Intro To Sociology

Question 1

What is anthropology?

Answer 1

The study of different cultures eg. Tribes

Question 2

What is socialisation?

Answer 2

The way in which we learn our norms and values in society.

Question 3

What is primary socialisation?

Answer 3

Socialisation that happens to us as a young child from our parents/family

Question 4

Secondary socialisation + 5 agents

Answer 4

Socialisation that happens throughout the rest of our lives. (School, work, religion, media, peers)

Question 5

Formal socialisation

Answer 5

When people deliberately try to change the way you act/try to socialise you. Eg. Teachers try to make you work hard in school

Question 6

Informal socialisation

Answer 6

Learning how to behave as you live your life. This could be socialisation that happens by chance. Eg. Learning to be tidy from Your family

Question 7

Processes of socialisation definition

Answer 7

The WAY in which we are taught our norms and values BY agents

Question 8

Examples of processes of socialisation

Answer 8

Manipulation
Canalisation
Social activities
Language
Modelling
Toys and games

Question 9

Processes: manipulation

Answer 9

Children are controlled into certain behaviour through praise and punishment

Question 10

Processes: Canalisation

Answer 10

Children directed into certain interests. For example being taken to certain sporting activities based on gender or reading specific books to them.

Question 11

Processes: Social activities

Answer 11

Children might be taken to play groups before they attend nursery. They will learn to play with other children, share toys and take turns. Boys will be encouraged to participate in team games

Question 12

Processes: Modelling

Answer 12

Children will imitate their parents and act as they do. Adults are role models for children to copy. Albert Bandura said children copy from TV and children learn violence

Question 13

Processes: Toys and games

Answer 13

Children are given gendered objects to play with. Girls offered pink toys that encourage them to care like barbie dolls whereas boys are given violent and practical toys such as swords and hammers.

Question 14

Processes: Language

Answer 14

Adults speak to boys and girls in different ways. Phrases such as boys don’t cry are used. As well as calling girls princess or calling boys champ.

Question 15

What is gender?

Answer 15

Gender is how masculine or feminine we feel we are-NOT BIOLOGICAL

Question 16

What’s an Ethnic group?

Answer 16

An ethnic group is a group that shares a culture.

Question 17

What is ethnicity? How are we socialised into our ethnicity?

Answer 17

Our ethnicity is the ethnic group we feel we belong too. Not the same as race.
We are socialised into our ethnic group through socialisation. For example in schools we are taught British values through an ethnocentric curriculum

Question 18

What’s a feral child?

Answer 18

A child that hasn’t been socialised properly and lacks basic norms, values and skills of society.

Question 19

Genie Wiley

Answer 19

Feral child from 1970s California
Severely neglected by her parents. She was 13 when she sat found but was the size of a 7 year old. She was unable to communicate and couldn’t put words together.

Question 20

Oxana Malaya

Answer 20

Found in Russia, her parents ignored her and left her with the dogs in a kennel. She learned from the dogs and when she was found she was more like a dog then a human. Oxana still finds human contact difficult.

Question 21

Nature vs Nurture debate

Answer 21

The debate between nature (we act as we do because we are born that way) and nurture (we act as we do because we are taught by others how to behave)

Question 22

David Reimer

Answer 22

A twin boy who was circumcised at birth. The circumcision went wrong and the doctors told David’s mother to bring him up as a girl. David’s mother did this but David always felt like a boy. This shows that nature is a strong influence and is a big piece of evidence for the nature side of the NVN debate
David felt confused by life and killed himself.

Question 23

Nurture evidence

Answer 23

Feral Children

Anthropological evidence shows peoples behaviours differ from
One culture to another

Historical evidence shows peoples behaviours changed over time (social construction)

Question 24

What is social control?

Answer 24

How we are encouraged to follow the norms and values of our society through sanctions (rewards or punishments)

Question 25

Formal social control

Answer 25

This is where we are encouraged to follow the law and the sanctions are formal punishments such as prison or fines.

Question 26

Agencies of formal social control

Answer 26

Judiciary - people that enforce the law such as police and judges

Legislature - the government who makes the law

Question 27

Informal social control

Answer 27

This is where we are encouraged to follow the norms and values of our society. The sanctions are informal such as detentions (negative) or being promoted (positive)

Question 28

Agencies of informal social control

Answer 28

Schools
Parents 
Peers
Work 
Religion 
Media

Question 29

Society + social rules

Answer 29

A group of people who share a culture (way of life)

Social rules - unwritten rules that people feel uncomfortable breaking, but aren’t illegal by law

Question 30

Norms

Answer 30

A set of rules of expected behaviours for a society/group

Behaviours that are seen as completely normal for people to do for example say please and thank you

Question 31

Morals/More

Answer 31

Idea of behaviour that is right or wrong. If a person breaks a more/moral it is seen as very bad

More/Moral is a belief about what behaviour is normal

Question 32

Values

Answer 32

These are strong beliefs about society that most people share. Breaking a value is seen as very bad. In British society we value that we should care for our family

Question 33

What happens when an unwritten rule is broken

Answer 33

People are seen as deviant when unwritten rules are broken

Question 34

Culture

Answer 34

Is a way of life of a group of people. It consists of rules for expected behaviours.
Things that make up culture are: clothing, music, religion, language, history, art and food/cuisine

Question 35

Cultural relativity

Answer 35

Something that is acceptable in one culture but may not be in another

For example French people eat snails and frogs legs

Question 36

Cultural universals

Answer 36

Social behaviours that are found in all cultures. For example All cultures have some form of family life

Question 37

Cultural diversity

Answer 37

Different cultures have a different set of rules

Anthropology is the study of different human cultures. Anthropology shows that people from different cultures may have ideas that are strange to us. For example many remote tribes find it normal to eat humans where as in Britain we do not believe this.

Question 38

Margaret Mead

Answer 38

Was an anthropologist who looked at gender differences in tribes in New Guinea.

She found that in Mundagamore both males and females were aggressive and masculine
In Arapesh both men and women were seen to be feminine
And Tchambuli had traditional European male and female roles but reversed so men spend time making themselves attractive for women

Question 39

Subcultures

Answer 39

Within every society and culture are smaller groups who have slightly different ideas and beliefs form most others around them. Some youth groups have slightly different views from mainstream society for example Emos, Goths and Hippies

Question 40

4 ways people learn gender identity

Answer 40

Home
School
Sport & leisure
Mass media

Question 41

5 ways people learn ethnic identity

Answer 41

Home 
School
Sport and Leisure
Religion
Mass media

Question 42

What is Social change

Answer 42

The way in which Norms and values change over time.

For example it used to be norm for women not to work and for there to be a nuclear family. Now more families are symmetrical and many women work.

Another example could be it used to be important to disapprove of homosexuality, now we value differences and homosexuality is widely accepted

Question 43

Social change in work

Answer 43

Embourgeoisement of jobs such as plumbing (plumbers used to be a working class job but can now live a middle class lifestyle)

Proletarianisation of jobs such as administration clerks (the job used to be middle class but now doesn’t pay enough money for clerks to live a middle class lifestyle)

Question 44

What is family

Answer 44

The people who socialise you