Emile durkheim

SOC4044 Sociological
Theory:

Emile Durkheim

Sunday, October 21, 2012
© 1998-2006 by Ronald Keith Bolender
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Emile Durkheim
References
Coser, Lewis A. 1977. Masters of Sociological Thought: Ideas in Historical and Social
Context. 2d ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers.
Durkheim, Emile. [1893] 1964. The Division of Labor in Society. Glencoe, IL: The Free
Press.
Durkheim, Emile. [1895] 1982. The Rules of Sociological Method. New York: The Free
Press.
Durkheim, Emile. [1897] 1951. Suicide: A Study in Sociology. Glencoe, IL: The Free
Press.
Theodorson, George A. and Achilles S. Theodorson, eds. 1969. A Modern Dictionary of
Sociology. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell.
Turner, Jonathan H., Leonard Beeghley, and Charles H. Powers. 1998. The Emergence
of Sociological Theory. 4th ed. Cincinnati,OH: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Wallace, Ruth A. and Alison Wolf. 1999. Contemporary Sociological Theory: Expanding
the Classical Tradition. 5th ed.Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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Emile Durkheim

1857-1917

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Emile Durkheim

Born in France on April 15, 1857
Son of a rabbi
Studied Hebrew and the Old Testament
Was a Catholic for a short period of time
Became an agnostic
(Coser 1977:143)

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Emile Durkheim

Paradigm
Order
Class of Theories
Functionalism

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Emile Durkheim
Functionalism
The analysis of social and cultural phenomena in terms of
the functions they perform in a sociocultural system. In
functionalism, society is conceived of as a system of
interrelated parts in which no part can be understood in
isolation from the whole. A change in any part is seen as
leading to a certain degree of imbalance, which in turn
results in changes in other parts of the system and to
some extent to a reorganization of the system as a
whole. The development of functionalism was based on
the model of the organic system found in the biological
sciences. (Theodorson and Theodorson 1969:167)
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Emile Durkheim

Functionalism is macrosociology
Think of an airport as an example of the
interrelatedness expressed within the
functionalism framework.
Pilots
Maintenance crews
Air traffic controllers
Baggage handlers
Ticketing and reservation personnel
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Emile Durkheim

What could cause “disequilibrium” of the
airport system?
Inclement weather
Malfunctioning radar control system
High volume of passengers during the holidays
Strike of one category of employees
(Wallace and Wolf 1999:18)

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Emile Durkheim

Three Elements of Functionalism
The general interrelatedness, or
interdependence of the system’s parts
The existence of a “normal” state of affairs, or
state of equilibrium, comparable to the normal or
healthy state of an organism
The way that all the parts of the system
reorganize to bring things back to normal

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Emile Durkheim

Using the airport example, how will
equilibrium be restored?
Personnel will work harder
Overtime will be set up
Additional staff will be hired
Additional “flights” will be developed (for
inclement weather)

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Emile Durkheim

In analyzing how social systems maintain
and restore equilibrium, functionalists tend
to use shared values or generally
accepted standards of desirability as a
central concept. Value consensus means
that individuals will be morally committed
to their society.

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Emile Durkheim
The concept of norms is a basic building block in
sociological theory. Remember these terms
from Social Problems?
Positive Sanctions
Negative Sanctions
Informal Sanctions
Formal Sanctions
Folkways
Laws
Mores
(Mooney, Knox, and Schacht 1997:7-8)

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Emile Durkheim
The emphasis on values is the second most
important feature of functionalism. As such, it
contrasts directly with the other major
macrosociological perspective, conflict theory.
Whereas functionalism emphasizes the unity
of society and what its members share ,
conflict theorists stress the divisions within
a society and the struggles that arise out of
people’s pursuits of their different material
interests.
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Emile Durkheim
What should sociology study?
Durkheim set out to create a proper subject
matter for sociology, the realm of social
facts . He defined social facts as that
“which is general over the whole of a
given society whilst having an existence
of its own, independent of its individual
manifestations.” (Durkheim [1893] 1964:49)
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Emile Durkheim

Durkheim’s examples of social facts
Laws
Morals
Beliefs
Customs
Fashions

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Emile Durkheim

Durkheim later elaborated on the meaning
of social facts and used the term
institution
The “beliefs and modes of behavior instituted
by the collectivity.” (Durkheim [1895] 1982:45)
Durkheim defined sociology as the “science of
institutions, their genesis and their
functioning.” (Durkheim [1895] 1982:59)
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Emile Durkheim

Durkheim made it clear that he viewed
macrosociology (large-scale or society-
wide) phenomena as sociology’s proper
subject matter.

