Introduction of Sociology

Topic Included -
Introduction
Definition
Nature and Scope of Sociology
Medical Sociology
Importance and application of Sociology in Nursing

Short and Easy to understand notes for B.Sc. Nursing students. Important questions are also included.

1. INTRODUCTION TO
SOCIOLOGY
-Bhavesh Raj Singh
Nursing Tutor

2. TOPICS COVERED
Introduction
DefinitionofSociology
NatureandScopeofSociology
ImportanceandapplicationofSociologyinNursing

3. INTRODUCTION
ThewordsociologywascoinedbyAugusteComte–FrenchPhilosopher
in1839.HeisconsiderasafatherofSociology.
SociologyistheyoungestofalltheSocialSciences.
ThewordSociologyisderivedfromtheLatinWord‘Societus’which
means‘society’andtheGreekword‘logos’means‘scienceorstudyor
advancedstudy’.
Scienceofsocietyorstudyofsociety.

4. DEFINITION
“Sociologyisthescienceofsocietyorofsocialphenomena”.
-L.F.Ward
“Sociologyisthestudyofhumaninteractionandinterrelationoftheir
conditionsandconsequences”.
-Ginsberg
“Sociologyasascienceofsocialinstitutions”.
-EmileDurkheim

5. DEFINITION
“Sociologyasthestudyofsociallife”.
-OgburnandNimkoff
“Sociologydealswiththebehaviorofmeningroups”.
-KimballYoung

6. Subject Matter of Sociology
Sociology is
The study of society
The science of social life
The study of social relationships
The study of human behavior in groups
The study of forms of social relationships
The study of social action
The study of social groups and social systems

7. Nature of Sociology
SociologyisanIndependentScience
SociologyisaSocialScienceandnotaPhysicalScience
SociologyisaCategoricalandnotaNormativeDiscipline
SociologyisaPureScienceandnotanAppliedScience
SociologyisRelativelyanAbstractSciencenotaConcreteScience
SociologyisaGeneralizingandnotaParticularsingorIndividualizing
Science
SociologyisBothaRationalandanEmpirical

8. Nature of Sociology
SociologyisanIndependentScience.
Sociologyhasnowemergedintoanindependentscience.
Itisnottreatedandstudiedasabranchofanyothersciencelike
philosophyorpoliticalphilosophyorhistory.
Asanindependentscienceithasitsownfieldofstudy,boundaryand
method.

9. Nature of Sociology
SociologyisaSocialScienceandnotaPhysicalScience.
Asasocialscienceitconcentratesitsattentiononman,hissocial
behavior,socialactivitiesandsociallife.
ThefactthatsociologydealswiththeSocialuniverseitdistinguishes
fromastronomy,physics,chemistry,geology,mathematicsandother
physicalsciences.

10. Nature of Sociology
SociologyisaCategoricalandnotaNormativeDiscipline
Sociology“confinesitselftostatementsaboutwhatitis,notwhat
shouldbeoroughttobe”.
Butitdoesnotmeanthatsociologicalknowledgeisuselessand
servesnopurpose.
Itonlymeansthatsociologyasadisciplinecannotdealwith
problemsofgoodandevil,rightandwrong,andmoraland
immoral.

11. Nature of Sociology
SociologyisaPureScienceandnotanAppliedScience
Eachpuresciencemayhaveitsownappliedfield.–Forexample:
physicsisapurescienceandengineeringisitsappliedfield.
Sociologyasapuresciencehasitsappliedfieldsuchas
administration,diplomacy,socialworketc.

12. Nature of Sociology
SociologyisRelativelyanAbstractScienceandnotaConcreteScience
Sociologyisnotinterestedinconcreteonlyitdemonstrationsof
humanevents.
Itismoreconcernedwiththeformofhumaneventsandtheir
patterns.
Forexample:Sociologyisnotconcernedwithparticularwarsand
revolutionsbutwithwarandrevolutioningeneral,asasocial
phenomena,asatypeofsocialconflict.

13. Nature of Sociology
SociologyisaGeneralizingandnotaparticularizingor
individualizingScience
Sociologytriestofindoutthegenerallawsofprincipleabout
humaninteractionandassociation,aboutthenature,form,content
andstructureofhumangroupsandsocieties.
Itdoesnotstudyeachandeveryeventthattakesplaceinsociety.
Itisnotpossiblealso.

