Studied by 7 people
social interaction
process by which people act and react to others
Relationships are formed (and persist) based on the rewards and costs of the interaction to the individual. (Reward high=interaction continues)
How rational choice theory relates to social interaction.
Norm of Reciprocity
if you do something for a person, they must do something of equal social value in return.
Reciprocity
the idea that if a relationship is imbalanced for more than a short period of time, it will become unsatisfying.
Principle of Lest Interest
where the person with “less interest” in the relationship (has more resources and can live without it) has more power than the person who doesn’t (can’t live without the relationship).
humans create society through interacting with one another; we agree that certain objects, gestures, phrases mean certain things; stresses the agency, or active decision making role, of humans within their societies; humans look to others to see how to make sense of a situation.
Symbolic Interaction relating to social interaction
social construction of reality
the process by which individuals and groups shape reality through social interaction.
ethnomethodology
study how people develop shared meanings and consider how common norms originate in small groups
Dramaturgy
the analysis of social life as a stage play
impression management
managing the image we project, trying to create an impression that works to our advantage.
Scripts
expectations about behavior
Props
the physical cues that tell you things about someone
Front stage
scripted, people don’t know you well
Back stage
intimate, letting our feelings show
status
a social position in society
status set
the combination of statuses held by an individual
ascribed status
given, not chosen, and can not (unlikely) be changed
achieved status
earned but could be lose & have some control over
Master status
the most important status to you at that moment. (positive or negative, can change, achieved or ascribed)
role
expected behavior associated with a particular status
role = action/behavior, status=position
relationship between role and status
role strain
tension between roles within one status
role conflict
is conflict between the roles of two or more statuses of a single person.
Egoistic suicide
Anomic suicide
altruistic suicide
fatalistic suicide
Durkheim’s 4 Types of Suicide
It shows that suicide has connections to group membership; group influence over this behavior
Why is Durkhiem’s 4 Types of Suicide Important
Groups
units involving two or more people who interact with each other because of shared common interests, goals, experiences, and needs; must regularly interact or acknowledge shared common interests.
Primary Group
close contacts between members and lasting personal relationships (backstage)
Secondary Groups
formal, impersonal, goal oriented, weak emotional ties (front stage)
Reference group
serves as a point of reference for people making evaluations
In-group
social group where a person psychologically identifies as being a member and the group has power and can privledge themselves.
Out-group
the group where in-group members do not identify with
Groupthink
social pressure to conform to group norms and conformity that leads to abandon critical thinking; faulty or ineffective decisions.
the majority of people give in to agree with the majority even if they disagree with what is being said.
What was found in Asch’s Experiment?
organizations
large, secondary groups organized to achieve goals efficiently
bureaucracy
maximize efficiency
Specialization, Complex Division of Labor
Hierarchy of Authority
Explicit Rules and Procedures
Technical Competence
Impersonality
Written Communication
Weber’s 6 Characteristics of an Ideal BureaucracyA
alientation
feelings uninvolved, uncommitted, unappreciated, and unconnected to the group or society.
Iron cage of rationality
rationalization and rules trap humans in a figurative “cage” of thought where new ideas are suppressed and there is no expression, freedom, or potential.
Deviant Behavior
violates a social norm and is accompanied by a negative social evaluation
Attitudes, Behaviors, Conditions
What are the ABC’s of Deviance?
Judgement of right/wrong
Defined by mental illness
Defined by harm
Deviance is NOT…
Temporal Variations
vary through different historical periods
Cultural variations
vary from place to place
Situational variations
vary depending on the social context
deviance doesn’t always involve a law violation; are not only behavioral in nature; some crimes are not deviant.
Difference between crime and deviance
Differential association theory
focuses on the process of learning deviant behavior from those with whom we interact.
labeling theory
explains how people can be labeled deviant after committing a deviant act, which can lead them to carry out further acts that reflect that label.
Primary Deviance
a violation of a norm that may be an isolated act or an initial act of rule breaking.
Secondary Deviance
if an individual continues to violate a norm and begins to take on a deviant identity as a result of being labeled deviant.
self-fulfilling prophecy
when a belief or a prediction becomes a reality, in part because of the prediction.
social control theory
people are naturally bad and need to be discouraged from engaging in crime
Involvement (busy)
Attachment (care what others think)
Belief (religious)
Commitment (worried about losing stuff)
What are the 4 elements of social control theory (IABC)
Strain theory
societal goals of success (money) and opportunity/means to obtain
conformity: goals +, means +
Innovation: goals + means -
Ritualism: goals -, means +
Retreatism: goals -, means -
Rebellion: new goals, new means
Merton’s 5 Adaptations for strain theory (CIRRR)
focuses on how institutions create and enforce the laws of behavior; who the laws do and don’t favor; deviance is a result of social inequality
Conflict theory in deviation
white collar crime
a violation of the law committed by an individual or a group while conducting a legitimate financial activity or engaging in a respected occupation.
