New born babies have to be taught how to live in society. We will look at how children acquire their identity and the processes involved in teaching children acceptable behaviour. A detailed investigation is made into feral children (children brought up in the wild by animals or neglected). We will also study the nature-nurture debate, considering whether these behaviours are a result of upbringing or natural differences, and whether there are different patterns of upbringing for boys and girls.

Students will look at different types of families in Britain, changes in the family such as the increasing rate of divorce, changing roles of men and women, growth of new types of family, functions of the family and family types in other countries. We will also look at how major 53 sociological theories such as Marxism and feminism explain the role of the family.

Students will look at how processes within schools may affect achievements such as labelling and the hidden curriculum. We will consider patterns of achievement according to gender, class, and ethnicity, and how sociological theories explain these patterns such as Marxism, functionalism and feminism.

There is still great inequality between people in Great Britain. This could be inequality between men and women, between social classes, ethnic groups or age groups. In this module, students look at how these inequalities arose, the extent of the inequalities and different life patterns. For example, gender inequality would involve a study of differences between males and females in the school, the workplace, the home and the way men and women are presented in the media; an examination of changes in gender roles such as the ‘new man’ and the ‘career woman’; the laws which have been passed to bring about equal rights and how effective these laws have been.

Students undertake a detailed investigation of various aspects of crime. We look at crime rates for different groups; the reliability of criminal statistics; the causes of crime; youth crime; theories of crime and punishment; how the media present deviant groups etc.

Sociology is an evidence based subject. Research methods used by sociologists to examine and research society are taught in year 10 and year 11. Students learn the strengths and weaknesses of the main research methods and which are most appropriate for different topics. For example, we consider how deviant groups such as criminals could be researched. Would observation or questionnaires be most appropriate and what issues might arise with each method? As students’ progress they will be required to design their own research and become familiar with all of the stages of research design and the interpretation of data.