GARA M.

T SOCIOLOGY O LEVEL NOTES 0775354843

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INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

 The term sociology was coined by Frenchman Auguste Comte (1798-1857) in 1838
from the Latin term socius (companion, associate) and the Greek term logia or
logos (study of, speech).
 literal definition of sociology is that it is the word or speaking about society hence
a simple definition is that it is the study of society and culture
 A more formal definition of sociology may be that it is a social science which
studies the processes and patterns of human, individual and group interaction, the
forms of organization of social groups, the relationship among them and group
influences
 In more popular terms, sociology may be defined as the scientific study of human
society and human group behavior.

Basic concepts and key terms- Tools to think with

 Society: humanly created organization or system of interrelationships that connects
individuals in a common culture. All the products of human interaction, the
experience of living with others around us.

 Culture: sets of traditions, rules, symbols that shape and are enacted as feelings,
thoughts, and behaviors of groups of people. Shared common norms, values and
beliefs.
 Subculture: A smaller group of people who share norms, values and beliefs that
are different from the main culture.
 Language: a system of verbal symbols through which humans communicate
ideas, feelings, experiences.
 Values: preferences - ideas people share about what is good, bad, desirable,
undesirable. The things that a culture / subculture believes are important
(e.g. earning a living, owning a house).
 Norms: concepts and behaviors that constitute the normal. Behavioral rules
or standards for social interaction. Ways to act and behave that are seen as
‘normal’ within a culture / subculture.
 Social organization: the arrangement of the parts that constitute society, the
organization of social positions and distribution of people within those
positions.
 Status: socially defined niches, positions (student, professor, administrator)

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  Role: every status carries a cluster of expected behaviors, how a person in
that status is expected to think, feel, as well as expectations about how they
should be treated by others.
 Group: two or more people regularly interacting on the basis of shared
expectations of others’ behavior; interrelated statuses and roles.
 Institutions: patterns of activity reproduced across time and space. Practices
that are regularly and continuously repeated. Social institution is therefore a
relatively stable cluster of social structures that is intended to meet the basic
needs of societies. Examples include families, schools, and churches.
 Identity: combines the intimate or personal world with the collective space
of cultural forms and social relations.

 Social stratification: the division of people socio-economically into layers

or strata. When we talk of social stratification, we draw attention into the
unequal positions occupied by individuals in society.
 Race: a human group that defines itself and/or is defined by other groups as
different…by virtue of innate and immutable physical characteristics.
differences in culture, nationality, skin colour etc. are biological.
 Ethnicity: cultural practices and outlooks of a given community of people
that set them apart from others. Members of ethnic groups see themselves as
culturally distinct from other groups in a society, and are seen by those
others to be so in return. differences in culture but is not based on biology –
this is about social differences

Benefits of sociology to the learner

 A well trained sociology student know how to think critically about human social
life
 Know how to ask important research questions
 Know how to design good social research projects, carefully collect and analyze
empirical data, formulate and present their research findings
 Know how to help others understand how the social world as well as how it might
be changed for better
 Enables Social imagination-thinking outside the box or ability to think away from
the familiar routines of everyday life .
 Without social imagination, one might try to do everything right, like working hard,
getting an education and trying to get but might fail to succeed

SOCIALISATION

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 Socialization is the process by which individuals learn the ways of society (or of
particular groups). It also the process by which people learn the characteristics of their
group—the knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, norms, and actions thought appropriate for
them
 Haralambos and Holborn defines socialization as the process by which individuals learn
the culture of their society
 Sociologists use the term socialization to refer to the lifelong social experience by which
people develop their human potential and learn culture
 Social experience is also the foundation of personality

Why Socialization Matters

 Contributes to development of personality-in the absence of groups or society, no man can
develop a personality of his own
 Fosters unhu/Ubuntu/vumunhu-one becomes disciplined, respecting others
 Contributes to social order and equilibrium
 It is through teaching culture to new members that a society perpetuates itself. If new
generations of a society don’t learn its way of life, it ceases to exist
 To function successfully in society, we have to learn the basics of both material and
nonmaterial culture, everything from how to dress ourselves to what’s suitable attire for a
specific occasion; from when we sleep to what we sleep on; and from what’s considered
appropriate to eat for dinner to how to use the stove to prepare it.
 Social interaction provides the means via which we gradually become able to see
ourselves through the eyes of others, and how we learn who we are and how we fit into the
world around us
 We have to learn language—whether it’s the dominant language or one common in a
subculture, whether it’s verbal or through signs—in order to communicate and to think.

The goals of socialisation

From the point of view of society, socialisation has specific goals.
• It teaches the basics of life in the society.
• It transmits skills important for survival in the society.
• It instills in the new members of society a desire to work toward some goals that the
society considers important.
• It teaches members how to fulfill social roles (If many people do so then society continues
to exist)
• It provides each individual with or her identity, for people need to know who they are so
that they may act accordingly

Socialization agents

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Family
 Each family adopts division of labor regarding family tasks and prepares its young for
the notion of work. In the rural areas the division is more pronounced. Boys are
commonly cattle herders and girls attached to the home chores like cooking, fetching
water and firewood-gender role socialization
 A working class father since he has less autonomy and satisfaction in the work
institution, he tends to be authoritarian and severe towards his family members,
especially his sons. Therefore the occupational role of the father has an effect on the
socialization orientations of the children-negative socialization
 Researches have pointed out that middle-class parents are likely to instill achieve
mentoriented values in their children than working class parents
 Poor families usually emphasize obedience and conformity when raising their
children, while wealthy families emphasize judgment and creativity
 This may occur because working-class parents have less education and more
repetitivetask jobs for which it is helpful to be able to follow rules and conform.
Wealthy parents tend to have better educations and often work in managerial positions
or careers that require creative problem solving, so they teach their children behaviors
that are beneficial in these positions.
 This means children are effectively socialized and raised to take the types of jobs their
parents already have, thus reproducing the class system -role socialization
 In the family girls are encouraged to be sweet, sociable while boys are encouraged to
be physical.
 On the basis of our sex, children are given different kinds of toys. Boys are more
likely to get guns and “action figures” that destroy enemies. Girls are more likely to
get dolls and jewelry.
 Parents also subtly encourage boys to participate in more rough-and-tumble play. They
expect their sons to get dirtier and to be more defiant, their daughters to be daintier and
more compliant

2. Peer Groups
 Peer group is a group of individuals of roughly the same age who are linked by
common interests
 Unlike the family and the school, the peer group lets children escape the direct
supervision of adults. Among their peers, children learn how to form relationships on
their own
 Peer groups provide their own opportunities for socialization since kids usually
engage in different types of activities with their peers than they do with their families
such as clothing and popular music.
 Peer groups provide adolescents’ first major socialization experience outside the
realm of their families. Girls and boys teach one another what it means to be a female
or a male, e.g for girls discussions to do with attractiveness whereas boys discuss
more of dating many girls

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3. School
 School refer to a whole range of formal education institutions which are the
characteristics of the contemporary societies
 School provide manifest function, or intended purpose, of formal education which is
to teach knowledge and skills, such as reading, writing, and arithmetic. Scripture
union in Zimbabwe schools has accorded much success stories in behavior modeling
and instilling Christian values among teens-planned socialization
 The teaching of such skills is certainly part of socialization, but so are the schools’
latent functions, their unintended consequences that help the social system. Social
control as exercised by the school benefit the family and other institutions
 The hidden curriculum prepares children for the adult world. Hidden curriculum is
the informal teaching done by schools e.g price giving encourages hard work. Also
when children are required to work together on a project, they practice teamwork
with other people in cooperative situations
 Schools also socialize children by teaching them about citizenship and national pride
e.g the singing of national anthem, reciting the schools national pledge
4. Mass Media
 Mass media are forms of communication, such as radio, newspapers, television, and
blogs that are directed to mass audiences
 Mass media has influenced gender socialization for example most female characters in
Advertisements are concerned with domestic things like washing powder or food that
will help to care for their families or with things like clothes and cosmetics.
 Mass media serves as another significant agent of gender socialization. In television
and movies, women tend to have less significant roles and are often portrayed as wives
or mothers.

 The children may model their behavior on the examples they are exposed through the
mass media and their attitudes are often influenced in the same way e.g Ubuntu/unhu
debate in Zimbabwe
 The violent materials in video game films and TV programmes have directly produced
tendencies of violence in those who watch them.

5. Government
 Government regulations stipulate the ages at which a person may drive a car, drink
alcohol, vote in elections, marry without parental permission, work overtime, and
retire.
 In Zimbabwe to be defined as an “adult” usually means being eighteen years old, the
age at which a person becomes legally responsible for him- or herself.
 Each time people embark on this new category they must be socialized into a new
role. e.g at 18 years one is expected to be socialized for marriage related issues
6. Religion

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  Religious organizations stipulate certain traditional rites that may bring together all
the members of an extended family, even if they never meet for any other reason. e.g
bira in indigenous religion of Zimbabwe
 In Zimbabwe both Christianity and Indigenous Religion have been seen as agents of
socialization as their values are all moving towards creating humanness (unhu) which
is a positive socialization stance.
 Respect, loyalty and humbleness (kuzvininipisa in shona, kulibombwa in Tonga) are
religious values that create a human being. For instance, a good Muslim must perform
prayers five times a day, a Christian must attend church on Sundays
7. The Workplace
 The more one participate in a line of work, the more the work becomes a part of his
self-concept.
 Eventually one come to think of himself so much in terms of the job that if someone
asks him to describe himself, one is likely to include the job in his self-description.
One might say, “I’m a teacher,” “I’m a nurse,” or “I’m a sociologist.”
 From the people we rub shoulders with at work, we learn not only a set of skills but
also perspectives on the world.

How the process of socialization promotes Unhu/Ubuntu/Vumunhu

 Unhu is an African philosophy which entails that one is human through other people. A
human being cannot exist as a human being in isolation but rather is interconnected with
others
 Primary socialization through the family enables children to have respect for the elders in
the society. This promotes dignity among the elderly
 The family through division of labor groom children to be responsible citizens. It grooms
girl children to be responsible mothers by concentrating them to domestic sphere a
characteristic of the shona culture. Boy children spend most of the time doing outside
home chores like cattle herding which make them appreciate the value of being
responsible fathers who should work to fend the family
 The school through the hidden curriculum indirectly promote cooperation. The school
encourages group work in class which upholds the value of working together among
learners
 Some planned socialization processes at school via manifest functions promote unity
within the society. The school make learners recite the schools national pledge which
encourage learners to be united in their diversity for equality in the nation.
 At school teachers temporarily assume the role of parents in teaching norms and values of
culture by applying the tactic of rewards and punishment e.g children who behave well
are clapped hands for by the naughty ones. This promotes hard work
 Religion socializes people to be available to others in the society when need arises.
Islamic religion emphasizes charity in one of its pillars i.e giving Zakat (Support of the
Needy). Christianity also teaches concepts of helping those in need e.g there is more joy
in giving than in receiving

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 Unhu values of being compassion and generous are also promoted by the religious
institution. Christianity values people who do not count what they give away. This
supports the view that people do not live in isolation
 Holy communion in Christianity promote oneness, sharing and love
 Respect and humbleness are also emphasized in Christianity e.g honor your mother and
your mother. Be humble and the lord will lift you up
 However some peer groups may socialize people in a negative way. Some people may
influence each other to become unwilling to share e.g some money spinning peers
 The workplace may promote corruption among the people in society. People can become
corrupt due to money temptations.

Factors that influence human behavior

Nature and Nurture debate (heredity versus environment/socialization debate)

 The “nature versus nurture” debate refers to whether differences in the behaviors of males
and females are caused by inherited (biological) or learned (cultural) characteristics.
Almost all sociologists take the side of nurture
 Nature is the influence of our genetic makeup on self-development
 Nurture is the role that our social environment plays in self-development

Nurture proponents (socialization)

 Socio-biologists believe that human behavior is derived from social interaction with other
individuals in society. This means that humans are what they are because of learning from
others, either good or bad
 Thinkers like John Locke believed in what is known as tabula rasa which suggests that
the mind begins as a blank slate. According to this notion, everything that we are and all
of our knowledge is determined by our experience
 Psychological theorists like Albert Bandura through demonstrated that children could
learn aggressive behaviors by simply observing another person acting aggressively
 According to Mead(1934),infants and young children develop as social beings first by
imitating the actions of those around them-primary socialization e.g a child may copy
vulgar language as normal and acceptable behavior from family members
 According to Wado Ralf (1870) the family is a crucial instrument for the development of
personality e.g like a building with faulty foundation, it will develop cracks same with
behavior of a child whose family background is questionable, the child will falter in life
 Interactionist Herbert Mead(1934) in his Role Taking Theory argues that individuals do
role taking i.e imagine themselves in the position of that other e.g playing house(
mahumbwe) children take roles of father, mother etc in which they imagine themselves in
the shoes of some role models
 For Mead, role taking is a prerequisite for the development of the sense of self. Both our
self and our mind are social products

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 Charles Horton Cooley (1902) in his Looking glass self-theory argues that the self grows
out of perceptions of others, how others see others. As such human beings conform to
how they think others think them to be
Nature and Nurture can interact to shape human behavior
 Some sociologists have however argued that both the genetic make-up of an individual
and the societal influences are what constitute a human being
 Giddens (1989) asserted that the stages of human life are social as well as biological
 For example a person with Perfect pitch (ability detect pitch of musical tone without
reference) might have genetically assumed that, but that is not enough to develop his
ability. Instead musical training during early childhood is necessary to enhance the
inherited ability
 Human behavior is not a matter of either nature or nurture, but of the two working
together. Some behavior that sociologists usually assume to be due entirely to
socialization is apparently influenced by biology

The impact of lack of Socialization

Characteristics and effects of individuals who lack socialization

 Poor self-esteem due to poor body image. Elizabeth pointed out that people who were
continuously isolated day in day out developed a poor body image
 Depression due to isolation and lack of interaction
 Loss of reality due to focusing on one aspect like movies, video games
 Decreased ability to learn due to brains which could have rewired and affect ability to
solve puzzles and mind games
 Decreased sense of empathy-by not interacting with people, one may have a harder time
processing feelings and love. Lack of unhu will result
 Inflammation as a result of stress and depression. One may experience bloating ,digestive
issues or get sick
 Shorter life span-studies have shown social connections increase our longevity, while a
lack of social connections increases our mortality
 Reduced resilence- healthy relationships “lead to the development of resilience, coping
skills and higher self-esteem

FAMILY

Households and families

 A family is a group of persons directly linked by kin connections, the adult members of
whom assume responsibility for caring for children

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 Kinship ties are connections between individuals established either through marriage or
through the lines of descent that connect blood relatives (mothers, fathers, siblings,
offspring, etc.).

