5 Marker Definitions

Question 1

What is culture

Answer 1

The way of life for a group of people e.g it is part of British culture to drink tea, queue, eat fish and chips and respect manners

Question 2

What is the social construction of culture

Answer 2

A social construction is any idea that is created and given special meaning by people. Culture is a social construction because it varies from social group to social group. Cultures can vary significantly in what they see as normal, e.g. collectivist cultures emphasise the importance of group needs while individualist cultures emphasise the importance if individual needs.

Question 3

What is aspects of culture

Answer 3

Anything created by people, including ideas and beliefs are aspects of culture. It includes such things as food traditions, clothing, government, education, language, religion, beliefs, art, music, shared history and laws

Question 4

What is cultural diversity

Answer 4

The range of different ideas and cultures that exist. E.g. the UK has a very different way of life to China.

Question 5

What is social change

Answer 5

Few cultures stay the same and any differences in the way that people generally think or act can be seen as social change. E.g. a significant social change in the last 50 years in British culture has been in terms of the roles and expected behaviours of men and women

Question 6

What are subcultures

Answer 6

A culture within a culture. Subcultures have their own particular norms and values that give them a distinctive character. They can be along class, gender, ethnic or age lines e.g. youth subcultures.

Question 7

What does the term culturally universal mean?

Answer 7

Social behaviours that can be found in all cultures. E.g. some form of family life and some form of religious celebration or festival exists in all cultures.

Question 8

What does cultural relativity mean?

Answer 8

The idea that what is normal in one culture would be strange in another. E.g. the norm for women in Muslim countries to cover up which can seem strange to Westerners.

Question 9

Define norms

Answer 9

Social rules which define correct and socially acceptable behaviour in a society or group – ‘normal’ standards of behaviour. E.g. it is the norm to knock before you enter someone’s house or to wear black at a funeral

Question 10

Define laws

Answer 10

Formal, written rules for everyone in a country to follow. E.g. there are laws against murder, theft, drug use etc.

Question 11

Define Mores

Answer 11

Ideas about what behaviour is right or wrong. They are a stronger form of norm guiding behaviour to maintain decency. E.g. being polite in British society. If we are rude we break mores and risk rejection from society

Question 12

Define values

Answer 12

Shared beliefs about what is good and desirable, important and worthwhile. E.g. privacy, caring for others, respecting our elders, human life, honesty, hard work (British culture

Question 13

Define beliefs

Answer 13

Beliefs are those things that we hold to be true and are generally individual to the person and influence how they act. Often people take their beliefs from their culture or religion

Question 14

Define status

Answer 14

Your position in society which can be ascribed or achieved

Question 15

Define ascribed status

Answer 15

The position in society that you are born with. E.g. the monarchy, your gender or your family position – ‘son of’

Question 16

Define achieved status

Answer 16

The position in society that you have worked for. E.g. occupational positions you have earned through climbing occupational ladders or gaining qualifications.

Question 17

Define roles

Answer 17

Patterns of behaviour which are expected from people in different positions in society. E.g. behaviour expected from a friend, a student, a teacher, a mother etc.

Question 18

Define role conflict

Answer 18

When the demands of one role clash with the demands of other roles played. E.g. the working mother whose demands of work, childcare and home often clash

Question 19

Define social control

Answer 19

The methods used during the socialisation process to persuade or force individuals conform to the expected and acceptable norms and values in society and prevent deviant behaviour.

Question 20

Define deviance

Answer 20

The failure to conform to social norms. Any behaviour that is somehow socially unacceptable or disapproved of is deviant. E.g. disrespecting the elderly.

Question 21

Define deviant

Answer 21

The term given to someone who breaks the norms of a society. E.g. the individual who disrespected an old person would be a deviant person.

Question 22

Define sanctions

Answer 22

Agreed rewards or punishments to encourage social conformity to norms. E.g. praise or being told off

Question 23

Define positive Sanctions

Answer 23

Rewards such as praise, used to encourage acceptable behaviour.

Question 24

Define negative sanctions

Answer 24

Punishments such as disapproval, used to prevent unacceptable behaviour

Question 25

Define formal sanction

Answer 25

A punishment for breaking a law or a written rule. E.g. a fine for speeding.

Question 26

Define informal sanction

Answer 26

A punishment for breaking an informal rule such as a norm, imposed by people around you. E.g. disapproval.

Question 27

Define agencies of social control

Answer 27

Groups in society that teach, enforce or encourage people to follow social rules. E.g. police, school, family

Question 28

Define formal agents of social control

Answer 28

Carried out by an agency specifically set up to ensure that people conform to a particular set of norms – especially the law. E.g. The Criminal Justice System

Question 29

Define agents of informal social control

Answer 29

Carried out by agencies whose primary purpose is not social control, but they play an important role in it. E.g. through the family and education system children learn the difference between good and bad behaviour.

Question 30

Define socialisation

Answer 30

The process of learning the correct behaviour, norms and values in a society: this can be either primary or secondary

Question 31

Define primary socialisation.

Answer 31

The family teach us basic cultural norms and values in the first few years of life (0-5years). E.g. we learn our language, what to eat, what to wear etc.

Question 32

Define secondary socialisation

Answer 32

External agencies outside the home start to influence us from 5 years old. Agencies such as the school, peers, media and religion teach us how to behave in different situations. E.g. we learn what is acceptable and not acceptable to other people.

