Sociology Final SOC-100 IUB

Professor Miller's Soc100

Social Stratification

A society’s categorization of its people into groups based on factors such as wealth, income, race, education, and gender

The Means of Production

All of the technology, materials, and social relations needed to produce material goods in a society

The Relations of Production

All of the social relations that support the production of material foods, such as the worker/employer relation and other delusions of labor and other divisions of labor and property relations, such as capitalism

Bourgeorsie

The ruling class who own the means of production

Proletariat

The working class, who lack their own means of production and so must sell their labor to the bourgeoisie

The Base

Consists of both the means of production and the relations of production

Means

Tools, machines, factories, land, raw materials

Relations

Proletariat, Bourgeoisie, private property, capital, etc

The Superstructure

Includes all the elements of society not related directly to production (such as culture, art, religion, politics, ideology, and media)

Weber’s Three Component Theory of Stratification (EC+SS=P)

Economic Class, Power , Social Status

Economic Clas

Refers to one’s position in a stratified hierarchy based on the economic capital one possesses

Power

The probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out their own will despite resistance

Social Status

Refers to one’s position in a stratified hierarchy based largely on the symbolic (as well as social and cultural) capital one posses

Socioeconomic Status (SES)

The combination of a person’s economic and social class, often measured as a combination of education, income, and occupation

Upper Class

Broadly composed of the more affluent members of society, especially those who have inherited wealth, own businesses, or hold large numbers of stocks

Middle Class

Made up broadly of people working in white-collar and lower managerial occupations (Divided into upper and lower middle class. 55% of the population, makes $40k-$200k)

Upper Middle Class

Makes $100-200k

Lower Middle Class

Makes $40-100k

Working Class

Makes up 20% of American households and typically ranges $20-40k

Lower Class

Makes up 20% of American households, is comprised of those who work part-time or not at all and whose household income usually falls under $20k

Ethnicity

A socially defined category of people who indentify with each other based on a shared social experience or ancestry

Race

A system for classifying people who are believed to share common descent, vase don perceived innate physical characteristics of large groups of people

Barbarian

A person who is perceived to be primitive or uncivilized. Comes from the Greek term barbarous, which mimics the way they described foreign languages as sounding

Early Racial Categories

Europaeus, Asiaticus, Americanus, Afer

Analysis of DNA

Not a biological division

The Thomas Theorem

Because people believe something is real, and define it as real, then it becomes real in its consequences

Racism

Prejudice and discrimination against individuals who are members of particular racial or ethnic groups, usually drawing on negative stereotypes about the group

Prejudice

Negative beliefs or attitudes held about ethnic groups

Discrimination

Behavior that harms, excludes, or disadvantages individuals on the basis of their group membership

Symbolic Violence

A non-physical form of violence often exercised upon a category of people with their own complicitly, causing them to internalize the negative discourses of the dominant group

Essentialism

The view that members of a group share a fundamental, inherited, innate, and fixed quality or characteristic

Implicit Bias

The unconscious attitudes and stereotypes that can influence our actions towards others based on their race, gender, or other perceivable characteristics

Shooter Bias

A form of implicit racial bias which refers to the tendency among the police to shoot black civilians more often than white civilians, even when they are unarmed

White Privilege

The inherent advantages possessed by a white person on the basis of their race in a society characterized by racial inequality and injustice

Audit Study

A type of experiment commonly used to measure bias and discrimination in which resumes, job applicants, etc. are matched on all characteristics save the one being studied and then sent into real world situation to measure differences in responses based on the characteristic under study

Sex

An individual's classification into the categories of male or female based on anatomical or chromosomal criteria

Intersex

Individuals possessing both male and female genitalia

Gender

The ways that social forces create differences between men’s and women’s behavior, preferences, treatment, and opportunities, and the characteristics of men and women that reflect these forces

Doing Gender

The idea that gender, rather than being an innate quality of individuals, is a psychologically ingrained social construct that actively surfaces in everyday human interaction

Accountability

The system through which individuals are judged in terms of their failure or success to meet gendered societal expectations

