SOC 1001 Midterm

Social Construct

an idea or practice that a group of people agree exists

Social Order

result of norms internalized through socialization

Social Change

historical transformation that is constantly occurring

Key Questions in Sociology

social construction, social order, agency and structure, social change

Émile Durkheim

main dynamic of modern development is the division of labor as a basis for social cohesion and organic solidarity

Karl Marx

main dynamic of modern development is the expansion of capitalism

Max Weber

main dynamic of modern development is the rationalization of social and economic life

Social Facts (Durkheim)

aspects of social life that shape individual’s actions

Organic Solidarity (Durkheim)

social cohesion resulting from various parts of society functioning as an integrated whole (modern times)

Mechanical Solidarity (Durkheim)

social cohesion resulting from common values and beliefs (historical times)

Social Constraint (Durkheim)

conditioning influences on individual behavior from the groups and societies of which they are a part of

Socialization (Durkheim)

social processes through which children develop an awareness of social norms and values and achieve a distinct sense of self

Life Course (Durkheim)

various transitions and stages people experience during their lives (Child, Teenager, Young Adult, Midlife Adult, Elderly)

Primary Socialization (Durkheim)

socialization from infancy to early childhood

Secondary Socialization (Durkheim)

socialization from early childhood through adult life

George Herbert Mead

developed concepts of socialization such as the significant other vs the generalized other

Generalized Other (Mead)

concept in which the individual comes to understand the general values of a given group or society during the socialization process

Agents of Socialization

family, school, peers, mass media, work

The Social Self

basis of consciousness in human individuals (aka self consciousness)

Race Socialization

specific verbal and nonverbal messages that older generations transmit to younger generations regarding the meaning and significance of race

Quantitative Methods

draws on objective and statistical data while often focusing on documenting trends, comparing subgroups, or exploring correlations

Qualitative Methods

relies on personal and/or collective interviews, accounts, or observations of a person or situation

Main Methods of Sociological Research

ethnography, surveys, experiments, comparative historical research

Objectivist Approach (Quantitative)

includes positivism, variable-based analysis, realism, social structure, individual level, transcendent knowledge, demographers

Subjectivist Approach (Qualitative)

includes interpretation, narrative, constructivism, culture, emergent level, situated knowledge, interviews, historians

Explanatory Variables

independent variable is the presumed cause and the dependent variable is the presumed effect

Social Interweaving (Elias)

“The individual always exists, on the most fundamental level, in relation to others, and this relation has a particular structure specific to his society”

Nature vs Nuture

most sociologists acknowledge a role for nature in determining attitudes and behavior but they don’t assume that all behavior is governed by instinct

Instinct

fixed patterns of behavior that have genetic origins and that appear in all normal animals within a given species

Charles Horton Cooley

argued that the notions we develop about ourselves reflect our interpretations of how others see us

The Looking Glass Self (Cooley)

the reactions we elicit in social situations create a mirror in which we see ourselves

Collective Effervescence (Durkheim)

a community or society may come together to engage in a shared purpose which creates feelings of energy and harmony (concerts, football games, cultural ceremonies)

The Sacred (Durkheim)

includes objects, rituals, symbols, and uncommon beliefs and creates a feeling of oneness where individuals transcend normal singular experience

The Profane (Durkheim)

includes things common to all and the utilitarian part of our lives

Norms

rules of conduct that specify appropriate behavior in a given range of social situations, either prescribe a given type of behavior or forbid it and are backed by sanctions of some kind, varying from informal disapproval to physical punishment

Types of Norms

folkways, mores, laws

Sanctions

modes of reward or punishment that reinforce socially expected forms of behavior

can be positive: rewards for conformity or negative: punishment for non-conformity

can be formal: applied by a specific group or agency or informal: less organized

Functions of Punishment

manifest (the deliberate and intended functions) and latent (the acknowledged function of enacting the ritual for the benefit of society)

Deviance

modes of action that do not conform to the norms or values held by most members of a group or society (aka behaviors that violate social norms) and isn’t limited to crime

Context of Deviance

what is regarded as deviant differs as the norms and values that distinguish different cultures and subcultures differ from one another, so deviance is socially and contextually situated

Anomie (Durkheim)

refers to a situation in which social norms lose their hold over individual behavior

