UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST

COLLEGE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

EBS 279D SOCIOLOGICAL

PERSPECTIVE STUDIES IN RME

1
 TABLE OF CONTENT
About this Book
Acknowledgements
Table of Content
Symbols and their Meanings
UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION
SESSION 1: The Nature and Scope of Sociology
SESSION 2: The Nature and Scope of Religion
SESSION 3: The Nature and Scope of Sociology of Religion
SESSION 4: Origin of Sociology of Religion
SESSION 5: Historical Development of Sociology of Religion
SESSION 6: Relationship Between Sociology and Religion
UNIT 2: RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS AND RELIGIOUS ORGANISATIONS
SECTIUON 1: Core Elements of Religious (beliefs, emotions rituals, organization)
SESSION 2: The Nature of Religious Beliefs
SESSION 3: The Nature of Religious Practices
SESSION 4: Religious Systems (monotheistic, polytheistic, animistic, totemic)
SESSION 5: Religious Organization (examples, religious movements, denomination, cult,
sect, etc)
SESSION 6: The Role of Religion in African Society
UNIT 3: AFRICAN SOCIAL SYSTEMS
SESSION 1: The concept of Social System
SESSION 2: Elements of Social System
SESSION 3: Characteristics of Social Systems
SESSION 4: Types of Social System
SESSION 5: Functions of Social Systems
SESSION 6: Maintenance of African Social Systems
UNIT 4: SOCIAL ORGANISATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS
SESSION 1: The Concept of Social Organisation
SESSION 2: Types of Social Organisation
SESSION 3: Characteristics of Social Organisation
SESSION 4: The Concept of Social Institutions
SESSION 5: Types of Social Institutions
SESSION 6: Characteristics of Social Institutions
UNIT 5: SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF RELIGION
SESSION 1: Theoretical Perspectives of Religion
SESSION 2: Functional Theory (or Functionalism)
SCTION 3: Structural Functionalism Theory
SESSION 4: Symbolic Interactionism Theory
SESSION 5: Conflict Theory
SESSION 6: Feminist Theory
UNIT 6: THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN SOCIETY
SESSION 1: Religion and the African Family (MAX WEBER)
SESSION 2: Religion and Social Status (or Class Distinction). (MAX WEBER)
SESSION 3: Religion and Conflict in Africa (KARL MARX)
SESSION 4: Religion and Politics (MAX WEBER)
SESSION 5: Religion and the Economy (MAX WEBER)
SECTIUON 6: Religion and Social Change (TARCOTT PASSONS)

2
UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

UNIT OUTLINE
SESSION 1: The Nature and Scope of Sociology
SESSION 2: The Nature and Scope of Religion
SESSION 3: The Nature and Scope of Sociology of Religion
SESSION 4: Origin of Sociology of Religion
SESSION 5: Historical Development of Sociology of Religion
SESSION 6: Relationship Between Sociology and Religion

Hello learner, you are most welcome to the first unit of your studies.
In this unit, we will go through the introduction to sociology of religion. We will also look at
the scope and nature of Religion and also sociology of religion. The origin and historical
development of sociology of religion will be treated in this unit. As you can see from the
outline given above, the whole unit 1 is made up of six sessions.

Objectives
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
1: explain the nature and the scope of sociology

2: explain the nature and the scope of religion

3. examine the nature and the scope of sociology of religion

4. trace the origin of sociology of religion

5. explain the historical development of sociology of religion

6. state the relationship between sociology and religion

3
SESSION 1: THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF SOCIOLOGY

INTRODUCTION
Hi! Welcome to session one of this unit. Do you know what sociology is about? What about
the values that society upholds that influence the social behaviour of the people in it? In this
session, we shall examine the nature and scope of sociology. Now let’s look at the objectives
for this session.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
a) Give a definition of the concept “sociology”
b) Explain the nature of sociology.
c) Discuss the scope of sociology.

Now read on…

1.1 Meaning of Sociology

Sociology as a discipline is a scientific study of society. The first part of the term namely
socio is a Latin, socius- which may be interpreted variously to be society, togetherness,
association, and companionship. The other part logy comes from the word, logos, which is of
Greek origin. It literally means to speak about or word. However, the term is generally
understood as study or science (Indrani, 1998). Etymologically, sociology is the word or
speaking about society. In its simplest form, it is the study of society and its culture. Society
is a group of people who live within some type of bounded territory and who share a common
way of life whiles Culture is common way of life shared by a society or a group.

The science of society and culture forms an integral part of sociology. Auguste Comte arrive
at the word sociology by combining these two terms. The term was coined by a French
philosopher and social scientist called August Comte in 1837 (Peil, 1977). Sociology is
interested in the study of social relationship between people in group context. Sociology is
interested in how we as human beings interact with each other (the pattern of social
interaction); the laws and principles that govern social relationship and interactions.

1.2 Nature of Sociology

Dear reader, now that we read about some definitions of sociology let us take into account the
nature of the sociological concept. To begin with, sociology has developed as a value-free
discipline. It is concerned with what is, not with what ought to be. The values that society
upholds and which influence the social behaviour of men are accepted by sociologists as facts
and analysed objectively. They do not analyse values themselves. It is thus not a normative
discipline like ethics or religion.

Further, the sociologists simply indicate the directions in which the society is moving and
refrain from expressing views on the directions in which society should go. In this respect, it
is to be distinguished from social and political philosophy.

1.3 Scope of Sociology

Sociology as a social science has its own scope or boundaries. But there is no one opinion
about the scope of Sociology. However, there are two main schools of thought regarding the
scope of Sociology;

4
The Specialistic or Formalistic school and the Synthetic school. There is a good deal of
controversy about the scope of Sociology between the two schools.

• Specialistic school
The supporters of this school of thought are George Simmel, Vierkandt, Max Weber, etc.
They believe that sociology is a specific, pure and independent science, and thus its scope
should be limited.
• Synthetic school
The supporters of synthetic school are the sociologists like Durkheim, Ginsberg, Comte,
Sorokin, Spencer, etc. According to this school, Sociology is closely related to other social
sciences. It is a synthesis of social sciences. Thus, its scope is very vast.

Summary
In this session, we have looked at the definitions of sociology and have realised that
sociology as a discipline simply refers to a scientific study of society. Secondly, we have
examined the nature of sociology. Finally, we have examined the scope of sociology and the
two main schools of thought regarding the scope of sociology

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 1.1
1. Sociology simply refers to the study of society. T/F
2. The nature of sociology is concerned with what ought to be, but not what is.
T/F
3. The synthetic school of thought believes that sociology is a specific, pure and
independent science, and thus its scope should be limited. T/F

5
SESSION 2: THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF RELIGION

INTRODUCTION
In the previous session, we examined the definitions, scope and nature of sociology. I hope
you enjoyed the previous lesson? In this session, we shall also discuss the nature and scope of
religion. Let’s look at the objectives for this session.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
a. Define Religion
b. Explain the nature of Religion
c. Explain the scope of Religion

Now read on…

2.1 Meaning of Religion

Pioneering sociologist Émile Durkheim claimed that it consists of “things that surpass the
limits of our knowledge” (1915). He defined religion as “a unified system of beliefs and
practices relative to sacred things, that is to called a church, all those who adhere to them”
(1915). Some people associate religion with places of worship (a synagogue or church),
others with a practice (confession or meditation), and still others with a concept that guides
their daily lives (like dharma or sin). All these people can agree that religion is a system of
beliefs, values, and practices concerning what a person holds sacred or considers to be
spiritually significant.

2.2 Nature of Religion

From the Latin religio (respect for what is sacred) and religare (to bind, in the sense of an
obligation), the term religion describes systems of belief and practice that define what people
consider to be sacred or spiritual (Fasching & deChant 2001; Durkheim, 1915). There is no
definite definition of religion. Many scholars define religion based on beliefs, spirituality,
cultural system, etc. The sociologist Emile Durkheim defined religion as a “unified system of
beliefs and practices relative to sacred things.” By sacred things he meant things “set apart
and forbidden-beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a
Church, all those who adhere to them” and also, Edward Burnett Tylor defined religion as
simply “the belief in spiritual beings. He argued that the belief in spiritual beings exists in all
unknown societies. Therefore, religion can be said to be a collection of cultural systems,
belief systems, and worldviews that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to
moral values.

2.3 Scope of Religion

The development of religion has taken a different form in different cultures. Some religions
place an emphasis on belief while others emphasize practice. Some religions focus on the
subjective experience of the religious individual while others consider the activities of the
religious community to be most important. Some religions claim to be universal, believing
their laws and cosmology to be binding for everyone, while others are intended to be
practiced only by a closely defined or localized group. In many places, religion has been
associated with public institutions such as education, hospitals, the family, government, and
political hierarchy.

6
Summary
In this session, we have looked at the meaning and nature of religion where it came up that
the term religion describes systems of belief and practice that define what people consider to
be sacred or spiritual. Finally, we have examined the scope of religion.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 1.2

1. Explain the nature of religion.

2. Religion can only be defined as a system of beliefs and practices concerning what a
person holds sacred or considers to be spiritually significant. T/F
3. Religion can be associated with public institutions such as education, hospitals, the
family, government, and political hierarchy. T/F

7
SESSION 3: THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION
INTRODUCTION

In the previous session, you were exposed to the scope and nature of religion and I am sure
you enjoyed it. In this session, we are going to look at the nature and scope of sociology of
religion. It is my hope that you will enjoy this as well.
Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
a. Explain the term “Sociology of religion”
b. Describe the nature of sociology of religion
c. Describe the scope of the sociology of religion

Now read on…

3.1 Meaning of Sociology of Religion

Sociology of religion is primarily the study of the practices, social structures, historical
backgrounds, development, universal themes, and roles of religion in society. Sociology of
Religion is the study of society from a religious perspective. It is the systematic study of
societal variables from a religious view. Sociology of religion, therefore, constitutes an
integral part of a more general study of culture and knowledge. Sociology of religion,
therefore, is interested in understanding the extent of involvement, participation, and
contribution religion has made in patterning and providing direction in society. It is therefore
interested in studying the extent to which religion has brought about change and development
in society.

3.2 Nature of Sociology

There is particular emphasis on the recurring role of religion in nearly all societies on earth
today and throughout recorded history. Sociologists of religion attempt to explain the effects
of society on religion and the effects of religion on society, in other words, their dialectical
relationship. The sociology of religion seeks to understand humanly constructed aspects of
religion in their social context. In contrast to viable approaches to studying religion, the
sociology of religion searches for patterns and processes underlying the interdependence of
religion and society. To do so, it relies on models, theories, observation, and analysis. As an
outgrowth of historical developments in western thought-such as the enlightenment, the
industrial revolution, rationalization, and positivism, the sociology of religion suspends
judgment on the transcendent truthfulness of any religion, studying instead the social genesis,
roles, and meanings of religion for the people involved and for the larger society. The history
of the sociology of religion is brief. Despite earlier, isolated applications, the first major
systematic studies in the sociology of religion began at the end of the nineteenth century in
Europe. Emile Durkheim, Ferdinand Tonnies, Georg Simmel, Ernst Troeltsch, and Max
Weber all made the study of religion central in their theories of society and their historical,
comparative, and empirical research. Now that you have gone through the nature of
sociology, let quickly go through the scope of sociology. Take a sip of water and let’s go.

3.3 Scope of Sociology of Religion

According to Indrani (1998), the scope of sociology is extremely wide ranging, from the
analysis of passing encounter between individuals on the street up to the investigation of
global social processes. The discipline covers an extremely broad range that includes every
aspect of human social conditions; all types of human relationships and forms of social
behavior. Sociologists are primarily interested in human beings as they appear in social

8
interaction and the effects of this interaction on human behavior. Such interaction can range
from the first physical contacts of the new born baby with its mother to a philosophical
discussion at an international conference, from a casual passing on the street to the most
intimate of human relationships (World Book Encyclopedia 1994. Vol. 18, PP. 564-567).
Sociologists are interested to know what processes lead to these interactions, what exactly
occurs when they take place, and what their short run and long run consequences are.
The major systems or units of interaction that interest sociologists are social groups such as
the family or peer groups; social relationships, such as social roles and dyadic relationships,
and social organizations such as governments, corporations and school systems to such
territorial organizations as communities and schools (Broom & Selzinki, 1973). These issues
have taken the attention of sociologists over the years. The issues that take the attention of
sociology at every dispensation. For example issues on medicine and immunology will take
greater attention of sociologis6t in the spate of the covid 19 pandemic. In this case the
challenges that society faces at a particular point in time determine the issues that are
researched into and for that matter takes the attention of the scholars.
Summary
In this session, we have looked at the meaning of the sociology of religion and concluded that
it is simply primarily the study of the practices, social structures, historical backgrounds,
development, universal themes, and roles of religion in society. Again, we have examined the
nature and scope of the sociology of religion.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 1.3
1. Sociology of religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to
sacred things forbidden. T/F
2. The first major systematic studies in the sociology of religion began at the end of the
nineteenth century. T/F
3. Sociologists are primarily interested in human beings as they appear in social
interaction. T/F
4. Sociology of religion fails to suspend judgment on the transcendent truthfulness of
any religion. T/F

9
SESSION 4: ORIGIN OF SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

INTRODUCTION
In the previous session, we discussed the meaning, scope, and nature of the sociology of
religion and I am sure you enjoyed it. In this session, we are going to examine the origin of
the sociology of religion. It is my hope that you will enjoy this as well.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
a. Explain the origin of Sociology of religion

Now read on…

4.1 Origin of Sociology of Religion

Sociology as an academic discipline emerged between 1890 and 1930. The first courses and
chairs were established, sociological journals appeared as the primary outlet for research; and
sociological associations were founded for furthering intellectual exchange and professional
interest. France, England, Germany, and the United States were the core countries, and in all
of them distinct national traditions took shape. Wherever sociologists managed to obtain a
position in the academic world, they had to accommodate to the constraints of established
institutional divisions. The realm of law was the domain of the legal profession. The study of
the past was already successfully claimed by the historians. In a similar vein, psychologists
succeeded in monopolizing individual development and behaviour as their field of expertise,
economists specialized in the economy, anthropologists in the structure and culture of
nonliterate societies. Sociologists had little choice but to accept this division of academic
labour as a social fact; this left a strong mark on the way they conceived of their own
discipline. Emile Durkheim was the pivotal figure in French sociology. He taught his first
course in 1887, wrote classic works on the division of labour, suicide, and the rules of
sociological method in the 1890s, and organized a network of highly productive scholars
around his journal, the Année sociologique (1898–1912). This served as a major
breakthrough for the discipline sociology.
In England, sociology did not gain a proper entry into the university system until well after
the Second World War. The rich tradition of factual inquiry was continued by government
officials and wealthy individuals (Charles Booth, B.S. Rowntree), but remained almost
entirely separated from academia. Despite the existence of a sociological journal and a
professional association, the British academic establishment did not show much interest in
sociology.

Sociology in Germany emerged later than in France and England; a professional association
was founded in 1910, a first chair in 1917, and a journal in 1921. The academic pioneers in
Germany, men like Ferdinand Tönnies, Georg Simmel, and Max Weber, faced two powerful
indigenous traditions. The oldest was that of the Staatswissenschaften. The proponents of
these disciplines (law, economics, public administration) consistently subsumed civil society
to the various functions of the state. This mode of thinking had its roots in eighteenth-century
cameralism and was refashioned in the nineteenth century by idealist philosophers such as
Hegel.

10
The year 1933 brought the decisive rupture: the seizure of power by the Nazis in Germany
put an end to the flourishing sociology of the Weimar Republic and forced a great number of
prominent and promising sociologists into exile, mostly to the United States (Fleming &
Bailyn, 1969).

Sociology as a discipline emerged from Europe. Notable countries whose scholars worked
tirelessly in the field of sociology by way of conducting research and disseminating their
findings through publications France, England, and Germany.

The opposing social currents at work in the world today, as well as the more directly felt
institutional pressures and intellectual challenges are confronting sociology with a variety of
contradictory claims. Recognizing the many sources of confusion is a first requisite in order
to arrive at a balanced response to this situation. Equally important for a more reflexive
sociological practice is a continuous reconsideration of the history of the discipline.

Summary
In this session, we have looked at the origin of sociology as a discipline and asserted that
sociology originated from Europe with France, Germany and Britain playing major roles in
its development. Let us quickly go ahead and quiz ourselves

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 1.4
Indicate whether the following statements are true or false
1.Research was the main tool used to establish the field sociology. T/F
2. Sociology as an academic discipline emerged between 1890 and 1930. T/F
3. Sociology in Germany emerged before France and England. T/F
4. The proponents of these disciplines public administration and business consistently
subsumed civil society. T/F

11
SESSION 5: HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

INTRODUCTION
In the previous session, we discussed the origin of sociology of religion and I am sure you
enjoyed it. In this session, we are going to examine the historical development of sociology
of religion. Let’s look at the objectives for this session.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
a. Explain the sociological development of sociology of development

Now read on…

5.1 Historical Development of Sociology of Religion

Sociology is the scientific study of society. The discipline emerged out of the desire to
understand the chaotic nature of the society, following the industrial revolution in Britain.
The concern of early sociologists, therefore, was to maintain order and stability in the society.
Sociology of Religion is an academic discipline. The subject deals with the scientific study of
religious institutions. It tries to understand the impact of religion on families, marriages,
politics, technology, and development in a society. Sociology of Religion was developed
during the period of enlightenment in Western Europe. It was developed through the
influence of Sociologists like Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Georg Simmel.
Max Weber used his Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of capitalism to study themes like
(i) the effects of religious ideas on economic activities:
(ii) the relationship between social stratification and religious ideas;
(iii) patterns of authority. and
(iv) bureaucracy.