Family and household patterns

Functions and characteristics of family

 The family as a social institution performs a number of important functions for the
society.
• Sexual regulation -marriage is the principle setting within which most sexual intercourse
must occur hence in most cases sex outside marriage is prohibited. Therefore family
regulates the satisfaction of sexual desires of its members
• Reproduction- societies need to replace the old and those who die. Family ensure
general replacement through child bearing and child rearing
• Socialization-family is the primary agency of child socialization. Since children are born
“blank slates” they need to be taught customs of the society
• Economic support- provides basic needs of life like food, shelter and clothing
• Status placement-children take the statuses of their parents soon after birth e.g religious
and social classes of parents
• Emotional support-it offer emotional refuge to stress from work and hardships.
• Protection-an attack against a member is taken as one against the whole family. There is
physical, economic and psychological protection
Changes in the functions of the family

 The function of the family has undergone considerate modification and changes
through time, although its structure remained more or less unaltered
• .
• Some institutions have taken over the role of the family
 Schools and day care centers offer socialization and culture transmission. Parents live
their children here when going to work
 Media enhance socialization process through some life nurturing programs on
television, HIV and AIDS awareness, dress codes
 Religion also socialize children, offer social control and emotional support
 The state offer education, economic support and social welfare
 Health- free medical treatment for children

Example of the Zimbabwean Government efforts (social policies)

 The setting up of the Ministry of Health and Child welfare
 The rural child feeding schemes
 The establishing of the AIDS levy
 Homes for the elderly and the disabled which their families could have done

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 Changes in structure of the family

 The nuclear family replacing the extended family: according to Talcot Parsons, modern
industrial society requires a small, mobile and self- sufficient family unit, capable of
moving to where the specialized skills of the father can be best employed.
 Family size is becoming smaller: Certainly, the average British or Zimbabwe family size
is now 1 to 3 children, as against 5 a century ago.
 The family is less patriarchal and more democratic: recent legislation on employment
opportunities, greater equality of father and mother roles has attained this
 The family is more fragile as an institution: divorce cases increasing due to women
rights and the increased democracy in families

Family types in Zimbabwe

 Structure or form of the family varies from one society to another

1. Basing on organization

a) Nuclear family
 Nuclear family, two adults living together with their own or adopted children in a
household . Some scholars suggest the children can be unmarried.
 Nuclear family can be defined as a family consisting of a husband, wife, and children
 The size of the nuclear family is very small. It is free from the control of elders. The
nuclear family is autonomous, with authority in their own circle and the emphasis on
privacy of family.

Challenges of nuclear family

 Lacks control and guidance of elders since they won’t be staying with nuclear family
members.
 Increased domestic violence due to lack respectable people within the family other than
the couple and children.
 The nuclear family lacks significance relations with extended Kinship groups since it is
extremely mobile to follow where the father is staying.
 Rebellious children who don’t get enough counselling from grandparents

b) Extended/joint family
 According to Murdock, an extended family consists of two or more nuclear families
affiliated through an extension of the parent child relationship… i.e by joining the nuclear
family of a married adult to that of his parents
 An extended family may include grandparents, brothers and their wives, sisters and their
husbands, aunts and nephews.

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Challenges experienced by extended families

 So many dependents to be looked after

 Less privacy
 Differences in tastes e.g choice of food, entertainment which can create arguments
 Grandparents may withhold discipline for grandchildren resulting in them being spoilt

c) Single-Parent Family
 Circumstances that may cause single parenthood are:
 When the marriage is legally dissolved by divorce
• When the marriage is not legally dissolved but one parent leaves the family.
• The death of one of the parents, whereby widowed families are created, that is,
families with a widowed mother or father.
• The father and mother are not married, that is where children are born out of wedlock
 When one parent is serving a prison sentence.
• When a father works as a migrant laborer
• When the father is away from home our military service

Challenges experienced by single parent families

 Economic and emotional problems e.g Loneliness

 Problems associated with family relationships and multiple – role fulfillment
 Juvenile delinquency
 Problems emanating from contact with the previous spouse e.g on child responsibility

d) Step-family/ reconstituted/blended family

 The term 'step-family' refers to a family in which at least one of the adults has children
from a previous marriage or relationship. Sociologists often refer to such groups as
reconstituted families.
 Both parents may have children from their previous relationships

Challenges of step family

 Older children may find it difficult to adapt to living with another family
  Jealousy may arise among children usually if they are of the same age
 Disciplining children become a confusion. Is it the birth parent or step parent?

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Legal issues over the step parent’s children or former marriage may cause disharmony in the
reconstituted family

e) Child headed family

 A family an elder child will be the leader of the family, Children will be staying alone
without parents may be due to death of parents, divorcing or migration of parents.

Challenges of child headed family

School drop outs leading to children’s shuttered dreams of a brighter future
 Basic needs challenges
 Lack of role models and nurturing
 Exploitation and abuse by other people -
2. Basing on marriage type

a) Monogamous family
 It consists of one husband and one wife at a given time
 The term monogamy describes a form of marriage in which one woman and one man are
married only to each other
 In serial monogamy, a person may have several spouses in his or her lifetime, but only one
spouse at a time( Schaefer 2013)

b) Polygamous family
 This is when one man marries several women or one woman marries several men and
constitutes the family. Polygamy is the practice of men or women having multiple marriage
partners. Polygamous marriages are divided into:
• Polygynous family- when one man has more than one wife at a given time and lives with
them and their children together e.g the Masowe sect members and the Ba Tonga in
Zimbabwe. Polygyny is a form of marriage in which men have more than one wife
• Polyandrous family-when one wife has more than one husband at a given time and lives
with all of them together. Polyandry is a form of marriage in which women have more
than one husband

Challenges of a polygamous family

 Conflict due to unfair distribution of resources

 Economic challenges due to failure to provide the family
 Encourages the spread of HIV/AIDS
 Social challenges like witchcraft accusations, jealousy

Patterns of marriage
 Marriage is a legal relationship, usually involving economic cooperation, sexual activity,
and childbearing

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 Polygamy is divided into polygyny and polyandry. However polygamous families are no
longer common unlike monogamous ones in the modern Zimbabwean society because:
• The dominance of Christianity
• The fear of HIV/AIDS
• Women empowerment
• Economic hardships
• People admiring smaller families as opposed to larger families

Characteristics of a stable marriage

 A deep commitment to marriage-even in hard times couple in a stable marriage work

together to correct problems. The couple don’t let hard times destroy them. There is no
cheating
 Prioritizing family time- stable marriage is characterized by a couple creating time for
being together. The couple regardless of the work weeks and house hold chores prioritize
time for their marriage
 Plenty of constructive communication- stable marriage is made of a couple which do not
keep secrets from each. The couple always correct each other constructively not
destructively
 Appreciation within the marriage- stable marriage has couple which always thank each
for the little things they do to each. The “I love you” phrase is often said to each other in the
marriage
 Marriage couple look for each other not being selfish- members sacrifice personal
desires in order to encourage or support each other
 Conflicts are resolved constructively and promptly-when offenses occur in stable
marriage, bad feelings are not allowed to fester. Conflicts are resolved quickly. There are
good copying skills
Divorce

 Divorce is the legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent body

Causes of divorce

 Unfulfilled emotional needs e.g due to lack of affection

 Different attitudes towards gender roles. Some unfulfilled gender roles may cause divorce
 Diverse educational principles. Some men don’t prefer their wives to get higher level of
education than them
 Communication problems
 Absence of conflict solving strategies
 Strong professional engagement. Partners may neglect family duties due to too much
concentration on their work

Ways of resolving divorce in Zimbabwe

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 Firstly divorce can be avoided or prevented by:
 Avoiding early marriages through putting minimum age limit for marriage
 Marrying somebody one truly loves not through infatuations
 Being open to each in marriage
 Change of cultural attitudes which promote patriarchy

 In case members decide to divorce the following can be done:

 Counselling services from churches, extended family members
 Delaying court procedure for marriage termination e.g through imposing long period
of time before final termination
 Educating divorcing couple about the possible consequences of marriage termination
Domestic violence
 Domestic violence can be regarded as, emotional, physical, or sexual abuse of one family
member by another.
Forms of domestic violence against girls
Target of sex selective abortion when still in the womb
 Female infanticide in some cultures
 Incest and rape
 Genital mutilation
 Forced early marriage
 Selective education-boys preferred more

Forms of domestic violence against women

 Rape
 Battering
 Forced pregnancy
 Forced abortion
 Forced sterilization
 Limitation in social mobility

Cultural causes of domestic violence

 Beliefs in male superiority
 Values of prioritizing men over women and girls
 Marriage customs like bride price or dowry make women ‘slaves’
 Gender specific socialization which promotes submissiveness in women and aggression in
men
Economic causes of domestic violence
 Women’s economic dependency on men
 Limited access to education by women
 Limited access to employment by women

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Legal causes of domestic violence
 Low levels of legal literacy among women-women do not have legal related knowledge
 Discriminatory laws against women in terms of inheritance, property ownership and rights

Political causes of domestic violence

 Under-representation of women in power ,politics, media and in legal professions
 Notions of family being private to state interference

Effects of domestic violence

 Fatal outcomes
• Homicide- killing somebody
• Suicide
• Maternal mortality- death of infant in mother’s womb, still births
• HIV/AIDS
 Non-fatal outcomes- physical health outcomes
• Unwanted pregnancy
• Gynecological problems
• Miscarriage
• Headaches
• Permanent disabilities

 Mental health outcomes

• Depression
• Fear
• Anxiety
• Low self-esteem
• Sexual dysfunction
• Eating problems
• Post-traumatic stress
 General outcomes
• Divorce
• Fugitive children
• Lack of trust between partners
• Lack of love and affection

Traditional ways of resolving family conflicts

 Separation of the couple for short period of time

 Arbitration by respectable family members
 Counselling
 Education on family related issues

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 Use of traditional leaders like village heads in mediation

CULTURE

 Culture refer to the language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, and even material
objects that characterize a group and are passed from one generation to the next
 Culture is the complex system of meaning and behavior that defines the way of life for
a given group or society
 Culture is both material and nonmaterial.
 Material culture consist the material objects that distinguish a group of people, such
as their art, buildings, weapons, utensils, machines, hairstyles, clothing, and jewelry.
Nonmaterial culture (also called symbolic culture) a group’s ways of thinking
(including its beliefs, values, and other assumptions about the world) and doing (its
common patterns of behavior, including language and other forms of interaction)
 Cultural universals are patterns or traits that are globally common to all societies. One
example of a cultural universal is the family unit: every human society recognizes a
family structure that regulates sexual reproduction and the care of children.

Forms of Culture
a) Dominant Culture
 The dominant culture is the culture of the most powerful group in a society.
 Although the dominant culture is not the only culture in a society, it is commonly
believed to be “the” culture of a society, despite the other cultures present.
 A dominant culture need not be the culture of the majority of people. It is simply the
culture of the most powerful group in society who have the power to define the cultural
framework
b) Subculture
 Subculture is the culture of groups whose values and norms of behavior differ to some
degree from those of the dominant culture.
 In a sense, a subculture can be thought of as a culture existing within a larger, dominant
culture.
 Frequently, a subculture will develop an argot, or specialized language, that
distinguishes it from the wider society.
 dominant White culture. Now, rap and hip-hop have been incorporated into mainstream
youth culture
c) Counterculture
 Sociologists distinguish subcultures from countercultures, which are a type of
subculture that rejects some of the larger culture’s norms and values.
 Counterculture refers to cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted
within a society. Cults, a word derived from culture, are also considered counterculture
group.

