Learn: Sociology Chapters 4, 6–8: Socialization, Deviance, Stratification, Race & Ethnicity

What is socialization?

The lifelong process of social interaction through which people acquire a self-identity and the physical, mental, and social skills needed to survive in society.

Why is socialization important?

It links the individual to society and is necessary for both individual survival and societal stability.

Name the four major agents of socialization.

Family, schools, peers, and media.

What is 'the self'?

One's experience of a personal identity that is separate from everyone else's. It is created and modified through interaction with others over the life course.

What is Goffman's dramaturgical approach?

People present different selves in different situations, and others' responses shape how everyone defines the situation and the self.

What is the difference between frontstage and backstage?

Frontstage is where we perform for an audience. Backstage is where we can drop the performance.

What is impression management?

The processes we use to control how others perceive us.

What is a status?

A position in a social hierarchy that carries a particular set of expectations. We occupy multiple statuses, called a status set.

What is the difference between ascribed and achieved status?

Ascribed status is one you are born with or that is difficult or impossible to change. Achieved status is earned through effort or imposed by others.

What is a role?

A set of behaviors expected of a particular status, like a script.

What is role conflict?

Competing expectations from two or more different statuses, such as family obligations versus professional demands.

What is role strain?

Competing expectations within a single status, such as different demands placed on a student.

How is deviance defined?

Any behavior, belief, or condition that violates significant social norms in the society or group where it occurs. It varies by culture, history, and situation.

Who defines deviance?

The social audience, not the individual actor.

Are deviance and crime the same thing?

No. Something can be deviant but not criminal, criminal but not deviant, or both.

What is positive deviance?

Breaking norms in the name of the good. In the Vietnam nutrition research, families fed young children shrimp, crabs, and snails and fed them more often, which went against local norms but produced well-nourished children. The community learned from these 'positive deviants.'

What is the functionalist take on deviance?

Deviance can serve positive functions, such as clarifying norms, promoting social unity, and encouraging change.

What is Merton's structural strain theory?

People experience strain when cultural goals are emphasized but legitimate means of reaching them are blocked.

What are Merton's five adaptations?

Conformity (accepts goals and means), innovation (accepts goals, rejects means), ritualism (rejects goals, follows means), retreatism (rejects both), and rebellion (replaces both with new goals and means).

What is the conflict theory take on deviance?

Rules are applied unequally. Those with power create and enforce laws that protect their interests, so punishment is unequally distributed. The focus is on power, authority, and social control.

What is the symbolic interactionist / labeling theory take on deviance?

Deviance lies not in the act itself but in the social reaction and label applied to it. Being labeled can shape a person's future identity and behavior.

How is crime defined?

A violation of a law.

What is the criminal justice system, and what is its role?

Social institutions (legislatures, police, courts, and prisons) that create and enforce laws.

How does the bail industry create inequality?

For-profit cash bail creates a two-tiered justice system that harms poor people. Those who can't pay may face longer pretrial detention, which can cost them jobs and housing and lead to downward mobility.

What is social stratification?

A hierarchical arrangement of large social groups based on their control over basic resources. It exists in all societies, though in different forms.

What are the four principles of stratification?

It is a characteristic of society, not just individual differences. It persists across generations. Societies use different criteria for ranking. It is maintained through widely shared beliefs.

What is slavery as a system of stratification?

People are owned or controlled for economic or sexual exploitation and treated as property. Status is usually lifelong and hereditary, with little or no mobility. Contemporary forms include trafficking and forced or bonded labor.

What is caste?

A system in which status is permanently determined at birth by the parents' ascribed characteristics. Mobility is restricted, as in South African apartheid. It weakens with industrialization.

What is class?

A system based on access to resources such as wealth, property, power, and prestige. Boundaries are less rigid, it combines achievement and ascription, and mobility is more possible.

What is the difference between SES, income, and wealth?

Socioeconomic status (SES) is a combined measure of a person's economic and social position. Income is money earned over a period of time. Wealth (net worth) is the total value of assets minus debts.

What is social mobility?

The movement of individuals or groups from one social level to another.

What is the difference between intergenerational and intragenerational mobility?

Intergenerational mobility is change across generations, such as a child's status compared to a parent's. Intragenerational mobility is change within one lifetime. Within that, horizontal mobility is a lateral move, and vertical mobility is upward or downward.

What is absolute deprivation?

Being unable to secure basic necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing.

What is relative deprivation?

Being able to afford basics but unable to maintain the average standard of living in one's society.

What does Figure 7.1 in the textbook show?

The structure of social classes in the U.S. Know its layout for the exam.

What is 'Poverty Delivered' (Canvas) used for?

Discussing the lived experience and cost of being poor.

What is race?

A socially defined category based on real or perceived biological differences between groups. Racial categories are socially constructed.

What is ethnicity?

A socially defined category based on shared language, religion, nationality, history, or other cultural factors.

What is symbolic ethnicity?

An ethnic identity that matters only on specific occasions and does not significantly affect everyday life.

What is situational ethnicity?

An ethnic identity that can be displayed or concealed depending on what is useful in a given situation.

Is race a fixed biological reality?

No. Racial categories and their meanings change across time and place, which is why social construction is central to the concept.

What is double consciousness?

W.E.B. Du Bois's term for the divided identity experienced by Black Americans, who see themselves through the eyes of a society that views them as outsiders. It reflects the tension of being both Black and American.

How does double consciousness connect to race consciousness?

It is closely tied to race consciousness, the awareness of one's racial identity and its social meaning, as discussed in the textbook.

What is prejudice?

An attitude or belief about a group.

What is discrimination?

An action or behavior directed at a group.

What is the difference between individual and institutional discrimination?

Individual discrimination comes from specific people's actions. Institutional discrimination is built into the policies and practices of social institutions.

What is genocide?

The deliberate destruction of a group based on its identity.

What is expulsion or population transfer?

The forced removal of a group from a territory.

What is segregation?

The forced separation of groups, often in housing, schools, or public spaces.

What is assimilation?

When minority groups adopt the dominant culture and give up their distinct identity.

What is pluralism?

When diverse groups coexist and maintain their distinct cultural identities while sharing in society on equal terms.