Sociology Exam 2

define social structure

ordering of behavior and relationships in relatively predictable patterns

status

the position title

role

the expectations for behavior attached to the status

master status

cuts across multiple statuses: can't seem to shake it

people perceive it before anything else, even if that's not your primary status for that setting (e.g., disabled doctor)

status inconsistency

incongruent statuses that defy role expectations

(e.g., female commander, elderly student)

institution

def: a principal social structure that organizes, directs, and executes the essential tasks of living

encompasses cultural patterns and social structure

institutions have a set of...

roles

values

norms

*exists and is recognized independently of particular people occupying, performing, or upholding roles, values, and norms

institution vs group

unlike a group, which consists of people, an institution consists of ACTIONS

what is culture?

-totality of learned behavior

-shared ways of doing things

-is a "way of life"

-symbols, achievements, artifacts, values

material vs non-material

symbols and artifacts

versus

language and values

real vs ideal

real: not everyone's culture holds up to the "ideal" for the culture

ideal: what we think is the mainstream norm for everyone

*can have cultural lag where the ideal doesn't catch up with reality

components of culture

norms and values

norms

expectations for behavior

what are the different types of norms?

folkways

a custom that has light sanctions if you disobey it

e.g., to wear a tie to dinner

mores

more deeply held belief

when you violate it, people are much more offended

often can have laws written about this

e.g., to go naked to dinner

taboos

laws

e.g., to kill someone

values

what the culture holds in high esteem

-do not specify behavior

-different norms can be based on same value

norm vs value example

norm: brushing teeth everyday

value: cleanliness, physical appearance

subculture

subset of mainstream culture that does not go against mainstream values/norms

e.g., amish, motorcyclists

counterculture

founded for the purpose of rejecting dominant cultural values/norms

e.g., hippies of 1960s

culture shock

the difficulty people have adjusting to a new culture that differs markedly from their own

ethnocentrism

a point a view in which one's own group is the center of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it

cultural relativism

viewing the behavior of people from the perspective of their own culture; seeing traits by the role they play in the culture in question

sociologists strive for this in their research

cultural capital

embodied: accents, etiquette, language, mannerisms, interests you are able to discuss

objectified: the art on your wall, the make/model of car you drive, the type of beer you drink

institutionalized: titles, awards, honors, exclusive club

culture industry

popular culture encourages audiences to passively consume rather than participating or engaging creatively with the work

cultural appropriation

-taking elements of another's culture without attribution, contextualization, or consent

-often appropriating is done by a privileged group, taking elements of a subordinated group's culture

-appropriation is usually exploitative, gives narrow/skewed/inaccurate info about the culture, can even reinforce stereotypes

-if members of the group get ridiculed for wearing/practicing this aspect of the culture, yet you get acclaim/attention, you're probably appropriating

cultural appreciation

-indulging in aspects of another's culture after careful study, including and crediting those who are part of the culture, and obtaining approval

-involving those who are part of the culture you are representing, allowing them to share in profit, is ideal

deviance

violation of cultural norms

3 types of norms

mores, folkways, laws

norms vary by...

culture, time, place, actor, audience

*what is deviant to one culture may not be to another

we can tell whether something is deviant by the level of sanction it receives in society

statistical deviance vs social deviance

types of sanctions

formal or informal, prohibitive (negative) or proscriptive (positive)

functions of deviance

-strengthens solidarity and unity

-identifies and clarifies moral code

-catalyst for social change (ex. civil disobedience)

-provides jobs

dysfunctions of deviance

-interferes with group life

-erodes societal trust

-diverts valuable resources

symbolic interactionism on deviance

-deviance is the product of social interaction communicated through symbols and meanings assigned by actors

-differential association and labeling theory are two examples of symbolic interactionist approaches to deviance

differential association theory

deviant and criminal behavior results from associating with people with attitudes favorable to deviant or criminal behavior

the greater the association with people whose behavior is deviant, the greater the likelihood that own behavior will be deviant

depends on frequency, intensity, length, and chronology of relationships

labeling theory

primary deviance --> label (stigma) --> interactive process over time --> secondary deviance

self-fulfilling prophecy

Revitalizing Vinyl Context reading key concepts

conspicuous consumption, legitimation, norm, value

Stealing Potato Chips Context reading key concepts

community cultural wealth, deviant politics, labeling theory, organic capital, resistance identities

