Chapter 1 Flashcards
(28 cards)
The degree to which people succeed in life in such areas as education, income, and health.
life chance
A general term for social backgrounds and other aspects of society.
social environment
The scientific study of social behavior and social institutions.
sociology
The belief that people’s social backgrounds influence their attitudes, behaviors, and life chances.
sociological perspective
A group of people who live within a defined territory and who share a culture.
society
From Peter L. Berger, a theme of sociology in which the aim is to go beyond superficial understandings of social reality.
debunking motif
The social patterns through which society is organized.
social structure
The social relationships and social and physical characteristics of communities to which individuals belong.
horizontal social structure
A term used interchangeably with social inequality.
vertical social structure
The unequal distribution of resources, such as wealth, that a society values.
social inequality
C. Wright Mills’s term for the personal problems that many individuals experience.
personal troubles
C. Wright Mills’s term for problems in society that underlie personal troubles.
public issues
From C. Wright Mills, the realization that personal troubles are rooted in public issues.
sociological imagination
The belief that people experiencing difficulties are to blame for these problems.
blaming the victim
The belief that personal difficulties stem from problems in society.
blaming the system
The part of sociology that deals with issues involving large-scale social change and social institutions.
macrosociology
That part of sociology that deals with social interaction in small settings.
microsociology
The view that social institutions are important for their contributions to social stability.
functionalism
From Emile Durkheim, the combined norms of society.
collective conscience
Normlessness, a state in which social norms are unclear.
anomie
The view that society is composed of groups with different interests arising from their placement in the social structure.
conflict theory
The ruling class.
bourgeoisie
The working class.
proletariat
Awareness of one’s placement in the social structure and the interests arising from this placement.
class consciousness
