Sociology: Films

Sociology, in a nutshell, is about why people behave in the ways that they do, and the key premise is that behavior is shaped by the contexts in which people live. Filmed in Britain and New Guinea, this multi-segment program introduces the sociological concepts of personal, social, and role identity; of primary and secondary socialization; and of culture, with its associated concepts of learned norms and values, ethnocentrism, cultural diversity, and cultural change. Contains nudity associated with indigenous cultures. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. A part of the series Understanding Sociology. (37 minutes)

This multi-segment program focuses on the world of education as it addresses aspects of how to conduct sociological research. After defining what exactly constitutes research, the video defines the concepts of reliability, validity, and representativeness through a study of social interaction in schools; sheds light on essential ideas in survey research via a study of educational inequalities; considers decision-making and social capital in education while presenting the use of interviews in sociological research; and illustrates ethnography in action as it tracks a study of surveillance in schools using observational methods. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. A part of the series Understanding Sociology. (37 minutes)

It seems obvious to most people that crime and social order are opposites. But more than a century ago French sociologist, Emile Durkheim, suggested that it wasn’t that simple. This film looks at the introduction of Zero Tolerance Policing in New York, the imprisonment of Dr Jack Kevorkian for assisting terminally-ill patients to die and the tragic murder in the UK of Jamie Bulger, to illustrate Durkheim’s three key functions of crime. It concludes by looking at how the legacy of these ideas has been so influential in the development of criminology.

Sociologically speaking, how does postmodernity differ from modernity? This multi-section program seeks to answer that question as it evaluates sociology’s relationship to an evolving societal framework. Topics such as greater personal choice, increasingly fragmented identities, multiplying uncertainties, and media saturation are considered, along with some of the contradictions inherent in the postmodern position. In addition, a case study comparing modernist views of gender and gender differences with the postmodernist view that fragments and blurs the boundaries of gender identities is included. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. A part of the series Understanding Sociology. (46 minutes)

Hate Crime is high profile now. But the cases of violent hate crime we see in the media are just the tip of the iceberg: things like verbal abuse, bullying, threats, and damage to property have become just another part of everyday life for many people. This film, featuring one of the UK’s leading hate crime researchers, Professor Neil Chakraborti, looks at what hate crime is, how it can be measured and why popular media stereotypes of typical hate offenders are so misleading.

This multi-section program explains the role of sociological theory, distinguishes between structure and action, and sheds light on three major perspectives in sociology—societies as organic structures, societies as economic structures, and societies as social action—by looking at their origins and key ideas and then showing how they can be applied. The video concludes by using a case study on the medicalization of life problems in contemporary societies as an opportunity to consider how Durkheimian, Marxist, and interactionist theories might explain that phenomenon. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. A part of the series Understanding Sociology. (57 minutes)

Taking into account the dramatic shift in the focus of research in recent years, from theories about criminal activity to applications of crime prevention, this multi-section program compares and contrasts the concepts of social causation, social construction, and social control as they relate to the sociology of crime and deviance. Topics include the influence of wider social forces on theories about crime, the reevaluation of criminals as victims or rebels, and three examples of the movement toward a greater pragmatism concerning crime: socio-environmental control, situational crime prevention, and Braithwaite’s restorative justice. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. A part of the series Understanding Sociology. (40 minutes)

This multi-section program examines the relationships between established sociological perspectives—structural functionalism, Marxist theory, and early feminist theory—and the family; investigates how over several decades the decline in marriage, an increase in cohabitation and divorce, and the lowering fertility rate in the U.K. have affected the British nuclear family; and juxtaposes the old sociology of families and the new, with its emphasis on comparative analysis and how family relationships are negotiated in everyday life. The video concludes with a look at how changes in family life can be linked to changes in wider society and asks if families have a future. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. A part of the series Understanding Sociology. (40 minutes)

This multi-section program addresses classical social theory, examining the origins of sociology through the efforts of Marx and Comte to build a holistic science of society; positivism, through a case study of students using surveys to do research on education; interpretivism, through a parallel case study in which students use interviews to carry out their research; and realism, comparing it to classical, positivist, and interpretivist approaches. The video also draws upon a case study of suicide to illustrate how positivist and interpretivist approaches lead researchers to ask very different questions about this key sociological topic. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. A part of the series Understanding Sociology. (41 minutes)

Looking at the theory of symbolic interactionism, this program provides a filmic synopsis of the theories of George Herbert Mead, Herbert Blumer, Charles Horton Cooley, and Irving Goffman. It also suggests a critique of this theoretical perspective in general.

World Systems Theory originated in the work of the late Immanuel Wallerstein, and before him, from the related theory of development: "Dependency Theory." This program discusses how these theories explain the inequality between richer and poorer nations, providing an important corrective to both classical development perspectives and Marxist ones. It traces the history of how the underdeveloped nations developed in a direct relationship to the development of the richer nations, with the latter preventing the former from developing.