final exam

Question 1

what is social devience

Answer 1

any behavior or psychically apperaence that is socially challenged and/or condemned because it departs from the norms and expectations of a group; consists of breaking the rules which most people abide from

Question 2

what are the social properties of deviance

Answer 2

devience is an objective given;deviance as a socially constructe ; deviance as lined to the social structure of socitey

Question 3

what are the functions and dysfunctions of deviance?

Answer 3

deviance allows people to distingush from right and wrong, it creates social change, but it also labels people as deviant

Question 4

what approaches do sociologists employ in the study of deviance?

Answer 4

strucural functionalism, social strain theory, and labeling theory

Question 5

what important concept is involved in the study of deviance? what does deviance facilitate

Answer 5

social norms; deviance helps us decide whats sociteys consider devient behavior

Question 6

what definitions of crime are introduced by sociologists? What observations can you make about the importance of these definitions?

Answer 6

1. crime as a form of deviance and violation of conduct norms
   * crime is but one form of conduct norm, distinguished from others by the fact that it violates the conduct norms specifically defined by criminal law
2. crime as a social harm
   * approach is articulated by Edwin Sutherland in White Collar Crime (1949)
3. crime as violations of human rights
4. Should anything causing “social injury” be defined as a crime

Question 7

whats the anomie theory. what is anomie?

Answer 7

a state in which expectations are unclear and the social system that keeps people functioning has broken down. anomie is essentally too little social regulation

Question 8

whats robert merton’s structural strain theory

Answer 8

devience occurs when a socitey does not give all its members equal ability to acheive socialyl acceptable goals

Question 9

what is social control?

Answer 9

methods and strategies that regulate behavior within society

Question 10

what is edwin sutherland’s differential association theory

Answer 10

criminal behavior is learned in interaction; a person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of law over definitions unfavorable to violations
of law.

Question 11

what are the functionalist approaches to the study of deviance?

Answer 11

deviance is a social necessity since it reinforces norms by reminding people of the consequences of violating them.

Question 12

what contributions does conflict theory make to the study of deviance?

Answer 12

Conflict theory looks to social and economic factors as the causes of crime and deviance. Unlike functionalists, conflict theorists don’t see these factors as positive functions of society. They see them as evidence of inequality in the system.

Question 13

whats the labeling theory

Answer 13

the belief that individuals label people, and their reactions of those lablels over time form the basic of their identity

Question 14

whats travis tirschi’s social bond or control theory.

Answer 14

delinquent adolescents fail to develop societal bonds consisting of (1) attachment to parents, peers, and school; (2) occupational and educational commitment; (3) academic involvement; and (4) belief in social rules and convention.

Question 15

what is the broken windows theory of deviance?

Answer 15

when a neighborhood allows physical manifestations of disorder, like broken windows and graffiti, to go unrepaired, it will then begin to experience social disorder, higher crime rates, and decreased safety.

Question 16

how is crime measured

Answer 16

using official statistics, victim surveys, & self report surveys

Question 17

according to thomas kuhn, what is a paradigm? what is a paradigm shift?

Answer 17

paradigm is a universally recognizable scientific achievement that, for a time, provides model problems and solutions to a community of practitioners.a paradigm shift is a fundamental change in the basic concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline.

Question 18

what is the normative view of science?

Answer 18

the notion that science should not be affected by the personal beliefs or values of scientists but rather should follow objective rules of evidence

Question 19

What does ulrich beck mean by the risk society?

Answer 19

a socitey that both produces and is concerned with mitigating risks, especially manufactured risks (ones that results from human activity)

Question 20

what is environmental sociology?

Answer 20

envriomental sociology examines people’s beliefs about the envrioment, their behavior toard it, and the ways in which the struture and culture of socitey influences ecological relations and contributes to the persistent abuse or exploitation of the envrioment.

Question 21

what is the unit of analysis in environmental sociology?

Answer 21

ndividuals, groups, social interactions, organizations and institutions, and social and cultural artifacts

Question 22

what is sustainability?

Answer 22

meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

Question 23

what are the cultural sources of environmental problems?

Answer 23

anthropocentrism- we see the world centered around humans

Question 24

from a sociological perspective, what are the root causes of environmental problems?

Answer 24

human Activity and decsion making

Question 25

what are the principles of environmentalism?

Answer 25

sustainability, education, reuse and stuff

Question 26

according to Jared Diamond, what are the causes of civilizational collapse?

Answer 26

ivilizational collapse is caused by a combination of environmental damage, climate change, hostile neighbors, loss of crucial trade relationships, and a society’s inadequate responses to its challenges.

Question 27

what is demography. what is the scope of demography?

Answer 27

Demography is the study of population processes and characteristics. o The processes include growth, fertility, mortality, migration and population. ageing. o Characteristics are varied-age, sex, birthplace, family structure, health, education. and occupations.

Question 28

what is the malthusian argument?

Answer 28

populations inevitably expand until they outgrow their available food supply

Question 29

define social change

Answer 29

changes in human interactions and relationships that transform cultural and social institutions.

Question 30

what are the major themes in the study of social change?

Answer 30

The major themes in the study of social change include shifts in social structures and institutions, technological innovation, cultural evolution, economic development

Question 31

what are the causes of social change?

Answer 31

values and beliefs, technology, population, diffusion, the physical environment, and wars and conquests

Question 32

what is collective action?

Answer 32

action that takes place in groups and diverges from the social norms of the situation

Question 33

what are the theories of collective action.

Answer 33

• convergence theory: collective action happens when people with simular ideas and tendencies gather in the same place
• contagion theory: collective action arises becayse of peopples tendency to conform to the bheavior of others with whom they are in close contact
• emergent norm theory: collective action empahzies the influence of keynoters in promoting new behavioral norms
• value-added theory: collective action claims that certain conditions are required for a social movement to coalesce and acheive a successful outcome

Question 34

what are social movements?

Answer 34

collective action that is purposeful and organized and that seeks to challange or change one or more aspects of socitey theough institutional and extra- institutional means

Question 35

what are the types of social movements?

Answer 35

• alternative social movements: social movements that seek the most limited sociteal change
• redeptive social movements: social movements that target specfic groups byt advocate for more radical change in behavior
• reformative social movements: social movements that adovate for limited social change across an entire socitey
• revoulutionary social movements: social movements that adocate for the radical reorganization of socitey

Question 36

what are the models of social movements.

Answer 36

political process model: focuses on the structure of polical oppurtunities

Question 37

what are the three stages of social movements?

Answer 37

1. occuring when a social problem is identified
2. resources are mobilized and action is being taken
3. which the social movement is intutionalized

Question 38

what’s meant by postmodernity?

Answer 38

attempts to define how society has progressed to an era beyond modernity.

Question 39

what does george ritzer mean by “psychologize” and “medicalize” problems? why do we tend to approach social problems in this matter?

Answer 39

we blame others for their own finacial sturggles, “psycholigizing” them and we “medalialize” by blaming peoples problems on them due to illness”

Question 40

What is ecological overshoot?

Answer 40

when human demand on Earth’s ecosystems exceeds the planet’s capacity to regenerate resources and absorb waste.

Question 41

what is the socialogial imagination

Answer 41

an awareness of the relationship between who we are as individuals and the social forces that shape our lives