Module 6 Flashcards
Social Group
-A collection of people who regularly interact with one another on the basis of shared expectations concerning behavior or who share a sense of common identity
~Many of us are members of multiple social groups at the same time
Social aggregate
-Random collection of people
~Not the same as a social group
*A crowd waiting in line outside of a theater at a bus stop
Social category
-Not a social group
~Sharing a common characteristic such as gender or occupation without necessarily interacting or identifying with one another
Elements of Social Structure: Groups
-Human groups are largely the product of social construction, yet groups provide a core sense of identity
Max Weber and Social closure
-The aility of groups to exclude outsiders or ‘undesirables’ from participating
~People who belong to the same social group identify with each other
~Enables the exclusion of nonmembers
Types of human groups
-Religion, race, ethnicity, gender, class, national membership, education, occupation, birth cohort, etc.
Primary groups
-Group that are characterized by intense emotional tie, face-to-face interactions, intimacy, and enduring relationships
~Enforce conformity
*Friendships and family
Secondary groups
-Group characterized by large size and by impersonal fleet relationships, is usually a formal relationship
~Sport teams, workplace, college classroom
In-group
-Group to which one feels loyalty and respect; a group that “we” belong to
~”Us”
OUt-groups
-Group toward which one feels antagonism and contempt- “those people”
~Them
Reference group
-A group that provides a standard for judging one’s attitudes or behaviors
~You do not need to be a member of your reference group
The effect of groups size
- Dyads
- Triads
Dyads
-Consist of 2 people very intense ties but unstable. To survive, it needs attention and cooperation
Triads
-More stable, 3rd person relieves some pressure on the other members
George Simmel and group size
-As a group increases in size, the intensity of relationships decrease, but overall stability increases
Organization
-An identifiable membership that engages in concerted collective action to achieve a common purpose/goal
~They are key element of modern societies
Formal organization
-Rationally designed to achieve its objectives, often by means of explicit rules, regulations, and procedures
~Modern social life would not exist without the formal organization
Institutional Isomorphism
EXAM
-Organizations in the same field tend to become increasingly similar to each other over time
Coercive Isomorphism
-Informal and formal pressure from government or culture
~Americans with Disabilities Act and compliance
Normative isomorphism
-Voluntary organizations that form around the professionalization of an activity/profession
~The American Medical Association
mimetic Isomorphism
-Uncertainly is a powerful force that encourages imitation or modeling (imitating parts of organizations visible in environment)
~Online classes and outsourcing
Max Weber
-Saw the expansion of the bureaucratic form as an inevitable feature of modern societies
Bureaucracy
-The rule of officials
~All large-scale organizations are bureaucratic
~Bureaucray is founded on the concept of ration-legal authority, which means the authority that a person possess is based on his/her position in a organization rather. Not based on charisma or tradition
The Ideal Type
-A “pure type” constructed by emphasizing certain types of a social item that do not necessarily exist in reality
Characteristics of bureaucracy
- Hierarchy of authority
- Formal rules and record keeping
- Impersonality
- Division of labor
- Technical qualification/tenure
Hierarchy of authority
-Positions organized in hierarchical form with a clear chain of command
Formal rules and record keeping
-Rules that govern the conduct of officials at all levels of the organization. Cover rights and duties and provides a paper trail
Impersonality
-Uniform application of rules and controls
Division of Labor
-Specific allocation of responsibility based on functional specialization
Technical qualifications/tenure
-People selected for a job based on technical competence (basis of training, qualifications, education, etc.) Career professionals
Criticism of Bureaucracies
-Max Weber
~Rationalization spreads throughout society, to the improvement and detriment of modern life
The Iron Cage
-People become trapped in a prison of rules and regulations that denies humanity, creativity, and autonomy
~Technocratic thinking: always trying to find the most efficient means to achieve whatever end
Irrationalities of Rationality
-Waste and incompetence
-Trained incapacity
-Goal displacement
~Extreme example
*Nazi Germany extermination camps. goal was to kill as many people as possible in the most efficient manner. New level of dehumanization
Iron law of Oligarchy
-Inevitable tendency for large-scale bureaucracies to become ruled undemocratically by a handful or people