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Emile Durkheim

In The Rules of Sociological Method, where he
discusses social facts, Durkheim sees functions
as “general needs of the social organism”
(Durkheim [1895] 1982:123). He then proceeds
to make his case for explanation of social facts
by social rather than nonsocial causes. He
applied his method in his well-known study,
Suicide: A Study in Sociology (Durkheim [1897]
1951), where he focused on suicide rates, a
social fact, rather than on individual suicides.
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Emile Durkheim

Before the next few slides are presented,
remember how “individualistic” we are in
the current society of the United States.
As societies become more complex, the
individual members tend to be more self-
centered as opposed to community
centered.
Now, the next slide please. . .
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Emile Durkheim

Punishment is, Durkheim argues, a social reaction
to crime. It serves not simply the obvious
functions of retribution for the criminal and
general deterrence of crime; it also fulfills the
generally unrecognized but critical function
of maintaining the intensity of collective
sentiments , or what modern functionalists call
shared values (in this case, the objection to
criminal activity).
(Wallace and Wolf 1999:21-22)

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Emile Durkheim

Punishment, Durkheim argues, “has the
useful function of maintaining these
sentiments at the same level of intensity,
for they could not fail to weaken it if the
offenses committed against them
remained unpunished” (Durkheim [1895]
1982:124).

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Emile Durkheim


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Emile Durkheim

Contrary to modern Western thought, the purpose
of the “punishment” was more important than
the “dignity” or “rights” of the individual being
punished. This explains why punishments are
almost always public events in simpler societies.
The focus on the individualistic, self-centered
modern complex societies--totally distorts the
“value-upholding” “normative” process of swift
public punishments.

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Emile Durkheim
Suicide: A Study In Sociology
Durkheim’s study does not simply describe the
suicide rates in Europe in the nineteenth
century. Instead he begins with the basic
assumption that too much or too little
integration or regulation (cohesion) is unhealthy
for a society, and from this he derives specific
hypotheses about suicide.

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Emile Durkheim
Two Types of Integration
Attachment
Attachment to social groups and their goals. Such attachment
involves the maintenance of interpersonal ties and the
perception that one is a part of a larger collectively.
Regulation
Regulation by the collective conscience (values, beliefs, and
general norms) of social gatherings. Such regulation limits
individual aspirations and needs, keeping them in check.
(Turner, Beeghley, and Powers 1998:264)

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Emile Durkheim
Suicide and Social Integration
Humans can potentially reveal unlimited desires and
passions, which must be regulated and held in check.
Yet total regulation of passions and desires creates a
situation where life loses all meaning.
Humans need interpersonal attachments and a sense
that these attachments connect them to collective
purposes.
Yet excessive attachment can undermine personal
autonomy to the point where life loses meaning for the
individual.
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Emile Durkheim

For throughout Durkheim’s illustrious
career, his theoretical work revolved
around one fundamental question: what
is the basis for integration and
solidarity in human societies?

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Emile Durkheim

Durkheim’s first major work was the
published version of his French doctoral
thesis, The Division of Labor in
Society: A Study of the
Organization of Advanced
Societies.

(Durkheim [1893] 1947)

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Emile Durkheim: Social Solidarity
or Social Integration

Social Solidarity
The Division of Labor is about the shifting basis of
social solidarity as societies evolve from an
undifferentiated and simple profile to a complex
and differentiated one. Today this topic would
be termed social integration , because the
concern is with how units of a social system are
coordinated.

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The question of social solidarity, or integration, turns on
several related issues:
How are individuals made to feel part of a larger social
collective?
How are their desires and wants constrained in ways
that allow them to participate in the collective?
How are the activities of individuals and other social
units coordinated and adjusted to one another?

30


As it is evident, these questions take us into
the basic problem of how patterns of
social organization are created,
maintained, and changed. It is little
wonder, therefore, that Durkheim’s
analysis of social solidarity contains a
more general theory of social
organization .
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Emile Durkheim:
Collective Conscience

The Collective Conscience
(later called Collective Representations)
The totality of beliefs and sentiments common to
average citizens of the same society forms a
determinate system which has its own life, one
may call it the collective or common
conscience.
(Durkheim [1893] 1947:79-80)

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Emile Durkheim:

People are born into the collective
conscience, and it regulates their
perceptions and behavior . What
Durkheim was denoting with the concept
of collective conscience, then, is that
social systems evidence systems of
ideas, such as values, beliefs, and norms,
that constrain the thoughts and
actions of individuals.
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Emile Durkheim:

Durkheim was concerned with morality
and moral facts. This area is now
termed culture.
Durkheim was concerned with the systems
of symbols--particularly the norms, values,
and beliefs--that humans create and use
to organize their activities.

