UCSP - Topics to Review

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards generated from the Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics (UCSP) review notes.

Society

A group of people who share a common culture and interact with one another.

Culture

The embodiment of a society's way of life.

Material Culture

Physical objects and tangible artifacts.

Non-Material Culture

Ideas, beliefs, norms, and other intangible elements.

Socialization

The process through which individuals learn and internalize the values and norms of their culture and society.

Politics

The complex relationships of people living in a society; it includes power and leadership.

Sociology

The study of social relationships and behavior in society.

Auguste Comte

Father of Sociology who coined the term Sociology and believed society should be studied using the scientific method.

Anomie

A state of normlessness or a breakdown of social rules and values in society.

Sociological Imagination

The ability to link personal troubles to wider social challenges or issues, associated with C. Wright Mills.

C. Wright Mills

Sociologist associated with the concept of the Sociological Imagination.

Social Facts

Phenomena in society that are already accepted, such as values, norms, and structures, which exist outside the individual and have a reality of their own.

Societal Social Facts

Behaviors shaped by society, such as following traffic rules, respecting elders, and wearing school uniforms.

Emile Durkheim

Father of Modern Sociology who established sociology as an independent academic discipline and believed social facts shape individual behavior.

Structural Functionalism

Theory associated with Emile Durkheim asserting that society is a system of interconnected parts that work as one, where institutions are vital to the whole society.

Conflict Theory

Theory stating that society is always in a constant state of conflict as groups compete for limited resources.

Karl Marx

Sociologist associated with Conflict Theory and Historical Materialism.

Bourgeoisie

The capitalist/owning class.

Proletariat

The working class.

Physical Anthropology

A sub-discipline of anthropology focusing on human adaptation and biological evolution.

Cultural Anthropology

A sub-discipline of anthropology focusing on how humans developed culture.

Linguistic Anthropology

A sub-discipline of anthropology focusing on language and its evolution.

Archaeology

A sub-discipline of anthropology using artifacts or material evidence to reconstruct the past.

Virtual Network

A web of online connections built through digital platforms such as social media, forums, and online communities.

Social Role

The set of behaviors, duties, and expectations that come with a person's social status.

Reference Group

A group people use as a standard for evaluating themselves.

Power

The ability to influence or outright control the behavior of people.

Charles Cooley

Associated with the Looking Glass Self: the idea that we form our self-image based on how we think others see us.

Franz Boas

Known as the Father of American Anthropology.

Enculturation

Learning your own culture from birth.

Acculturation

Adopting some traits of another culture while keeping your own.

Assimilation

Fully replacing your culture with another one.

Deviance

Any behavior that goes against social norms or expectations; it does not always mean crime.

Robert K. Merton

Developed Strain Theory and the Deviance Typology.

Conformity

A type of deviance response where one accepts goals and approved means.

Innovation

A type of deviance response where one accepts goals but uses illegal means.

Ritualism

A type of deviance response where one rejects goals but follows the means.

Retreatism

A type of deviance response where one rejects both goals and means.

Rebellion

A type of deviance response where one rejects existing goals and means and creates new ones.

Social Control

The practice of preventing deviant behavior and changing a person's behavior to conform to acceptable ways of society.

Social Structure

The organized pattern of relationships, roles, and institutions that shape how people interact in a society.

Formal Structure

Planned, official, and organized; it has written rules, laws, or policies and defines clear roles, authority, and responsibilities.

Informal Structure

Unwritten and unofficial; it is based on personal relationships and shaped by traditions, customs, values, and norms.

Herbert Blumer

Associated with Symbolic Interactionism: people interpret each other's actions instead of merely reacting to an action.

Symbolic Interactionism

A theoretical perspective stating human social interactions are a continuous process of interpretation, assigning meaning, and responding to signals in the social environment, where people act based on how they understand the meaning of symbols.

Ascribed Status

A social status earned at birth.

Achieved Status

A social status earned through effort.