Sociology Final Exam

Marriage and Family 1-27; Demography: 28-47; Education: 48-60; Religion:

Marriage

• legally recognized social contract between two people, traditionally based on a sexual relationship and implying a permanence of the union

• We should consider all variations when practicing cultural relativism

Family

• A socially recognized group that forms an emotional connection and serves as an economic unit of society

• Joined by blood, marriage, cohabitation, or adoption

Family of Orientation

The family into which a person is born

Family of Procreation

Family that is formed through marriage

Monogamy

Married to only one person

Polygamy

• Married to more than one person

• Usually in the form one one man having multiple wives

• Majority of societies accept it, but majority of people do not practice it

• Husbands are often older, wealthy, high-status

Bigamy

• Act of entering a marriage while still married to another person

• A felony in most US states

Bilateral Descent

• Pattern of tracing kinship in which you look to both paternal and maternal sides.

• Majority of societies use this descent pattern

Kinship

• One’s traceable ancestry

• Can be based on blood, marriage, or adoption

Unilateral Descent

• Pattern of tracing kinship through one parent only

• 3 types: Patrilineal, Matrilineal, Ambilineal

Patrilineal Descent

• Follows father’s line of descent only

• In societies with this tracing pattern, only males carry on family surname

  • Gives males prestige of permanent family membership

  • Females seen as temporary members

Matrilineal Descent

• Follows mother’s side of descent only

• Common in Native American societies

• Children are seen as belonging to women, so their kinship is traced though maternal ancestors

Ambilineal Descent

• Either follows father’s or mother’s side only

• Most common in Southeast Asian countries

• Choice may be based on desire to follow stronger or more prestigious kinship lines or cultural customs

Patrilocal Residence

• Wife lives with or near husband’s blood relatives/family of orientation

• Disadvantageous for wives by making them outsiders in their home or community and disconnects them to their own family of orientation

Matrilocal Residence

• Husband lives with or near wife’sblood relatives/family of orientation

• Disadvantageous for husbands by making them outsiders in their home or community and disconnects them to their own family of orientation

Family Life Cycle

• Paul Glick

• Most people will grow up, establish families, rear and launch their children, experience an “empty nest” period, and then come to the end of their lives

• Cycle continues with each generation

• Evelyn Duvall

• Elaborated on the model and creates the classic stages of family

Classic Stages of Family Life Cycle

• Marriage Family (Childless)

• Procreation Family (Children ages 0-2.5)

• Preschooler Family (Children ages 2.5-6)

• School-age Family (Children ages 6-13)

• Teenage Family (Children ages 13-20)

• Launching Family (Children begin to leave home)

• Empty Nest Family (Adult children have left home)

What was purpose of the Family Life Cycle?

• Explain different processes that occur in families over time

• Sociologists view each stage as having its own structure with different challenges, achievements, and accomplishments that transition the family from one stage to the next

  • Use it to study the dynamics of family over time

• Success of a family can be measured by how well they adapt to these challenges and transition into each stage

• Consumer and marketing researchers use it to determine what goods and services families need as they progress through each stage

Criticisms of Family Life Cycle

• Generalizing family life and not accounting for differences in gender, ethnicity, culture, and lifestyle,

Family Life Course

• Less rigid model of family life cycle

• Recognizes the events that occur in the lives of families but views them as a fluid course rather than in consecutive stages

• Accounts for changes in family development and changes in the practice of family life

Nuclear Family

Two parents (traditionally a married husband and wife) and children living in the same household

Extended Family

A household that includes at least one parent and child as well as other relatives

Cohabitation

• A man and woman live together in a sexual relationship without being married.

• May occur as an effort to spend more time together, save money on living cost, or work out kinks before marriage

• Research has found that cohabitation has little effect of success of marriage

• May contribute to increase of delay of marriage

Functionalism Perspective of Marriage and Family

• Families are an important social institution and play a key role in stabilizing society.