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Emile Durkheim:

In the course of his analysis of the
collective conscience, Durkheim
conceptualized its varying states as
having four variables
Volume
Denotes the degree to which the values, beliefs,
and rules of the collective conscience are shared
by the members of a society

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Emile Durkheim:

Intensity
Indicates the extent to which the collective
conscience has power to guide a person’s
thoughts and actions
Determinateness
Denotes the degree of clarity in the components of
the collective conscience
Content
Pertains to the ratio of religious to purely secular
symbolism in the collective conscience
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Emile Durkheim:
Social Morphology
Social Morphology
Social Morphology (social structure)
involves the assessment of the following:
Nature
Number
Arrangement
Nature of Interrelations
Whether these were individuals or corporate
(groups and organizations)
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Emile Durkheim: Mechanical
and Organic Solidarity

Mechanical and Organic Solidarity
Mechanical Solidarity
Based on a strong collective conscience
regulating the thought and actions of
individuals located within structural units that
are all alike

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Legal codes, which in Durkheim’s view are the
best empirical indicator of solidarity, are
repressive, and sanctions are punitive.
• The reason for such repressiveness is that deviation
from the dictates of the collective conscience is viewed
as a crime against all members of the society
and the gods.

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Organic Solidarity
These societies are typified by large populations, distributed in
specialized roles in many diverse structural units. Organic
societies reveal high degrees of interdependence among
individuals and corporate units, with exchange, legal contracts,
and norms regulating these interrelations. The collective
conscience becomes “enfeebled” and “more abstract,” providing
highly general and secular premises for the exchanges,
contracts, and norms regulating the interdependencies among
specialized social units.

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This alteration is reflected in legal codes that
become less punitive and more “restitutive,”
specifying nonpunitive ways to redress violations
of normative arrangements and to reintegrate
violators back into the network of
interdependencies that typify organic societies. In
such societies individual freedom is great, and the
secular and highly abstract collective conscience
becomes dominated by values stressing respect
for the personal dignity of the individual.

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Review Handout

Descriptive Summary of Mechanical
and Organic Societies

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Emile Durkheim:
Social Change

Social Change
Durkheim’s view of social change revolves around an
analysis of the causes and consequences of increases
in the division of labor:
The division of labor varies in direct ratio with the
volume and density of societies, and, if it progresses
in a continuous manner in the course of social
development, it is because societies become
regularly denser and generally more voluminous
(Durkheim [1893] 1947:262).

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Emile Durkheim:
Social Change

How does dynamic density cause the
division of labor? Dynamic density
increases competition among individuals
who, if they are to survive the “struggle,”
must assume specialized roles and then
establish exchange relations with each
other. The division of labor is thus the
mechanism by which competition is
mitigated.
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Emile Durkheim:
Social Change

Thus, Darwin says that in a small area, open to
immigration, and where, consequently, the
conflict of individuals must be acute, there is
always to be seen a very great diversity in the
species inhabiting it.
. . . Men submit to the same law. In the same city,
different occupations can co-exist without being
obliged mutually to destroy one another, for they
pursue different objects.
(Durkheim [1893] 1947:-266-267)
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Emile Durkheim:
Social Change

Durkheim saw migration, population growth,
and ecological concentration as causing
increased “material density,” which in turn
caused increased moral or dynamic
density--that is, escalated social contact
and interaction. Such interaction could be
further heightened by varied means of
communication and transportation.

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Emile Durkheim:
Social Change

Review Handout

Durkheim’s Causal Model of the
Division of Labor

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Emile Durkheim:
Anomie (Definition)
Anomie (Normlessness)
When social regulations break down, the controlling influence of
society on individual propensities is no longer effective and
individuals are left to their own devices. Such a state of affairs
Durkheim calls anomie , a term that refers to a condition of relative
normlessness in a whole society or in some of its component
groups. Anomie does not refer to a state of mind, but to a property
of the social structure. It characterizes a condition in which
individuals desires are no longer regulated by common norms and
where, as a consequence, individuals are left without moral
guidance in the pursuit of their goals.
(Coser 1977:132-133)

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Emile Durkheim:
Anomic Division of Labor

Represents insufficient normative
regulation of individuals’ activities, with the
result that individuals do not feel attached
to the collectivity.

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Emile Durkheim:

Anomie is inevitable when the
transformation of societies from
mechanical to an organic basis of social
solidarity is rapid and causes the
“generalization,” or “enfeeblement,” of
values. With generalization, individuals’
attachment to, and regulation by, values is
lessened.

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Emile Durkheim:
The results of this anomic situation are
diverse.
One result is that individuals feel alienated,
because their only attachment is to the
monotony and crushing schedule dictated by
the machines of the industrial age
Another is the escalated frustrations and the
sense of deprivation, manifested by increased
incident of revolt, that come in a state of
underregulation.

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Emile Durkheim:

Unlike Marx, however, Durkheim did not
consider these consequences inevitable. He
rejected the notion that there were inherent
contradictions in capitalism, for if, in certain
cases, organic solidarity is not all it should
be . . . [it is] because all the conditions for the
existence of organic solidarity have not been
realized”(Durkheim [1983] 1947:372-373).

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Again . . . .
The question of social solidarity, or integration, turns on
several related issues:
How are individuals made to feel part of a larger social
collective?
How are their desires and wants constrained in ways
that allow them to participate in the collective?
How are the activities of individuals and other social
units coordinated and adjusted to one another?

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Emile Durkheim

Real World Applications

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Emile durkheim

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