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  In contrast to subcultures, which operate relatively smoothly within the larger society,
countercultures might actively defy larger society by developing their own set of rules
and norms to live by, sometimes even creating communities that operate outside of
greater society.
d) Folk culture is the culture created by local communities and is rooted in the
experiences, customs and beliefs of the everyday life of ordinary people e.g traditional
folk music, folk songs, story-telling and folk dances.
e) High culture
 Sociologists use the term high culture to refer to cultural patterns that distinguish a
society’s elite.
 They also use the term high culture to describe the pattern of cultural experiences and
attitudes that exist in the highest class segments of a society.
 People often associate high culture with intellectualism, political power, and prestige
 Events considered high culture can be expensive and formal—attending a ballet, seeing
a play, or listening to a live symphony performance, classical music like Mozart, jazz,
opera etc
 High culture literature include work of Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Shakespeare
f)Popular Culture
 Popular culture refers to the beliefs, practices, and objects that are part of everyday
traditions, such as music and films, mass-marketed books and magazines, newspapers,
and Internet websites.
 The term popular culture also refers to the pattern of cultural experiences and attitudes
that exist in mainstream society.
 Popular culture is distinct from elite culture (sometimes referred to as “high culture”),
which is shared by only a select few but is highly valued
g) Global culture
 The diffusion of a single culture throughout the world is referred to as global culture.
 It also refers to the way globalization has undermined national and local cultures, with
cultural products and ways of life in different countries of the world becoming more
alike
 Globalization is the breaking down of national boundaries because of advances in
communications, trade, and travel. As globalization shrinks the globe, that is, people
around the world become more interconnected within the same global village
 People also now watch and listen to almost similar TV programs and music e.g English
premier league, WWE wrestling , top 100 billboard charts in this global culture

Multiculturalism and Cultural Diversity

 Multiculturalism is a perspective recognizing the cultural diversity of a particular

society and promoting equal standing for all cultural traditions.
 Cultural diversity is a perspective recognizing multiculturalism of a particular society
and promoting equal standing for all cultural traditions.
 However in a world of cultural difference and conflict cultural diversity can:,

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  Make people learn much about tolerance and peacemaking.
• Bring economic strength.
• Diverse societies can harness the talents of different groups of people to make a
more robust economy
• Enhance learning of foreign languages and values

Elements of culture
 Elements of culture are the essential parts or components that make up a particular
culture.
A. Symbols
 A symbol is anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share
a culture. Symbols include gestures, language, values, norms, sanctions, folkways, and
mores.
 Gestures refer to the ways in which people use their bodies to communicate with one
another without using words
 Not understanding the symbols of a culture leaves a person feeling lost and isolated,
unsure of how to act, and sometimes frightened. Culture shock is really the inability to
“read” meaning in strange surroundings e.g in Zimbabwe some people may only know
ear piercing as the popular culture in most Shona and Ndebele cultures but may be
disgusted to see lips, nose, tongues and eyebrow piercing among the Tonga
B. Language
 Language is a system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another
e.g Shona, Ndebele ,English
 Language not only allows communication but is also the key to cultural transmission,
the process by which one generation passes culture to the next.
 Language is crucial in this instances:
• Provides a Social or Shared Past- Without language, our memories would be
extremely limited, for we associate experiences with words and then use words to
recall the experience.
C. Norms
 Norms are the specific cultural expectations for how to behave in a given
situation. They are crucial this way:
• Society without norms would be chaos.
• With norms in place, people know how to act, and social interactions are
consistent, predictable, and learnable
 Norms can be implicit or explicit. Sometimes norms are implicit—that is, they
need not be spelled out for people to understand them. For example, when
joining a line, there is an implicit norm that you should stand behind the last
person, not barge in front of those ahead of you.
 They are explicit when the rules governing behavior are written down or
formally communicated. Typically, specific sanctions are imposed for violating
explicit norms.

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  The term sanctions refers to the reactions people receive for following or
breaking norms.
 A positive sanction expresses approval for following a norm. Positive sanctions
can be material, such as a prize, a trophy, or money, but in everyday life they
usually consist of hugs, smiles, a pat on the back, or even handshakes and “high
fives.” Getting a raise at work is a positive sanction, indicating that you have
followed the norms clustering around work values.
 A negative sanction reflects disapproval for breaking a norm. Negative
sanctions can also be material—being fined in court is one example— but
negative sanctions, too, are more likely to be symbolic: harsh words, or gestures
such as frowns, stares, clenched jaws, or raised fists. Getting fired, however, is a
negative sanction, indicating that you have violated these norms.

i. Formal norms -established, written rules. They are behaviors worked out and
agreed upon in order to suit and serve the most people. Laws are formal norms, but
so are employee manuals, college entrance exam requirements
ii. Informal norms- casual behaviors that are generally and widely conformed to but
not precisely recorded. Standards of proper dress are a common example of informal
norms. People learn informal norms by observation, imitation, and general
socialization.
Two types of norms: folkways and mores.
iii. Mores (pronounced as MORE-rays)- norms that are strictly enforced because they
are thought essential to core values or to the well-being of the group. They are taken
seriously e.g a person who steals, rapes, or kills has violated some of society’s most
important mores.
 Mores are often upheld through laws, which are the written set of guidelines
that define right and wrong in society. Basically, laws are formalized mores.
Violating mores can bring serious repercussions.
 Mores, which include taboos, are the norms in our society that insist, for
example, that adults not walk around in public without wearing clothes.
iv. Folkways- these include norms that are not strictly enforced, norms for routine or
casual interaction. Examples include how people greet each other, decorate their
homes, and prepare their food. Folkways are loosely defined and loosely followed.
 In short, mores distinguish between right and wrong, and folkways draw a line
between right and rude. A man who does not wear a tie to a formal dinner party
may raise eyebrows for violating folkways. If, however, he were to arrive at the
party wearing only a tie, he would violate cultural mores and invite a more serious
response.
D. Values- are a culture’s standard for discerning what is good and just in society. They
are the standards by which people define what is desirable or undesirable, good or bad,
beautiful or ugly
 Values may be specific, such as honoring one’s parents and owning a home, or they
may be more general, such as health, love, and democracy

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  Values influence people’s behavior and serve as criteria for evaluating the actions
of others. The values, norms, and sanctions of a culture are often directly related.
For example, if a culture places a high value on the institution of marriage, it may
have norms (and strict sanctions) that prohibit the act of adultery or make divorce
difficult. If a culture views private property as a basic value, it will probably have
stiff laws against theft and vandalism.
 Values often suggest how people should behave, but they don’t accurately reflect
how people do behave.
 Values portray an ideal culture, the standards society would like to embrace and
live up to. But ideal culture differs from real culture, the way society actually is,
based on what occurs and exists.
 In an ideal culture, there would be no traffic accidents, murders, poverty, or racial
tension. But in real culture, police officers, lawmakers, educators, and social
workers constantly strive to prevent or repair those accidents, crimes, and injustices.
E. Beliefs-are shared ideas held collectively by people within a given culture about what is
true. They are specific thoughts or ideas that people hold to be true
 In other words, values are abstract standards of goodness, and beliefs are particular
matters that individuals consider true or false.
 Shared beliefs are part of what binds people together in society.
 Beliefs are also the basis for many norms and values of a given culture.
 Some beliefs are so strongly held that people find it difficult to cope with ideas or
experiences that contradict them. Someone who devoutly believes in God may find
atheism intolerable; those who believe in magic may seem merely superstitious to
those with a more scientific and rational view of the world.

Characteristics of culture
1. Culture is shared- it is collectively experienced and collectively agreed upon. In
Zimbabwe cultural elements like Shona and Ndebele language are shared via the
education curriculum which advocates for the teaching of these languages. The values
of respect for elders are commonly shared in various Zimbabwean societies.
Christianity is also shared
2. Culture is learned behavior-Cultural beliefs and practices are usually so well learned
that they seem perfectly natural, but they are learned nonetheless. Sociologists refer to
the process of learning culture as socialization.
3. Culture is overt and covert- it is overt on such things we can observe as houses,
clothes, speech form. It is covert when we consider some underlying attitude towards
nature and the interpretation of the world’s view. Covert culture can also be seen in
their religious beliefs like worshipping
4. Culture is symbolic-The significance of culture lies in the meaning it holds for people.
The meaning in a symbol is not inherent but is bestowed by the meaning people give it.
The Zimbabwean flag, for example, is literally a decorated piece of cloth. Its cultural
significance derives not from the cloth of which it is made but from its meaning as a
symbol of sovereignty. Desecration of the flag invokes strong emotional reactions, just
as flying it invokes strong feelings of patriotism and pride.

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 5. Culture is explicit and implicit- culture is explicit when we consider those actions,
which can be explained and described readily by those who perform them e.g. people
can explain why they greet others. Culture is implicit when we consider those things we
do, but are unable to explain them yet we believe them to be so e.g. the norm of
standing in a queue.
6. Culture is abstract- it exists only in the minds or habits of the members of society we
cannot see culture but we can only see human behavior which occurs in regular,
patterned fashion called culture
7. Culture is pervasive- it touches every aspect of life. e.g. language, beliefs, attitudes
8. Culture is a human product- it is not independent of human actors. It is a creation of
the society in interaction and depends for its existence upon continuance of society.
9. Culture varies across time and place-Culture is not fixed from one place to another
e.g. there is dowry during marriage in India while in Zimbabwe there is bride price. As
people encounter new situations, the culture that emerges is a mix of the past and
present. Subcultures emerge within a culture for various reasons. Examples may
include:
10. Culture is stable, yet changing- when culture comes into contact with other cultures, it
has to charge. Among the BaTonga people widow inheritance has now been done without
sexual contract different from the old way which included sex.
 The changes can take any of these three ways:
• If the receiving culture is more powerful, it absorbs the incoming cultural elements
and refashions them as part of its own culture.
• If the receiving culture is at the same level of development as the incoming elements,
there is a level of partnership and they fuse into one another
• If the incoming culture is more dominating than the receiving one relegates the
receiving to the background and the incoming culture tends to take its shape.

Causes of Cultural Change

 A change in the societal conditions

 Cultural diffusion
 Innovation including inventions and technological developments
 Cultural change can be imposed
 Migration
 urbanization

Effects of cultural change

 One result is cultural leveling, a process in which cultures become similar to one
another.
 Xenocentrism

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 The influence of culture in promoting unhu/Ubuntu
 Sanctions promote human dignity in the sense that if a person do something wrong like
stealing there is a negative sanction
 Positive sanctions increase co-operation within the society as people will be driven to
do good due to rewards e.g. the philanthropist or humanitarian awards in soe societies
to those who do philanthropic work
 Mores demands conformity on the part of humans. Laws of a society are part of Mores
meant to make people conform to the set standards. They bring social order
 Values govern the conduct of people towards each other e.g Respect
 Religious beliefs of a society promote compassion. For instance most Christian
denomination preach the gospel of helping the need
 However due to cultural change, globalization and cultural diversity some elements of
Ubuntu have been undermined
 Countercultures arise which sometimes perpetuate prohibited beliefs, values etc e.g.
Corruption may arise due inability to follow formal norms

EDUCATION

 Education is a social institution through which a society’s children are taught basic
academic knowledge, learning skills, and cultural norms
 Education, like the family, is a cultural universal. As such it is an important aspect of
socialization

Types of Education
1. Formal education or learning describes the learning of academic facts and concepts through
a formal curriculum
 It consist of clearly defined skills or bodies of knowledge taught in an organized
manner(the lesson) which can be graded and tested (examinations) after a set period (the
length of the course) e.g subjects at school like mathematics, history are formal learning
 Formal learning is the official reason for the existence of schools

Characteristics of formal education

(a) It is pre-determined and pre planned.
(b) It is time bound and regulated by routine.
(c)It is space bound i.e., institutional.
(d) It is age bound.
(e)It follows systematic curriculum.
(f) It is imparted by qualified teachers.
(g) It observes strict discipline
(h) It is methodical in nature.

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2. Informal education or learning describes learning about cultural values, norms, and
expected behaviors by participating in a society.
 This type of learning occurs both through the formal education system and at home. It is
part of the socialization process.
 Through informal education, we learn how to dress for different occasions, how to perform
regular life routines like shopping for and preparing food, and how to keep our bodies
clean.
 It is not organized or examined
 It is learned in our daily lives through interaction with other people and through the mass
media. The most people who influence informal learning are family, the peer group and
especially friends and teachers

Formal and informal learning: The hidden curriculum

 Formal learning may occur in the home e.g where a mother teaches her child to bake a cake
or repair a car; while in school informal learning takes place alongside formal learning. A
sociology lesson maybe about culture. Through the lesson the learner may be socialized
informally to expect certain patterns of behavior from the elderly
 All things that the pupils learn at school which are not officially part of the lessons are
known as the hidden curriculum
 The term is used because all the lessons that form the typical school timetable are
collectively known as the formal curriculum

Examples of the hidden curriculum

 Gender roles can be learnt through the actions of teachers in responding to girls and boys
differently and expecting different forms of behavior from them
 Racial differences are learnt partly through content of books e.g. very few books, if any,
studied at school have a black heroine or hero
 Class differences can also be learnt through hidden curriculum. Research by Sharpe and
green indicates that teachers are more sympathetic towards middle class children and find it
easier to relate to them, possibly because teachers come from middle class backgrounds
themselves
 Steaming and examinations prepare children for the inequality of later life when some
groups take the better jobs with higher prestige and better rates of pay. Children come to
regard it as natural that people are graded

Characteristics of informal education

(a) It is incidental and spontaneous.
(b) It is not pre planned and deliberate.
(c) It is not confined to any institution.
(d) There is no prescribed syllabus and time table.
(e) It is not time bound and age bound.
(f) There are many agencies of informal education.

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 (g) It is also known as out of school education.