• Family members take on status roles in a marriage or family

• Members perform certain functions that facilitate the prosperity and development of society

George Murdock

• Functionalism

• Four Universal Residual Functions of Family:

  • Sexual

  • Reproductive

  • Educational

  • Economic

• Family regulates sexual relations between individuals

  • Offers socially legitimate sexual outlet to adults, leading to reproduction

• Family trains children for adult life

  • Teaches the ways of thinking and behaving that follow social and cultural norms, values, beliefs, and attitudes, manners, and civility

  • Teaches gender roles- important for economic function of each family

• Division of roles in each family (gender roles)

  • Instrumental roles: usually men, provides financial support and establishes family status

  • Expressive roles: usually women, work inside of family, provides emotional support and physical care for children

• Differentiation of the roles on the basis of sex ensures that families are well balanced and coordinated

• When families move outside of roles, family is thrown off balance and needs to recalibrate to function properly

Conflict Theory Perspective of Marriage and Family

• Families are defined as private entities

  • Leave family matters to those within the family

• Highlights the role of power in family life and contends that the family is often not a haven but rather an arena where power struggles can occur.

• Power entails performance of family status roles

• Person with the most access to valued resources held the most power

  • Men held more power than women

• Find disputes over the division of household labor to be a common source of marital discord.

• Tend to study areas of marriage and life that involve inequalities or discrepancies in power and authority, as they are reflective of the larger social structure.

Symbolic Interactionism Perspective on Marriage and Family

• Family is a symbol

• Family is a group of role players or “actors” who come together to act out their parts to construct a family

• Family is not an objective, concrete reality but a social construct that is subject to ever-changing meanings and social norms

• Meanings of elements of family change

• Recognize how the family status roles of each member are socially constructed, playing an important part in how people perceive and interpret social behavior.

Demography

• The study of populations

Three critical aspects of demography

• Fertility

• Mortality

• Migration

Fertility Rate

The average number of children a woman gives birth to during her reproductive years

Birth Rate

• A measure noting the number of children born

• Usually lower than the fecundity number

• Measured using crude birth rate

Crude Birth Rate

• The number of live births per 1000 people per year

Fecundity Number

Measures the potential number of children that could be born to women of childbearing age

Mortality Rate

• The measure of the number of people who die

• Measured using crude death rate

Crude Death Rate

Number of deaths per 1000 people

Migration

• Movement of people in and out of an area

• Immigration or emigration

• Could be voluntary or involuntary

Immigration

Movement of people into an area to take up permanent residence

Emigration

Movement out of an area to another place of permanent residence

Population Composition

• The demographic profile of a population

• Sex ratio

• Population Pyramid

Sex Ratio

• The number of men per 100 women

Population Pyramid

A picture of population distribution by age and sex

Malthusian Theory

• Three factors would control human population that exceeded the earth’s carrying capacity

  • War

  • Famine

  • Disease

• Factors are “positive checks” because they increase mortality rates

• Countered by “preventative checks” because they reduce fertility rate

  • Birth control

  • Celibacy

• People can produce only so much food, so people will run out of food and begin to starve. Then war would start over scarce resources and reduce the population. Then cycle repeats.

Three Reasons Why We Are Continuing to Expand the Population

• Technological resources in food production have increased amount and quality of calories we can produce per person

• Human ingenuity has developed new medicine to curtail death from disease

• The development and widespread use of contraception and other forms of family planning decreases speed of population increase

Zero Population Growth Theory

• The environment, rather than the food supply, will play a crucial role in continued health of the planet

• Human population is moving rapidly toward complete environmental collapse

  • Using up resources

  • Pollution

• Advocated for “Zero Population Growth” where number of people entering and leaving a population is equal

Cornucopian Theory

• Asserts that human ingenuity can resolve any environmental or social issues that develop

Demographic Transition Theory

• Future population growth will develop along a predicted four-stage model

• Preindustrial Stage: Birth, death, and infant mortality rates are all high while life expectancy is short

• Transitional Stage: Birth rates are higher, the infant mortality rate and the death rates drop, life expectancy increases

  • Death rates drop due to increased food production and improved medical care

• Industrial Stage: Birth rates decline, life expectancy increases, death rates decrease

  • Increased opportunities for women and access to birth control

• Post-Industrial Stage: Birth and death rates low, people are healthier and live longer, and society enters a phase of population stability

Biopolitics

• Michel Foucault

• The state controls births and deaths

  • Policy-making

  • Nutrition and people’s relationship with their health

  • COVID-19 policies differed depending on the place

Education

• Social institution through which members of a society are taught basic academic knowledge, learning skills, and cultural norms.

