Sociology Exam 2

Definition of Culture (including class def.)

The sum of the social categories and concepts we embrace in addition to beliefs, behaviors (except instinctual ones), and practices; everything but the natural environment around us

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one’s own culture or group is superior to others and the tendency to view all other cultures from the perspective of one’s own

Material Culture

everything that is a part of our constructed, physical environment, including technology, chairs, etc.

Non-material culture

values, beliefs, behaviors, and social norms

Values

moral beliefs:

• culture affects us by shaping our values; an example of this process is how America’s individualistic culture encourages a belief in equal opportunity and the meritocracy

Norms

how values tell us to behave. Explicit and implicit rules

subculture

groups of people with similar behaviors, values and beliefs like goths with their eyeliner

Culture lag

The time gap between the appearance of a new technology and the words and practices that give it meaning

Culture shock

Doubt, confusion, or anxiety arising from immersion in an unfamiliar culture

code switching

To flip fluidly between two or more languages and sets of cultural norms to fit different cultural contexts

Language, meaning, and concepts

According to the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis in linguistics, the language we speak directly influences (and reflects) the way we think about and experience the world

Concepts such as race, gender, class, and inequality are part of our culture as well. In some cases, when opposing concepts come into contact, one will necessarily supplant the other

Ideology

A system of concepts and relationships; an understanding of cause and effect

cultural relativism

Taking into account the differences across cultures without passing judgment or assigning value

why is culture so powerful

it shapes our values, norms, and beliefs. Allows us to be part of something bigger than ourselves and give our lives meaning

cultural scripts

Modes of behavior and understanding that are not universal or natural

socialization

the process by which individuals internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of a given society and learn to function as members of that society

reflection theory

the idea that culture is a projection of social structures and relationships into the public sphere, which serves as a screen onto which the film of the underlying reality of social structures of society is projected

media

Any formats, platforms, or vehicles that carry, present, or communicate information

hegemony

The historical process in which a dominant group uses its power to elicit the voluntary “consent” of the masses

media life cycle

How the media reflect the culture in which they exist

How individuals and groups use the media as their own means to shape, redefine, and change culture

media effects

Short-term and deliberate: advertising

long-term and deliberate: a campaign

short-term and unintentional: violence in the media encourages violent behavior

long-term and unintentional: prejudices, stereotypes, desensitization to violence

stereotypes in the media

Racism in the media: Difference in wording in articles leading to the reinforcement of stereotypes. For example Black survivor “looting grocery store”, white survivor “finding bread and soda at store”. Another example, Time magazine was accused of darkening O. J. Simpson’s features in his arrest photo.

Sexism in the media: glamorizing and perpetuating unrealistic ideals of feminine beauty, publishing images of violence against women

key ideas from This Changes Everything documentary

Women in film are misrepresented and underrepresented. They are sexualized, taken advantage of, put aside, and often type cast into roles in need of saving.

Racism in the media

the media reinforces stereotypes towards people of color by creating misleading stories or titles. ex: a Black survivor in a hurricane is looting the store while the white survivor is finding bread and water.

sexism in the media

reinforces dangerous ideas about violence toward women while setting unrealistic expectations about appearance or what it means to be pretty.

consumerism

The steady acquisition of material possessions, often with the belief that happiness and fulfillment can thus be achieved

culture jamming

the act of turning media against themselves, the idea that media ads are a form of propaganda

limits of socialization

• socialization cannot explain everything about a person’s development and personality

• biology plays a key role in who a person is

• combination of biology and social interactions that makes us who we are

the social self

develops over time. we are unaware of how others view us as children because only we exist. Young children learn about me and other through social interaction and learning language. conversation between the “I” and “me”

“I” and “me”

I: one’s self of agency, action, or power

me: the self, a distinct object to be perceived by others (and by the I)

selfie activity takeaways

the “i” took the selfie

the image represents the “me”

