Defintions/Basic concepts Flashcards
Society
A society is any set of people living together in a group comprising a single community
and whose members are interdependent.
How Does Society Work?
Answered by the sociological perspectives functionalism conflict theory feminism symbolic interactionism
Societies are stratified by
by race, gender or by economic factors like wealth and income
Social class
largely an economiccategory that consists of a group of people who are employed in similar occupations, are of the same socio-economic status, and share similar living conditions.
What is Socialization?
Socialization is the process whereby individuals learn about the culture of their society.
They learn about behaviours that are acceptable and those that are not.
institutions that are responsible for the socialization process
- The family
- Peers
- School
- The mass media
- Church
Agents of Socialisation
- political system
- legal system
- education system
- religious system
- family
- mass media
- peers
Socialization- learning of values
**Implicit in the socialization process is the learning of values. **Children are likely to learn and
develop the social values of their parents by observing them. The socialization process occurs
from the moment they are born, and continues throughout adult life.
Primary Socialization
- Begins in childhood; children learn acceptable behavior by observing adults.
- Family is key, teaching basic skills like sharing, respect, language, and hygiene.
- Talcott Parsons highlights the family’s role in socializing young children.
Secondary Socialization
- School (educational system) provide specific skills for work and public life.
- Teaches adherence to rules, punctuality, peer interaction, and respect for authority.
- Feminists argue schools perpetuate/reinforce gender roles, linking domestic chores at home to subject choices like home economics. ,** they were more likely to be assigned subjects such as
home economics at school.**
Early social thinkers
Emile Durkheim
society is larger than the sum of its parts.
social facts stem from society and have a profound influence on people’s lives within society.
French sociologist Émile Durkheim defined social facts as
social structures, cultural norms, and values that are external to individuals and exert social control over them. Durkheim believed that social facts are created by collective forces and are not derived from individuals.
Karl Marx
Capitalism is an economic system with enormous implications for how society is organised.
Inequality between group stems from the economic organisation of society.
Max Weber
Used a multidimensional approach to analyse.
The economic, cultural and political organisations of society together shape social institutions and social change.
Parsons’ Pattern Variables
Pattern Variables A
* Ascription
* Diffuseness
* Particularism
* Affectivity
* Collective-orientation
Pattern Variables B
* Achievement
* Specificity
* Universalism
* Affective-neutrality
* Self-orientation