Emile Durkheim studied the Australian Aborigines, and in his Elementary Forms of
Religious Life. He saw the totem as symbolizing both the aborigine's god and the clan and he
concluded that god and society are one. He postulated that Religious rituals and ceremonies
help to promote group solidarity. Karl Marx believed that society is stratified into classes,
thus creating conflict in society. Marx believed also believed that Religion was a creation of
humanity and that God did not create human beings but human beings rather created gods.
Marx declared that Religion cuts people off from reality and for that matter, Religion is an
illusion. Georg Simmel was a classic functionalist who asserted that religion allows society to
function properly. Living in a community requires cohesion that only religion seems to offer.
Religion, therefore, offers group cohesiveness or solidarity. These Sociologists of Religion
researched the nature of society from different sociological perspectives. Sociology of
Religion WIS later ignored by scholars until the late 1940s and 1950s. During this period, the
study of the Sociology of Religion was focused on religious institutions like churches. Later,
the scope of sociology of Religion was extended to cover other fields like health, mass media,
gender, and women’s studies. In the 1960s, new developments in western religion caused
protestant theologians like Rudolf Bultman and Paul Tillich to give a different orientation to
the study of Sociology of Religion, using the "God is dead" theology. In recent times, the
Sociology of Religion has widened its scope of the study by examining both western and
non-western religions. Sociology of Religion also studies both institutional and non-
institutional religious behaviour. These developments notwithstanding, the major event that
shaped the emergence and development was the industrial revolution in Britain.

12
Summary
In this session, we have looked at the historical development of the sociology of education
and concluded that the major event that shaped the emergence and development was the
industrial revolution in Britain.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 1.5
1. Give an account of the historical development of a sociology of religion
SESSION 6: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIOLOGY AND RELIGION

INTRODUCTION

In the previous session, we discussed the historical development of sociology of religion and
I am sure you enjoyed it. In this session, we are going to look at the relationship between
sociology and religion. Let’s look at the objectives for this session.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
a. Explain the relationship between sociology and religion

Now read on…

6.1 Relationship between Sociology and Religion

Religion being a pervasive and universal institution is deeply rooted in human beings. It is
not just a strict institution but also exerts a great deal of influence upon all other institutions.
Many sociologists were fascinated by the rate at which religion impacts the lives of people
According to Hadden (1997), Weber views religion as a causal agent in society. To Weber,
religion shapes the entire economic system and brings fundamental changes to society.
Religion is a cultural element and as found in all societies is powerful and pervasive. Religion
is found to be at the centre of the political, economic, social, educational, technological, and
scientific life of a people. Inbuilt in religion are theological and doctrinal teachings as well as
values, laws, ethics, creeds, and beliefs that shape the life of adherents in a society.

On the other hand, Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes
and consequences of human behavior. Sociologists investigate the structure of groups,
organizations, and societies, and how people interact within these contexts. Since all human
behavior is social, the subject matter of sociology ranges from the intimate family to the
hostile mob; from organized crime to religious cults; from the divisions of race, gender and
social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture; and from the sociology of work to the
sociology of sports. In fact, few fields have such broad scope and relevance for research,
theory, and application of knowledge.

Sociology provides many distinctive perspectives on the world, generating new ideas and
critiquing the old. The field also offers a range of research techniques that can be applied to
virtually any aspect of social life: street crime and delinquency, corporate downsizing, how
people express emotions, welfare or education reform, how families differ and flourish, or
problems of peace and war. Because sociology addresses the most challenging issues of our
time, it is a rapidly expanding field whose potential is increasingly tapped by those who craft
policies and create programs. Sociologists understand social inequality, patterns of behavior,
forces for social change and resistance, and how social systems work. As the following pages

13
convey, sociology is an exciting discipline with expanding opportunities for a wide range of
career paths.

Summary
In this session, we have looked at the relationship between religion and sociology and
concluded that religion can be defined as a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to
sacred things, that is to say, set apart and forbidden, beliefs and practices which unite into one
single moral community, called a church, all those who adhere to them” (1915). Again,
sociology simply means a discipline is a scientific study of society.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 1.5
1. Give three relationships between religion and sociology.
2. Explain three relations between religion and sociology.

14
UNIT 2: RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS AND RELIGIOUS ORGANISATIONS

Unit Outline
SESSION 1: Core Elements of Religion (beliefs, emotions, rituals, organisation)
SESSION 2: The Nature of Religious Beliefs
SESSION 3: The Nature of Religious Practices
SESSION 4: Religious Systems (monotheistic, polytheistic, animistic, totemic)
SESSION 5: Religious Organization (examples, religious movements, denomination, cult,
sect, etc)
SESSION 6: The Role of Religion in African Society

OVERVIEW
Dear learner, welcome to the second unit of this module. I hope you will enjoy this one too.
The second unit looks at religious system and organisations. As usual, we have six sessions
under this unit. Each session of this unit deals with subtopics as stated in the unit outline
above. Carefully go through all the sessions in this unit to get clear understanding of the
religious systems and organisation.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you will be able to:
1. explain the elements in religion including their beliefs, emotions, rituals and
organizations
2. state the nature of religious beliefs
3. tell the nature of religious practices
4. describe the various religious systems
5. outline the various religious organizations
6. tell the role religion plays in the African society

15
SESSION 1: CORE ELEMENTS OF RELIGION (BELIEFS, EMOTIONS, RITUALS,
ORGANIZATION)

INTRODUCTION
Hello! Welcome to session one of this unit. In our previous session, we discussed the
relationship between sociology and religion. I hope you enjoyed the previous session. In this
session, we shall examine the elements of religion. Now let’s look at the objectives for this
session. I am hopeful that you will enjoy it.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
a. identify the core elements of religion
b. explain the core elements of religion
Now read on…
1.1 CORE ELEMENTS OF RELIGION
Religion constitute many elements such as place of worship, belief in supernatural power,
method of salvation etc. Nevertheless, all these elements have been grouped under four
main elements. They include beliefs, rituals, emotions and organizations.

1.2 MEANING OF THE CORE ELEMENTS OF RELIGION

1.2.1 Beliefs are specific ideas members of a particular faith hold to be true, such as that
Jesus Christ was the son of God, or that reincarnation exists. Another illustration of
religious beliefs is the creation stories we find in different religions. Other examples are;
belief in spirits, ancestors, reincarnation, etc.

1.2.2 Emotions is an important part of religious life which describes a feeling or sense of
passion during a religious practice even if they cannot name the feeling. Moreover, religious
beliefs and practice have been related to various processes of regulating emotions (Emmons
2005; Watts 2007; Vishkin et al. 2014). Examples of such emotions are gratitude, joy, hope,
compassion, contrition among others. Our perspective on emotions draws on crucial insights
from the history of emotions, which has established that emotions are not timeless
components of human nature but moving targets which change over time. Not only do new
varieties of emotions and emotional practices form while others are forgotten, but also the
cultural frameworks of what emotions are and how they relate to morals and society changes.
This is because they are not only individual possessions but rather have social qualities; they
are not only interior experiences but socially constructed, located, and expressed. Emotions
are also, from this perspective, not only subjective, inner feelings or internalised norms, but
practised behaviour. They interact with other fields of human action, knowledge, and
experience. We have chosen not to focus on a single emotion or a range of emotions as we
hold that emotions are best understood as overlapping and relational. Yet this breadth does
not result in a loss of specificity. Religion teaches extensively on emotions since bad
emotions could lead to bad actions. Thus religious adherents are expected to control their
emotions in order to behave properly.

1.2.3 Rituals are behaviors or practices that are either required or expected of the members of
a particular group, such as bar mitzvah or confession of sins (Barkan and Greenwood 2003).
Another scholar, Victor Turner (1972) defined ritual as “a stereotyped sequence of activities
performed in a sequestered place, and designed to influence preternatural entities or forces on
behalf of the actor’s goals and interests.” An example of a ritual is prayer, rites of passage
such as naming ceremony, puberty rites, marriage and funeral rites, etc. One of the elements

16
of religion namely rituals re-order the world according to religious principle. Although the
word ‘faith’ can be associated with belief in unseen realities, humans throughout time have
needed to see, smell, and touch the sacred. Human senses are portals to the spirit. It follows
that, rituals function as tangible symbols of the intangible realm. For examples of different
studies that consider the public rituals of Judaism, Islam and Hinduism respectively see Beck
(2012), Bronner (2011) and Haider (2011). While some religious rituals are private or hidden,
many are performed in public spaces or in ways that are openly accessible to wider society.
As such, they are a part of public life. For religious adherents, rituals symbolise spiritual
truths but they can also redefine how power can be understood in the material world. Thus
rituals are central to the everyday life of religious adherents. The level at which religious
adherents perform rituals determines how intimate their relationship with the Supreme Being.

1.2.4 Organization refers to a group of individuals with common characteristics who come
together to perform common religious activities, for the purpose of achieving a common goal.
An example is the church, mosque, shrine etc. Many types of religious organizations exist in
modern societies. Sociologists usually group them according to their size and influence.
Categorized this way, three types of religious organizations exist: church, sect, and cult
(Emerson, Monahan, & Mirola, 2011). A church further has two subtypes: the ecclesia and
denomination.

Summary
In this session, we have identified four elements of religion which include beliefs, rituals,
emotions and organizations. Secondly, we have been able to explain the core elements of
religion in detail.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 1.1
1. Religion consist of more elements aside the core elements of religion. T/F
2. Practices such as prayer, funeral rites, naming ceremony can be said to be rituals. T/F
3. Believe in the Supreme Being, ancestors, spirits, angels, reincarnation can NOT be termed
as beliefs of religion. T/F

17
SESSION 2: THE NATURE OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
INTRODUCTION

Dear reader, in the previous session we identified the core elements of religion. In this
session, we shall discuss the nature of one core element of religion, which is religious beliefs.
I hope you will continue to enjoy the lesson. Let us move on!

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to;
A. define religious beliefs
B. elaborate on the nature of religious beliefs

Now read on…

2.1 DEFINITION OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

Religious beliefs are an essential part of any religion. Beliefs are specific ideas members of a
particular faith hold to be true, such as that Jesus Christ was the son of God, or that
reincarnation exists. They show the way people think about the universe and their attitude
towards life itself. Religious beliefs are concerned with topics such as God, spirits, human
life, magic, the hereafter and so on. Another example is the belief in supreme being, ancestral
spirits and other supernatural powers by different religions.

2.2. NATURE OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

Religious beliefs in the supernatural dimension is central to all world religions. Religious
beliefs have a lot of influence on people. These beliefs can turn to have influence on human’s
behaviour. Therefore, it is good to understand people’s beliefs well, because it is these beliefs
which influence their behaviour. In addition to religious beliefs there are beliefs in other areas
of life like politics, economics, science and so on. Every religion practiced in the world has
its own beliefs, yet, there are some beliefs that can be found in all religions or some religions.
Religious beliefs constitute belief in Supreme Being/Deity, ancestors, prophets, spirits,
cosmos world, belief in angels and archangels, reincarnation, etc. Some beliefs that run
through most religions in the world are belief in the supreme being, resurrection and
judgement, cosmos world, etc.

Summary
In this session, we have elaborated on religious beliefs. Secondly, we have been able to
explain the nature of religious beliefs.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 2.1
a. define religious beliefs
b. write two (2) constituents of religious beliefs.

18
SESSION 3: THE NATURE OF RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

INTRODUCTION
Hello, welcome to another session in unit 2. In this session, we will learn about the nature of
religious practices. As we all move together, am optimistic that you will find it very
pleasurable. Now, let’s move on!

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to;
a. explain what religious practices are
b. discuss the nature of religious practices

Now read on…

3.1 MEANING OF RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

Religious practices are practices that show how people express their beliefs in practical terms.
It is a practice related to the holding of a religious belief. The purpose of the practice of a
religion are to achieve the goals of salvation for oneself and other, and (if there is a God) to
render due worship and obedience to God. Also, is a term including practices and
observances such as attending worship services, wearing garb or symbols, praying at
prescribed times, displaying religious objects, adhering to certain dietary rules, refraining
from certain activities, proselytizing, etc.

3.2 NATURE OF RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

Religious practices can be found in every religion due to the beliefs they hold in a particular
religion. Every religion in the world hold onto different religious practices. For instance, rites
of passage that is designed to transition individuals between life stages such as naming
ceremony, puberty rite, marriage ceremony and death rites are practices uphold in the African
Traditional Religion. Again, in Christianity, prayer is considered as a ritual, as well as
ordination of priests to serve in the church.

Summary
In this session, we have defined what religious practices are. Secondly, we have been able to
examine the nature of religious practices like rituals.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 3.1
a. An adherent of a religion refrains from certain activities due to his beliefs can
be said that the adherent is engaging in a religious practice. T/F
b. Explain the term religious practices.
c. Religious practices are the same in every religion in the world. T/F

19
SESSION 4: RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS (MONOTHEISTIC, POLYTHEISTIC,
ANIMISTIC, TOTEMIC)

Introduction
Hello, welcome to session 4 of this unit. In our previous session, we learnt about the nature of
religious beliefs. In this session, we shall discuss the concept of religious systems and the
various religious systems. I am very sure that you will enjoy this session. Now, let’s look at
the objectives,

Objectives
By the end of the session, you should be able to;
a. define religious systems
b. discuss the various religious systems

Now, let’s move on…

4.1 DEFINITION OF RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS

Religious systems refer to the beliefs and practices that are associated with religious groups
and are commonly shared by members of the group.

4.2 DISCUSSION OF RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS

4.2.1 Monotheistic - Monotheism means believing in one God; attributing all to a single,
supreme deity. Monotheistic is a religious system that recognizes a single supreme God.
Primitive people believe that a single theistic entity is responsible for the existence of the
universe. The largest monotheistic religions in the world today are Christianity, Islam and
Judaism. Together these religions have more than 3.8 billion adherents world-wide.

4.2.2 Polytheistic – Polytheism is the belief in many gods. Polytheistic is a religious system
that believes in several gods or deities not a single deity. Primitive people believe that all
natural forces are controlled by different gods. A few examples would be god of water, god
of rain, god of fire, god of air, god of earth, etc. Another example is Hinduism, one of the
world’s largest polytheistic religions with more than 1 billion practitioners, has a pantheon of
deities each with different capabilities and concerns

4.2.3 Animistic – This is a religious system based on the idea that plants, animals, inanimate
objects and natural phenomena like weather have a spiritual or supernatural element. In other
words, animism is the belief in innumerable spiritual beings concerned with human affairs
and capable of helping or harming human interests. The first anthropological description of
animism came from Sir Edward Burnett Tylor in his work Primitive Culture (1871). People
worship inanimate objects like trees, stones, a piece of wood, volcanic eruptions, etc.

4.2.4 Totemic-this is a religious system of belief in which humans are said to have kinship or
a mystical relationship with a spirit-being, such as animal or plant. In other words, it is the
belief in a mystical relationship between a group or an individual and a totem. A totem is
usually an animal or other natural figure that spiritually, represents a group of related people
such as a clan or tribe. The entity, or totem, is thought to interact with a given kin, group or
an individual and to serve as their emblem or symbol.

20
Summary
In this session, we have defined what religious systems are. Secondly, we have been able to
examine four religious systems which include monotheistic, polytheistic, animistic and
totemic in detail.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 4.1
1. Define polytheism
2. The belief that plants, piece of wood, stones, natural phenomena have supernatural
element is termed as totemic. T/F
3. The belief in one God and attributing all creation to a single deity or Supreme Being
is known as Monotheistic religious system. T/F

21
SESSION 5: RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION (EXAMPLES, RELIGIOUS
MOVEMENTS, DENOMINATION, CULT, SECT, ETC)

INTRODUCTION
Hi! Welcome to session five of this unit. In our previous session, we examined the four
religious systems (monotheistic, polytheistic, animistic, totemic). I hope you enjoyed the
previous session. In this session, we shall discuss religious organizations are. Now let’s look
at the objectives for this session. I am optimistic that you will enjoy it.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to;
a. explain the concept “religious organizations”
c. kinds of religious organizations

Now, let’s move on…

5.1 MEANING OF RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS

The concept religious organization refers to a group of individuals with common
characteristics who come together to perform common religious activities, for the purpose of
achieving a common goal. An example is the church.

5.2 KINDS OF RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS

5.2.1 Denomination
The word "denomination" means "having a name". The word denomination is used for a
large group of Christians across the world who use the same name, the same tradition and the
same identity with common beliefs. Examples of denominations include the Roman Catholic,
Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Presbyterian, Church of Pentecost,
Assemblies of God, Apostolic Church, Christ Apostolic, etc. In contemporary pluralistic
societies, several denominations co-exist. Most people are members of a specific
denomination because their parents were members. They are born into a denomination and
generally consider themselves members. For such people, they remain members of the
denomination whether or not they actively practice their faith, unless they convert to another
denomination or abandon their faith altogether.

5.2.2 Sect
A sect is a relatively small religious organization that is not closely integrated into the larger
society and that often conflicts with at least some of its norms and values. A sect is a
religious group that has broken away from a larger denomination in an effort to restore what
members of the sect regard as the original views of the denomination. For example, the Rev.
Dr. Vincent Kwabena Damuah (popularly known as Okomfo Damuah), a Catholic priest
broke away from the Catholic Church in Ghana to form the Afrikania Mission in 1982. This
sect was supposed to promote African spiritual emancipation.

Because sects are relatively small, they usually lack the bureaucracy of having formal
structures in place. Besides, the clergy of these sects often do not receive official training.
Their worship services can be intensely emotional experiences, often more so than those
typical of many denominations, where worship tends to be more formal and restrained.
Members of many sects normally try to convert people and recruit them as new members into
the sect. If a sect succeeds in attracting many new members, it gradually grows to becomes

22
more bureaucratic, and eventually evolves into a denomination. Many of today’s Protestant
denominations began as sects, just like how the Mennonites, Quakers, and other groups
started.

