CHAPTER 5 - Culture, Demographics, and Social Inequality Flashcards
What is culture
shared way of life, beliefs, and practices
Material culture- physical objects ie car in US represents mobility
Non-material culture - social thoughts and ideas ie values
Popular culture - appeals to the masses (radio, tv)
High culture - limited to the elite (ballet, opera)
Dominant culture vs subculture
counterculture- subculture that opposes dominant culture, KKK, Mafia
multiculturalism- pluralism, equal standing for all cultures
Define cultural universals
Pattern common to all people, pertain to basic necessities vs cultural differences
What is symbolic culture
Symbols that are recognized by the people of the same culture and communicate values and norms of the culture. Help people communicate and understand between each other, i.e. rituals, gestures, signs. Symbols and rituals differ between cultures
Ritual - formalism, tradition, sacral symbolism and performance, white coat ceremony
symbol- cultural representations of reality
language- most powerful symbol, continuity and identify in culture
Values
culturally approved concept about right/wrong, desirable/undesirable
Beliefs
specific ideas that people feel are true, values support beliefs
how people believe they became ill, how they will be cured
stigmas, traditional medicine, etc.
Norms
Rules of social conduct
Sociobiology
How biology and evolution affect social behavior. Darwin - some behaviors persist for survival
Cultural diffusion
Transfer of cultural elements from one social group to another -ex. kpop
Cultural competence - can interact with people from different cultures
Cultural transmission - passing down to other generations
Social change
A change in state that can can be subtle or radical ie revolutions
Culture shock
Disorientation due to exposure to new social environments and ways of living
Transition shock - experiencing a change that needs a period of adjustment
Reverse culture shock - returning to initial environment
Cultural lag
culture takes time to catch up to technology, causes social problems
nonmaterial culture is more resistant to change than material culture
stem cell research, CRISPR
assimilation and amalgamation
assimilation- person’s culture comes to resemble dominant group
amalgamation- majority and minorities combine to form a unique cultural group
Sociocultural evolution
How societies and cultures have progressed over time, how minds have evolved.
Ex. modernization and sociobiology
Population
Number of people in an area
Population growth
populations rise until overpopulation at carrying capacity, then level off to population equilibrium
Attributed to advances in agriculture and medicine
Population growth rate - is the change of the population in a time period
Overpopulation - more ppl than can be sustained
Carrying capacity - total possible population that can be supported
Population equilibrium
Population projections - estimates from mathematical analysis, do not consider unpredicted effects
Population pyramids
Birth and death rate
Crude birth rate vs crude death rate - annual birth/death per 1000 10 - 20
Rate of population change - difference between 2 above
Age specific birth rate vs age specific death rates
Fertility
General fertility rate - annual number of births per 1000
Total fertility rate - total number of births per woman in her childbearing years
Replacement fertility rate - fert rate at which popul remains balances
Sub-replacement fertility rate- birth rate <death rate = popl wont be sustained
Population lag effect - changes in fert rate not reflected in birth rate until several generations
Population momentum - children from high fert rates periods reproduce
Morbidity and mortality
Morbidity - disease
Mortality - deaths
Prevalence - individuals experiencing disease
Incidence - number of new case of disease
Case fatality rate - medicine, deaths due to specific condition
Infant mortality rate - annual dealth per 1000 of infants under 1 year
Life expectancy
Migration
nomadism- non-permanent travel
external migration- between countries vs internal migration- within a country
voluntary migration, involuntary migration
Settlers to unsettled areas vs refugees that arrive. Colonization group arrive and dominate
immigration, emigration, reverse migration- return to home
push factor- bad things about place you are leaving (discrimination, genocide)
pull factor- good things about place you are going to
Urbanization
decrease in rural population, increase in urban population. Tied to industrialization
social geography- studies spatial distribution of groups
rural flight- decreased emphasis on agriculture causes people to leave rural areas
Suburbanization
population growth on fringes of urban areas
urban sprawl- people leaving cities
white flight- white people leaving cities
urban blight- (negative) parts of cities degrade as a result of urban decline, increased poverty and crime there
Gentrification
a form of urban renewal, so rich people can move into city
4 components:
1. displacement of lower income residents
2. increase neighborhood stratification
3. expanded tax base
4. less affordable housing
Theories of population change
Demographic transition: industrialization causes lower death rates first, then lower birth rates
Malthusian theory- population growth will exceed resource growth, causing a Malthusian catastrophe where population is reduced by famine (Thomas Robert Malthus - population size positive correlated to availability of resources)
positive checks- raise death rate ie disease, war, hunger
preventative checks- lower birth rate ie abstinence, birth control, same-sex relationships
Neo-malthuisianism - population control
Demographics
study of human population dynamics
dominant groups- have social power to assign label
minorities- receive differential treatment
New great migration - migration of Blacks due to better relations
age, gender, race, sexual orientation, immigration status
Age
age cohorts- group of ppl of same age ir Baby boomers-
Generation - people born in the same period
population aging- more olders nowadays
Ageism - discrimination towards older
social aging- individuals experience complex emotional and social changes, affect well-being, Western cultures see aging as undesirable
life course theory- biological and social factors earlier in life affect outcomes later in life
social significance of aging:
1. rite of passages- take on more personal responsibility, 3. retirement homes vs. caring for parents, 4. dependency ratio- economically dependent members to economically productive members
Gender
sex- biological male (XY), female (XX), intersex (XXY, etc.)
