Sociology CLEP- Perspectives and Theories

Social Functionalism

Social structure as a whole.
Actions serve a functional purpose

Conflict Theory

Differences in power result in social institutions or social stratification

Symbolic Interactionism

Society is based on symbols.
Constantly in a state of change

Ethnocentrism

Judge others by the standards of your own culture

Sociological Imagination

Insight that is given by understanding interactions in sociology

Interpretive Sociology

a.k.a verstehen
Study of how people associate meanings to their interactions and communication with other people.
Ex) A wave can mean different things in different cultures

Versetehen

Placing yourself in someone else's shoes
- MAX WEBER

Gemeinschaft

Close group of people with similar morals or goals and willing to sacrifice for sake of the group

Gesselschaft

Indiv. places themselves first

Egalitarian

Equal opportunities and rights

Actions vs Agency

The 2 primary influcencers of human behavior
Actions - act independently
Agency - Social and environmental structure limiting a persons actions

Social Theories

Viewpoints or perspectives that sociologists use to analyze interactions

Positivism

AUGUSTE COMTE
- Indiv. rights are more important that the rule of any one person
- Free will

Interactionism

GEORGE MEAD
- Human interaction produces meaning

Conflict Theory View on Stratification

People who have power will exploit others, causing social classes

Functionalism Conformity

Cooperation is necessary
- Accept social roles

False Consciousness

Base Material and institutional processes in capitalist societies are misleading to the working class

Voluntary Association

Indivs. volunteer to accomplish a purpose

Folkways

Customs and norms regarding proper social behavior

Linguistic Relativity

Viewpoints differ alongside language

Social institution

Structure or mechanism that governs the behavior of a group of individuals

Mass media

Requires an audience

Conformity

Acceptance of decisions of your peers, despite possible negative influences
Stanley Milgram - Going along with your peers is this

Milgram Experiments

Patients continued to falsely shock another participant in the study whenever a wrong answer was given

Disengagement Theory

ELAINE CUMMING AND WARREN HENRY
- How individuals leave society

Gender

How a person or culture defines you

Law of Effect

Causal relationships between actions and positive and negative effects
EDWARD THORNDIKE
Connectionism - mental or behavioral phenomena is the emergent process of interconnected networks of simple units

General ‘Others’

General expectations of people with a society