Mead’s stages of social development

1. learning language: “I”, “me”, and “other”

2. Imitation: learn other people exist besides ourselves

3. Play: the distinction between self and other

4. Games: imagining how others see our move

Generalized other

an internalized sense of the total expectations of others in a variety of settings — regardless of whether we’ve encountered those people or places before. Developed through formal games

Agents of socialization (and examples)

primary groups: a limited number of people, allowing for face-to-face interaction, noninterchangeable

• ex: family

secondary groups: the group is impersonal, the group exists as a means to an end

• sports team

• labor union

Social class and family socialization

Middle-class parents: “concerted cultivation”

• they structure their children’s leisure time with formal activities and reason with them over decisions to foster their kids’ talent

working class and poor parents: “accomplishment of natural growth”

• they give their children the room and resources to develop but leave it up to the kids to decide how they want to structure their free time

adult socialization

socialization that occurs in adulthood as we take on new roles and jobs

resocialization

the process by which one’s sense of social values, beliefs, and norms are reengineered, often deliberately, through an intense social process

total institution

an institution in which one is totally immersed and that controls all the basics of day-to-day life

• convent

• prison

status

a position in society that comes with a set of expectations

roles

the behaviors expected from a particular status

role strain

clashing roles within ONE status

• a nurse conflicted by providing quality care and comfort and needing to keep up a fast, organized schedule

role conflict

roles of one status conflict w/ roles of another status

• when you are your friends boss and have to tell them they need to get back to work (conflict between role of friend and as boss)

status set

refers to all the statuses one holds simultaneously

ascribed status

is one we are born with that is unlikely to change

master status

a status that seems to override all others and affects all other statuses that he or she possesses

achieved status

one that we have earned through individual effort or that is imposed by others

gender roles

sets of behavioral norms assumed to accompany one’s status as masculine, feminine, or other

C.J. Pascoe’s work on policing boundaries of masculinity

argues that the use of the homosexual slur is used to police the boundaries of masculinity and not primarily about sexuality (in all boys school)

Social construction of reality

refers to how people give meaning or value to ideas or objects through social interactions

symbolic interactionism

a micro-level theory in which shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions form the basic motivations behind people’s actions

Dramaturgical theory

Goffman’s theory: the view of social life as essentially a theatrical performance, in which we are all actors on metaphorical stages, with roles, scripts, costumes, and sets

breaching experiments

Harold Garfinkel: a method for studying social interactions which involved having collaborators exhibit abnormal behaviors in social interactions to see how people would react

Dyad

a group of two

• intimate

• symmetry

• informal

• no collective influence

• consensus

Triad

group of three

• not dependent on any one particular member

• group can live on as dyad

• secrets

• no consensus

• power politics

mediator

a member of triad who attempts to resolve conflict between the two other actors in the group

tertius gaudens

a member of a triad who benefits from pre-existing conflict between the other two members of the group

divide et impera

a member of a triad who intentionally drives a (new) wedge between the other two actors in the group

Why group size alone can influence the social roles of each participant in a triad

as group size increases, the number of possible relationships increases as well

the more relationships there are in a group, the more likely it is that the group will be troubled by conflict or jealousy

small group

a group characterized by face-to-face interaction, a unifocal perspective, lack of formal arrangements or roles, and a certain level of equity

party

a group that is similar to a small group but is multifocal

large group

a group characterized by the presence of a formal structure that mediates interaction and, consequently status differentiation

secondary groups

groups marked by impersonal, instrumental relationships

group conformity

Although American culture tends to put a high value on individuality, our lives as Americans are marked by high levels of conformity. That is, groups have strong influences over individuals behavior

asch test

Test developed in the 1940s that shows how much people are influenced by the actions or norms of a group. Matched different sized lines to a single line

in-group

Another term for the powerful group, which is most often the majority

out-group

Another term for the stigmatized or less powerful group, which is generally the minority

