Sociology Exam 1

F25

Sociology

study of society and human behavior

society

group of people who share culture and territory

sociological perspective

seeing the general in particular and understanding the relationship between self and society

social location

a way of classifying by race, social class, gender, sexual orientation, etc.

marginalization

occupying a position outside the centers of power

imagination

the action of forming new ideas, images, or concepts

private trouble

happening to you

public issues

happening more broadly

community

a definable region (neighborhood, country)

culture

shared beliefs, values, and practices

symbols

anything that carries a specific meaning that’s recognized by people who share a culture

beliefs

specific ideas that people hold to be true about the world

norms/ rules

agreed upon expectations and rules that guide behavior

culture and socialization

process by which individuals internalize the beliefs, norms, and values of a society

nonmaterial culture

values, beliefs, behaviors, and social norms

material culture

everything that is part of our physical environment

sociocentric

independent of the group

egocentric

individualism, based on self

cultural relativism

justifying behavior based on cultural differences

subculture

distinct cultural values and behavioral patterns of a particular group in society

occupational subculture

wrestlers, musicians, police

social subcultures

goths, hipsters, punk

generational subcultures

boomers, gen x, millenials, gen z, gen alpha

ideology

a system of ideas, beliefs, and principles that reflect, shape, and constrain group interpretations of social world

some examples of ideology

Marxist, capitalist, feminist, patriarchal

marxist ideology

shared property

capitalist ideology

individualism

status

position in society that comes with set of expectations

ascribed status

one we are born with— sex and race for example

achieved status

one we earned through individual effort/ imposed by others— a delinquent

master status

overrides all other statuses and affects them

social institutions

complex group of interdependent postions, that together, perform a social role and reproduce themselves over time

media

any formats, platforms, or vehicles that carry, present, or communicate information

stages of socialization

primary, secondary, group, organizational, and forced

primary socialization

parents, peers, teachers, coaches

secondary socialization

college, traveling, workplace

group socialization

peer groups, subcultures

organizational socialization

workplaces and schools

forced socializations

prisions, military, total institutions

culture is a combination of?

internalized ideologies and norm perceptions

media

any formats, platforms, or vehicles that carry, present, or communicate information

what makes mass media different from media

on a large scale

hegemony

historical process by which a (dominant) group wins approval for their action by consent rather than coercion

informal agents of social control

peers, family, friends, the media

formal agents of social control

police, regulatory agents, teachers/ professors