UNC Chapel Hill Sociology 101 Exam 2

Crime as normal (Emile Durkheim)

-All societies have some form of crime

-Crime is normal for a society

-Crime is an affront to the common consciousness

-Crime both reinforces and challenges the common consciousness (Helping change social norms)

-Crime is healthy for society as it helps the society (norms) to shift, progress.Lack of crime (deviance) stagnates the society and is therefore pathological

Michel Foucault & discipline

Networks of power and knowledge (power and knowledge are directly related). Discipline works best, not deterrence

Disciplinary Techniques

Modes of monitoring, examining, and regulating that are diffused throughout society. The "gaze" expands to the workplace and shapes behavior

Assimilation

The process of foregoing one's cultural traditions and replacing them with the behaviors and practices of the new dominant culture.

Jeremy Betham

Perfected a system that made monitoring, and therefore discipline, more efficient.

Social Integration

The level to which one is connected to the social group or community

Social Regulation

The number of rules guiding your daily life. What you can expect from the world on a day-to-day basis.

Primary Deviance

The first act of rule breaking that may incur a label of "deviant"

Institutional Discrimination

Discrimination in economic, educational, and political structures that hinder minority groups.

Discredited Stigma

A "mark" that is obvious and spoils one's identity.

Vertical Mobility

Movement up, or down, the social hierarchy system.

Functional Alternatives

Different/similar social patterns and policies that provide positive functions without dysfunctions.

Deterrence Theory

The notion that crime results from a rational calculation of costs and benefits

Prejudice

Thoughts and feelings about an ethnic or racial group

Positive uses (functions) of poverty

-Societies get rid of things that are not functional-Why does poverty exist? It is dysfunctional for many people (the poor)-It must perform some function for society. Gans lists 13 ways in which poverty performs some function.-Gans argues that we can have functional alternatives-Concludes that these are not embraced as they would affect the non-poor. Therefore, poverty is for the benefit of the non-poor.

Manifest functions

The overt or intended functions of an institution

Optional Ethnicities

For Whites OnlyWhite people can:-Select a specific ethnicity-Be "White" or American-Choose any European ancestry

White Privelege

The uncritical acceptance of white skin

Secondary Deviance

Subsequent acts of rule breaking that occur after primary deviance and can change people's expectations of the individual.

Cultural Capital

The cultural and social class resources that people inherit and learn to use to their advantage.

Discreditable stigma

A hidden "mark" that has the potential to spoil one's identity

Horizontal Mobility

Changing social status within the same class level

Formal Sanctions

Social control through rules or laws that prohibit deviant or criminal behavior

Meritocracy

Status and mobility based on individual attributes, ability, and achievement

Life Chances

(Max Weber) Opportunities that can increase one's social position are linked to the class into which you were born, geographic location, family ancestry, race, ethnicity, age, and gender

De facto segregation

A subtle process of segregation other than from official policy; (housing, employment, etc.)

Othering

Seeking to characterize a minority group as fundamentally different from the majority group. Establishing them as alien or a threat.

Discrimination

Harmful or negative acts against people deemed inferior on the basis of their racial category

Labeling Theory

individuals subconsciously notice how others see or label them. Over time these labels form the basis of their self identity.

White Denial

A lack of perception as to the existence of prejudice, discrimination, and racism in society.

Latent Functions

Covert or unintended functions of an institution

Social Control

Mechanisms that create normative compliance in individuals

Pluralism

The presence and engaged coexistence of numerous distinct groups in one society.

Racialization

Formation of new racial identity around a formerly unnoticed group of people.

Informal Sanctions

Social reactions to widely know and usually unspoken rules of social life

Scientific Racism

19th Century theories on race that coincide with a with for explanations and classifications of race

Stigma

A negative social label that not only changes our behavior toward a person but also alters their own social-identity.

Anomie

A sense of norm-lessness. Too little regulation.

