Soc mid term Flashcards
what is a society
a group of people who share a culture and a territory
what is Sociology
like all the other social sciences it studies culture and group structure, they also look at how people govern themselves, it also studies how people adapt to hard times. But they differ because they look broader and include external factors!
what is important about the Sociological imagination By C. Wright Mills?
History—Location in Broad
Stream of Events
Biography—Individual’s
Specific Experiences
Personal Troubles vs. Public
Issues
are the things important the idea of how individual troubles affect everyone
What is important about “Stepping back” – Horace Miner
The Nacirema, or American spelled backwords. What may seem normal to us can be alien to someone else.
How does the Location in social structure have significance?
Your location in a social structure defines your norms, ideals, culture, mentality, social ability, just about everything even your education status.
What is Positivism and who is it associated with?
Auguste Comte, he saw the French and American revoultions and wondered why these things happened. He asked why do we have anarchy or chaos or social order? Explained that they should guide society.
Founder of Sociology
What is Social Darwinism and who is associated with it?
Herbert Spencer,
He vastly disagreed with Comte. He thought that if we chose how to guide society, we would interfere with nature’s process. Coined the idea that those who survive are the fittest and started Social Darwinism with Businessmen using to justify abuse. Later discredited!
Who is Karl Marx, and what are his ideals?
Marx believed that the engine of human history is Class Conflict. Society is made up of two classes the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat.
Did not found Communism but his ideals were related to it!
What is Class Conflict and what terms are associated with it?
Class conflict is when one upper class or Bourgises takes advantage of Proletarian. For example Southern white slave owners up until the civil war.
Who is Karl Marx, and what are his ideals?
Marx believed that the engine of human history is Class Conflict. Society is made up of two classes the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat.
He did not found Communism but his ideals were related to it!
Who is Max Weber and what is his Sociological idea?
A sociologist who was the opposite of Karl Marx. Theorized that Religion was the driving force of change. Coined the Protestant ethic as the driving force behind capitalism.
What is the study of suicide by Emilie Durkheim?
The study pointed out that suicide was a Social Fact.
“Every way of acting, fixed or not, capable
of exercising on the individual an external
constraint.”
For example, the Style of our homes, of our clothing, Laws, morals, beliefs, customs, fashion
Who is Jane Addams? What did they pioneer?
Modern Social work, Had people stay in home till they could get back on their feet.
Who is W.E.D Dubois and what did they do?
First African American to earn a PhD from
Harvard However, never felt a part of it – “in Harvard but not of it.” Famous study –
The Philadelphia Negro
Documented the negative impact of racial
discrimination and segregation in the urban North.
Advocated for social policy change and pushed for
efforts to improve the situation of blacks
throughout the country.
Who is Harriet Martineau and what did they do?
Introduced Sociology to England, Main work was Society in America. largely ignored!
What is Basic sociology?
it is the theories and testing those hypotheses, Research on Basic social life and how that affects people
What is applied Sociology?
Implementing Solutions (Clinical sociology)
Think support groups and outreach programs.
What is Macro level analysis?
an examination of large scal patterns of society; such as how Wall Street and the political establishments are interrelated
What is micro-level analysis
an examination of small-scale patterns of society; such as how the members of a group interact.
What is Symbolic interactionism
Symbolic interactions are what titles and names we give to aunts, uncles and employers, moms, and fathers.
It makes the Social construct of reality
A dad without meaning is just a person. But because they have a Son they are a dad, so it gives them meaning without that. They are nothing!
What is structural functionalism, and what does it mean?
They are parts of the whole of society. Think of the organs that make up a human.
It has certain functions like to encourage good things like marriage and open communication and love, but also had dysfunction like crime
Furthermore, those “dysfunctions” have certain things they point out. Like high Crime may not be because they are bad, They may have no other option but to steal.
What is Culture?
Beliefs, Values, Norms,
Material objects
❖ Shared by Group
Members
❖ Passed from One
Generation to the Next
What is Ethnocentrism?
Deming one culture as the way to judge other cultures, leads to conflict.
What is Cultural relativism?
Not judging a culture but trying to understand it on its own terms.
What is relativist fallacy?
is claiming that something is true for one person but not true for someone else
What is Multiculturalism?
Respect and appreciation
for cultural differences.
What are Cultural universals?
Common to all societies
❖ Family unit
❖ Facial Expressions
❖ Funeral rites/Weddings
❖ Personal names
What is Material culture?
