Chapter 1: Socialization and Social Identity

Flashcards covering key sociology vocabulary from Chapter 1: Socialization and Social Identity.

Positivism (Auguste Comte)

The view that it is possible to study human behavior in the same way that natural scientists study the natural world.

Interpretivism (George Herbert Mead)

The view that behavior can only be understood subjectively and in the context of social situations that give them meaning.

Society

A group of related and unrelated people who live together in a more or less ordered community sharing values, norms, and roles.

Sociology

The study of human society.

Modern industrial society (modernity)

Type of society characterized by industrialization, urbanization, slow social change, fixed social rules, centered identities, and faith based society.

Post-modern society (post-modernity)

Type of society characterized by globalization, mass media, rapid social change, individual FREEDOMS, de-centered identities, secularization, consumerism, and cultural diversity & hybridity.

Globalization

The growing interdependence of the world's economies, cultures, politics, and populations.

Postmodernism

The view that behavior is shaped by changing rules moving from modern industrial society to postmodern society, where the social rules (norms and values) that control behavior no longer exist.

Customs

Established and accepted cultural practices and behaviors.

Culture

The way of life of a particular group of people, taught and learnt through socialization.

Socialization

The process through which people learn the various forms of behavior that go with membership of a particular culture (things that are not acquired 'naturally').

Social construction

The idea that our perception of what is real is created through a variety of historical and cultural processes, rather than something that is fixed and naturally occurring (e.g. male and female identities).

Roles

Expected patterns of behavior associated with each status we hold, such as friend, student, or teacher.

Norms

Rules or expectations that define how people should behave (e.g., school norms like being respectful, listening in class, and following directions).

Values

Beliefs or ideas that are important to the people who hold them (e.g. honesty, integrity, justice, fairness).

Value consensus

General agreement across a society on a set of values (e.g. freedom, justice, respect, responsibility).

Anomie

A situation in which people are unable to predict the behavior of others because the system of norms and values is not being followed.

Nature VS nurture debate

The debate over whether human behavior can be explained through genetics or socialization.

Feral children

Children who have lived isolated from human contact from a very young age and so has had little or no experience of human care, human behavior, or human language.

Social self (George Herbert Mead)

Self created through social interaction; context conditions how people behave. Consists of 'I' (un-socialized self) and 'Me' (socialized self developed through socialization).

Dramaturgy (Erving Goffman)

The perspective that we adopt a sense of identity in which we 'perform' to others to 'manage' the impression they have of us.

Looking glass self (Charles Cooley)

The concept that our sense of self develops from how we are seen by others and their reaction (reflection).

Sociobiology

An alternative to socialization claiming human behavior is NOT genetic, but influenced by biological programming (biogrammars) where humans are predisposed to behave in a particular way.

Evolutionary psychology

The perspective that social behaviors that are evolutionarily successful are selected (natural selection) and represent adaptations to problems common to all societies.

Neuropsychology

Focuses on the functions of the brain and how it influences behavior, usually by comparing 'normal' and 'abnormal' behavioral differences.

Social psychology

Places greater emphasis on how environmental factors (family and work relationships) affect the development of genetic or psychological predispositions.

Family

A social institution compromising a group of people linked by kinship ties.

Peers

People of similar status and usually age with whom a person has frequent contact.

Agencies of socialization

The social institutions and groups which influence behavior through social controls and sanctions.

Primary agencies of socialization

Family and peers.

Secondary agencies of socialization

Media, school, and religion.

Social controls

Methods used by a society to ensure people conform to its norms; categorized into formal controls (written rules) and informal controls (unwritten rules).

Sanctions

Ways of rewarding acceptable behavior and/or punishing unacceptable behavior; includes formal sanctions (fines, jail, detention) and informal sanctions (facial expressions, gestures).

Beliefs

Deep rooted ideas held to be true (e.g. religious beliefs).

Ideology

Collection of ideas or beliefs shared by a group of people.

Dominant ideology

A set of ideas which is most widely accepted in a society, usually imposed by a powerful group.

Capitalism

Economic system based on the private ownership of property and the pursuit of profit.

Consumerism

Repeated experience of wealthy lifestyles and desirable consumer goods that suggests that 'happiness' is something that can be bought.

Determinism

Belief that behavior is shaped by forces beyond the immediate control of individuals.

Structuralist theory (macrosociology)

Theory that behavior is shaped by institutional relationships (family, education, economy, culture/religion, government). Subdivided into consensus structuralism and conflict structuralism.

Functionalist theory

A consensus structuralist theory stating behavior is shaped by the family and society is held together by a set of norms and values that everyone needs to live by.

Marxist theory

A conflict structuralist theory stating behavior is shaped by the economy and society is in conflict due to inequality between classes in which the working class is exploited by the ruling class.

Social class

The division of society into socio-economic groups with different levels of power and wealth.

