COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

This course seeks to provide a basic understanding of sociology as a field of social science inquiry. It introduces students to the founding fathers of sociology, the three perspectives in sociology (functionalism, conflict an symbolic interactionism), the methods of generating social science knowledge as well as other concepts that facilitate understanding the nature of the social world.

SOCI 102              Diversity of Peoples and Cultures 

This course seeks to introduce students to the comparative study of human society and culture. The course begins with a brief survey of human evolution and the major principles underlying the survival and transformation of civilization. A variety of economic, religious and political institutions around the world are examined. Special attention is paid to types of institutions around the world and the reasons that underlie variations in human behaviour.

SOCI 201              Basic Concepts in Sociology              

Sociology, the sociological orientation, and the social sciences; Context for the origins of sociology; Origins of Sociology: Comte; Marx; Durkheim and Weber; Sociological Methods and Canons of Scientific Research: social surveys; participant and non-participant observation; uses of documentary sources, etc.; Some Key Terms and Concepts: society; culture; institutions; status and role; norms; values; social structure; social functions; social system; Man in Nature versus Man in Society: socialization; Types of Society and Basic Features of Different Societal Organizations; Social Differentiation and Stratification; Social Stratification and Social Mobility; Selected works that depict nature of sociological inquiry and analysis; Uses of sociological knowledge; sociology and common sense.

SOCI 203              Traditional Ghanaian Social Institutions  

Concept of Social Structure; The Land, the People and their Spatial Distribution; The Traditional World View; The Family; Kinship and Lineage System; Population Trends in Traditional Societies; Traditional Religious Beliefs and their Social Functions; Witchcraft, Magic, Sorcery and Divination; The Traditional Economy: land tenure, modes of production and distribution; Chieftaincy: structure and function; Modes of Socialization: the rites of passage; Crime and Crime Control in Traditional Societies.

SOCI 204              Social Structure of Modern Ghana 

Concept of Social Change: transition from traditionalism to modernity: impact of colonialism; Demographic Changes: rural-urban migration: impact; The Political Institution in transition: the new local Government structure (District Assemblies); The Religious Institution in transition: the impact of Christianity and Islam; The family in transition: functions of the modern family, new marriage markets: impact on the interstate succession law; Socialization in transition; formal education and impact; The Health Institution; Social Stratification; Bribery and Corruption; Ethnicity.

The Nature and Scope of Social Theory: brief historical survey of the nature and development of social thought; Auguste Comte, social context and development of his basic ideas; Evaluation of Comte’s contribution to Social theory; Karl Marx; the notion of dialectics; social classes and their transformation: vision of a new society, Marxist analyses of political economy; Critical analysis of the Marxist Legacy; Max Weber: definition of sociology; the Methodology of Social Science: categories of social action; patterns of authority and bureaucracy; the protestant ethic thesis and its critics; Emile Durkheim: definition of sociology and the positivist tradition: the notion of social fact and sociological methodology; Illustrative and critical study of selected Durkheim’s monographs(The Division of Labor; The Rules of Sociological Method; Suicide and The Elementary Forms Of The Religious Life); Evaluation of Durkheim’s contribution to social thought; Herbert Spencer, as an example of social evolutionist thinker; George Simmel- formal sociology and analysis of conflict; Sigmund Freud and the significance of his ideas in social analysis.

SOCI 302              Perspectives in Social Theory  

Structural Functionalism; Conflict Theory; Marxism; Neo-Marxism and Critical Theory; Symbolic Interactionism; Ethnomethodology; Exchange and Rational Choice Theories; Micro-Macro Debates; Recent Integrative Developments in Sociological Theory.

SOCI 303              Social Psychology  

The field: definitional issues; Strategies of enquiry: problems with social psychological research; Social learning: the humanizing process; Social perception: impression formation, social attribu-tion; Social motivation: the achievement motive and its practical implications; Social cognition: cognitive consistency theories; Interpersonal attraction; Social attitudes: attitude measurement: attitude formation and attitude change; communication: persuasive communication; Dissonance: concept, nature, effects: Prejudice its causes, consequences and cure or prevention; Aggression: frustration aggression hypothesis: modeling of aggressive behaviour; Prosocial behaviour: bystander intervention in emergencies: effects of altruism.

SOCI 304              Groups, Organizations and the Individual       

Group dynamics from a social psychological perspective: intra-group process; the dimension of group structure; communication; role; influence and power structure; collective influence on individual behaviour; de-individuation and the spread of group effects; intra-group and inter-group conflict and its resolution; organizational behaviour; social influence processes and social exchange; environmental influence on social behaviour and the social developmental implications of social psychology. 

