UDEL Perez SOCI 201 Exam 1

Anthony Giddens

Sociology is the study of human social life, groups, and societies and its subject is our own behavior as social beings

Structuration Theory

Idea that suggests the social world is generated through the agency of active participants

Emile Durkheim

- considered the father of sociology and a major proponent of functionalism

- was the pioneer of modern social research

- established the field of sociology as separate and distinct from psychology and political philosophy

Social Facts (Durkheim)

Established manners of acting, thinking, and feeling that come to the individual from society through socialization (values, beliefs, laws, etc.)

Individual Identity

the group of characteristics and values people use to define themselves as individuals

Ascribed social statuses

namely, the categories into which one is born

- gender

- eye color

- race

- ethnicity, etc.

Non-binary

gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine

There has been an _____________ in same-sex marriages across both races

increase

- great within whites

- most supportive: white, woman, higher education

In 1909...

we saw the first gap in gender support fro same sex marriages

Galla Pole Data

Shows that there is an increase in recognition for same sex marriages

Peter Berger

American Sociologist who defined the sociological perspective as the ability to view the world from two distinct yet complementary perspectives: seeing the general in the particular and seeing the strange in the familiar.

General in the particular

general patterns in the behavior of particular groups of people

- example: seeing the general patterns is sociopaths

Strange in the familiar

work to avoid the familiar idea that human behavior is simply a matter of what people decide to do

- you may know a certain behavior is common, but why does it occur?

Peter Berger Suicide Data

C. Wright Mills

coined the term "sociological imagination" in 1959

- believed that knowledge was the crucial element to social change

- felt society needed to change and change would come through those who had knowledge and used it properly.

sociological imagination

Ability to see the connection between the larger world and our personal lives

- example: how student loan debt is not only a personal issue but also a social problem

- public issues and private troubles

Student Loan Debt

Varies across racial groups:

77.7% of AA students take out loans compared to 60% white

AA and Hispanics are twice as likely to take out loans

50% of AA default on loans

Child Birth and Marriage

Marriage rates and child birth have declined

- marriage due to economics and work

- people are having less children

Sociogenetic

contributing to or affecting the course of social development

What is the direct link between you and society?

SOCIAL STATUS

Why are student loans a public issue, and not a private trouble? Who is to "blame" for this, in general? How do you think Mills would respond to student loans as a public issue?

Individuals and society are inseparable, yet society is greater than the individuals that make it up

Recognize Interdependence

we need to recognize the social system in which interdependence occurs recognize that individual actions impact others

Society

the aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community

social institutions

patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs

- examples: government, families, businesses, language

How can we understand society as made up of "social facts?"

They are patterns in social structures

Why are student loans a public issue, and not a private trouble?

student loans are a public issue because the debt is a trillion dollar problem and people cannot afford to pay them back

Who is to "blame" for this, in general?

Social Institutions are making college a requirement, yet making the cost of attendance more expensive

How do you think Mills would respond to student loans as a public issue?

A widespread increase of loan debt in the last 30 years, prices are inflating more students need loans to attend than ever before

Why does student loan debt illustrate the fundamental importance of wealth generation over time?

They are becoming income based - therefore those who can afford to pay them off sooner will and those who cannot accrue more interest and have the burden of debt much longer

environmental racism

The placement of low-income or minority communities in the proximity of environmentally hazardous or degraded environments, such as toxic waste, pollution and urban decay.

environmental racism example

impoverished communities are more likely to be located near factories. If you live in one zip code, another zip code a few miles away may have a higher life expectancy.

geo-spatial analysis

is the gathering, display, and manipulation of imagery, GPS, satellite photography and historical data, described explicitly in terms of geographic coordinates or implicitly, in terms of a street address, postal code, or forest stand identifier as they are applied to geographic models.

Why is it important to think about how "social facts are located?"

patterns in social structures - therefore if social facts suggest that people in one area are more likely to have a shorter life expectancy than others in certain racial groups because of poverty