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Sociological Perspectives > Midterm 1 > Flashcards

Midterm 1 Flashcards

1
Q

What does sociology as a discipline try to understand?

A

Sociology is a discipline that tries to understand why our social world is the way it is

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2
Q

What are the origins of sociology?

A

-Sociology was the first discipline within the social sciences
August Comte: French philosopher of science coined the term in 1838

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3
Q

Who are the founding sociologists?

A

Emile Durkheim: French sociologist who founded the first sociology department at the University of Bordeaux in 1895
Along with Karl Marx and Max Weber, considered one of the three main founding figures of sociology

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4
Q

What propagated sociology as a discipline?

A

The Scientific Revolution and major social changes going on in the 19th century pushed people to try to understand what was going on
eg. State building, industrialisation, rise of nationalism, urbanizatisation, democratisation

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5
Q

Define sociology

A

“The social science that studies the development, structure, and functioning of human society”

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6
Q

Define the two main components of sociology

A

Society: “A distinct group of humans with mutual interests and shared institutions and culture”
Usually used to designate country-level groups
Problems:
Disagreement about groupness
Boundaries between societies are very blurry
Most sociologists avoid using the term and use instead societal relations

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7
Q

What makes sociology different from the other social sciences?

A

Breadth (takes on broad view and analyzes all types of social relations

Focus ( focuses more on relationship between individuals and social structures -> patterns of social relations)

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8
Q

How does the Tim Hortons example presented in the book use the scientific method?

A

Question: Who buys Tim Horton’s at the drive thru?
Observation: Watch people who go through drive thru
Analysis: Analyse data on the characteristics of the people
Testing: See if people using the drive thru have the same characteristics elsewhere, interview people to ask them why they use the drive thru

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9
Q

What are three scientific assumptions?

A

(1) We live in an external, objective world (not a dream)
(2) It is possible to gather accurate information about this world (w/ our sense)
(3) There is order and regularity in the world (not random, there are causes)

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10
Q

What do most sociologists have as a goal?

A

Since sociology is not like most science, sociologists aim to come up with a better understanding of our social world (not laws - no controlled environment and no generalized rules)

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11
Q

What does Steckley and Letts say about definitions of sociology?

A

that definitions of sociology aren’t as valuable as knowing what sociology does
Instead they say sociology analyzes patters of social relations

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12
Q

What would be an example of analyzed social patterns?

A

Types of people who are opposed gay marriage : Elderly, Anglophones, men, fundamentalists

e.g. used in class of education levels of KKK members in 1920’s

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13
Q

What is the the unifying element of sociological perspectives?

A

it looks at the relationship between the individual and social structure

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14
Q

What is C.Wright Mills sociological imagination?

A

“the capacity to shift from one perspective to another and see the relationship between the two”

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15
Q

Why does Mills suggest using the sociological imagination?

A

Claims that growing individualization prevents people from seeing how the social and historical settings shape us
-Causes angst, as people feel helpless, are confused
Mills urges the “sociological imagination” as cure

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16
Q

What are the five main theoretical perspectives in sociology?

A

Structural-Functionalist, Conflict, Symbolic Interactionist, Feminist, and Postmodern

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17
Q

What is the gist of the functionalist perspective?

A

Founders: Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim, and Talcott Parsons

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18
Q

What is the gist of the conflict perspective?

A

Prominent Figures: Karl Marx, Max Weber, C. Wright Mills
Conflict: Interested in domination, inequality, violence. Believe that conflict is common and has a major impact on the form of social relations and important to understand

Class Conflict: driving force behind social relations and social change. Struggles between classes to resist and overcome the opposition of other classes
According to Marx, nearly all societies have a dominant class that exploits a subordinate class
Capitalism: the capitalists controlled society, exploited the workers
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19
Q

What is the gist of the Symbolic Interactionist perspective?

A
  • microsociological
  • Interested in individual-level human interactions
  • Looks at the meaning of the daily interactions
  • Believes that our interactions make us who we are
  • Still, suggests we have some agency in these interactions, aren’t simply passive actors determined by structure
  • socialization
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20
Q

What is the gist of the feminist perspective?

A

focused on how societies are gendered; how one’s gender affects life chances, how societies are stratified based on gender
At the same time, they see it as an example of conflict theory
Explores the extent to which societies are dominated by males, how gender inequality is reproduced or alleviated

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21
Q

What is the gist of the Postmodern perspective?

