CLEP - Sociology 3-4 Flashcards
Primary socialization
The initial socialization that a child receives thru which he/she becomes a member of society.
Socialization
Process thru which we learn or are trained to be members of society, to take part in new social situations, or to participate in social groupings.
Secondary socialization
The subsequent experience of socialization into new sectors of society by an already socialized person.
Family
Generally considered the most basic social institution; a union that is sanctioned by the state & often by a religious institution such as a church
Peer groups
A primary group whose members are roughly equal in status & they provide continuity in lifestyles
Resocialization
The process of discarding behavioral practices & adopting new ones as part of a transition in life.
Total institution
A place of residence to where persons are confined for a period of time & cut off from the rest of society.
“Looking-glass-self”
Term coined by Charles Horton Cooley to refer to the process of self-formation
Role-distance
Term coined by Erving Goffman to describe the gap that exists between who we are & who we portray ourselves to be.
Cognitive development
Theory proposed by Jean Piaget describing the changes that occur over time in the ways children think, understand, & evaluate a situation
Sensorimotor stage
Piaget’s stage of development in which infants are unable to differentiate themselves from their environment; they are unaware that their actions produce results, & they lack the understanding that objects exist separate from the direct & immediate experience of touching, looking, sucking, & listening
Preoperational stage
Piaget’s stage of development in which children begin to use language & other symbols; they begin to attach meaning to the world & are able to differentiate fantasy from reality
Concrete operational stage
Piaget’s stage of development in which children make great strides in their use of logic to understand the world & how it operates; they begin to think in logical terms & make the connection between cause & effect & are capable of attaching meaning or significance to a particular event
Formal operational stage
Piaget’s stage of development in which the child develops the capacity for thinking in highly abstract terms of metaphors & hypotheses
Culture
A blueprint according to which the members of a society or a group go about their daily lives
Material culture
The things that people attach meaning to & use, including cars, clothing, books, & burial sites
Nonmaterial culture
The abstract terms that human beings create for the purposes of defining, describing, explaining, clarifying, ordering, organizing, & communicating what they do & how they live, including languages, ideas, belief systems, rules, customs, & political systems
Symbol
A representation of something to which a certain meaning or value is attached by the person or persons who use it
Norms
The rules or expectations that govern or to which people orient their behavior; binding rules whose violations results in some form of punishment
Values
Represent not only the things that give meaning & about which human beings feel certain, but also the ideas that make such things so important that humans are willing to fight, work, or give up something of their own in exchange (or as payment) for them; express the ideas or central beliefs common to the members of a group describing what they consider good, right, & desirable & against which the norms of a particular group or subgroup may be judged
Folkways
The usual customs & conventions of everyday life
Mores
Norms of such moral & ethical significance to the members of a society or community that their violation is regarded as a serious matter worthy of strong criticism, anger, punishment, or institutionalization
Cultural universals
The basic elements essential to individual & collective survival that are found to exist in all cultures
Cultural variability
The variety of things human beings have devised to meet their needs
Ethnocentrism
The attitude that one’s own cultural or ethnic values are the only good & true values; the tendency to judge other cultures by one’s own standards
Cultural relativism
Social scientists’ efforts to be objective in their observations either by not imposing their own meaning on the events being observed or by focusing solely on the reason why the element exists
Subcultures
Represent unique cultures & cultural organizations unto themselves, not wholly separate from the larger culture
Countercultures
Values, beliefs, & ways of life not conforming to the norm