Robert Merton’s Deviance Typology

Conformity, Innovation, Ritualism, Retreatism, Rebellion

Relative Deprivation (Merton)

deprivation a person feels by comparing themselves with a group

Labeling Theory (Becker)

approach to the study of deviance that suggests people become “deviant” because certain labels are attached to their behavior by political authorities and others

Primary Deviation

the actions that cause others to label one as a deviant

Sneaky Thrills (Katz)

the illicit or forbidden excitement that individuals experience when engaging in deviant or risky behavior

Time Period of Modernity

began no earlier than 14th century and no later than 17th century to present day

Time Period of Modernity

began no earlier than 14th century and no later than 17th century to present day

Modernity (“Modern Era”)

beginning of accelerated change over generations and prior to this there were no major differences between generations

Modernization

concept that explains process of social change (separate from modernity)

Important Concepts in Modernity

focus on predictability, efficiency, calculability, control over uncertainty and substitution of humans

Important Changes in Modernity

Industrialization, Secularization, Urbanization, Temporalization, Enlightenment, Rise of Sciences/Rationalization, Bureaucracy, Archaization

Industrialization

emergence of machine production based on using inanimate power (electricity, steam, etc) as opposed to animal power like before (lead to the rise of factories)

Temporalization

dominance of clocked time to measure and coordinate activities as well as maximize efficiency and predictability which are important to industry

Secularization

process of decline in the influence of religion with a constitutional separation of Church and State (impacted by Enlightenment, Rise of Sciences and Rationalization)

Urbanization

rise in the size and complexity of cities in which social life is categorized as impersonal (multiple encounters with strangers, large organizations, government agencies, etc)

Bureaucracy

rational means of social organization as a way to build predictability

Temporalization

dominance of clocked time to measure and coordinate activities as well as maximize efficiency and predictability which are important to industry

Enlightenment (Idea of Progress)

emergence of the idea that human can improve without depending on kings, gods or other higher authorities and can make progress from “dark” to “light” (identified concepts of liberty, freedom, reason and balance)

Rise of Sciences/Rationalization

emergence of priority for scientific methods of study and thought

Rise of Sciences and Rationalization

modernity begins a process of division between private and public spheres

Bureaucracy

rational means of social organization as a way to build predictability

Deinstitutionalization

characteristic of modernity in which the “foreground” (personal experience) expands and the “background” (public experience) recedes as there’s a movement from habit to choice

Identity After Modernity

identity becomes flexible and no longer deeply institutionalized (no longer rooted in families, allows for social and geographical mobility, religion weakens and moves to the private realm)

Process of Deinstitutionalization

the private sphere (family, relationships, religion) begins separating from institutions as the public sphere (education, healthcare, communication) begins to be heavily incorporated into institutions

Before and After Modernity (Coleman)

Before: family, natural persons, all social organizations were a collection of conceptually individual people and religion was sacred canopy, encompassing all

After: corporate structure, corporations as a legal person (no longer multiple individual persons), irrelevance of persons as easily replaceable, asymmetry of power between the corporate actor and the person and secularization and rationalization of the consciousness with multiple sacred canopies.

Cultural Pluralism

a process in which different worlds and cultures come into contact (sometimes leading to conflict)

Adulthood in Modernity

gets deinstitutionalized and postponed as maturity becomes a social status/prestige and employment, marriage and homeownership are delayed

Structural Pluralism

process of division between private and public spheres that occurs in modernity

Influences of Modernity (Berger)

has effects on human consciousness, life plans, ideas of being at “home”, and modern identity becoming strangely differentiated, reflective and individuated

Identity Before Modernity

identity was rooted institutionally/environmentally with no option for reflection influenced by

Families (work, homogenous life, prestige and stability)

Space (few people travelled from home)

Religion

Social World (born into the social reality of a family/community)

Rise of Religious Nationalism

the linking of strongly held religious convictions with beliefs about a people’s social and political destiny (fundamentalism is a modern phenomena that’s in confrontation with modernity)

Folkway

norms about customs, traditions, and etiquette

Mores

more seriously protected norms that reflect the morals and values of a social group

Childhood in Modernity

childhood and adolescence appear as distinct periods of life only after modernity caused by: decline of infant mortality, separation of work/domesticity, industrialization and surplus economy

Secondary Deviance

occurs when an individual accepts the label of deviant and acts accordingly