A

Focuses on discourses as a basis of power and domination (conflict theory)
Discourse: “A conceptual framework with its own internal logic and underlying assumptions. Different disciplines have their own discourses.”
Edward Said’s Orientalism: Describes orientalism as a Western discourse that depicts the Orient in simplified and biased ways
Very powerful, difficult for Middle Easterners to escape

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22
Q

How would each of the sociological perspectives explain suicide?

A

Functionalists: suicide is most likely when societies are breaking down, not properly integrated and no norms to make people part of collective

Conflict: suicide is shaped by inequalities and domination

Symbolic-Interaction: the meaning and value of our lives results from our social interactions (self esteem and value of life)

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23
Q

How can we establish causation?

A

(1) Sequence: effect must follow cause
(2) Correlation: effect must be related to the cause
(3) Test Spuriousness: Correlation does not mean causation, as the relationship might be spurious
(4) Discover Mechanism: the reason cause and effect are related

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24
Q

Define positivism

A

Believe that there is one scientific method that can be used in all natural and social sciences to establish causation
Believe we can only use the scientific method on things that are directly observable
At the extreme, believe we can discover scientific laws, can make predictions

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25
Q

Define interpretivism

A

Interpretivism: calls for the rejection of the scientific method in the social sciences
Believes establishing causation is hard/impossible
Subjectivity: No common reality, everything subjective
Cannot be certain why humans act, so can’t gain insight into causation
Wink example
At the extreme, knowledge is impossible
We can only interpret people’s actions

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26
Q

Define critical realism

A

somewhere in the middle of positivism and interpretivism, there is a real world out there that can be observed
We can get knowledge about social causation
Two factors make knowledge acquisition problematic
Problem 1: our observations are incomplete and inaccurate
We therefore cannot be certain about our findings
Problem 2: the social world is damn complicated
Laws and accurate prediction are impossible

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27
Q

What are the six steps of a sociological analysis?

A

(1) formulate question, (2) review existing literature, (3) select method, (4) collect data, (5) analyze data, (6) report results

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28
Q

What are some sources of collecting data?

A

Observations, interview, survey,statistical data sets, archival documents, books, journals and other secondary sources

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29
Q

What are the Four Main Methodological Traditions in Sociology ?

A

Statistical (defining relationships between variables)

Ethnographic (qualitative interviews and participant observation and text analysis -> greeks and turk war)

Comparative-Historical (to answer big questions about large processes that occurred in the past
How did Europe become a political and economic powerhouse over the past 500 years?)

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30
Q

Define culture

A

Popular Definition: a way of life
Authors’ Definition: “A social system comprising behaviour, beliefs, knowledge, practices, values, and material such as buildings, tools, and sacred items”

  • makes us perceive things, tells us whats important (language in MTL)
  • macro (large societies and communities) and micro (individual)
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31
Q

What are some elements of culture?

A

Language, religion, technology, values, beauty, gender, charter of values

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32
Q

What are the differences between norms, mores, folkways, taboos and laws?

A

Norms: accepted way of doing things, can be related to values. Few are universal and most are omnipresent

Mores: strong norms, very rude to break
Example: Swearing in front of children, public nudity

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33
Q

What are the different was sociology analyzes cultures?

A

Ethnographies: Try to document cultures, subcultures, and countercultures; Micro view
Alijah Anderson: Analyzes inner-city culture

Cultural Change: explore the causes of cultural change
Technologies: Impact of TV on social relations
Globalization: Spread of cultures throughout world

Impact of Culture: Analyze causal impact of cultural
Different gender norms affect the life chances of women
Protestant ethic promoted capitalist development

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34
Q

What is socialization?

A

a learning process (learn norms, values, perspectives, language) through interaction

Broken down into :
Primary socializers (first years of life -> parents day care)
Secondary socializers (development of more complex and subtle knowledge-> peers, education, religious state, mass media, economic institutions)
-also bring on self-socialization (choosing our own socializers)
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35
Q

What is resocialization?

A

Process of trying to break-down effects of past socialization and socialize in a different way

eg. Education: from kindergarten to graduate school
eg. Military: boot camp is designed to break-down the individual and build them up as the military wants
Total Institution

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36
Q

What is virtualsocialization?

