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AQA Sociology A-LEVEL > Key Theories > Flashcards

Key Theories Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

What are norms?

A

Appropriate and acceptable behaviour in society. E.g. using cutlery, wearing shoes

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2
Q

What are values?

A

Provide general guidelines for conduct.
Are the belief that something is desirable and worth striving for
E.g. respecting human life

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3
Q

What are mores?

A

Behaviours that are completely unacceptable but not illegal. Individuals should expect swift punishment if committed.
E.g. bullying, cheating

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4
Q

What is culture?

A

A shared way of life by a group of people within society.
Will include norms, values, traditions etc
Culture varies between societies

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5
Q

What is socialisation?

A

The process of learning norms and values
Primary socialisation: learn first set of norm and values, comes from family
Secondary socialisation: learn second set of norms and values. Comes from religion, peers, education, work, media

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6
Q

What are social roles?

A

The patterns of behaviour that are expected from people holding certain positions in society.
E.g. nurses should be attentive, caring, and compassionate

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7
Q

What is anomie?

A

A normless society that provides little social control which leads to chaos
E.g. London 2012 riots

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8
Q

What is the Functionalist view of society?

A
  1. Positive view (consensus theory)
  2. Different parts of society/institutions need to and do work together for society to function
  3. Society is like a human body where the organs (institutions work together to keep the body running) - the organic analogy
  4. Society runs on meritocratic principles
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9
Q

What do Functionalists believe are the roles of institutions?

A
  • To teach norms and values
  • To create social solidarity (social order)
  • To create collective consciousness
  • To maintain social cohesion
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10
Q

What do Functionalists believe about meritocracy?

A

Meritocracy = a social system that gives status and rewards based on achievement
Functionalists believe that as society is meritocratic social mobility is possible
2 types of meritocracy:
- Intra-generational: movement of an individual over their lifetime
- Inter-generational: movement between generations

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11
Q

What does Merton believe about society?

A

Merton was a neo-functionalist who recognises that there was dysfunction is society that needs to be explained. He believes that this is due to manifest and latent function
Manifest = Intended function
Latent function = Unintended consequences

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12
Q

What are the criticisms of Functionalism?

A
  • Overemphasises the level of consensus
  • The comparison to the body is inaccurate as the body is a biological form that has a natural cycle - society is man made
  • Doesn’t explain why changes in society and institutions happen
  • Ignores inequality of powers
  • Assumes people are puppets with no choice of their own
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13
Q

What is the Marxist view of society?

A

We live in a capitalist society that perpetuates a system where the rich exploit the poor
The key to capitalism is:
- workers
- means of production e.g. factories, machinery
- those who control the means of production

There is a conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat which makes revolution inevitable

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14
Q

What do Marxists consider when deciding class?

A
  • Occupation
  • Qualifications and training for the job
  • Inheritance and or income
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15
Q

What is the Marxists ranking of social class?

A
  1. Higher managerial and professional
  2. Lower managerial and professional
  3. Intermediate occupations
  4. Small employers and own account workers
  5. Lower supervisory, craft related occupation
  6. Semi-routine occupations
  7. Routine occupations
  8. Never employed
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16
Q

What do Marxists believe about exploitation?

A

The rich in society take advantage of and exploit the poor: long hours, low pay, little to no sick pay, etc
This allows the bourgeoisie to profit from the bad treatment of the proletariat. This is the main feature of a capitalist society

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17
Q

What do Marxists think about social mobility?

A

Marxists believe meritocracy is a myth and therefore social mobility is not possible.
Even if proletariat do climb the social ladder there will always be factors that will prevent them from permanently becoming bourgeoisie e.g. having to sell their business
This causes the bourgeoisie to get smaller and richer and the proletariat to get bigger and poorer

18
Q

What are the criticisms of Marxism?

A
  • Feminists say they ignore gender inequality
  • Functionalists say social mobility is possible due to meritocracy
  • Modern welfare state closes wealth divide
  • Functionalists say inequality helps society function
  • Ignores growing modern middle class
19
Q

What do feminists believe about the patriarchy?

A

Patriarchy = male dominated society
Sylvia Walby 1990 identified 6 main ways in which patriarchy works in society:
1. Domestic labour serves men
2. Paid work - women are still bound by traditional values
3. The State - promoted an ideological patriarchal image of the family and marriage
4. Physical violence by men often occurs in the home
5. Women and girl’s sexuality are limited and controlled by family more than men’s
6. The Media presents and ideological image of women’s family roles

20
Q

What is the radical feminist view?

A
  • Firestone: gender inequality is universal
  • Patriarch is the fundamental form of inequality - men are the enemy
  • All men benefit from patriarchy - unpaid domestic labour and sex services
21
Q

What do radical feminists believe women should do?

A

Greer - even in today’s society married women are subservient to men. Women are more likely to suffer abuse.

This is why women should practice:
- Separatism: living independently from men
- Political Lesbianism: heterosexual relationships are inevitably oppressive - stop sleeping with the enemy
- Consciousness Raising: women sharing their experiences is collective action e.g. the ‘slut walk’

22
Q

What are the criticisms of radical feminists?

A
  • Sommerville: they ignore that women’s positions have improved - better jobs, divorce, control over fertility
  • Rowbotham: vague use of term patriarchal and not all men oppress women
  • Patriarchy is already in decline
  • What about women’s violence against men and other women?
  • Marxists feminists say they ignore class
23
Q

What is the Marxist Feminist view point?

