Intro to Sociology Flashcards
Sociology
The study of human social life, groups, and societies
Social Imagination
Viewing problems as public issues rather than just personal problems
Conflict Theory
Society is a competition for limited resources
Functionalism
society is a structure with interrelated parts that works to meet the biological and social needs of individuals
Culture
a group’s shared practices, values, and beliefs
Functions
the part a recurrent activity plays in the social life as a whole and the contribution it makes to the structure of the community
Dysfunction
social patterns that have undesirable consequences for society
Symbolic-Interactionism
examine the relationships of individuals within a society by studying their communication
Constructivism
extension of symbolic interactionism; proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be
Latent Functions
the unrecognized or unintended consequences of a social process
Manifest Functions
sought consequences of a social process
Positivism
study of social patterns
Social Facts
the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all cultural rules that govern social life
August Comte
coined the term sociology, believed it could be used to improve people’s lives
Emile Durkheim
studied how society affects people, interested in what they need to function smoothly
Karl Marx
developed a materialist view of history, focused on the ills of capitalism and the class system, predicted that class dissent would lead to uprising
Max Weber
focused on individuals and their values, specifically how Christianity played an important role in capitalism
Values
Ideals that a society holds above all others
Socialization
the process of social interaction through which people acquire both personality and identity and the way of life of their society
Socialization
carries on norms and values of society
Primary Socialization
sharing culture within a family group
Erving Goffman
Three reasons why studying social life matter: a) everyday routines show the structures of our lives, b) interactions reveal the importance of human agency and society as a whole, and c) dramaturgical model
Impression Management
actively controlling the way others perceive you; crucial to identity construction
Social Groups
people who interact with each other and share a sense of identity
Social Norms
a shared set of social expectations and values
Types of social groups:
Social aggregates, social categories, primary (close and intimate), and secondary (large and impersonal)
Deviance
what does not conform to the rules or norms of a society or community
Consequences of Deviance
Sanctions
Social stratification
structure inequality between groups
Three primary characteristics of social stratification
a) groups are stratified into shared characteristics within a system of inequality, b) the hierarchy of a social group within the stratification is based on the opportunities the group has, and c) the rankings of different groups change slowly
Absolute Poverty
can’t provide for themselves in a reasonable way
Relative Poverty
a measure relative to a decent standard of living in a given society
