Quiz 2

Q: What does it mean that deviance is socially constructed? - Deviance and Defiance

A: Deviance is not inherently “wrong”—it depends on cultural norms, time period, and context. For example, something considered deviant in one society (like certain clothing or behaviors) may be normal in another.

Q: How are dress codes related to deviance and norms? - Deviance and Defiance

A: Dress codes reflect social norms about appropriate appearance. When people violate dress codes, they are seen as deviant because they challenge expectations about identity, professionalism, or morality.

Q: What is strain theory? - Deviance and Defiance

A: Strain theory argues that deviance occurs when people are pressured to achieve cultural goals (like wealth or success) but lack legitimate means (education, jobs) to achieve them, creating frustration or “strain.”

Q: What are Merton’s 5 responses to strain? - Deviance and Defiance

A:

• Conformity: Accept goals and means (most people)

• Innovation: Accept goals but use illegitimate means (e.g., crime)

• Ritualism: Give up goals but still follow rules (e.g., going through the motions)

• Retreatism: Reject both goals and means (e.g., addiction, withdrawal)

• Rebellion: Reject and replace goals and means (e.g., revolutionaries)

Q: What is labeling theory? - Deviance and Defiance

A: Labeling theory says deviance is created through social interaction—when society labels someone as “deviant,” that label can shape their identity.

Q: How does labeling reinforce deviance? - Deviance and Defiance

A: Once labeled, people may internalize the label (e.g., “criminal”) and be treated differently, limiting opportunities and pushing them to continue deviant behavior (self-fulfilling prophecy).

Q: Main conclusion of labeling theory? - Deviance and Defiance

A: Deviance is not just about behavior—it’s about how society reacts. Social labels and power determine who is seen as deviant.

Q: What does the U.S. criminal justice system focus on compared to other countries? - Deviance and Power

A: The U.S. emphasizes punishment and incarceration (prisons), while many other countries focus more on rehabilitation and reintegration into society.

Q: What was the War on Drugs? - Deviance and Power

A: A government campaign starting in the 1970s to reduce drug use through strict laws and policing. It led to increased arrests and long prison sentences, especially for nonviolent offenses.

Q: What are general trends in mass incarceration by race? - Deviance and Power

A: Black and Latino individuals are incarcerated at disproportionately higher rates than white individuals, even when controlling for similar offenses.

Q: What causes racial disparities in incarceration? - Deviance and Power

A: Factors include targeted policing in certain communities, harsher sentencing laws, economic inequality, and systemic bias in the justice system.

Q: What is disenfranchisement? - Deviance and Power

A: Disenfranchisement means being denied rights, especially political rights like voting.

Q: What is felony disenfranchisement? - Deviance and Power

A: Laws that remove the right to vote from people convicted of felonies, sometimes permanently, depending on the state.

Q: How is disenfranchisement related to power? - Deviance and Power

A: It reduces the political voice of affected groups, which can reinforce inequality by limiting their influence over laws and policies.

Q: What do institutions structure in society? - Organizations and Institutions

A: Institutions organize behavior, roles, and expectations—shaping how people act in areas like family life, education, work, and religion.

Q: What are the basic institutions of all societies? - Organizations and Institutions

A: Family (reproduction/socialization), education (learning), economy (production/distribution), government (order/power), and religion (meaning/beliefs).

Q: According to Émile Durkheim, what defines religion? - Organizations and Institutions

A: Religion includes shared beliefs and practices related to sacred things that unite people into a moral community.

Q: Why did Durkheim say suicide needs a sociological explanation? -Organizations and Institutions

A: Suicide rates are patterned by social factors (like religion or family ties), showing that social integration and regulation influence individual actions.

Q: How do suicide rates differ by religion? - Organizations and Institutions

A: Protestants tend to have higher suicide rates, while Catholics have lower rates, largely because Catholic communities historically have stronger social bonds and regulation.

Q: What is egoistic suicide? - Organizations and Institutions

A: Occurs when individuals feel disconnected from society (low integration), such as people who are isolated or lack strong social ties.

Q: What is altruistic suicide? - Organizations and Institutions

A: Occurs when individuals are too integrated and sacrifice themselves for the group (e.g., soldiers, ritual sacrifice).

Q: What is anomic suicide? - Organizations and Institutions

A: Occurs during times of social instability or change when norms are unclear (e.g., economic crises, sudden wealth or loss).

Q: What was the scientific revolution? - Modernity and Rationality

A: A period when people began using observation, experimentation, and science instead of tradition or religion to understand the world.

Q: What was the Enlightenment? - Modernity and Rationality

A: An intellectual movement emphasizing reason, individual rights, and questioning traditional authority like monarchy and the church.

Q: What was industrialization? - Modernity and Rationality

A: The shift from farming to factory production, leading to urbanization, new social classes, and major economic changes.

Shift in how people were thinking, leading into rationality for the modern era

Q: What is rationality? - Modernity and Rationality

A: The use of logic, calculation, and efficiency in decision-making rather than tradition or emotion.

Giving reasons for our beliefs that people can accept as legit

Modern - New way of thinking, and a dedication to a new norm. Based on the norm of efficiency to obtain a goal

• does not help us with moral question or ethics, it is ONLY for efficacy

Q: What is instrumental rationality? - Modernity and Rationality

A: A focus on choosing the most efficient and effective means to achieve a specific goal, often used in bureaucracies and modern institutions.