SOCI 305              Research Methods  

Introduction; The Research Design/Plan; Sampling Design; Methods of Data Collection in the Field; Data Presentation and Analysis; Action Research; Practical Research Design.

SOCI 306              Quantitative Methods in Social Research     

Populations and samples; frequency tables and graphs; measures of central tendency (mode, median, mean); describing the variability of distributions; Introduction to Inference: the normal Curve; distribution of sampling means; standard error of estimates; Inference with the Normal Curve: hypothesis testing and interval estimation; confidence interval using the normal distribution; hypothesis testing with the normal curve; Inference with the ‘t’ Distribution: the ‘ts’ distribution and unbiased estimates; relationship between the normal and ‘t’ distribution; degrees of freedom when estimating parameters; when to use the ‘t’ distribution; confidence interval using the ‘t’ distribution; Inference with the Chi-Square Distribution: the chi-square test for goodness of fit; the chi-square test for independence; Predictive Techniques: the regression model; criterion of best fit; calculating the slope; calculating the Y intercept; estimating the regression line; using the regression equation for prediction; Correlation: correlation as a descriptive technique; correlation as an inferential statistics.

SOCI 307              Rural Sociology    

Rural sociology: a historical overview; conceptual problems in rural sociology; basic structure of rural societies in Ghana: settlement patterns; family arrangements; politics; religion; health; education; economy; Migration and rural communities; Social change and rural communities; Conducting research in rural communities.

SOCI 308              Poverty and Rural Development  

Imperatives of African rural development; Development and underdevelopment in theory and comparative perspectives; Globalization and the political economy of rural poverty; Rural poverty indicators; The roles of the state in rural development; Social infrastructure and rural development; Women, children and rural poverty alleviation; The land question and rural development; NGOs and local initiatives in the rural sector; Environmental issues in rural development; A critique of selected rural development projects

SOCI 309              Urban Sociology 

Definitions: concept of sociology as applied to the urban society; theoretical perspectives; basic structure of urban life in Africa: politics and religion; Economics and family; Education and health; Social changes: urban growth (rural-urban migrations); The development of the city;

Industrialization and urbanization; Voluntary associations and their integrative functions; Social problems: crime; juvenile delinquency.

SOCI 310              Culture and Development  

Cultural Approach to Development; Culture, and Socio-economic development; the dynamics of global cultural industries; culture, governance and regulation; culture and city economies; culture and sustainable tourism; culture, governance and human rights; culture and health; culture education and skills for living; culture and social capital; Culture and development, the intangible aspects for development: cultural values, time, trust, property rights, Rule of law, investment codes (institutions and enabling environment).

SOCI 311              Sociology of Tourism and Tourism Development in Ghana 

Theory and Socio-Cultural Dimensions of Tourism; History of Tourism Development in Ghana; Socio-cultural impact of Tourism on Development - types of socio-cultural impacts, Social Carrying Capacity, Behavioural impacts, Impacts on values, Impacts on prices, Impact on arts and Crafts, Impact on sacred places, impact on crime, Tourism and prostitution, Domestic Tourism, Community Participation. Economic Impact of Tourism on Development; Physical and Environment Impact; Organizations for Developing and Managing Tourism-International and Regional Linkages, Public sector organizations for Tourism, private Sector organizations for Tourism, Private Sector Tourism Associations. Developing Tourism Resources; Functions and Dysfunctions of Tourism on Society; Problems Facing Tourism in Ghana; Socio-cultural policies and programmes.

SOCI 312              Population Studies

Introduction to Population studies; History of World population Growth and Development; Elements of Demography - Population Composition, Structure and Characteristics; Population Theory - The Malthusian Population Theory, The Demographic Transition Theory; Fertility, Reproductive Health, Family Planning and HIV/AIDS; Mortality; Migration; Population Growth and Development in Ghana; Population Policies.

SOCI 313              Sociology of Religion          

Nature and field of the sociology of religion; sociological, anthropological and psychological perspectives in religious phenomena; mutual interaction of religion and social institutions; theoretical and substantive content of the sociology of religion. References will be made to theorists and theories of religious behaviour: Comte; Tylor; Frazer; Durkhein; Malinowski; Marx and Max Weber; Types of religious activity and modes of expression and organization in historical ad comparative situations; religion in simple societies: exemplified by totemism; ancestral veneration, magic, sorcery and witchcraft, myths and rituals; Religion in complex societies; religious pluralism; sectarianism and patterns of conflict and accommodation; traditional religion; Islam; Christianity and Asiatic religions; Secularization; scientific and technological development and ‘post modernity’ religious expressions.

