LOCK IN SOC MIDTERM 2

Deviance

Behaviors/beliefs that violate social expectations and attract negative sanctions

Crime

Deviance that breaks the laws of society and is punished by formal sanctions

Conformity

Behavior and appearances that follow group standards; acceptance of cultural goals through legitimate means

Social control

Methods used to teach/persuade/force people to comply with norms and expectations

Sanctions

Reactions of approval or disapproval to behaviors/appearances

Positive sanction

Approval or reward for compliance

Negative sanction

Disapproval or punishment for noncompliance

Informal sanction

Approval/disapproval not backed by law

Formal sanctions

Laws/rules/policies specifying conditions for reward/punishment

Stigmatization

Physical traits or social conditions become widely devalued

Criminalization

Defining a trait/condition as criminal

Medicalization

Defining physical traits/social conditions as illnesses

Principles of deviance

Deviance varies across cultures/history; meanings change over time

Strain theory

Deviance stems from tension between goals and ability to attain them

Innovation

Accept cultural goals; reject legitimate means

Ritualism

Reject cultural goals; rigidly follow legitimate means

Retreatism

Reject both cultural goals and legitimate means

Rebellion

Reject goals and means; introduce new ones

Differential Association Theory

Criminal behavior is learned through social networks

White-collar crimes

Committed by high-status individuals

Corporate crimes

Committed by corporations

Social disorganization theory

Deviance common in unstable, resource-poor neighborhoods

William Julius Wilson

Developed social disorganization theory

Concentrated poverty

40%+ of residents live below the federal poverty line

Neutralization theory

Deviance justified through rationalizations

Denial of responsibility

Rule breaking is outside one's control

Denial of injury

“No harm is done”

Denial of the victim

Victim “deserved” harm

Condemnation of the condemners

Critic’s moral authority is rejected

Appeal to higher loyalties

Rule breaking justified for a greater good

Labeling theory

Labels influence future behavior

Labeling

Assigning a deviant identity

Primary deviance

Initial deviant act attracting label

Secondary deviance

Further deviance caused by the label

Structural functionalism

Society is a system of interdependent parts creating stability

Manifest functions

Intended/expected effects

Latent functions

Unintended/unexpected effects

Manifest dysfunctions

Expected disruptions

Latent dysfunctions

Unexpected disruptions

Deviance as a source of social change

Deviance shows rules can be broken

Collective conscience

Shared beliefs of right and wrong

Anomie

Normlessness; alienation from rules

Critiques of functionalism

Conservative; struggles with explaining disorder

Conflict theory

Society characterized by competing interests

Social inequality

Wealth/power/prestige concentrated among privileged groups

Critiques of conflict theory

Overemphasizes conflict; underplays stability

Social stability

Those harmed are too weak to resist

Harmony

Those benefiting suppress others effectively

Premodern thought

Supernatural truth; tradition

Agriculture

Enabled specialization and civilizations

Modern thought

Science replaces faith/tradition

Industrial Revolution

Rise of machine production

Mechanization

Use of external power in tools/transport

Max Weber

Developed rationalization and bureaucracy

Rationalization

Using reason to increase efficiency

Calculability

Inputs produce expected outputs

Methodical behavior

Uniform, rule-based processes

Reflexivity

Reflecting to improve processes

Protestant Work Ethic

Duty to succeed through hard work

Bureaucratic organization

Formal rules, hierarchy, impersonal relations

Social organizations

Formal entities organizing people toward goals

Divisions of labor

Specializing tasks into smaller roles

Authority in bureaucratic organization

Rational-legal authority; tied to the position

George Ritzer

Created McDonaldization theory

McDonaldization

Efficiency, predictability, calculability, control

Postmodern thought

Rejects absolute truth; favors individual truths

Social institutions

Enduring patterns meeting human needs

Institutionalized areas

Family, education, economy, law, state, health, religion

Institutional reliance

Institutions solve problems individuals can’t

Ideologies

Shared ideas about how life should be organized

Social structure

Interlocking institutions enabling society

Capital

Resources used to acquire wants/needs

Economic capital

Mmoney and money-convertible resources

Income

Regular flow of money

Wealth

Mmoney + owned assets

Economic elite

Small group with disproportionate wealth

Wage

Payment for labor

Capitalism

Private ownership and profit rights

Karl Marx

Theorized class conflict and capitalism

Proletariat

Wage workers

Bourgeoisie

Owners/employers

Means of production

Resources used to create wealth

Crisis of capitalism

Predicted collapse from inequality

Alienation

Disconnect from work and its products

Class consciousness

Shared awareness of class interests

Socialism

Government-distributed, collectively owned production

Social mobility

Movement in economic hierarchy

Glass ceiling

Limit on upward mobility

Glass floor

Protection from downward mobility

Precariat

Economically insecure working class

Working poor

Employed but earning poverty wages

Free market capitalism

Minimal government regulation

Labor unions

Worker collectives negotiating with employers

Social safety net

Programs protecting vulnerable populations

Living wage

Income covering basic needs

Welfare capitalism

Capitalism with redistributive policies

Contradictory class locations

Roles partly proletarian and partly bourgeois

Service and information economy

Economy based on services/information

Race

Grouping by perceived physical traits and identity

Ethnicity

Grouping by cultural or social traits