Final exam Flashcards
Define Culture and distinguish various definitions of culture structural
customs, beliefs, ideology, world-view, and values common to a group of people and which guide their individual and social behavior.
CLothes dress, manners, jokes, celebrations, folk art, food, childing rearing methods, medical care, religion
What is meant by cultural relativism?
not judging a culture to our own standards of what is right or wrong, strange or normal. Instead, we should try to understand cultural practices of other groups in its own cultural context.
define ethnocentrism
measuring or judging one’s own culture against another culture and can lead to judging someone else’s culture negatively. Ethnocentrism is also the belief that one’s own cultural rules are the best and often better than another culture’s rules.
An example of ethnocentrism is when you judge other countries for the way they eat, but don’t have a moral reason for this
what is acculturation
mutual sharing of culture; groups remain distinct, but certain elements of culture change through exchange
assimilation def
cultural uniqueness of minorities is abandoned and members try to blend into the dominant culture
accommodation def
partial or selective cultural change/ Non-dominant groups follow norms, rules, and standards of the dominant culture only in specific circumstances and contexts
define social institutions
orgainzies rights and duties into statues (social posittoins) and roles. and identify the expoected behaviors for the roels
organize social relations in a particular secotr of social life (family and reglioon)
often persis in face of issues but can eveolve
def social structure
set of interrelatted social insititutions developed to impose constraints on interaction for the purpose of the survival and well-being of the colelctiviity
also known as society
be able to identify the functions of the various social institutions
government, education, family, religion
Each institution performs two types of social function. (a) primary functions, which are also called manifest, explicit, or direct functions; (b) secondary functions, which are also called indirect, hidden, or latent functions. Through these functions, social institutions fulfill important needs in the society.
what is conservative thesis
inequality is the natural, divine order, and no efforts should be made to alter it.
intervention interfferes with a natural process
what is radical antithesis
equality is the natural, divine order; inequality is based on abuse of privilege and should be minimized.
intervention can overcome differences in ability
karl marx view
class differences based on exploitation and domination by owners of production and alienation among the workers
soical class as a central variable in human behavior and a central force in human history
webers view
class division based on “life choices” in the marketplace
life chances reflect distrubtuion of power within a community including economic power social prestige and legal power
life chances fall on a continuum
great variability found along hte continuum relfects multiple sources of power
class consciousness
awareness of one’s social class and hostility towards other classes, motivates people to transform society
main thesis of structural determinism
human behavior highly determined by one’s social class position
rational perspectives on organizations
It assumes organizations can be designed with structures and processes that maximize efficiency and effectiveness, concepts that are highly valued in this perspective.
Efficiency means obtaining a high ratio of output to input, achieving the best outcome from the least investment of resources.
Effectiveness means goal accomplishment.
systems perspective
constantly interacting with it mulitple environments
social, poltitical, econmoic, cultural, technological; must adapt to environmental change
interactional/ interpretive perspective
organizations provide members with a sense of connection and meaning
process, rather than goals
flexibility, rather than control/reason
diversity or approaches, rahter than one right away