~Democratic purpose become subordinate to the needs of the dominating group or leadership
~Examples
*US Congress stalling out bills for political gain
*Companies laying off thousands of workers to appease shareholders even when it is turning a profit
Social Institutions
-Are a group of social positions (specific statuses and roles) connected by social relations in order to satisfy a specific social need
~Social institutions are critically important to the reproduction and well-being of a society
~Social institutions change over time and adjust to changes in the social structure
~Are critical mechanism that creates “social cohesion” and “Social Solidarity”
Primary social institutions that Sociologist study
- Family
- Education
- Religion
- Economy
- The State
New social institutions
- The Media
- Military
- Transnational Corporations
Family
-A group of individuals related to one another by blood ties, marriage, or adoption, with adult members being responsible for the upbringing of children
~Primary agent of socialization
~Kinship: a relation that links individuals through blood ties, marriage, or adoption
*Varies across time and space
Nuclear Family
-A family group consisting of a wife, a husband, and dependent children
~Traditional idealized family
Traditional idealized family
-Mom is homemaker and dad is the bread winner
Extended family
-A family consisting of more than two generations of relatives living either within the same household
~The extended family household is the norm on industrializing and the least industrialized nations
Marriage
-At its most basic level requires a couple here in the US
~This represents that dominant norms of Euro-American culture, but this has never been universal across human societies
~Shaped by legal and social processes
~Monogamy
~Polygamy
Monogamy
-A form of marriage in which each married partner in allowed only one spouse at any given time
~Serial monogamy common in Western societies of getting a divorce and remarrying to one spouse again
Polygamy
-A form of marriage in which a person may have two or more spouses simultaneously
Average age of first marriage
-Men ~1960 *22.8 ~2010 *28.2 -Women ~1960 *20.3 ~2010 *226.1
Marriage and family in the US
-High marriage rates in the US 90% of adults in the mid-fifties have been married at least once
People are increasingly delaying when they first marry. Why?
- Cohabitation
- Education of women
- Women’s labor force participation
- Modernization and secularization of attitudes
Education
-The transmission of society’s norms, values, and knowledge base by means of direct instruction
~Throughout much of human history, it occurred informally
~It is absolutely necessary for the survival of society
~Educational institution both directly and indirectly exposes young people to the lessons they will need to learn to become players in other major social institutions
Credentialism
-Describes how acces to desirable jobs and social status depends on possession of a certificate or diploma certifying completion of formal education
~US society has become a credentialed society
~Degrees and diplomas determine one’s credentials for a job, even if the work involved has nothing to do with the education received
Functionalist approach
-Durkheim
~Modern societies are complex, with specialized yet interdependent institutions (organic solidarity)
*Education as a social institution socializes members wile promoting social solidarity
Assimilation
-The official curriculum is used to promote national unity
~Official curriculum promotes feelings of nationalism and is instrumental in the development of nation-state societies
The Conflict Perspective
-Social reproduction occurs whereby schools help perpetuate social and economic inequalities across generations rather than reducing social stratification
~Schooling in Capitalist America
Schooling in Capitalist America, 1976 by Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis
-Schools not only teach reading, writing, and arithmetic; also “prepare individuals to function without complaint in a hierarchical structure of a modern corporation”
~Emphasis is placed on obedience and “playing well with others”
-Used statistical data to demonstrate parental economic status passed to children, as least in part through unequal educational opportunity
-Modern school system primarily a reflection of expanding capitalist enterprises. Schools facilitate the ruling class’s need to exploit a docile or cooperative workforce
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
-Rosenthal and Jacobsen (1968)
~Teachers perceptions towards the label of “gifted”
*Teachers intentionally misinformed about the intelligence test scores of students
*Class students were randomly assigned the “gifted” label
*Findings: Those labeled “gifted” soon outperformed their piers
-The Rist Research
~Concluded that each child’s journey through school was determined by eighth day of kindergarten (Rist 1970, 2007)