5.4.3 Cult
A cult is a small religious organization that is at great odds with the norms and values of the
larger society. Cults are similar to sects but differ in at least three respects. First, they
generally have not broken away from a larger denomination and instead originate outside the
mainstream religious tradition. Secondly, they are often secretive and do not make converts
as much. Thirdly, they are at least somewhat more likely than sects to rely on charismatic
leadership based on the extraordinary personal qualities of the cult’s leader.

Although the term cult today raises negative images of crazy, violent, small groups of people,
it is important to keep in mind that major world religions, including Christianity, Islam, and
Judaism, and denominations such as the Mormons all began as cults. Another thing about
cults is that some of the leaders mislead their members and cause them to behave in an
irrational manner, for example, some cause their members to eat grass, as it happened in
South African in recent past, whereas others have also caused their members to commit mass
suicide. For example, in the 1990s, more than three dozen members of the Heaven’s Gate cult
committed suicide by drinking poison so that they can leave this world and go to Heaven
(Hoffman & Burke, 1997).

Summary
In this session, we have defined what religious organizations are. Secondly, we have been
able to discuss four religious organizations including denomination, sect, cult and religious
movements in detail.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 5.1
a. Explain the concept religious organization
b. A religious group that has broken away from a larger denomination in an effort to
restore what members of the sect regard as the original views of the denomination is
termed as Sect. T/F.
c. Explain the term cult.

23
SESSION 6: THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN AFRICAN SOCIETY

INTRODUCTION
I hope you enjoyed the previous session? Welcome to the last session in this unit. In session 5
we looked at the concept of religious organizations and kinds of religious organizations.
Now, in this session we shall look at the role of religion in African society.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to;
b. discuss the role of religion in African society

Now, read on…

6.1 ROLE OF RELIGION IN AFRICAN SOCIETY

 Religion gives meaning and purpose to life.
 Reinforces social unity and stability.
 Serves as an agent of social control of behaviour.
 Promotes physical and psychological well-being.
 Motivating people to work for positive change.

Summary
In this session, we have been able to discuss the role of religion in African society.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 6.1
c. State four roles religion play in African society.

24
UNIT 3: AFRICAN SOCIAL SYSTEMS

Outline
SESSION 1: The concept of Social System
SESSION 2: Elements of Social System
SESSION 3: Characteristics of Social Systems
SESSION 4: Types of Social System
SESSION 5: Functions of Social Systems
SESSION 6: Maintenance of African Social Systems
Hello student, welcome to unit three.
This unit will focus on African social systems. This will basically deal with the concept,
elements, characteristics, types, functions and maintenance of social systems in Africa. This
unit promise to be an interesting one. Without wasting time, let us move on. OVERVIEW

Objectives
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
1. define social system
2. list the elements in social system
3. explain the characteristics of social systems
4. state the types of social systems
5. examine the functions of social systems
6. discuss the maintenance of African social systems

25
SESSION 1: AFRICAN SOCIAL SYSTEMS

INTRODUCTION
Hello! Welcome to session one of this unit. In our previous session, we discussed the role of
religion in African society. I hope you enjoyed the previous session. In this session, we shall
examine what an African Social System is. Now let’s look at the objectives for this session. I
am hopeful that you will enjoy it.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you will be able to:
a.define the term African Social System.

Now, let us continue!

1.1 DEFINITION OF AFRICAN SOCIAL SYSTEM

A social system is a group of people who interact with one another and mutually influence
the behaviour of one another. A social system may be defined as a plurality of individuals
interacting with each other, according to shared cultural norms, values, beliefs, etc. In simple
terms, a system is an orderly arrangement. For example, in a human body, ears, eyes, nose,
legs, hands, lungs, heart, mind etc. have their own fixed places and specific roles to play, yet
their activities affect the whole human personality in diverse ways. Each part has its own
function to perform. On the basis of these functions they are inter-related and inter-
connected, and each of the systems interacts with one another. Thus, the various parts of the
human body constitute a whole system.

A social system is an orderly and systematic arrangement of social interactions. It is a

network of interactive relationships. The constituent parts of social system are individuals
who perform various roles in society. Each individual has a unique role to play in society,
and in performing their roles, each individual is influenced by the behaviour of others. The
behaviousr of individuals and groups in society is controlled by social institutions. The
various groups do not act in an independent and isolated manner. They are the parts of
independent whole. They act in accordance with social norms. On the basis of their
interactions and inter-relationship, they create a pattern, which is called a ‘social-system’.

Summary
In this session, we have been able to discuss the concept of African Social System in detail.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 1.1
A social system is a group of people who interact with one another and mutually influence
the behaviour of one another. T/F
a. A social system can be said to be a network of interactive relationships. T/F
b. The behaviour of individuals and groups in society is controlled by social
institutions. T/F

26
SESSION 2: ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL SYSTEMS

INTRODUCTION
Dear reader, you are welcome to the second session of this unit. In the previous session we
elaborated on the concept of African Social System. In this session, we are going to examine
the various elements of Social Systems. I hope you will continue to enjoy the lesson. Let us
move on!

Objectives
By the end of this session, you will be able to:
a. examine the elements of Social System;

Now, let us continue!

2.1 ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL SYSTEM

The main elements of social system, according to Loomis are belief (knowledge), sentiment,
end, goal or objective, norm, status-role (position), rank, power, sanction and facility. Now,
let us discuss the various elements of the social system in detail.

2.1.1 Belief and Knowledge

Any proposition about any aspect of the universe that is accepted as true may be called a
belief. According to D. Krech and R. S. Crutchfield, “A belief is an enduring organization of
perception and cognitions about some aspect of individual’s world’. A belief may be true or
false. It may be verifiable or not. But the people who hold it consider it to be true. Belief
furnishes the cognitive basis for social action.

The significance of beliefs is not determined by the objective truth or falsity of the belief. The
belief that there is no God will make the social relationships of people different from the
relations of those who believe in God. The belief that capitalism is bound to decay may make
people optimistic. We find a number of beliefs held by the primitive people. Even today the
people hold a number of beliefs.

The Hindu social structure is founded on beliefs about the existence of God, the theory of
rebirth, the doctrine of Karma and the reality of hell and heaven. The Indian caste system is
based on Karma theory. It is due to the belief that the Hindu social system has been able to
survive despite many invasions over it. According to Loomis, the testing and validation of the
cognitive aspect of belief is also important. It will make for progress and provide dynamism
to the social system.

2.1.2 Sentiment. Closely related to belief is the element of sentiment

Sentiments represent “what we feel” about the world. Sentiment is the chief element
articulated in the internal pattern of a social system. The sentiments as expressed in the
internal pattern result from both externally patterned and internally patterned social
interaction. The sentiments of the external pattern are those which members bring from
outside. Sentiments are acquired. They are the product of experience and cultural
conditioning. Our cultural values and social goals influence and control our sentiments. The
sentiments of love, hatred, benevolence, charity, nationalism, internationalism etc. are created
by our cultural conditioning. The sentiments may be of various kinds, intellectual, ethical,
aesthetic, religious etc.

27
2.1.3 End, goal or objective
The end, goal or objective creates social system. The members of a social system expect to
accomplish a particular end or objective through appropriate interaction. Had there been no
human needs, goals or ends, there would have been no society. The human needs, goals and
ends determine the nature of social system.

2.1.4 Norm
Norms are the standards for determining what is right and wrong, appropriate and
inappropriate, just and unjust, good and bad in social relationships. Every social system is
possessed of its norms which the individuals are obliged to observe. Some norms are general
and may not be violated by anyone; others apply only to particular individuals and status
roles within the system. Particular norms may be especially crucial for special social systems.
The norm of “efficiency” is of great importance in the economic system. The norm of “fair
play” is of importance in athletic activity. The concept of social system implies order. Hence
a major criterion for delineating a social system is simply the existence of consensus with
respect to the appropriate ways of behaviour.

2.1.5 Status-role
Status is the position which an individual has in society. In a social system each individual
has a status. The place in a particular system which a certain individual occupies at a
particular time is his status with reference to that system. The element of status is found in
every social system. In the family there are the statuses of father, mother, son, daughter, etc.
Likewise, there are statuses in a club, school, union or factory. The status of an individual
may be ascribed or achieved. The ascribed status is one which an individual gets at his birth.
It is conferred to him by his group or society. It may be based on sex, age, caste or colour.
The achieved status is one which an individual achieves by his efforts. A man born in a low
caste may, by his efforts, become the Prime Minister and achieve thereby a high status.
There are some functions attached to each status which are called roles. In a social system the
individuals are expected to perform their roles in accordance with their statuses. There is a
role fixed for each status. The individuals may change but statuses remain unchanged. An
individual acting as Principal may die. His place is taken by another individual. The
educational system continues to work.

2.1.6 Rank
Rank as used here is equivalent to “standing”. It includes the importance an individual has for
the system in which the rank is accorded. It is determined by the evaluation placed upon the
individual and his acts in accordance with the norms and standards of the system. A political
leader enjoys higher rank than a teacher in modern society whereas in ancient times the
teacher enjoyed higher rank than that of even the king.

2.1.7 Power
Power refers to the capacity to control others. There may take place any conflict among the
different parts of the social system. Such conflict is harmful for the social system. Thus there
may arise a dispute between the students and teachers which is harmful for the efficiency of
the institution.

28
There should exist some power with the capacity to control both the teachers and students.
Such power is vested in the Principal. Thus each social system gives power to some
individual or body of individuals to remove tension from amongst the system. In the State the
ruler, in the family the father, in the union the president has such power. This power always
resides in the status-role and not in the individual as such. It is the authority of office.

Thus the authority of the principal, Driest, father, president, police man resides in the
particular office. As soon as an individual cease to hold the office, he no longer exercises the
authority of that office. An ex-principal cannot direct the students, an unfrocked priest cannot
deliver the sacraments, an ex-president cannot call the parliament. Authority, therefore,
implies some degree of institutionalization.

2.1.8 Sanction
Sanction refers to the rewards and penalties given out by the members of social system as a
device for inducing conformity to its norms and ends. Sanctions can be positive or negative.
The positive sanctions are the rewards which may include wages, profits, interest, esteem,
praise, privileges etc. The negative sanctions are the penalties and punishments.

2.1.9 Facility
A facility has been defined as a means used to attain ends within the system. It is necessary
that the individuals in a social system should be provided with adequate facilities to “liable
them to perform their roles efficiently. Facilities should not only exist but should also be
utilized. Mere existence of facilities is of no use unless these can be utilized.

Summary
In this session, we have been able to examine the elements of Social System such as belief,
sentiment, goals or objectives, norm, status-role, rank, power, sanction and facility in detail.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 1.1
a. Rewards and penalties given out by the members of social system as a device for
inducing conformity to its norms and ends is known as sanctions. T/F
b. Sentiments expressed in the internal pattern result from both externally patterned
and internally patterned social interaction. T/F
c. Every social system is possessed of its norms which the individuals are obliged to
observe. T/F

29
SESSION 3: CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL SYSTEMS

INTRODUCTION
Hello, welcome to another session in unit 3. In this session, we will learn about the
characteristics of social system. Secondly, we shall discuss into detail the characteristics of
social system. As we all move together, am optimistic that you will find it very pleasurable.
Now, let’s move on!

Objectives
By the end of this session, you will be able to:
d. examine the characteristics of Social System;

Now, let us continue!

3.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL SYSTEM

3.1.1 A social system is based on social interaction.
A number of individuals when act and interact, their interactions produce a system, which is
called social system. Therefore, social system cannot be created by the action of one
individual.

3.1.2 The interaction is meaningful:

Social system is an organization of meaningful interactions. Meaningless and aimless
interactions do not produce social system.

3.1.3 The parts of social system are related on the basis of functional relationship:
Different parts of a system are united to each other on the basis of functional relationship. It
is a fact that social system is an arrangement of interdependent and interactive parts.

3.1.4 A social system is a unit:

A social system implies order among the interacting units of the system. Social system is a
state or condition where the various parts are arranged in an integrated manner.

3.1.5 A social system is related with cultural system:

Culture determines the nature and scope of inter-relations and interactions of the members of
society. It also maintains a balance and harmonious relationship among different parts and
reduces conflict among the various parts. Therefore, social-system is closely related with
cultural system.
3.1.6 A social system related to time factor:
A social system is related to a particular age, a definite territory and a particular society.
Social system is not the same in all ages. Social system changes with change in times. It is
dynamic not static. Change in social system does not mean that social equilibrium is lost. In
spite of social changes, social system continues to exists.
Summary
In this session, we have been able to discuss the characteristics of social system in detail.
Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 3.1
a. A social system cannot be created by the action of an individual. T/F
b. A social system implies order among the interacting units of the system
signifies that a social system is a unit. T/F
c. Change in social system does not mean that social equilibrium is lost. T/F

30
SESSION 4: TYPES OF SOCIAL SYSTEMS

INTRODUCTION
Hello, welcome to session 4 of this unit. In our previous session, we learnt about the
characteristics of social system. In this session, we shall discuss the types of social systems. I
am very sure that you will enjoy this session. Now, let’s look at the objectives,

Objectives
By the end of this session, you will be able to:
a. state the types of Social System;
b. examine two types of social systems according to Emile and Lewis.

Now, let us continue!

4.1 TYPES OF A SOCIAL SYSTEM

 Lewis Henry Morgan’s Classification of Social Systems
 `Emile Durkheim’s Classification of Social Systems

4.2.1 Lewis Henry Morgan’s Classification of Social Systems

Social systems have been classified on the basis of generation or evolution. According to
Lewis Henry Morgan in Fortes (2006), and other evolutionists, social system has passed
through three-stages, namely:
1. Savagery Social System - Wild
2. Barbarian Social System - Uncivilized
3. Civilized Social System - Modern
These three stages of cultural evolution were based on the Cultural Evolution Theory of
Lewis Henry Morgan in 1877. He used the categories savagery, barbarism and civilization
according to the presence or absence of certain technological features into:
1. Lower Savagery – from earliest form of humanity feeding on fruits and nuts.
2. Middle Savagery – began with the discovery of fishing technology and the use of fire.
3. Upper Savagery - began with the invention of bow and arrow.

Social systems are also classified based on means of livelihood into four categories. They are;
1. Hunting social system - Nomadic
The time when tools were not invented and people used to gather food for consumption.
2. Pastoral social system - Semi-nomadic
This was the time when people lived nomadic life. Animal rearing was the major vocation of
the people.
3. Agrarian social system - Rural
The time when people used to till the land and practiced farming.
4. Industrial social system - Urban
The time of industrialization when machines were used for mass production of goods.

4.2.2 `Emile Durkheim’s Classification of Social Systems

Emile Durkheim has also classified social system under two, namely:
1. Mechanical Social System – which is associated with ancient societies
2. Organic Social System – which is associated with modern societies

Summary

31
In this session, we have discussed the types of social system according to Emile Durkheim
and Lewis Henry Morgan in detail.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 4.1
a. Social systems have been classified on the basis of generation or evolution. T/F
b. Name the four classifications of social systems based on means of livelihood.
c. According to Emile Durkheim, mechanical social system and organic social
system are the two classifications of social systems. T/F

32
SESSION 5: FUNCTIONS OF SOCIAL SYSTEMS

INTRODUCTION
Hi! Welcome to session five of this unit. In our previous session, we examined the types of
social systems. I hope you enjoyed the previous session. In this session, we shall discuss the
functions of social systems. Now let’s look at the objectives for this session. I am optimistic
that you will enjoy it.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to;
a. Discuss four functions of social systems
Now, read on…

5.1 FUNCTIONS OF SOCIAL SYSTEMS

Social system is a functional arrangement. It would not exist if it were not so. Its functional
character ensures social stability and continuity. The functional character of society, Parsons
has discussed in depth. Other sociologists such as Robert F. Bales too have discussed it. It is
generally agreed that the social system has four primary functional problems to attend. These
are:

5.1.1 Adaptation
Adaptability of social system to the changing environment is essential. No doubt, a social
system is the result of geographical environment and a long drawn historical process which
by necessity gives it permanence and rigidity. Yet, that should not make it wooden and
inelastic. It need be a flexible and functional phenomenon. Economy for its maintenance,
division of labour for better production of goods and effective services, and role
differentiation for job opportunity is essential. Durkheim in Division of Labour in society has
given great attention to the role of division of labour and role differentiation as these make
possible a higher average degree of skill than would otherwise be possible.
Lack of adaptability, very often has caused the social system to be challenged. It has caused
revolution resulting in the overhauling of the system. The British system, in the nineteenth
century, when the continent was in the inferno of revolution, showed remarkable adaptability.
It responded well to the mounting demands of change. Over the time our system has
demonstrated the excellent sense of adaptability.

5.1.2 Goal Attainment

Goal attainment and adaptability are deeply interconnected. Both contribute to the
maintenance of social order. Every social system has one or more goals to be attained through
cooperative effort. Perhaps the best example of a societal goal is national security. Adaptation
to the social and nonsocial environment is, of course, necessary if goals are to be attained.
But in addition, human and nonhuman resources must be mobilised in some effective way,
according to the specific nature of tasks. For example, there must be a process of ensuring
that enough persons, but not too many, occupy each of the roles at a particular time and a
process for determining which persons will occupy which roles. These processes together
solve the problem of allocation of members in the social system. We have already touched
upon the “need” for property norms. The rules regulating inheritance e.g., primogeniture-in
part solve this problem.

33
The allocation of members and the allocation of scarce valuable resources are important, of
course, for both adaptation and goal attainment. The difference between adaptation and goal
attainment is a relative one. The economy of a society is that subsystem which produces
goods and services for a wide variety of purposes; the “polity”, which includes above all the
Government in complex societies, mobilizes goods and services for the attainment of specific
goals of the total society regarded as a single social system.