Functions of education

Manifest functions of education-the basic and obvious functions of education

1. Inculcation of values and standards of the society
2. Maintenance of social solidarity by developing in children a sense of belonging to the
society together with a commitment to its way of life, as they understand it
3. Transmission of knowledge, which comprises the social heritage
4. Development of new knowledge
 Other manifest functions of education include:
 Provision of literacy and numeracy and specialized training for occupational competence
leading to personal fulfillment and social contribution
 The presentation and transmission of culture from one generation to another
 The development of individual’s ability for rational thinking
 Expansion of student’s intellectual horizons
 Education is an agent of upward social mobility (the movement of people between
positions in a system of social stratification ) in society
 It is an agent of socio-cultural change and reform

Latent functions of education- functions which are not obvious

 It is a free baby-sitting service, separating children from their parents for regular and
reasonably prolonged periods of the day and year
 It provides opportunities for children to become acquitted with a wider and more diverse
circle of friends than they would otherwise reach
 It is a useful marriage market because young adults sometimes choose their mates from
amongst their educational peers
 It is also a means by which the supply of labor is reduced
 The institution of education via schools is a significant agent of socialization. i.e.
inculcation of values and attitudes acceptable to the society

Educational policies and national building

 STEM promote innovation and invention as learners will be applying their engineering
skills to build infrastructure in the country
• Technological skills enable the nation to advance in terms of ICT usage which is necessary
to attract investors

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 • Science studies promote discovery in the nation e.g. medicine for certain incurable diseases
or new infectious diseases
• Mathematics enable the nation to solve the shortage of mathematics teachers in the
education sector
 Localization of examinations through ZIMSEC reduce costs for a nation of importing
expensive CAMBRIDGE exams which may require foreign currency
 BEAM and equal access to education policy enable children from poor families to access
education thereby reducing inequality in the society. Potential in learners is also ignited
which might lead them to undertake STEM subjects
 Presidential scholarships also assist the nation in having professionals who can plough back
into the society after they have been assisted in acquiring their degrees
 Civic education through teaching the schools national pledge is crucial inculcating
nationalism and patriotism in the learners
 Affirmative action policy in education helps in including women in development issues.
Women will be able to acquire the level of education same with men and therefore become
examples to other women in the society. This also reduce gender stereotypes which may
affect women’s confidence building
 Teacher in-service and upgrading through ZINTEC and teacher capacity development
enable teachers to be able to produce relevant and well educated learners who can initiate
social and economic change
 Feeding program
 However there are some challenges(some noted above)which may make education not able
to bring nation building
• There is brain drain
• corruption

Educational Achievement
 It includes the degree of students’ academic learning, chances and educational success. It is
determined by intelligence and other social factors like race, class e.t.c. research has shown
that the higher a child’s parents are in the class structure the greater that child’s chances of
educational success

Factors of differential educational achievement

1. Intelligence-Research findings have shown that some pupils do well in school because they
are naturally intelligent. Out of the intelligence a child has about 80% is genetically endowed
intelligence. In other words 80% of a person’s intelligence is inherited from parents.
2. Family/home background- in explaining why certain children, usually from the working
class achieve poor academic results many sociologists point to three areas of disadvantage
linked with the home background of working-class children
underachievement
3. Social Class-In general children who come from high-class backgrounds are likely to
perform well in class

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4. The school:
a) Schools maybe understaffed and teachers are made to teach subjects they were not trained
for. In such cases the teacher’s knowledge of the subject is very superficial.
b) Labelling- it is a term associated with placing a student into special education and assigning
an eligibility category. Howard Becker used this term describing the way teachers apply labels
on their pupils in terms of their ability, potential or behavior
c) Streaming- it is the division pupils into teaching groups according to their general
ability. It is also a form of labelling pupils

d) The peer group

e) Type of school- it can also be presumed that someone who attends a private school in
contrast to a public city school, or some that receives extra tuition and attends a school
that have a great resources and facilities has a greater prospect achieving well in
future.
5. The neighborhood-The absence of positive role models within the community
contributed to the fact that learners did not see the value of education in the lives of
those around them; hence education played little or no role in their success.
6. Gender
a) Parental socialization- parents have different expectations of their children. Boys are
expected to be tougher and more boisterous, girls to be quieter and neater. This creates
the basis the basis for differences in interests and attitudes
b) Curriculum differences-curriculum means the combination of subjects followed by
school pupils

Relationship between education and social mobility

 Social mobility signifies the movement of people between positions in a system of
social stratification. It is the movement from one class or rank or status to another
horizontally, vertically or downwards.
 Education is a very potent means of encouraging social mobility the Zimbabwean
society. It has multidirectional influence in promoting social mobility. Education plays
such an important role in following ways.
• Employment
• Improved status of women
• Respect, integrity and honor
• Self-actualization
• Promotion at work
• Improved salary scale
• Motivation.

Relationship between education and the economy

 Education plays a pivotal role in the state economy, in the following:
• People in any state can manage their living standards very well through education
hence develop the economy. e.g. people become self-reliant

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 • People are able to manage and plan their own affairs for a sound development. e.g. it
can promote entrepreneurship
• Some crucial aspects of the economy for example inflation can be improved by one
tool of education.
• People are educated and are able to solve their social problems with education
becoming a binding factor. E.g. education improves social responsibility
• Education enables scientific advances like promoting use of ICTs through STEM. It
increases innovation in the economy
• Can partner with religion in economic development (refer to protestant ethic and
spirit of capitalism)
• Economy is controlled by the state of literacy among people. Literacy drives a
country’s economy
• Education is an investment in human capital, similar to investment in better
equipment.

GENDER
Sex and Gender identity
 Sex refers to physical or physiological differences between males and females, including
both primary sex characteristics (the reproductive system) and secondary characteristics
such as height and muscularity.
 Gender refers to behaviors, personal traits, and social positions that society attributes to
being female or male.

Sex Gender
 The anatomical and physiological differences  The psychological, social and cultural
that define male and female bodies. differences between males and females

 Characteristics will not vary significantly  Varies from society to society

between different human societies.
 refers to male or female  refers to masculinity or femininity
 you inherit your sex  you learn your gender as you are
socialized into the behaviors and attitudes
your culture

Gender Roles
 Gender roles are attitudes and activities that a society links to each sex.
 They are the differences of behavior which are expected from men and women
Male and female roles

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 Female roles Male roles
 Being gentle  Tough and physical
 Emotional  Less emotional
 Wearing dresses, skirts make up  Regarding clothes and their appearance
 Being better at cooking and dressmaking as less important
 Domestic chores e.g kutwa among the  Doing manual jobs
Tonga  Initiating and controlling all sexual
 Mothering relations.

The social construction of gender roles

 Gender differences in Behavior: Biology or Culture?

 Is gender a matter of nature or nurture?
 There are some biological differences between women and men, but looking at gender
sociologically quickly reveals the extraordinary power of social and cultural influences on
things often popularly seen as biologically fixed.

Gender equity and equality

 Gender equality refers to the valuation of men and women and sameness of
enjoyment of rights, power, opportunities, treatment and control of resources between
males and females in the society e.g. enjoyment of same voting rights
 Gender inequality therefore entails a situation whereby women and men are not equal
in terms of their valuation in opportunities, treatment, power etc. The causes of such
inequalities are grounded in the nature vs. nurture debate
 Gender equity is a process of achieving fairness and justice among men and women
e.g. fairness in enrolment into university
 Gender equity leads to gender equality
 Gender discrimination refer to a prejudice or discrimination that is based on a
person’s sex or gender
 Examples and forms of discrimination include:
• Discrimination in employment where women are not employed in certain areas of
employment such as construction, mechanics
• Wage discrimination where men and women have the same rank at work but given
different salaries
• Maternity and pregnancy discrimination at work where women are not allowed to get
pregnant at work or threatened with dismissal if they fall pregnant e.g. nursing and army
recruitment
• Sexual harassment e.g. carpet interview, sex for marks, sex for promotion

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 • Gender based violence
• Sexist comments e.g. all women are prostitutes or all men are same or men are dogs
Women and Employment
 Employment influence the social status of women in the following ways:
 when women become wage earners, they can gain power in the family structure and create
more democratic arrangements in the home e.g. they can decide together with the husband
on family financial issues
 There will be removal of gender stratification.

Gender stratification refers to the hierarchical distribution of social and economic resources
according to gender .e.g. more women become motivated to be employed
 Promotion of sexual freedom- women’s control over their sexuality and reproduction will
be enhanced .e.g. some professions like nursing and army training prohibit women to
become pregnant during the course, this give them autonomy over reproduction in the
family
 Reduced sexual violence- patriarchy decreases as women ceases to be always at home
depending on the husband. This reduces violence against women in the form of rape,
domestic abuse, sexual harassment, and pornography
 However there are some problems faced by Zimbabwean women in employment
 Men still occupy the highest positions of organizational power
 Men are found in highly skilled manual jobs than females
 Gender stereotyping.
Gender stereotyping involves overgeneralizing about the attitudes, traits, or behavior
patterns of women or men. For example, women may be thought of as too timid or weak to
ride a motorcycle. Therefore women may not be believed to be good leaders in an
organization. Gender stereotypes form the basis of sexism.

Sexism refers to prejudiced beliefs that value one sex over another.
 Absenteeism due to pregnancy, domestic care giving issues like caring for the sick
 Sexual harassment e.g. carpet interviews to gain promotion favors  To address such
challenges, organizations can:
 Implement Affirmative action/positive discrimination e.g. setting aside some positions for
women
 Implementing paternity leave together with maternity leave to ensure both parents share
the child rearing responsibilities

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
The concept of Stratification
 Social stratification refers to a society’s categorization of its people into rankings of
socioeconomic tiers based on three major factors:

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  Power- degree to which individuals or groups can impose their will on others, with or
without the consent of those others.
 Prestige -Amount of esteem and honor associated with social positions, qualities of
individual and life styles.
 Wealth and property- material possessions defined as valuable in particular societies
e.g. land, livestock, buildings, money etc.
 Other factors include:
 income,
 race,
 education,
 Age
 Sex
 Religion.
 Henslin (2012) supports this definition by saying social stratification is a system in which
groups of people are divided into layers according to their relative property, power, and
prestige.
 Social inequality describes a condition in which members of society have differing
amounts of wealth, prestige, or power.
 Systems of stratification maybe closed or open. A closed system of stratification is one in
which the social status is decided by birth right as opposed to personal accomplishments.
In this type of system it does not matter how much wealth or knowledge one attains e.g.
the Royal Family of England. This is characterized more by ascribed status.
 Status can be regarded as some position in a social system which has a particular role
attached e.g. chief, professor.
 Ascribed status therefore is a social position assigned to a person by society without
regard for the person’s unique talents or characteristics.
 Open stratification is based primarily on economic criteria, particularly income. Social
position is achieved through one’s efforts. This is characterized more by achieved status.
Achieved status is a social position that a person attains largely through his or her efforts.
The boundaries between classes are more flexible than in the closed system. There is
opportunity for social mobility and status can improve or decline. Class system in modern
industrial society is best example of an open system of stratification.
 Social hierarchy is a set of ranked statuses. Some members of our society are regarded as
the haves and others as the have-nots.
 There are four fundamental principles of stratification.
 Social stratification is a trait of society- Neither the rich nor the poor created
social stratification, yet this system shapes the lives of us all.
 Social stratification carries over from generation to generation- The social
standing of most people remains much the same over their lifetime. However some
people, especially in high-income societies, do experience social mobility.
 Social stratification is universal but variable- Social stratification is found
everywhere however some societies contain more inequality than others

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  Social stratification involves both inequality and beliefs- Just as the details of
inequality vary, the explanations of why people should be unequal differ from
society to society
Forms of Social Stratification
(a) Caste
 A caste system is social stratification based on ascription, or birth
 This is the form of social stratification whereby classification of people into different
strata is made on the basis of usually religious and other very strong conventions/
traditions that are difficult to change. Some of the features of caste system include:
 It is a very rigid and closed system. Membership in caste system is ascribed (given and
birth). It is not based on achievements and efforts of an individual.
 People belonging to the same stratum practice endogamy.
 Intermarriage between strata is not permitted.
 There are occupational differences between strata; i.e., each stratum is usually assigned
a particular type of occupation.
 Food sharing, social drinking, friendships, etc., are permitted only within a stratum, not
between strata.
 In Zimbabwe ancient times, the Ndebele state was masked by caste.

(c) Estate
 In an estate system of stratification, the ownership of property and the exercise of power
are monopolized by an elite class who have total control over societal resources.
 Historically, such societies were feudal systems where classes were differentiated into
three basic groups:
 The nobles (nobility, the wealthy families who ruled the society. This group owned the
land, which was the source of wealth at that time).
 The priesthood (consisted of the clergy. It also owned vast amounts of land and collected
taxes from everyone who lived within the boundaries of a parish )
 The commoners (Known as serfs, they belonged to the land. If someone bought or
inherited land, the serfs came with it. Serfs were born into the third estate, and they died
within it, too ).Commoners included peasants (usually the largest class group), small
merchants, artisans, domestic workers, and traders
 Estate systems of stratification are most common in agricultural societies. Although such
societies have been largely supplanted by industrialization, some societies still have a
small but powerful landholding class ruling over a population that works mainly in
agricultural production.
(d) Slavery
 In a slave system, society has two groups, one of citizens with citizen rights and the other
that is more or less forcibly constrained by the stronger group and classified as property,
an owner has the right to life or death over a slave members. Slaves themselves lack
citizen status and some civil rights.

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  Today, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is binding on all members of
the United Nations, prohibits slavery in all its forms. Yet more people are enslaved today
than at any point in world history
 According to Giddens (2009), recent research has documented that people are taken by
force and held against their will. From enslaved brick makers in Pakistan to sex slaves in
Thailand and domestic slaves in relatively wealthy countries like the UK and France,
slavery remains a significant human rights violation in the world today and against many
people's assumption, seems to be increasing rather than diminishing (Bales 1999)
 The enslavement of children for work and sex is a problem in Africa, Asia, and South
America (Trafficking in Persons Report 2008).
Consequences of Social Stratification on the Lives of Individuals
 Social stratification has crucial implications for the health and well-being of people. Social
stratification is directly related to the issue of inequality, power imbalance etc, and these
directly or indirectly influence the life chances of individuals in the social strata.
 Health status of individuals is among one of these life chances which can be significantly
affected by one’s location in the stratification system.
 The different stratification systems on the basis of age, sex, gender, ethnicity, religion,
occupation, etc, directly or indirectly promote unequal chances of living standards.
 The key concepts in the relation between health and social stratification are the concepts
of vulnerability, risk and hazard.
 Vulnerability is a sociological concept which refers to the “characteristics of individuals
and social groups [along the lines of gender, age, ethnicity, occupation etc;] that determine
[their capacity] to protect themselves, withstand and recover from disasters, including
health hazards based on their access to material and non-material resources”
Life Chances
 Life chances are opportunities that people have of improving their life. These depend
upon aspects of stratification such as social class, gender, and ethnicity.
 People who share these aspects are likely to have similar life chances. Life chances
include opportunities for:-
 Employment
 Education
 Good health and well being
 Housing  Social mobility
 Life expectancy.

