WJEC AS Sociology - Culture key terms

Norms

Rules or guidelines for expected behaviour in society.

Values

Shared beliefs about what is important and provide a basis for acceptable behaviour

Beliefs

Ideas or convictions that individuals or groups accept as true, influencing how they understand the world and behave

Roles

Expected behaviours and beliefs associated with a particular social status.

Status

A persons social position. An ascribed status is given at birth or involuntary, while an achieved status is gained through a person’s actions or efforts

Social rules

Rules that govern how people are expected to behave in society

Identity

A persons’s sense of who they are, shaped by social experiences and factors such as age, gender and ethnicity

Resocialisation

The process of learning new norms, values and behaviours when entering a new social situation

Agencies of socialisation

People, groups and institutions that teach individuals society’s norms and values, such as family, education, peer groups, media, religion and work

Primary socialisation

The first stage of socialisation, when children learn basic norms and values, mainly through their family

Secondary socialisation

The process of learning norms, values and behaviours through social groups and institutions outside of the family

Social control

The ways society encourages people to follow its norms and values to maintain social order

Formal social control

Official rules and laws used to maintain social order, enforced by institutions such as the police and courts

Informal social control

Unwritten rules and social expectations that influences behaviour, enforced through reactions such as praise, disapproval or criticism