Resilient Student

Students who achieve at a higher level than one might expect given their social background

Formal Education

The learning of academic facts and concepts through a formal curriculum

Informal Education

• Learning about cultural values, norms, and expected behaviors by

  participating in a society.

• Occurs in formal education system and at home

Cultural Transformation

• The way people come to learn the values, beliefs, and social norms of their culture

  • Included in both formal and informal education

Functionalism Perspective on Society

• Education contributes two kinds of functions: Manifest and Latent

• Manifest: Intended and visible functions of education

  • Socialization

  • Social control (relies in hands of teachers and instructors)

  • Transmission of culture

  • Social placement

  • Cultural Innovation

• Latent Functions: Hidden or unintended functions of education

  • Courtship

  • Social Networks

  • Group work

  • Creation of generation gap

  • Political and social integration

Conflict Theory Perspective on Education

• Do not believe that public schools reduce social inequality. Instead, believe that the educational system reinforces and perpetuates social inequalities that arise from differences in class, gender, race, and ethnicity.

• Negative view on education

• Pursues the status quo and pushes people of lower status into obedience

• Fulfillment of education is closely related to social class

• Low socioeconomic status does not have the same opportunities as high socioeconomic status

• Cultural capital results in dominant culture values being rewarded

• Hidden curriculum reinforces positions of higher cultural capital, creating inequality between statuses

• Plays the role of training working-class students to accept and retain their position as lower members of society

  • Fulfilled through disparity of resources

Social Placement

• Used by people for upward social mobility

• College students are more motivated to study areas that will be advantageous on the social ladder

Cultural Capital

• Cultural knowledge that serves (metaphorically) as currency that helps navigate a culture

• Alters the experiences and opportunities available between social classes

• Higher class have more cultural capital than lower class

Tracking

• A formalized sorting system that place students on tracks that perpetuate inequalities

• CT: tracking leads to self-fulfilling prophecies in which students live up (or down) to teacher and societal expectations

Feminist Theory Perspective on Education

• Aims to understand the mechanisms and roots of gender inequality in education, and their social repercussions

• Characterized by unequal treatment and opportunity for women

• Seeks to promote women’s rights to equal education

Symbolic Interactionism Perspective on Education

• Labeling theory is seen in action

• Labels are difficult to get rid of, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy

• Labeling theory can significantly impact a student’s schooling

  • teachers and more powerful social groups within the school dole out labels

    that are adopted by the entire school populations

• Credentialism

Credentialism

• the emphasis on certificates or degrees to show that a person has a certain skill, has attained a certain level of education, or has met certain job qualifications.

• Degrees and certificates serve as a symbol of what a person has achieved and allows the labeling of that individual

Religion

• Various systems of belief and practice that define what people consider to be sacred or spiritual

• Exists as an organized and integrated set of beliefs, behaviors, and norms centered on basic social needs and values

Religious Experience

• The conviction or sensation that we are connected to “the divine”

  • Prayer or meditation

Religious Beliefs

Specific ideas members of a particular faith hold to be true

Religious Rituals

Behaviors or practices that are either required or expected of the members of a particular group

Functionalism Perspective on Religion

• Religion depends on society for its existence, value, and significance and vise versa.

• Sacred meant extraordinary

• Occurs when there is a separation between profane (ordinary life) and the sacred

• Most important functions is that it creates opportunities for social interaction and and formation of groups

• Religion is about community: social cohesion, social control, meaning and purpose (emotional comfort in crisis), and group integration.

• Religion and mortality are the collective mind-set of society and cohesive bonds of social order result from common values in society

Symbolic Interactionism Perspective on Society

• Religion is a precipitant of social change

• Examined effects of religion on economic activities

• Protestant work ethic influenced capitalism

  • Supported pursuit of material gain by motivating believers to work hard, be successful, and not spend on dumb things

• Separate from society

• Beliefs and experiences are not sacred unless individuals in a society view them that way

  • Interactionists interested in what symbols communicate

Conflict Theory Perspective on Society

• Religion reflects social stratification of society

• Maintains patterns of inequality and status quo

• Believes religion promotes the idea to be satisfied with existing circumstances because they are divinely ordained

• Religion has been used to support the “divine right” of oppressive monarchs and justify unequal social structures

• Extension of working class economic suffering

• Inseparable from economy and worker

  • Feminist Theory is sub of Conflict Theory

Cults

• A new religious group that is often viewed with suspicion or negativity.

