Intro to Sociology Exam Review

I and me

I is the subject and me is the object

I acts and me is acted upon

Theory of Mind

We learn that we have a mind and others have a mind(self-awareness)

False Belief Test

Development of the theory of mind, others have different info than you

Meads Theory of role-taking

Interaction teaches us to put ourselves in others’ shoes

How would someone else act in this situation?

Cooley’s “looking glass self” (predecessor of meads)

Self arises out of our interactions with others

We integrate peoples reactions into our sense of self

-floral shirt

3 Stages of role taking (Mead)

1. Imitation - copying

2. Play - together

3. Personal

Generalized Others (Meads theory of role taking)

Abstract representation of types of people you interact with and even society as a whole

Self as narrative 

The self we create (the story we tell about ourselves) varies depending on social settings 

In-depth interview (research methods) 

One-on-one interactions between researcher and research subject

Open ended questions lead to conversation that relate to the research question

Interviews are transcribed and coded

Lab experiments

Advantage: can draw casual conclusions

Disadvantage: a lab isn’t the social world

Culture

What groups of people think and do

Similarities - values/belief systems, language

Aspects of Culture

Objects, Cognitions, Processes

Social construction / social constructs

“Process by which we layer objects with ideas, fold concepts into one another, and build connections between them”

Created and maintained by society

Socialization

-awareness of ourselves as part of a culture

-learn how to behave within a particular culture

-how we adapt to our social surroundings

Agents of socialization

Any institution / part of society that contributes to the socialization of an individual

ex) religion, workplace, family, mass media, education, peers

Values (cultural ethics)

what a culture thinks (cognitions)

Values are fluid and contextual

Norms (cultural processes)

what a culture does

expectations/standards of behavior in cultural context

culturally specific and dynamic

Primary socialization

initial socialization into culture “how to be a person”

Secondary socialization (resocialization)

socialization into a new social position - learning a new set of values and norms

Anticipatory socialization

trying on or preparing for a role that is upcoming, not necessarily going to take on that role/status 

Subcultures

special interest culture within the main culture

values/norms generally aligned with dominant culture, just more focused

Countercultures

special interest cultures that stand in opposition to the main culture

values/norms do not align with those of the dominant culture

Ethnocentrism

“my cultures way of doing things is best”

Cultural relativism

understanding a culture by its own standards, not judging it by ones own culture

“you do you”

self vs identity

Self: our sense of who we are in the world 

Identity: socially constructed categories 

Distinction

Process of creating and maintaining categories, and putting people in them

In-groups

ones we are a part of

Out-groups

ones we are not a part of

In-group bias

we like members of our group and dislike people of other groups

Social identity theory

group membership is incorporated into our sense of who we are (our self)

How are identities constructed?

1. invent

2. divide

3. stereotype

4. perform

5. rank

Invent

Establish a human feature as a basis of identity

ex) sexuality

Divide people

Deciding what will differentiate people within identity subcategories

ability and disability

Sterotyping

Generalized ideas applied to people of certain identities

Perform

Identities are performed in the social world 

How we act (perform) is influenced by and reinforces stereotypes

Rank

Society values some subcategories more than others—> people in the “good” categories and seen as “better”

Intersectionality

how various social and political identities, such as race, class, gender, and sexuality, combine to create unique experiences of discrimination and privilege

Status

cultures ideas about which identities are more or less prestigious 

Hierarchies

reflect a cultures values (cognitions) and processes (norms)

formal norms

codified, written down

ex) policies, laws when enforced

informal norms

looser, less binding, more contextual 

Folkways

loosest, most like traditions, we always have done it that way

Mores

moral, often grounded in religious belief

Taboos

nearly universally prohibited

Positive sanctions

encourage behavior

Negative sanctions

discourage behavior

Symbolic Interactionism 

example of sociological paradigm

interaction depends on social construction of reality

meanings are created during interactions

Herbert Blumer

3 key aspects of interaction:

1. we respond to our interpretation of reality

2. reality has no meaning until people interact

3. meaning arises out of interaction

Erving Goffman

Dramaturgical theory

Presentation of self

we are all engaged in impress management

acting in ways that are consistent with the self we want to project

Expressions given

what we mean to say or do

Expressions given off

what we communicate subconsciously

Self as theater

personal front - resources we have for our performance of self

setting - stage/scene

appearance - costume

manner - acting

dramatic realization

emphasis of aspects of our selves that we think are situationally important 

Field experiments

experiments that take place in the real world

less predictability than in a lab

ex) mocked job applications (racial/ethnic changes) —> white applicants more likely to get interviews 

Marked vs unmarked 

more prestigious identities tend to be unmarked, they are normative compared to other identities

Prejudice

overgeneralized, usually negative attitudes towards people in a certain category

Interpersonal discrimination

Behaviors directed at people of particular identities that arise from prejudice against those identities

Discrimination requires power

Garfinkel and Ethnomethods 

ground rules norms

“follow the rules”

more fundamental than other types of norms 

Breaching experiments

expose ethnomethods by violating them ex) facing wrong way in an elevator

Deviance

anything non-normative

violation of norms

contextual and socially constructed

Primary forms of deviance 

Social - violation of norms

criminal - violation of laws

Strain theory (Robert Merton)

People deviate because they lack legitimate means to achieve goals 

ex) money, job, academic success 

5 responses to strain

1. conformity

2. ritualism

3. innovation

4. retreatism

5. rebellion

conformity

keep practicing in hopes that the impossible happens

ritualism

give up on goal but do the other thing anyway

innovation

accept norms, find a deviant way to achieve goals

retreatism

reject norms and goals

rebellion

try to change to goals

Labeling theory

assigning deviant identity to an individual

Primary deviance

initial deviance, not integrated into identity

Secondary deviance

Deviance prompted by being labeled

Differential association theory (Edwin Sutherland)

the people we associate with influence our behavior

we can be recruited into deviant behavior by people in networks 

Social disorganization theory (William Julius Wilson)

Crime happens in weak communities (lacking in social control and socialization)

social and physical environment leads to crime