Exam 2 - SOCL 2001 Zara Houser LSU

Group

A collection of two or more people who share some attribute, identify with one another, and interact with each other.

Crowd

A temporary gathering of people in a public place; members might interact but do not identify with each other and will not remain in contact.

Aggregates

Collections of people who share a physical location but do not have lasting social relations.

Category

People who share one or more attributes but who lack a sense of common identity or belonging.

Primary groups

Groups composed of the people who are most important to our sense of self; members' relationships are typically characterized by face-to-face interaction, high levels of cooperation, and intense feelings of belonging.

Secondary groups

Groups that are larger and less intimate than primary groups; members' relationships are usually organized around a specific goal and are often temporary.

Social network

The web of direct and indirect ties connecting an individual to other people who may also affect the individual.

Social ties

Connections between individuals.

Anomie

"Normlessness"; term used to describe the alienation and loss of purpose that result from weaker social bonds and an increased pace of change.

Virtual communities

Social groups whose interactions are mediated through information technologies, particularly the internet.

Group dynamics

The patterns of interaction between groups and individuals.

Dyad

A two-person social group.

Triad

A three-person social group.

In-group

A group that one identifies with and feels loyalty toward.

Out-group

A group toward which an individual feels opposition, rivalry, or hostility.

Rite of passage

A ceremony marking an individual's transformation from one type of group member to another.

Reference group

A group that provides a standard of comparison against which we evaluate ourselves.

Group cohesion

The sense of solidarity or loyalty that individuals feel toward a group to which they belong.

Groupthink

In very cohesive groups, the tendency to enforce a high degree of conformity among members, creating a demand for unanimous agreement.

Social influence

Group impact on others' decisions.

Social loafing

The phenomenon in which each individual contributes a little less as more individuals are added to a task; a source of inefficiency when working in teams.

Social identity theory

A theory of group formation and maintenance that stresses the need of individual members to feel a sense of belonging.

Power

The ability to control the actions of others.

Coercive power

Power that is backed by the threat of force.

Influential power

Power that is supported by persuasion.

Authority

The legitimate right to wield power.

Traditional authority

Authority based in custom, birthright, or divine right.

Legal-rational authority

Authority based in laws, rules, and procedures, not in the heredity or personality of any individual leader.

Charismatic authority

Authority based in the perception of remarkable personal qualities in a leader.

Instrumental leadership

Leadership that is task or goal oriented.

Expressive leadership

Leadership concerned with maintaining emotional and relational harmony within the group.

Bureaucracy

A type of secondary group designed to perform tasks efficiently, characterized by specialization, technical competence, hierarchy, written rules, impersonality, and formal written communication.

Rationalization

The application of economic logic to human activity; the use of formal rules and regulations in order to maximize efficiency without consideration of subjective or individual concerns.

McDonaldization

George Ritzer's term describing the spread of bureaucratic rationalization and the accompanying increases in efficiency and dehumanization.

Deviance

A behavior, trait, belief, or other characteristic that violates a norm and causes a negative reaction.

Social control

The formal and informal mechanisms used to elicit conformity to values and norms and thus promote social cohesion.

Social control theory

A theory of crime, proposed by Travis Hirschi, that posits that strong social bonds increase conformity and decrease deviance.

Structural Strain Theory

A theory that explains deviance as a result of the strain individuals feel when they cannot achieve society's approved goals through approved means.

Innovators

Individuals who accept society's approved goals but not society's approved means to achieve them.

Ritualists

Individuals who have given up hope of achieving society's approved goals but still operate according to society's approved means.

Retreatists

Individuals who renounce society's approved goals and means entirely and live outside conventional norms altogether.

Rebels

Individuals who reject society's approved goals and means and instead create and work toward their own (sometimes revolutionary) goals using new means.

Differential association theory

Edwin Sutherland's hypothesis that we learn to be deviant through our associations with deviant peers.

Labeling theory

Howard Becker's idea that deviance is a consequence of external judgments, or labels, that modify the individual's self-concept and change the way others respond to the labeled person.

Primary deviance

In labeling theory, the initial act or attitude that causes one to be labeled deviant.

Secondary deviance

In labeling theory, the subsequent deviant identity or career that develops as a result of being labeled deviant.

Tertiary deviance

Redefining the stigma associated with a deviant label as a positive phenomenon.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

An inaccurate statement or belief that, by altering the situation, becomes accurate; a prediction that causes itself to come true.

Stereotype threat

A kind of self-fulfilling prophecy in which the fear of performing poorly—and confirming stereotypes about their social groups—causes students to perform poorly.

Stereotype promise

A kind of self-fulfilling prophecy in which positive stereotypes, such as the 'model minority' label applied to Asian Americans, lead to positive performance outcomes.

Cyberbullying

The use of electronic media (web pages, social networking sites, email, social media, cell phones) to tease, harass, threaten, or humiliate someone.

