Sociology Exam Prep: Deviance, Institutions, Gender, Race, and Inequality

Vocabulary practice flashcards generated from Introduction to Sociology lecture slides covering deviance, social institutions, gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, and social inequality.

Deviance

A behavior, feeling, value, thought, belief, trait, or other characteristic that violates a norm and causes a negative reaction.

Structural Strain Theory

Robert Merton's functionalist theory stating that an individual's experience of deviance depends on their location within the social structure, categorizing adaptations into innovators, ritualists, retreatists, and rebels.

Differential Association Theory

Edwin Sutherland's symbolic interactionist theory proposing that individuals learn to be deviant through their interactions with others who break rules.

Labeling Theory

Howard Becker's symbolic interactionist theory asserting that deviance is determined by social context rather than the act itself, encompassing primary, secondary, and tertiary deviance.

Tertiary Deviance

The process within labeling theory where a stigmatized individual attempts to redefine their stigma or rule-breaking trait into something positive.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

A prediction or expectation that causes itself to become true merely by being stated.

Stigma

A physical or social attribute widely viewed as an insurmountable handicap that prevents competent or morally trustworthy behavior.

Passing

A stigma management strategy where a person conceals discrediting information and presents themselves as a member of a non-stigmatized group.

Deviance Avowal

The process in which an individual initiates the labeling process against themselves or provokes others to label them as deviant.

Foreground Model of Deviance

Jack Katz's approach to deviance that focuses on the immediate emotional and visceral experience of the social actor in the moment of rule-breaking.

Crime

A specific type of deviance defined as violating a norm that has been formally codified into law.

Deterrence

An approach to punishment built on the assumption that the threat or experience of punishment will prevent future criminal behavior.

Retribution

An approach to crime that emphasizes retaliation and appropriate punishment proportional to the offense.

Incapacitation

A crime control strategy aimed at confining offenders to protect society from future harm.

Rehabilitation

An approach to criminal justice asserting that correctional systems should focus on reforming criminals rather than strictly punishing them.

Social Institutions

Systems and structures within society that shape the activities of groups and individuals by focusing on basic social needs and organization.

Politics

Methods and tactics intended to influence government policy, policy-related attitudes, and civic activities.

Government

The formal organized agency that exercises power and control in modern society, primarily through the creation and enforcement of laws.

Power

The ability to impose one's will on others regardless of resistance.

Authority

The legitimate and normatively recognized right to wield power.

Authoritarianism

A system of government ruled by a small group of elites that excludes ordinary citizens from political representation.

Dictatorship

A type of authoritarian government where rulers seize power absolute authority without democratic elections or traditional succession.

Totalitarianism

An extreme form of government in which the state attempts to control every aspect of public and private life.

Monarchy

A system of government ruled by a king or queen with political succession maintained within a single family line.

Democracy

A political system in which all citizens hold the right to participate in governance and elect representatives.

Pluralist Model

A theory of political power proposing that a wide variety of groups have equal access to power mechanisms and resources through checks and balances.

Power Elite Model

A theory proposing that power is concentrated in a small, influential elite class occupying top leadership across economic, political, and military systems.

Special Interest Groups

Organizations formed to raise and spend money to influence elected officials and shape public opinion.

Political Action Committees (PACs)

Organizations established to raise funds in support of specific candidates, political parties, or legislative interests.

Education

The institutional process by which society transmits knowledge, values, and expectations to its members so they can function effectively.

Tracking

The practice of placing students into specific educational programs or tracks that determine the level and nature of classes they take.

Hidden Curriculum

The unwritten values, behaviors, and norms that students learn indirectly through the organizational structure of schooling.

Charter Schools

Public schools operated by private entities to offer alternatives to conventional school district governance.

Vouchers

Government payments issued directly to parents to help pay for private school tuition when public schools are deemed failing.

Unschooling

A self-directed alternative to traditional homeschooling that discards standard academic curricula in favor of student-initiated exploration.

Religiosity

The measure of regular practice of religious beliefs, evaluated through frequency of attendance at services and subjective personal importance.

Extrinsic Religiosity

An individual's public display of commitment and adherence to a religious faith.

Intrinsic Religiosity

An individual's internal spiritual life or personal relationship to the divine.

Sex

An individual's categorization as male or female based on biological factors including chromosomes, hormones, and reproductive organs.

Intersex

A condition in which an individual possesses biological sex characteristics or chromosomes that are neither exclusively male nor female.

Gender

The social, physical, behavioral, and personality traits that a culture considers appropriate or normal for its members.

Gender Identity

A deeply held personal sense of self as male, female, or another gender position.

Gender Nonconforming

Gender identity or expression that differs from societal expectations associated with traditional gender roles.

Essentialist Perspective

The view that gender is an immutable, biological, unambiguous two-category system completely independent of culture.

Constructivist Perspective

The sociological perspective viewing gender as a social construct where binary categories are not the sole method of classification.

Kinsey Scale

A conceptualization of sexual orientation demonstrating that human sexuality exists along a spectrum rather than rigid categories.

Queer Theory

A social theory rejecting rigid, restrictive classifications of gender and sexual identity in favor of recognizing fluidity and difference.

Gender Role Socialization

The lifelong process through which individuals learn cultural norms and behaviors associated with masculinity and femininity.