Recidivism
the likelihood that someone who is arrested, convicted, and imprisoned will later be a repeat offender
National Incident-Based Reporting System
collects information on crime, relationships between crimes, etc.
National Crime Victimization Survey
finds out about “underreported” crimes from victims
Dark figure of crime
a statistic of crime that is not reported
some crimes are underreported
some crimes are more likely to be reported
Changing norms, values, and laws
Problems with crime rates
burglary
car theft
larceny
arson
4 types of property crime
robbery
aggravated assault
murder
rape
4 types of violent crime
Men
Victims of violence: gender
under 25
Victims of violence: age
poverty
Victims of violence: social class
same race
Victims of violence: race
unmarried
Victims of violence: marriage
guns, American culture and focus on $, historically more violent, poverty, education level.
Why does the US have the highest violent crime rate?
social capital
social networks within and among groups that give us access to important resources, such as jobs.
social stratification
arrangement of society into layers based on unequal distributions of societal resources, powers, and prestige
cultural capital
knowledge and access to important information in society providing advantage in achieving a particular social status in society.
social capital
networks with others who have influence.
social mobility
ability to move up or down the social classes
intergenerational mobility
change in social class status compared with one’s parents, usually resulting from education and occupational attainment.
open class system
the more movement there is between classes, the more open the class system is.
intragenerational mobility
changes in position within a single individual’s life
status inconsistent
high prestige, but low income (teachers)
ascribed status
characteristics individuals are born with determines one’s position
achieved status
can earn positions through their ability and effort.
Socio-Economic status (SES)
a proxy for class position; includes income, wealth, educational attainment, and occupational prestige.
Income is how much you make while wealth is the value of all economic assets owned by a person or family minus any debts
Income vs wealth
conspicuous consumption
consumers who buy expensive items to display wealth and status rather than to cover the real needs of the consumer
Everyone learns the norms of their social class through socialization.
Symbolic interaction theory in stratification
stratification is inevitable and generally necessary
Structural functionalist theory in stratification
stratification is the outcome of struggles for dominance and scarce resources, with some individuals in society taking advantage of others.
Conflict theory in stratification
class consciousness
a shared awareness that they, as a class, have interests that differ from those of the haves.
property, power, prestige
The 3 P’s
substandard housing or homelessness: decline in availability of low-rent housing; poor health: high infant mortality, more chronic diseases, early death rate for adults; crime and punishment: arrested more, get public defender, longer prison sentence; limited schooling: higher high school drop out rate, less chance of completing college, tracking; political alienation: less likely to vote
Problems linked to poverty
Capitalist
Upper Middle
Lower Middle
Working
Working Poor
Underclass
social class in the US
absolute poverty
household income is below a necessary level to maintain basic living standards
relative poverty
where household income is a certain percentage below median incomes; inadequate lack of income when compared to average standard of living.
Children, african americans & hispanics, women, single mothers, south and the west regions
Who is most likely to be poor (age, race, gender, family, region)
five year limit to welfare benefits, only two consecutive years.
What did the Welfare Act of 1996 do?
poverty is needed to be a scapegoat, create jobs, labor for undesirable jobs, and to enhance the self esteem of others.
Structural Functional Theory of Poverty
Is the outcome of dominance and scarce resources
Conflict Theory of Poverty
Race
a socially created concept that identifies a group as distinct, usually on the basis of ancestry or certain physical characteristics.
subordinate groups
are groups that have less power than one or more other groups.
dominant racial group
the racial group with the most power
Can be distinguished from the group that holds power by physical appearance, dress, language, or religion.
Are excluded from or denied full participation at the meso level of society in economic, political, educational, religious, health, and recreational institutions.
Have less access to power and resources within the nation and are evaluated less favorably, based on their characteristics as subordinate racial group members.
Are stereotyped, ridiculed, condemned, or otherwise defamed, allowing dominant racial group members to justify and not feel guilty about unequal and poor treatment.
Develop collective identities to insulate themselves from the unaccepting world; this, in turn, perpetuates their group identity by creating ethnic or racial enclaves, intragroup marriages, and segregated group institutions, such as religious congregations.
what characterizes minority groups