Q: Why is rationality important in modern society? - Modernity and Rationality

A: It shapes how institutions operate (like schools, governments, and businesses), emphasizing efficiency, rules, and predictability.

Q: What was the main goal of modern education systems? - Education, Ideology, and Inequality

A: To produce disciplined workers and informed citizens, while also promoting social order and national unity.

Q: How is education linked to patriotism? - Education, Ideology, and Inequality

A: Schools teach national history, symbols, and values (like pledges or holidays), encouraging loyalty to the country.

Q: What was Annette Lareau’s study about? - Education, Ideology, and Inequality

A: She studied how different parenting styles based on class affect children’s skills, behavior, and future opportunities.

To understand how advantages get transferred across generations

Q: What is concerted cultivation? - Education, Ideology, and Inequality

A: A middle-class parenting style where parents actively develop children’s talents through structured activities and encourage reasoning and negotiation.

Provide comfort, love, and a safe enviorment for the child to grow

Q: What is natural growth parenting? - Education, Ideology, and Inequality

A: A working-class/poor parenting style where children have more unstructured time and independence, with less direct intervention from parents.

Q: Key differences between the two parenting styles? - Education, Ideology, and Inequality

A:

• Leisure: 

  • organized activities (supervised)

  • free play (unsupervised)

• Language: 

  • reasoning/negotiation

  • directives

• Institutions: 

  • active parental involvement

  • limited interaction

• Authority

  • Entitlement when talking to them

  • Afraid to speak up and advocate for themselves

Q: What are the consequences of these parenting styles? - Education, Ideology, and Inequality

A: Middle-class children often gain advantages (confidence, institutional skills), while working-class children may face disadvantages in schools and careers.

Q: What is ideology? - Education, Ideology, and Inequality

A: A system of ideas and beliefs that explains and justifies how society is organized and their position, often benefiting those in power.

Q: How is education tied to ideology and power? - Education, Ideology, and Inequality

A: Schools teach dominant cultural values (like individual success or capitalism), which can reinforce existing inequalities.

Teaches that certain ideas are good compared to others

Q: What is the hidden curriculum? - Education, Ideology, and Inequality

A: Unofficial lessons in school about behavior, discipline, authority, and social roles—not part of formal subjects.

Q: How is hidden curriculum linked to class and ideology? - Education, Ideology, and Inequality

A: It teaches different expectations based on social class, reinforcing inequality and preparing students for different social roles.

Q: How does hidden curriculum reinforce gender roles? - Education, Ideology, and Inequality

A: It may encourage boys to be assertive and girls to be compliant, reinforcing traditional gender expectations.

Q: How does hidden curriculum reinforce racial inequality? - Education, Ideology, and Inequality

A: Minority students may face harsher discipline, lower expectations, or tracking into lower-level classes.

Q: What is the school-to-prison pipeline? - Education, Ideology, and Inequality

A: A process where strict school discipline (like suspensions and policing) increases the likelihood that students—especially minorities—enter the criminal justice system.

Q: What was the main goal of the development of the modern education system? - Organizations and Institutions

A: The main goal was to create a disciplined, productive workforce by teaching basic skills, obedience, time management, and respect for authority—preparing people for industrial capitalist society.

Q: How is modern education related to patriotism? - Organizations and Institutions

A: Schools promote patriotism by teaching national history, symbols, and values (like pledging allegiance), helping create a shared national identity and loyalty to the state.

Q: What is the relationship between knowledge and power (according to Michel Foucault)? - Foucault

A: Knowledge and power are intertwined—those in power shape what is accepted as “truth,” and knowledge is used to control and regulate people. Knowledge is power

Q: What is the “docile body”? How is it formed and why does it matter? - Foucault

A: A “docile body” is a person who can be easily controlled, trained, and made productive. It is formed through discipline (surveillance, routines, rules, and normalization in institutions like schools and prisons). It matters because it shows how modern societies control individuals without force.

You don’t have to be told what to do, you know the routine due to the threat of sevalence. They don’t have to discipline you, since you do it yourself

Significance, we are self monitoring. An efficient way to manage a large population.

Q: What are the different forms of racism? - Institutional Racism

A:

• Internalized racism: Individuals accept and believe negative stereotypes about their own racial group.

• Interpersonal racism: Racism between individuals (e.g., prejudice, discrimination).

• Institutional racism: Systemic policies and practices in institutions that produce unequal outcomes for different racial groups.

Q: What is redlining and why is it important? - Institutional Racism

A: Redlining was a discriminatory practice where banks and the government denied loans and mortgages to people in predominantly minority neighborhoods. It is important because it created long-term racial inequality in wealth, housing, education, and access to resources.

Q: What is the main point of Race: The Power of an Illusion (“The House We Live In” episode)? - Institutional Racism

A: The episode argues that racial inequality—especially in housing and wealth—is not accidental but the result of deliberate government policies (like redlining and segregation) that benefited white Americans while disadvantaging others.

Q: What is a key factor for higher infant and maternal mortality among Black women? - Institutional Racism

A: A key factor is chronic stress from systemic racism (including discrimination in healthcare), which negatively affects health outcomes regardless of income or education.