revisesociology

[revisesociology]

Max Weber: rationalisation and the iron cage of bureaucracy

Max Weber’s Key ideas about modern industrial society and rationalisation are: Modern industrial society brought technological and economic advances But this was accompanied by increased rationalization and a bureaucratic structure… This structure imposed new controls, restricted individual freedoms, and eroded community and kinship ties. Bureaucratic efficiency has stifled traditional…

[revisesociology]

Marxist Perspectives on the Welfare State

Marxist perspectives criticize the inequities of the market, but also he ineffectiveness of the welfare state in challenging or combatting these inequalities. Marxism, Socialism and Communism Some of these critiques are rooted in the ideas of Karl Marx, a 19th-century economist and philosopher. Marx argued that capitalism is an exploitative system where the working class is taken advantage of…

[revisesociology]

Middle Way Perspectives on the Welfare State

The Middle Way: An Overview The Middle Way refers to a balanced ideological approach to social and economic policy that bridges the divide between traditional Conservative, Liberal, and Labour ideologies. The term originates from Harold Macmillan’s 1938 book, The Middle Way, where he outlined a vision for governance that embraced collective welfare without abandoning market principles.…

[revisesociology]

Neoliberalism and Social Welfare Policies

Neoliberals dislike the welfare state and welfare spending for at least five main reasons: The welfare state creates a dependency culture. People become dependent on benefits and less self-reliant. Welfare spending is inefficient. Centralised systems can’t accurately assess what people’s needs are, only the free-market can. Public spending on welfare requires taxation. This reduces money for…

[revisesociology]

Jeffrey Weeks: The social construction of sexuality

Jeffrey Weeks (1945–) is arguably the most influential British writer on sexuality. His work offers a detailed historical account of how sexuality has been shaped and regulated by society. He sees sexuality not so much as rooted in the body, but as a social construct that is ideologically determined. Inspired by the work of British sociologist Mary McIntosh, he argues that industrialisation and…

[revisesociology]

Ethnomethodology: Social Order as Fiction!

Ethnomethodology, developed in the 1960s by Harold Garfinkel, explores how people use everyday methods to make sense of and organize their social world. The term itself means “the study of the methods people use,” focusing on how social order is constructed rather than assuming it naturally exists. Ethnomethodology focuses on understanding the “how” of social life: how people create, interpret,…

[revisesociology]

Why are fewer Ethnic Minorities voting for Labour?

The Left is gradually losing its longstanding support among ethnic minority voters. In the 2024 general election, Labour won less than half of the non-white vote for the first time ever, experiencing a roughly 10% drop compared to its share in 2020. Meanwhile, the Conservative Party achieved some of its best results in areas with large Hindu populations. A similar trend is occurring in the…

[revisesociology]

New research suggests we are getting less healthy, not just older!

Increases in many illnesses and ailments are often attributed to our longer lifespans. The older we are, the more likely we are to suffer from degenerative diseases. So, as life expectancy rises, the number of people with conditions like arthritis, cancer, and heart disease also grows. However, a new study has found that today’s older people are simply less healthy than those in earlier…

[revisesociology]

A Sociological Analysis of The Grenfell Tower Report

The deaths of 54 adults and 18 children in the Grenfell Tower fire were avoidable, according to the recent Grenfell report. Those who died were failed over many years and in numerous ways by those responsible for the safety of the building. The fire started in one flat due to a malfunctioning fridge-freezer. The first fire engine arrived by 00:59, and the initial kitchen fire was extinguished…

[revisesociology]

UK Census Gender Identity Statistics: inaccurate and no longer official!

The Office for National Statistics has downgraded its gender identity statistics from the 2021 UK Census. These statistics are no longer ‘official statistics’, they are now just ‘official statistics in development’. According to the 2021 Census 262 000 people in England and Wales identified as transgender, equivalent to 0.5% of the population. However, new analysis by Oxford Sociology professor…

[revisesociology]

The social causes of Dementia

Roughly 55 million people are currently living with Dementia, worldwide. 10 million new dementia cases are diagnosed annually.  The Alzheimer’s Society estimates there are almost one million people in the UK currently living with dementia, projected to grow to 1.4 million by 2040. The current costs of dementia are estimated to be £42 billion a year.  According to secondary research by the…

[revisesociology]

Masculinities, Crime and Criminology, Richard Collier 

Collier (1998) is critical of Messerschmidt’s work on masculinity and crime.  Collier argues the concept of hegemonic masculinity is limited.  For collier this is simply a list of traits which are not common to men. Women can also express the traits of what Messerschmidt calls ‘hegemonic masculinity’.  Messerschmidt uses the concept of hegemonic masculinity to explain too many types of crime.…

[revisesociology]

Masculinities and Crime: James W. Messerschmidt

Messerschmidt (1993) notes that males commit most crimes and therefore any study of crime must include a study of masculine values. He criticises sex-role theory for assuming socialisation is passive. This theory assumes boys are simply not taught to ‘act male’ in childhood and this then defines their behaviour into adulthood. He also rejects biological explanations for higher rates of male…

[revisesociology]

Prisoner Convicted of Running a Drugs Ring from Jail...

Alexander Mullins was recently sentenced to 19 years in jail for running a drugs ring, while in jail himself as a serving prisoner!  Mullins used mobile phones which had been bought by his mother and smuggled into prison. The prosecution uncovered evidence of 73 such phones having been used between 2016-2019.  Mullins was at the centre of a large network of people who produced and supplied a…

[revisesociology]

The Chivalry Thesis: explaining rates of female crime

The Chivalry Thesis states that women are let of relatively lightly by predominately male police and judges. It is one explanation for why official statistics report so few female crimes compared to male crimes. It could also explain why there are so few female prisoners than male prisoners. The key idea of the Chivalry Thesis is male police are less likely to arrest and prosecute female…

[revisesociology]

A-level results day 2024: back to normal!

Congratulations to most of you on your A-level, BTEC and T-Level Results. Commiserations to the rest of you! While there will be many individual triumphs and tragedies, I’m going to take a positivist approach here and look at the overall trends Remember, positivists are interested in looking at the bigger picture. They are interested in macro level trends using statistics and making…

[revisesociology]

Feminist Perspectives on Crime and Deviance

Feminist criminology emerged from the 1970s onwards amidst what is recognised as second wave feminism. Feminist contributions to criminology span Liberal, Marxist, Radical and Difference Feminist perspectives.  Early feminism criticised the extreme male bias in early to mid 20th century criminology. Most criminological theories from consensus theories to radical criminology focused exclusively…