Social Problems Exam 2 Chapters 5-8

Sex

The biological distinction between females and males.

Gender Identity

A person’s deeply held sense of their gender

Transgender

Having a gender identity that differs from a person’s biological sex at birth.

Cisgender

A gender identity that reflects the sex assignment a person had at birth.

LGBTQ+ Community

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning population.

Sexual Orientation

A person’s romantic and emotional attraction to another person.

Heterosexuality

Sexual attraction to someone of the other sex.

Homosexuality

Sexual attraction to someone of the same sex.

Bisexuality

Sexual attraction to people of both sexes.

Pansexuality

A fluid pattern of sexual attraction that may include females and males and also people of any sexual identity.

Asexuality

The absence of sexual attraction to people regardless of sex or sexual identity.

Homophobia

An aversion to or hostility toward people thought to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual.

Life Course

Socially constructed stages that people pass through as they live out their lives.

Gerontology

The study of aging and the elderly.

Life Expectancy

The average life span of a country’s population.

Ageism

Prejudice and discrimination directed toward older people.

Age Stratification

Social inequality among various age categories within a society.

Euthanasia

Assisting in the death of a person suffering from an incurable disease.

Hospice

Homelike care that provides physical and emotional comfort to dying people and their families.

Disengagement Theory

The idea that modern societies operate in an orderly way by removing people from positions of responsibility as they reach old age.

Activity Theory

The idea that people enhance personal satisfaction in old age by keeping up a high level of social activity.

Norms

Rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members.

Law

A norm formally created through a society’s political system.

Crime

The violation of a criminal law enacted by federal, state, or local government.

Misdemeanor

A less serious crime punishable by less than one year in jail.

Felony

A more serious crime punishable by at least one year in prison.

Crime Against Property

Crime that involves theft of property belonging to others.

Crime Against Persons

Crime that involves violence or the threat of violence against others.

Juvenile Delinquency

Violation of the law by young people.

Hate Crime

A criminal offense against a person, property, or society motivated by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or ethnicity or national origin.

White-Collar Crime

Illegal activities conducted by people of high social position during the course of their employment or regular business activities.

Corporate Crime

An illegal act committed by a corporation or by persons acting on its behalf.

Organized Crime

A business operation that supplies illegal goods and services.

Victimless Crimes

Offenses that directly harm only the person who commits them.

Violence

Behavior that causes injury to people or damage to property.

Anti-Institutional Violence

Violence directed against the government in violation of the law.

Mass Murder

The intentional, unlawful killing of three or more people at one time and place.

Serial Murder

The killing of several people by one offender over a period of time.

Youth Gangs

Groups of young people who identify with one another and with a particular territory.

Criminal Justice System

Society’s use of due process, involving police, courts, and punishment, to enforce the law.

Plea Bargaining

A negotiation in which the state reduces a defendant’s charge in exchange for a guilty plea.

Retribution

Moral vengeance by which society inflicts on the offender suffering comparable to that caused by the offense.

Deterrence

Using punishment to discourage further crime.

Rehabilitation

Reforming an offender to prevent future offenses.

Societal Protection

Protecting the public by using incarceration or execution to prevent an offender from committing further offenses.

Criminal Recidivism

Later offenses by people previously convicted of crimes.

Restorative Justice

A response to crime seeking to restore the well-being of the victim, offender, and larger communities that has been lost due to crime.

Community-Based Corrections

Correctional programs that take place in local communities rather than behind prison walls.

Labeling Theory

The idea that crime and all other forms of rule breaking result not so much from what people do as from how others respond to those actions.

Stigma

A powerful and negative social label that radically changes a person’s self-concept and social identity.

Drug

Any chemical substance other than food or water that affects the mind or body.

Addiction

A physical or psychological craving for a drug.

Dependency

A state in which a person’s body has adjusted to regular use of a drug.

Stimulants

Drugs that increase alertness, altering a person’s mood by increasing energy.

Depressants

Drugs that slow the operation of the central nervous system.

Alcoholism

Addiction to alcohol.

Codependency

Behavior on the part of others that helps a substance abuser continue that abuse.

Decriminalization

Reducing or removing severe criminal penalties that punish drug offenses, especially personal use of drugs.

Libertarians

People who favor the greatest possible individual freedom.