AS Sociology Chapter 1: Culture, Socialisation and Identity

Vocabulary flashcards covering fundamental terms, concepts, and key sociological theories from Chapter 1.

Society

People who see themselves as having something in common with each other, and different from people in other societies.

Physical space

A distinctive geographical area marked by a physical border or a non-physical agreed line.

Mental space

A boundary that separates people based on beliefs about similarities with 'their' society and differences from others.

Imagined communities

Anderson's (1983) term describing societies as mental constructs where members carry an image of shared community despite never meeting most fellow members.

Culture

A 'way of life' that has to be taught and learnt through primary and secondary socialisation.

Material culture

The physical objects ('artefacts') a society produces, such as cars, phones, and books, reflecting cultural knowledge, skills, and interests.

Non-material culture

The knowledge and beliefs valued by a culture, including religious and scientific ideas, as well as meanings given to material objects.

Manifest function

According to Merton (1957), the explicit or intended purpose for which an object or institution exists.

Latent function

According to Merton (1957), a hidden, unintended function of an object or action, such as serving as a status symbol.

Role

A building block of culture played in relation to other roles, carrying a label and expectations of behaviour.

Role-set

A set of different relationships bound within a single role, such as a doctor's relationships with patients, nurses, and other doctors.

Values

Beliefs that provide general behavioural guidelines on how people should act in their social roles.

Norms

Specific behavioral rules showing how people should act in particular situations.

Anomie

Merton's (1938) term for a condition where individuals who fail to understand operating norms react with confusion, anger, or fear.

Beliefs

Deep-rooted ideas, opinions, views, and attitudes that shape values and function as general behavioural guidelines.

Socialisation

The process describing how individuals are taught the behavioural rules needed to become members of a society or culture.

Instincts

Fixed human features that individuals are born knowing, where the cultural environment plays little or no role.

Feral children

Children who have missed out on primary socialisation by human beings during early development.

The 'I'

Mead's (1934) term for the 'unsocialised self', based on personal opinion of oneself as a whole and individual impulses.

The 'Me'

Mead's (1934) term for the 'social self', developed through socialisation and awareness of how others expect us to behave.

Self-awareness

The ability to see ourselves as others see us and react accordingly, which Mead argued is socially learnt rather than instinctive.

Impression management

Goffman's (1959) concept of adjusting behaviour in order to manage and create a desired impression on others.

Looking-glass self

Cooley's (1909) concept that people use others as mirrors reflecting an image of the person others think they are.

Social Darwinism

A biological approach suggesting that social life is governed by 'the survival of the fittest'.

Sociobiology

An approach applied by Wilson (1979) that uses biological principles of evolution and natural selection to explain human behavior.

Biogrammars

Biological programming that Wilson (1979) argues strongly influences human behaviour and distinct gender roles.

Expressive role

A caring and nurturing family role argued by Parsons (1959a) to be biologically suited to women.

Instrumental role

A providing family role focused on paid work and survival, argued by Parsons (1959a) to be biologically suited to men.

Social control

The process of limiting the range of behaviours open to individuals through rule-learning built on sanctions.

Sanctions

Positive or negative mechanisms used to make individuals conform to social rules and norms.

Primary socialisation

The initial stage of socialisation occurring mainly within the family, essential for basic human development.

Secondary socialisation

Socialisation involving secondary groups characterized by a sense of detachment and formality from those teaching.

Instrumental relationships

Relationships based on what people can do for each other in specific contexts, characterized by formality and anonymity.

Significant others

Mead's term for key individuals, such as parents, who shape basic moral values and norms during early socialisation.

Reference groups

Groups used by individuals as models for appraising and shaping their attitudes, feelings, and actions, per Hughes et al. (2002).

Formal curriculum

The specific subjects, knowledge, and skills explicitly taught to children in schools.

Hidden curriculum

The implicit values and norms learnt through the experience of attending school, such as respecting authority and dealing with strangers.

Correspondence theory

Bowles and Gintis's (2002) Marxist theory that school norms mirror workplace norms to socialise students into uncomplaining workers.

Habituation

Potter's concept that repeated exposure to media images and ideas leads individuals to integrate them into their value systems.

Boundary-marking function

Durkheim's (1912) concept that media reinforces expected social norms by publicising acceptable and unacceptable behaviours.