SOCI 314              Sociology of Deviant Behaviour  

Predisposition of individuals to deviate from social norms; the ‘causal’ theories include the bio-social and psychological explanations; definition; historical trends: the positivists; measurement of crime; crime statistics; psychological theories; biological theories: twins studies; somatotypes; theory of anomie; differential association; sub-cultural theories; principles of criminal law (concept of crime); white collar crime.

SOCI 315              Political Sociology  

Introduction to Political Sociology: The conceptual tools and theoretical perspectives: the scope of political sociology and development of political sociology; the nature of power and domination, legitimacy, and authority patterns in society; theories of social stratification and political domination and recruitment and related perspectives: structural- functionalist, pluralist, Marxist, and Weberian Elitist Perspectives classes and neo-Marxist; Political socialization, participation and the mass media; Ideologies (liberalism, conservatism, revolutionary socialism/communism, fascism, etc.); Social and political conflict, citizenship, political parties, interest groups and civil society, social movements; Democracy and the socio-economic basis of democratic politics. Political Sociology and the African Context: African Traditional Political Institutions, Past and Present; The origin of the modern state in the European and African Context; Nationalism, Postcolonial politics, economic and power elites in Africa; Ethnicity and political behaviour, ethnic conflicts, civil wars and insecurity; The postcolonial African state and political development political authoritarianism, corruption, the military in politics, political and socioeconomic development; The contemporary economic and political transformations: economic liberalism, democratic governance, political accountability, and democratization in Africa

Health as a human value; Medical Sociology: Rationale and Scope; Culture, Health and Illness; Medical pluralism and hierarchy of resort; The doctor – patient encounter; Pharmaceuticals in the Developing World; Socio-cultural aspects of women’s Health; The hospital as a social system; Technology and the Sociology of health care; The socio-cultural context of nursing in Ghana; Theoretical Perspectives in Medical Sociology/Anthropology

SOCI 317              Sociology of the Family  

Kinship, marriage and the family: definitions of some key words and concepts; The importance of kinship; descent groups; descent systems; inheritance and succession; Marriage: processes and forms; Marital Stability: divorce and its implications; Types of extended family in comparative perspective with particular reference to sub-Saharan Africa; Family in theoretical perspective: functionalist and conflict perspectives; Some key studies of the family: fortes’ development cycle of domestic groups; Some key studies of the family: the African family in the Diaspora (R.T. Smith: the Negro family in British Guyana); Social change and the family: the emergence of the nuclear family and its implications; Social change and the family: departure from the traditional set-up: structure and function; parental authority; mate selection; Authority structure and interper-sonal relations within the contemporary family: power and decision-making; Alternative life-styles in contemporary societies: singled; unmarried cohabitation; single parenthood and gay couples.        

Anthropology as a field of knowledge; The nature, scope and methodology of social anthropology; An introduction to the study of kinship; An introduction to the study of economic anthropology; An introduction to the study of anthropology and religion; Contemporary social changes and applied anthropology.

SOCI 402              Societies and Cultures of Africa 

Introduction to the people and culture of Africa; Clanship and descent among specified cultures; Stratified politics in Burundi and Rwanda; Traditional political structure among specified cultures; Traditional and modern economic structures among specified culture; Religion; Witchcraft; The Afrikania Mission; Syncretism and Charismatism in African religions.

SOCI 403            Theories of Social Development

Conceptualizing the Three Worlds: the First, Second and Third Worlds and their main characteristics, the concept and definition of poverty and socio-economic deprivations; measuring poverty; European Contact, Colonialism; the Post-World War II international context and the origins of development; The economic and social meanings of development, measuring development and inequality among nations, socioeconomic indicators, human development indicators, human poverty indicators, etc; Major development theories and sociological approaches to social change: evolutionism, neo-evolutionism, modernization theory, strengths and weaknesses; Major development theories: Marxist theories of underdevelopment, dependency theory, and their strengths and weaknesses; Political economy of international relations: ideologies of liberalism and neo-liberalism, economic nationalism, Marxism; capitalism and socialism.

SOCI 404              The context of Development and Underdevelopment 

A study of the preconditions; facilities; impediments; and consequences of social changes and development in third world countries; The nature of attitudes of tradition and of inertia: social change and cultural lag; Interrelationship of institutional arrangements; nature and functions of religion and social values; Family and kinship networks; Science and technology; Social groups and social stratification; The nature and emergence of elites; Kinds of leadership and political institutions; Population; Urbanization and education; Aid and development: who benefits? Structural adjustment and its socio-economic and political implications; Women issues and social development; The quality of life; Indicators for the assessment and evaluation of desirable social goals; Development as ideology; The social and psychological costs and consequences of development. 