A

new phenomenon where researchers looks at the relationships over the internet such as Facebook and wether these relationships can resocialize you

37
Q

Who is Charles Horton Cooley and what was his theory? (socialization)

A

(Symbolic Interactionst) American sociologist most famous for his concept “Looking-Glass Self”
Suggests our identities emerge from interaction, reflect our surroundings

Three step process of Looking-Glass Self:
(1) We imagine how we appear to people
(2) We judge how they evaluate us (try to get in their heads)
(3) Based (2), we develop a self-concept
Suggests we don’t have control over who we think we are, our relations do

38
Q

Who is George Hebert Mead and what was his theory? (socialization)

A

Claims all people have two components to who they are
I: Impulsive aspect of self, present at birth
Your biological self

Me: the part of self that emerges from our social interactions
Your social self

39
Q

Who is Erving Goffman and what was his theory? (socialization)

A

-more emphasis on our agency
Life as a Stage: humans are constantly presenting themselves in the most favorable light, change their role depending on the social context
We act differently if among friends, family, professors

Socialization: involves learning the appropriate scripts/props for the different contexts and deciding how to play the role
We learn how we are supposed to act in certain circumstances
We learn the different actions we can employ
Yet we are able to innovate

40
Q

How does functionalist theory explain socializations?

A

Macro focus, not micro
- Socialization fulfills two basic functions
Consensus: Socialization passes on norms that help limit conflict, promote social consensus
Skills: Socialization provides the skills and norms needed to effectively participate in social institutions
Example: Durkheim described how “modern” society required general norms and laws to survive

41
Q

How does the conflict theory explain socialization?

A

-macro focus
Suggests that socialization reinforces the power of dominant groups and help maintain the subordinate positions of others
Marxist: suggests major social institutions legitimize and strengthen dominant class through socialization
Elite taught to be assertive, dominate
Masses taught to accept their position
Feminist: girls and boys socialized in ways that limit self-esteem and assertiveness of girls
Carol Gilligan

42
Q

Who coined the term nature vs nurture?

A

Sir Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin

he took an extreme nature perspective

43
Q

How does sociology use notions of Nature?

A

Unifying Nature: Sociologists use biological arguments to explain commonalities, not differences
Sugguest our nature is nurture
Interaction: Sociologists consider how nature and nurture affect one another
Suggest nurture and nature reinforce one another

44
Q

Whats is sociability and how does it relate to nature?

A

The notion that human beings are social creatures (unlike tigers who can live in solitaire)
Without interaction we can suffer mental trauma -> leads to question the ethics surrounding solitary confinement

(this would be considered our biology, shows the importance of nature)

45
Q

What are some aspects of instinct?

A

Rules are not instinct for us (unlike bees and ants)

action that is (a) relatively complex, (b) unlearned, (c) species-wide, (d) manifest when maturity is reached and triggered by stimulus

46
Q

What is creative intelligence?

A

based on biology its the explanation to our problem solving skills
Caused by our large brains, forward vision, dexterous hands, upright walking, vocal capabilities
Allow us to:
Solve problems and adapt to changes
Manipulate objects and our environment
Communicate complex thoughts and transmit knowledge from generation to generation

47
Q

What is meant by “the nature of nurture”?

A

most sociologists believe that our nature is the base of nurture’s influence
Our main instinct is to learn and adapt
This is why socialization is so important
-sees nature and biology as a basis for our nurture

48
Q

What is the link between the nature and nurture debate and the prefrontal cortex?

A

-to show how both interact reinforcing one another

25% of Americans on death row have damaged PFCs
Studies of people who injured this area also show proclivities to violence

49
Q

What can be drawn from the feral children example?

A

Rene Spitz: Studied orphans in orphanage to children living in prison daycare
Orphans lacked social contact, not prison children
Prison kids walking & talking by 3, only 8% of orphans

50
Q

What are social networks?

A

One of the most basic patterns of social relations

51
Q

What is a status and what are the different types?

A

a recognized social position that an individual (or groups) occupies

Status Set: All statuses that one possesses
Two basic types of status:
Ascribed: status you were born into (son) or entered involuntarily (brother)
Achieved: Status you were NOT born into, needed to act in some way to achieve (husband, father, hockey)

52
Q

What is a social organization?

A

“the social and cultural principles around which things are structured, ordered, and categorized”
Theocratic social organizations: Religious beliefs and rules basis of social organization
Weber: Patrimonial vs. legal-rational social organization

53
Q

What is an organization?

A

group of people who follow formal rules and procedures to collectively pursue a specific set of goals
Allows a number of people to work together and combine their knowledge and effort
Technology: Organizations are phenomenal technologies that allow us to accomplish things we couldn’t as individuals

54
Q

What did Weber believe the emergence of organizations contributed to?

