Intro to Sociology Final Exam Chapters 9-16

Sex

An individual's membership in one of two biologically distinct categories-male or female

Gender

The physical, behavioral, and personality traits that a group considers normal for its male and female members

Instrumental Role

The position of the family member who provides the family's material support and is often an authority figure

Expressive Role

The position of the family member who provides emotional support and nurturing

Second Shift

The unpaid housework and child care often expected of women after they complete their day's paid labor

Feminism

Belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes

First Wave

The earliest period of feminist activism in the US, including the period from the mid-20th century until American women won the right to vote in 1920

Suffrage Movement

The movement organized around gaining voting rights for women

Second Wave

The period of feminist activity during the 1960s and 70s often associated with the issues of women's equal access to employment and education

Third Wave

The most recent period of feminist activity, focusing on issues of diversity and the variety of identities women can possess

Men's Rights Movement

An offshoot of male liberationism whose members believe that feminism promotes discrimination against men

Pro-Feminist Men's Movement

An offshoot of male liberationism whose members support feminism and believe that sexism harms both men and women

Sexuality

The character of quality of being sexual

Sexual Orientation/Identity

The inclination to feel sexual desire toward people of a particular gender or toward both genders

Social Institutions

Systems and structures within society that shape the activities of groups and individuals; a collection of patterned social practices that are repeated continuously and regularly over time and supported by social norms

Power

The ability to impose one's will on others

Authority

The legitimate non coercive exercise of power

Authoritarianism

System of government by and for a small number of elites that doesn't include representation of ordinary citizens

Disenfranchised

Stripped of voting rights, either temporarily or permanently

Pluralism

A system of political power in which a wide variety of individuals and groups have equal access to resources and the mechanisms of power; equal access to the power structure; has a system of checks-and-balances

Power Elite

(C. Wright Mills); a relatively small group of people in the top ranks of economic, political and military institutions who make many of the important decisions in American society; insular; collaborate to serve their own interests

Fourth Estate

The media, which are considered like a 4th branch of government and thus serve as another of the checks and balances of power

Tracking

The placement of students in educational "tracks," or programs of study that determine the types of classes students take (Ex: College Prep)

Hidden Curriculum

Values or behaviors that students learn indirectly over the course of their schooling because of the structure of the educational system and the teaching methods used

Religion

Any institutionalized system of shared beliefs and rituals that identify a relationship between the sacred and the profane

Religiosity

The regular practice of religious beliefs, often measured in terms of frequency of attendance at worship services and the importance of religious beliefs to an individual

Extrinsic Religiosity

A person's public display of commitment to a religious faith

Intrinsic Religiosity

A person's inner religious life or personal relationship to the divine

Fundamentalism

The practice of emphasizing literal interpretation of texts and a "return" to a time of greater religious purity

Unchurched

Those who consider themselves spiritual but not religious and who often adopt aspects of various religious traditions

Capitalism

An economic system based on the laws of free market competition, privatization of the means of production, and production of profit

Socialism

An economic system based on the collective ownership of the means of production, collective distribution of goods and services, and government regulation of the economy

Resistance Strategies

Ways that workers express discontent with their working conditions and try to reclaim control of the conditions of their labor (Ex: unions)

Globalization

The increasing connections between economic, social and political systems all over the globe

Sweatshop

A workplace where workers are subject to extreme exploitation, including below-standard wages, long hours, and poor working conditions that may pose health or safety hazards

Third Sector/Independent Sector

The part of the economy composed of nonprofit organizations; their workers are mission driven, rather than profit driven, and such organizations direct surplus funds to the causes they support

Family

According to US Census, two or more people related by blood, adoption, or marriage living in the same household

Extended Family

A large group of relatives, usually including at least three generations living either in one household or in close proximity

Kin

Relatives or relations, usually those related by common descent

Nuclear Family

A heterosexual couple with one or more children living in a single household

Endogamy

Marriage to someone within one's social group

Exogamy

Marriage to someone from a different social group

Monogamy

The practice of marrying (or being in a relationship with) one person at a time

Polygamy

A system of marriage that allows people to have more than one spouse at a time

Fictive Kin

Close relations with people we consider "like family" but who are not related to us by blood or marriage

Homogamy

The tendency to choose romantic partners who are similar to us in terms of class, race, religion, education, or other social group membership

Propinquity

The tendency to marry or have relationships with people in close geographic proximity

Instrumental Tasks

The practical physical tasks necessary to maintain family life

Expressive Tasks

The emotional work necessary to support family members

Cohabitation

Living together, as a romantically involved, unmarried couple

Custody

The physical and legal responsibility of caring for children, assigned by a court for divorced or unmarried parents

Intentional Community

Any of a variety of groups who form communal living arrangements outside marriage

Leisure

A period of TIME that can be spent relaxing, engaging in recreation, or otherwise indulging in freely chosen activities

Recreation

Any satisfying, amusing, and stimulating ACTIVITY that is experienced as refreshing and renewing for body, mind, and spirit

