Sociology Final Exam

Sociology 

Social science focused on human behavior, thought & social organization within society. 

Study patterns of social relationships between individual & society & consequences of difference. 

Sociological Imagination

Recognition of relationship between who we are as individuals & the social & historical forces that shape our lives.

Using this allows us to “make the familiar strange”, which empowers us to question thoughts & behaviors that seem “natural” to us. 

Social Location

Includes social & physical traits of an individual deemed to be important by their society. Membership in each social category provides set of social roles & rules, power & privilege (& lack of), & influences our identity & how we perceive the world

Traits of Social Location 

Race, ethnicity, social class, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, ability, age, community type, etc. 

Can positively or negatively impact access to opportunities & outcomes within social institutions, depending on associated status. 

Blame the Victim

Social problems as personal troubles, rather than public issues (individual explanation)

Blame the System

Sociologists think of social problems as public issues rooted in inequalities within the social structure (system explanation)

Parts of the Social Structure 

Work together to maintain social order by limiting, guiding, & organizing human thought & behavior (society—>social institutions—> social groups—>statuses) 

Foraging

• 300,000-12,000 years ago

• Hunt & scavenge animals

• Simple social organization

• Simple technology

• Small nomadic bands

• Family= key social institution

• Limited social inequality

Pastoral & Horticultural

• Emerged 10,000-12,000 years ago

• Horticultural— cultivate plants

• Pastoral— herd domesticated animals

• Small villages, semi-nomadic

• Social organization more complex

• Greater status & role differentiation

• Surpluses & social inequality increase

Agrarian 

• Around 5,500 years ago 

• Large-scale farming using draft animals & the plow 

• Populations grows, people settle in communities, giving rise to cities 

• # & complexity of social institutions expands 

• Division of labor, surplus & social inequality grow 

• Males gain power & become dominant, resulting in patriarchy 

• Social stratification emerges, including slave, caste & estate systems 

Industrial

• Mid-1700s

• Advanced sources of energy used to power machinery

• Factories & mass production the norm

• Dramatic expansion of division of labor

• Social structure increases complexity

• Population booms

• Urbanization increases

Post-Industrial

• 1950’s, Post WWll

• Service sector becomes dominant

• Computers become vital & indispensable

• Deindustrialization & deskilling grows

• Globalization increases

• Cultural lag increases