A

Believed the emergence of powerful political and economic organizations contributed to the rise of Europe as the world’s leading power
Mainly militaries, corporations, and states

55
Q

What is the link between organizations and institutions?

A

Organizations are particular types of institutions, BUT institutions are not social organizations

56
Q

What are the four characteristics of an institution?

A

1-sets of norms/rules/ideas that prescribe how individuals are supposed to act in a set situation
2-endure over time
3-enforced by some sort of sanction
4-organize human relations in pursuit of some goal

57
Q

What are some types of institutions?

A

(1) Religious/Cultural: Transmission of meanings, values, and beliefs
(2) Educational: Transmission of knowledge (as well as meanings, values, and beliefs)
(3) Family: Reproduces social relations, child care
(4) Economic: Governs the production & exchange of goods
(5) Political: Enforces order through coercion, group decision making

58
Q

What are social structures?

A

Relatively stable patterns of social relations
Institutions, organizations, social organizations are all particular types of social structures
Networks can be social structures
Statuses help us understand the particular social structures, constitutive parts of them

59
Q

What can promote social structures?

A

culture and socialization

60
Q

What is a role and who came up with the theory?

A

The function assumed or the part played by a person holding a particular status

Thought of by Goffman who saw everyday life as taking place on a state in a theatre

61
Q

What is the general concept of Goffmans role theory?

A

suggests we aren’t always playing roles
Front Stage: Public displays where we actively play the role
Back Stage: Private displays, personal time where one doesn’t have to actively play roles

can experience role conflict

62
Q

What is the gist of West and Zimmerman :Doing Gender”?

A
  • talks about roles
  • differences between sex, sex category, and gender
  • influenced greatly by Goffman’s dramaturgical approach but claim his roles are too rigid ->gender is acted out through interactions bot just displays
  • (props) how you wear your hair etc
63
Q

What is the gist of Walton’s “My Secret Life as a Black Man”?

A

describes the discrepancy between how people see him and how he sees himself
He wants to assert his non-racial self, but others pigeonhole him as a black man

64
Q

Define deviance

A

Actions that break norms, that stray from the usual

So many norms, so we can act deviantly in so many ways

65
Q

What can be said about universal deviant behaviour?

A

Because norms vary from place to place, there are few if any universally deviant behaviors
Because norms change, ideas of deviance change

66
Q

What are the different types of punishment?

A

Informal Punishment: Mild punishment that is a socially accepted response, not formal
Different ways to show disfavor: verbal critique, facial expressions, ostracism, gossiping
Example: Picking nose
Formal Punishment: Established rules to punish
Judicial system, McGill Administration, Family
Example: Giving racist lecture

67
Q

What are some causes of deviance?

A

Choice: Choose to be part of a deviant subculture
Goths, punks
Pressure: Individuals might act deviantly because of pressure from others
Peer pressure to be part of a gang, to skip school
Ignorance: Individuals might simply not know norms
Using left hand for eating in Morocco
Socialization: Individuals might be socialized by family to act deviantly
Roma, minority religious communities

68
Q

How would symbolic interactionist define deviant behaviour?

A

We learn what is acceptable and what is deviant from our social interactions
Authority figures tell us something is deviant
We can tell by reactions of others if something is deviant

69
Q

How would functionalist define deviant behaviour?

A

Dangerous, promotes social break down
At the same time, deviance can be useful, promote social integration
Observing deviance can affirm one’s values, push observers to unite to fight deviant behavior
Durkheim: Saw deviance as caused by anomie, egotism
Functionalists suggest actions become deviant when these actions hurt society

70
Q

How would conflict define deviant behaviour?

A

Suggest that the elites declare subordinate lifestyles, views, etc. as deviant
Conflict view links deviance to inequality
A number of communities have historically been subordinate, and many of their characteristics labeled deviant
Gender: According to authors, what is male is treated as normal, what is female is treated as deviant

71
Q

What is crime and how does it relate to deviant behaviour?

A

behavior that is punishable by the criminal justice system
Most crimes are deviant behaviors—murder, rape
Yet most deviant behaviors are not crimes—farting
And some crimes are not deviant—parking violation

72
Q

What would be some patterns of crime explored by sociologists?

A

Explore characteristics of people who commit crimes
Age, race, sex, education, wealth, etc.
Explore environmental conditions that affect criminality
Broken windows, poverty, lack of police, gangs
Explore types of people stopped by police
Age, race, sex, education, wealth, etc.

73
Q

What is strain theory?