Passing

Presenting yourself as a member of a different group than the stigmatized group to which you belong.

In-group orientation

Among stigmatized individuals, the rejection of prevailing judgments or prejudice and the development of new standards that value their group identity.

Outsiders

According to Howard Becker, those labeled deviant and subsequently segregated from 'normal' society.

Deviance avowal

Process by which an individual self-identifies as deviant and initiates their own labeling process.

Crime

A violation of a norm that has been codified into law.

Criminology

The systematic scientific study of crime, criminals, and criminal justice.

Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

An official measure of crime in the United States, produced by the FBI's official tabulation of every crime reported by more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies.

Violent crime

Crime in which violence is either the objective or the means to an end, including murder, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery.

Property crime

Crime that does not involve violence, including burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

Cybercrime

Crime committed via the internet, including identity theft, embezzlement, fraud, sexual predation, and financial scams.

White collar crime

Crime committed by a high-status individual in the course of their occupation.

Crime & Demographics - Age

the younger the population, the more likely the members are to commit crimes, and there are specific laws, courts, and correctional facilities for juveniles. public and police are less likely to target seniors because the stereotypical image of a criminal is youthful.

Crime & Demographics - Gender

lower crime rates among women could be explained by their lower status in the power hierarchy.

Crime & Demographics - Race

african americans make up around 13% of the US population but account for 28% of all arrests and 32% of all prisoners.

Sociologists attribute this to the ways Black Americans have been disproportionately targeted by police and subjected to differential treatment in other parts of the judicial process, as well as class variables.

Crime & Demographics - Hate Crimes

hate crimes occur when criminals deliberately target victims because of their demographic characteristics

Deterrence

An approach to punishment that relies on the threat of harsh penalties to discourage people from committing crimes.

Retribution

An approach to punishment that emphasizes retaliation or revenge for the crime as the appropriate goal.

Incapacitation

An approach to punishment that seeks to protect society from criminals by imprisoning or executing them.

Rehabilitation

An approach to punishment that attempts to reform criminals as part of their penalty.

Criminal justice system

A collection of social institutions, such as legislatures, police, courts, and prisons, that creates and enforces laws.

Capital punishment

The death penalty.

Positive deviance

Actions considered deviant within a given context but later reinterpreted as appropriate or even heroic.

Social stratification

The division of society into groups arranged in a social hierarchy.

Social inequality

The unequal distribution of wealth, power, or prestige among members of a society.

Slavery

The most extreme form of social stratification, based on the ownership of people.

Caste system

A form of social stratification in which status is determined by one's family history and background and cannot be changed.

Apartheid

The system of segregation of racial and ethnic groups that was legal in South Africa between 1948 and 1991.

The New Jim Crow

argues that once African Americans, especially Black men, come into contact with the criminal justice system, they are permanently stigmatized and stripped of their civil rights

Social class

A system of stratification based on access to such resources as wealth, property, power, and prestige.

Socioeconomic status (SES)

A measure of an individual's place within a social class system; often used interchangeably with 'class.'

Intersectionality

A concept that identifies how different categories of inequality (race, class, gender, etc.) intersect to shape the lives of individuals and groups.

Upper class

An elite and largely self-sustaining group that possesses most of the country's wealth.

Upper-middle class

Social class consisting of mostly highly educated professionals and managers who have considerable financial stability.

Middle class

Social class composed primarily of white collar workers with a broad range of education and incomes.

Working class or Lower-middle class

Social class consisting of mostly blue collar or service industry workers who typically do not have a college degree.

Blue collar

A description characterizing skilled and semi-skilled workers who perform manual labor or work in service or clerical jobs.

Working poor

Poorly educated manual and service workers who may work fulltime but remain near or below the poverty line.

Underclass

The poorest group, comprising people who are experiencing homelessness or who are chronically unemployed.

Status inconsistency

A situation in which an individual holds differing and contradictory levels of status in terms of wealth, power, prestige, or other elements of socioeconomic status.

Conflict Theory

A theory that emphasizes the role of conflict in social structures, often focusing on the struggles between different social classes.

Feudal system

A system of social stratification based on a hereditary nobility who were responsible for and served by a lower stratum of forced laborers called serfs.

Weberian Theory

A theory that analyzes social stratification based on wealth, prestige, and power.

Wealth

A measure of net worth that includes income, property, and other assets.

Prestige

The social honor people are given because of their membership in well-regarded social groups.

Structural Functionalism

suggests that the system of stratification that has emerged is functional to society in many ways

Social reproduction

The tendency of social classes to remain relatively stable as class status is passed down from one generation to the next.

Cultural capital

The tastes, habits, expectations, skills, knowledge, and other cultural assets that help us gain advantages in society.

Everyday class consciousness

Awareness of one's own social status and that of others.

SES and life chances - family

people often choose romantic partners whose class, race, education, religion, and other social identities are similar to our own. social class plays a role in whether and when people marry and have children