Ch 11 Sociology: Institutions And Theories Flashcards
Macro vs microsociology
Large groups and social structure vs. small groups and the ind
Functionalism
Or functional analysis - study of structure and function of each part of society. Early functionalists viewed society as living organism well when all fulfill their functions
Function
Refers to beneficial consequences of people’s actions. Help keep society in balance
Dysfunctions
Harmful consequences of people’s actions that undermine society’s equilibrium
Manifest function
Action intended to help some part of a system
Latent function
The unintended positive consequences of manifest functions. Unstated or unrecognized
Sick person in functionalism
Deviant - against social norms.
Manifestation of deviance in healthcare and medicine is that the one who’s fallen ill is not only physically sick but now adheres to social role of being sick that disrupts normal order of society
Power
In sociology refers to a form of influence over other people
Conflict theory
Based on works of Karl Marx. Focuses on how power differentials are created and how these differentials contribute to maintenance of social order.
Symbolic interactionism
Study of the ways inds interact through a shared understanding of words, gestures and other symbols. Symbols are the key to understanding how we view the world and communicate with one another.
Social constructionism
Focuses on how inds put together their social reality. Constructs arise from humans communicating and working together to agree on the significance of a concept or principle. Physical or abstract objects
Rational choice theory
Focuses on decision making in an ind and attempts to reduce this process to careful consideration of benefits and harms to ind. chooses option with highest benefit to harm ratio
Exchange theory
Extension of rational choice theory focusing on interactions in groups. Behavior met with approval will reinforce that behavior and vice verse
Feminist theory
Attempts to explain social inequalities that exist on the basis of gender. Focuses on subordination of women through social structures and institutional discrimination
Glass ceiling
Phenomenon in which women are promoted less frequently and have more difficulty getting top level admin positions in a company
Social institutions
Well established social structures that dictate certain patterns of behavior or relationships and are accepted as a fundamental part of culture. Regulate ind behaviors
Family
Influenced by culture, value systems, beliefs, practices, gender, age, race, ethnicity, etc. no fixed definition across cultures
Hidden curriculum
In education- transmitting social norms, attitudes, beliefs to students
Teacher expectancy
Idea that teachers tend to get what they expect from their students.
Religion
Pattern of social activities organized around a set of beliefs and practices that seek to address the meaning of existence (sociology definition)
Religiosity
How religious one considers himself to be. Includes strength of religious beliefs, engagement in religious practices, and attitudes about religion itself
Church
Large, universal religious group that can be divided into multiple coexisting denominations
Government and economy
Systematic arrangements of political and capital relationships, activities, and social structures that affect rule making, representation of the ind in society, rights and privileges, division of labor, and production of goods and services
Democracy
Allows every citizen a vote through elected representatives
Monarchies
Royal ruler may be limited by parliament
Dictatorship
Single person holds power
Theocracy
Power by religious leaders.
Division of labor
Encouraged in capitalistic societies - specific components of a larger task are separated and assigned to skilled and trained inds
Sick role
Mid 20th century - those who are sick not responsible for illness but exempt from social responsibility and expected to seek help. Now pts are responsible for health too
Beneficence
In medicine - physician has responsibility to act in pt’s best interest
Nonmaleficence
Do no harm
Respect for pt autonomy
Respect pt decisions and choices in their own healthcare.
Justice
Physician has a responsibility to treat similar pts with similar care, distribute resources fairly
Culture
Encompassing the entire lifestyle for a given group. What makes human societies different from one another.
Material and symbolic culture
Artifacts
Material items that people make, possess, and value
Material culture
Meaning of objects of a society
Symbolic culture
Also called nonmaterial culture - ideas that represent groups of people. Material is often the tangible representation.
Culture lag
Symbolic culture is slower to change than material.
Values
What a person deems important in life, which dictates one’s ethical principals and standards of behavior
Belief
Something an ind accepts to be truth
Cultural barriers
When cultural difference impedes interaction with others
Demographics
Statistics of populations. Mathematical application of sociology
Demographic categories
Age, gender, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and immigration status
Ageism
Prejudice or discrimination on basis of age
Gender
Social construct that corresponds to behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with a biological sex
Gender inequality
Intentional or unintentional empowerment of one gender to the detriment of the other
Gender segregation
Separation of inds based on perceived gender
Race
Social construct based on phenotypic differences between groups of people. Real or perceived differences. Not strictly defined by genetics but by superficial traits such as skin color.
Racialization
Refers to the definition or establishment of a group as a particular race
Racial formation theory
Posits that racial identity is fluid and dependent on concurrent political, economic, and social factors
Ethnicity
Social construct that sorts people by cultural factors, including language, nationality, religion, and other factors
Symbolic ethnicity
A specific connection to one’s ethnicity in which ethnic symbols and identity remain important, even when ethnic identity does not play a significant role in everyday life
Kinsey scale
Scale of 1-6 everyone has a little gay and a little straight
intersectionality
interplay between multiple demographic factors especially leading to discrimination or oppression
demographic shifts
changes in makeup of a pop over time
population pyramids
provide histogram of pop size of various age cohorts
fertility rate
average number of children born to a woman during her lifetime in a population
birth rate
children per 1000 people per year
mortality rate
deaths per 1000 people per year
migration rate
immigration rate minus emigration rate
crude rate
adjusted to a certain pop size over a specific period of time and multiplied by a constant to give a whole number
pull factors
positive attributes of a new location that influence migration
push factors
negative attributes of an old location that influence migration
demographic transition
specific example of demographic shift referring to changes in birth and death rates in a country as it develops from a preindustrial to industrial economic system
four stages of demographic transition
stage 1: preindustrial society (birth and death rates are high); stage 2: improvements in healthcare, nutrition, sanitation, and wages cause death rates to drop; 3: fewer births due to more effort supporting them, women’s rights, contraception, industrial; 4: industrialized society in which birth and death rates are low
Malthusian theory
focuses on how the exponential growth of a population can outpace growth of the food supply and lead to social degradation and disorder
Malthusian catastrophe
prediction that as third-world nations industrialize and undergo demographic transition, the pace at which the world population will grow is much faster than the ability to generate food and mass starvation will occur
social movements
organized either to promote or to resist social change
relative deprivation
a perceived decrease in resources, representation, or agency relative to the past or to the whole of society
proactive social movements
those that promote social change
reactive social movements
those that resist social change
Globalization
process of integrating the global economy with free trade and tapping of foreign markets
urbanization
refers to dense areas of population creating a pull for migration; cities are formed as individuals move into and establish residency in these new urban centers
ghettoes
areas where specific racial, ethnic, or religious minorities are concentrated, usually due to social or economic inequities
slum
extremely densely populated area of a city with low-quality, often informal housing and poor sanitation
