University Project: Understanding Individuals and Society (FYA002-0)

This project, designed for the 'Understanding Individuals and Society' unit (FYA002-0), presents a comprehensive analysis of sociological perspectives on contemporary issues. The project requires students to investigate topics such as terrorism and mental health, applying various sociological frameworks to understand these complex societal challenges. The assignment includes tasks such as analyzing newspaper articles, identifying relevant sociological perspectives, and explaining these perspectives in relation to the chosen issues. The project also incorporates a workbook format with weekly tasks and questions, culminating in a portfolio submission. The student is expected to draw upon lectures, readings, and video resources to complete the project, demonstrating an understanding of sociological theories and their application to real-world scenarios. The project emphasizes the development of key academic skills including research, writing, referencing, and critical analysis.

FYA002-0 Understanding
Individuals and Society

Teaching schedule for Understanding Individuals and Society FYA002-0
TEACHING WEEK LECTURE
1 Introduction to the unit: psychology and society
2 Mass media in society
3 Technology, social media and human relationships
4 Terrorism
5 Mental health and contemporary society
6 Gender
The handing out of the assessment workbooks.
7 The role of religion and science in society
8 Psychological perspectives on criminal behaviour
9 The changing nature of families and childhood in society
10 The physical health of the nation
11 Effects of globalisation and multiculturalism
Christmas break – Monday 16
December to Friday 27 December 2019
Individual/guided study week - no lectures/workshops 30
December 2019 – 6 January 2020
12
10 January 20 Project/portfolio will be submitted today portfolios
13 Social and psychological issues of identity
14 Revision Lecture
Introduction
Welcome to the student Project workbook which will guide you through the project
requirements for this unit. Having engaged in the unit thus far this is your one and
final project for the unit. You are expected to independently gather enough
information so that you are able to answer the set questions for each week. The
portfolio itself will account for 100% of the graded marks for the unit. The teaching
team for the Understanding Individuals and Society have produced this workbook as
a practical aid for you as students on this unit in readiness for submission of your
portfolio. On completion of the tasks within this booklet you will be required to submit
the booklet
The portfolio ideally builds upon the learning that you have undertaken throughout
semester 1 and contributes towards your progression onto Level 4. The portfolio is
an opportunity for you to demonstrate your knowledge of the models, theories and
debates within the taught lessons and within the field of Social Sciences. It is

important that you read this workbook carefully so that you are clear about the
project expectations. Within this workbook you will find a number of hyperlinks which
will lead you to short video clips, these are intended to help you understand specific
topics better and therefore to assist you in completing the portfolio to a higher
standard. These video clips are there to help you they will not provide you with the
complete answers therefore you will need to research a little more using the points
raised in the video clips as a guide.
Aims of the module
1 Demonstrate the following knowledge and understanding
Understand sociological perspectives in relation to human behaviour
2 Demonstrate the following skills and abilities
Can demonstrate how, where and when to use different information concerning human
behaviour
Session Structure and Learning Methods
The module will run over 12 weeks – please note that the submission of this portfolio
has been set for 10th January 2020.
Some lectures will be specifically included to provide guidance concerning depth and
scope of material to be studied during each of the lectures. You are recommended
to extend your learning by consulting relevant subject-specific textbooks and other
resources to extend your knowledge and understanding further.
Self-Study & Follow-up Work
You are strongly advised to use self-study time to fully meet the intended learning
outcomes of the module by working through the information given during lectures
and tutorials. The aim is to enable you to apply your knowledge and understanding
of the subject material learnt in this academic Unit in a concise and understandable
way. It is important to clearly demonstrate you learning when answering the
questions set for you each week.
Preparation for your portfolio submission
An electronic copy of the portfolio must be submitted through BREO. No hard copies
are to be submitted.
Portfolios will be marked by the Unit Co-coordinator and a second marker and the
recommended grade agreed. It is the university policy that you should be able to
receive feedback on your work within 15 days of submission. Feedback on your
portfolio will be available on BREO.
Ensure that your portfolio is submitted with a cover sheet which identifies you via
your student ID number, Unit name and code.
Please ensure that you keep, in a safe place the electronic receipt which will be
given to you once you have submitted the portfolio. This acts of proof of submission