Think Taj mah Hall and architecture, music, literature, Many things different and distinct
What is symbolic culture?( essay topic)
Getsure, Language, Norms, Sancations, Values
what are folkways?
the traditional ways a people act, Like native Americans or amish
what is language?
it is the way we communicate, as well as the way we tell our past present and future.
What are Norms?
Norms are things deemed normal in a culture.
What are sanctions?
There are two types of sanctions postive and negative.
Postive is giving a smile for certain virtuous actions
Negative is giving disapproval for doing certain things.
What are Values?
Values are what is desirable in life. For example, Americans value success and status.
What are culture wars?
When values in a culture clash
For example, freedom of speech and limiting it
What are Subcultures?
Subcultures are cultures that form around Bigger cultures think Runners and then Collegic runners is a Subculture.
What is Counterculture?
A subculture that goes against the values of the main culture.
What is Cultural change(technology lens)
Groups becoming similar through adopting parts of the world through the medium of the internet
What is Cultural Leveling?
Cultures combining and adopting other parts of cultures.
What is cultural Lag?
describes a groups nonmaterial culture lag behind its changing technology.
What is nature vs nurture?
Nature is what we think of as pre-wiring and is influenced by genetic inheritance and other biological factors. Nurture is generally taken as the influence of external factors after conception, e.g., the product of exposure, life experiences and learning on an individual.
What are feral/wild children?
Children who couldn’t speak or act as normally socially and biologically.
Think of the looking Glass experiment and what did it mean.
The baby rhesus monkeys went to the stuffed mother when scared, even though they could see the fake mom. They need touch and socialization from her
What are the role-playing stages/ development of self?
Imitation, play, games
Think of the looking Glass experiment and what did it mean.
The baby rhesus monkeys went to the stuffed mother when scared, even though they could see the fake mom. They need touch and socialization from her to develop,
Without this, they developed into feral monkeys.
This gave Coley the idea of the Self-concept or how we perceive ourselves and then we can either improve or diminish that
Mead has the idea of Generalizing others, what does this mean?
What we expect of others,
For example, it is a matter of being to be on time not just a want.
Mead has this idea of I and me, what is this?
the “ME” is the socialized self the predictability and conformity come from this.
The “I” is he “I” is part of self
that is spontaneous, un
predictable and creative.
The “I” acts in extreme
situations with rage and
excitement.
Think angel and devil on shoulder
what is resocialization?
the learning of new norms, values, attitudes and behaviors to match the new surroundings.
does resocialization have degrees, is so what are they?
Yes, there are mild and moderate, and total institutions.
what are total institutions?
these are places where people are cut off from society and are forced to conform to a large drasic social change. I.E boot camp, prison.
What are degradation ceremonies? Who studied them?
Garfinkel, there are cermonies to get into total institutions. For example, Shaving your head, turning in jewly and personal effects.
What are agents of Socialization?(essay topic)
Our birth to 12 is childhood where mom and dad are the major socialization. An Agent of socialization is someone or something that teaches culture, values, and language to a child
what is transitional adulthood?
The stage we are in, Free from parental control but still needing support from them to find ourselves.
What are stereotypes?( essay)
Overly simplified beliefs about the characteristics of
social groups.
Assumptions About What People Are Like
Classify Others By Visible Characteristics
Ideas About Characteristics Guide Our Behavior
what are statuses?
Your Achieved, ascribed, status symobls, and Master status
what is a Achieved status?
something earned for example PHD, Registered nurse, Lawyer
what is an Ascribed status?
something you’re born with, race gender and hair color
what is a status symbol?
think a crest of sorts. Like a police badge, college logo, Nike symbol
What is a master status?
the status that the person identifies with the most. I.E a chaplain is a religious person who likes that
what is Status inconsistencey?
Status inconsistency is a situation where an individual’s social positions have both positive and negative influences on his or her social status.
what do Roles have on people sociologically?
roles make people who they are, they also can be good bad and none important. Like I could be a Student, Paramedic, and father. this could mean I am a good person who is reliable. it defines people
What is a role set?
A role set is a person lists of roles, I.E Father white police officer, cancer survivor
Role conflict V role strain (essay)
Role conflict is when one roll clashs with a person. For example, A delivery driver is called in during an exam. This is conflict but when he must choose between the exam and work that is role strain.
