Durkheim and sociology - Essay Example

According to Durkheim, sociology is the science of social facts. Born, April 15, 1858 to a merchant mother and rabbi father, Durkheim’s parents intended him to follow in his fathers footsteps. Durkheim established himself as an exceptionally talented student and was known for his sharp intellect. Admittance to ecole (or college) proved difficult and due to the emotional distress of his father’s illness, Durkheim had to take the admissions exam three times before gaining admission. In 1882 Durkheim began teaching philosophy and began to write about the history of socialism.

In 1902, he became a professor and all students enrolled in the university seeking a degree in philosophy were required to take his courses. The concept of “anomie” was introduced to society by Durkheim in 1893. He introduced the theory in his book titled The Division of Labour in Society. Distilled to its most natural state, anomie can be defined as a state of mind that is the result when expectations are not met or when expectations simply do not exist due to confusion. Durkheim felt that it was this state of mind which led to deviant behavior, specifically, suicide.

It is most likely that times of economic depression or economic windfall created the state of anomie in a person. Thus as a result of economic depression for example, the system breaks down and one is left in the state of anomie. Durkheim did not equate men with animals. He felt that unlike animals, men were not satisfied when their biological needs were met, there was something more that men needed. He felt that men were insatiable and that the more they had the more they needed. This led to his theory on social regulation.

He also saw man as having a socialized personality. However, the socialized personality only developed through exposure to society thus without exposure, there was no socialized personality. Constraints, which were defined as restrictions created by law and customs and to Durkheim, were created to deal with social demands being violated by man. Durkheim, in studying suicide engaged in comparative analysis of various social structures. Durkheim concluded that when society maintains control over its’ citizens, the rate of suicide is far less than when society is not governed by norms.

Integration was based upon a measurement of involvement. Durkheim noted that there was a strong level of integration in the religious or work environment. Durkheim proposed that to explain a social fact requires the proponent to show its place in the hierarchy in the establishment of social order, deciding its genesis is simply not enough. In his discussion of deviance and criminality, Durkheim took the road less traveled. The majority of criminologists treated crime as a pathological phenomenon and presumed the answer to the crime would be found in the pathos of the criminal.

They presumed that the reason for the deviant behavior was a psychological disease. Not so for Durkheim. He saw crime as a normal part of society and almost routine. He even found that the crime and the societal reaction to it was something that could be seen as a positive experience in terms of the societal function. References Elwell, Frank W., 2003, The Sociology of Emile Durkheim, Retrieved June 30, 2008 http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Durkheim/index.htm.