Framing Drug Epidemics Context reading key concepts

criminalization, gentler drug war, medicalization, resilient institutions

socioeconomic status (SES)

income, occupational status/prestige, and education

How are income and wealth distributed in the US?

wealth is more unevenly distributed than income

people generally think both are much more evenly distributed than they actually are

Has the gap between the rich and the poor in the US increased or decreased in the last 2-3 decades?

increased

Is the gap between the rich and the poor in the US bigger or smaller here than it is in many other democratic/capitalist/industrialized nations in the world?

bigger

*South Africa has the biggest gap between rich/poor in the world

reasons for increased inequality

-technology

-deindustrialization/decline of manufacturing

-globalization

-government politics (lack of progressive tax system, declining value of minimum wage)

mobility in US today

at the height of industrialization, it was not uncommon for US young adults to experience upward mobility relative to their parents, but this is no longer the norm

the most common pattern today is NO mobility

majority of adults stay in similar SES level to their families origin

intergenerational wealth transmission

people who are born into money are already on "first base" and have a leg up on those in the "batter's box"

meritocratic ideology

anyone who works hard can make it if they try

implies that people who aren't rich weren't working hard

implies people who are rich work hard

neglects structural factors and is overly individualistic

individual explanation of poverty (NOT sociological)

people who are poor don't want to work

cultural explanation of poverty

idea that poverty is learned in communities

solutions from this perspective are mentoring programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters or other ways to transfer cultural capital, teach interviewing skills etc.

still assumes the jobs are there for the taking

structural explanation of poverty (macro)

governmental policies that favor corporations, corporate welfare & tax breaks, make it easy for companies to relocate jobs overseas, shelter their profits in offshore accounts, not share w/ workers

CEOs paid hundreds times more than workers, wealth doesn't trickle down

student debt crisis makes hard to invest in better training

causes of poverty

-labor market

-growing gap between rich and poor

-wages stagnating for those with lower education

-TANF does not help to accumulate wealth or raise families out of poverty, it just manipulates

-children have highest poverty rates (20% of US children live in poverty)

consequences of poverty

children who grow up poor are more likely to:

-perform worse in school

-drop out of highschool, have lower educational attainment

-(girls) have a teen birth

-(boys) be incarcerated

-live in poverty as adults

-receive government assistance as adults

-have connection to the child welfare system

-have worse health and shorter life expectancy

What are policies to reduce inequality?

-increase minimum wage

-expand earned income tax credit

-build assets for low income Americans

-invest in education

-make tax code more progressive

-end racial segregation

race

-is NOT a skin color

-it is a social construct

-a classification system that shifts over time, place, society

-often based on phenotype or ancestry (but sometimes other factors)

ethnicity

perceived cultural similarities

nationality (e.g. Haitian, French)

religion (e.g., Jewish, Muslim)

ethnicity vs race

ethnicity

-an ethnic group is often tied to a particular cultural heritage, language, and/or national origin

in the US, typically several different ethnic groups are combined into one single category of "race"

-one's ethnicity is tied to one's family or nation of origin and the customs one practices

-one can have "thick" or "thin" ethnicity depending on how much salience that identity has in one's daily life and behaviors

race

-race is a newer human invention (1800s) created with the onset of colonialism and capitalism

-race is pseudo-scientific category with social, political, economic, legal realities/consequences

-according to behavioral science, there is only one race --> human (homo sapien)

-differences we see, we have been trained to see & are genetically superficial

dominant/majority

holds majority of share of power and resources, and greatest life chances in society

subordinated/minority

holds minority of share of power and resources, and lower life chances in society than dominant group

prejudice

attitudinal

-making a "preconceived" assumption about an individual based on his/her perceived group membership (can be "positive" or negative)

discrimination

behavioral

-acting to exclude an individual based on his/her perceived group membership

external influences on individual behavior

can be an unprejudiced discriminator

("fair weather liberal")

can also be a prejudiced non-discriminator

("timid bigot")

defining racism/sexism

system that advantage/privileges the dominant/majority group in society

prejudice points fingers at "bias"; racism widens our lens to the "unintentional"

prejudice

-intentional

-individual

-exclusionary

racism

-impact/effect (rather than intent)

-societal/systemic (rather than individual-blaming)

-advantages/privilege (focus is on the "benefit of the doubt" dominant group gets, rather than the intentional exclusion of others)