Untitled Flashcards Set

Chapter One 

• Sociology-  

• Study of how individuals both shape and are shaped by society 

• August Comte-  

• French philosopher who gave sociology its name 

• C Wright Mills-  

• developed sociological imagination to describe how our individual lives relate to social forces. Gives us the ability to recognize relationship between our own biographies and the society we live 

• W.E.B. DuBois-  

• One of the key founders of sociology (African American), used sociological tools to show how society works and to fight racism 

• Albion Small-  

• the founder of the first accredited department of sociology in the United States (University of Chicago) 

• Generalizations- 

•  Based on scientific research 

• Describe not judge 

• Descriptions change with new data 

• Stereotypes- 

•  negative, predetermined ideas about a group 

• Justifies discriminatory treatment 

• Not based on scientific research 

• Two core commitments 

• Use sociological eye to observe social patterns 

• Take action to challenge those patterns 

Chapter 2 

• Theory  

• Helps notice and understand patterns 

• Often broad and abstract 

• Theoretical Perspectives 

• Conflict theory- examines how social inequality and conflict arise between groups 

• Symbolic interactionism- explains society by analyzing how people’s social standing affects their everyday interactions 

• Structural functionalism- explains how society is made up of social structures that perform specific functions 

• Structural functionalism 

• Society is seen as a complex system who parts work together to promote stability and social order 

• Social institutions 

• Sets of statuses and roles 

• One aspect of society 

• Work together, form social structures 

• Family, religion, economy, government, media, healthcare, education 

Know the difference between Micro and Macro 

• Macro  

• Looking at the large-scale structure that shaped society 

• Micro 

• Looking at the small scale that shaped society 

• Durkheim 

• Structural Functionalist Perspective 

• Imagined society as an organism with different parts that work together to keep it alive and in good health 

Know the difference between manifest, latent, and dysfunctions 

• Manifest functions 

• Are obvious- intended purpose 

• Latent functions- 

• Secondary- unintended or unrecognized purposes 

• Dysfunctions 

• Unintended consequences 

• Conflict theory 

• Looks at how society defines sources of inequality and conflict 

• Conflict perspective- Karl Marx 

• Inequitable distributions root cause of problems 

• Rapid social change necessary 

• Multiple sub-perspectives and theories within the conflict perspective 

• Karl Marx and communism 

• Society enters communist stage 

• Social institutions start disappearing 

• All citizens are equal 

• Bourgeoisie 

• Owners of the capital 

• Purchasing and exploiting labor power 

• Using surplus from unemployment to expand capital 

• Proletariat 

• The ones who do the actual work 

• No property 

• Lumpenproletariat 

• Known as “beggars” 

• False consciousness 

• Proletariat do not understand their situation 

• Social institutions reinforce work ethic 

• Symbolic interactionism- Max Weber 

• Society is a product of everyday social interactions 

• Development of self 

• Looking glass self (Cooley) 

• Role of others in one’s development 

• Reacting to feedback 

• Influence of primary groups 

• Dramaturgy (Goffman) 

• Social actors, social scripts, props 

• Front stage and backstage 

• Presentation of self 

Chapter 3 

• Research 

• Systematic process of data collection for the process of gaining knowledge 

• Focus on empirical statements 

• Focus on groups, societies, social interactions 

• Informed consent 

• Requires that the participants be told the purpose of the research, what they will be asked to do and any risks they may face 

• Qualitative 

• Rely on words and images 

• Quantitative 

• Rely on numbers 

Chapter 4 

• Culture 

  • Distinguishing characteristics of a society 

• Nonmaterial  

  • Norms, values, beliefs, symbols, and language 

• Material  

  • Artifacts and leisure goods 

• Social construction 

  • Helps people identify themselves 

• Norms 

  • Expectations, learned through observation and interaction 

• Status  

  • Relative position in society 

• Roles 

  • Expectation of a status 

• Values 

  • Desirable, good, and important 

• Beliefs 

  • What is deemed true 

• Symbols  

  • Anything with meaning 

• Language 

  • Symbols to communicate meaning 

• Subcultures 

  • Groups within larger culture 

• Countercultures 

  • Direct conflict with mainstream culture 

• Multiculturalism 

  • Respect and honor different cultures 

• Social intelligence 

  • Understand and manage social interactions 

• Social identity

  • Sense of who they are based on membership in social groups 

Chapter 5 

• Socialization 

  • Learn norms and expectations 

• Social reproduction 

  • Transmits norms and values 

• Resocialization 

  Adopting new norms/values 

• Feral children 

  Has no contact with humans and has not learned social skills/language 

• Nature 

  Genetics 

• Nurture 

  environmental 

• Self-consciousness 

  Being overly aware how others perceive you 

• Taking the role of the other 

  Actively try to understand and see a situation from another perspective 

• Agents of socialization 

• Family, school, peers, media 

• Primary socialization 

• Learning social norms and values during childhood from others 

• Total institution 

• Closed social system that controls all aspects of a person’s life 

• Gender socialization 

• Learn gender identity and roles 

• Starts at birth 

• Gendered messages in society 

• Role strain 

• The stress caused by not fulfilling the demands of their responsibilities 

• Role conflict 

• Incompatible demands placed upon a person relating to their job or position 

• Identity 

• Characteristics we are known by 

• Some determined by society 

• Self-identity 

• Recognition of one’s potential and qualities as an individual 

Chapter 6 

• Statistical 

• The idea that behaviors that are different from the average are deviant 

• Normative 

• Someone who violates a social norm 

• Legalistic 

• Considers only criminal acts to be deviant 

• Relativist 

• Deviance is relative and socially constructed 

• Absolutist 

• Idea that deviance is determined by an objective moral standard that is independent of culture 

• Conflict 

• Focuses on the competition for resources between different groups in society 

• Critical 

• Active approach, aiming to analyze and critique societal structures with the goal of promoting social change 

• Durkheim 

• Anomie- norms fail to regulate behavior 

• Society without crime is impossible 

• Moral entrepreneurs 

• A person or group that tries to persuade society to create or enforce rules that reflect their moral beliefs 

• Rule creators 

• A person that works to establish new rules, laws, norms that align with their moral beliefs 

• Rule enforcers 

• People/groups who ensure rules are followed 

• Moral panics 

• Widespread fear of a threat to society 

• Medicalization of deviance 

• Process of defining and treating behaviors that are considered deviant or morally wrong as medical illness 

• Labeling 

• Way to group people based on their identities based off characteristics/behavior 

• Stigma 

• Social construct that refers to the negative attitudes/behaviors directed at people with certain characteristics 

• Techniques of neutralization 

• Denial of responsibility, denial of injury, denial of victim, condemning the condemners, appeal to higher loyalties