Chapter 11: Social Structure and Demographics Flashcards
Sociology
Study of society, how we create society, how we interact within and change society, and how we define what is normal and abnormal in society.
Micro
Level consisting of family groups and local communities.
Meso
Level consisting of organizations, institutions, and ethnic subculture.
Macro
Level consisting of national and international systems.
Theoretical approaches to sociology.
Help analyze and explain aspects of human social behavior. Each model was created to explain certain aspects of sociology and is inadequate for explaining other aspects.
Symbol.
Any object, image, sound, or action that carries meaning to humans. The shared understanding of symbols is therefore a micro or meso level phenomenon.
Symbolic interaction.
Approach to sociology pioneered by influential sociologist George Herbert Mead that attempts to understand human action and interaction by studying the symbols we use to communicate. There are three main assumptions: Humans act toward symbols based on the meanings that these symbols carry, the meaning symbol carry comes from social interaction and humans interpret the meaning of symbols, and the interpretation influences action.
Social Construct.
Any idea that has been created and accepted by the people in our society?
Social Constructionism.
Attempt to understand the society through the study of the society social constructs. Includes work ethic, acceptable dress and gender roles. Is useful for explaining micro- and meso- level sociological phenomena.
Rational choice theory.
One more micro to meso level approach to sociology. Humans will make rational choices to further their own self-interest. People weighed the costs and benefit when making choices, ranking their options based on maximizing perceived benefit. An individual carefully considers all the possible rewards and punishments of each social action and choose the option that results in the greatest social benefit.
Social exchange theory.
It is also called exchange theory. People stay in relationships because they get something from the exchange, and they leave relationships when there are more social costs than behavior.
Conflict theory.
Is a macro divided attempt to understand society by examining the inevitable conflicts between groups in society. Capitalism is an economic system in which individuals incorporation, rather than governments, own and control what marks called the means of production, meaning property, machinery, factories, or any other means of creating a saleable good or service. Small, wealthy capitalist class control the means of production. And there is the lower worker class that performs manual labor. Disparity in power and resource between these two groups leads to conflict. Eventually the worker class would rise up and overthrow the capitalist class and form a new classless society.
Interest groups.
If people in lower status positions recognize this power differing show and see the others share the common dissatisfaction, then these individuals can organize to form interest groups.
Structural functionalism.
The founder of Structural Functionalism is Emile Durkheim. Each group in society has a role to play in their overall health and operation of society. Durkheim called each social group’s role, its function: The contribution made by that group to the system. The different groups of society work together in an unconscious, almost automatic way towards maintenance of equilibrium.
Manifest function.
Intended consequence of the action of a group within a society.
Latent functions.
Organization or institution has unintended but beneficial consequences.
Dysfunctions
Are negative consequences of the existence of an institution, organization, or interaction
Feminist Theory.
Critiques the institutional power structure that disadvantage women in society. Describe society as inherently patriarchal, with men seeking to preserve their position of power over women through societal privilege and institutional discrimination.
Glass ceiling.
Processes that limit the progress of women to the highest job positions because of invisible social barriers to promotion.
Glass escalator.
Invisible social forces sometimes push men up to higher positions.
Social Institutions.
Well established social structures that dictate certain patterns of behavior and relationship and are accepted as a fundamental part of culture. Institutions exist at the meso level or sociological analysis because they are part of society but are not depended upon the individuals involved. Competition over resources can bring institutions into conflict.
Family
Differs greatly from culture to culture. Different patterns of kinship may be reflected by these terms. Family is the most basic of institutions. It is the institution most closely tied to the individual and helps to meet many of our most basic needs. Divorce rate in the US rose significantly in the second-half of the 20th century but have started to drop over the last two decades.
Domestic violence.
Seen across all social classes and genders and can include not only physical violence, but sexual abuse, emotional abuse and financial abuse. Number one cause of injury to American woman.
Elder abuse.
Most commonly manifests as neglect of an older relative.
Child abuse.
Also most commonly manifests as neglect, although physical, sexual, and psychological abuse are also common.
Mandated reporter.
Doctors are legally required to report suspected cases of elder or child abuse.
Education
An institution aims to provide a population with a set of skills that will be useful to them or to society. Lower socioeconomic status is associated with decreased accessibility to and quality of education.
Hidden curriculum.
Includes not only the information and cognitive skills students learn, but also the social norms, attitudes, and beliefs to students.
Teachers Expectancy.
Refers to the idea that teachers tend to get what they expect from students.
Religion
Pattern of social activities organized around a set of beliefs and practices that seek to address the meaning of existence. Religiosity refers to how religious one considers oneself to be and includes strength of religious beliefs, engagement and religious practices and attitudes about religion itself. There are five major religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism.
Denominations or sects
Add denomination simply a part of a church. A sect refers more properly to a religious group that has chosen to break off from the parent religion. A religious sect may take on extreme or deviant philosophies and transform into a cult.
Shifts in religion.
There is a shift away from religion and society secularized or moves from a world dominated by religion towards rationality and scientific thinking. For other groups, maintenance of strict adherence to religious code or fundamentalism predominates.
Government and Economy
Can be defined as a systematic arrangement of political and capital relationships, activities and social structures. They affect rule making, representation of individual and society, rights and privileges, division of Labor, and production of goods and services.
Democracy
Allows every citizen a political voice, usually through electing representatives to office.
Monarchies.
Include a royal ruler (a king or a queen) although the ruler’s power may be significantly limited by the presence of a constitution, parliament system, or some other legislative body.
Dictatorship.
System where a single person holds power and usually includes the mechanism to quilt threats to this power.
Charismatic Authority.
A leader with compelling personality.
Theocracy
System where power is held by religious leaders.