Commodification

Shift from people making their own fun to people purchasing it as goods and services

Polysemy

Having many possible meanings or interpretations

Magic Bullet Theory

A theory that explains the effects of media as if their contents simply entered directly into the consumer, who is powerless to resist their influence

Uses and Gratifications Paradigm

Approaches to understanding media effects that focus on individuals' psychological or social needs that consumption of various media fulfills

Reinforcement Theory

Theory that suggests that audiences seek messages in the media that reinforce their existing attitudes and beliefs and are thus not influenced by challenging or contradictory information

Agenda-Setting Theory

Theory that the mass media can set the public agenda by selecting certain news stories and excluding others, thus influencing what audiences think about

Two-Step Flow Model

Theory on media effects that suggests audiences get info through opinion leaders who influence their attitudes and beliefs, rather than through direct firsthand sources

Active Audiences

A term used to characterize audience members as active participants in "reading" or constructing the meaning of the media they consume

Communitarianism

A political and moral philosophy focused on strengthening civil society and communal bonds

Lifestyle Enclaves

Groups of people drawn together by shared interests, especially those relating to hobbies, sports, and media

Acute Diseases

Diseases that have a sudden onset, may be briefly incapacitating, and are either curable or fatal

Chronic Diseases

Diseases that develop over a longer period of time and may not be detected until symptoms occur later in their progression

Curative/Crisis Medicine

Type of health care that treats the disease or condition once it has manifested

Preventive Medicine

Type of health care that aims to avoid or forestall the onset of disease by taking preventive measures, often including lifestyle changes

Palliative Care

Type of health care that focuses on symptom and pain relief and providing a supportive environment for critically ill or dying patients, rather than fighting the illness or disease

Medicalization

The process by which some behaviors or conditions that were once seen as personal problems are redefined as medical issues

Food Desert

A community in which the residents have little or no access to fresh, affordable, healthy foods, usually located in densely populated, urban areas

Deprivation Amplification

When our individual disease risks (based on our heredity and physiology) are amplified by social factors

Sick Role

Parsons; The actions and attitudes that society expects from someone who is ill

Malthusian Theorem

The theory that exponential population growth will outpace arithmetic growth in food production and other resources

Malthusian Trap

Malthus's predications that a rapidly increasing population will overuse natural resources, leading inevitably to a major public health disaster

Neo-Malthusians

Contemporary researchers who worry about the rapid pace of population growth and believe that Malthus's basic predication could be true

Anti-Malthusians

Contemporary researchers who believe the population boom Malthus witnessed was a temporary, historically specific phenomenon and worry instead that the worldwide population may shrink in the future

Edge Cities

Centers of employment and commerce that began as suburban commuter communities

White Flight

Movement of upper- and middle-class whites who could afford to leave the cities for the suburbs, especially in the 1950s and 60s

Urban Renewal

Efforts to rejuvenate decaying inner cities, including renovation, selective demolition, commercial development, and tax incentives

Gentrification

Transformation of the physical, social, economic, and cultural life of formerly working class or poor inner city neighborhoods into more affluent middle-class communities

Rural Rebound

Population increase in rural counties that adjoin urban centers or possess rich scenic or amenity values

Social Atomization

A social situation that emphasizes individualism over collective or group identities

Urbanites

People who live in cities

Bystander Effect

The social dynamic wherein the more people who are present in a moment of crisis, the less likely any one of them is to take action

Pluralistic Ignorance

A process in which members of a group individually conclude that there is no need to take action because of the observation that other group members have not done so

Sustainable Development

Economic development that aims to reconcile global economic growth with environmental protection

Ecological Footprint

An estimation of the land and water area required to produce all the goods an individual consumes and to assimilate all the wastes she generates

Social Change

The transformation of a culture over time

Collective Behavior

Behavior that follows from the formation of a group or crowd of people who take action together toward a shared goal

Contagion Theory

One of the earliest theories of collective action; suggested that individuals who joined a crowd could become "infected" by a mob mentality and lost the ability to reason

Emergent Norm Theory

A theory of collective behavior that assumes individual members of a crowd make their own decisions about behavior and that norms are created through others' acceptance or rejection of these behaviors

Crowd

A temporary gathering of individuals, whether spontaneous or planned, who share a common focus

Mass Behavior

Large groups of people engaging in similar behaviors without necessarily being in the same place

Fads

Interests or practices followed enthusiastically for a relatively short period of time

Social Dilemma

A situation in which behavior that is rational for the individual can, when practiced by many people, lead to collective disaster

Tragedy of the Commons

A type of social dilemma in which many individuals' overexploitation of a public resource depletes or degrades that common resource

Public Goods Dilemma

A type of social dilemma in which individuals incur the cost to contribute to a collective resource, though they many never benefit from that resource

Mass Society Theory

A theory of social movements that assumes people join not because of the movements' ideals, but to satisfy a psychological need to belong to something larger than themselves

Relative Deprivation Theory

A theory of social movements that focuses on the actions of oppressed groups who seek rights or opportunities already enjoyed by others in the society