sociology chapter 5,6,7

social structure

is the complex framework of societal institutions and the social
practices that make up a society and that organize and establish limits on
people’s behavior

social interaction

is the process by which people act toward or respond to
other people and is the foundation for all relationships and groups in society.

status

is a socially defined position in a group or society characterized by
certain expectations, rights, and duties

status set

comprises all of the statuses that a person occupies at a given
time.

ascribed status

is a social position conferred at birth or received
involuntarily later in life, based on attributes over which the individual has little or
no control.
• Examples: male, child, Latinx

achieved status

is a social position that a person assumes voluntarily as a
result of personal choice, merit, or direct effort.
• Examples: college graduate, drug user, spouse

master status

is the most important status that a person occupies

status symbols

are material signs that inform others of a person’s specific
status.

role

is a set of behavioral expectations associated with a given status

role expectations

is a group’s or society’s definition of the way that a specific
role ought to be played.

role performance

is how a person actually plays the role.

role conflict

occurs when incompatible role demands are placed on a person
by two or more statuses held at the same time

role strain

occurs when incompatible demands are built into a single status
that a person occupies

role exit

occurs when people disengage from social roles that have been
central to their self-identity.

social group

consists of two or more people who interact frequently and
share a common identity and a feeling of interdependence.

primary group

is a small, less specialized group in which members
engage in face-to-face, emotion-based interactions over an extended period
of time

secondary group

is a larger, more specialized group in which members
engage in more impersonal, goal-oriented relationships for a limited period
of time

formal organization

is a highly structured group formed for the purpose of
completing certain tasks or achieving specific goals.

social institution

is a set of organized beliefs and rules that establishes how
a society will attempt to meet its basic social needs

Functionalist Views on Social Institutions

Replace members
• Teach new members
• Producing, distributing, and consuming goods
• Preserving order
• Providing and maintaining a sense of purpose

Conflict Views on Social Institutions

do not believe that social institutions work for the common good of everyone. However, they believe that social institutions do not meet everyone’s needs equally.

Hunting and gathering societies

are societies that use simple technology for
hunting animals and gathering vegetation

Horticultural and pastoral societies

are societies based on technology that
supports the cultivation of plants to provide food.

agrarian society

are societies that use the technology of large-scale farming,
including animal-drawn or energy-powered plows and equipment, to produce
their food supply

industrial society

are societies based on technology that mechanizes
production.

Postindustrial societies

are societies in which technology supports a service-
and information-based economy

division of labor

refers to how the various tasks of a society are divided up and
performed

Mechanical solidarity

refers to the social cohesion of preindustrial
societies, in which there is minimal division of labor and people feel united
by shared values and common social bonds.

Organic solidarity

refers to the social cohesion found in industrial societies,
in which people perform very specialized tasks and feel united by their
mutual dependence.

Gemeinschaft

is a traditional society in which social relationships are based on
personal bonds of friendship and kinship and on intergenerational stability

Gesellschaft

is a large, urban society in which social bonds are based on
impersonal and specialized relationships, with little long-term commitment to the
group or consensus on values.

social construction of reality

is the process by which our perceptions of
reality are largely shaped by the subjective meaning that we give to an
experience

self-fulfilling prophecy

is a false belief or prediction that produces behavior
that makes the original false belief come true

(ex: you think your stupid so you actually become stupid)

Ethnomethodology

is the study of the commonsense knowledge that people
use to understand the situations in which they find themselves.

Dramaturgical analysis

is the study of social interaction that compares
everyday life to a theatrical presentation

Social script

is a playbook that the actors use to guide their verbal replies
and overall performance to achieve the desired goals of the conversation or
fulfill the role they are playing

Impression management (presentation of self)

refers to people’s efforts
to present themselves to others in ways that are most favorable to their own
interests or image

Face-saving behavior

refers to the strategies we use to rescue our
performance when we experience a potential or actual loss of face.

Nonverbal communication

is the transfer of information between persons
without the use of words.
• Facial expression
• Eye contact
• Touching

Personal space

the immediate area surrounding a person that the person
claims as private.

group

refers to any collection of two or more people who interact frequently
with one another, share a sense of belonging, and have a feeling of
interdependence

aggregate

is a collection of people who happen to be in the same place at
the same time but share little else in common

category

refers to a number of people who may never have met one another
but share a similar characteristic.

ingroup

is a group to which a person belongs and with which the person
feels a sense of identity.

outgroup

is a group to which a person does not belong and toward which
the person may feel a sense of competitiveness or hostility

reference group

is a group that strongly influences a person’s behavior and
social attitudes, regardless of whether that individual is an actual member.

network

is a web of social relationships that links one person with other
people and, through them, with other people they know.

small group

a group that is small enough for all members to be acquainted
with one another and to interact simultaneously.

dyad

a group composed of two members

tryad

a group composed of three members

leadership

refers to the ability to influence what goes on in a group or social
system.

