Exam 2 Flashcards
Deviance
Behaviors & beliefs that violate social expectations and attract negative sanctions
Social Deviance
Violations of norms (mores, folkways, taboos)
Criminal Deviance
Crimes (breaking the law)
Stigmatization
Process by which physical traits or social conditions become widely devalued
Criminalization
Collectively defining a trait or condition as criminal
Medicalization
Collectively defining physical traits or social conditions as an illness
Strain Theory
The idea that deviance is caused by a tension between widely valued goals and people’s ability to obtain them (Robert Merton)
Social Disorganization Theory
The idea that deviance is more common in dysfunctional neighborhoods
Differential Association Theory
The ida that we need to be recruited into and taught criminal behavior by people in our social networks
Concentrated Poverty
A condition in which 40% or more of the residents in the area live below the poverty line
Neutralization Theory
The idea that deviance is facilitated by the development of culturally resonant rationales for rule breaking
Labeling
The process of assigning a deviant identity to an individual
Primary Deviance
The instance of deviance that first attracts a deviant label
Secondary Deviance
Further instances of deviance prompted by the receipt of a deviance label
Structural Functionalism
The theory that society is a system of necessary, synchronized parts that work together to create social stability
Collective conscience
Societies shared understanding of right and wrong
Anomie
Widespread normlessness or a weakening of or alienation from social rules
Conflict theory
The idea that societies aren’t characterized by shared interests but by competing ones
Social Inequality
A condition in which wealth, power, and prestige are most readily available to people with privileged social identities
Historical Sociology
Research method that involves collecting and analyzing data that reveal facts about past events, with the aim of enhancing sociological theory
Social organizations
Formal entities that coordinate collections of people in achieving a stated purpose (Ex: school)
Social Institutions
Widespread and enduring patterns of interaction with which we respond to categories of need (Education)
Social structure
A set of interlocking social institutions in which we live (work, family, education)
Structural Position
Mix of opportunities and constraints offered to us by the social structure we live in
Institutional Discrimination
Outcome of social institutions persistently favoring some people over others
Social Stratification
A persistent sorting of social groups into enduring hierarchies
Premodern Thought
A belief in supernatural sources of truth and a commitment to traditional practices
Nation-States
Large territories governed by centralized powers that grant or deny citizenship rights
Modern-Thought
A belief in science as the sole source of truth and the idea that humans can rationally organize societies and improve human life (Max Weber)
Rationalization
Process of embracing reason and using it to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of human activities
Comparative Sociology
A research method that involves collecting and analyzing data about two or more cases that can be usefully compared and contrasted
Divisions of Labor
Complicated tasks broken down into smaller parts and distributed to individuals who specialize in narrow roles
Bureacracies
Organizations with formal policies, strict hierarchies, and impersonal relations
Postmodern Thought
A rejection of absolute truth (supernatural OR scientific) in favor of countless partial truths (personal experience)
Gig work
Segment of labor market in which companies contract with individuals to complete one short term job at a time (Uber)
Capital
Resources we use to get the things we want and need (can be economic, social, and cultural)
Economic Capital
Financial resources that are or can be converted into money, including cash, investments, and valuable goods/property
Economic Elite
The minority of people who control a disproportionate amount of wealth
Social Mobility
Opportunity to move up or down the economic hierarchy
Wage
Cash payments given to workers in exchange for their labors
Capitalism
An economic system based on private ownership of the resources used to create wealth and the right of individuals to personally profit
Proletariat
People employed by others who work for a wage
Bourgeoisie
The group of people who employ the workers
Means of Production
Resources that can be used to create wealth (land, factories, money to invest, etc.)
Labor
The work people do with their bodies and minds
Alienation
The feeling of dissatisfaction and disconnection from the fruits of ones labor
Crisis of Capitalism
A coming catastrophic implosion from which capitalism could never recover
Class consciousness
An understanding that members of a social class share economic interests
Socialism
An economic system based on shared ownership of the resources used to create wealth that is then distributed y governments for the enrichment of all
Free-Market Capitalsim
A capitalist system with little or no government regulation
Labor Unions
Associations that organize workers so they can negotiate with their employers as a group instead of as individuals
Social Safety Net
Patchwork of programs intended to ensure that the most economically vulnerable do not go without basic necessities like fod, clothing, and shelter
Living Wage
Income allowing full-time workers to afford basic needs
Welfare Capitalism
A capitalist economic system with some socialist policy aimed at distributing the profits of capitalism more evenly across the population
Contradictory Class Locations
Positions in the economy that are in some ways like the proletariat and in other ways like the bourgeoisie (managers)
Service and Information Economy
An economy centered on jobs in which workers provide services or work with information
Precariat
A new class of workers who live an economically precarious life
Working Poor
People in the labor force who earn poverty level wages
Protestant Work Ethic
The idea that one’s character can and should be measured by ones dedication to paid work
Glass Ceiling
Invisible barrier restricting upward economic mobility
Glass Floor
Invisible barrier that restricts downward mobility
Wealth Gaps
Differences in the amount of money and economic assets owned by people from different social identity groups
Wage Gaps
Differences between hourly earnings of different social identity groups
Colorism
Prejudice against and discrimination towards people with dark skin compared to those with light skin regardless of race
Legitimation
A process by which a potentially controversial social fact is made acceptable
Racism
Refers to a society’s production of unjust outcomes for some racial or ethnic groups
Residential Segregation
Involves the sorting of different kinds of people into separate neighborhoods
Cross-Institutional Advantage/Disadvantave
People advantaged by one institution are often advantaged by many others and vivce-versa
Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage
When institutional advantage/disadvantage builds over a lifetime
Intergenerational Advantage/Disadvantage
Children inherit advantage/disadvantage from their parents
Hypersegregation
Residential segregation so extreme that many people’s daily lives involve little or no contact with members of other races
White Fight
Organized white resistance to integration
White Flight
Phenomenon in which White people start leaving a neighborhood when minority residents begin to move in
Redlining
Practice of refusing loans to or steeply overcharging anyone buying in poor and minority locations
Resource Deserts
Places that lack beneficial or critical amenities
Spatial-Analysis
Research method in which data are layered onto a landscape divided into fine grained segements
Environmental Racism
Practice of exposing racial and ethnic minorities to more toxins and pollutants than White people
Achievement Gaps
Disparities in the academic accomplishments of different kinds of students
Tracking
The practice of placing students in different classrooms according to their perceived ability
Adultification
Form of bias in which adult characteristics are attributed to children
School-to-prison Pipeline
A practice of disciplining and punishing children and youth in school that routes the out of education and into the criminal justice system
Mass incarcerations
An extremely high rate of imprisonment in cross-cultural and historical perspective
Mass Deportation
An extremely high rate of deportation in cross-cultural and historical perspective
Structural violence
Institutional discrimination that injures the body and mind
