Ch. 1- Sociological Stories and Key Concepts Flashcards
Society
A population distinguished by norms, values, institutions and culture.
- are often defined by geographic, regional, or national boundaries.
Sociology
Studies how everyday, individual stories and relationships relate to the larger, collective stories of social groups, social systems and societies.
Culture
The symbolic and learned aspects of human society.
is not biological but instead, is transmitted via social interaction.
Subculture
The symbols and lifestyles of a subgroup in society, one that deviates from the “normal”, more general (dominant) culture of a society.
Social Structures
Patterns of organization that constraints human behavior. These can be formal (such as school or government) or informal (such as peer pressure or trends)
Values
Shared ideas of what is good/bad, desirable/undesirable, or sacred/profane in a society.
Norms
Rules that prescribe correct behavior. Rules can be official (e.g. as laws) or unofficial but commonly understood (e.g. when the Pledge of Allegiance is recited in the United States, people are expected to stand)
Status
A position in social relations (e.g. mother, father, teacher, president).
It is normatively regulated; it is assumed that when a person occupies a particular position he or she will behave in particular ways.
Roles
Bundles of socially defined attributes and expectations associated with social statuses or positions (e.g. mother, father, teacher, president).
Institutions
Patterned sets of linked social practices, such as education, marriage or the family, that are informed by broader culture, are regularly and continuously repeated, are sanctioned and maintained by social norms, and have a major significance for the social structure.
Sociological Imagination
The ability to understand not only what is happening in one’s own immediate experience but also what is happening in the world and to imagine how one’s experience fits into the larger world experience.
Troubles
Personal problems, private matters having to do with the self. An individual’s unemployment is a example.
Issues
Problems extending beyond the individual and local environment. These are institutional in nature and often involve crisis in institutional arrangement. The high unemployment rate across The U.S is an example.
Social Problem
A situation that contradicts or violates social norms and values. Wide spread drug abuse and racism are examples.
Modernity
Set of historical processes that transformed the traditional order. Early sociologists set out to understand the social upheaval and disruption caused by these processes, which include the rise of the nation-state, economic capitalism, bureaucratization, urbanization, and secularization.