 Life chances are also affected by aspects of social stratification like gender, social class and
ethnic group e. g. Life expectancy is influenced in the following ways.
1. Gender: women tend to live longer than men , this is possibly because:
• Men are more likely than women to be in risky situations that may cause accidental
death including car accidents.
• Men in many societies consume more alcohol, tobacco and other drugs than women,
making them more likely to suffer from serious diseases.

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 • Men’s work exposes them to risks, such as risks of accidents in mining and factory
work.
• There are also biological reasons for differences between the life expectancy of men
and women.
2. Social class: working class people have lower life expectancy than middle-class people in
the same society. This is possibly because:
• Working class occupations are more dangerous so there are more work related deaths.
• Working class people may live in unhealthy environments, such as near sources of
pollution or in damp cold houses.
• Working class people may not be able to afford good health care.
• Occupying a higher social class in a society improves your life chances and brings
greater access to social rewards. In contrast, people in the lower social classes are
forced to devote a larger proportion of their limited resources to the necessities of life
3. Ethnicity: minority ethnic groups tend to be low down the socio-economic scale and so
they are affected by the same factors as those that influence social class and life chances.
• Racial discrimination also comes in to affect access to services that enhance life
expectancy .e.g. reports from south Africa that Zimbabweans are denied urgent health care
• Disease prevalence maybe influenced by ethnic factors.

Social Mobility
 The term social mobility refers to the movement of individuals and groups between
different socio-economic positions
 It also refers to the ability to change positions within a social stratification system. When
people improve or diminish their economic status in a way that affects social class, they
experience social mobility.
Types of social mobility
1. Vertical social mobility- it means movement up or down the socio-economic scale.
Those who gain in property, income or status are said to be upwardly mobile.
 Upward mobility refers to an increase—or upward shift—in social class Those who
move in the opposite direction are downwardly mobile.
 Downward mobility indicates a lowering of one’s social class. Some people move
downward because of business setbacks, unemployment, or illness. Dropping out of
school, losing a job, or getting a divorce may result in a loss of income or status and,
therefore, downward social mobility.
2. Horizontal/lateral social mobility- individual in this case moves within one social
stratum, there is no success or failure on the part of the individual. What has only
happened is change of social position but the positions will be of the same prestige and
power as what happens when one changes employment without promotion or demotion
e.g. in Zimbabwe, from being Teacher to a Nurse.

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Causes of social mobility
 Occupational change e.g. the child of a laborer may become an artisan or a technician
 Educational change e.g. scholarship to a working class child. Education represents an
important means of intergenerational mobility. A person who was born into a poor family
but who graduates from college has a one in five chance of entering the top fifth of all
income earners as an adult (Isaacs et al. 2008).
 Individual motivation and aspiration e.g. motivation to succeed
 marriage

Functions of Social Stratification

 Unequal rewards (which is what social stratification is) benefit society as a whole. This
promotes productivity and efficiency because rewarding important work with income,
prestige, power, and leisure encourages people to do these jobs and to work better, longer,
and harder.
 It offers incentives for people to try their best
 It draws talented people away from less important work.
 It offers opportunity for less pleasant jobs to be taken e.g. cleaning public toilets
 It ranks social positions to their varying degrees of functional importance

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND OCCUPATIONS

-Entrepreneurship refers to a business which is run so as to generate profit
-Occupation refers to any kind of work done in exchange for a regular salary
-An entrepreneur is a person who invests in doing a business
-When doing occupations, people are looking at careers/jobs/employment

STAGES OF EMPLOYMENT/ STAGES OF PRODUCTION

-Include primary, secondary and tertiary

1.Primary sector include extraction of raw materials from the earth
-eg farming, mining, fishing
-is the first sector
-is most common in developing countries like Zimbabwe

2. Secondary sector is the second stage

-has changing of raw materials into finished and semi-finished products
-has construction

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-include baking, milling

3. there is tertiary which is the provision of services to other sectors of the economy
-include services like banking, insurance and tourism

START - UP STRATEGIES

-these are the sources of finance for entrepreneurs or refer to where entrepreneurs get income or
capital to start business
-sources of income include;
1. Personal savings
2. Bank loans
3. Lease
4. Aid
5. Finance companies like Tottengram
6. Borrowing from friends

Factors affecting Entrepreneurship

-availability of capital
-availability of skilled labour
-availability of markets to sell products
-government policies eg Indigenization policy and Zimbabwe Agenda For Sustainable Socio-
Economic Transformation ( ZIMASSET )
-availability of transport to move workers, raw materials and finished products
-availability of modern technology like computers and computer software
-availability of raw materials eg milk in the production of home- made ice cream
-availability of power supply in the manufacturing of goods

Characteristics of a Good Entrepreneur

-must be skilled or very knowledgeable

-Risk taker- can survive competition
-Fight competition-through advertizing, giving free gifts etc
-Innovative -able to come up with new ideas or being creative, coming up with new products

ADVANTAGES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

-Entrepreneurship has various advantages such as:

-creates employment
-reduces poverty since people get money
-improves livelihoods for people

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-leads to development of new technology
-reduces unemployment rate
-leads to development of infrastructure
-generation of foreign currency

CHALLENGES FACED BY ENTREPRENEURS

-lack of capital to buy raw materials and pay labour

-lack of skills to run the business
-mismanagement of funds which causes downfall
-politics has negative impact on the success of business
-lack of raw materials to produce goods
-lack of government support eg failure to provide loans to entrepreneurs
-poor market prices especially when there are many suppliers for example at Tobacco Sales
Floor
-lack of collateral security to borrow loans
-unable to design a business plan which is the roadmap for a business
-long process in registering the company (bureaucracy)

MEASURES TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT TO PROMOTE ENTREPRENEURSHIP

-availing loans to the entrepreneurs at low interest rate

-Designing policies like Indigenization policy and Zimbabwe Agenda For Sustainable Socio-
Economic Transformation (ZIMASSET)
-creating markets for entrepreneurs for example commodity markets where primary products are
sold for example the one in Mbare
-giving inputs eg under the Presidential Inputs Scheme eg to farmers
-training entrepreneurs through various training institutions eg Nyahoni Training Centre in
Chikomba and Mushagashe Training Centre in Masvingo

*However, the government lacks foreign currency to import cheap raw materials
-the government lacks adequate capital to give entrepreneurs
-the government has policy inconsistency
-some policies like Indigenization policy do not promote small scale entrepreneurship
-there is political instability in Zimbabwe which negatively affects business
-most people are negative on entrepreneurship. It is viewed as something for failures in life.

BUSINESS PLAN
-This is a document containing the objectives of the business
IMPORTANCES OF A BUSINESS PLAN

-assist a company to secure funding eg start up capital from bank loans

-it shows whether the company has potential to make profit or loss
-it is a road map for a business
-it is a management tool through constant reference to business objectives

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- provides job description to organizational members eg duties of the manager

NB: Design your own business plan including various components and the name of
company.

FORMS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

-there are forms such as:

1. Sole trader/ independent trader/ sole proprietor
2. Partnerships
3. Corporations

a) SOLE TRADER

-Sole means one

-sole traders are business people who operate individually
-capital is usually raised from personal or own savings
-sole trade is very easy to run because decision making is fast
-they need less capital volumes
-they are usually located near customers
-They have few legal formalities eg Trading Licenses
-can deal with selling groceries, farm produce or other services
-business usually employs relatives

*However, sole traders usually charge high prices for their products
-they usually lack capital for expansion eg to expand a retail shop or expanding the farm
-their businesses usually die with founders ( the death of the owner usually causes a downfall to
the business )
-they usually suffer from unlimited liability due to limited capital
-they lack specialization which can reduce sales

b) PARTNERSHIPS

-A partnership is an association of 2 to 20 people who join to do business

-these members are called partners
-A partnership is bigger than a sole trader
-it falls under the private sector
-it is formed guided by a partnership deed ( a written agreement )

-the partnership deed has the following information:

1. Name of the partnership

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2. names of partners
3.duties of each member
4. how conflicts are solved

-there is general and limited partnership

ADVANTAGES
-raise more capital than a sole trader
-skills can be put together
-better decisions can be made because of numbers
-allows specialization

DISADVANTAGES
-Decision making is slow due to numbers
-Conflicts can lead to dissolution of the partnership
-limited in raising large capital volumes
-can lack continuity as one partner dies or is bankrupt
-sleeping or dormant partners do not actively contribute to the running of the business

c) CORPORATIONS

-These are bigger enterprises with headquarters in one country and branches in several countries
-example includes British Broadcasting Corporation
-other corporations include Unilever, Bata, Econet and Lonhro
-if these corporations exist in different countries, they are termed multinational corporations

ADVANTAGES
-Have very large capital volumes
-employ a very large number of people
-earn foreign currency to the host country
-lead to development of new technology
-improves government revenue through tax paying

DISADVANTAGES
-Exploit local labour in host country (employed for poor salaries and poor working conditions)
-causes stiff competition which then causes death of local industries
-causes retrenchment of workers if the company relocates (moves to the other country)
-more profits are repatriated to the mother (parent) countries

ROLE OF ADVERTIZING IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Def: Advertizing means persuading customers to buy the products

*has functions such as ;

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-launch new products in the market
-remind customers of other products introduced back
-to fight competition from other suppliers of the same products
-attract customers so that they buy products
-fight adverse publicity by other people and the media
-to increase profits
-to increase sales
-to recruit employees through newspaper advertisements
-to inform customers on prices, how to use products and where to find them.

*Entrepreneurs can be classified as

1. Formal business
2. Informal business
-These are again termed sectors of employment

a) Formal Business

-these are large enterprises which are registered with the registrar of companies
-this type of business operates under rules and regulations
-has written code of conduct
-is well organized
-usually employs skilled labour
-has many workers (employees)
-examples include all Ministries in Zimbabwe eg;
1. Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education
2. Ministry of Mines and Mining Development
3. Health and Child Care
-workers have regular salaries
-have regular working hours eg from 8am to 4pm
-there is high job security

*Job security is a condition when workers are assured that they will remain employed by
the same employer
-helps in planning purposes
-improves standard of living of the worker and family
-raises social status
-leads to job satisfaction

DISADVANTAGES

-they require large capital volumes to set up

-usually only skilled labour and ignores semi-skilled and unskilled labour
-difficult to run since they are too big
-they are usually corrupt

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b) Informal Sector Business

Def: these are small enterprises which are not registered with the registrar of companies
-they are an opposite of formal businesses
-they are usually individually owned or family owned
-usually employs relatives
-can employ semi-skilled and unskilled labour
-needs low capital volume ton start
-can be found at home (backyard industry)
-has irregular working hours
-has irregular salary
-poorly organized
-they are easy to form
-create employment for many people
-include enterprises like:

1. Brick moulding
2. Welding
3. Carpentry
4. Production of freezits

DISADVANTAGES

-have limited capital volumes

-have limited space for expansion due to lack of capital
-lack of collateral security to obtain bank loans
-mismanagement of business due to lack of appropriate skills in business

GENDER AND OCCUPATIONS

-the focus is to study the employment structure in different organizations based on whether one
is male or female
-in Africa and in Zimbabwe to be specific, men usually get better employment than women
especially before independence
-this is due to patriarchy
-Patriarchy is a system where males are more dominant than females
-women usually do housework

Def: Housework refers to duties done at home whether paid or unpaid

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-include –cooking
-gardening
-washing
-fetching firewood
-ironing
-nursing babies
-cleaning the yard
-women’s jobs are usually undermined (looked down upon)
-most women are under domestic work due to factors like :
1. they are socialized to be indoors
2 religion teaches them not to participate in public
3. nature- women bear and nurse children for example they do breast feeding
4. women are weak and cannot do heavy work as compared to men eg working underground in
mines
5. fear or lack of confidence in themselves due to socialization

-most industries employ males as compared to females

-where there is equality in employment, men are found in most important positions eg
Headmasters, Ministers, Managers and Inspectors
-this is called gender discrimination in employment
-Def: Gender discrimination is the unequal treatment of one sex at the expense of the other
-women are discriminated in terms of employment mainly because of culture
-men and women doing the same job can get different salaries with women being underpaid
-in industries, women do the menial and least paid jobs such as
1. sweeping
2. cleaning
3. feeding patients in hospitals
4. office orderly
5. cooking (breakfast and lunch)

GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION

-the government has improved the condition of women

-the government is trying to promote gender equality in occupations
-the government has enacted:
1. The Equal Employment Act- this ensures that men and women must be equally considered in
all forms of employment for example when they apply for jobs
2. Equal Pay Act- ensures that men and women doing the same type of work must be equally
paid
3. Maternity Leave- females are now allowed to go for maternity leave while receiving their
normal salary

METHODS OF GENDER EMPOWERMENT

-Educating people ie both men and women

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-emancipation of women through development projects like Cross Border Trading, Command
Agriculture and Poultry
-Awareness campaigns
-Use of legislations such as Equal Pay Act

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT AT WORKPLACE

-Def: Conflicts are disagreements mainly between employers and employees (workers)or
between employees themselves or departments
-conflicts include quarreling and fighting