Social Deviance

Any transgression of socially established norms

Ethnicity

Cultural values and norms that distinguish the members of a given group from another. Often voluntary, self-defined

Gunnar Myrdal

-Differences in how Black and White people prioritize issues of equality

-White people tend to focus on keeping social distances but little concern toward economic equality

-Black people value economic and legal equality but care little about social distance

Social Darwinism

The application of biological natural selection to explain social hierachy. Therefore, those at the top of society are the "fittest"

The Myth of Race

(Omi and Winant) Race is a social construction. It is fluid and ever changing.

Stratification

basically the system of social standing. Think about the "heirarchy" of low, middle, and upper classes

Functionalist view of stratification

Certain tasks are vital for society. Tasks that are vital need specialization and get paid more, nonvital tasks receive low rewards since they do not need specialization

Elite-mass dichotomy

(Mills) a system of government where a few people hold a large amount of power over everyone else

White collar crime

this is crime committed by businesses and government professionals. As a result of their more "proper" standing in society, their devience would be viewed less harshly

Chambliss Saints & Roughnecks

Social class/status imparts perception of deviant behavior. There will be different responses to the same acts of deviance depending on the social class. These different responses can have large impacts on life outcomes

Mommy vs. career track

Mommy track is when mother put more investment into raising children, lowering investment into their human capital, therefore earning less money. Career track is the opposite

Kenneth & Mamie Clark

Doll study. examined the effects of segregation on young children. Found that children (even those of color) choose the white doll as the "nice" one. Concluded that segregation internalizes sense of inferiority in minority children.

Panopticon

structure of prison allowing for very few guards to monitor a lot of prisoners. Eventually leds to prisoners guarding themselves

Civil vs. Criminal court

Civil court is about offenses to individuals or organizations (less severe consequences), criminal court deals with offenses that go against society (more severe consequences)

Vilfredo Pareto

Believed that human society followed natural laws. So, most social advancement (econ and political) comes from 20% of the population. Favored upper class

Race

A group of people who share a set of characteristics, typically, but not necessarily, physical

Strain theory

explains why some people turn to crime/deviance. Conformists, ritualists, Innovators, retreatists, rebels

Claims-makers

A person, usually an expert or someone with ethos, that claims a social condition should be considered a problem and must be addressed.

Symbolic ethnicity

take on ethnicity without the risks or stigmas behind it

Conformists

Strain Theory: Accept goals/values and means/norms of society

Ritualists

Strain Theory: Reject goals/values, accept means/norms of society

Innovators

Strain Theory: Accept goals/values, reject means/norms of society

Retreatists

Strain Theory: Reject goals/values and means/norms of society

Rebels

Strain Theory: reject goals/values and means/norms of society. They want to change the goals!

Functional view on race

the perspective that racial inequality is necessary for social stability and integration.

Culture of poverty

A concept that explains the cycle of poverty as a cultural adaptation that results from the conditions of living in poverty, perpetuating a set of values and behaviors that contribute to ongoing economic disadvantage.

Injunction

a judicial order prohibiting or compelling specific actions, often used to address social and economic issues.

The underclass

a social group that is situated at the bottom of the socioeconomic hierarchy, often characterized by chronic poverty, unemployment, and social isolation.

Collective consciousness

the shared beliefs, ideas, and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying force within society.

Social learning theory

A theory that emphasizes learning behaviors through observation and imitation of others, particularly in social contexts.

Systemic racism

a form of racism deeply embedded in the policies and practices of social and political institutions, leading to unequal access to resources and opportunities based on race.

Ethnocentrism

the tendency to evaluate other cultures based on the standards of one's own culture, often resulting in a belief in the superiority of one's own culture.

Conflict view of stratification

argues that social inequality is a result of a power struggle between groups, where the powerful elite maintain their dominance by exploiting less powerful groups for their own benefit

Conflict view on race

sees racial and ethnic inequality as a result of power struggles between dominant and marginalized groups for resources and status