Key Concepts Flashcards
Nature / Nurture Debate
The debate of how much of our behaviour is genetic and how much is learned.
Culture
The things learned from and shared by, a society or group of people and transmitted from generation to generation - a way of life
Norms
Social rules; guidelines for expected behaviour in specific social settings
Values
Beliefs about what is good or bad
Socialisation
The process of learning ones culture
Subculture
A smaller culture within a culture that has its own norms and values
Identity
the individual’s sense of self, influenced by socialisation and interactions with others
Stratification
The division of society into a hierarchy of unequal groups, and these may be based on wealth, power and status.
Ethnocentrism
the process of judging things in a biased way from the viewpoint of one particular culture
Mores
Internalised social attitudes towards behaviour that is seen as taboo or morally unacceptable in certain cultures.
Social Roles
Patterns of behaviour that are expected from people based on their position in society.
Status
A position in society
Ascribed status
The status you are born with
Achieved status
The status someone achieves as a result of their efforts
Social Class
Social groupings or hierarchy based on difference in wealth, income or occupation
Social Construction
Something is created by society rather than occurring naturally - sociologists argue that childhood, gender and identity etc are social constructs
Primary Socialisation
The process of learning society’s norms and values from those in our close family
Secondary Socialisation
The process of learning society’s norms and values from outside the family
Gender
The social and cultural characteristics of men and women learned through socialization
Sanctions
Anyway of encouraging people to conform to norms.
Social Control
The mechanisms used by society in order to get people to conform. One of the factors that needs to be kept in balance in order to a functionalist society to work and to achieve social solidarity.
Social cohesion
The extent to which people in a society are bound together and integrated, and how much they share common values. One of the factors that needs to be kept in balance in order to a functionalist society to work and to achieve social solidarity.
Structural Theory
A theory that sees society as controlled and shaped by its institutions such as family, education, media
Consensus theory
A theory that sees people in society as having shared interests and society functioning on the basis of there being broad agreement on its norms and values.
Collective conscience
The shared beliefs and values which form the moral ties, binding communities together and regulates individual behaviour
Social Facts
Phenomena which exists outside the individual and independently of their minds, but constrain or mould their behaviour
Anomie
A sense of normlessness, uncertainty and confusion over social norms
Value consensus
A widespread agreement over the main values of a society
Functional Prerequisites
The basic needs that must be met in order for society to survive
Modernist Theory
Theory applies rational theory to the understanding and organisation of society. Two examples could be labelling and late-modernism
Social solidarity
The integration of of people into society through shared values, culture and an understanding of the ties that bind them together
Social integration
The coming together of individuals into social groups, binding them into society and building social cohesion
