. Crimes Against Morality Crimes against morality are also called victimless crimes because there is no  complainant or victim. Prostitution, illegal gambling, and illegal drug use are all examples of victimless crimes. White-Collar Crime White-collar crimes are crimes committed by people of high social status who commit their crimes in the context of their occupation. This includes embezzling (stealing money from one’s employer), insider trading, tax evasion, and other violations of income tax laws. White-collar crimes generally generate less concern in the public mind than other types of crime, however, in terms of total dollars, white-collar crimes are even more consequential for society. For example, the Great Recession can be understood as in part the result of a variety of white-collar crimes committed within the home mortgage industry. Nonetheless, these crimes are generally the least investigated and least prosecuted because they are protected by a combination of privileges of race, class, and gender. Organized Crime Organized crime is committed by structured groups typically involving the distribution and sale of illegal goods and services. Many people think of the Mafia when they think of organized crime, but the term can refer to any group that exercises control over large illegal enterprises (such as the drug trade, illegal gambling, prostitution, weapons smuggling, or money laundering). A key sociological concept in the study or organized crime is that these industries are organized along the same lines as legitimate businesses and take on a corporate form. There are typically senior partners who control profits, employees who manage and work for the business, and clients who buy the goods and services that the organization provides. A Sociological Look at Crime Arrest data show a clear pattern of arrests in terms of race, gender, and class. For instance, as mentioned above, young, urban, poor, and racial minorities are arrested and convicted more than others for personal and property crimes. To sociologists, the question posed by this data is whether this reflects actual differences in committing crimes among different groups, or whether this reflects differential treatment by the criminal justice system. Studies show that the answer is â€Å"both.† Certain groups are in fact more likely to commit crimes than others because crime​ often looked to as a survival strategy, is linked to patterns of inequality in the United States. However, the process of prosecution in the criminal justice system is also significantly related to patterns of race, class, and gender inequality. We see this in the official arrest statistics, in treatment by the police, in sentencing patterns, and in studies of imprisonment.