5.1.3 Integration
Social system is essentially an integration system. In the general routine of life, it is not the
society but the group or the subgroup in which one feels more involved and interested.
Society, on the whole does not come into one’s calculations. Yet, we know as indicated by
Durkheim, that individual is the product of society. Emotions, sentiments and historical
forces are so strong that one cannot cut oneself from his moorings. The working of these
forces is best seen when society is involved in a domestic crisis or an external challenge. An
appeal in the name of society, culture, heritage, patriotism, national solidarity or social
welfare invokes quick response. Cooperation in effort is often demonstrative of integrating. It
is the real basis of integration.

During normal times, the spirit of integration is best expressed by not disregarding the
regulative norms. Abiding by them is essential, as otherwise, it will be the domination of
might over right, of self over society, and the spirit of mutuality which is based on common
welfare, will get eliminated. The command and obedience relation as it exists is based on
rationality and order. If it is not sustained, the social order would break down.

In almost every social system, and in every system as large as a society, some participants,
including whole subgroups, violate the relational or regulative norms. So far as these norms
meet social needs, violations are a threat to the social system. This necessitates the need for
social control. “Social control” is the need for standardized reactions to violations in order to
protect the integrity of the system. When there is dispute concerning the interpretation of
relational or regulative norms, or concerning the factual aspects of conflicts of interest, there
is need for agreed-upon social arrangements for settling the dispute. Otherwise the social
system would be subject to progressive splits.

5.1.4 Latent Pattern-maintenance

Pattern maintenance and tension management is the primary function of social system. In
absence of appropriate effort in this direction maintenance and continuity of social order is
not possible. In fact, within every social system there is the in-built mechanism for the
purpose. Every individual and subgroup learns the patterns in the process of the
internalization of norms and values. It is to invest the actors with appropriate attitude and
respect towards norms and institution, that the socialization works. It is not; however, merely
the question of imparting the pattern, equally essential is to make the actor to follow it. For
this there is always a continuous effort -in operational terms of social control.

There may yet be occasions when the components of social system may become subject of
distraction and disturbance. Tension may arise due to internal or external causes and society
may get involved into a critical situation. Just as a family in distress draws upon all its
resources to overcome it, so also society has to overcome it. This process of ‘overcoming’ is
the management of the tension. Society has the responsibility, like a family, to keep its
members functional, to relieve them of anxiety, to encourage those who would be detrimental

34
to the entire system. The decline of societies has been very much because the pattern
maintenance and tension management mechanism has often failed.

Summary
In this session, we have been able to identify the functions of social systems which are
adaptation, goal attainment, integration and pattern maintenance.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 5.1
a. Goal attainment and adaptability are deeply interconnected and both
contribute to the maintenance of social order. T/F
b. The spirit of integration is best expressed by not disregarding the regulative
norms. T/F

35
SESSION 6: MAINTENANCE OF AFRICAN SOCIAL SYSTEMS

INTRODUCTION
I hope you enjoyed the previous session? Welcome to the last session in this unit. In session 5
we looked at the functions of social systems. Now, in this session we shall look at the
maintenance of African Social System.

Objective
By the end of this session, you should be able to;
c. Know how the African social system is maintained

Now, read on…

6.1 MAINTENANCE OF AFRICAN SOCIAL SYSTEM

A social system is maintained by the various mechanisms of social control. These
mechanisms maintain the equilibrium between the various processes of social interaction. In
brief, these mechanisms may be classified in the following categories:

6.1.1 Socialization
It is process by which an individual is adjusted with the conventional pattern of social
behaviour. A child by birth is neither social nor unsocial. But the process of socialization
develops him into a functioning member of society. He adjusts himself with the social
situations conforming with social norms, values and standards.

6.1.2 Social Control

Like socialisation, social control is also a system of measures by which society moulds its
members to conform with the approved pattern of social behaviour. According to Parsons,
there are two types of elements which exist in every system. These are integrative and
disintegrative and create obstacles in the advancement of integration.

Summary
In this session, we have been able to discuss how the African Social System is maintained.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 6.1
a. The process by which an individual is adjusted with the conventional pattern
of social behavior is socialisation. T/F
b. A system of measures by which society moulds its members to conform with
the approved pattern of social behavior is known as social control. T/F

36
UNIT 4: SOCIAL ORGANISATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS

Outline
SESSION 1: The Concept of Social Organisation
SESSION 2: Types of Social Organisation
SESSION 3: Characteristics of Social Organisation
SESSION 4: The Concept of Social Institutions
SESSION 5: Types of Social Institutions
SESSION 6: Characteristics of Social Institutions

OVERVIEW
Dear learner, you are most welcome to unit four.
In this unit, you would learn about how social organisations and institutions. The concept,
types and characteristics of social organisation and institutions will be dealt with
comprehensively. Fasten your seatbelt and let us get going. I wish you well.

Objectives
By the end of this unit it is expected that, you would be able to examine the:
1. concept of social organization
2. types of social organization
3. characteristics of social organization
4. concept social institution
5. types of social institution
6. characteristics of social institution

37
SESSION 1: THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

INTRODUCTION
Hi, you are welcome to session one of this unit. In our previous session, we discussed the
maintenance of African Social Systems. I hope you enjoyed the previous session? In this
session, we shall examine the concept of social organization. Now let’s look at the objectives
for this session. I am hopeful that you will enjoy it.

Objectives:
By the end of this session, you should be able to;
a. explain the term Social Organisation.

Now, let us continue!

1.1 DEFINITION OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

A social organization refers to the patterns of interaction that exist among people in an
organization. It is the organization of society based on good interpersonal relations. Elliot and
Merrill define social organization as a state or a condition in which various institutions of a
society are functioning to recognize their purpose. According to Earnest Jones, a social
organization is a system in which all the parts of a society are interrelated to each other and to
the whole society in a meaningful way.

Summary
In this session, we have examined the concept of social organization.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 4.1
a. define the concept of social organization.

38
SESSION 2: TYPES OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

INTRODUCTION
Dear reader, in the previous session we elaborated on the concept of social organization. In
this session, we shall discuss the types of social organizations. I hope you will continue to
enjoy the lesson. Let us move on!

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to;
a. explain any three types of Social Organizations

Now, read on…

2.1 TYPES OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS

There are some typologies of a good social system.

2.1.1 Primary groups and secondary groups: primary groups are groups with a small
number of members that have mutual, personal, close, lasting relations.

2.1.2 Secondary groups are groups that have a larger number of members established for a
precise purpose, where relations are impersonal and their duration is determined.

2.1.3 Internal groups and external groups: internal groups are formed of members that
have feelings of identity and loyalty.

2.1.4 External groups are perceived as not belonging to a person and doesn’t imply loyalty
feelings.

2.1.5 Reference groups are used by every person to express, compare and evaluate their own
behaviour. As such, these groups have the following functions: the normative function by
defining the adequate behaviour, the comparative function by establishing a behaviour
standard, the public function by evaluating the behaviour acceptability. It is worthy of note
that an individual can enter a group by chance or by his own will.

Summary
In this session, we have been able to elaborate on the types of social organizations which are
primary and secondary groups, external and internal groups and reference groups.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 2.1
a. Distinguish between internal groups and external groups.
b. Groups that have a large number of members established for a precise purpose can
be known as the secondary group. T/F
c. Define a reference group.

39
SESSION 3: CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

INTRODUCTION
Hello, I hope you enjoyed the previous session? Welcome to another session in unit 4. In this
session, we will learn about the characteristics of social organizations. As we all move
together, am optimistic that you will find it very pleasurable. Now, let’s move on!

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to;
a. explain two characteristics of Social Organisation.

Now, read on…

3.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF A SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS

There are certain qualities that characterizes a good social system. Let us discuss some of
them.

3.1.1 Goal-oriented
In a social organization, all members of the organization or the group are interrelated to one
another for the purpose of achieving a common goal. Individual members of the group are
expected to put the interest of the organization or the group first and work for the pursuit of
the goal that has been set for the organization. For example, in a social organization or a
group like the church, all members have one common goal, which guides them to work
towards the achievement of that goal. If for example, soul-winning is the ultimate goal for
church members, each and every member of the group must play his or her role in pursuit of
this goal. Both leaders and members of the church group must fulfil their obligations.

3.1.2 Human-centered
Every social organization is made up of human beings. People are the main actors or
performers of any organization. An organization is therefore considered to be a collection of
people. These people may vary in terms of their age, sex, gender, qualification, experience
and attributes. Every organization may have members who may be males or females, rich or
poor, less endowed or well endowed, young or old, etc. It is these groups of people with
diverse cultural background that come together to constitute an organization. For example,
considering the church as an example of an organization, we may see the church comprising
children and adults, males and females, rich and poor, those having different linguistic
background, etc.

3.1.3 Preparedness to accept role or status

In a social organization, members are positioned within the group to play various roles for the
benefit of the whole group. By this arrangement, every member of the organization is
assigned a particular role to perform, and a position and status to assume for the benefit of
members of the organization. Under the circumstance, every member must be willing to
accept the social arrangement and recognize individuals for their assigned roles that they
have to perform.

40
3.1.4 Norms and Mores
In every social organization, there are rules and regulations, norms and mores, laws and
orders that have been put in place to regulate the conduct of members. It is expected that
every member of the social group will strictly observe these norms and mores, so as to ensure
that there will be social cohesion. Any breach of these norms and mores or societal laws may
bring about chaos, anarchy and disharmony, and this is likely to affect the peace and stability
of the organization.

3.1.5 Sanctions
To ensure the smooth running of organizations, members are required to observe the norms
and mores. However, if for one reason or the other, an individual violates these norms and
mores, that individual must be sanctioned accordingly. These sanctions may range from
warnings to physical punishment. The recommended punishments may include withdrawal of
certain privileges, suspension, dismissal, payment of fines, etc.

3.1.6 Continuity
Every social organization has members who have been positioned within the group to
perform diverse roles for the benefit of the whole group. By the societal arrangements, a time
may come when a member who is performing a particular role or function may leave the
organization either voluntarily or through death. By the nature of the organizational
arrangement, when this happens, it does not affect the organization because there are other
members who can conveniently fill the positions that will be created. For example, the death
or transfer of a pastor will not affect the management of a particular congregation because
another pastor will be assigned to perform the role of the pastor who has left.

Summary
In this session, we have examined the characteristics of social organizations such as goal-
oriented, human-centered, sanctions, continuity, etc.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 3.1
a. Rules and regulations, norms and mores, laws and orders that have been put in place
to regulate the conduct of members is known to be norms and mores. T/F
b. In a social organization, all members of the organization or the group are interrelated
to one another for the purpose of achieving a common goal. T/F

41
SESSION 4: THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

INTRODUCTION
I hope you found the previous session interesting? You are welcome to session four of this
unit. In this session, we are going to examine the concept of social institutions. Now let’s
look at the objectives for this session.

Objectives:
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
a. explain the meaning of the term Social Institutions.
b. explain any three types of Social Institutions.
c. explain two characteristics of Social Institutions.

Now, let us continue!

4.1 DEFINITION OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

Social institutions are a collection of different sources of knowledge, information, skills, and
values that affect an individual and define how an individual would behave in his or her
society. In this sense, family, schools, religion, and economy are considered as institutions to
the sociologist. In other words, we tend to look up to our parents, teachers, and care-givers in
identifying what is right and what is wrong. Additionally, we as humans prefer to always be
part of something bigger. We want to be part of our families, our society, our religion and we
want to think of a supreme entity that judges us or at least takes care of us.

Summary
In this session, we have discussed the concept of social institutions are.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 4.1
a. define the concept social institutions

42
SESSION 5: TYPES OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

INTRODUCTION
Hi! Welcome to session five of this unit. In our previous session, we examined the concept of
social institutions. I hope you enjoyed the previous session. In this session, we shall discuss
the types of social institutions. Now let’s look at the objectives for this session. I am
optimistic that you will enjoy it.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to;
a. explain any three types of Social Institutions

5.1 TYPES OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

5.1.1 The community

A community may be a group of people who live in the same geographic region, but the term
also refers to individuals who have common interests and goals. An example of a geographic
community is people in a town or city, whose common interest could be their community’s
safety and prosperity. An example of a non-geographic community would be those who have
common goals, such as the “LGBTQ community,” whose members seek equal rights and
opportunities for those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer.

5.1.2 Community service organizations

These organizations serve a community by fulfilling a need or providing an opportunity to
participate in the community. For example, a local social service organization may sponsor
projects such as clearing up litter or providing scholarships to needy students. A local club,
such as a chess club, may invite participants to learn and enjoy the game. On a national or
international level, social institutions include Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without
Borders).

5.1.3 Education and schools as a social institution

Schools are institutions in the sense that students have come together to learn scientific
knowledge, develop skills, acquire values, and develop good habits (such as study habits,
self-discipline, and hygiene). The school as a social institution prepares students
to contribute to society and have a productive future. In addition to mastering the curriculum,
students are also learning how to interact with others, such as peers and teachers, which
involves governing their behavior, conforming to established norms and values, and
negotiating outcomes.

5.1.4 Family as a social institution

The family is considered a social institution because through parents and other family
members, individuals learn to define goals and expectations. The family affects the
individual’s habits, beliefs, and values, and helps define what is normal and what is not.
Traditionally, a family is defined as a group of people who are related to an individual
by blood, marriage, or adoption. However, it can also refer to other kinds of relationships. For
example, members of the wider community may teach values or beliefs that affect an
individual’s decisions. The individual may turn to others outside the traditional unit when
s/he is under stress or need support. Additionally, families can be nuclear or extended. The
nuclear family tends to have a greater impact on individual social norms compared to the
extended family.

43
The main five goals of the family as a social institution are:
• Reproduce
• Protect offspring
• Teach the children how to socially interact
• Show affection and love
• Teach offspring how to function in society

5.1.5 Healthcare institutions

Healthcare institutions monitor public health and provide health facilities to help individuals
maintain health, treat and prevent diseases, and handle accidents and
injuries. Medicalization is the process by which human conditions and problems come to be
defined and treated as medical conditions, including diagnosis, prevention, and treatment.
An individual who is ill enters the role of “sanctioned deviance.” From a functionalist
perspective, a sick individual is not a productive member of society. This deviance needs to
be policed, which is the role of the medical professional. Healthcare delivery varies across
communities. It is affected by access, socioeconomic status, and age. The illness
experience refers to the process of being ill and how individuals react to and cope with this
change in personal identity.

5.1.6 Religion as a social institution

Religion and organized religious rituals and practices can be traced back to ancient times
when homosapiens began forming social institutions. Religion can be considered a reflection
of the need to establish norms, values, and morals, as well as the need to belong to a social
institution.

On the other hand, strict adherence to religion had led to historical conflicts and feelings of
social isolation. Secularization has emerged for people who see the need to weaken the
influence of religion and the church on politics and society. This movement may also result
from the education institution since people seek information and answers from scientific
sources rather than believing in miracles or religious texts.

5.1.7 Economy, the government, legal institutes and social integrity as social institutions
Governments are an essential social institution. They are responsible for setting rules and
enforcing them to define how individuals integrate into society. Legal institutions help us by
regulating society and preventing crime as they enforce law and policy.

While the government can affect people and their interactions with each other, people can
also influence the government through democracy. In a democratic setting, people can
influence their government’s decisions, goals, and expectations.

In contrast, an authoritarian society has a single leader or small group of leaders who do not
allow public participation in government. The term is often synonymous with dictatorship.

The classical definition of communism is a society in which all property is publicly owned.
Each person works and is paid according to his/her abilities and needs. This term is distinct
from socialism, where all citizens share equally in economic resources as allocated by a
democratically-elected government.

44
In a monarchy, a single, “royal” family rules the county and has power over the government.
One family member is an established figurehead.

Summary
In this session, we have discussed the types of social institutions.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 5.1
a. Explain religion as a social institution
b. Family, education and schools, and healthcare institutions can be a type of social
institutions. T/F

45
SESSION 6: CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

INTRODUCTION
I hope you enjoyed the previous session? Welcome to the last session in this unit. In session 5
we looked at the types of social institutions. Now, in this session we shall look at the
characteristics of social institutions.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to;
a. explain two characteristics of Social Institutions.

Now read on…

6.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

6.1.1 Institutions are the controlling mechanisms: Institutions like religion, morality, state,
government, law, legislation etc. control the behaviour of men. These preserve the social
order and give stability to it.

6.1.2 Institutions are interrelated: Institutions, though diverse, are interrelated and
interdependent. These are connected through statuses and roles of the individuals.

6.1.3 Relatively permanent: Many institutions are rigid and enduring. Institutions normally
do not undergo sudden or rapid changes. Changes take place slowly and gradually in them.
Therefore, institutions are the great conservers and transmitters of cultural heritage.

6.1.4 Use Symbols to distinguish: Institutions have cultural symbols. The symbols may be
either material or non-material. A country has a flag, an emblem, and a national anthem as its
symbol. A school may have its own flag, uniform dress etc.

6.1.5 Possess material objects: The institutions being group of people have national
resources and material objects. The buildings, furniture, books and other objects are part of
social life are a part of institution.

Summary
In this session, we have been able to discuss the characteristics of social institutions.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 6.1
a. A symbol such as a flag or an emblem can be a characteristic of social institutions.
T/F
b. Define the following terms
i. institutions are controlling mechanisms
ii. institutions are interrelated

46
UNIT 5: SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF RELIGION

Outline
SESSION 1: Theoretical Perspectives of Religion
SESSION 2: Functional Theory (or Functionalism)
SCTION 3: Structural Functionalism Theory
SESSION 4: Symbolic Interactionism Theory
SESSION 5: Conflict Theory
SESSION 6: Feminist Theory

OVERVIEW
Hello, we are now on the fifth unit.
This unit will pay close attention to sociological theories of religion. Theories such as
functionalism, structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism, and conflict will be
discussed.

