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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
Most work is becoming team-focused
Business increasingly have diverse customers
Diversity trumps ability
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
Women face systemic challenges throughout their working lives
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
Karl Marx
Emile Durkheim
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
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