A

-theory of crime that was popularized by Robert Merton, influenced by functionalist view

Strain exists when popularly defined goals are unattainable for people
Pushes them to crime as means of attaining goals
Poverty: Suggests the reason the poor are more likely to commit crimes is because they are unable to attain popular goals legally

74
Q

What is the conflict perspective on causes of crime?

A

Conflict perspective suggests that crime is the result of power struggles between groups
Looks at causes of inequality in incarceration, with powerful avoiding incarceration
(1) Legal system focuses on the crimes committed by subordinate groups
More attention to street crimes than white-collar
(2) Powerful able to avoid prosecution
Lawyers, contacts, crimes occur in private
(3) Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
(4) Defiance: Crime sign of defiance to system

75
Q

What is control theory?

A

One particular conflict theory suggesting that powerful groups control laws, have means of getting around law
Sees legal system as creating laws that benefit the powerful, control the subordinate
Examples: Legal system enforces capitalism in Canada, legal system promotes male domination in India

76
Q

What is the symbolic interactions perspective of causes of crime?

A

Suggests your interactions with others promote criminality
Subcultural Theory: Your interactions cause your “generalized other” to have deviant traits
Learning Theory: Your interactions cause you to accept criminality as an acceptable option
One learns the benefits of criminal activities through observation and trial and error
Purposive: Unlike subcultural theory, actors recognize that activities are deviant

77
Q

What is labelling theory?

A

-falls under symbolic interactionist
Deviance results not so much from the actions of the deviant as from the response of others, who label the rule breakers as deviant
Cooley’s Looking-Glass Self: Great influence on Labeling Theory

78
Q

What are the three ways in which labelling theory promotes criminality?

A

(1) When people are labeled as delinquents, they are watched more closely by the authorities
(2) When people are labeled and treated as delinquents, they might not be accepted by people who aren’t labeled as deviant
Only able to interact with other so-called deviants
(3) When people are labeled as deviant, the people they interact with treat them as deviants (looking-glass self)
Causes people to believe they are deviant, so they act deviantly

79
Q

What is the gist of Chambliss’ “Saints and Roughnecks”?

A

Well-known example supporting labeling theory

80
Q

What are the Top 1% of canada and USA?

A

Top 1% of Canadian earners made 12.4% of total Canadian income in 2007, and this share is increasing
Up from 7.4% in 1982
Top 1% of Americans make 24% of total US income
Up from 9% in 1976
Differences are even more extreme if you consider wealth instead of income
Top 1% in US has 40% of wealth, bottom 80% only 7%
Top 1% owns half of stocks bonds, mutual funds; 0.5% for bottom 50%

81
Q

Define stratafication

A

structuring of social relations by layers
Refers to hierarchical social relations
One group has greater power, influence, resources, prestige than another
Stratification refers to collective inequality, such as class, gender, education, or ethnicity

82
Q

What is mobility and what are its two types?

A

Ability to move between different societal levels, focus is usually on economics
Sociologists are interested in two related types:
Individual/Intra-generational: people can work their way up over time
Sociologists generally find that one’s position within the stratification system changes during the life course
Inter-generational: children are able to work their ways up to a higher level than their parents

83
Q

How does symbolic interaction perspective view stratification?

A

consider how inequalities shape social interactions, perceptions of self, etc.

84
Q

How does functionalist perspective view stratification?

A

claim stratification is necessary for society to function properly
If people with elite positions aren’t given more wealthy, power, and status, they wouldn’t make the investments needed to hold the positions

85
Q

How does conflict perspective view stratification?

A

See stratification as cause and consequence of conflict

86
Q

What are Weber’s three types of stratification (conflict)?

A

1-Class
2-Parties
3-Status group

87
Q

What is the gist of Porter’s Vertical Mosaic?

A

Porter found that power was ethnicized in Canada
British: Finds British Canadians control these organizations
Other communities found themselves further down the hierarchy
Enormous stratification
French in the middle, more recent immigrants on the bottom
Suggests there are problems with the Canadian mosaic

88
Q

What is the gist of Lian and Matthews Article?

A

Test whether inequality is still based on ethnicity
Methods: Use census data to see whether different ethnic communities have different incomes
Control for a number of factors and check whether ethnicity still helps explain income inequality
Example: Control for level of education so ethnicity isn’t spuriously related to income via education
Difference with Porter: Porter was interested in the organizational elites, not income inequality per se
Article therefore isn’t reproducing Porter’s findings

89
Q

What are the three types of capital?

A

Human capital, cultural capital and social capital

Sociological Perspectives (2 decks)

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