SOC 102 Chapters 1-7, 9, 12-15

Capitalism

An economic system where individuals own the means of production

Socialism

An economic system where the means of production are publicly owned

Communism

A political theory derived from the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels that holds that property and the means of production should be publicly owned

In capitalistic societies

• A few enterprising individuals will hire others to do specialized work to create a product or service

• The product or service will be sold on a competitive market

• If the product or service is good, people will buy it, and shareholders will profit

Professions

Knowledge-based occupations

Knowledge Claim

The attempt to establish professional jurisdiction over a certain area of social life

Human Capital Theory

A theory that involves predicting income as a function of several variables, especially education levels

Integration

The process by which immigrants increasingly participate in mainstream institutions

Assimilation

The process which immigrants blend into a new society as a whole rather than just participate in its institutional structures

Workplace diversity is good for buisness

1. Most work is becoming team-focused

2. Business increasingly have diverse customers

3. Diversity trumps ability

4. Diversity programs in the workplace don’t usually work to increase diversity, because underlying attitudes of discrimination are not changed

Structural Unemployment

A lack of paid work due to socio-economic shifts in the labor market that affect all workers equally

Discriminatory Unemployment

A lack of paid work suffered disproportionately by certain groups of people, especially women or ethnic minorities

Importance of legally guaranteed parental leave

1. Women face systemic challenges throughout their working lives

2. If they’re only expected to take care of children, but the law makes it so that they’re the only ones who can stay at home when they’ve had a child, this constitutes one more systemic barrier to women’s participation in the workforce

Gender Wage Gap

The gap in wages between men and women

Social Problem

A social condition or pattern of behavior that’s believed to warrant public concern and collective action

Sociology is:

• The systematic study of societies

• Well-equipped to help us understand social problems

• Progressive: it believes in the possibility of social improvement

The Three Founders of Sociology

1. Karl Marx

2. Emile Durkheim

3. Max Weber

Wright Mills

Coined the terms social problems and the sociological imagination

Sociological Imagination

Is the ability to see connections between one’s life (micro-events) and the social world in which one lives (macro-events), and between personal or private troubles and public issues

Sociologists identify social structural conditions that:

• Create vulnerabilities

• Increase problem behaviors

Study links among social problems:

• To find ways to prevent them

• To control them at the source

Social Construction

A theory of knowledge that examines how individuals develop their knowledge and understanding of the world

The Thomas Dictum

When people define a situation as real, the situation is real in its effects

Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann

Coined the term “the social construction of reality”

The Social Construction of Reality

A sociological theory of knowledge that explains the subjective aspects of reality

Claims-Making

The promotion of a particular moral vision of social life and, thus, anything people do to propagate a view of who or what is a problem and what should be done about it

Moral Panic

The process of arousing of social concern over an issue — usually the work of moral entrepreneurs and mass media

Ideas

These are inventions of particular societies, therefore a social constructionist study of social problems looks at key social institutions (e.g., politics, media, etc.) to understand a society’s beliefs, perceptions, and power structures

The Enlightenment

• Encouraged scientific discovery

• Gathering evidence and concluding that evidence

Objective Elements

The measurable features of a harmful social condition

Subjective Elements

People’s views or evaluations of reality and the factors that influence their evaluations

Qualitative Research

• Mainly doesn’t rely on numbers and numerical measurement

• Data often seem more realistic than quantitative data

• Useful for developing new theories

• Researchers assume that reality is complex and dynamic

Quantitative Research

• Researchers focus on finding data that will yield generalizable results

Crime Severity Index

The amount of crime reported by police and the relative seriousness

Violent Crime Severity Index

Number and weight of most severe violent crimes (murder, attempted murder, level 3 assaults, and armed robbery)

Frontal Assault

A pledge to eliminate or erase a problem by erasing the causes of the problem

Deep Excavation

Trying to solve a social problem by reducing or removing causes

Harm Reduction

Acknowledging that it is not posslbe to eliminate a social problem, therefore the focus is on reducing its physical and psychological risks/harmspossible

Meritocratic Society

A society that holds all individuals to the same standard of achievement

Economic Equality

Income and wealth differences among individuals, groups, and nations

A strong relationship between economic inequality and:

• 1. Health problems

• 2. Educational problems

• 3. Housing problems

• 4. Mental health challenges

• 5. Crime rates

Systemic Inequality

Unequal outcomes built into our institutions that produce and reproduce inequality

Quintile

A group of totaling 100 divided into 5 equal groups

Social Determinants of Health:

• Income

• Social status

• Social networks

• Education

• Employment

• Social environment

Gini Coefficient

A statistical tool that measures variation or inequality in a set of values (0.00 means full equality, 1.00 means full inequality)

Who bears the burden of poverty in Canada according to Raphael, 2011:

• Aboriginal Canadians

• Women

• Unattached adults

• People of color

• Recent immigrants to Canada

• People with disabilities

Social Mobility

The movement of people from one social class to another

Absolute Poverty

When individuals or families don’t have enough of the basic requirements for living like food, shelter, and access to healthcare

Relative Poverty

When individuals or families can survive on their very low income, but their standard is below the general living standards for society

Low Income Cut-Off (LICO)

A method of measuring poverty that focuses on the income required for daily necessities

Low Income Measure (LIM)

A method of measuring poverty that compares daily income to family size

Income

How much money someone earns

Wealth

The vale of all of someone’s assets, minus their debts

Factors contributing to the rich getting richer:

• 1. Automation

• 2. Globalization

• 3. Shareholder Greed

• 4. Decline of Labor Unions

Automation

A workerless manufacturing system

Globalization

Creates patterns of consumption, consumerism, and lifestyles that are similar around the world

Shareholder Greed

People who invest in business pressure for maximum profits

Decline of Labor Unions

Less protections on the rights of workers

Who is more likely to live in poverty?

• Younger people

• Those with less education (particularly less than high school)

• Single parents

• Recent immigrants

• People living on a fixed income

Impacts of Poverty

• Increased risks of crime, violence, alcohol, and substance use 

• Poor health outcomes

• Inadequate housing

• Poor nutrition

• Higher stress level

Poverty is typically concentrated geographically in cities creating a

Spatialization to poverty

Pathways to homelessness:

• A housing crisis

• A family breakdown

• Substance abuse

• Mental health issues

• A difficult transition from adolescence to adulthood

Living Wage

The hourly rate at which a household can meet its basic needs once government transfers have been added to the family’s income and deductions substracted

Desmond, M. (2016): Poverty and Profit in American Cities:

• An ethnographic study of poor living convictions and the trauma of experiencing eviction

• Eviction and homelessness are both a cause and a symptom of poverty

• The American rental exploits the poor

• Eviction affects the mental health, educational outcomes, and self-esteem of children

• Homeless and eviction have racialized and gendered components

Master Status

Trumps other characteristics that form one’s identity

Race

A social construction that is used to distinguish between groups of people based on physical characteristics

Ethnicity

A shared cultural heritage among a group of people

Minority Group

People other than Indigenous people, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in color

Racism

The belief that individuals of particular “races” have defining characteristics and qualities, which are used to distinguish them as either inferior or superior to members of other “races”

Racialization

A process by which some groups and their activities come to be defined based on biological characteristics

Race is based on

• Hair

• Skin

• Facial features

• Body

Ethnicity is based on

• Language

• Religion

• Customs

• Traditions

• Foods

Culture is comprised of unique

Dress, language, behavioral norms, food, tools, beliefs, and folklore

Culture

A set of values and practices that frames people’s lives

Racial Profiling

The discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual’s perceived race or ethnicity

Carding

The process of requesting official forms of identification from individuals by the police

Push Factors

Conditions and circumstances that drive immigrants away from their home country

Pull Factors

Attractive conditions that draw immigrants to a new country

Internal Migration

Driven by rural-urban, seasonal, or planned motivators

International Migration

Driven by voluntary or involuntary reasons

Protected Persons

A person who has been determined to be either a Canadian refugee or a person in need of protection

Barriers upon arrival when migrating

1. Jobs are more readily available in some parts of the country than others

2. Second-generation immigrants have an easier time adapting 

3. The “race” of the immigrant, particularly racialized peoples, experience stigma, racism, and other challenges

Disporas

The dispersal of any group of people throughout the world

Group Affinity

The formation of a group based on similarities or shared interests

Ethnic Enclaves

A geographical area with a higher concentration of people of similar descent

Institutional Completeness

When an ethnic group can carry out most of their daily activities (education, faith practices, media, financial transactions, etc.) within their ethnic group

Institutional Prejudice

Biases that are built into the operation of social institutions

Neighborhood Effect

Individuals, especially children, are greatly influenced by their environment

Intersectionality Theory

An individual’s unique experience of marginalization is made up of several factors

Systemic Racism

Similar offenses are systemically punished differently, based on the person’s race

Social Distance

Feelings of aloofness and unapproachability felt between members of different social strata or different ethnic or racial origins

Xenophobia

Fear of “the other”

Sex

The biological distinction between male and female

Gender

Refers to the social psychosocial attributes humans use to categorize each other as “male,” “female,” or “non-binary”

Gender Inequality

Unfair treatment based on a person’s gender

Gender Identity

A state of being, not a conscious choice

Transgender

A term to describe individuals who cross socially accepted gender codes through appearance, behavior, and natural biology

Gender Dysphoria

A person experiences distress due to a mismatch between their biological sex and gender identity

Process of Socialization

Experiences that inform how we engage with others and how we come to learn our place and expectations and teenage years

Socialization occurs in four main places:

• Home

• School

• With peers

• Through the media