• Cults typically have unorthodox beliefs and practices compared to mainstream religions.

• Usually new religious movement or group

• Can evolve into a larger organization or transition into sect or denomination

• Often has negative connotations

Sect

A small and relatively new group

Established Sects

• A religious group that falls between a sect and a denomination. It is a smaller, breakaway group that has distinct characteristics of both sects and denominations.

• Has developed more organization and structure than a typical sect.

• May maintain distinct beliefs and practices, often in tension with broader society, but it has become more established and recognized over time.

Denomination

Large, mainstream religious organizations that does not claim to be official or state sponsored

Ecclesia

• State-sponsored, official religion of a society, and everyone in that society typically belongs to it.

• Closely allied with state and secular powers.

Hinduism

• Origin: The oldest religion in the world, originating around 4,500 years ago in the Indus River Valley (modern-day India and Pakistan).

• Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva: Three main incarnations of the divine, often compared to the Christian Trinity.

• Dharma: A set of principles that define one’s duty and “right” actions in life.

• Karma: The belief that actions have spiritual consequences, either in this life or future lives (reincarnation).

• Sacred Texts: The Vedas, written in Sanskrit, contain hymns and rituals from ancient India.

Buddhism

• Founder: Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) around 500 B.C.E.

• Core Teachings:

  • Four Noble Truths:

    1. Life is suffering.

    2. Suffering arises from attachment to desires.

    3. Suffering ceases when attachment ceases.

    4. Freedom from suffering is achieved by following the "middle way."

  • Middle Way: A balanced approach to life, focusing on moderation and mindfulness.

  • Rejection of Godhead: Emphasis on personal responsibility rather than the worship of gods.

Confucianism

• Founder: Confucius (Kung Fu-Tzu), 6th-5th century B.C.E.

• Focus: A philosophy more than a religion, focusing on moral practices, self-discipline, respect for authority, and social harmony.

• Key Text: Analects, which are the teachings of Confucius.

• Core Concept: Moral behavior and social harmony.

Taoism

• Founder: Laozi, 6th century B.C.E.

• Core Beliefs:

  • Tao: The “way” or “path” to spiritual peace, harmony, and balance with the universe.

  • Yin-Yang: The concept of polar forces working in balance.

  • Virtues: Compassion and moderation.

  • Focus: A spiritual philosophy, contrasting with Confucianism's focus on day-to-day conduct.

Judaism

• Origin: After the Exodus from Egypt in the 13th century B.C.E., Jews became monotheistic, worshiping only one God.

• Key Beliefs:

  • Covenant with God (Yahweh): Jews believe they have a special relationship with God.

  • Sacred Text: Torah (first five books of the Bible) and Talmud (oral interpretations of the Torah).

  • Focus: Moral behavior in this life rather than salvation in the afterlife.

    • Ethnicity and Religion: Jewish identity can be ethnic as well as religious.

Islam

• Founder: Prophet Muhammad, born 570 C.E. in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

• Core Beliefs:

  • Monotheistic: Belief in Allah (God) and Muhammad as His messenger.

  • Sacred Text: Qur’an (Koran).

  • Five Pillars of Islam:

    1. Belief in one God, Allah, and Muhammad as His prophet.

    2. Daily prayer.

    3. Helping the poor.

    4. Fasting during Ramadan.

    5. Pilgrimage to Mecca.

  • Belief in Peace and Submission: Islam means “peace” and “submission” to God.

Christianity

• Origin: Began 2,000 years ago in Palestine with the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

• Core Beliefs:

  • Monotheistic: Belief in one God who exists as the Holy Trinity—Father (God), Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit.

  • Sacred Text: Bible (including the Old Testament, shared with Judaism).

  • Key Doctrine: Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah, who will return to save God’s followers.

  • Moral Code: The Ten Commandments guide ethical behavior, condemning acts like theft, murder, and adultery.

Power

The ability to exercise one’s will over others

Authority

• Accepted power

• People agree to follow and listen to these figures because they feel the individuals are worthy of respect

Weber’s Three Types of Authority

• Traditional

• Charismatic

• Legal-Rationale

Traditional Authority

• Power is accepted because that has traditionally been the case

• People feel invested in the past and feel obligated to perpetuate it

• Ruler has no real force to carry out his will or maintain his position but depends primarily on the group’s respect.