Objectives
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
1. explain the theoretical perspectives of religion
2. explain the theory of the functionalist
3. discuss the structural functionalist theory
4. discuss the symbolic interactionalism theory
5. explain the conflict theory
6. examine the feminist theory

47
UNIT 5: SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF RELIGION

INTRODUCTION
Hello! Welcome to session one of this unit. In our previous session, we discussed social
organization and institutions. I hope you enjoyed the previous session. In this session, we
shall examine the sociological theories of religion. Now let’s look at the objectives for this
session. I am hopeful that you will enjoy it.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
a. explain the theoretical perspectives of religion
b. explain the functional theory
c. explain structural Functionalism Theory
d. examine Symbolic Interactionism Theory
e. distinguish between Conflict Theory and feminist Theory

Now read on…

48
SESSION 1: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES OF RELIGION

INTRODUCTION
Hello! Welcome to session one of this unit. In our previous session, we discussed the
relationship between social organizations and institutions. I hope you enjoyed the previous
session. In this session, we shall examine the theoretical perspectives of religion. Now let’s
look at the objectives for this session. I am hopeful that you will enjoy it.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
a. identify the core element of theoretical perspectives of religion
b. explain the core elements of theoretical perspectives of religion

Now read on…

1.1 CORE ELEMENT OF THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES OF RELIGION

Modern-day sociologists often apply one of the major theoretical perspectives. These views
offer different lenses through which to study and understand society: functionalism, conflict
theory, and symbolic interactionism. Let’s explore how scholars applying these paradigms
understand religion.

1.2 MEANING OF THE CORE ELEMENTS OF THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

OF RELIGION
1.2.1 Functionalism: Functionalists contend that religion serves several functions in society.
Religion, in fact, depends on society for its existence, value, and significance, and vice versa.
From this perspective, religion serves several purposes, like providing answers to spiritual
mysteries, offering emotional comfort, and creating a place for social interaction and social
control. In providing answers, religion defines the spiritual world and spiritual forces,
including divine beings. For example, it helps answer questions like, “How was the world
created?” “Why do we suffer?” “Is there a plan for our lives?” and “Is there an afterlife?” As
another function, religion provides emotional comfort in times of crisis. Religious rituals
bring order, reassurance, and organization through shared familiar symbols and patterns of
behavior.

One of the most important functions of religion, from a functionalist perspective, is the
opportunities it creates for socializing and the formation of groups. It provides social support
and offers a place to meet others who hold similar values, as well as a place to seek help
(spiritual and material) in times of need. Moreover, it can foster group cohesion and
integration. Because religion can be central to many people’s concept of themselves,
sometimes there is an “in-group” versus “out-group” feeling toward other religions in our
society or within a particular practice. Religion promotes social control: it reinforces social
norms such as appropriate styles of dress, following the law, conforming to gender roles, and
regulating sexual behavior.

On an extreme level, the dysfunctions of this type of in-group/ out-group mentality has
resulted in violent episodes such as the Spanish Inquisition (1478-1834) and the Salem witch
trials (1692-1693), as well as extremist acts by anti-Semitic groups, jihadists, Christian
fundamentalists, and many more. Social control can be a function of religious groups but it
can also be dysfunctional when prescriptive social norms produce inequality between men

49
and women, between different castes or classes, and/or when they diminish individual agency
and choice within a religious group.

1.2.2 Conflict theory: Conflict theorists view religion as an institution that helps maintain
patterns of social inequality. For example, the Vatican has a tremendous amount of wealth,
while the average income of Catholic parishioners is small. According to this perspective,
religion has been used to support the “divine right” of oppressive hereditary monarchies and
to justify unequal social structures, like India’s rigidly hierarchical caste system. Conflict
theorists are critical of the way many religions promote the idea that believers should be
satisfied with existing circumstances because they are divinely ordained. This power dynamic
has been used by Christian institutions for centuries to keep poor people poor and to teach
them that they shouldn’t be concerned with what they lack because their “true” reward (from
a religious perspective) will come after death. Conflict theorists also point out that those in
power in a religion are often able to dictate practices, rituals, and beliefs through their
interpretation of religious texts or via proclaimed direct communication with the divine,
perhaps through “revelation” or a process of “divination.”

1.2.3 The feminist perspective is considered to be another view that focuses specifically on
gender inequality. In terms of religion, feminist theorists assert that, although women are
typically the ones to socialize children into a religion, they have traditionally held very few
positions of power within religions. A few religions and religious denominations are more
gender equal, but male dominance remains the norm of most. In addition to examining power
relations within religious organizations, feminists also attend to the ways that religion
justifies and sustains a belief in patriarchy, or the assumption that men should occupy
positions of authority in society.

1.2.4 Symbolic Interactionism : Rising from the concept that our world is socially
constructed, symbolic interactionism studies the symbols and interactions of everyday life.
To interactionists, beliefs and experiences are not sacred unless individuals in a society
regard them as sacred. The Star of David in Judaism, the cross in Christianity, and the
crescent and star in Islam are examples of sacred symbols. Interactionists are interested in the
negotiated meanings that different societies and groups attribute to these symbols.
Because interactionists study one-on-one, everyday interactions between individuals, a
scholar using this approach might ask questions focused on this dynamic. The interaction
between religious leaders and practitioners, the role of religion in the ordinary components of
everyday life, and the ways people express religious values in social interactions—all might
be topics of study to an interactionist.

Summary
In this session, we have identified four theoretical perspectives of religion which includes
functionalism, conflict theory, feminism theory and symbolic interactionism.

Self-Assessment Questions
Exercise 1.1
1. Conflict theorists also point out that those in power in a religion are often able to dictate
practices, rituals, and beliefs through their interpretation of religious texts or via
proclaimed direct communication with the divine, perhaps through “revelation” or a
process of “divination. T/F
2. To interactionists, beliefs and experiences are not sacred unless individuals in a society
regard them as sacred. T/F

50
SESSION 2: FUNCTIONAL THEORY (OR FUNCTIONALISM)

INTRODUCTION
Dear reader, in the previous session we identified the various theoretical perspective of
religion. In this session, we shall discuss the functional theory as one of the theoretical
perspective of religion. I hope you will continue to enjoy the lesson. Let us move on!

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to;
a. explain the functional theory
b. elaborate on the educational implications of the functional theory

Now read on…

2.1 BRIEF HISTORY ABOUT DAVID EMILE DURKHEIM

David Emile Durkheim was born on 15 April 1858 in Epinal, Lorraine, France, to Melanie
(Isidor) and Moise Durkheim, coming into a long lineage of devout French Jews. A
precocious student, Durkheim entered the Ecole Normale Superieure (ENS) in 1879, at his
attempt. At the ENS, Durkheim studied under the direction of Numa Denis Fustel de
Coulanges, a classicist with a social–scientific outlook, and wrote his latin dissertation on
Montesquieu. At the same time, he read Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer, whereby Emile
Durkheim became interested in scientific approach to society very early on in his career.
Durkheim found humanistic studies uninteresting, turning his attention from psychology and
philosophy to ethics and, eventually, sociology. From 1882 to 1887 he taught philosophy at
several provincial schools. In 1885 he decided to leave for Germany, where for two years he
studied sociology at the universities of Marburg, Berlin, and Leipzig. By 1886, as part of his
doctoral dissertation, he had completed the draft of his The Division of Labour in Society and
was working towards establishing the new science of sociology. Durkheim’s period in
Germany resulted in the publication of numerous articles on German social science and
philosophy; Durkheim was particularly impressed by the work of Wilhelm Wundt.
Durkheim’s articles gained recognition in France, and he received a teaching appointment at
the University of Bordeaux in 1887, where he was to teach the university’s first social science
course. Also, in 1887, Durkheim married Louise Dreyfus. They had two children, Marie and
Andre.

Throughout his career, Durkheim was concerned primarily with three goals. First, to establish
sociology as a new academic discipline. Second, to analyze how societies could maintain
their integrity and coherence in the modern era when things such as shared religious and
ethnic background could no longer be assumed. To that end, he wrote much about the effects
of laws, religion, education, and similar forces on society and social integration. Lastly,
Durkheim was concerned with the practical implications of scientific knowledge. The
importance of social integration is expressed throughout Durkheim’s work. While
Durkheim’s work deals with several subjects, including suicide, the family, social structures,
and social institutions, a large part of his work deals with the sociology of knowledge.
Durkheim has had an important impact on the development of anthropology and sociology as
disciplines. The establishment of sociology as an independent, reorganized academic
discipline, in particular, is among Durkheim’s largest and most lasting legacies. More
recently, Emile Durkheim has influenced sociologists such as Steven Lukes, Robert N.
Bellah, and Pierre Bourdieu. Outside of sociology, Durkheim has influenced philosophers,
including Henri Bergson and Emmanuel Levinas.

51
2.2 THE THEORY OF FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE BY DAVID EMILE
DURKHEIM
“The totality of beliefs and sentiments common to the average members of a society forms a
determinate system with a life of its own. It can be termed the collective or creative
consciousness.” The Division of Labour (1893) – Emile Durkheim
While many sociologists have contributed to research on society and social interaction, three
thinkers form the base of modern-day perspectives. Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max
Weber developed different theoretical approaches to help us understand the way societies
function.

As a functionalist, Emile Durkheim’s (1858-1917) perspective on society stressed the

necessary interconnectivity of all its elements. To Durkheim, society was greater than the
sum of its part. He asserted that individual behavior was not the same as collective behavior
and that studying collective behavior was quite different from studying an individual’s
actions. Durkheim called the communal beliefs, morals, and attitudes of society the
“collective conscience”. In his quest to understand what causes individuals to act in similar
and predictable ways, he wrote, “If I do not submit to the conventions of society if in my
dress I do not conform to the customs observed in my country and my class, the ridicule I
provoke, the social isolation in which I am kept, produce, although in an attenuated form, the
same effects as punishment” (Durkheim 1895). Durkheim also believed that “social
integration”, or the strength of ties that people have to their social groups, was a key factor
in social life. Following the ideas of Comte and Spencer, Durkheim likened society to that of
a living organism, in which each organ plays a necessary role in keeping the being alive.
Even the socially deviant members of society are necessary, Durkheim argued, as punishment
for a crime reaffirms our moral consciousness. “A crime is a crime because we condemn it,”
Durkheim wrote in 1893. “An act offends the common consciousness not because it is
criminal, but it is criminal because it offends that consciousness” (Durkheim 1893).
Durkheim called these elements of society “social facts.” By this, he meant that social forces
were to be considered real and existed outside the individual. As an observer of his social
world, Durkheim was not entirely satisfied with the direction of society in his day. His
primary concern was that the cultural glue that held society together was failing, and people
were becoming more divided. In his book The Division of Labor in Society (1893), Durkheim
argued that as society grew more complex, social order made the transition from mechanical
to organic.

Preindustrial societies, Durkheim explained, were held together by mechanical solidarity, a

type of social order maintained by the collective consciousness of a culture. Societies with
mechanical solidarity act in a mechanical fashion; things are done that way. This type of
thinking was common in preindustrial societies where strong bonds of kinship and a low
division of labor created shared morals and values among people, such as hunter-gatherer
groups. When people tend to do the same type of work, Durkheim argued, they tend to think
and act alike.

In industrial societies, mechanical solidarity is replaced with “organic solidarity”, which is a

social order based on an acceptance of economic and social differences. In capitalist
societies, Durkheim wrote, division of labor becomes so specialized that everyone is doing
different things. Instead of punishing members of a society for failure to assimilate to
common values, organic solidarity allows people with differing values to coexist. Laws exist
as formalized morals and are based on restitution rather than revenge.

52
While the transition from mechanical to organic solidarity is, in the long run, advantageous
for a society, Durkheim noted that it can be a time of chaos and “normlessness”. One of the
outcomes of the transition is something called social “anomie”. Anomie meaning “without
law”, is a situation in which society no longer has the support of a firm collective
consciousness. Collective norms are weakened. People, while more interdependent to
accomplish complex tasks, are also alienated from each other. Anomie is experienced in
times of social uncertainty, such as war or a great upturn or downturn in the economy. As
societies reach an advanced stage of organic solidarity, they avoid anomie by redeveloping a
set of shared norms. According to Durkheim, once a society achieves organic solidarity, it
has finished its development.

Functionalism emphasizes a societal equilibrium. If something happens to disrupt the order

and the flow of the system, society must adjust to achieve a stable state. According to
Durkheim, society should be analyzed and described in terms of functions. Society is a
system of interrelated parts where no one part can function without the other. These parts
make up the whole of society. If one part changes, it has an impact on society as a whole. For
example, the state provides public education for children. The family of the children pays
taxes, which the state uses for public education. The children who learn from public
education go on to become law-abiding and working citizens, who pay taxes to support the
state.

Let's look at this example again. The state provides public education for children. But a
disruption or disequilibrium in the system occurs - perhaps the education is subpar, and the
children drop out and become criminals. The system adjusts to improve the education and
attempts to rehabilitate (through jail or other means) the criminals for them to become law-
abiding and taxpaying citizens.

Durkheim viewed crime and delinquent behavior as a normal and necessary occurrence in the
social system. He proposed that crime led to reactions from society about the crime. These
shared reactions were used to create common consensuses of what individuals felt were
moral and ethical norms by which to abide. These commonly held norms and values led to
boundaries and rules for society.

Division of Labor
Durkheim's concept of the division of labor focused on the shift in societies from a simple
society to one that is more complex. He argued that traditional societies were made up of
homogenous people that were more or less the same in terms of values, religious beliefs, and
backgrounds. Modern societies, in contrast, are made up of a complex division of labor,
beliefs, and backgrounds.

In traditional societies, the collective consciousness rule and social norms were strong. Also,
social behaviors were well regulated. In modern societies, common consciousness was less
obvious, and the regulation of social behavior was less punitive and more restitutive, aiming
to restore normal activity to society.

53
2.3 EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION.
Durkheim argued that religion provides social cohesion and social control to maintain society
in social solidarity. It provides social cohesion to help maintain social solidarity through
shared rituals and beliefs, social control to enforce religious-based morals and norms to help
maintain conformity and control in society, and it offers meaning and purpose to answer any
existential questions. This implication has affected the study of religion in a way that is more
evident in our society due to the practice of democracy in our governing system. Because of
democracy, educational institutions are instructed by the government to teach various
religions in order for every religious group to feel accepted in society. This has therefore
made it normal for students to learn other religions as subjects without feeling uncomfortable.
This has built a sense of religious tolerance in our schools, thereby the realization of social
cohesion.

Religion is an expression of our collective consciousness, which is the fusion of all of our
individual consciousness, which then creates a reality of its own. Religion is very real; it is an
expression of society itself, and indeed, there is no society that does not have a religion. We
then express ourselves religiously in groups, which for Durkheim makes the symbolic power
greater. This implication of the functionalist’s perspective has affected the study of religion in
the sense that, pupils are taught in schools that the various objects of worship (God, Allah,
Onyankopon, Buddha, Krishna, etc.) concerning the various types of religions (Christianity,
Islam, ATR, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.) are all pointing to one Supreme Being who has been
given several names as the worshipers understand or have experienced. So, even in the higher
educational fraternity, where religion is studied as a phenomenon, Scholars and students
collectively refer to these several objects of worship as the Ultimate Reality.

Functionalists believe that religion is a conservative force, and an institution which adds to
the requirements of society. They say it ultimately operates as an agency of socialization.
This implication also has imparted the study of religion to the extent that it is mostly during
the study of religion that students are taught morality. Morality as a key element of
socialization now is taught in schools through the teaching of religion. For example, in the
RME and CRS syllabus provided by the Ghana Education Service (GES) for Basic and High
schools, moral lessons are taught after every topic. This shows that the study of religion is
another way of socializing the youth

54
SESSION 3: STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM THEORY

INTRODUCTION
Dear reader, in the previous session we discussed the functional theory as one of the
theoretical perspective of religion. In this session, we shall look at the structural
functionalism theory. I hope you will continue to enjoy the lesson. Let us move on!

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to;
a. explain the structural functionalism theory.
b.
Now read on…

Functionalists view education as one of the more important social institutions in a society.
They contend that education contributes two kinds of functions: manifest (or primary)
functions, which are the intended and visible functions of education; and latent (or secondary)
functions, which are the hidden and unintended functions.
1.
a. Manifest Functions
There are several major manifest functions associated with education. The first is
socialization. Beginning in preschool and kindergarten, students are taught to practice various
societal roles. The French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), who established the
academic discipline of sociology, characterized schools as “socialization agencies that teach
children how to get along with others and prepare them for adult economic roles” (Durkheim
1898). Indeed, it seems that schools have taken on this responsibility in full. This
socialization also involves learning the rules and norms of society as a whole. In the early
days of compulsory education, students learned the dominant culture. Today, since the
culture of the United States is increasingly diverse, students may learn a variety of cultural
norms, not only that of the dominant culture. School systems in the United States also
transmit the core values of the nation through manifest functions like social control. One of
the roles of schools is to teach students conformity to law and respect for authority. Such
respect, given to teachers and administrators, will help a student navigate the school
environment. This function also prepares students to enter the workplace and the world at
large, where they will continue to be subject to people who have authority over them.
Fulfillment of this function rests primarily with classroom teachers and instructors who are
with students all day.
b. Latent Functions
Education also fulfills latent functions. As you well know, much goes on in a school that has
little to do with formal education. For example, you might notice an attractive fellow student
when he gives a particularly interesting answer in class—catching up with him and making a
date speaks to the latent function of courtship fulfilled by exposure to a peer group in the
educational setting. The educational setting introduces students to social networks that might
last for years and can help people find jobs after their schooling is complete. Of course, with
social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn, these networks are easier than ever to maintain.
Another latent function is the ability to work with others in small groups, a skill that is
transferable to a workplace and that might not be learned in a home school setting. The
educational system, especially as experienced on university campuses, has traditionally
provided a place for students to learn about various social issues. There is ample opportunity
for social and political advocacy, as well as the ability to develop tolerance of the many
views represented on campus. In 2011, the Occupy Wall Street movement swept across

55
college campuses all over the United States, leading to demonstrations in which diverse
groups of students were unified with the purpose of changing the political climate of the
country.
According to functionalist theory, education contributes to both manifests.
Manifest Functions: Openly stated functions with intended goals
Socialization
Transmission of culture
Social control
Social placement
Cultural innovation

2.
• Anomie
No student or teacher should be above the law. Students or teachers who act above the
law should be punished.
• Organic Solidarity
Teachers should not teach what is wrong or right about religion. He should teach it as
it is. Also, teachers should make room to accept everyone’s religion or contributions.
• Social Integration
Students should be taught to accept and tolerate each other regardless of their social or
religious background. Teachers should treat each student equally well.

