Unit 3
Terms you should know
Achieved Status: Social position that an individual attains through their own actions, choices, skills, or accomplishments, rather than by virtue of birth or inheritance.
Apartheid: A system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination that was enforced in South Africa from 1948 until the early 1990s.
Ascribed Status: Social status that is assigned to an individual at birth or based on certain inherent characteristics such as race, gender, or family background.
Caste System: A social hierarchy where individuals are born into a specific social group or caste that determines their social status, occupation, and interactions within society.
Class System: A system of stratification based on socioeconomic factors, such as income, education, and occupation, that divides society into different social classes.
Closed System: A social system in which mobility between social classes is limited or nonexistent.
Horizontal Mobility: Movement within the same social stratum, such as changing jobs at a similar level of skill and pay.
Intergenerational Mobility: Changes in social status between different generations of a family.
Social Mobility: The ability of individuals or families to move up or down in social class or status over time.
Open System: A social system that allows for social mobility and movement between social classes.
Social Justice: The concept of fair and impartial treatment of all individuals in society, particularly in terms of distribution of resources, rights, and opportunities.
Social Class: A division of society based on socioeconomic factors such as income, occupation, and education.
Meritocracy: A system in which individuals advance based on their abilities, achievements, and merit rather than factors like social class or wealth.
Upper Class: The highest socioeconomic class in a society, typically characterized by significant wealth, power, and influence.
Middle Class: The socioeconomic class between the upper and working classes, often characterized by moderate income, education, and professional occupations.
Working Class: The socioeconomic class consisting of individuals who perform manual labor or blue-collar work, often with lower income and limited job security.
Lower Class: The socioeconomic class with the lowest income, limited access to resources, and often facing economic hardships.
LICOs: Low-Income Cutoffs, a measure used in Canada to define the income threshold below which a family or individual is considered to be in low income.
Minimum Wage: The lowest wage that employers are legally required to pay workers for their labor.
Income: Money earned through employment, investments, or other sources.
Wealth: The total assets and resources owned by an individual or household, including property, savings, and investments.
Absolute Poverty: The lack of basic necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing needed for survival.
Justice: The principle of fairness and equity in the application of laws and the distribution of resources in society.
Relative Poverty: A condition where individuals or families lack the resources and income needed to maintain the average standard of living in their society.
Deviance: Behavior that violates social norms, values, or expectations.
Social Control: Mechanisms, practices, and institutions used to regulate and enforce conformity to societal norms and expectations.
Formal Sanctions: Official consequences or punishments imposed by institutions or authorities for violations of rules or laws.
Informal Sanctions: Unofficial, often non-legal consequences for behavior that deviates from social norms.
Internal and Social Control: The processes through which individuals regulate their own behavior (internal control) and the ways in which society regulates behavior through norms, laws, and institutions (social control).
Crime: Behavior that is deemed illegal by a society and punishable by law.
Members of the Court System: Individuals involved in the legal system, including judges, lawyers, jurors, and other officials who administer justice and resolve legal disputes.
Understanding and explaining these concepts requires a deep understanding of sociology, criminology, and related fields. Here is a brief overview of each concept:
Criminal Justice System vs. Restorative Justice:
The criminal justice system is a punitive system focused on punishing offenders through incarceration, fines, whereas Restorative justice emphasizes repairing harm caused by crime, involving victims, offenders, and the community in the resolution process to promote healing and prevent future offenses.
Tactics Used by the Police:
Police tactics encompass a range of strategies employed to maintain public order, prevent crime, and enforce laws, including surveillance, community policing, use of force, and specialized units.
Types of Crime:
Crimes can be categorized into various types such as violent crime, property crime, white-collar crime, organized crime, cybercrime, and more.
Likely Offenders (based on 4 categories):
Offender profiles can vary based on the type of crime but generally include youth for property crimes, males for violent crimes, individuals in positions of trust for white-collar crimes, and organized crime groups for organized crimes.
Types of Social Justice Movements:
Social justice movements seek to address inequalities and injustices in society, including movements for racial justice, gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental justice, and economic justice.
Theoretical Explanations of Deviance:
Theories of deviance include strain theory, social learning theory, labeling theory, control theory, and conflict theory, which explain why individuals engage in behaviors that violate social norms.
Factors that Affect Inequality:
Factors influencing inequality include economic disparities, educational opportunities, social mobility, discrimination, access to resources, and institutional biases.
Social Stratification Resulting from Income Inequality (Living on Minimum Wage):
Living on minimum wage often means struggling to meet basic needs, facing financial insecurity, limited access to healthcare, education, and housing, and experiencing challenges in achieving upward social mobility.
Difference Between Social Classes:
Social classes are hierarchical divisions in society based on income, wealth, occupation, education, and social status, with distinctions between upper class, middle class, working class, and lower class.
Theoretical Explanations of Social Inequalities:
Theories of social inequality include functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism, and intersectionality, which analyze the structural, power-based, and interactional aspects of social disparities.
Factors Determining Deviant Behavior:
Factors influencing deviant behavior include individual characteristics, socialization, peer influence, economic conditions, cultural norms, social inequalities, and institutional responses to deviance.
Which of the following is not a factor that affects inequalities discussed in class
Ethnicity and Race Social background Physical and Mental Disability
Education
Spontaneous behavior of people who are responding to similar stimuli is which of the following terms?
Collective Behaviour
Social movement
Mob
Riot
The most highly structured, rational and enduring form of collective behavior, is which of the following terms?
Collective Behaviour
Social movement
Mob
Riot