14. Nature of Sociology
SociologyisBothaRationalandEmpiricalScience
Rationalism,stressesreasonandtheresultfromlogicalinference.
Empiricism,isemphasizesexperienceandthefactsthatresultfrom
observationandexperimentation.
InSociologicalinquirybotharesignificant.

15. IMPORTANCE OF SOCIOLOGY
Sociologyhaschangedoutlookwithregardtotheproblemsof
crimeetc.
Sociologyhasmadegreatcontributiontoenrichhumanculture.
Sociologyisofgreatimportanceinthesolutionofinternational
problems.
Sociologyisusefulasateachingsubject.
Sociologyasaprofession.

16. IMPORTANCE OF SOCIOLOGY IN
NURSING
Sociologyisincludesinthecurriculumofnursingbecausehealthis
includesocialcomponent.
Mostoftheillnesshavesocialcausesandsocialconsequences.
Sociologygivesknowledgetodealwithpatientandtounderstandthis
habitsnorms,cultureandbehavioretc.
Thenursehastounderstandthenecessityofchangingthe
environmentorsurrounding.

17. IMPORTANCE OF SOCIOLOGY IN
NURSING
Toadjustmentandservicesofthefamilymembersareimportant
intherecoveryprocessofthepatient.Soforunderstandthis
knowledgeoffamilyisessentialforthenurse.
Withoutsociologicalknowledgeanursecannotunderstandthe
community.
Thesociologicalknowledgethenurseunderstandthefactorsof
caste,faith,community,religionetc.

18. IMPORTANCE OF SOCIOLOGY IN
NURSING
Sothisknowledgehelpshertoavoidprejudicesanddiscrimination.
Aswellasanurseshouldunderstandthesocialposition,statusand
socialresponsibilitieswithregardtohealthfieldbystudyingsociology.
Sheastoworkisaccordancewithrulesandnormsofitbyremoving
egoisticandimpulsebasedbehavior.
Thenursetounderstandthenecessitytochangingtheenvironmentfor
makingrecoverybetter.

19. IMPORTANCE OF SOCIOLOGY IN
NURSING
Social correlates of disease including demographic factors can be understood by the nurse
with the knowledge of Sociology.
It helps the nurse to approach the patient at various level.
Emotional level
Cultural level
Intellectual level
Importance of Sociology in Nursing
Emotional level.
The nurse should understand the patient emotions.
Nurse give some opportunity to patient for ventilate their feelings.
Which will reduce their emotional burden.
It is really helps to build up the rapport which is essential for effective curative
intervention.

20. ImportanceofSociologyinNursing
Culturallevel
Patientsmaynotbeabletoadjustwithhospitalenvironmentbecauselimitationof
culturalenvironment.–Forexample:Afemalepatientnottobereadytoremoveher
mangalsutraatthetimeofsurgerybecauseoftheirculturalsentiments.
Thenurseshouldexplaintheculturalthinkingandgiveexplanationtheneedfor
removingmangalsutra.
Intellectuallevel
Thepatientisunabletounderstandtheinstructionsandguidelinesgivenbythe
nurseordoctors.
SoheretheknowledgeofSociologyhelptonursetounderstandtheintelligenceof
patients.
Thisknowledgemakesthenursetoapproachthepatientsympatheticallywithout
emotionalreaction.

21. SCOPE OF SOCIOLOGY

22. SCOPE OF SOCIOLOGY
Sociologyisafastgrowingacademicdiscipline.
Ithasdevelopedvarioussubfieldstostudydifferentaspectsof
man’ssociallife.
Eachsubfieldsemploysitsownapproachandtechniques

23. Scope in the field of Knowledge
Societyisthewebofsocialinstitutionsandalltheseinstitutions
areinterrelatedandinterlinkedwitheachothers.
Sociologisthavethebasicandprimaryobjectiveistobuildup
knowledgeaboutthesocietyandsocialinteraction.
Sociologistarerequiredtogaintheknow-howaboutthesocial
problemsandtheirsolutions.
Thespecializedfieldsofsociologywhichgiveknowledgetothe
studentsofsociologyaboutdifferentaspectsofhumansociallife.