should there be any queries about the time of submission or whether in fact you
have submitted.
1. Make sure that you have proof read your work BEFORE it is submitted.
2. Have you read the questions carefully?
3. Does your work contain full sentences? Do the sentences begin with a capital
letter and end with a full stop?
4. Have you inserted references?
5. Have you referenced correctly? Are the references in alphabetical order by
family name in your reference list?
6. Does you work have a clear introduction, middle and ending?
Completing your Project
What am I required to do in this project?
This project asks you to complete weekly tasks in order to build a portfolio of your
knowledge and understanding of sociological perspectives and relate this knowledge
to every day experiences.
In order to complete this project you will need to follow the steps outlined below:
Step 1: Ensure that you complete the weekly tasks set in your workbook which will
be provided by your tutor.
Step 2: Follow all instructions in the workbook for each weekly task. For example,
Week 6 task will be to explain the similarities between 2 sociological perspectives,
Week 7 will then ask you to investigate and describe the differences between 2
sociological perspectives on human behaviour.
Step 3: In order to address these tasks you will need to identify, locate and conduct
some reading of a variety of different texts -guidance will be given on good academic
texts to read.
Step 4: You will need to make some notes in your own words based on your reading
and your understanding of different sociological perspectives and how they explain
human behaviour
Step 5: You will then be asked to answer a short essay question which will be
written under timed conditions in your classroom. You will be allowed to take your
portfolio into the classroom with you.
Step 6: You will submit your completed portfolio of work
How does this project relate to what we are doing in scheduled
sessions?
Through building the portfolio (project) you are week by week developing and
embedding knowledge of the key sociological theories and how to apply it to
everyday issues within a society. This assessment is specifically related to

developing key academic skills; writing, searching for and selecting appropriate
academic literature, reading that literature and paraphrasing its content, referencing,
developing notes, following instructions and using IT. By completing the in class test
you are showing that you can take what you have learned in the lecture room and in
a timed setting develop an answer to a set question. For further information relating
to the portfolio can be found on the BREO shell for this unit.
Prepare answers for the following sets of questions.
Week 4
Question 1.
Subject: Terrorism
Date: 25th October 2019
1. Identify a recent newspaper article which discusses the issue of terrorism.
You will also need to clearly state the name of the newspaper and the
author(s) of the article.
Terrorism refers to premeditated and politically motivated violence which is
perpetrated against non-combatant targets by clandestine agents or subnational
groups. It implies the systematic usage of violence for creation of general climate
of fear within population in order to attain the political objectives. An article was
published on the newspaper “The Guardian” on December 6th, 2019 by Dan
Sabbagh on “Thirty Britons believed to be among Isis fighters held in Syria”. As per
this article, out of 2000 foreign Isis's, 30 were British men and they are being held
by Kurdish forces within the jails of Syria. According to the Whitehall analysis, the
foreign fighters are most dangerous terror group. The group was formulated due to
death of their leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. As per intelligence agencies, it is
serious threat that is being faced by UK and in case if Islamist extremists were
about to regroup within the region then further it will lead to attacks within United
Kingdom. Along with this, Usman Khan who was sentenced for eight years
terrorism attacked London Bridge last week. This implies that UK fears that the
maximum sentence for terrorist organisation is 10 years and again they carry out
attacks (Thirty Britons believed to be among Isis fighters held in Syria, 2019).
2. Identify the sociological perspective being used to discuss the issue of
terrorism.
There are different perspectives which are being given by distinct scholars with
respect to terrorism. The sociological perspectives are given by Jordan Paust in
context of terrorism. Here, emphasis is laid on types of participants which are
engaged within as targets, victims, terrorists and many others. IT also specifies
objective behind participants, actual interactions depending on situations which
prevails and kind of resources which are disposed by each sort of participant.
Apart from this, strategies utilized by terrors with respect to kidnapping, hijacking,
bombing, killing and looting. Furthermore, it also involves the probable outcomes
related with terroristic processes such as destruction of property, injuries, deaths
and many other aspects. In addition to this, there are certain perspectives such as
pressure that is created by change & westernization (unfair trading situations

models and economic that leads to growth and invasion of popular culture with
respect to local traditions).
3. In which way does this perspective explain terrorism?
The three crucial sociological orientations are functionalism, conflict theory and
symbolic interaction-ism. The emphasis is laid on utility of social institutions and
behavior in context of functionalism. Here, the crucial aspect is that the causes
must be identified with respect to crimes which take place. For an instance, social
solidarity is increased as society unites for defeating a perceived group. With
respect to conflict theory, terrorism attacks which occurred lead to trends towards
more concentrated military, corporate and concentrated power which exists within
the society that is responsible for embracing democratic values. The terrorist
attacks create a strong impact on economy of country as it takes billions of dollars
from unmet needs of society. With respect to symbolic interaction-ism, it is
concerned about experiences as well as perceptions of individuals who are
involved within dealing with conditions associated with terrorism, they are:
civilians, soldiers and many other individuals. An instance can be taken into
consideration like a key goal of training within military is to convince individuals to
deal with the situations which prevails in the peculiar condition such as specific
target for killing such as they have to kill terrorists so that public horror can be
minimized. The definition of terrorism is subjective and varies depending upon
views of individuals. Such as some perceives it as actions that are being carried
out by group, others might think as people are fighting for their freedom and others
might take it as affirmative term.