reference group

A group that helps us understand or make sense of our position in society relative to other groups

social network

set of relations — essentially, a set of dyads — held together by ties between individuals

tie

the connection between two people in a relationship that varies in strength from one relationship to the next

weak tie

casual acquaintances or loose connections that are less similar to us and have access to different social circles

strong tie

close, meaningful relationships with people you interact with frequently, such as family and close friends

narrative

the sum of stories contained in a set of ties

embeddedness

the degree to which social relationships are reinforced through indirect ties

what are some advantages of weak ties

the notion that relatively weak ties often turn out to be quite valuable because they yield new information

what are some advantages of strong ties

less easily broken relationships, social cohesion, and mental health/ support

structural hole

A gap between network clusters, or even two individuals, if those individuals (or clusters) have complementary resources

social capital

the information, knowledge of people or things, and connections that help individuals enter, gain power in, or otherwise leverage social networks

analysis of Washington Post article: Connection between vaccine appointment/tips and social capital (is it more advantageous to have weak or strong ties based on this?)

weak ties

ex: the senior citizen who turned to his network of friends and fellow Jewish senior citizens in the Detroit suburbs who would send one another tips about appointment openings.

describe the in-class string activity

some students were given short strings representing the strong ties. at least one of the strings they gave had to go to another yellow member but they could not stand up or move around

other students had green, long strings, that represented weak ties. they could give their strings to anyone and could move around

What is the take away from the in-class string activity

that weak ties reach farther than strong ties, making them more advantageous when looking for certain opportunities, such as the interview

Why do weak ties often help us obtain information and resources we would not otherwise have?

weak ties increase our social capital, in turn opening us up to new opportunities and new information

How is a social structural (social network) explanation of advantage different from other explanations, such as those regarding employer bias, or differences in skill?

social structure, leveraging your social network to improve your situation. Other explanations include bias (employers are biased), skill (some people have less skill or education than others), attitudes of employees (some people don’t work as hard as others

Connection between weak ties and socio-economic status

higher income people tend to have more weak ties and higher income friends. This is a large class advantage that has little to do with their own efforts.

Network analysis in practice (examples)

the social structure of teenage sex:

• map out social relationships to better understand transmission phenomena

• can help promote safe sex practices, prevent STI’s

Interlocking directorates

members of corporate boards often sit on the board of directors for multiple companies

Social deviance

any transgression of socially established norms

Crime

involves the violation of laws, a kind of deviance that is apparently so offensive to society that has been codified into law

Functionalist approach to social control and deviance

social control is a way to keep society stable and deviance is a factor in that those who defy are punished. while deviance can be disruptive, it can also point out flaws in society

Social cohesion

refers to the way people form social bonds, relate to each other, and get along a day-to-day basis

Mechanical solidarity

social cohesion based on the sameness of society’s parts or members

Organic solidarity

social cohesion based on the differentness and interdependence of specialized parts or members

Punitive justice

focuses on making violators suffer and thus defines boundaries of acceptable behavior

Rehabilitative Justice

examines the specific circumstances of individual transgressors and attempts to find ways to rehabilitate them

Social control

the set of mechanisms that create normative compliance in individuals

Formal sanctions

rules or laws prohibiting deviant criminal behavior

informal sanctions

unspoken rules and expectations about the behavior of individuals

Social integration and how related to deviance

social integration is how well you are integrated into your social group or community; those not well integrated feel like outsiders, and this can lead to egoistic suicide, whereas those too well integrated can lead to altruistic suicide

Social regulation and how it related to deviance

how many rules guide your daily life or, more specifically, what you can expect from the world on a day-to-day basis;

insufficient social regulation —> anomic suicide,

too much —> fatalistic suicide

Strain theory

Robert Merton, argues that deviance occurs when a society fails to give all its members equal ability to achieve socially acceptable goals

Labelling theory and how related to symbolic interactionism

how people are described or labeled can influence their behavior and self-identity