CAUSES OF CONFLICTS/ SOURCES OF CONFLICTS

1. Leadership style- employer can use autocracy that is excluding workers in decision making
2. Low wages or low salaries for the employees can cause conflicts also
3. Poor working conditions for example long working hours, lack of safety at work eg use of
dangerous machines
4. Abuse of office- is when employers exploit the employees eg male managers asking for
sexual favours from female employees
5. Unequal distribution of resources between departments eg vehicles. Organizations have
departments such as Production, Marketing, Quality Control, Human Resources etc
6. Incompatible personality- some personalities do not match at workplaces and this can create
conflicts
6. Poor communication for example by the supervisor to the employees (workers)
7. Change in organizations - some workers who cannot adapt to change can find it difficult to
adjust to new job requirements thereby causing conflicts

HOW TO SOLVE WORK RELATED CONFLICTS

-Training in conflict management

-equitable distribution of resources at work across departments
-Arbitration - finding a third party to solve conflicts such as Workers’ Unions
-Educating workers so that they can prevent conflicts and must be able to do conflict resolution
-Actively involving workers in decision making on anything that affect them (Use of
Democracy at work)
-Collaboration – taking ideas from different employees and use them for effective operation of
the work

MANAGEMENT

Def: Managers are the people who control the operations of the industrial organization
-Have functions such as planning, organizing, staffing, directing, budgeting, recruiting,
controlling,

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INDUSTRIALIZATION IN ZIMABABWE

Def: Is when the country’s economy is based on the production of goods and services
-Industrialization has led to mechanization
-Mechanization is the use of machinery in the production of goods and services

-Industrialization has benefits such as

1. Create employment for the people

2. Improve the standard of living for the people
3. Lead to development of new forms of technology
4. Lead to mechanization which makes work easier
5. Lead t development of infrastructure
6. Lead to generation of foreign currency through exporting products

However, industrialization causes exploitation of workers

-leads to pollution like air, water, land and noise
-causes depletion of natural resources
-degrades the natural environment in a bid to exploit raw materials

MECHANIZATION

-Def: Refers to the use of machinery in the production of goods and services
-it can be in agriculture, manufacturing or any other sector

Advantages
-makes work easier as compared to manual working
-reduces the cost of training labour in doing different activities
-completing the jobs becomes very fast
-quality of life is improved through use of machinery eg in communication, the use of cellular
phones has changed positively the way of life of people
-with mechanization, high quality products are produced

Disadvantages
-expensive to buy machinery
-loss of job security since technology can replace workers anytime
-leads to automation – replacing workers with machines
-use of machines requires workers to be trained first in order for them to be skilled so its
expensive
-machinery leads to deskilling of workers since they no longer think but rather guided by the
operational rules
-causes high rate of unemployment since most of the work is mechanized
-mechanization causes alienation of the worker

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NB: Alienation is when workers do not identify themselves with the organization they are
working for
-workers do not feel to be part of the work place
-workers have no pride in their work
-workers cannot buy products of their labour

DIVISION OF LABOUR

-Is when work is split into various individual tasks that are easy to work on
-is closely linked to specialization
-Specialization is when the workers concentrate on one individual task eg in a car assembly
industry, one worker can specialize on electronics and the other on engines

Advantages

-workers gain skills due to repetition of one task and this improves production
-workers choose and do the work they are interested in
-leads to mass production – this is the production of a wide variety of goods and servives
-allows mechanization which makes work easier
-large scale production leads to employment of large number of workers
-mass production ensures low production costs which leads to low prices of goods and services
-division of labour leads to specialization which leads to production of high quality products

Disadvantages

-causes interdependence of workers since one worker is best in a single task

-use of machinery causes unemployment
-high quality products produced are very expensive to buy
-tasks become repetitive and monotonous (boring)
-disruption in any one part affects the whole production process
-causes lack of job satisfaction due to repeating one task
-there is loss of workers’ craftsmanship (deskilling)

WORKERS’ UNIONS / TRADE UNIONS

-Def: These are organizations with an objective of protecting the interests of workers
(employees) negotiating their problems with employers
-Examples include
1. Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA)
2. Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ)
3. Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (ZFCU)
4. Food and Allied Workers Union of Zimbabwe (FAWUZ)

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FUNCTIONS

-negotiating with the employers on the behalf of the workers for example negotiating on issues
of salary increases and working conditions
-act as a channel of communication between employers and employees
-helping individual members on work related issues eg suspensions
-help employees with informed decision making skills
-provide legal aid in case of disputes with the employer
-Arbitration – acting as third party in resolving disputes between employer and employee

Problems faced
-limited membership causes limited capital for growth
-divide and rule tactic by the employer disrupts achievements
-poor management skills affect workers negatively
-poor legal representation can lead workers to lose their jobs
-disunity among members causes failure of the workers’ unions

STRIKE

Def: Is a temporary stoppage of work by employees to express work related grievances.

-For example the one by Zimbabwean Teachers in January 2019
-Strike is sometimes called job action

Causes of Strike

-poor salaries
-long working hours
-wild salary deductions
-lack of leave days
-lack of off days
-abuse of office eg using harsh words by the employer to workers

Solutions

-motivate workers through free housing and transport benefits

-include them in decision making on anything which affect their lives at work
-give them allowances
-increase salary for them
-improve working conditions
-give workers leave and off days
-use of legislations to prevent strikes for example Section 65:3 of the Zimbabwean Constitution
has a provision to control strikes

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UNEMPLOYMENT

Def: Is a condition of people who are eligible to work but are without jobs.
-Unemployment rate refers to the percentage of those not working but officially defined as
looking for work.
-Underemployment means being employed at a skill level below the expected one based on
one’s education level and expertise

Causes

-lack of the required skills

-disability
-Gender-usually women are left out
-employee values- some people are very selective when it comes to employment
-rapid population growth
-high rate of technological advancements eg technology causes automation
-corruption – where the poor cannot do anything to acquire jobs
-incompatible curriculum with the demands of the job market
-industrial closure due to inflation and mismanagement by the administrators

Effects

-low living standards

-increase in crime rate like theft and prostitution
-family breakdown
-causes poverty that is deprivation from basic need like decent shelter
-increases HIV and AIDS
-causes drug abuse especially by the youths (juvenile delinquency)
-causes brain drain which negatively affect national development

Solutions

-land redistribution to the citizens

-use of command agriculture
-government must support entrepreneurs
-training in entrepreneurship
-making the curriculum compatible with the demands of job market
-Government to provide Unemployment Benefits for example this led to the formation of the
UB 40 Musical Band in America

POPULATION AND MIGRATION

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Population can defined as a numerical increase in people who occupy a certain area measured
within a period of time

Demography
 Demography refers to the study of the size, composition, growth, and distribution of
human populations.

a) Birthrate
.
 The higher the birth rate the more children are being born in particular year. A country’s
birth rate is described as “crude” because it is based on the entire population, not just
women in their childbearing years, it does not take into account age or sex differences.
 Sociologists use the term fertility rate referring to the number of children born for every
 1000 women of child bearing age each year.
Factors affecting the number of births (birth and fertility rate)
 Use of contraceptives
 The financial costs of having children
 Emancipation of women
 Social class-minorities tend to have more children
 Religious beliefs- Catholics discourage contraception use as well as indigenous apostolic
white garment churches in Zimbabwe.
 Cultural beliefs that favor large families as a sign of virility.

b) Mortality (death) rate

 Mortality is the incidence of death in a country’s population. To measure mortality,
demographers use the crude death rate.

Factors affecting the number of deaths

 Improvements in public hygiene
 Advances in medicine
 Higher standard of living
 Social class

c) Migration
 It refers to the movement of people from one area to another. It joins the birthrate and death
rate as factors in determining the size of a population.
 Movement into a territory, or immigration. Movement out of a territory, or emigration
 refers to the movement of people into and out of a specified territory.
 To understand migration, we need to look at both push and pull factors. The push factors
are what people want to escape: poverty or persecution for their religious and political

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 ideas. The pull factors are the magnets that draw people to a new land, such as
opportunities for education, better jobs, freedom to worship or to discuss political ideas,
and a more promising future for their children
 Migration is sometimes voluntary, as when people leave a small town and move to a larger
city. In such cases, “push-pull” factors are typically at work; a lack of jobs “pushes” people
to move, and more opportunity elsewhere “pulls” them to a larger city. Migration can also
be involuntary.
Types and causes of migration
a) Internal migration- occurs when people move from one region to another within the same
country.
i. Rural-urban migration
Push factors in rural areas
 Drought and famine
 Poor health facilities
 Low education standards
 Lack of employment varieties
Pull factors in urban areas

 Employment opportunities (Marx’s ideas)

 Better education standards
 Improved health care
 Entertainment
ii. Urban-rural migration Push factors in urban areas
 Job losses
 Retirement
 Political unrests
 Epidemic diseases e.g. COVID 19
Lack of sufficient affection from others (Blasé attitude, Gesellschaft)

Pull factors in rural areas

 Closeness to relatives (mechanical solidarity, Gemeinschaft)
 Parental care during illness
 Friendly environmental conditions
 Agriculture
iii. Urban-urban migration
 Job transfers

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 Entrepreneurship opportunities
 Educational betterment
 Health standards
 Marriage
iv. Rural to rural
 Marriage
 Land distribution
 Recreational facilities development e.g. dam, game park construction

b) International migration- occurs when people move from one country to another.

Push factors (reasons for emigration)

 Political unrests e.g. in Rwanda (Hutu and Tutsi war)
 High unemployment rates e.g. Zimbabweans goinig to South Africa
 Religious persecution e.g. Jews in Germany
 Natural disasters e.g. cyclone Idai
 Educational betterment e.g. scholarships

Pull factors Reasons for immigration)

 Religious freedom
 Job availability
 Political stability
 lucrative trading conditions (World systems theory/dependency theory)
 Better social amenities like schools, universities, hospitals

c) Voluntary migration
Marriage
 Retirement
 Education
 Change in life style

d) Involuntary(forced migration)
 War and asylum seeking
 Persecution
 Natural disasters and famine
 Slavery
 Overpopulation
Effects of migration on society
Positive effects on the place of origin

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 Remittances which improve the social and economic welfare
 Hybridization of cultures
 Improved human resources with better interpersonal skills

Negative effects on the place of origin

 Separation from family (Parsons’ view)

 Change in family composition (creation of child headed or single parent families)
 Abandonment of old people
 Increased spread of diseases e.g. HIV/AIDS, COVID 19
 “Brain drain”-loss of highly skilled man power Positive effects on the destination places
 Increased supply of labor
 Increased productivity due to job competitions
 Hybridization of cultures
Negative effects on the destination places
 Strained public services
 Increased criminality
 Job competition brings down wages for the locals
 Integration challenges-failure of integration leads to massive and expensive expulsion of
immigrants
 Increased xenophobic attacks

Global effects of HIV and AIDS

HIV stands for Human Immune deficiency Virus
AIDS stands for Acquire Immune Deficiency Syndrome

HIV can be transmitted by

 Unsafe sex
 Sharing needles syringes and other sharp objects
 Unsterile body piercing of tattooing
 Mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding
 Blood transfusion and

Risky factors that lead to spread of HIV/AIDS

a) Poverty
b) Famine
c) Low status
d) Corruption
e) Naïve risk taking perception
f) Resistance to sexual behavior change

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 g) High prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STI)
h) Lack of recreational facilities
i) Window inheritance
j) Circumcision
k) Polygamy
l) Antiquated beliefs

DEVIANCE, CRIME AND SOCIAL CONTROL

Deviance
 It may be defined as non-conformity to a given set of norms that are accepted by a
significant number of people in a community or society. All social norms are accompanied
by sanctions promoting conformity and protecting against nonconformity.
 Sanctions may be positive (offering rewards for conformity) or negative (punishing
behavior that does not conform).

 Sociologists distinguish two types of deviance: formal and informal.

 Formal deviance is behavior that breaks laws or official rules. Crime is an example.
There are formal sanctions against formal deviance, such as imprisonment and fines.
 Informal deviance is behavior that violates customary norms. Although such deviance
may not be specified in law, it is judged to be deviant by those who uphold the society’s
norms.
 Deviance and crime are not synonymous, although in many cases they overlap.

Crime
 It is one form of deviance, specifically, behavior that violates particular criminal laws. Not
all deviance is crime. Deviance becomes crime when institutions of society designate it as
violating a law or laws.
 Crime is the violation of a society’s formally enacted criminal law . It is punishable
through formal sanctions. Walking to class backward is a deviant behavior. Driving with a
blood alcohol percentage over the state’s limit is a crime.

Types of crime
 The types of crimes committed are as varied as the types of criminals who commit them.
 Most crimes fall into one of two categories— crimes against people or crimes against
property.
 Crimes against people (Violent crimes) - are based on the use of force or the threat of
force. Rape e.g. Pastor Gumbura, murder and armed robbery e.g. Chidhumo and
Masendeke fall under this category.

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 • Human Trafficking- compelling or coercing a person to engage in some form of
labor, service, or commercial sex. The coercion is overtly physical, but it can also be
psychological and subtle, such as a pimp who recruits prostitutes into a network of
sex work by initially seeming to be a boyfriend.
• Gender-Based Violence- the term used to describe the various forms of violence
that are associated with unequal power relationships between men and women.
Although both men and women can be victims of gender-based violence, it far more
frequently victimizes women and girls (Bloom 2008).
 Property Crimes (Nonviolent crimes) - involve the destruction or theft of property but
do not use force or the threat of force. Because of this, they are also sometimes called
“property crimes.” Larceny, car theft, and vandalism are all types of nonviolent crimes.
If you use a crowbar to break into a car, you are committing a nonviolent crime; if you
mug someone with the crowbar, you are committing a violent crime.
• Identity Theft- is defined as the use of someone else’s personal identifying
information, usually for purposes of some kind of fraud (Allison et al. 2005).
• Elite and White-Collar Crime. Refers to criminal activities by people of high
social status who commit crime in the context of their occupation (Sutherland and
Cressey 1978). White-collar crime includes activities such as embezzlement (stealing
funds from one’s employer), involvement in illegal stock manipulations
(insider trading), and a variety of violations of income tax law, including tax
evasion.

