Sociology: Deviance, Economic Inequality, Institutional Racism, and Gendered Oppression

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering foundational concepts in sociology, theories of deviance, economic inequality, institutional racism, and gendered oppression.

Conflict Theory

Karl Marx theory, society is held together by competition between groups for resources: the bourgeoisie (the "haves") and the proletariat (the "have nots").

Bureaucracy

Organization with formal policies, strict hierarchies, and impersonal relations (think office job).

Comparative Sociology

Comparison.

Ideology

Shared ideas about how human life should be organized.

Modern Thought

Growth of complex societies, driven primarily by commerce and communication.

Premodern Thought

Based on supernatural authority (religion).

Social Institution

Widespread and enduring patterns of socialization: we refer to them via an idea and a related set of "rules" about it.

Social Organization

Formal entity that coordinates collections of people with a shared purpose.

Social Structure

The series of connected social institutions in which we live (college, city, America, etc.).

Spatial Analysis

Unobtrusive method of mapping out/visualizing what some form of data looks like within a geographic range (ex: age range of people who voted for a particular candidate within Ohio).

Structural Functionalism

The structures of society are like organs in a body, society seeks out structure and stasis.

Survey

Very common form of study, asking questions (anonymously or not).

Symbolic Interactionism

People build a shared reality via shared meanings (ex: being left on read is rude).

Absolutist Perspectives

Deviance is either inherently good/right or bad/wrong.

Anomie

Alienation.

Collective Conscience

Society’s shared idea of something right/wrong (ex: cheating is usually seen as a cultural wrong).

Deviance

Some form of deviation from a "norm" set up by society.

Differential Association Theory

Idea that we need to be "recruited" into criminal/deviant behavior by people close to us; we are taught skills to encourage deviance.

Labeling Theory

Process of singling out someone as deviant with social consequences.

Neutralization Theory

Deviance is facilitated or enabled by cultural rationales for rule breaking.

Primary Deviance

The initial act of deviance that may not immediately have an impact on one’s social identity (ex: teenager trying cigarettes).

Relativist Perspectives

No act is inherently right or wrong because deviance is a social construct.

Secondary Deviance

When an individual repeatedly commits acts of deviance frequently, often leads to unwanted labels (ex: teenager who is a smoker gets called an addict).

Social Disorganization Theory

The idea that criminal deviance is more common in dysfunctional neighborhoods.

Strain Theory

Idea that deviance is caused by tension between widely agreed upon goals and the actual tangible ability to attain them.

Absolute Poverty

Minimal requirements a human needs to survive ("poverty line").

Capitalism

Economic system of private ownership.

Cultural Capital

Acquired social norms/knowledge and what we understand about them, basically what being "cultured" refers to.

Economic Capital

The power associated with one’s economic status.

Economic Elite

Those who have the most wealth economically, often CEOs and high-ranking business people of the sort.

Glass Ceiling

The "invisible barrier" in society that women must go through in order to land a high-ranked job.

Income

Source of money and how you get paid.

Near Poor/Precariat

Social class formed by people existing without predictability or security.

Relative Property

Economic position relative to majority living standards in a society.

Social Capital

Social ties and the power that comes from them.

Social Class

Group of people within the same wealth level.

Social Mobility

Movement up or down the social hierarchy, usually measured by changes in income or education.

Socioeconomic Status

The level of prestige that comes with one’s social class.

Stratification

Ranking of groups in some fashion (can be ranked based on class, gender, race, etc.).

Wage Gap

Immediate income.

Wealth

Amount of money one accumulates.

Wealth Gap

Wages AND already accumulated money, the ruling top $1\%$ has $\sim 90\%$ of the wealth.

Achievement Gap

Disparities in educational outcomes defined by race/class/gender/ethnicity groups (appear in standardized test scores, graduation rates, college enrollment, etc.).

Cross-Institutional Advantage

When a person is positively served in more than one social institution (education, workplace, etc.).

Cross-Institutional Disadvantage

Negative treatments across several institutions (complete inverse of cross-institutional advantages).

Cumulative Advantage

When the most societally advantaged people are awarded with the best opportunities, increasing inequality over time.

Cumulative Disadvantage

Negative effects of inequality in wealth, status, and opportunity over one’s life.

Environmental Racism

Ways in which minority neighborhoods are burdened with hazardous surroundings such as landfills or, more recently, data centers.

Institutional Racism

When society as a whole commits acts of racism, usually in subtextual ways (does not necessarily mean everyone who participates is racist).

Intergenerational Advantage

Positive impact of parental socioeconomic status on a child, usually with more access to resources like good healthcare.

Intergenerational Disadvantage

Negative impact of parental socioeconomic status on a child, such as less access to education and poverty.

Mass Deportation

Detaining of great amounts of people (sometimes to foreign countries), regardless of innocence or even if the people are from that country.

Redlining

Residential segregation, the way cities have "projects" or lower-income areas often seen as more dangerous (ex: Pittsburgh has the Hill District).

Resource Desert

District, county, or even neighborhood with lack of resources like access to medical care or fresh produce.

School-to-Prison Pipeline

Policies and practices that push students (particularly at-risk youth) out of school and into the criminal justice system.

Androcentric Pay Scale

Higher-paying jobs are more traditionally dominated by men.

Breadwinner/Homemaker Marriage

The man is traditionally expected to be the breadwinner and get a well-paying job, and the woman is expected to stay home and take care of the $2.5$ children.

Freedom/Power Paradox

The tension between autonomy and the social structures or power relations that restrict said autonomy.

Patriarch/Property Marriage

Model of marriage in which every aspect (women, children, and property) are owned by the man.

Second Shift

The woman’s double burden of working outside the home and within it taking care of family.

Sexism

Production of unjust outcomes for people biologically perceived to be female.

Shared Division of Labor

Systematically dividing responsibilities and tasks within a specific group or organization, like how everyone on a construction site has a different job.

Specialized Division of Labor

Dividing more difficult jobs into smaller, easier-to-handle tasks to maximize efficiency.

Stalled Revolution

Argument that although women entered the workforce, men did not increase their home maintenance at a comparable rate, causing the slowing down of gender equality.

Comparative Sociology

Comparison of social processes across different aspects of society