SOCI 405              Industrial Sociology I  

The nature and scope of Industrial Sociology; The nature of work and its centrality in the lives of human beings; History of Industrial Sociology, and the growth of formal organizations and bureaucracy. A review of some of the sociological theories of formal organization e.g. those of the classical and human relations schools; Management in formal organizations: Its various levels, functions, managerial philosophies and styles of management; Industry and society; Worker participation and self-management: Sociology of worker participation in management and worker self-management.

Theories of industrial relations: the systems theory; Marxist model; social action model; human relations model etc; Forces that influence the pattern of industrial relations; conflicts and conflict management; Trade Unions: Aims and objectives; Growth and development; Union and members; Unions and managers; Government and the unions; Trade unions in the developing world especially Africa; The problems they face; the differences in social characteristics; growth and roles of trade unions in the developing world and the developed world; Trade unions in Ghana: an analysis of the various industrial relations Acts e.g. those of 1958, 1965, 1971 etc.; The urban African industrial worker: a discussion of the earlier image and the later image of the urban African industrial worker; A discussion of some of the studies on him.

 Introduction; Defining Globalisation I; Defining Globalisation II; Globalisation and Culture; African Culture and Globalisation; Globalisation and Labour in General; Globalisation and Ghanaian Labour; Is Globalisation a Novelty; Globalisation as a Blessing; Globalisation as a Curse; Conclusion

SOCI 408              Demographic Analysis 

The definition; nature and scope of demography; Sources; Uses and limitations of population data: population census; sample surveys; vital registration; population registers; non-traditional sources (parish registers, baptismal records; administrative records); international sources; availability of population data in sub-Sahara Africa; Some basic demographic methods: The balancing equation; rates and ratios; the rate of population growth; standardization; Population composition: Analysis of sex structure; analysis of age structure; age-sex pyramid; educational characteristics; economic characteristics; ethnic characteristics; The life table: Assumption; types and functions; the conventional life table (construction; interpretation and use); Introduction to migration analysis: internal migration and moves; international migration;  

SOCI 409              Gender Studies 

Historical Perspectives on the Study of Gender Basic Concepts in Gender Analysis, Feminist – Theories and Movements. The status of men/women in Ghana; Legal provisions for women’s rights in Ghana; Women and men in politics in Ghana; The media and women in Ghana; Gender issues in rural communities (households & rural production; Gender issues in rural development polities); Gender issues in urban communities (household & urban production); Gender issues in urban production and polities; Gender and reproductive health problems in Ghana; Gender issues and the environment; Gender Based Violence.

Sociological approaches to the systematic analysis of Law. Significance of law in society. Law, social relations, social integration, social change. Conflict resolution and social control. Nature of legitimate authority, mechanisms of social control, issues of civil rights and Power arrangement. A focus on Ghanaian Legal systems and family law, contemporary Ghanaian legal systems and their social implications. Vulnerability, Protection and Human Rights.

SOCI 412              Contemporary Social Theories  

Philosophy of Positivism and Phenomenology; Structuralism in Sociology; Structuralism: The Consensus Approach, i.e. Functionalism and Neofunctionalism; Structuralism: The Conflict Approach, i.e. Neo-Marxism: Critical Theory and Cultural Analyses of Modern Societies, the ideas of Habermas, Historically-oriented Marxism; Interpretative Tradition in Sociology: the Definition of the Situation: the Social Construction of Reality, Ethnomethodology, Symbolic Interactionism, Dramaturgical Analysis and other ideas of Erving Goffman; Exchange and Rational Choice Theories; Feminist Sociological Theory; Structuralism Sociolinguistics, Poststructuralism, the ideas of Michel Focault, i.e Knowledge, Truth and Power; Structure versus Agency Debates, Micro-Macro Questions and Contemporary Integrative Developments in Sociological Theory; Postmodernism and Postmodern Social Theory.

Modeling Society; Probability distributions; Point estimation; Confidence Intervals; Hypothesis Testing; ANOVA; Correlation Analysis; Simple Regression; Maximum Likelihood estimation of Simple Logistic Regression; Overview and students assessment of course.

SOCI 414              Globalization and Formal Organizations (Not offered at the moment)

SOCI 416              Penology

Concept of Penology; Correctional Concepts; The Cultural Context of Punishment and the Treatment of Offenders; Socialization and Social Control; Computing Crime Statistics and Correctional Statistics; Correctional Populations and Correctional Staff; Theories of Deviance; Sanctions: Physical; Economic; Social and Psychological. Principles of Punishment: What Works? Jails; Detention and Community Corrections: The Prison Experience; Correction of Juvenile Offenders; Capital Punishment (The Death Penalty)