Instrumental leadership

goal or task oriented

Expressive leadership

provides emotional support for members

Authoritarian leaders

make all major group decisions and assign tasks to members

Democratic leaders

encourage group discussion and decision-making through consensus building

Laissez-faire leaders

are only minimally involved in decision-making and encourage group members to make their own decisions.

conformity

the process of maintaining or changing behavior to comply with
the norms established by a society, subculture, or other group.

• Aches experiment

• Milgram’s experiment

Groupthink

the process by which members of a cohesive group arrive at a
decision that many individual members privately believe is unwise.

formal organization

highly structured secondary groups formed for the purpose of achieving specific goals

normative organization

one we voluntarily join to pursue a common
interest or gain personal satisfaction or prestige from being a member

coercive organization

an association people are forced to join

utilitarian organization

one we voluntary join when they can provide us with a material reward that we seek.

bureaucracy

is an organized model characterized by a hierarchy of authority,
a clear division of labor, explicit rules and procedures, and impersonality in
personnel matters

rationality

the process by which traditional methods of social organization, characterized by informality and spontaneity, are gradually
replaced by efficiently administered formal rules and procedures.

ideal type

an abstract model that describes the recurring characteristic of some phenomenon.

Ideal Characteristics of Bureaucracies

Division of labor
• Hierarchy of authority
• Rules and regulations
• Qualification-based employment
• Impersonality

McDonaldization

Efficiency
• Predictability
• Emphasis on quantity rather than quality
• Control through nonhuman technologies

informal side of bureaucracy

composed of those aspects of
participants’ day-to-day activities and interactions that ignore, bypass, or do not
correspond with the official rules and procedures of the bureaucracy.

Goal displacement

occurs when the rules become an end in themselves rather than a means to an end, and organizational survival becomes
more important than the achievement of goals

Bureaucratic personality

describes those workers who are more
concerned with following correct procedures than they are with getting
the job done correctly.

Iron law of oligarchy

the tendency to become a bureaucracy ruled by the few.

Humanizing bureaucracy

a movement to establish an organizational
environment that develops rather than impedes human recourses

Deviance

any behavior, belief, or condition that violates significant social
norms in the society or group in which it occurs

crime

behavior that violates criminal law and is punishable with fines, jail
terms, and/or other negative sanctions.

Social control

refers to the systematic practices that social groups develop in order to encourage conformity to norms, rules, and laws and to discourage deviance

Internal social controls

takes place through the socialization process

External social controls

involves the use of negative sanctions that
proscribe certain behaviors and set forth punishments for rule-breakers and nonconformists

Criminology

is the systematic study of crime and the criminal justice system, including the police, courts, and prisons

Functions of Deviance (Durkheim)

deviance is rooted in societal factors such
as rapid social change and lack of social integration among people

Merton’s strain theory

people feel strain when they are exposed
to cultural goals that they are unable to obtain because they do not have access
to culturally approved means of achieving those goals

conformity

Accepts culturally approved goals; pursues
them through culturally approved means

Innovation

Accepts culturally approved goals; adopts
disapproved means of achieving them

ritualism

Abandon’s society’s goals but continues to
conform to approved means

retreatism

Abandons both approved goals and the
approved means to achieve them

rebellion

Challenges both the approved goals and the
approved means to achieve them

Marx

what sociologist said, “capitalism produces haves and have-nots, who engage in different forms of deviance and crime”

Differential association theory

states that people have a greater tendency to
deviate from societal norms when they frequently associate with individuals who
are more favorable toward deviance than conformity

rational choice theory of deviance

states that deviant behavior occurs
when a person weighs the costs and benefits of nonconventional or criminal
behavior and determines that the benefits will outweigh the risks involved in
such actions.

Social bond theory

holds that the probability of deviant behavior increases when a person’s ties to society are weakened or broken

Labeling theory

states that deviance is a socially constructed process in which social control agencies designate certain people as deviants and they, in turn, come to accept the label placed upon them and begin to act accordingly

Primary deviance

refers to the initial act of rule breaking

Secondary deviance

occurs when a person who has been labeled a
deviant accepts that new identity and continues the deviant behavior.

Tertiary deviance

occurs when a person who has been labeled a deviant seeks to normalize the behavior by relabeling it as nondeviant.

Postmodernists

The study of deviance reveals how the powerful exert control over the powerless by taking away their free will to think and act as they might choose.

• gives institutions the ability to label people as “deviant”

Violent crime

consists of actions—murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault—involving force or the threat of force against others

Property crimes

include burglary (breaking into private property to commit a serious crime), motor vehicle theft, larceny-theft (theft of property worth $50 or
more), and arson

Victimless crimes

involve a willing exchange of illegal goods or services among adults.

Occupational (white-collar) crime

comprises illegal activities committed by
people in the course of their employment or financial affairs

Corporate crimes

include illegal acts committed by corporate employees on behalf of the corporation and with its support

Internet crime

consists of FBI-related scams, identity theft, advance fee fraud, nonauction/nondelivery of merchandise, and overpayment fraud