Question 33

Define informal socialisation

Answer 33

Socialisation that happens by chance. Through living our normal lives we learn from those around us. E.g. we might see a friend getting told off for something and we also learn to not do what they did.

Question 34

Define formal socialisation

Answer 34

When people or organisations set out to change us deliberately. E.g. in schools, teachers deliberately try to teach children to be hard working and train children to follow rules, punishing them if they misbehave.

Question 35

Define agencies of socialisation

Answer 35

The places or groups of people responsible for teaching individuals correct norms, values and behaviour. E.g. parents, schools, peers or media.

Question 36

Define stereotypes

Answer 36

A category into which we put other people according to some simple characteristics without really thinking about who they are. E.g. saying all women are bad drivers.

Question 37

Define labelling

Answer 37

People are given a label by others as ‘bad’ or ‘good’ then treated as though it were true. This can affect how they are treated and can lead them to accept the label as part of their identity which is then a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 38

Define role models

Answer 38

People that children admire and copy e.g. sports or media personalities.

Question 39

Define imitation

Answer 39

The process of learning by watching and copying others. In primary socialisation children may watch and copy their parents, in secondary socialisation children or adults may imitate media role models.

Question 40

Define cultural transmission

Answer 40

The processes through which our culture is transmitted or passed on. This is through primary and secondary socialisation.

Question 41

Define hidden curriculum

Answer 41

The norms and values that schools teach students through day-to-day school life, E.g. punctuality and respect for authority. Not part of the formal curriculum which consists of the things that are deliberately taught in school.

Question 42

Define peer group pressure

Answer 42

This can be positive where peers support each other through encouragement and kindness or negative where peers encourage each other to do dangerous or silly things

Question 43

Define resocialisation

Answer 43

When people have to learn a new set of rules for a new situation and change their way of behaving. E.g. new teachers have to learn rules of behaving as teachers rather than students.

Question 44

Define sex

Answer 44

Whether someone is male or female – refers to biological differences between men and women, such as differences in genitals, internal reproductive organs and body hair

Question 45

Define gender

Answer 45

Whether someone is masculine or feminine – refers to cultural socially constructed differences between the two sexes. It refers to the way a society encourages and teaches the two sexes to behave in different ways through socialisation.

Question 46

Define gender role

Answer 46

The patterns of behaviour and activity which society expects from individuals of either sex – how a boy/man or a girl/woman should behave in society. They may sometimes be referred to as sex roles.

Question 47

Define gender role socialisation

Answer 47

How we are socialised into societies expectations of a man/woman.

Question 48

Define a gender stereotype

Answer 48

A generalised view of the typical or ideal characteristics of men or women. E.g. in the UK girls are expected to show feminine characteristics and boys to show masculine characteristics.

Question 49

Define feminine

Answer 49

Behaviour which is seen as normal for females. In Britain that might be being pretty, caring and passive.

Question 50

Define masculine

Answer 50

Behaviour which is seen as normal for males. In Britain that might be being strong, aggressive and assertive.

Question 51

Define manipulation

Answer 51

How parents encourage behaviour they approve of and discourage bad behaviour through praise and punishment. E.g. in terms of gender identity parents may encourage behaviour seen as normal for the child’s sex and discourage behaviour associated with the other sex.

Question 52

Define canalisation

Answer 52

How parents direct children’s interests into things they think are good for the children, like reading or taking part in sport. In terms of gender identity children may be ‘channelled’ by parents towards toys and activities seen as appropriate for their sex.

Question 53

Define verbal applications

Answer 53

The ways we talk to children that tell them at an early age how important gender is – ‘good girl’ ‘naughty boy’ etc

Question 54

Define nationality

Answer 54

The country where we were born gives us nationality. Most people born in Britain can have a British passport and are British citizens. This is a legal matter and depends also on your parents’ nationality. It is therefore your legal citizenship of a country with the right to have a passport and vote.

Question 55

Define ethnicity

Answer 55

Is a sense of belonging to a particular group or place. Many people who are legally British, for example, fell themselves to be Welsh, Scottish or perhaps British Asian. These are not legal identities, but ethnic identities.

Question 56

Define cultural identity

Answer 56

The sense of who you are and the culture who you feel you belong to.

Question 57

Define the term ethnic

Answer 57

Refers to membership of a cultural group. Usually, but not always, the term ethnic is associated with minority groups

Question 58

Define the term nature argument

Answer 58

Explains human behaviour in terms of genetic or ‘natural’ differences. E.g. they would say that men are naturally more aggressive than women because that is how they are born.

Question 59

Define the term nurture argument

Answer 59

Explains human behaviour in terms of environment and learning and says that people are far more affected by how they are brought up. E.g. if men are more aggressive it is because they are brought up that way and learn that they are expected to be tough and fight etc.

Question 60

Define the term feral child

Answer 60

A child who has been brought up without human contact and so has not been socialised. Some may have been reared by animals (e.g. Oxana) or completely neglected by their parents (e.g. Genie)

Question 61

Define identity

Answer 61

How we see and define ourselves (our personality) and how other people see and define us. E.g. we may define ourselves as Welsh, Muslim, a woman, a teacher etc.

Question 62

Define personal identity

Answer 62

Aspects of our identity which mark us out as unique, e.g. our name, fingerprints, signature etc. It is concerned with the question ‘Who am I?’ and how individuals define themselves.

Question 63

Define social identity

Answer 63

When a person is defined as a type of person or label. They are clusters of personality characteristics related to social roles or groups, e.g. man, women, teacher, gay, criminal etc.