Week 5
Question 2.
Subject: Mental Health and Contemporary Society
Date: 1st November 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO0v_JqxFmQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0zJGDokyWQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRN8oeMNaDc
1. Identify a sociological perspective on mental health.
Things which are sacred in one specified culture may be profane within the other; it
is referred to as sociological definition of religion. An instance can be taken into
consideration like in India cows are sacred or church wafers. The sociologists are
not concerned with falseness or truth related with any specified religion but they
emphasize on consequences which are laid down on society. The two key
elements are social characteristics of religion and effects that are created on
society. The social characteristics of religion are that it renders strength as well as
calm to people when they approach either unknown or unexpected. Along with
this, it has made social contribution within the stability of society by the usage of
social processes related with social cohesion. It is also liable for rendering social
control that is inspired by conformity to specified norms. Furthermore, religion
assists within reduction of social anxiety by rendering answers to broader
questions related with meaning of existence, life and non-existence. The
consequences which are being created by religion as per the sociologist includes
physical and emotional health, personal, spiritual, family and marital happiness. It
acts as a slow poison which kills soul for an instance it creates fear for living,
turning people against themselves by making them unrealistic and leads to
creation of ignorance.
2. Who is the key thinker of your chosen perspective?
There is a huge distinction between both the perspectives which have been
illustrated above as one illustrates the affirmative aspects related with religion
whereas other denotes pessimistic impact that is being created by it on the society.
In context of affirmative impacts, it implies promotion within the social harmony
which leads to deliver moral values, renders social alterations that will furnish the
unknowns and it will give affirmative goals within life through which individuals can
have sense of belonging-ness. As per the sociological perspectives, there is no
doubt that religion has created critical role within the society. It has interwined with
other institutes like economic and political systems & sometimes religion has
become the basis for political legitimacy. It can be understood by the fact that it
promotes social harmony as this leads to stabilization and assimilation of cultures
as well as nations. This is liable for furnishing moral values by providing social
change and also minimizes the fear of unknown in terms of rendering answers
related with phenomena as well as questions which science might not provide. The
pessimistic affects specified by sociologist indicates that there is a social hierarchy
which might lead to creation of discrimination, triggers fights or conflicts that will

acts as an economic tool for controlling masses and impedes scientific success &
development which obstruct the usage of reason. As per them it leads to conflicts
as well as divisiveness in between individuals. In addition to this, religion also acts
as an susceptible source for conflicts and war among between different countries
or individuals.
3. What are the two (2) key points used to explain mental health?
Set of beliefs which are concerned about nature, cause as well as purpose of
universe that involves ritual and devotional observances along with this, it contains
moral code for governing conduct of human affairs is referred to as religion. The
other definition involves aggregation of transcendental beliefs which are passed
from believers to convert that are being held by adherents and are dependent on
organized religion as well as established cultural practices. As such there is no
weakness but it depends on the way in which individuals perceive them. An
example can be taken to understand this aspect like people fight on the name of
religion and political parties tends to make use of these. It clearly specifies that on
the basis of individuals the thinking related with religion there will be variations like
it might leads to discrimination.
4. What are the disadvantages of these perspectives?
It acts as one of the crucial aspect that is associated with development of cultures
and civilization. In fact, most of the ancient societies have based their viewpoints
on the religion and they acts as important assets for accomplishment as well as
maintenance of social cohesiveness and stability. Some examples related with
human behavior include Sati system, Buddhist Burma, the Witch Hunt and The
Crusades lead thousands of individuals to give their lives. Dichotomous function
which religion tends to serve is kindness as well as compassion for all, but this is
also liable for instigating religious violence, hatred and religious martyrdom's in
context of radical believers. Along with this, various religion also enforce moral
behavior by affirmative & pessimistic reinforcement through infusing elements such
as 'god-fearing' within the scriptures like concept of reincarnation as well as karma
in Hinduism, in case of Christianity it involves salvation & heaven-hell, within
Islamism it contains paradise and hell, reincarnation & afterlife in context of
Chinese folk religions and within Buddhism, it comprises of reaching enlightenment
and reincarnation.
Week 6
Question 3.
Subject: Gender
Date: 8th November 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QthMrCqspww
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbdcmKC1d2M