Deceptive Distinctions

The gender differences that arise out of the roles that individuals occupy, rather than from some innate force

Ambivalent Sexism

A theoretical framework that suggests that sexism is made up of both hostile and benevolent components which serve to justify the social hierarchy

Hostile Sexism

Sexism based on open hatred and negative evaluations of women along with the belief that women are naturally inferior to men

Benevolent Sexism

The attribution of positive traits tot women that, nonetheless, justify their subordination to men

Socialization

The social processes through which individuals develop an awareness of social norms and values and achieve a distinct sense of self

Primary Socialization

The socialization we experience in the home

Secondary Socialization

The process through which we learn how to behave in specific groups and social situations such as school or the workplace

Social Reproduction

The process through which special positions, social practices, values, and norms are perpetuated from generation to generation

Concerted Cultivation

A middle-class parenting style that actively fosters and assesses children’s talents, opinions, and skills, resulting in an emerging sense of entitlement

Acomplishment of Natural Growth

A parenting style common among the working-class and poor wherein children are given the freedom to structure their own lives, often resulting in an emerging sense of constraint

Three Possible Functions of Education

Socialization Theory, Allocation Theory, Correspondence Principle

Socialization Theory

Education transmits knowledge, skills, and values that persist in adulthood and that employers believe increase productivity

Allocation Theory

Education channels people into positions or institutions that offer different opportunities for continuing to think, learn, and earn

Correspondence Principle

Children receive different types of education based solely on their social standing rather than their inherit abilities

Hidden Curriculum

The often unstateD standards of behavior that teachers and administrator expect from children within the education system

Addendum to the Hidden Cirriculum

These unstated expectations often reflect the middle-class biases and norms of school professionals

Educational Tracking

The separation of students into persisting academic groups based on perceived ability

Social Control

The formal and informal mechanisms used to increase conformity

Total Institution

Institutions in which all aspects of an individual’s life are formally controlled

The Panopticon

A circular prison with cells arranged around a central tower, from which prisoners could at all times be obsereved

Panopticism

The systemic ordering and controlling of human populations through subtle and often unseen forces

Social Control

The formal and informal mechanisms used to increase conformity

Types of Social Control

Shaming, shunning, banishment, incapacitation, corporal punishment

Punishment

Why do we punish? How much do we punish?

Utilitarianism (Deterrence)

Theory of punishment that relies on threat of harsh punishment to discourage people from committing crimes (prevention of future crimes)

Retributivism (Retribution)

Theory of punishment that emphasizes moral condemnation for crimes already committed (justice is served)

Public Sociology

Sociology that seeks to promote a dialogue outside the academy with a variety of public audiences

Social Movements

Conscience, collective, organized attempts to bring about or resist large-scale change in the social order

Four Types of Social Movements

Reform Movements, Revolutionary Movements, Instrumental Movements, Expressive Movements

Reform Movements

Try to bring about limited social change by working within the existing system

Revolutionary Movements

Seeks to make fundamental changes to the system itself

Instrumental Movements

Seek to influence the social and political environment and focus on specific observable goals

Expressive Movements

Attempt to change individuals, along with their behaviors and ideas, and arise when people feel a problem cannot be easily resolved

Six Necessary Conditions for a Social Movement

Structural Conduciveness, Perceived Structural Strain, Generalized Belief, Precipitating Factors, Mobilization for Action, Operation of Social Control

Structural Conduciveness

A society must be set up in such a way that a social movement is likely to occur

Perceived Structural Strain

When a grievance cannot be immediately resolved through official channels, a social movement becomes more likely

Generalized Belief

Involve a shared ideology, a set of ideas, that defines the sources of the structural problems or strains and the solutions necessary to alleviate them

Precipitating Factors

Most social movements gain prominence after some inciting incident

Mobilization for Action

A movement’s ability to organize and mobilize resources towards achieving their ends

Operation of Social Control

The response of authorities (such as governments) to a social movement

Grievance

The perception that a group or person is experiencing illegitimate inequality, has been the victim of injustice, or feels a general moral indignation about some state of affairs

Relative Deprivation

A perceived gap between what people expect and what they actually get