56
SESSION 4: SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM THEORY

INTRODUCTION
Hello, welcome to another session in unit 2. In this session, we will learn about the nature of
religious practices. As we all move together, am optimistic that you will find it very
pleasurable. Now, let’s move on!

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to;
A. explain the symbolic interactionism theory
B. elaborate on the educational implications of the symbolic interactionism theory

Now read on…

4.1 THE SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE. GEORGE H. MEAD

The symbolic interactionist perspective, also known as symbolic interactionism, directs
sociologists to consider the symbols and details of everyday life, what these symbols mean,
and how people interact with each other. Although symbolic interactionism traces its origins
to Max Webber’s assertion that individuals act according to their interpretation of the
meaning of their world, the American philosopher George H. Mead (1863-1931) introduced
this perspective to American sociology in the 1920s.

George Herbert Mead was born on February 27, 1863, in South Hadley, Massachusetts. He
was raised in a Protestant, a middle-class family comprising his father, Hiram Mead, his
mother, Elizabeth Storrs (Billings) Mead, and his sister Alice. His father was a former
Congregationalist pastor from a lineage of farmers and clergymen who later held the chair in
Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral Theology at Oberlin College’s theological seminary. Elizabeth
Storrs Mead taught for two years at Oberlin College and subsequently, from 1890 to 1900,
served as president of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. In 1879,
George Mead has enrolled at Oberlin College, graduating in 1883 with a BA degree. After
graduation, Mead taught grade school for about four months. For the following three years,
he worked as a surveyor for Wisconsin Central Railroad Company. In autumn 1887, Mead
enrolled at Harvard University, where his main interests were philosophy and psychology. In
1891 he married Helen Kingsbury Castle (1860-1929). Mead was able to obtain a post at the
University of Michigan in 1891. At the University of Michigan, Mead met Charles H. Cooley
and John Dewey, both of whom would influence him greatly. In 1894 Mead moved, along
with Dewey, to where he taught until his death. Dewey’s influence led Mead into educational
theory, but his thinking soon diverged from that of Dewey and developed into his famous
psychological theory of mind, self, and society. Before he died he became an American
philosopher, sociologist, and psychologist, primarily affiliated with the University of
Chicago, where he was one of several distinguished pragmatists. He is regarded as one of the
founders of symbolic interactionism and of what has come to be referred to as the Chicago
sociological tradition. Mead died of heart failure on April 26, 1931.

57
4.2 POSITIONS OF SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE.
Symbolic interactionism is the process of interaction in the formation of meanings for
individuals. They believed that human beings are best understood in a practical interactive
relation to their environment. Symbolic interaction theory analyses society by addressing the
subjective meanings that people impose on objects, events, and behaviors.

Subjective meanings are given primacy because it is believed that people behave based on
what they believe and not just on what is objectively true. Thus, society is thought to be
socially constructed through human interpretation.

People interpret one another’s behaviour and it is these interpretations that form the social
bond. These interpretations are called the ‘‘definition of the situation’’. For example, why
would young people smoke cigarettes even when all objectives medical evidence points to
the dangers of doing so? The answer is in the definition of the situation that people create.
Studies find that teenagers are well informed about the risks of tobacco, but they also think
that smoking is cool, that they themselves will be safe from harm, and that smoking projects a
positive image to their peers. So, the symbolic meaning of smoking overrides that actual facts
regarding smoking and risk.

Some fundamental aspects of our social experience and identities, like race and gender, can
be understood through the symbolic interactionist lens. Having no biological bases at all, both
race and gender are social constructs that function based on what we believe to be true about
people, given what they look like.

We use socially constructed meanings of race and gender to help us decide who to interact
with, how to do so, and to help us determine, sometimes inaccurately, the meaning of a
person’s words or actions.

One of the shocking example of how this theoretical concept plays out within the social
construct of race is manifested in the fact that many people regardless of race, believe that
lighter skinned blacks and Latinos are smarter than their darker skinned counterparts. This
phenomenon occurs because of the racist stereotype meaning that has been encoded in skin
colour as symbol over centuries.

In terms of gender, we see the problematic way in which meaning is attached to the symbols
‘man’ and ‘woman’ in the sexist trend of college students routinely rating male professors
more highly than female ones.

Therefore, the central principle of the interactionist perspective is that the meaning we derive
from and attribute to the world is a social construction produced by everyday social
interaction. This perspective is focused on how we use and interpret things as symbols to
communicate with each other, how we create and maintain a self that we present to the world
and a sense of self within us, and how we create and maintain the realities we believed to be
true.

58
4.3 EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
1. The human being must be understood as a social being. It is the constant search for
social interaction that leads us to do what we do. Instead of focusing on the individual
and his or her personality, or on how the society or how the social situation causes
human behaviour, symbolic interactionism focuses on the activities that take place
between actors. Interaction is the basic unit of study. Individuals are created through
interaction; society too is created through social interaction. What we do depends on
interaction with others earlier in our lifetimes, and it depends on our interaction right
now. Social interaction is central to what we do. If we want to understand cause, focus
on social interaction.
2. The human being must be understood as a thinking being. Human actions are not
only interactions among individuals but also interactions within the individual. It is
not our ideas or attitudes or values that are as important as the constant active ongoing
process of thinking. We are not simple conditioned, we are not simple beings who are
influenced by those around us, we are not simple products of the society. We are to
very core thinking animals, always conversing with ourselves as we interact with
others. If we want to understand cause, focus on human thinking.
3. Humans do not sense their environment directly, instead, humans define the situation
they are in. an environment may actually exist, but it is our definition of it that is
important. Definition does not simply randomly happen; instead it results from
ongoing social interaction and thinking.
4. Human beings are described as active beings in relation to their environment. Words
such as conditioning, responding, controlled, imprisoned, and formed are not used to
describe the human being in symbolic interaction. In contrast to other social-scientific
perspective, humans are not thought of as being passive in relation to their
surroundings, but actively involved in what they do.
5. The cause of human action is as a result of what is occurring in our present situation.
Cause unfolds in the present social interaction, present thinking, and present
definition. It is not society’s encounters with us in our past, that causes action nor it is
our own past experience that does. It is, instead, social interaction, thinking, definition
of the situation that take place in the present. Our past enters into our actions
primarily because we think about it and apply it to the definition of the present
situation.

59
SESSION 5: CONFLICT THEORY

INTRODUCTION
Hi! Welcome to session five of this unit. In our previous session, we examined the symbolic
interactionism theory and its educational implications. I hope you enjoyed the previous
session. In this session, we shall discuss the conflict theory as one of the theoretical
perspective of religion. Now let’s look at the objectives for this session. I am optimistic that
you will enjoy it.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to;
a. explain the conflict theory.
b. elaborate on the educational implications of conflict theory.

Now read on…

5.1 BRIEF BACKGROUND OF THE SCHOLAR

Karl Heinrich Marx was born on 5th May 1818 in Trier in Western German, the son of a
successful Jewish Lawyer. Marx studied law in Bonn and Berlin, but was also introduced to
the ideas of Hegel and Feuerbach. In 1841, he received a doctorate in Philosophy from the
university of Jena. In 1843, after a short of spell as editor of a liberal newspaper in Cologne,
Marx and his wife Jenny moved to Paris, a hotbed of radical thought. Marx was especially
anxious to change the structure of capital institutions and establish a more humane social
order. This was as result of the cruelty of the early industrial System. The abject misery and
abuse of workers in the nineteenth century, many of them been women and children. This led
Karl Marx to condemn capitalist arrangement. He believed workers were deprived of the
fruits of their labor by capitalist. But Marx thought the working class was growing in
numbers and discipline and would times seize power from the capitalist. Marx became a
revolutionary communist as a result of capitalist and befriended his lifelong collaborator,
Fredrick Engels. Expelled from France, Marx spent two years in Brussels, where Marx and
Engels co-authored the pamphlet “Communist Manifesto’ which was published in 1848 and
asserted that all human history had been based on class struggles. Marx also researched and
wrote Das Kapital and other works that analyzed Capitalism and its ills.

Conflict theory is a Marxist perspective and conceptualization of the way in which society is
structured. This perspective depicts society as characteristically dominated by conflicts.
(Collins and sabderson,2008). Conflict is the determinant of how resources are allocated and
who benefits the most from such allocations. Marx tried to discover the basic principles of
history. He focused his search on the economic environment in which societies develop
particularly the current state of their technology and their method of organizing production.
(Hunting and gathering, agriculture or industry). At each stage of history, he said that these
factors dictate the group that will dominate society and the groups that will be subjugated. He
contended that society is divided into those who own the means of producing wealth and
those who do not, given rise to conflict. All history, he asserted, is composed of struggles
between classes. In ancient Rome, it was a conflict between patricians and plebeians and
between masters and slaves. In the middle ages, it was a struggle between guild masters and
Journeymen and between lords and serfs. And in contemporary Western Societies that
sprouted from the ruins of the feudal order, class antagonism revolve about the struggle
between the oppressing capitalist class and the oppressed working class. Marx contends that
society is stratified into two main social classes. The classes comprise the bourgeoisie the

60
landowners, and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie owns the means of production, this is due
to the huge investments they have made into factories and machine in the industries. The land
owners have rent as their primary source of income which allow them to exploit the labor of
worker. The proletariats are owners of cheap labor which they offer in exchange for wages
that they use for their basic subsistence. (Collins and Sanderson, 2008). The investment gives
the bourgeoisies a lot of profit. The probable source of conflict between the proletariat and
the bourgeoisie is the desire of the proletariat to have ownership of means of production, such
as factories, power, land and valuable resource. The bourgeoisie on the other hand, is not
willing to relinquish these resources and give up their privileged positions of power and
overwhelming riches and investments. Marx conceptualized the structure of the society in
relation to the two major classes. He is focused on the inherent struggles between the
proletariat and bourgeoisie which is the engine that pushes the occurrence of social change
through revolutionary movements. These conflicting interests are what pit the social classes
against each other. The struggle between the classes is likely to widen with time as the
conditions of the laborers deteriorate further, Collins and Sanderson (2008). This likely leads
to the disintegration of the social structure. Marx also asserts that, there is a social – conflict
approach which is rooted in his critique of capitalism. According to Marx, in a capitalist
society, religion plays a critical role in maintaining an unequal status quo, in which certain
groups of people have radically more resources and power than other groups of people. Marx
argued that the bourgeoisie used religion as a tool to keep the less powerful proletariat
practiced. Marx argued that religion was able to do this by promising rewards in the after-life,
instead of in this life. It was in this sense that Marx asserted that following a Religion is the
sigh of the oppressed creature the feeling of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless
circumstances. It is the opinion of people.

5.2 EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS

1. Teachers should consider individual difference in the classroom by taking the needs
of students into consideration. As a teacher you should know that the students you
teach comes from different homes which has different class. Not all students will
come from the same class we have students from the first class the rich class;
middleclass and less privilege people. So as a teacher when asking students to buy
something let’s say for experimental purposes you should know that not all student
can afford to buy it so the teacher needs not to punish those who were not able to buy
what you demanded for.
2. Teachers questions and examples should cater for all classes of people in the society.
Again as a teacher let’s say you are sighting an example in class in relation to a poor
person, you should not use someone you know who comes from a poor home as an
example buy rather someone else since we have students in the class who come from
different homes and different classes. If as a teacher, you do the above the student will
not feel intimidated. Or better still you the teacher can use yourself as an example in
other to avoid any problem in the class. Also when asking questions in the class the
teacher should look at the strength of the student before choosing him or her to
answer.
3. Teacher should avoid indiscrimination to prevent conflict in the class. As a teacher,
you need to bear in mind that we have students who come from different religious
denominations such as Christianity, Islamic religion, African traditional religion etc.
so when teaching who should present the thing as it is but not try to convince a
student to join any religion just because you (teacher) are an affiliate of that religion.
As a teacher you should be objective in class concerning the various religion thus to
you should not praise one religion and condemn the other.

61
4. Teacher should use group work to prevent tensions as strife in class. As teacher you
should divide the class into groups when as assignment is given to student since you
know the strength and weakness of every student in the class. In every class we have
students who perform better than others when sharing the groups, the teacher should
mix them up.

62
SESSION 6: FEMINISM THEORY

INTRODUCTION
I hope you enjoyed the previous session? Welcome to the last session in this unit. In session 5
we looked at brief history of the conflict theory and its educational implication. Now, in this
session we shall look at the feminism theory.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to;
A. explain the feminism theory.
B. elaborate on the educational implications of Feminism theory.

Now, read on…

6.1 KARL MARX CONCEPT OF FEMINISM

Feminism is the struggle against sexism, or discriminatory social practices and ideologies that
result in male supremacy and female oppression. Sexism as a form of social oppression is not
a modern phenomenon. Paraphrasing Marx (1990) stated that the history of all hitherto
existing society is the history of class struggles and sex struggles because the existence of
classes presupposes private ownership of the means of production, monogamy, and therefore
sexism. And also The presence of sexism throughout history accounts for the ease with which
it has been taken for granted as a universal feature of all societies or as the product of innate
differences between the sexes. This also explains why women today search for its historical
origins in an effort to understand its present manifestations, Within the social sciences, the
conceptualization of sexism depends upon the basic assumptions about human nature,
society, and their relationship which underlie current theories about society and social
behaviour; theories vary in the emphasis given to either human nature or to society. If priority
is given to human nature, persons are considered to have inherent traits such as selfishness,
competitiveness, and utilitarianism. Social relations and institutions are viewed,
consequently, as products of those individual traits. In this context, men and women are
considered to have innate traits that make them different from each other. For example, while
males are aggressive, strong, instrumental, etc., females are weak, submissive, affective,
nurturing, etc. Sex differences in power and in social participation are conceptualized as
consequences of these inherent differences between the sexes. When the emphasis is placed
upon society, persons are viewed. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the University
of Colorado Women Studies Program, and a Participant Editor of Latin American
Perspectives, a Journal of Capitalism and Socialism. the product of the socialization process
which integrates them into a powerful and coercive social reality. Sexism emerges, within
this context, as a product of social organization; men and women are different and have
different powers and social participation because they are socialized differently. Socialization
patterns are then explained in terms of social needs and/or processes of functional
differentiation and division of labor. From a Marxist standpoint, the sociology present
competing idealist and materialist explanations of sexism which do not preclude their
combination in explanations which take into account both individual and social factors.
Marxism transcends the dichotomy between innate and acquired traits and posits, instead, the
notion that "man is the ensemble of social relations."4 This notion is the basis of the Marxist
theory of human nature, which negates the notion of isolated human nature and affirms the
in- extricable unity between persons and their natural and social environments. Marx
postulates that neither persons nor their natural and social environment can be viewed in
isolation, as things in themselves which "interact" with one another or which are the "cause"

63
or the "effect" of the other. The theoretical focus shifts from the abstractions of "persons" and
"environment" (natural and social) to the processes through which persons, nature, and
society acquire definite objective forms. These processes are historically specific and can be
identified for the purposes of scientific analysis. In this context, the key to understanding
sexism rests upon the exploration of its historically specific forms within concrete modes of
production. The understanding and conceptualization of sexism today presupposes, therefore,
an understanding of its place within the capitalist mode of production. Marxist analysis of the
capitalist roots of sexism, and the implications for changes in the present and future status of
women in capitalist societies which such analysis suggests. It is divided into two sessions:
1) a theoretical analysis of the position of women in the capitalist mode of production and
determination of the capitalist basis of sexism; and
2) a discussion of some of the political implications of that analysis for the present and future
goals of feminists.

6.2 EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION

1. It helps teacher to adopt different strategies so as to satisfy people with different
interests and needs.
2. Girls (women) would be included in the school portfolios (positions) and churches.
When that is done, gender equality will be attained.
3. It helps teacher to understand individual difference.
4. It helps teachers to know the essence of putting people into classes.
5. It helps teacher to avoid indoctrination in their teaching and learning as so as to avoid
conflict in their classrooms.

64
UNIT 6: THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN SOCIETY

Outline
SESSION 1: Religion and the African Family (MAX WEBER)
SESSION 2: Religion and Social Status (or Class Distinction). (MAX WEBER)
SESSION 3: Religion and Conflict in Africa (KARL MARX)
SESSION 4: Religion and Politics (MAX WEBER)
SESSION 5: Religion and the Economy (MAX WEBER)
SESSION 6: Religion and Social Change (TARCOTT PASSONS)
Hi! Welcome to unit six. Under this unit, we shall deal with some of the theories
propounde3d by Max Weber, Karl Marx and Tarcott Passons. These theories and their
educational implications shall be examined. Now let’s look at the objectives for this unit.