1. Which 2 sociological perspectives explain the issue of gender?
The viewpoint have been illustrated beneath:
Femininity: As per the sociological perspectives, the terms denote behavior,
roles and attributes related with girls as well as women. This is created socially
but some aspects denote that it is biologically influenced. Basically, it involves
womanliness or girlishness. The crucial aspects related with this includes
thoughtfulness (plans to make things smoother), empathy (mutual
understanding), vulnerability (taking risks with emotions and expressions),
intuition (gut feeling related with something good or bad might happen), patience
(remain calm even during storm) and sensuality in context of willingness to
discover, explore and slow down with respect to what is appropriate.
Masculinity: According to sociological perspective, it implies roles, attributes and
behavior of men & boys. The standards for masculinity or manliness vary with
respect to historical and cultural periods. As per Western society, traits of
masculine comprises of assertiveness, leadership, independence, courage as
well as strength. Here, emphasis is laid on power irrespective of responsibilities
and consequences associated with particular aspect. Expectations as well as
standards may vary depending upon the cultural and historical variations.
Basically, it is associated with machismo in which there is focus on influence
rather than responsibilities associated with this. Apart from this, it is also utilized in
conjunction with virility which implies energy, sex drive and stamina or strength.
2. Give one example where women are oppressed by their gender.
Sexism is applied against girls and women that functions for maintaining
patriarchy through material as well as ideological practices carried out by
individuals who oppress them with respect to gender or sex. This oppression
generally occurs in terms of social domination and economic exploitation. An
instance can be taken into consideration, like if a girl has been raped by certain
group of people then instead of taking into consideration the mental, emotional
and physical state she might be told that she was culpable sue to the dress worn
by them. Its okay if a man in shorts or shirtless, it doesn’t matter but if a girl is in
jeans then also they are being told they are not wearing an appropriate dress
which captivated men to do so. It do not implies that there was problem with the in
which they were dressed but it denotes the mentality. Like its fine that one section
of society can do whatever they want and other can’t even dress up as per their
choices. Women or girls are mistreated both at institutional as well as individual
level. Along with this, they need to think while speaking out their problems with
respect what society will think about them. But the thing is that they will gossip
even if nothing is wrong.
3. What are the similarities between the two (2) sociological perspectives you
have identified?
Both femininity and masculinity posses some similarities like emotional
perspective. Though the extent might vary but still this is one of the common
aspect which exist within both. An example can be taken to understand this

aspect like in case of death of some family member the masculine individual may
get over it within some time but time required for feminine might vary. But both are
emotional. Masculine and feminine both wants to have their own employment
options through which they can accomplish their basic needs. There exist a self
respect and confidence which leads them to attain their goals as well as leads to
success. The ways might eb different but aim is to attain individual objectives.
Week 7
Question 4.
Subject: The role of religion and science in society
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgpR1hj4_9o
1. Which two (2) sociological perspectives are critical of the role of religion in
society?
Sociological perspectives is defined as the perception of people who lives in
society regarding values, rituals and so on. It is very important to understand
sociological perspectives of an individuals. This assist to look familiar surroundings
in fresh manner. The different sociological perspectives which are critical of role of
religion in society are described below:
Humanistic Perspective- It is different from conflict perspective of effect which
religious dogma have on development of freedom of expression and knowledge. It
is very important to see god in each and every things such as nature or
everywhere. Each and every people surviving in society has their own view
regarding things at environment. According to different authors, they said
individual see things in different way and accordingly make their perspective about
things.
Symbolic Interaction- In this perspective, religious helps in identification and
serving as reference point that affect sexual relationships, political choices and
other aspects of day to day life for several individuals. This is developed into self
and seeing themselves and acting as Hindu, Jew, Christian, Buddhist and so on.
The beliefs, experiences are not considered as scared unless individuals living in
society considered them as scared.
Role of religion in society is different from one another so it is very difficult to
predict single as each of them denote something unique to society. Therefore, the
mentioned are two main critical roles of religion in terms of sociological
perspectives.
2. What are the differences between the sociological perspectives identified?
Sociological perspectives can be referred to as the point of view of different people
about values, culture, rituals etc. living in a society. It helps in viewing the world
outside of oneself. Differences identified between the above sociological
perspectives are as follows -
Humanistic perspective pays focus on the positive facts of being a human. This
type perspective is essential as it helps a sociologist in improving the self image of

