Sociology exam 3

Symbolic Interactionism (blank slate)

The idea that people are not born with a fixed self; instead, identity develops through social interaction and experiences.

Looking-glass self:

A concept (from Cooley) that we form our self-image based on how we think others perceive and judge us.

Agents of socialization:

Groups or institutions that shape our norms, values, and behaviors (e.g., family, school, peers, media).

Anticipatory socialization:

The process of preparing for future roles by adopting behaviors or attitudes in advance (e.g., acting like a college student before attending).

Structure:

The recurring patterns of behavior and relationships that organize society.

Role conflict:

Tension that occurs when a person faces competing expectations from multiple social roles (e.g., student vs. employee).

sanctions

Rewards or punishments used to enforce social norms (can be formal or informal).

Cohort

A group of people who share a similar time-based experience (e.g., born in the same decade).

Gender pay gap:

The difference in average earnings between men and women.

Discrimination (sociological):

Unequal treatment based on group membership (e.g., gender), often studied through experiments like hiring or audition bias.

Fatherhood premium:

The tendency for men’s earnings to increase after becoming fathers.

Segregation within integrated professions:

Even when men and women enter the same field, they are often concentrated in different roles or specialties.

Gender-typed occupations:

Jobs culturally associated with one gender (e.g., nursing = female, engineering = male)

Functionalism (family):

Views the family as essential for social stability and performing key functions (socialization, reproduction, support).

Sexual division of labor:

The allocation of different tasks to men and women, often with men in paid work and women in caregiving roles.

Expressive roles:

Emotion-focused roles (traditionally assigned to women), such as caregiving.

Instrumental roles:

Task-oriented roles (traditionally assigned to men), such as providing income.

Four functions of the family (common functionalist view):

1. Socialization of children

2. Regulation of sexual activity

3. Social placement

4. Emotional support

Conflict paradigm (family):

Focuses on power, inequality, and how family rules are enforced, often linked to class and control.

Corporal punishment:

Physical discipline used to enforce rules, often varying by social class.

Family as symbol (symbolic interactionism):

The idea that “family” has shared meanings that shape how people act and interpret relationships.

Housework conflict:

Disagreements over unequal division of household labor.

Traditional family:

Clear gender roles (men = breadwinner, women = homemaker).

Egalitarian family:

More equal sharing of work and responsibilities.

Transitional family:

In-between stage where equality is valued but not fully practiced.

Gender strategies:

Ways couples manage inequality, including:

Supermom strategy:

Women do both career and most housework

Myth of equality

Believing work is equal when it isn’t

Flexible vs. inflexible tasks

Women often take on interruptible chores

Factor reducing likelihood of divorce:

Typically economic dependence, presence of children, or satisfaction with division of labor.

Assembly-line work:

Highly specialized, repetitive tasks done individually.

Teamwork (workplace):

Collaborative work structure where employees share responsibilities and decision-making.

Conditions for shift to teamwork:

Usually occurs when flexibility, innovation, or worker input becomes more valuable than efficiency alone.

Community of fate

Workers feel shared responsibility and collective success/failure

Teamwork & factory demise

Teamwork increased control and pressure, sometimes undermining worker solidarity

Functionalism on work

Work promotes stability, productivity, and social order

Conflict paradigm on work

Work is a site of exploitation and inequality.

Scientific management

Maximizing efficiency through measurement and control of workers

Taylorism

Breaking tasks into small, optimized steps

Ford manufacturing

Assembly line production—mass production, high wages, repetitive work

McDonaldization

Efficiency, predictability, calculability, and control applied to all areas of life

High-road

Skilled workers, good wages, innovation.

In-groups

Groups you belong to

Out-groups

Groups you don’t belong to

Robert Putnam – Bowling Alone

Decline in civic engagement and social connections in the U.S.

Robert Putnam critcism

• Overstates decline

• Ignores new forms of connection (online)

Social capital

Resources from social connections.

Strong ties in social capital

Close relationships (family, friends)

Weak ties in social capital

Acquaintances—important for new opportunities

Weber’s Bureaucracy Ideal type:

• Hierarchy

• Rules

• Impersonality

• Specialization

Weber’s bureaucracy critcism

• Rigid

• Inefficient

• Dehumanizing

Trained incapacity

Inability to adapt due to strict rule-following

Iron law of oligarchy

Organizations become controlled by a small elite.

Secularization

Decline in religious authority and influence.

Classical Secularization Theory (CST)

Religion declines with modernization.

See-saw model

As science rises, religion falls.

Sacred canopy

Religion provides shared meaning and social unity.

Religious Pluralism

Multiple religions coexist.

Heretical imperative

Individuals must choose beliefs.

Plausibility structures:

Social support that makes beliefs seem credible.

Criticisms of CST

• Religion still active publicly

• Secularization varies by gender

Religious Competition Theory

Adam Smith & religion:

Competition increases religious participation.

U.S. challenge to CST:

High religiosity despite modernization.

Criticisms

• Overemphasizes markets

• Ignores culture and history

Neo-Secularization Theory

Focuses on decline in religious authority, not belief.

three levels of neo-secularization theory

1. Individual

2. Organizational

3. Societal

Religion & Pro-Life Movement

Religion mobilizes political activism and moral framing.

Sacralization

Turning secular things into sacred (giving them deep moral meaning)

12-Step Groups (AA)

Similarities to religion:

Rituals, higher power, moral framework

12-Step Groups (AA), Differences to religion

Less formal doctrine, voluntary

12-Step Groups (AA) , Why more important:

Decline of traditional religion + need for support systems

Civil Religion Definition

Shared national beliefs and rituals that function like religion

Civil Religion Doctrine

Freedom, equality

Civil Religion Rituals

Pledge, national holidays

Civil Religion Symbols

Flag

Eras of Civil Religion

Different historical periods emphasize different national meanings.

examples of eras of civil religion

• reagan

• obama

reagan

city upon a hill

Obama

more perfect union

Jeremiad

Criticizing society for failing its ideals while reaffirming them

Comparative Systems

• civil religion

• state religion

• secular state

Civil Religion

Shared national beliefs

State religion

Government-supported religion

Secular State

Separation of religion and state

Hartmann (Sports)

• Kids play for fun, identity, peer approval

• Boys’ sports emphasize competition & dominance

• Sports = socially constructed masculinity (not purely biological)

Erickson (Networks)

• Strong ties: emotional support

• Weak ties: access to new info

• Diverse networks → better jobs & health outcomes

Bremer (Pledge of Allegiance)

• Created for national unity

• Changed over time (e.g., “under God”)

• Objected to on religious & political grounds