Objectives
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
discuss the theory of Religion and the African Family (MAX WEBER)
examine Religion and Social Status (or Class Distinction). (MAX WEBER)
discuss Religion and Conflict in Africa (KARL MARX)
explain Religion and Politics (MAX WEBER)
examine Religion and the Economy (MAX WEBER)
discuss Religion and Social Change (TARCOTT PASSONS)

65
SESSION 1: RELIGION AND AFRICAN FAMILY (MAX GLUCKMAN)

You are welcome to session 1 of this unit. In the last session we discussed the feminist
theory. In this session we examine religion and the African Family.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
a) give a brief history about Max Gluckman
b) discuss the work of Max Gluckman
c) discuss the educational implication of Max Glickman’s work

Now read on……

a. Biography of Max Gluckman
Max Gluckman, a Jewish man was born in Johannesburg in 1911. He
was educated at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he
obtained a BA in 1930. Although he intended to study law, he became
interested in anthropology and studied under Winifred Hoernle. He
earned the equivalent of an MA at Witwatersrand in 1934 and then
received a Rhodes Scholarship to attend Exeter College, Oxford.
Gluckman conducted his Ph.D. research in Barotseland with the Lozi.
In 1939 he joined the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute and in 1941
became its director. He developed the institute into a major center for
anthropological research, and continued to maintain close connections
there after he moved to England in 1947 to take up a lectureship at
Oxford. In 1949, Gluckman became professor of anthropology at
the University of Manchester, founding the department there.

Later, he worked under the British Administration in Northern Rhodesia (esp. on

the Barotse law, in what is now the Western Province, Zambia). He directed the Rhodes-
Livingstone Institute (1941–1947), before becoming the first professor of social anthropology
at the University of Manchester (1949), where he founded what became known, including
many of his Rhodes-Livingstone Institute colleagues along with his students, as
the Manchester school of anthropology. One feature of the Manchester School that derives
from Gluckman's early training in law was the emphasis on "case studies" involving analysis
of instances of social interaction to infer rules and assumptions. He was widely known for his
radio lectures on Custom and Conflict in Africa (later published in many editions at Oxford
University Press), being a remarkable contribution to conflict theory.

Gluckman was a political activist, openly and forcefully anti-colonial. He engaged directly
with social conflicts and cultural contradictions of colonialism, with racism, urbanization and
labor migration. Gluckman combined the British school of structural-functionalism with
a Marxist focus on inequality and oppression, creating a critique of colonialism from within
structuralism. In his research on Zululand in South Africa, he argued that the African and
European communities formed a single social system, one whose schism into two racial
groups formed the basis of its structural unity.

66
6.2 THE WORK OF MAX GLUCKMAN
Max Gluckman was known for his research on Zululand in South Africa. Ritual of
conflict in Africa, the description of rites expressing social conflict among various African
societies and offers suggestions concerning their functions significance. Max Gluckman
(1954;1959), discusses rites involving rebellion against authority among societies of South-
eastern Africa.

Gluckman postulated that there are a class of distinctive events that causes conflict in the
society. Gluckman has called these customs ‘rituals of rebellion.” He refers to rituals in
which rules concerning behaviour toward authority are seemingly abrogated temporarily.
These are rites in which rulers and chiefs are reviled, criticized, and threatened by those
subjects to their authority, and men are similarly subjected to various ritual expressions of
putative hostility enacted by women, who are their inferiors in authority. He holds that
institutionalized rites of rebellion may exist only in societies in which the social order is
established and unchallenged. In these societies, fundamental conflicts are said to exist
despite social stability. The interests of the ruler do not coincide with those of the total
society as personified by the ruler, but the needs of the individual cannot be met unless he
follows the legal and moral mandates of his society to insure peace and order. When kings
are ritually reviled and threatened, the aim is never to subvert the institution of kingship; only
the individual ruler is the target of hate. Gluckman’s examples of the ritual rebellion of
females against males consist of rites in which women’s behaviour contrasts sharply with that
of their everyday lives.

During ritual, women appear naked, sing or otherwise act lewdly, wear the clothing of males,
and assume other male prerogatives. Gluckman (1954b33-5) refers to similar “rebellions”
against the female role among Zulu women in former agricultural rites, when women acted
lewdly and performed acts that were normally male prerogatives. These consisted of planting
in honour of a goddess a field that was subsequently neglected, and herding and milking
cattle while wearing men’s garments. There are instances where Zulu co-wives wear the
clothing of their deceased husband during his funeral rites (Bryant 1949: 703), and some Zulu
women carry shields and assegais during wedding rites. These rites of female transvestism
which is a disorder appears over the centuries turns to shift the role of men to women. About
the time the rites in question became obsoletes and has increased in incidence. Loudon notes
that area of Natal far removed from the industrial towns which now employs many Zulu
males, the men are able to spend little time with their families in the village on the reserves.
As a consequence, many responsibilities normally assumed by the men fall on the shoulders
of the women. Doubt may also be expressed of the implication that the exclusion of men
from certain rites conducted by women constitutes female rebellion against the social order. It
seems uncertain that it is even an expression of antagonism toward males. Zulu rites to drive
away the fever fiend resemble in some respects the Nomkubulwana rites of the same society,
which Gluckman (1954) uses as an example of female rebellion. In both rites girls sing lewd
songs and march around the kraals. Men are excluded from both rites, but young married
women are also excluded from the rites to expel the fever fiend (Bryant 1949: 663).
Gluckman gives pointed attention to rites in which subjects are said to rebel against rulers
and chiefs. This review of African rites also renders doubtful Gluckman’s interpretation that
seemingly antagonistic acts against rulers or other figures of authority constitute rebellion.
The clash of interest between ruler or chief and subject may well result in tensions. Although
the validity of Gluckman’s specific examples of aggressive acts against king or chief has
been questioned here, additional examples have been cited that leave no doubt of the
existence of rites in which the people express resentment of their rulers and concern over the

67
propriety of the rulers’ behaviour. These rites resemble in some measure customs of acting
out hostility toward bride or groom and also the ordeals that young men and young women
must often undergo at initiation to adulthood, acts which seem in part to be adjurations and
dramatic assurances that husband, wife, and new adult will perform satisfactorily in their
roles. Many of the apparently hostile acts directed toward rulers seem similar-the ruler is
upbraided, accused of faults, threatened with dire consequences if he fails to meet
expectations-and therefore it seems reasonable to think they have similar significance as well
as serving a cathartic function. The ruler is also ritually assured of the support of those
subject to his authority. Admonition and castigation are not always limited to the lowly
against those above them. There is often a general clearing of the air for all members of
society, regardless of differences in social status. In discussing rites of the Nyakyusa, Wilson
(1959: 13) has expressed a similar opinion: ‘‘I suggest that much of what has been cited as
evidence of rebellion in rituals elsewhere in Africa is in fact the formal admission of anger,
the prelude to reconciliation. The body politic is purged by the very act of ‘speaking out’.
When rites seemingly hostile to rulers are conducted only in ceremonies of accession, it
seems doubtful that they are even expressions of anger. Since they are conducted at irregular
and sometimes great intervals, their value as safety valves for the expression of anger seems
most doubtful. When the participants are aware of conflict-between the sexes, between ruler
and ruled, and so on-and we are apprised of this awareness, it seems in order to assign to the
ritual the function of expressing and relieving, if not resolving, conflict. In some of the cases
cited here, the ethnographers have clearly indicated that the rites convey this meaning to the
participants (e.g., see Middleton 1960; Seligman 1932: Evans-Pritchard 1956; Richards 1961
in their discussion under classification e). In many other instances, including the examples of
“rebellion” cited by Gluckman, this information is lacking, or, as previously noted in certain
cases, ethnographic accounts tell us there is no feeling of conflict. Judgment that women feel
hostile toward men seems assured when rituals allow or expect women to insult, deride, and
find fault with men, and many societies of Africa follow such customs. Examples already
given, however, indicate that the reverse also often applies. Men act out hostility in similar
fashion toward women. There is no justification for giving the name rebellion to the acts of
females only. On the issue of the cathartic value of the direct airing of grievances on ritual
occasions, the record often seems clear. Many accounts state that “speaking out” is regarded
by informants as necessary for their wellbeing and that harboured resentment is harmful.
Gluckman asserts that rites of rebellion do not exist within the family and explains their
absence in accordance with his theory concerning the kind of society which can allow these
rites (1959:129-30): “The family is not such an enduring group: it breaks up with the death of
the parents and with the marriages of the children. It has not the same sort of cohesion as the
other groups. And the basis of my argument is that the licensed ritual of protest and of
rebellion is effective so long as there is no querying of the order within which the ritual of
protest is set, and the group itself will endure.” This review does not reveal an entire absence
of “speaking out” against members of the family. Wilson’s description (1959: 12) of the
settling of “family” quarrels in this way refers specifically to mutual complaints between
sisters-in-law and between younger and eldest brother. We have also seen that the BaVenda
man and his mother-in-law may air their grievances against each other. Discussing Nuer
funeral customs, Evans-Pritchard (1956) states that any of the kin of the dead man who bears
a grudge against a relative must now declare it. If he does not do so now, he must for ever
keep silence. This is an occasion for amicable settlement of family and kinship quarrels.” One
of the Azande curing rites requires that members of the family “hurl the most abusive
expressions at the head of the father and mother” (Evans-Pritchard 1958:493). Assuming that
customs of mock fighting and mutual derision between men and women represent
generalized protests against the opposite sex rather than hostility between husband and wife, I

68
would amend Gluckman’s statement to say that ritualized expression of hostility between
members of conjugal families and other close relatives is uncommon. I suggest that the
explanation of its scarcity in part opposes that put forth by Gluckman. The economic and
emotional interdependence of members of the family, or any other small and closely knit
social group, doubtless serves to inhibit strong intra-group aggression. At the same time, the
very intensity of the bonds of close kinship may allow freedom rather than repression of the
expression of grievances. I have previously made this suggestion in connection with
accusations of witchcraft (1961: 195). A similar idea is advanced by Plotnikov (1962), who
holds that the conjugal family, a “fixed-membership group,’’ is an important source of
cultural innovations in the new cities of Africa. Because of the strength of the idea that their
relationship cannot easily be ended, members of the conjugal family are said to have
considerable freedom of action denied to participants of “flexible-membership” groups.
Others than attempting to determine whether societies are stable or unstable, it may be more
feasible to judge whether they are or are not highly organized socially and politically.
Expressions of hostility in ritual form, firmly regulated, are of course congruous with a social
life that is otherwise highly organized socially and politically. Where other safety valves are
inadequate, ritual expressions of hostility seem most expectable in societies that exercise firm
control over the behaviour of their members through formal social units and highly
formalized institutions. Wallace (1959: 94) has presented a similar idea in discussing changed
psychotherapeutic techniques among Iroquois Indians: ‘‘ in a highly organized sociocultural
system, the psychotherapeutic needs of individuals will tend to centre in catharsis (the
expression of suppressed or repressed wishes in a socially no disturbing ritual situation) ; and
. . . in a relatively poorly organized system, the psychotherapeutic needs will tend to centre in
control (the development of a coherent image of self-and world and the repression of
incongruent motives and beliefs).’’ The relative scarcity of ritual expressions of hostility in
societies such as our own appears also to reflect a different view of the nature of the universe
and changed religious conceptions. In culturally simple and scientifically unadvanced
societies, supernaturalism is put to many uses for which it is unsuited in our society.
Diamond (1963: 102-03) states: “Civilization represses hostility, fails to use or structure it,
even denies it. Certain ritual dramas [of primitive peoples] or aspects of them, acknowledge,
express, and symbolize the most destructive, ambivalent, and demoniacal aspects of human
nature; in so doing, they are left limited and finite; that is, they become self-limiting. For this,
as yet, we have no civilized parallel, no functional equivalent.” Meyer Fortes (1954:90-91)
states similarly, in primitive societies there are customary methods of dealing with these
common human problems of emotional adjustment by which they are externalized, publicly
accepted, and given treatment in terms of ritual beliefs; society takes over the burden which,
with us, falls entirely on the individual behaviour that would be the maddest of fantasies in
the individual, or even the worst of vices, becomes tolerable and sane, in his society, if it is
transformed into custom and woven into the outward and visible fabric of a community’s
social life. This is easy in primitive societies where the boundary between the inner world of
the self and the outer world of the community marks their line of fusion rather than of
separation.” Perhaps there is merit too in the idea that the ritual enactment of conflict lends
colour and dramatic interest to the lives of primitive peoples, among which forms of self-
expression are limited (Boulding 1962: 306).

6.1 Educational Implications

1. The teacher should remove all obstacles to changing the society.
2. The teacher should study the cultural background
3. Example given by the teacher should centre on social unity, cohesion, integration and
justice.

69
 4. Teacher should be agent of socialization.
5. Religious teacher should ensure tolerance in the classroom.
6. There should be social control class to help learners to learn how to be under authority

Self-Assessment Questions
1.. Give two educational implications of the work.
2. Max Gluckman was known for his research on Zululand in South Africa. T/F

70
SESSION 2: RELIGION AND SOCIAL STATUS
In the previous session, we examined Religion and the African Family by Max Gluckman. In
this session, we shall also discuss in details the Religion and Social Status by Max Weber.

Objectives
By the end of the session, you should to able to:
a) give a brief history about Max Gluckman
b) discuss the work of Max Gluckman
c) discuss the educational implication of Max Glickman’s work

2. 1 Who Was Max Weber?

Max Weber was a precocious child. He went to university and became a professor, but
suffered a mental breakdown in 1897 that left him unable to work for five years. In 1905 he
published his most famous work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. He
returned to teaching in 1918 and died in 1920. He is considered the father of modern
sociology.

2.2 Early Life and Education

Maximilian Karl Emil Weber was born on April 21, 1864. His father, Max Weber Sr., was a
politically active lawyer with a penchant for “earthly pleasures,” while his mother, Helene
Fallenstein Weber, preferred a more ascetic lifestyle. The conflicts this created in their
marriage acutely influenced Max. Still, their house was full of prominent intellectuals and
lively discourse, an environment in which Weber thrived. Growing up, he was bored with
school and disdained his teachers, but devoured classic literature on his own.

After graduating from high school, Weber studied law, history, philosophy, and economics
for three semesters at Heidelberg University before spending a year in the military. When he
resumed his studies in 1884, he went to the University of Berlin and spent one semester at
Göttingen. He passed the bar exam in 1886 and earned his Ph.D. in 1889, ultimately
completing his habitation thesis, which allowed him to obtain a position in academia.

2.3 Work of Max Weber on Religion and Social Status (class distinction)
Max Weber (1864-1920) became an outspoken critic of Marx. He said that see property as a
whole picture is short-sighted. Social class, he said is actually made up of three
components, property, prestige and power (Gerth and Mills 1958; Weber 1922/1968).
Some call these the three ps of social class. To Weber, property or wealth is certainly
significant in determine a person standing in society. On that he agreed with Marx, but added
that ownership is not the only significant aspect of property. For example, some powerful
people such as, managers of corporations control the means of production although they do
not own them. Tif managers can control property for their own benefits which sems to award
them bonuses and magnificent perks, then it makes no practical difference that they do not
own the property that they so generously use for their own benefit.

Prestige, the second element in Weber’s analysis, is often derived from property, for people
tend to look up to the wealthy. Prestige, however, may be based on other factors. Olympic
gold medallists are an example. Even though such persons do not own property, they may
have very high prestige. Some are even able to exchange prestige for property such as being
paid a small fortune for saying that they start their day with the breakfast of champions. In
other words, property and prestige are not one-way street; although property can bring
prestige. Prestige can also bring property.

71
Power, the third element of social class, is the ability to control others, even over their
objections. Weber agreed with Marx that property is a major source of power, but he added
that it is not the only source. Position, for example, can also lead to a power. A notable
example is J. Edgar Hoover, who headed the FBI for forty-eight years, from 1924-1972.
Hoover wielded such enormous power that during his later years even president Johnson and
Kennedy were fearful of him. Hoovers power, however, did not come from ownership of
property, for he lived simply and did not accumulate property. Rather, his power derived
from his position as the head of this powerful government agency. Not only did he direct a
well train secret police, butt he also maintained files on presidents and members of Congress
documenting their sexual indiscretions, files they knew he could leak to the public.

2.4 Educational Implications

a) teachers are to use their power as the head of the class very well
b) teachers should use should be strategic in grouping students
c). Teachers questions and examples should cater for all classes of people in the society
d). Teacher should avoid indiscrimination to prevent conflict in the class
e) Teacher should use group work to prevent tensions as strife in class.

Self-Assessment Questions
1). Social class, he said is actually made up of three components, property, prestige and
power. T/F
2) To Weber, property and prestige are the same. T/F
2) Give two educational implications of the theory.

72
SESSION 3: RELIGION AND CONFLICT IN AFRICA (KARL MARX)

Dear Reader, in the previous session Religion and Social Status was examined. In this session
we shall discuss religion and conflict in Africa. I hope you will continue to enjoy the lesson.
Let us move on!

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
a). discuss the history of Karl Marx
b). explain the theory of Karl Marx
c). identify the importance of the theory in the classroom

Now read on….