• Can be intertwined with race, class, and gender

Patrimonialism

• Modern form of traditional authority where administration and military serve as personal tools of the ruler.

• Officials under patrimonial rule are appointed based on favoritism, have no inherent rights, and their privileges depend entirely on the ruler’s will.

Charismatic Authority

• People are drawn to the leader’s personal qualities

• Usually emerge in times of crisis, and offer innovative and radical solutions, and may even offer a vision of a new world order

• Tend to hold power for short durations because they are likely to be tyrannical as they are heroic

Rational-Legal Authority

• Power made legitimate by laws, written rules, and regulations

• Power is vested in a particular rationale, system, or ideology, and not necessarily in the person who implements the specifics of that doctrine

• A nation that follows a constitution

Anarchy

Absence of organized government

Monarchy

• A government in which a single person rules until he or she dies and abdicates the throne

• Monarch usually claims the rights to the title by way of hereditary succession or as a result of some sort of divine appointment or calling.

Absolute Monarchy

• Monarch has absolute or unmitigated power

• Middle East and Africa generally

Constitutional Monarchy

• Recognize monarchs who must follow a nation's constitution, limiting their political power.

• Countries like Great Britain and Canada have evolved from absolute monarchies, now led primarily by elected officials such as prime ministers.

• Modern monarchs persist mainly for their symbolic and ceremonial roles, which many people still value and enjoy.

Oligarchy

• Held by a small, elite group

• Members do not necessarily achieve their status based on ties to noble ancestry, rather they ascend to positions of power because of military, economic, or similar power circumstances.

• Word carries negative connotations and conjures notions of a corrupt group whose members make unfair policy decisions to maintain their privileged positions, so most countries do not identify as an oligarchy

• Oligarchies are difficult to dismantle, and they often limit opportunities for social mobility among the lower and middle classes.

• Some critics argue that modern democracies, like the U.S., function as oligarchies, due to the strong influence of corporations and wealthy individuals on politics.

• Decisions are made based on personal benefit rather than for the collective

Dictatorship

• Dictatorship concentrates power in a single person or small group with absolute authority over government and citizens.

• Dictators often suppress individual freedoms, using corruption, fear, and control to maintain power.

• Common tactics include military force, economic control, intimidation, and violence, making rebellion difficult.

• Many dictators begin as military leaders and are accustomed to using force against opposition.

• Some dictators rely on charisma, gaining followers who believe in their unique authority (e.g., Kim Jong-Il and Kim Jong-Un).

• Not all dictatorships follow a specific ideology—some are focused solely on preserving the leader’s control.

• No constitution

Totalitarian Dictatorship

• Totalitarian dictatorships are the most extreme, controlling all areas of life, including jobs, religion, and family size.

• Citizens in totalitarian states are often required to publicly show loyalty, such as by joining marches or demonstrations.

Democracy

• Democracy gives all citizens an equal voice, regardless of socioeconomic status, especially in voting and shaping policy.

• A just and comprehensive constitution outlines the roles and limits of both leaders and citizens.

• Basic rights in a democracy include the freedom to form political parties, vote in elections, speak freely, publish freely, assemble, and avoid unlawful imprisonment.

• Elected leaders are bound by constitutional rules, including limits on their power and term length.

• Laws and regulations in democracies should ideally reflect the will of the majority, though total individual freedom is still constrained by law.

Representative Democracy

Citizens elect officials who make decisions on their behalf at local, state, and federal levels.

State

A community that has a monopoly on the legitimate use of force within a territory

Federalism

Mode of government that aims to avoid a centralized powerful government, by separating the power sub-unit government (national, state, cities, counties, etc.)

Pros: Allows for diverse decisions, lessons bureaucracy for resources

Cons: More bureaucracy for citizens, unequal balance of power

Liberal/Left

• Government must intervene in the economy to make sure people are being treated equally

• All injustices against minorities need to be rectified so we can move forward as a nation

• Collective action; government needs to intervene more

Conservative/Right

• Government should allow free market to develop economy

• Must focus on strong values that built the nation

• Individual Liberty; Government should intervene less

Fascism

• Centers around extreme nationalism and an opposition democracy and liberalism

  • Revolves around a ruler who uses absolute power to suppress the individual freedom of citizens, making everyone completely subject to the power of the state