24. Scope in the field of Education
Sociologyexplainthecondition&problemofsociallife.
Sociologyisasubjectincollages&Universities
Therearewell-knowninstituteswheresociologistsareengagedin
researchandteachingworks
Asubstantialmajorityofsociologiststeachinonesettingor
another-highschools,two-yearcolleges,four-yearcolleges,or
universitygraduatedepartments.
Sociologyisarewardingfieldtoconveytoothers.Itcombines
theimportanceofsocialrelevancewiththerigorofascientific
discipline.
Itisalsoincludedintheprogramsofmanyprofessions,suchas
law,education,business,medicine,engineering,socialwork,and
nursing.

25. Scopeinthefield of Research
Researchissecondtoteachingasthemostcommoncareeroption
withinsociology.
However,thatthereisnotnecessarilyachoicebetweenteachingand
research.Manyteachingpositions,particularlyinuniversitiesbut
alsoinfour-yearcolleges,requireresearchactivities.
Onecandoresearchinavarietyofemploymentsettings-ina
university,apublicagencyatthefederal,state,orlocallevel,a
businessorindustrialfirm,orasastaffmemberofaresearchinstitute
inthenon-profitoradvocacysector.

26. Application of Sociology in Nursing
MEDICALSOCIOLOGY
MedicalSociologydealswithmedicineinmodernsociety.Public
healthproblemslikeepidemics,coronaryheartdiseases,
hypertension,diabetesandintestinaldisordersarecausedlargely
bysocialfactorsofstressandthestrainduetofastmodernlife.
MedicalSociologyisextremelyusefulfortheentirehealth
services.Sociologistsexaminediseaseintheirsocialsettings,in
thelifeofthecommunityaswellasthebedsideandinthe
laboratoryfortheyallhavetheirsocialcausesaswellasthe
individualcauses.
Doctor–patientandnursepatientrelationships,medical
educationandtraining,hospitaladministration,etc.arealso
studiedinmedicalsociology.

27. Application of Sociology in Nursing
It will help the nurse to know the social life of the patients. The social
environment plays an important part in health and diseases.
Sociology will enable her to know the distinctive culture of each
patient. In a vast sub continent like India with a variety of each
religions, cast, tribes and communities, it is essential to know the
culture of each patient.
A knowledge of sociology will help the nurse to adjust herself in the
hospital organization and administration as this will influence the
probable outcomes of the actions planned. The nurse must understand
how personal goals, values, attitudes, and emotional states of doctors
and nurses build into life patterns of adjustments and how the influence
the doctor nurse relationships in the hospital.

28. Application of Sociology in Nursing
Nursesworkinginacommunitywillrealizethatcommunityisa
populationmadeupofseveralgroupsofpeoplelivinginacertainarea.
Sociologyisthestudyofsocietyandsocialrelationsofhowpeople
reacttooneanother.
MedicalSociologywillenablethenurseto
Recognizethesignificanceofsocialforcesinhealth
Understandandappreciatetheneedtodealwithsocialprocessashealthvalues
andmotivation
Organizeandadministerpublichealthprogramsaspermotivationalneeds.
Sociologyhelpsincommunication.Socialinteractionbecomes
effectivewhenthereisflowofcommunicationfromhigherlevelto
lowerlevelandviceversa.

29. Application of Sociology in Nursing
Higherlevelofcommunicationflowsfromnursetopatient.This
constitutesproblemidentificationandresourcestosolvethe
problem.
Communicationfrompatienttonurseindicateslowerlevelwhich
carriesfeedbackwithregardtoideas,opinionsandattitudes
towardsthecaretaken.
Communicationsupportsnursingfieldtoensurethatneedsare
adequatelyaddressedintime.

30. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR FINAL
EXAMINATION (Theory)
DefineSociology?HowitisdifferentfromSocialPsychology?
WritedowntheNatureorCharacteristicsofSociology?
ImportanceofSociology?
ImportanceofSociologyinNursing?
ScopeofSociology?
WhatisMedicalSociology?
ApplicationofSociologyinNursing?