3.1 Brief History about Karl Marx

Karl Heinrich Marx was born on 5th May 1818 in Trier in Western German, the son of a
successful Jewish Lawyer. Marx studied law in Bonn and Berlin, but was also introduced to
the ideas of Hegel and Feuerbach. In 1841, he received a doctorate in Philosophy from the
university of Jena. In 1843, after a short of spell as editor of a liberal newspaper in Cologne,
Marx and his wife Jenny moved to Paris, a hotbed of radical thought. Marx was especially
anxious to change the structure of capital institutions and establish a more humane social
order. This was as result of the cruelty of the early industrial System. The abject misery and
abuse of workers in the nineteenth century, many of them been women and children. This led
Karl Marx to condemn capitalist arrangement. He believed workers were deprived of the
fruits of their labour by capitalist. But Marx thought the working class was growing in
numbers and discipline and would times seize power from the capitalist. Marx became a
revolutionary communist as a result of capitalist and befriended his lifelong collaborator,
Fredrick Engels. Expelled from France, Marx spent two years in Brussels, where Marx and
Engels co-authored the pamphlet “Communist Manifesto’ which was published in 1848 and
asserted that all human history had been based on class struggles. Marx also researched and
wrote Das Kapital and other works that analysed Capitalism and its ills.

3.2 The Theory of Karl Marx

The conflict theory is a Marxist perspective and conceptualization of the way in which
society is structured. This perspective depicts society as characteristically dominated by
conflicts. (Collins and sabderson,2008). Conflict is the determinant of how resources are
allocated and who benefits the most from such allocations. Marx tried to discover the basic
principles of history. He focused his search on the economic environment in which societies
develop particularly the current state of their technology and their method of organizing
production. (Hunting and gathering, agriculture or industry). At each stage of history, he said
that these factors dictate the group that will dominate society and the groups that will be
subjugated. He contended that society is divided into those who own the means of producing
wealth and those who do not, given rise to conflict. All history, he asserted, is composed of
struggles between classes. In ancient Rome, it was a conflict between patricians and
plebeians and between masters and slaves. In the Middle Ages, it was a struggle between
guild masters and Journeymen and between lords and serfs. And in contemporary Western
Societies that sprouted from the ruins of the feudal order, class antagonism revolve about the
struggle between the oppressing capitalist class and the oppressed working class. Marx
contends that society is stratified into two main social classes. The classes comprise the
bourgeoisie the landowners, and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie owns the means of

73
production, this is due to the huge investments they have made into factories and
machine in the industries. The land owners have rent as their primary source of income
which allow them to exploit the labour of worker. The proletariats are owners of cheap labour
which they offer in exchange for wages that they use for their basic subsistence. (Collins and
Sanderson, 2008). The investment gives the bourgeoisies a lot of profit. The probable source
of conflict between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie is the desire of the proletariat to have
ownership of means of production, such as factories, power, land and valuable resource. The
bourgeoisie on the other hand, is not willing to relinquish these resources and give up their
privileged positions of power and overwhelming riches and investments. Marx
conceptualized the structure of the society in relation to the two major classes. He is focused
on the inherent struggles between the proletariat and bourgeoisie which is the engine that
pushes the occurrence of social change through revolutionary movements. These conflicting
interests are what pit the social classes against each other. The struggle between the classes is
likely to widen with time as the conditions of the laborers deteriorate further, Collins and
Sanderson (2008). This likely leads to the disintegration of the social structure. Marx also
asserted that, there is a social – conflict approach which is rooted in his critique of capitalism.
According to Marx, in a capitalist society, religion plays a critical role in maintaining an
unequal status quo, in which certain groups of people have radically more resources
and power than other groups of people. Marx argued that the bourgeoisie used religion as a
tool to keep the less powerful proletariat practiced. Marx argued that religion was able to do
this by promising rewards in the after-life, instead of in this life. It was in this sense that Marx
asserted that following a Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature the feeling of a
heartless world, and the soul of soulless circumstances. It is the opium of the mass.

3.3 Educational Implication

1.Teachers should consider individual difference in the classroom by taking the needs of
students into consideration.
2. Teachers questions and examples should cater for all classes of people in the society
3. Teacher should avoid indiscrimination to prevent conflict in the class
4. Teacher should use group work to prevent tensions as strife in class.

Summary
In conclusion, we have discussed into details the conflict perspective of Karl Marx and its
educational implications, taking into consideration, the two classes, the bourgeoisies who are
the owners of land and the proletariats who offer cheap labour for a living. Also, we have
discussed the educational implications of Marx conflict perspective focusing on the teacher
considering individual differences by taking the student needs into consideration, teacher
questions and examples catering for all classes of people in the class, teachers avoiding
indoctrination and lastly, putting learners into groups in class to release tension. Although
Marx did not live to see his ideas carried out in his own lifetime, his writings formed the
theoretical base for modern international communism.

Self-Assessment Questions
1. The bourgeoisies were the people that offered cheap labour for a living. T/F
2. Religion played a minor role in maintaining equal status quo. T/F
3. Give three education implications of the Marxist theory.

74
SESSION 4: RELIGION AND POLITICS (MAX WEBER)
Hello learner, hope you enjoyed the previous lesson, in this session we continue with the
works of Max Weber on his Religion and Politics.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
1). Explain the term politics
2). Discuss the work of Mx Weber on Religion and Politics
3). Give two educational implications of Weber’s work.

Now read on….

4.1 Definition of Politics

The late Bernard Crick in his classic study In Defence of Politics, first published in 1962,
define politics as a branch of ethics done in public, in which experience plays a central role
(Crick, 1992). Also, politics is the striving for a share of power or for influence on the
distribution of power Weber, M. (1978).

4.2 Max Weber work on Religion and Politics

Max Weber in his Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus (1904–05; The
Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism), Weber’s best known and most controversial
work, illustrates the general trend of his thinking. Weber began by noting the statistical
correlation in Germany between interest and success in capitalist ventures on the one hand
and Protestant background on the other. He then attributed this relationship between
capitalism and Protestantism to certain accidental psychological consequences of the
notions of predestination and calling in Puritan theology.
In Calvin’s formulation the doctrine of predestination stated that sinful humanity could
know neither why nor to whom God had extended the grace of salvation. Weber inferred
that the psychological insecurity that this doctrine imposed on Calvin’s followers, stern
believers in hellfire, was such that they began to look for signs indicating the direction of
God’s will in daily life. The consequence was an ethic of unceasing commitment to one’s
worldly calling (any lapse would indicate that one’s state of grace was in doubt) and ascetic
abstinence from any enjoyment of the profit reaped from such labours. The practical result of
such beliefs and practices was, in Weber’s estimation, the most rapid possible accumulation
of capital.

Weber had published his thesis on the Protestant ethic in the journal he had just begun to edit,
Archiv für Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik (“Archives for Social Science and Social
Welfare”). From 1905 to 1910 he published a number of exchanges between himself and
critics of his thesis in the Archiv. He never denied his critics’ claims that highly developed
capitalist enterprises existed centuries before Calvin. Weber was also aware of other
preconditions, both material and psychological, that contributed to the development of
modern capitalism. He responded to these criticisms by arguing that, before Calvinism,
capitalist enterprise and wealth accumulation were always fettered by the passive or active
hostility of the prevalent religious order. If some capitalists were, by virtue of their
scepticism, able to escape the guilt feelings that the prevailing religious ethos dictated, it was
nevertheless a fact that no other religious tradition had ever caused people to see the
accumulation of capital (saving money) as a sign of God’s everlasting grace.

75
The Puritans, Weber argued, had accepted the cloak of worldly asceticism voluntarily, as a
means of alleviating otherwise unbearable spiritual burdens. In so doing, however, they
helped to create the enormous structure of the modern economic institution, which proceeded
to determine the life and values of everyone born into it.

Around the time he published his work on the Protestant ethic, the middle-class German
culture in which Weber had been nurtured experienced its first spasms of disintegration. The
Protestant morality that he had come to accept as inescapable destiny came under attack from
the youth movement, from avant-garde literary circles such as the one centred on the poet
Stefan George, from Neoromantic influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud, and
from Slavic cultural ideals, exemplified in the works of Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor
Dostoyevsky. In this setting Weber developed his political sociology, which makes the
crucial distinction between charismatic, traditional, and legal forms of authority.

Charismatic authority, or charisma, refers to the gift of spiritual inspiration underlying the
power of religious prophets or extraordinary political leaders. In probing charisma Weber
touched, sometimes explicitly, on themes that had first been broached by Nietzsche. His acute
interest in social phenomena such as mysticism, which are antithetical to the modern world
and its underlying process of rationalization, paralleled a late awakening of Weber’s aesthetic
and erotic faculties. In 1910, amid the crumbling social order of European middle-class
society, Weber began a series of important discussions with George and his close disciple, the
poet Friedrich Gundolf. At roughly the same time, Weber began an extramarital affair,
probably his first experience of sexual intimacy; one of his most brilliant later essays
(Theorie der Stufen und Richtungen religioser Weltablehnung, 1916; “Religious Rejections
of the World and Their Directions”) contains an analysis of the conflicting relationships
between eroticism, ascetic and mystical modes of religiosity, and the general process of
rationalization.

4.3 Educational Implication

1. teachers should set good examples for learners to emulate as they are seen as leaders in the
classroom.
2. Teachers should involve learners in decision making like electing class and school leaders.

Self-Assessment Questions
1.Predestination according to Weber was the most rapid possible accumulation of capital. T/F
2.Give two educational implications of Weber’s work

76
SESSION 5: RELIGION AND THE ECONOMY (MAX WEBER)
Dear learner, hope you enjoyed the previous lesson, well, in this session we will learn
religion and the economy another works of Max Weber.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
1). explain the term economy in your own words
2). discuss the work of Max Weber
3) state two importance of Weber’s work in the classroom

Now read on…

5.1 Definition of Economy

An economy is the large set of inter-related production and consumption activities that
help in determining how scarce resources are allocated. In an economy, the production
and consumption of goods and services are used to fulfil the needs of those living and
operating within it. (Kenton, Boyle& Li, 2022)

5.2 Max Weber’s work on Religion and the Economy

Religion being a pervasive and universal institution is deeply rooted in human beings. Weber
suggested that the protestant institution and its ethics have played an important role in the
development of their economy in his book the “Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism”
(1905). His study showed how far a particular sect of religion can influence the economic
behaviour of its followers. Weber’s major concern was to emphasize to the extent to which
the religious conception of the world of existence have influenced the economic behaviour of
various societies and specially the western society. Weber says that the Calvinist sect of
protestant Christian religion has strongest influences on the development of Capitalism.

Weber located a positive relationship between the Protestant ethics and the spirit of
capitalism. Western capitalism, according to Weber, assumed its shape because it was
supported by a certain belief system, namely, the “Protestant ethic”. Weber argued that the
Protestant ethic is closely associated with the spirit of capitalism.

According to Weber, the capitalists desired wealth not for enjoyment or luxurious
living. They wanted it so that they could use it to make more wealth. The thirst for
money-making for its own sake is the very essence of modern capitalism. Capitalism is an
economic system which aims at the unlimited accumulation of profit through the rational
organisation of production. Capitalism arose in the Western nations like England and
Germany, which experienced what we call the “Industrial Revolution”. The growth of
the factory system, new techniques of production, new tools and machines made it possible
for the capitalists or the owners to earn vast amounts of money. The production process had
to be rationally organised; in other words, efficiency and discipline were essential. The
worker was a means to an end, the end being profit. The attitude towards work was that it
should be done well not because one had to do it, but because it carried an intrinsic reward.
Weber contrasted this work-ethic with another type which he termed traditionalism. Here,
workers prefer less work to more pay, relaxation to exertion. They are either unable or
unwilling to take up new work-methods and techniques. As has been mentioned before, in
capitalism, the worker is regarded by the capitalist as a means to an end. But under
traditionalism, the worker-employer relationship is informal, direct and personal.
Traditionalism hampers the growth of capitalism. Capitalism stresses individualism,

77
innovation and the relentless pursuit of profit. Traditionalism, as described above, is
characterised by a much less disciplined and efficient system of production. You have just
seen that the spirit of capitalism is a work-ethic which calls for accumulation of wealth for its
own sake. To do so, work has to be organised in an efficient, disciplined manner. Hard work
is a virtue that carries intrinsic rewards. Unlike “traditionalism”, the spirit of capitalism
demands individualism, innovation, hard work and the pursuit of wealth for its own sake. It is
thus an economic ethic unlike any in the pasts. In Protestantism, particularly Calvinism
Weber detected this-worldly asceticism. It stressed rigorous self-discipline in order to master
the environment. A simple, frugal life-style was recommended along with hard work.
Worldly or sensual pleasures were viewed with horror; fine clothes, dance and music, theatre
and novels came from the Devil as they would 29 divert a person from working for the glory
of God. Even the very human Religion and Economy expression of laughter was frowned
upon! This emphasis on hard work was not confined to Calvinists alone. It was a common
feature of all Protestant sects. The idea that ‘honesty is the best policy’ was the principle of
early capitalism. Weber (1948:313) gives us the example of the ‘Methodists’ a sect who
forbade their followers
1) to haggle when buying and selling.
2) to trade with commodities without paying the necessary taxes and tariffs.
3) to charge rates of interest higher than the law of the country permit
4) ‘to gather treasures on earth’ (meaning the transformation of investment capital
into ‘funded wealth’).
5) to borrow without being sure of one’s ability to pay back the debt
6) “luxuries of all sorts”. The fruits of hard labour could not be spent on worldly
pleasures. Thus, there was only one outlet for money. It was reinvested and hence
used to make more money. Not a moment was to be idled away as “work is worship”
and “time is money”.

5.3 Educational Implication

1). Teachers should emphasis on topics that seems to inculcate moral behaviour and
hard work.
2). Since the teacher is the most important model in the classroom, he must ensure
that his life style is without defects and worthy of emulation.
3). Through verbal explanations moral education teachers can enhance the salience
and distinctiveness of cues.
4). Biographies of people who led good and moral lives could be presented to
students.

Self-Assessment Questions
1). The essence of capitalism according to Weber is that the capitalists aim to increase
profit so that they can lead a luxurious life. T/F
2). Capitalism arose when the western nations went through the French revolution.
T/F
3). Give two educational implications of Weber’s work.

78
SESSION 6: RELIGION AND SOCIAL ACTION (TARCOTT PASSONS)
Hello, this is the last session of unit 6. In session 5, we looked at Religion and the Economy
by Max Weber. In this session, we shall discuss the work of Tarcott Passons on Religion and
Social Action and I hope by the end of this session, you will get insightful information ana
understanding.

Objectives
By the end of this session, you will be able to:
1. Give a brief history of Tarcott Passons
2. Discuss the work of Tarcott Passons
3. Give the educational implications of Tarcott Passons work

6.1 History of Tarcott Passons

Talcott Parsons an American sociologist was born on13th December, 1902 in Colorado
Springs, Colorado, U.S and died on 8th May, 1979 at Munich, West. After receiving his B.A.
from Amherst College in 1924, Parsons studied at the London School of Economics and at
the University of Heidelberg, where he received his Ph.D. in 1927. He joined the faculty of
Harvard University as an instructor in economics and began teaching sociology in 1931. In
1944 he became a full professor, and in 1946 he was appointed chairman of the new
department of social relations, a post Parsons held until 1956. He remained at Harvard until
his retirement in 1973. Parsons also served as president of the American Sociological Society
in 1949. Parsons united clinical psychology and social anthropology with sociology. His
work is generally thought to constitute an entire school of social thought. In his first major
book, The Structure of Social Action (1937), Parsons drew on elements from the works of
several European scholars (Weber, Pareto, Alfred Marshall, and Émile Durkheim) to develop
a common systematic theory of social action based on a voluntaristic principle—i.e., the
choices between alternative values and actions must be at least partially free. Other works by
Parsons include Essays in Sociological Theory (1949; rev. ed. 1954), Economy and Society
(1956; with Neil J. Smelser), Structure and Process in Modern Societies (1960), Societies:
Evolutionary and Comparative Perspectives (1966), Sociological Theory and Modern Society
(1967), Politics and Social Structure (1969), and The American University (1973; with
Gerald M. Platt and Neil J. Smelser).

6.2 Work of Tarcott Passons

Parson says the cultural system provides more general guidelines for action in the form
of beliefs, values, and systems of meaning, not the norms which direct action. These are
not merely isolated standards for behaviour, they are integrated and patterned by the values
and beliefs provided by the cultural system. Religion is a part of the cultural system. In this
way, religious beliefs provide guidelines for human actions and standards against which
man’s conduct can be evaluated. If you talk about Christian society there the ten
commandments operate in this way These norms direct these areas of behaviour and always
work on the same religious commandments. In this way, religion provides general guidelines
for conduct which are expressed any variety of norms; therefore, Parsons believes religion is
necessary for order and stability in society. As part of the cultural system, religious beliefs
give meaning to life. Parsons argues that one of the major functions of religion is to
make sense of all experiences, no matter how meaningless or contradictory they appear.
Parson also says that a major function of religion as the provision of meaning to an event that
man does not expect of feels ought not to happen, events that are frustrating and
contradictory. Religion makes sense of these events in terms of the integrated and consistent
pattern of meaning.

79
 6.3 Educational Implication
a). Teachers should highlight on important point to students especially attitudes.
b). Moral education teachers should live a life wealthy of emulation

Self-Assessment Questions.
a). To Parson, the cultural system provides more general guidelines for action in the
form of beliefs, values, and systems of meaning, not the norms which direct action.
T/F
b). One of the major functions of religion is to make sense of all experiences, no
matter how meaningless or contradictory they appear. T/F
c) Give two educational implication of Parsons work.

80
References

Indrani, T. K. (1998). Textbook of Sociology for Nurses. New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers
Broom, Leonard and Philip Selznick (1973). Sociology. A Text with Adapted Readings. Fifth
Edition. New York: Harper and Row Publishers.
Word Book Encyclopedia. (1994). Vol. 18, PP. 564-567
Fleming, D., Bailyn, B. (Eds.), (1969). The Intellectual Migration: Europe and America
1930–1960. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Emerson, M. O., Monahan, S. C., & Mirola, W. A. (2011). Religion matters: What sociology
teaches us about religion in our world. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

81