Sociology is the study of the development, structure and functioning of human society as a whole. Ask yourself: Who is credited with making sociology a science? The founding father, Emile Durkheim, is credited with having made sociology a science. The explanation of why society functions in a certain way by focusing on the relationships between the various social institutions that make up society is called structural functionalism. Emile Durkheim developed his theory of structural functionalism by creating a series of theories; functionalism, division of labor and anomie. All these theories were based on facts, values ​​and social structures in which society is composed of interrelated parts. Durkheim has many contributions to sociology that influenced people's perspective on life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Emile Durkheim was born and raised in France to a Jewish family. Later in his life he decided to move to Paris where he sparked an interest in Catholicism, but chose to no longer pursue it. Emile wrote famous books such as Suicide and The Division of Labor in Society which discussed his experiments in religion, social pathologies, methodology and crime. Like most people, Durkheim's contributions, social facts and values ​​were driven by inspiration; That inspiration was the positivism and realism of Auguste Comte which caused Durkheim to realize that he must study religion from an agnostic point of view. In the book “Suicide,” Durkheim shares his beliefs about how what is seen as the most individual act is actually the result of the social world, not just the individual person. Furthermore, everything we do as individuals affects the entire world as a whole. So he decided to test this theory by comparing suicide rates between Catholics and Protestants. His result was that Catholics had lower suicide rates because social control was more stable there, while among Protestants suicide rates were higher due to less integration and structure. He theorized that suicide can be caused by three main scenarios; fatalistic, selfish, anomic and altruistic scenes. Whenever there are loose connections or lack of social ties with any social group, it is known as selfish suicide. For example, a high school kid sits at the lunch table alone and gets angry because he has no friends or is too attached to a group. When one commits suicide to benefit others or a community by giving primary consideration to individuals or group members, it is called altruistic suicide. For example, a hand grenade is thrown into a room full of soldiers and one soldier jumps on the grenade knowing he will die, but hopes the other soldiers will survive. Durkheim also believed that self-sacrifice was an example of altruism in war. Continuing, anomie is defined as a condition in which individuals are characterized by an absence or decrease in standards or values. Imagine the scenario of the Great Depression, when unemployment was skyrocketing and many people could no longer provide for their families. Therefore families were evicted from their homes and felt that life no longer had meaning for them, which led to suicide. Fatalistic suicide occurs when an individual is under great oppression and sees no possible way to improve his or her life. A perfect example would be being taken from your family and forced into slavery for the rest of your life. Please note: this is just an example. Get a personalized document now come on.