gender- masculine, feminine
gender schema- gender beliefs become socialized
gender script- certain behaviors in a certain situation
social construction of gender:
1. gender roles- social expectations, gender conditioning is the socialization od gender role
2. gender expression- external manifestations
3. sexism- discrimination based on gender
4. gender segregation- often separated in spaces based on sex, not gender
5. gender fluidity, variant, queer, transexual, non-conforming all describe a spectrum
Trnasgender dissonance between biological sex and gender
race/ethnicity
race- group shares biological traits
ethnicity- group shares cultural, historical experiences
you cannot change either
social construction of race:
1. external influences shape racial identity
2. ethnicity is not restricted to race
3. racism- dominant group superior to minorities
4. ethnogenesis- tribes separate into independent groups. creation of separate ethnicities
racial formation perspective - race is not biological, but constructed through social and economic forces
Racialization or ethnicization- dominant group gives racial labels to groups that do not relate to those labels for social control
ethnocentrism and cultural relativism
ethnocentrism- judge by standards of own culture, belief in inherent superiority of one own culture or ethnic group
culture relativism- judge by standards of other cultures, an individual beliefs should be understood in terms of that individual’s specific culture
sexual orientation
sexual orientations:
1. heterosexual- towards opposite gender/sex
2. homosexual- towards same gender/sex
3. bisexual- towards both gender/sex, can be unequal
4. pansexual- towards both gender/sex equally
5. asexual- lack of sexual attraction
Kinsey scale- scale of homo (6) to hetero (0)
Heterosexism - discrimination based on sexual attraction ie homophobic attitudes
Heteronormative beliefs
Immigration status
periods of immigration:
1. colonial period- English colonists during 17th, 18th century
2. north Europe in mid-19th century
3. southern and eastern Europe in early 20th century
4. Asia and Latin America in present (in order: Mexico, China, Philippines, India)
American dream
immigration controls- policies that restrict legal immigration, disadvantages poor migrants
social integration- nativity status determines how much social stratification you have experienced
Attitudes are more positive towards established migrants than recent migrants
Globalization
factors contributing to globalization:
1. telecommunications- speed up connections
2. economic interdependence- some countries have demand for a product without means of production
Outsourcing - contracting of third parties for operations (domestic or foreign)
consequences:
1. organizations- UN, NGOs fight for international causes
2. terrorism- war on terror
3. civil unrest- collective behavior, civil disorder, social media
4. convergence theory- globalization leads to a united global culture
Social movements
Collective response to dissatisfaction that arise when formal means of participation don’t address the concerns of the public
relative deprivation- do not have resources that they expect for their social position, so pushes people to participate in movement if standard means don’t work
Division between insiders - who support the cause and outsiders - those who don’t
social stratification (3)
caste system- lower social mobility, defined by birth
class system- some social mobility, birth and merit. Wealth, income, education
meritocracy- higher social mobility, merit, myth of opportunity
social mobility (3)
vertical mobility- moving up or down in social stratification, usually getting a better/worse job (upward and downward)
horizontal mobility- change in occupation or role within group but maintains income, usually getting a different job or getting disability insurance
can be intragenerational (difference in class of members of same generation) or intergenerational (difference bt members of dif generation like parents vs children)
social reproduction- social inequality is transmitted from generations
SES - depends on power, prestige, property. (3 Ps)
Capital (3)
physical capital- money, property
cultural capital- what you know, education
social capital- whom you know, networks
class/false consciousness
class consciousness- active awareness of own social class
false consciousness- do not recognize class relations
4 classes - upper, middle, working, and lower
Intersectionality
how different identities intersect within individuals, producing unique inequalities
ex: black and lesbian cannot be analyzed separately
Poverty (4)
relative- inability to meet average standard of living defined by society
absolute- inability to secure basic necessities of life
marginal- due to unemployment
Structural - due to social institutions
Spatial inequality
Environmental injustice (or env justice) relates to exposure to health risk that affects mostly low income ppl
residential segregation: physical separation of groups along race or SES
health disparities
socioeconomic gradient in health- SES positively correlates with health, SE gradient in health can be within and between countries
gender:
1. men utilize resources less
2. most research is done on male subjects
3. women treated less aggressively - gender bias
4. dosages are for men
race:
1. minorities have higher disease risk and lower access to healthcare
healthcare accessibility/availability
availability- presence
accessibility- obtain
