Sociology FlashCards

Manifest Purpose of School

Skills and knowledge

Latent Purpose of School

Child care

Conflict Theorist Perspective on School

School is an unfair contest. Some get ahead, some fall behind. Meritocracy/achievement based ideology is incorrect.

Randall Collins

Dude that believed you need to continue getting higher degrees in order to get jobs.

Social Capital

Connections that allow us to gain knowledge, access, and other stuff

Cultural Capital

Knowledge and skills we have

Achievement Gap/Opportunity Gap

Students who don’t have a lot of food or proper medical care are less likely to do well. Also students whose parents aren’t around. Also education of parents.

Concerted Cultivation

Middle class families. Parents reason with children, encouraging them to think for themselves. Children are in organized activities. Sports/clubs/stuff. Parents are involved in contacting teachers/coaches/etc.

Natural Growth

Working Class Families. Parents invest less money to activities for kids. Kids are told directly what to do. They don’t question educators/doctors/etc.

Helicopter Parent

Parents which constantly watch over children and try to constantly bend the system towards their child’s advantage. Children become unable to advocate for themselves.

Institutionalized

When an idea is built into an institution’s practices

Tracking

Dividing students into different levels based on perceived intelligence and class difficulty.

Once someone gets put on an accelerated track, the gap between them grows wider.

Unequal Resources

Differences in resources in schools lead to a gap of achievement and opportunity. Contributes to segregation.

De jure segregation

Legal segregation. Not a thing anymore really.

De facto segregation

Underlying trends in segregation, EG: Segregation of education by race even tho TECHNICALLY its not legal

No Child Left Behind Act

Reduced achievement gap. Introduced standardized testing. Test scores contributed to federal funding.

Politics

Ability for people/groups to gain access to government and use it to influence society. Whowever has the power to shape the future of society.

State

Ultimate authority withim some geographic territory. “Monolopy of legitimate use of physical force within given territory. Relies on taxation to carry out functions and provide social services. Creates policies, rules of behaviot

Rep Democraacy

People influence state and policies by voting for preprsentatives

Direct Democracy

People vote for the policies

Competitive Democracy

Genuine option to vote for alt candidates

Disenfranchisement

When the ability to vote is taken away from rightful voters. Paying to vote, literacy test, grandfather clause (if grandfather cant vote u cant vote)

in the present, felons cant vote, people’s schedules may not allow, ID Laws

Median Voter Model

Democratic governments offer policies that are the average of voter preferences.

Elite Theory

Some people have high social status, government listens to these people more than others. US sometimes leans towards this

Pluralism Theory

Doesn’t always reflect median voter or elites. Balance of interests around an issue.

Policy Incongruence

Elected officials doing stuff that doesn’t align with what their supporters would want

Gerrymandering

Redrawing district lines on maps in order to give countries the advantage in voting. Done so certain groups of people are minorities in districts to lessen their effect of voting.

Voting Rights Act

Prohibited racial discrim in voting

Institutional Politics

Official ways of influencing politics

Voting/ Calling elected officials

Contentious Politics

Unofficial ways of participating in politics. Working outside of politics to challenge political behaviors.

-Activism
Protest/politiccal movements
- Revolution, leading to wide scale change. Could include violence

David Popenoe

Claims that family as an institution is weakening. People are more individuals, and family as an institution is bad for children.

Judith Stacey

Society is failing to support families. Economic decline, also bad for kids.

Gray Divorce

Divorces in people aged 50 or older. Change in perceptions for what marriage should be. Life expectancy increasing. Cost of divorce dropping

Cohabitation

People live together while not married. Leads to higher rates of divorce. Those who dont do cohabitation stay married longer.