Chapter 8 Flashcards
Society
Group of people who share a culture and live/interact with each other within a definable area
Sociology
Attempts to understand the behaviour of groups
How people are shaped by the society they live in
Macro-sociologists
Large-scale structural considerations
Effects on structures on individual actions
How structures explain patterns of information
Micro-sociologists
Small-scae individual considerations
Effects of individuals on social structure
Functionalism
Each part of society/person has a distinct purpose
Emile Durkheim
Dynamic equilibrium
All parts of society work together to maintain stability
Emile Durkheim
Manifest functions
Intended and obvious consequences of a structure
Latent functions
Unintended or less recognized consequences of a structure
Can be beneficial, harmful or neutral
Conflict theory
Society as a competition for limited resources
Criticisms of conflict theory (3)
- Ignores the non-forceful ways in which epople and groups reach agreement
- Approaches society more from the perspective of those who lack power
- Focuses on economic factors almost exclusively as the sole issue for conflict within society
Symbolic interactionism
Interested in the symbols that people use to contribute values and beliefs to others
Subjective means people impose on objects, events and behaviours
Dramaturgical approach
People are theatrical performers and that everyday life is a stage
Rational choice theory
Decisions made between multiple courses of action
Choosing things that provide greatest reward at lowest cost
Social exchange theory
We assign different values to different interactions and prefer the action with the greatest personal benefit
Methodological individualism
All social realities are the result of individual actions and interactions
Social constructionism
People actively shape their reality through social interactions
It is something that is constructed, not inherent
Social construct
Concept or practice that is a construct of a group
Social institutions
Complexes of roles, norms, and values organized into a relatively stable form that contribute to social order by governing the behaviour of people
Nuclear family
Direct blood relations
Polygyny
One man, multiple wives
Polyandry
One women, multiple husbands
Endogamy
Practice of marrying within a particular group
Exogamy
Marrying outside of a particular group
Kinship
Cultural group, not related
Bilateral descent: includes maternal and paternal relations
VS. patrilineal or matrilineal descent
Educational segregation
Disparities between education afforded to those of different socioeconomic classes
Teacher expectancy theory
Once a teacher has formed an opinion of a student, and students will agree and act in accordance
Educational stratification
Differences becoming entrenched through educational segregation, persisting through generations, so that children’s education mirrors that of their parents
Ecclesia
Dominant religious organization that includes most members of society
National or official religion
Church
Type of religious organization that is well integrated into the larger society
Usually occurs by birth
Sect
A religious organization that is distinct from that of the larger society
Often formed from breaking away from larger religious institutions
Cult/new religious movement
Religious organization that is far outside society’s norms and often involves a very different lifestyle
Can be judged
Secularization
Process in which religious looses its social significance in modern societies
Fundamentalism
Response to modern societies - strong attachment to traditional religious beliefs and practices
Religiosity
Extent religion influences an individuals life
Rational-legal authority
Legal rules and regulations are stipulated in a document
Traditional authority
Power due to custom, tradition or accepted practice
Charismatic authority
Power of their persuasion
Meritocracy
Rules by meritorious, those with record of meaningful social contributions
Fascist government
Ruled by a small group of leaders
Authoritarian governments
Unelected leaders
Totalitarianism
Unelected leaders regulate both public and private life
Command economies
Planned economies
Economic decisions are based on a plan of production and the mean of production are often public
Communism, socialism
Market economies
Economic decisions are based on the market and the means of production are often private
Mixed economies
Have mix of command and market economies
Traditional economies
Consider social customs in economic decisions
Most commonly in rural areas and often involving bartering and trading
Welfare capitalism
Most of the economy is private, except for extensive social welfare programs to serve certain needs
State capitalism
Companies are privately run, but work closely with state to come up with rules and regulations
Mechanical solidarity
Society remains integrated because individuals have common beliefs that lead to each person having the same fundamental experience
Collective conscious
Shared by individuals, that presumes that the existence of a greater social order that guides individual actions through shared beliefs, moral and values
Organic solidarity
Society integrates through division of labor, which leads to each person having a different personal experience
Each movement is distinguishable and separate
Medical model of disease
Emphasis on physical or medical factors as being the cause of all illness
Social model of disease
Emphasis on the effect of one’s social class, employment status, neighbourhood, exposure to environmental toxins, diet, and many other factors
Sick role
Talcott Parsons
Excepting someone from social roles and making up for their deviance
Legitimizing their illness, and they must play the roll of an ill person
Illness experience
Take the patient’s subjective experience of illness as its main concern
Symbolic culture
Symbols that are recognized by people of the same culture
Whorf hypothesis
People understand their world through language, and that language in turn shapes how we experience the world
Sociobiology
Study of how biology and evolution have affected human social behaviour
Cultural competence
Effective interactions between people of different cultures
Cultural transmission
Process in which cultural understanding is spread across generations
Cultural lag
Societal rules lag behind new technological advancements
Transition shock
Experiencing changes, that need a period of adjustment
Sociocultural evolution
Theories describing the processes through which societies and cultures have progressed over time
Class consciousness
Individuals active awareness in their membership in a social class
False consciousness
Individuals not recognizing the state of class relations under their social system
Social reproduction
Structures and activities in place in a society that serve to transmit and reinforce social inequality
Cultural capital
Non-financial social assets that promote social motility
Social capital
Potential for social networks to allow for upward social motility
Power
Ability to get other people to do things
Prestige
Reputation in society
Privilege
Set of unearned benefits one receives because of some attribute
Intersectionality
The ways different identities intersect within individuals and social groups to produce unique social positions
Relative poverty
Inability to meet the average standard of living within a society
Absolute poverty
Inability to meet a bare minimum of basic necessities
Social epidemiology
Study of distribution of health and disease across a population
Health-care disparities
Population-specific differences int he presence of disease, health outcomes, and quality of health care across different social groups
