Exam 1 MIDTERM Sociology Daniels Bethel University

Suicide as a sociological phenomenon

Durkheim's theory: suicide rates are explained by the degree of connectedness within groups.

Rates: allow you to compare the likelihood of an event across places that have different number of people.

Sociology

the scientific study of the individual in culture and society

Solidarity

unity. The degree of connectedness within groups.

Modernity

changes brought about by the industrial revolution

Historical background for sociology as a new science (19th c.)

Began in Europe due to dramatic social change with the rise of modern society.

Society

the organized interaction of people who typically live in a nation or some other specific territory.

Modern society

From the 1900s to 1970. Valued objectivity, rationality, individualism, urbanization, and secularization.

Psychology vs. Sociology

study of individuals vs individuals in society

Postmodern society

Present time period in US: Subjective values, emphasizes power, has a loss of metanarrative, and post-industrial.

Romans 12:2

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Durkheim

Suicide rates are explained by the degree of connectedness within groups

Merton's Theory and perspective

Deviance: how people adapt in certain ways by conforming to or by deviating from cultural expectations

Functionalism.

Marx's perspective

Conflict

Weber's perspective

Conflict

George Mead's perspective

Interactionism

Cooley's perspective

Interactionism

Goffman's perspective

Interactionism

Baudrillard's perspective

Interactionism

Manifest functions

The intended function of something that was specifically designed to be beneficial and effective in society

latent functions

A beneficial function in society that was not consciously intended

Three key doctrines to evaluate sociological theory

Creation, Fall, redemption

Creation

Identity, Structure, purpose

Fall

God, self, others, environment

Micro-level sociology

the study of specific relationships between individuals or small groups

macro-level sociology

An approach to the study of society that focuses on the major structures and institutions of society.

Social construction of reality

The process by which our perception of reality is shaped by the meaning we give to our experience.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Your thoughts are shaped and limited by your language (which comes from your culture)

Civil inattention

The ways in which someone demonstrates that he or she is aware of others without making others the object of his/her attention.

Dramaturgy (Goffman)

Daily interactions are similar to theater productions

Variable

any characteristic that can change or differ (gender, hair color, suicide rates)

Independent Variable (IV)

the presumed CAUSE of a relationship

Dependent Variable (DV)

the presumed EFFECT in a relationship

Association

a way of describing a relationship between two or more variables (includes correlations) must be a difference of 5% or more for there to be a REAL difference

How to read & interpret a table

IV is across

DV is down

(read across before reading down)

spurious association

an association for which two variables have NO direct CAUSAL relationship

Hypothesis

a testable prediction about a relationship between variables

Three components of culture

1. Artifacts

2. ideas and values

3. behavior patterns of units

Cultural mandate

Genesis 1:28: "Be fruitful and multiply"

Culture

The shared way of life of a society

Cultural Lag

the tendency for one component of culture to change faster than another component

Subculture

a culture within a dominant culture

counter-culture

a subculture whose members consciously, and, often proudly, reject the dominant culture

cultural relativism

suspending values about any cultural pattern since it is "relative to a particular time, place and circumstances" in that culture

Ethnocentrism

The tendency to view one's own cultural patterns as good and right, and to judge others by those standards

Cultural universals

Cultural patterns that are found in different cultures

Margaret Mead

A non-Christian Relativist; Wrote the book "Coming of Age in Samoa" and took the nurture position. Claimed that American's are too restrictive when studying Samoan culture

Cultural Determinism

The culture wholly determines the behavior of the persons socialized in that society

The coming of Age in Samoa

Mead's book that claimed Samoans believed in sexual freedom and rape was unknown. So, it concluded that America was too restrictive.

Derek Freeman

Claimed Mead was mistaken and that she lacked transcendence (the idea that there is something beyond our flesh and bones)

Psalm 1:1

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,

Social group

two or more persons who maintain a stable pattern of relations over a period of time

Aggregate

a mere collection of people, usually coming together only briefly and accidentally

Category

people who share a particular trait

Social Status

A relatively stable position for an individual in a social structure (husband, brother, Christian)

social status vs. prestige role

Prestige is A reputation or esteem for a status that you have

Role

the behavior consistent with a status

master status

What society recognizes as "your most important status"

role conflict

when an individual has 2 or more roles, then conflicting demands may arise

role strain

when one role requires conflicting actions (ex. academics and athletics)

ascribed status

status that is given to the person, independent of the individual's effort

achieved status

status attained through effort

reference group

A social unit used to shape your attitudes and behavior (the one which you identify with). You do not have to be a member to identify with the group

primary group

- relatively intense relationship

- frequent interaction

- long-lasting relationship

- small size

- sense of "loss" if group dissolves

secondary group

- less intense

- less frequent

- non-enduring

- larger size and more formal

- less cohesive

Social Structure

the patterned relationships within and between units in society

family kinship diagram

know how they all relate to each other by generations

"Quiet Rage" (Stanford Prison study)

Stanford Prison Study documentary where they put students in different roles as either guards or inmates.

McDonaldization

the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest of the world

four elements of mcDonaldization

1. calculability

2. efficiency

3. predictability

4. technology

Socialization

The lifelong process of learning the way of life (culture) of your society.

Genie; wild child

The "wild child" who was found after being neglected and was used to see the nature vs nurture factors that influence an individual's life

Anticipatory socialization

An experience you submerse yourself in with the hope or expectation to use something you learned in the future.

resocialization

Replacing one way of life (culture) with another way of life

Nature (including Biological Determinism)

Claims that all or most behaviors and characteristics are the results of inheritance

Nurture (including Cultural Determinism)

Claims that all or most behaviors and characteristics are the result of the way that someone is influenced by others

common "agents of socialization"

family is primary, schools, apprenticeship, preaching, discipleship, politics, peer groups, social media.

primary socialization

Your earliest and most important socialization. This is your first experience in a certain social situation (parents)

Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Impress these ideas on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates

Functionalist perspective

- purpose; order.

- ex. sports or school and working in a group

- macro

Conflict Perspective

- all about power

- social conflict and change

- ex. the division of who plays certain sports

- macro

Interactionist perspective

- meanings which people create and value and are shared

- ex. play the game right, or you're out.

- micro