Patriarchy

A social or institutional system structured around male dominance and power.

Sexism

The belief that one sex—typically male—is inherently superior to another.

Microaggressions

Everyday subtle verbal or nonverbal communications that convey dismissive or denigrating messages to members of marginalized groups.

Instrumental Role

Talcott Parsons's term for the family role focused on providing material support, authority, and task-oriented leadership.

Expressive Role

Talcott Parsons's term for the family role focused on providing emotional support, nurturing, and caretaking.

Race

A socially defined category based on real or perceived biological differences between human groups.

Ethnicity

A socially defined category based on shared cultural traits such as language, religion, nationality, or history.

Minority Group

A category of people systematically denied equal access to power and resources compared to a society's dominant group.

Racism

An ideology or set of beliefs asserting the superiority of one racial or ethnic group over another to justify inequality.

Prejudice

A rigid, prejudged belief or idea about a group applied universally to all members regardless of evidence.

Discrimination

Unequal or unfair treatment of individuals based on their membership in a social group, usually driven by prejudice.

Institutional Discrimination

Systematic and widespread discriminatory policies and practices built into institutions that disadvantage whole groups.

Privilege

Unearned social advantages and rights granted to members of dominant social groups.

Colorblind Racism

An ideology that disregards race as an explanation for unequal treatment, often obscuring systemic inequality.

Race Consciousness

An ideology that explicitly acknowledges race as a social construct shaping individual experiences and structural inequality.

Cultural Appropriation

The adoption of cultural elements belonging to an oppressed group by a dominant group without permission, often for gain.

Genocide

The deliberate and systematic destruction or extermination of a racial, ethnic, national, or cultural group.

Population Transfer

The forced removal of a specific group of people from a territory they inhabit.

Settler Colonialism

The exploitation and dominant control of a minority population within the dominant group's national borders.

Segregation

The legal and physical separation of social groups based on race or ethnicity.

Assimilation

The process by which a minority group is absorbed into and adopts the culture of the dominant group.

Pluralism

A pattern of intergroup relations that encourages racial and ethnic variation and mutual acceptance within society.

Social Stratification

The division of society into ranked hierarchical groups based on social categories like wealth, race, age, and gender.

Social Inequality

The unequal distribution of wealth, power, or prestige among members of a society.

Intersectionality

A conceptual framework evaluating how multiple categories of inequality (such as race, class, and gender) intersect to shape lived experiences.

Bourgeoisie

Karl Marx's term for the capitalist class that owns the means of production.

Proletariat

Karl Marx's term for the working class that sells its labor power to survive.

Wealth

Max Weber's concept defining total economic assets including income, property, and investments.

Prestige

The social honor, respect, or status granted to individuals based on group membership or occupation.

Everyday Class Consciousness

An individual's personal awareness of their own social status and that of others in routine daily interactions.

Social Reproduction

Pierre Bourdieu's concept describing the stability of social classes across generations as status is transmitted from parents to children.

Cultural Capital

Pierre Bourdieu's term for the tastes, habits, expectations, skills, and knowledge that afford social advantages.

Social Mobility

The movement of individuals or groups between different hierarchical positions within a social stratification system.

Relative Deprivation

A comparative state of poverty defined by living below the standard of living of other members in one's society.

Absolute Deprivation

An extreme state of poverty where individuals lack basic resources necessary for survival, such as food, shelter, and medical care.

Culture of Poverty

Oscar Lewis's theory proposing that impoverished populations develop a fatalistic mindset and distinct lifestyle that persists across generations.

Just World Hypothesis

The cognitive bias leading people to believe that society is inherently fair and that victims of social injustice deserve their fate.

Primary Deviance

The initial act of nonconformity or rule-breaking that occurs before an individual is publicly identified or labeled.

Secondary Deviance

Rule-breaking behavior that develops as a response to being publicly labeled, stigmatized, and treated as an outsider.

Social Control

The formal and informal mechanisms, norms, and laws used by society to regulate individual and group behavior.

Innovators

In Merton's strain theory, individuals who accept culturally approved goals but use non-traditional or illegal means to achieve them.

Ritualists

In Merton's strain theory, individuals who give up on achieving cultural goals while continuing to strictly follow societal rules and routines.

Retreatists

In Merton's strain theory, individuals who reject both societal goals and the accepted means to attain them, dropping out of society.

Rebels

In Merton's strain theory, individuals who reject prevailing societal goals and means, seeking to replace them with an entirely new social order.

Caste System

A closed system of social stratification in which individual status is permanently determined at birth by heredity.

Intergenerational Mobility

Changes in social class status that occur across different generations within a family.

Intragenerational Mobility

Changes in social class position that take place within a single individual's lifetime.

Structural Mobility

Mass social movement up or down the status ladder caused by broad shifts in the overall economy and society.

Symbolic Identity

An ethnic identity that is displayed only on specific occasions without significantly affecting routine daily living.

Situational Identity

An ethnic identity that can be selectively emphasized or concealed based on the specific social setting.

Individual Discrimination

Negative or unfair treatment carried out by one person directly against another based on group membership.

Embodied Identities

Aspects of personal identity generated through how others perceive and interpret an individual's physical traits.