a person and the things that make him fell he/she is of worth. Some examples of
humanistic perspective include- a person feeling that his/her life is boring.
Therefore, this perspective will encourage that person to think and find out what is
missing in his/her life. Another example can be of family therapy and encouraging
a person to pay focus on his/her strengths rather than always focusing on their
flaws.
Symbolic Interaction is about what kind of relationships individuals share within a
society and how does this impact their daily life. And communication is considered
to be a way people interact in a society. This type of interaction forms the basis of
understanding different people's perspectives and behaviors. For example-
language and interpersonal relations can be cited as a primary examples of
symbolic interaction.
3. Discuss the different definitions of religion and the weaknesses of the
definitions.
There are various points of view of people in context of religion that builds
perspective to build the level of understanding that are as follows:
A sociological definition: The sociological definition of religion states that things
in one culture consider as sacred and in other it is profane and sociologist on
whom people believes not concerned about truth or falseness of any religion that
hinders the self interest of followers. The weaknesses of respective definition that
it builds religion as an illusion due to culture and location influence religion on such
a degree and the idea which religion represents the fundamental truth seemed
improbable to them.
According to the Karl Marx religion is one of best tool to unconsciously control or
regulate the masses. Also commence that not believe on unseen truths as religion
simply masked the truth for their followers. There are some kind of weaknesses of
respective definition that to believe something there are not always truth available
such as people have to believe on Books based on particular religion. It also
stated that religion is a illusory happiness for people is demanded for their real
kind of happiness by which a people invest their time and money on other
activities that not provide any kind of productivity.
4. Give an example of the way in which religions influences human behavior.
Religion Is one of the most widely accepted part of culture that existed for
thousands of years in society there are various positive and negative factors that
influence on human behavior. It is the rule book which allows to function in
primitive or cultured manner such as a religious person hesitate to speak lie, hunt
and in many other activities. It also proved beneficial to create social bonding as
religious practices are very much adaptive in nature and proved beneficial to build
self identity the religion create the self identity of an individual and influenced
directly their behavior. For an example as their religion states about crusades, sati
system and Buddhist Burma, jihadists which ended thousands of lives therefore
religion directly mold their pattern of behaving. Such as Jain religion believe in non
violence so they always believe on saving human kind in proper manner. Most of

the religions enforce moral behavior by positive and negative reinforcement such
as using concept of karma, heaven hell and salvation in Christianity and hell in
Islamism that mold their behavior accordingly to act.
Week 8
Question 5.
Subject: Sociological perspectives on criminal behaviour
Date: 22nd November 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmMZnvI0JjA
1. In what way is Charles Murray’s explanation of crime similar to Emile
Durkheim’s explanation?
Crime refers to an action which is carried against laws of God whether as per what
is revealed within the holy books like Torah or The Bible or the one which is
instinctively recognized against will of God. Basically, it is an act that is prohibited
by deemed and state to be deserving of control and punishment.
As per Charles Murray, idea of underclass was developed and recommended that
welfare state lead to creation of dependency, encouragement within single
parenthood as well as deject working for a living. Along with this, they have
disagreed that young boys grew without any kind male role models as well as
examples of employment which leads to jobless criminal underclass, dysfunctional
and welfare dependent peoples. Charles believe that these individuals acts as
surplus fro needs which are being developed within economies because of
globalization as cheap labor can be availed within developing countries.
According to Emile Durkheim, crime denotes a natural function which encourages
social change, evolution and innovation. Criminals often brings in new ways for
carrying out their motives, thus term innovators can be used. Emile is founder of
structuralist approach towards sociology as well as lays emphasis on social
cohesion along with social order which implies shared morals and values. Without
these, it will lead to lawlessness, anomie and social disorganization. As per
Durkheim theory, crime is found within all societies which implies that they must be
carrying out some important functions otherwise they might have been
disappeared from the society.
2. In which ways are these two (2) perspectives different?
According to Charles Murray, term “the underclass” was coined which denotes
group of people within America who are unemployed for long term as well as
dependent on welfare. The term included certain aspects which prevailed within
the society and crime was one of them. It do not refers to the poorer section of
society or conditions faced by them but it implied response of individuals with
respect to any specified situation. An instance can be taken to understand this
aspect like people do not want to do jobs which are available to them. Charles