SYG Exam 2 vocab

caste

granting or withholding of respect, status, honor, attention, privileges, resources, and human kindness to someone on the basis of their perceived rank or standing in hierarchy

discredited

covering (observable)

discreditable

passing (not easily observed)

income

occupational wages and earnings from investments

wealth

total value of money and other assets, minus debt

social power

ability to control, even in the face of resistance

occupation prestige

job-related status

situational elevation

artificial elevation based on situation and perception

eugenics movement

purify a population (selective fertility)

group narcissism

willing to sacrifice yourself for your group because you feel its ideas are so important

dominant group status threat

doesn’t want power stripped

unconscious bias

preconceptions about groups that we are unaware of

scapegoating

blaming other groups

prejudice

negative beliefs/attitudes about category of people without sound knowledge

stereotyping

assumed characteristics for an entire category of people (positve/negative)

discrimination

involves negative action based on preconception

racism

beliefs/practices that justify the idea that one racial category is inferior/superior

frustration-aggression theory (scapegoat theory)

• blaming others for personal troubles

• target category and then respond

culture of prejudice theory

• socialization experience

• it’s “normal” for people to prejudice others

conflict theory

• self-justification for rich and powerful in US

• perception of “race card” use by minority groups can lead to white backlash movements

sex

rooted in biology (anatomical, chromosomal)

gender

cultural and social meanings/expectations assigned to a person’s status as “male” or “female” or “transgender’

gender identity

understanding ourselves as male, female, transgender, fluid, nonbinary

intersectionality

we are more than one feature

• gender

• SES

• sexual orientation

• race/ethnicity

• nation state

intersex

possess atypical female and male genitalia

nonbinary

gender not exclusively self-perceived as either male or female

transgender

often feel emotionally linked to one sex, biologically represent the other

cisgender

personal identity consistent with sex/gender assigned at birth

patriarchy

system of social and institutional relations that elevates the status of gender

liberal feminism

humanitarian-like thinking, gender equality

socialist feminism

belief in socialist revolution

radical feminism

eliminate the idea of gender

ecclesia

state controlled religion

religion

set of beliefs about the origins and meaning of life

science

accumulated systematic knowledge of the world

demography

study causes and consequences related to population

fertility

incidence of childbearing in a society

fecunndity

potential for childbearing

crude birth/death rate

number of live births/deaths a year per 1000 people (includes everyone)

total fertility rate

average number of births for each woman of childbearing age

mortality

incidence of death in a population

infant mortality rate

number of deaths among infants <1 per 1000 live births

sociology of the environment

sociopolitics of vanishing resources and environmental threats

social body

cultural standards of beauty/attractiveness

health

physical, mental, and emotional health that doesn’t just focus on the absence of illness

social change

transformation of culture and social institutions

cohort

people with distinctive characteristics over a period of time

alternative social movements

least threatening; limited change for limited numbers

reformative social movements

limited social change; targets everyone

redemptive social movements

radical change; focus on individual

revolutionary social movements

most severe; basic transformation of society

deprivation theory

social deprivation is a result of experiencing relative deprivation

mass society theory

gives disenfranchised people the chance to feel a sense of belonging

structural strain theory

group effort changes society; consistent with group’s goals and identity

structural conduciveness

patterns set stage (racism, patriarchy)

structural strain

social conflict, relative deprivation

resource mobilization theory

emphasizes access to and use of varied resources

new social movements theory

people motivated by issues around quality of life rather than for economic concerns

tradition directedness

rigid conformity to time-honored way of life

other directedness

receptive to latest trends and fashions, often expressed by imitating others

communitarianism

strong rights presume strong responsibilities

• community rights trump individual rights

• all rights involve responsibilities (can’t take without giving)