 Hate Crimes. A criminal offense that is motivated in whole or part by bias

against a
“race, religion, disability, ethnic origin, or sexual orientation” (www.fbi.gov).
 Victimless Crimes- are those that violate laws but where there is no complainant.
Victimless crimes include various illicit activities, such as gambling, illegal drug use,
and prostitution. While some claim acts like these are victimless, others argue that they
actually do harm society.
 Cybercrimes-these are ICT related crimes
• Electronic vandalism and terrorism such as interference with computerized systems
e.g. hacking or computer viruses
• Conducting illicit business without being detected or simply manipulating telecom
and mobile phone services in order to receive free or discounted telephone calls.
• Electronic money-laundering can be used to 'move' the illegal proceeds from a crime
in order to conceal their origins.
 In Zimbabwe, there is a gross abuse of social media platforms like Tweeter, WhatsApp,
Facebook which has led to the crafting of a Cyber Bill yet to be passed by parliament to
regulate these cyber-crimes.

Differences between Deviance and Crime

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 Definition of Deviance and Crime. Deviance entails the violation of social norms whereas
crime entails the contravention of enacted laws of criminal offenses
 Breadth of concepts. The concept of deviance is much broader than that of crime. Crime
refers only to nonconformist conduct that breaks a law. Many forms of deviant behavior are
not sanctioned by law.
 Nature of punishment. Deviance is not punishable by law but crime is always punishable
by law e.g. courts, imprisonment. Society has no coercive power to deal with deviance but
governments have the power of punishment to tackle crime.
 Explicitness. Deviant rules are not written but criminal rules written.
 Agents of social control. Agents of social control for deviance are societal pressure and
fear of gods whereas agents of control for crime are police and judiciary.
 Severity. Deviance is not severe but crime can be mild to severe.

Social control
 The term social control refers to the techniques and strategies for preventing deviant
human behavior in any society. Social control occurs on all levels of society.
 In the family, we are socialized to obey our parents simply because they are our parents.
 Peer groups introduce us to informal norms, such as dress codes, that govern the behavior
of their members.
 Colleges establish standards they expect of students.
 In bureaucratic organizations, workers encounter a formal system of rules and regulations.
 Finally, the government of every society legislates and enforces social norms.
 The underlying goal of social control is to maintain social order, an arrangement of
practices and behaviors on which society’s members base their daily lives. Think of social
order as an employee handbook and social control as a manager. When a worker violates a
workplace guideline, the manager steps in to enforce the rules; when an employee is doing
an exceptionally good job at following the rules, the manager may praise or promote the
employee.
 The forms social control take can be divided into the formal and the informal.
 People use informal social control casually to enforce norms. Examples include smiles,
laughter, a raised eyebrow, and ridicule. This is a result of informal sanctions. Informal
sanctions emerge in face-to-face social interactions. For example, wearing flip-flops to an
opera or swearing loudly in church may draw disapproving looks or even verbal
reprimands, whereas behavior that is seen as positive—such as helping an old man carry
grocery bags across the street—may receive positive informal reactions, such as a smile or
pat on the back
 Formal social control is carried out by authorized agents, such as police officers, judges,
school administrators, employers, military officers, and managers of movie theaters. It can
serve as a last resort when socialization and informal sanctions do not bring about desired
behavior. This is a result of formal sanctions which brings formal social control. Formal
sanctions are ways to officially recognize and enforce norm violations. If a student

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 violates her college’s code of conduct, for example, she might be expelled. Someone who
speaks inappropriately to the boss could be fired. Someone who commits a crime may be
arrested or imprisoned. On the positive side, a soldier who saves a life may receive an
official commendation.

Agencies of informal social control are also the agencies of socialization. They include:

 The family— family members, particularly your parents, are very effective at discouraging
“deviant” behaviour. This is especially true when it comes to promoting or forbidding
gender specific behaviour- parents manipulate their children into behaving appropriately
(eg it may be acceptable for a boy to do things a girl would not be permitted to do).
However in modern industrial society the family functions have been affected which affect
informal social control.
 The education system— teachers employ many informal sanctions to discourage certain
behaviour. This can range from a “look” to a more formal punishment such as a detention
for not completing work. The Hidden curriculum can also be employed by teachers to
encourage or discourage certain behaviour from girls and boys.
 Peer groups— we all have a need to “fit in” with others and join a “cultural comfort
zone.” The peer group is very effective in discouraging inappropriate behaviour as those
members of the group who do not conform are ostracized from the group. Informal
sanctions such as gossip serves as an effectual means of social control. In BaTonga tribe of
Binga, gossip is still one of the tools used to control anti-social behaviour largely among
women. In cases of deviant behaviour, a song can be composed that is sung on traditional
events; hence this will instill fear of being sung in songs
 The workplace— certain standards of behaviour are expected from certain occupations.
The work place provides formal sanctions to those who do not conform to this behaviour.
 The mass media— the media presents images, perhaps in the form of stereotypes, of how
individuals and groups are expected to behave. The media informally sanctions deviance by
broadcasting acceptable and unacceptable standards. However the use of internet has posed
many threat in as far as informal social control is concerned because usually people access
it privately.
 Religion—this is a very powerful form of social control to people who believe. In the past
religions provided formal systems of control as you could be sent to prison for disobeying
religious laws. Nowadays, religious controls are less formal and have an effect only on the
religious (the threat of being sent to hell is still a powerful motivator for good behaviour for
many!) By teaching what behaviour is not acceptable, and what the sanctions will be, they
are agents of social control. Informal social control works so well that most people behave
in an acceptable way most of the time. When informal social control doesn't work, for more
social control takes over and deals with the offenders.

Agencies of formal social control

 The legislature

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 • Members of parliament are responsible for debating on issues or bills that may be
passed into law. These laws may be forms of social control.
• Law may be defined as governmental social control
• Within systems of norms, societies have legal codes that maintain formal social control
through laws, which are rules adopted and enforced by a political authority. Those who
violate these rules incur negative formal sanctions. Normally, punishments are relative
to the degree of the crime and the importance to society of the value underlying the law.
 The police
The role of the police force is to enforce the law and to investigate crimes.
• To enable them to do this, the police have rights that all very citizens do not; they can arrest
people, tell them to disperse (move on), and use reasonable force if they are not obeyed.
• Marxist sociologists see society as deeply divided they view the police as one of the ways
in which the ruling class maintains its power and wealth.
 The police are servants of the ruling class.
 They enforce laws the ruling class has passed, and make sure that the working class
does not threaten the system.
 From this point of view, the creation of police forces was connected to the rise of
capitalism rather than of industrialism.
 The police have been used against working-class and protest movements.
The police however do not only serve capitalism but also protect the working class against
crime. This is why there is a rather ambivalent attitude to the police; many people are rather
suspicious of them, disliking the feeling of being watched over, yet they turn to the police when
they need them.
Although the main duties of the police are solving crime, they spend a lot of time on other
work. A police officer is as likely to be in the police station, writing reports and carrying out
administrative work as to be on patrol. Traffic and dealing with accidents also take up a lot of
time.
 The judiciary
This refers to the courts, which try those accused of crimes and convict and sentence those who
are found guilty.
• Most serious cases are dealt with by High court, with a judge and jury while minor
offences are dealt with by Magistrates Courts, which are presided over by a magistrate.
• The courts have a variety of sanctions (or sentences) available to them when someone is
found guilty of breaking the law –
Absolute discharge-- the person is guilty but no action is taken against him or her.
Conditional discharge -- no action is taken, but if the person commits another
offence he or she will be sentenced for both the new crime and the first one.
Fine-- the offender has to pay a sum of money. A fine is the punishment for about
three quarters of all those found guilty.
Probation order-- an offender who is on probation is supervised by a probation officer for
between six months and three years. This means the offender is being checked up on regularly
and also that he or she gets help to stop him or her offending again.

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 Community service order-- the offender has to do work which is helpful to the
community without being paid. Sentences are for some hours of community service
Prison-- this is reserved for the most serious offences.
 The penal system
This refers to the people and organizations that deal with offenders. These include prisons and
probation service. Their role is to deal with people who have been found guilty of offences. The
penal system has several purposes:
• To punish individuals who have been found guilty and provide retribution for the victims
of crime.
• To rehabilitate offenders, to try to ensure that they will not commit further crimes. To
achieve this, prisons may offer training and education, teaching skills so that offenders
will have a chance to get a job and “go straight.”
• To deter -- the punishment acts as a warning to others of what they can expect if they
break the law. The media play a part in this by reporting what sentences offenders have
been given.
• To protect members of the public from potentially dangerous individuals.
Recently there has been much debate about whether or not the penal system is effective in
achieving these aims. The debate has particularly focused on the prison system and whether or
not prisons rehabilitate, deter, protect or even effectively punish offenders. The fact that a lot of
prisoners reoffend and sent back to prison may suggest that the prison system lacks
effectiveness. However, it is difficult to think of another form of punishment which would be
more or as effective given the fact that the death penalty is outlawed in many countries around
the world (the USA is an obvious exception).
 Formal social control in Zimbabwe has been heavily affected by lack of resources e.g. for
police and prisons, corruption in various institutions.

Measurement of Crime
 Crime statistics have come up with different and conflicting conclusions. This is mainly
because the ways through which crime statistics is obtained have their own different
disadvantages.

Strengths and weaknesses of official crime statistics

1. Police crime figures
 These are official statistics recorded and published by the police. These are useful as they:
 Are easy to access.
 Can be used to identify trends.
 Show the backgrounds of criminals.
 Official statistics on crime are important for describing the extent of crime and various
patterns in the perpetration and victimization by crime.
 In the past these have been taken to be accurate until sociologists began to question their
reliability because official police records only have crime known to police yet not all
crime is reported to police. Individuals do not report crime to police for several reasons like: -
 Lake of faith in police investigation and solutions.

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  They have been intimidated by the perpetrator.
 Shock, fear and embarrassment of the victim.
 Seeing the crime as trivial or fear police see the crime as trivial.
 Rape is particularly known to be vastly underreported. Victims may be reluctant to report
for a variety of reasons, including that the police will not take the rape seriously, especially
if the assailant was known to the victim. Also, the victim may not want to undergo the
continued stress of an investigation and trial. Proof of penetration, the identity of the rapist
and the fact that the act occurred without the woman's consent all have to be forthcoming.
A woman may feel that she is the one on trial, particularly if her own sexual history is
examined publicly, as often happens in such cases.
• Police do not record all crime that is reported to them because: -
 Officers use their own discretion to consider crime worth recording. Research finds that
the police are less likely to “count” some rapes, such as those in which the victim is a
prostitute, was drunk at the time of the assault, or had a previous relationship with the
assailant.
 Officers may want to run away from crime that has a lot of paper work.
 Cases that do not have enough evidence may not be taken as crime.

2. Victim survey and Self-report

 Victim surveys: - are anonymous surveys of individuals, asking for details of crimes
committed against them even if these were not reported to police within a set period. They
are more representative than police records as they include figures of reported and
unreported crimes. They also tend to use a large sample and have a high response rate.
 Self-report studies: - these are anonymous surveys asking individuals about crimes they
have committed. They representative of the population like victim surveys. Their major
drawback is that is that respondents may not believe that their crimes won’t be reported to
others including the police however they are important in searching who commits crime.

Distribution of Crime

 Some groups of people seem to commit crime more than others or at least get caught out
more than other people. Common trend seems to be that: -  Young people are convicted of
crime more than older people.
• Men are convicted of crime more than women.
• Urban areas have much more crime than rural areas.
• Most criminals are people with a lowers class background.
• People ethnic minority background has more chances of arrest and conviction.

(a) Gender and crime

 According to official statistics, men commit far more crime than women.

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 Overall, nearly 5 times as many men as women found guilty or cautioned. Why do women
commit less crime?
 Socialization. Boys and girls are socialized differently. Girls are expected to be more
passive, while boys are encouraged to be more active and also to be tough and be able to
fight when necessary. These differences may make it more likely that boys will get into
trouble with the police later.
 Opportunity. Females often have less opportunity to commit crime than men. As children
and teenagers, girls are usually more closely supervised; parents will want to know where
they are, what they are doing and when they will be home. Boys are often given (or take)
more freedom. Later, women are usually responsible for looking after children. This also
restricts opportunities for crime. Women are much more likely to commit theft, usually
from shops, than violent crime.
 Patriarchy- Heidensohn (1996) suggests that it is because of the ways in which women are
doubly controlled—by ideologies of appropriate behaviour for women in society and by
their role in the family. Being controlled in both the public and the private spheres ensures
that they are likely to be more conformist than men. In fact, all over the world, the greatest
gender differences in crime rates occur in societies that most severely limit the
opportunities of women.
 Law enforcement agents-law enforcement officials are gender biased. They reluctant to
define women as criminals. Police and other officials regard female offenders as less
dangerous than men and ignore some activities for which males would be arrested.In
Zimbabwe, a woman cannot be convicted for rape but aggravated indecent assault (section
66 of the Criminal law (codification) and reform Act chapter 9:23). Behavior of a pregnant
woman is regarded as abnormal and unstable during and 6 months after delivery. So courts
are lenient in sentencing them. Also woman nursing a child serves half of the full sentence as
the other is regarded as being saved by the child she is nursing (it is not usually considered
relevant if a man on trial has children).
 Biological determinism - men are more aggressive because of hormonal differences (in
particular, the presence of testosterone).Arguments based on biological determinism
assume that differences between women and men are “natural” and, presumably, resistant
to change. Women are also preoccupied with reproduction. (Refer to notes on gender).
 Statistics underestimate female crime
The statistics only record crimes reported to the police and recorded as crimes. It may be that the
types of crime women to commit are less likely to be reported; perhaps women are better at
concealing the evidence

(b) Age and crime

 Official crime rates rise sharply during adolescence, peak in the late teens, and then fall as
people get older.