A

Believe that the main cause of women’s oppression is capitalism because:
- women reproduce the labour force
- Ansley says women absorb male anger and are the ’takers of shit’
- women are a reserve army of cheap labour. Delphy and Leonard say women provide a safety valve

Therefore women’s role is to reduce the likelihood of a revolution

24
Q

What are the criticisms of Marxist Feminism?

A
  • Walby (1986) says women working supports capitalism in 2 ways: lowers wages (higher demand for jobs), increases consumerism (women earning more = women buying more)
  • Underplay the significance of non-material inequality from culture and ethnicity
25
Q

What is the Liberal Feminist view point?

A
  • Laws and Policies have helped achieve gender equality e.g. Equality Act 2010, Right to Vote 1918
  • Cultural Change: traditional roles are a barrier to change, they reject ‘biological differences’ between men and women e.g women are less rational
  • March of Progress: society has made progressing in achieving gender equality e.g position of women
    Seen in Sue Sharpe’s ‘Just like a girl’: girls had optimism about future jobs and enjoy greater educational success
26
Q

What are the criticisms of liberal feminism?

A
  • Overoptimistic: ignore deep societal structures e.g. racism and capitalism
  • Doesn’t explain why men dominate and why women are oppressed
  • Implies people take on gender inequality passively, fails to understand that women’s experiences differ
27
Q

What is the Difference Feminist view?

A

Believe all other feminist groups are essentialists - women’s experiences differ due to class, ethnicity, ability, etc

Black Feminists: racial oppression appears outside the home
- Amos and Parmar 1984: ethnicity affects nature of family and so women’s experiences of it
- Dallas and Sapsford 1995: black family provides support and resistance from racism - warm bath theory

28
Q

What are criticisms of Difference Feminism?

A
  • Black Feminists ignore other types of oppression e.g. age, class, sexuality - they overemphasise race
  • Assumes that black women passively accept racism and therefore oppression
29
Q

What are the features of macro theorists?

A
  • Top Down Approach
  • Society shapes individual behaviour, values and identities
  • Individuals are like puppets
  • Positivist approach - quantitative
30
Q

What are the features of micro theorists?

A
  • Bottom Up Approach
  • Focus on individual behaviour in everyday social norms
  • Observe interactions and how people define their identities
  • Social institutions are socially contrasted by individuals and people have freewill
  • Interpretivist approach - qualitative
31
Q

What is a symbol?

A

Symbol = something that represents something else and individuals have attached meaning to it

An interpretive phase comes between the stimulus and our response to it

32
Q

What are the stages of symbolic interactionalism?

A
  1. People act in terms of symbols and in accordance to meanings attached to them
  2. The meanings develop out of interactions with others - are not fixed - are negotiable to some extent e.g. teachers
  3. Meanings given to situations largely result from taking the role of the other and interpreting their meanings
33
Q

What is ‘Looking Glass Self’?

A
  • Describes the process of negotiated interaction
  • Image of ourselves is reflected like a mirror
  • Modify or change our behaviour to reflect other people’s image or to change their views
  • Self-concept is socially constructed and subject to change (therefore we are not passive)
34
Q

What is a moral entrepreneur?

A

A person/group/organisation with power to create and enforce rules and impose their morals, views, and attitudes towards others

35
Q

What is deviancy amplification?

A

An exaggerated outburst of public concern over the morality or behaviour of a group in society

36
Q

What are the stages of labelling?

A
  1. Individual is labelled as ‘other’ by someone in position of power
  2. Individual is treated accordingly by society (master status is placed onto them)
  3. Individual begins to see them self as different and associate with that label (self-fulfilling prophecy)
  4. Individual becomes that label (if a label of deviance then starts deviant career)
37
Q

What is the Dramaturgical Analogy?

A

Goffman states:
- Presentation of self
- Impression of management: control the impression your performance gives to the audience
- ‘Pass’ for the kind of person we want our audience to believe we are

We control impression management through: symbols (gestures, appearance, language etc), different settings of interactions (the ‘front’ and ‘backstage’), role distance (between real self and our roles)

38
Q

What are the evaluations of Social Action Theory?

A

Strengths:
- shows statistics are skewed - certain groups are overrepresented in crime statistics due to labelling
- can explain why deviance may occur or is increased

Weaknesses:
- assumes people passively accept their label
- subject qualitative research that focuses on individuals - can’t be generalised
- suggests without labelling crime wouldn’t exist

39
Q

What is globalisation?

A

The development of closer economic, political, and cultural relations among all countries of the world as a result of travel and communication becoming easy
E.g. fast food, TNCs, WhatsApp, Skype

40
Q

What are the positive and negative effects of globalisation?

A

Pros: can access foreign goods, information is accessible, can study and work abroad, travel

Cons: disease can spread e.g. COVID, increased competition for jobs and school, loss of culture - macdonalisation

41
Q

How has globalisation affected the institutions?

A

Family: more diverse, interracial, physically apart but interconnected due to communication e.g. SKYPE

Crime: can solve crimes efficiently through international organisations, criminals can strike from anywhere e.g. ‘Nigerian Prince’ scam

Religion: can be spread across the world, increased secularisation

Education: Increased access to resources, iGCSEs, international schools, can work and study abroad

AQA Sociology A-LEVEL (41 decks)

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