Slides Flashcards
What is sociology
The systematic study of human behaviour in social context.
What fields does some elements have in common with sociology
Philosophy/ethics History Political Science Economics Anthropology Psychology Geography
Sociological imagination
The quality of mind that enables one to see the connection between personal troubles and social structures and forces.
Who is functionalist Émile Durkheim
Argued that human behaviour is shaped by “social facts” and demonstrated that suicide rates varied with different degrees of social solidarity in different population categories.
Functionalist: Robert Merton
Manifest functions
-Intended and easily observed
Latent functions
-Unintended and less obvious
Who’s Karl Marx (conflict theorist)
- Class Conflict
- Class Consciousness
“From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs”.
Max Weber (conflict theorist)
Capitalism did not develop solely due to economic forces.
George Herbert Mead
Our sense of self is not present from birth. Taking the role of the other allows the self to emerge.
What are the main sociological research methods?
Experiment: A carefully controlled artificial situation that allows researchers to isolate hypothesized causes and measure their effects precisely. (Independent)
Control group: a group that is NOT exposed to the independent variable in an experiment
Culture
The sum of socially transmitted practices, languages, symbols, beliefs, values, ideologies, and material objects that people create to deal with real life problems.
Functionalist
Culture enables social solidarity
Conflict Theory
Culture constrains people, justifies dominance
Symbolic interactionism
Culture as “Script” and “Context” for human interaction
Feminism
Culture as patriarchal and paternalist legacy
Sigmund Freud
Proposed the first social scientific interpretation of the process by which the self emerges. Rather than a self that emerges naturally, Freud argued that it was due to social interaction.
Charles Horton Cooley
Looking-glass self: We imagine how we appear to others (their judgment towards us) and develop a self-concept or a set of feelings/ideas about who we are.
George Herbert Mead argued..
That a storehouse of culturally approved standards emerge as part of the self during interaction (I, Me).
What is the most important agent of primary socialization
Family
The process of acquiring the basic skills required to operate in society during childhood.
What is the secondary socialization
Public school system is increasingly responsible.
The hidden curriculum and conflict theorists
Their research on socialization in schools highlights many students, especially those from working-class and racial-minority families, struggle against the hidden curriculum..
What is the Thomas theorem
Situations we define as real become real in their consequences.
What is the self-fulfilling prophecy
An expectation that helps to cause what it predicts.
Resocialization
Occurs when powerful socializing agents deliberately cause rapid change in a person’s values, roles, and self-conception, sometimes against that person’s will.
Total institutions
Settings in which people are isolated from the larger society and are under strict control and constant supervision of specialized staff.
Virtual communities
Associations of people, scattered across the city or around the world, who communicate via computer about subjects of common interest.
Social interaction
Involves people communicating face to face or via computer, acting and reacting in relation to other people. It is structured around norms, rules, and statuses.
Role conflict
Occurs when two or more statuses held at the same time place contradictory role demands on a person.
Role strain
Occurs when incompatible role demands are placed on a person in a single status
Emotion management
Involves people obeying “feeling rules” and responding appropriately to situations
Emotional labour
Emotion management that many people do as part of their job and for which they are paid.
Charles Derber’s analysis of conversations
Social interaction involves competition over valued resources. The odds of a relationship enduring goes up if there are payoffs for the interacting parties.
Goffman’s Dramaturgical Analysis
Views social interaction as a sort of play in which people present themselves so that they appear in the best possible light.
Sociologists emphasize these 3 factors:
- Norms of solidarity demand conformity
- Structures of authority tend to render people obedient
- Bureaucracies are highly effectives structures of authority
Social network
A bounded set of units linked by the exchange of material or emotional resources
Social group
A group composed of one or more networks of people who identify with one another, routinely interact, and adhere to defined norms, roles, and statuses.
Social category
A group composed of people who share similar status but who do not routinely interact or identify with one another.
Deviance
Departure from a norm that evokes a negative reaction from others.
Crime
Deviance that breaks a law
Informal punishment
A mild sanction that is imposed during face-to-face interaction rather than by the judicial system.
Formal punishment
Penalization by the judicial system for breaking a law.
Symbolic interactionism and labelling theory
Deviance is not inherent to an act, but rather it is the result of the externally imposed label of “deviant”.
Émile Durkheim’s explanation on deviance and crime
Deviance and crime are functional and beneficial for society.
- Reinforce social solidarity
- Help societies adapt to social change
Robert Merton’s explanation of deviance and crime
- Cultural value of ‘material success’
2. Lack of legitimate opportunities to succeed
Deviance and crime: conflict theories
Deviant and criminal labels are imposed on others by the rich and powerful members of society.
Factors in economic success
Degree of natural talent, degree of effort, level of education
Why is a definition of poverty important
Social policies are enacted (not enacted) based on poverty levels and trends
Marx’s conflict theory (is stratification inevitable?)
Did not view social stratification as inevitable. Believed capitalist growth would produce a society without classes and class conflict.
Functionalist Theory of Davis and Moore
Asserts the inevitability of social stratification.
- Some jobs are more important than others.
- People must make sacrifices to train for important jobs.
Weber’s compromise (is stratification inevitable?)
Argued that the emergence of a classless society was highly unlikely