Ruling class ideology

The prevailing ideas of a particular society that are formed by the ruling class to express and justify their position and functions to validate the status quo.

Relations of production

The social relationships into which people must enter in order to survive, such as owners, managers, and wage workers that are organized in order, one group above another.

Forces of production

The labor that members of small wealthy class use to become very rich by keeping the profits.

Means of production

The tools, factories, and technology that are owned by a small wealthy class.

Patriarchy

Male dominated society.

Feminist theory

Theory that behavior is shaped by inequality between the sexes; the belief in full social, economic, and political equality for women.

Liberal feminism

Feminist perspective that women are exploited through sexual discrimination and seeks to bring about equal opportunities without changing the system.

Marxist feminism

Feminist perspective that women are exploited through both capitalism and the patriarchy.

Radical feminism

Feminist perspective that women are exploited by male dominated society and seeks to eliminate male supremacy by dismantling the patriarchy.

Black feminism

Feminist perspective asserting that black women face issues of a particular concern that cannot be solely attributed to gender discrimination.

Agency (free will)

Belief that people have some control over their lives and can make choices and decisions.

Interactionist theory (microsociology)

Theory that behavior is shaped by individuals through their daily routines and actions in which they attach meaning based on context.

Symbolic interactionism (George Herbert Mead)

Interactionist perspective stating behavior is shaped by the subjective meanings people impose on objects, events, and behaviors.

Ethnomethodology (Harold Garfinkel)

Interactionist perspective stating behavior is shaped by expectations of how to act on a day-to-day basis, which only become apparent when violated.

Phenomenology

Interactionist perspective stating behavior is shaped through meaning that is negotiated and interpreted through social interaction.

Over-socialized conception of man

Criticism of the claim that human beings are simply the product of their socialization and that behavior can be understood as merely a response to external stimulation.

Structuration

Theory that structure (underlying forces) and action (free will) are equally significant in understanding behavior.

Conformity

When an individual's behavior matches what is expected of them by a group or within a specific social setting.

Force (coercion)

Using intimidation and threats to persuade someone to do something they do not want to do.

Power

The ability to make others do what you want, even against their will.

Surveillance

When people or places are watched over carefully as a way to control behavior.

Deviance

Behavior that breaks the norms or values of a group BUT is not necessarily negative or dangerous behavior.

Non-conformity

When a person acts in ways that go against the norms and values of the wider society and their choices CAN lead to conflict (negative/dangerous).

Subculture

A culture within a larger culture that can take many forms that may develop their own norms and values (e.g. gangs, religious groups, fandoms).

Cultural deprivation

Not having the values, norms, knowledge and skills which are likely to bring success in society and cause deviant behavior due to incomplete or inadequate socialization.

Under-socialization

When the values of the family are not in agreement with the wider society and an individual is socialized in an environment where some forms of deviance are approved of or tolerated.

Marginalization

The pushing of an individual or group to the edge of group or society and denying them an active voice or identity.

Social problem

A condition or behavior that has negative consequences for large numbers of people and is generally recognized as something that needs to be addressed.

Social policy

Plan or action of government or institutional agencies which aim to improve society.

Resistance

The ways in which people combat and contest the dominant power in a society.

Neo-Marxism

More recent form of Marxism that gives greater importance to cultural factors in explaining human behavior than traditional Marxism.

Social identity

Group identities applied to important roles as defined within a culture (e.g. gender, ethnicity, age, social class).

Age cohort

Group of people who move together from one age to the next experiencing the same significant events.

Secularization

The process of becoming less religious.

Hegemonic masculinity

Traditional masculinity emphasizing physical strength, suppressing emotions, and dominance over women.

Complicit masculinity

Masculinity that does not actively suppress women but benefits in general from the social dominance of men.

Subordinate masculinity

Masculinity that acts in opposition to traditional masculinity (e.g. being emotional, effeminate, or homosexual).

Subversive masculinity

Masculinity that challenges & undermines traditional masculinity and views women as equals.

Marginalized masculinity

Masculinity that is 'pushed to the margin' of family life due to being unable to conform (e.g. disabled, unemployed).

Contingent femininities

Femininities framed and shaped by male beliefs/behaviors, including normalized and sexualized femininity.

Normalized femininity

Contingent femininity playing a secondary role to men (e.g. mother, wife).

Sexualized femininity

Contingent femininity framed by male desires & fantasies (e.g. sexual objects).

Assertive femininities

Femininities that reflect the changing position of women in many societies, including 'girl power', modernized, and ageing identities.

'Girl power' identity

Assertive femininity centered on 'sex as fun' and placing emphasis on female friends in younger females.

Modernized identity

Assertive femininity characterized by economic power within traditional gender roles in an older age group.

Ageing identity

Assertive femininity asserting the right of older women to be active, sexual beings.

Autonomous femininity

Femininities involving competition with men on female terms (highly educated, successful, professional, career-focused).