General Knowledge Flashcards
Achieved status
Involves a degree of choice and results partly from individual achievement. Eg, a lawyer
Ascribed status
Are fixed, often given at birth and are largely unchangeable. Eg, race
Conflict
Sociologists argue that opportunities to participate in society are not equally shared. Vast differences in wealth shape, fundamental aspects of peoples lives in Britain today.
Consensus
When aspects of society - families, schools, religion - promote a general agreement about the things of worth in Britain today - values like tolerance, equality, freedom and cooperation.
Culture
The way of life of a particular society or social group
Feral children
Children who have been deprived of normal human contact. Is the result of a lack of primary socialisation
Gender socialisation
‘Appropriate’ types of behaviour or at least expectations on how you should behave as a male and female.
Large scale socialisation
For example wars, religion or famine
Norms
Rules about everyday behaviour. Norms are not ‘fixed’, they’re ‘fluid’ because they constantly change
Primary socialisation
Takes place during infancy, where children are taught about language and basic norms and values.
Roles
A set of norms that define appropriate behaviour for those who occupy a particular status. Eg, daughter
Role conflict
When the successful performance or 2 or more roles at the same time may come into conflict with one another. Eg, big and little sister.
Sanctions
Good or bad things that are enforced because of norms. Example, a good sanction would be a gift.
Secondary socialisation
Takes place outside the family and continues through the rest of out lives like education, social demographic.
Small scale socialisation
Everyday actions like individual lifestyle habits or relationships between people
Social control
The use of rewards and punishments or in other words, sanctions
Socialisation
The process whereby individuals learn the culture of their society. How humans learn behaviour appropriately.
Sociology
The study of human social life, groups and socialites.
Status
The standing given by society to individuals
Values
Ideas concerning what is good or bad
Give an example of a value
- Working hard and achieving things on an individual basis
- Saying please and that you
- Having the right to criticise the government
Give an example of a norm
- Wearing black to a funeral
- Eating with the correct cutlery
- Respecting other peoples opinions
Give an example of a status
- Being.a queen
- Being successful
- Being a police officer
Give an example of a role
- Being a mum or dad
- Being a daughter
What is a macro theory
Belief in the ‘power of society over the individual’
Is structural and systematic
What is a micro theory
Belief in the ‘power of the individual to direct their own actions’
We create out own social world based on our interpretations
Is interpretative and interactionist
Define functionalism
- Does it fall under macro or micro
- Is it consensus or conflict?
Is a macro, consensus theory
- Sees society as a smooth running and ordered society.
- Everything and everyone works together to come to an agreement which is created because of norms and values
What sociological theory is this? Laws of society are there to protect everyone equally
Functionalism
Define marxism
- Does it fall under macro or micro
- Is it consensus or conflict?
Is a macro, conflict theory
- Sees society as a system based on peoples differences in class
- The rich ‘Bourgeoise’ control the poor ‘proletariat’ through ideologies like religion and values.
- The solution to Marxism is eventually revolution where the lower class try to overthrow the bourgeoisie, becoming a communist system.
What sociological theory is this? Our present society is designed to make sure the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor
Marxist
Define feminism
- Does it fall under macro or micro
- Is it consensus or conflict?
Is another macro, conflict theory
- Sees society as a system based on the division between men and women
- Based on gender inequality, or ‘patriarchy’ where men have more power than women
What sociological theory is this? Marriage is based on the domination of women by men
Feminism
Define social actions
- Does it fall under macro or micro
Is a micro theory
- Essentially another way to describe the micro theory
- Argue that individuals have the power to define their social reality themselves
- Focus on how people interact with each other, and how they negotiate meanings to different social situations
Define interactionism
- Focuses on small scale interactions between people instead of society as a whole, trying to explain how things are labelled and categorised.
What sociological theory is this? To understand drug taking we need to first examine why some individual drugs have been defined as legal, and why others haven’t
Interactionism
