Basic Terms (SOWK1015) Flashcards
Social Imagination
How individuals understand their own and others’ pasts in relation to history and social structure (Wright Mills, 1959)
Social facts
the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life (Durkheim, 1895). Each fact serves one or more functions within a society.
Manifest functions
the consequences of a social process that are sought or anticipated (Merton)
Latent functions
unsought consequences of a social process
dysfunction
a function that has the potential to disrupt social institutions or organisation.
Society
A group of people who share a definable community and a culture. It consists of the people and institutions around us, our shared beliefs, and our cultural ideas.
Culture
The beliefs and behaviours that a social group share
Community
A group of people in a definable region
Values
- A culture’s standard for discerning what is good and just in society
- guide the social living of indi. & group
Beliefs
The tenets or convictions that people hold to be true
Sanctions
A form of social control, a way to encourage conformity to cultural norms.
Norms
Rules and expectation that specify how to behave in accordance with what a society has defined as good, right and important.
Most members of society adhere to them.
Informal norms
casual behaviors that are generally and widely conformed to. Appropriate behaviours without the need of written rules.
Mores (Mor—ays)
- distinguishing right & and wrong
- moral significance
Consequences for violating this norm are severe