Juvenile delinquency
 Delinquency refers to the undesirable antisocial behaviour of young people. It may include
some crime, but it also covers deviant behaviour that is not criminal, such as defying

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 authority, chewing tin from school and so on. It can cover staying out late, wearing,
outrageous dress or tattoos and body piercing. For girls, sexual activity under the age of 16
may be a cause for concern.

Are the statistics accurate?

 Self-report studies and other research tend to confirm that young people commit a lots of
offences, though usually fairly minor ones. However, there some reasons for doubting that
this is the whole picture:
 Teenagers attract close social control, watched over by parents and at school by teachers.
The police also see them as potential troublemakers. So it may be that offences they
commit are highly likely to be noticed.
 On the other hand, crime by older people may be under recorded; they are more likely to be
in occupations where white-collar crime, which we know to be under recorded, is possible.
White-collar crime, illegal acts committed in the course of business activities, often by
affluent, “respectable” people.

Explanations of delinquency
 Some of the factors linked to delinquency are:
 family problems such as the breakdown of the parents’ marriage
 failure at school
 Use of alcohol and drugs.
 Availability of time because young people are least likely to be tied down with a job and
a family. Matza has called youth a period of drift, when young people do not feel totally
committed to society.

Peer groups and subcultures

 Peer groups may encourage delinquent behavior. Sometimes the peer groups they have
clear norms and values that indicate the existence of a subculture.

What can be done about delinquency?

 Curfews -- young children not to be out without an adult after a set time.
 Parental responsibility -- encouraging parents to intervene more to try to prevent
delinquency. Part of this may be to make parents pay compensation to victims of their
children's crimes.
 Providing activities to keep young people occupied such as afterschool clubs.
 Reducing exclusions from school -- on the grounds that being allowed to stay on and allow
someone to move away from trouble by being able to study and perhaps get qualifications.

(c) Ethnic group, race and crime

 Both race and ethnicity are strongly linked to crime rates. Law enforcement is
concentrated in lower-income and minority areas. People who are better off are further
removed from police scrutiny and better able to hide their crimes.

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(d) Social class and crime
 It seems that there is a strong link between a person's position in the social class hierarchy
and their likelihood of committing a crime. In simple terms, the lower their class position,
the higher their criminality. Indeed, working-class young people have the crime rate that is
about eight times higher than that of upper or middle class youth.
 When you look at the prison population, it is a similar story, with working-class people
being hugely overrepresented. Crime rates in inner city areas and council estates are also
typically higher than in moral areas or the suburbs. These areas, of course, are largely
working class.
 However, many sociologists believe that the crime rates in relation to class say more about
the structure of society rather than the reality of the situation
 When and if white-collar criminals are prosecuted and convicted, they tend to receive
somewhat lighter sentences. Middle and upper-income people may be perceived as being
less in need of imprisonment because they likely have a job and high-status people to
testify for their good character. White-collar crime is simply perceived as less threatening
than crimes by the poor.
(e) Geographical location and crime
 Crime rates are higher in urban areas than in rural areas. This so because:
 In urban areas there are greater opportunities for criminal activity with presence of
shops, warehouses etc
 In urban areas there is far less informal social control. People do not know each other
and are therefore less likely to be inhibited in stealing from another locally.
 Houses in urban areas are more nucleated necessitating hiding of criminal activities.
 High technological use in urban areas.
 Socialization through media in urban areas.
 High active population in urban areas
 However these statistics can be criticized on the grounds that policing in rural areas is
different from those in urban areas. In rural areas policeman are less likely to arrest
offender, preferring merely to warn them. Some know offenders in person thereby affecting
crime statistics.

MASS MEDIA
 The mass media are the means for delivering impersonal communications to a vast
audience. The term media (plural of medium) comes from the Latin word for “middle,”
suggesting that media connect people.
 Mass media arise as communications technology (first newspapers and then radio,
television, films, and the Internet) spreads information on a massive scale
 Giddens (2009) notes that these are referred to as 'mass' media, because they communicate
to a mass audience comprised of very large numbers of people.
 According to Andersen (2017) the term mass media refers to the channels of
communication that are available to wide segments of the population— the print, film, and
electronic media.

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 Communication refer to the transfer of information from one individual or group to
another
 The mass media have extraordinary power to shape culture, including what people believe
and the information available to them.
 Your way of dressing, talking, and even thinking has likely been shaped by the media,
despite the fact that most people deny this, claiming “they are just individuals.” For many
families, TV and video are the “babysitters.”
 One of the truly powerful communicators of culture is television.
 The widespread availability of Internet-based blogs, chat groups, and social networks is,
however, radically changing how people communicate, including about current events.
Young people, especially, spend more time using computers for games and other leisure
activities than they use for reading.
 Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, WhatsApp and other electronic networks have become such
a common form of interaction that they are now referred to as social media—the term used
to refer to the vast networks of social interaction that new media have inspired.
 Such usage increases the possibility of democratic participation by allowing the open
discussion and transmittal of information.
 At the same time, however, these forms of communication can mean increased
surveillance, both by governments and by hackers. As with other forms of culture, how

these networks are used and controlled is a social process.

Ownership and control of the Mass Media

 Ownership and control of mass media is used to create a picture of the social world
beneficial to the ruling class.
 Owners have ultimate control over a company and have power over which type of audience
will be reached. Like managers control a business, media ownership and control is
ideological because the ruling class is trying to control how people see the social world.
 The ruling class is able to control directly and indirectly how people think about the things
happening in society by their ability to control and limit the information people receive.

Government/ State Media Ownership

 Government or state media are part of a government, which function as its mouthpiece. It is
a media that works for mass communication , which is ultimately controlled and funded by
the state, e.g. ZBC( Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation)
 In Zimbabwe certain media do not advertise or publish information pertaining to certain
political parties, companies because it’s their editorial policies.

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 The state may impose censorship on the mass media. Governments have also taken over the
control or certain media in order to protect local media and industry. Where the state
controls the media, the editorial policy focuses on satisfying the needs of the Government.
The Government can introduce limiting legislation limiting the ownership of different
forms of media
 Advantages
 It is not guided by an individual interest. It is media for the people.
 It can act as a voice for the voiceless. It accommodates voices of general public
 Contents are considerably more credible, reliable and accurate compared to that of
independent media
 State media have far much greater reaches than independent media. They are preferred
for national campaigns which require maximum public attention.
Disadvantages
 It serves a particular interest group not general people. Usually current regimes use it as
a propaganda tool e.g. ZBC has been labelled a propaganda tool for ruling party
ZANU PF
 It can be manipulated by the ruling party hence reducing its credibility and efficiency
 It is not independent of the government as the government may censor the content
which it deems illegal, immoral or unfavorable to e.g. Channel 2 was removed for being
accused of broadcasting lesbianism and gay behaviour contrary to our constitution

Private ownership
 These are commercial media house that is privately owned for profits (e.g. the
gazette) and community media houses that are owned and controlled by
communities (e.g. radio dialogue).
Advantages
 Owners are in control of their company
 Provides more opportunity for advertising
 More diverse shows which might not be offered by state media

Disadvantages
 It can be biased and it is not obliged to provide impartial or unbiased information e.g.
The Daily News and News Day have been accused of being biased towards the
opposition MDC
 The owner can force his opinion to be reported by the workers

Marxists say Media ownership controls media content

 Media owners control what we see in the media:-

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  They exploit their power position to manipulate the content of the media.
 Capitalist media owners tell news editors stories to cover and views to put across.
 The media ends up putting across the views that serve the interest of capitalism.
 The media reflects the ideas of the ruling class (including the media owners).
 Media reinforces and broadcast the world view of the elite.
 The views of the ruling class are presented as the natural, common-sense views society
should hold.
 It means one set of ideas dominates over other ideas, a phenomenon known as cultural
Hegemony/supremacy.

Pluralism say media reflects the values and beliefs of society

 Society gets the media it wants; media outlets respond to market demand if not they go out
of business.
 In this case the market matters no matter who owns the media.
 Pluralists do acknowledge the media will express some opinion more than others but they
see it as a reflection of the most common views in society rather than bias from journalists,
editors and owners.
 The Media act as “Watchdog”- This watchdog role is intended to keep governments from
taking too much power from the people and overstepping their bounds. Central to this role
is the notion that the press works independent of the government. The “freedom of the
press” allows the media to act as the eyes and ears of the people.
 The media also engages in investigative reporting, which can uncover dangers or corruption
that the media can then expose so that the public can demand change.

Media Content
 Media regulation policies in many countries have directly influenced the content of the
media.
 In politics, properties of media corporations bring in their political views, which are a cause
of concern to political parties holding different political positions.
 Through editorial policies they dictate the form of content, which should appear in their
media.
 The content of the press may be in the ownership of most newspapers. The contents may be
biased and distorted deliberately. This may also influence voting behaviour during elections
of given Governments.
 The media content maybe biased towards the needs of pressure groups such as women
action groups. The media may help the pressure groups to highlight issues concerning
gender and age.
 Different perspectives and ideology can influence the content of different media. The
capitalists would ensure that the media content propagates their values and ideology.

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Functions of Mass Media
 Surveillance/Information function- The media provides us with a continuous flow of
information about our society and the world, from webcams and radio reports alerting us to
traffic jams, to rolling weather reports (e.g Cyclone Idai warning), the stock market and
news stories about issues that might affect us personally.
 Interpretation function- Media outlets interpret messages in more or less explicit and
ethical ways. Newspaper editorials have long been explicit interpretations of current events,
and now cable television and radio personalities offer social, cultural, and political
commentary that are full of subjective interpretations. Although some of them operate in
ethical grey areas because they use formats that make them seem like traditional news
programs, most are open about their motives.
 Socialization and Instructive function- Some media outlets exist to cultivate knowledge by
teaching instead of just relaying information. TV has great potential in socialization
e.g. The History Channel, the National Geographic Channel, and the Discovery Channel, serve
more instructive functions
- The mass media is a powerful socializing agent. For sociologists significance of the media is
not limited to the content of media messages. Media affect how we learn about our world and
interact with one another. Media literally mediate our relationship with social institutions
 Offers social control- media stresses the basic values of society in their contents,
emphasizing the difference between the normal and the deviant. This emphasis is
achieved in two ways:
 By selection of material. A typical news story consists of a ‘shocking’ event, such as a
violent crime which highlights what society disapproves of-normal everyday behaviour
is not regarded as news
 By presentation, reporting deviant events in a way that shows they are not approved
ofnewspapers generally present their news on criminals, drug takers, etc. in such a way
as to show their disapproval.
 Linkage or Bonding function-Media outlets can bring people closer together, which serves
the bonding function. For example, people who share common values and interests can
gather on online forums (e.g. social media), and masses of people can be brought
together while watching coverage of a tragic event like September 11 (2001) disaster in
America.
 Diversion function- We all use the media to escape our day-to-day lives, to distract us from
our upcoming exam, or to help us relax. When we are being distracted, amused, or relaxed,
the media is performing the diversion function.
 Entertainment-The media provides amusement, a diversion from the rigors of work and
acts to reduce social tensions. This is essentially the function of a release valve for society,
allowing people to set aside their problems and conflicts, at least temporarily.
 Mobilization-The media can be used to encourage people to contribute to economic
development, to support and uphold moral rules and to mobilize the population in times of
war. This can be through very direct public campaigns, but also in much more subtle ways,
such as the moral tales within soap operas or films, for example.

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 Impact on social behaviour
 Online social networks, in fact, have become a new way of promoting consumption.
Advertisers have traditionally marketed products and services through spot ads, mass
mailings, or billboards, whether they are promoting flat-screen televisions or public service
messages like “Don’t drink and drive.” Recently in 2020 , various media platforms have
been used to alert people on the spread of COVID 19 e.g. “ stay home and travel
tomorrow” mantra via ZBC.
 Media plays an important role in creating and propagating shared symbols.
 Media can construct symbols on its own.
 By using symbolic interactionist theory, researchers can look at the ways media affects a
society’s shared symbols and, in turn, the influence of those symbols on the individual (Ja.

 Source of friendship networks

 Interactionists note, too, that friendship networks can emerge from shared viewing habits or
from recollection of a cherished television series from the past. The rise of the Internet has also
facilitated new forms of communication and social interaction.

MEDIA AND GENDER

 Feminists share the view of conflict theorists that the mass media stereotype and
misrepresent social reality.
 According to this view, the media powerfully influence how we look at men and women,
communicating unrealistic, stereotypical, and limiting images of the sexes.
 Women as sex objects-Women are often shown as being shallow and obsessed with
beauty. They are more likely than men to be presented unclothed, in danger, or even
physically victimized. Pornography presents women as sex objects and seems to make
viewing women that way acceptable. In music videos, women wear sexy and skimpy
clothing and are more often the object of another’s gaze than is true for their male
counterparts; music videos are especially represented in sexualized ways (Coy 2014;
Collins 2004). Many health professionals and researchers see the persistent media
portrayal of ideal female bodies as a contributory factor in the problem of eating disorders,
particularly amongst young women.
 Unequal news coverage-When women achieve newsworthy feats in fields traditionally
dominated by men, such as professional sports, the media are often slow to recognize their
accomplishments. Even when they are covered by the press, female athletes are not treated
equally by television commentators. When they are not successful, they are more likely than
men to be described as lacking in athletic ability.
 Media reinforce and maintain gender divisions- it reproduces patriarchal ideology. Men
still fill many journalist.

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