SOCI 101 exam II Flashcards
Breaching experiment
an experiment that seeks to examine people’s reactions to violations of commonly accepted social rules or norms
The myth of race (Omi and Winant)
argues that race is a social construction.
Culture of Poverty
the belief that poor people adopt certain practices that are different from those in the middle class.
Social Regulation
the number of rules guiding your daily life. What you expect from the world on a day-to-day basis
Stratification (Max Weber)
stems from a combination of class and status
Disciplinary techniques
modes of monitoring, examining, and regulating that are diffused through society
Latent functions
covert or unintended functions of an institution
Assimilation
the process of foregoing one’s cultural traditions and replacing them with the behaviors and practices of the new dominant culture
White Collar Crime (Edward Sutherland)
any offense committed by a professional against a corporation, agency, or other institutions example: embezzlement, fraud
Jeremy Bentham (“The Gaze”)
- perfected a system that made monitoring, and therefore discipline, more efficient
- Panopticon (Observe all)
- the prisoners begin to monitor themselves
Social Integration
the level to which one is connected to the social group or community
Charismatic authority
based on dynamic personality and personal qualities
Functionalist view of stratification
- Certain tasks are vital for society
- Vital tasks require specialization and receive greater rewards
Social learning theory
individuals learn to be deviant. Behaviors are learned through interaction with others. The interactions teach meaning and norms associated with the behavior.
Cultural Capital
the cultural and social class resources that people inherit and learn to use to their advantage
Discreditable stigma
a hidden “mark” that has the potential to spoil one’s identity
Horizontal mobility
changing social status within the same class level
Formal Sanctions
social control through rules or laws that prohibit deviant or criminal behavior
Panopticon
observe all
Meritocracy
status and mobility based upon individual attributes, ability, and achievement
Legal-Rational authority
authority resides in the office and not in the person
De facto segregation
a subtle process of segregation other than from official policy (housing, employment, etc.)
Othering
seeking to characterize a minority group as fundamentally different from the majority group. Establishing them as alien or threat
Civil court
Torts Stipulation: A condition placed upon businesses (low Stigma)
Disit Order: A stop action for violations of stipulations (low to moderate stigma)
Injunction: Command to not engage in an action (moderate stigma)
Criminal Court
Crimes: go to jail (high stigma)
Retribution: exacting a punishment; incarnation
Discrimination
harmful or negative acts against people deemed inferior on the basis of their racial category
Stanley Milgram study
- Shock experiment
- people will likely follow orders, even harmful ones, when instructed by an accepted authority figure
Labeling theory (David Rosenhan)
individuals subconsciously notice how others see or label them. Over time these labels form the basis of their self identity
Vilfredo Pareto
- The (Vilfredo) Pareto Principle
- 80% of all effects come from 20% of all causes
Elite-mass dichotomy
a system of stratification where a governing elite hold broad power over society
White denial
a lack of perception as to the existence of prejudice. Discrimination and racism in society
Systemic discrimination
racism that permeates systems of economy, education, criminal justice, political, medical/health, etc. institutions
Crime as normal (Emilie Durkheim)
- All societies have some form of crime
- Crime is normal for a society
- Crime is healthy for society as it helps the society (norms) to shift, progress
- Lack of crime (deviance) stagnates the society and is therefore pathological
Discredited Stigma
a “mark” that is obvious and spoils one’s identity
Vertical mobility
movement up or down, the social hierarchy system
Functional alternatives
different or similar social patterns and policies that provide positive functions without the dysfunctions
Eugenics (H.H Goddard)
- controlling of fertility to influence inherited traits
- H.H. Goddard contracted to test immigrants at Ellis Island. The majority were deemed to be inferior.
Social Control
mechanisms that create normative compliance in individuals
Pluralism
the presence and engaged coexistence of numerous distinct groups in one society.
Traditional Authority
when a person or organization has power or influence derived from long-standing customs, beliefs, or traditions
Racialization
formation of a new racial identity around a formally unnoticed group of people
Informal Sanctions
social reactions to widely known, usually unspoken rules of social life
Deterrence Theory
notion that crime results from a national calculation of costs and benefits
Networks of power and knowledge intersect in ways that enhance control over all in society
Prejudice
thoughts and feelings about an ethnic or racial group
Positive uses (functions) of poverty (Herbert Gans)
- Societies get rid of things that are not functional
-It is dysfunctional for many people (the poor) - It must perform some function for society.
-Gans lists 13 ways in which poverty performs some function.
Micheal Foucault and discipline
- Foucalt believed that discipline is more effective than deterrence
- Those who fall in-line are less likely to break the rules
Manifest latent
overt or intended functions of an institution
Peter Callero and conformity
a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group.
Conflict perspective on stratification
Who benefits from the stratification of society
Wages and benefits are kept low through social policy
Secondary Deviance
subsequent acts of rule breaking that occur after primary deviance and can change people’s expectations of the individual
(William Chambliss) Saints and Roughnecks
- social class (status) impacts perception of deviant behavior by individuals
- Differing responses to similar behaviors exposes power differentials in society
Kenneth and Mamie Clark Study
Conducted experiments to examine the effects of segregation on young children
Life Chances (Max Weber)
opportunities that can increase one’s social position are linked to the class into which you were born, geographic location, family ancestry, race
Total Institution (Erving Goffman
highly regulated environments where individuals live and work under strict social and institutional control
Scientific Racism
19th century theories on race that coincide with a quest for explanations and classifications of race
Stigma
a negative social label that not only changes our behavior toward a person but also alters their own self identity
Symbolic ethnicity
an alignment with a national identity yet without risk of stigma
Race
a group of people who share a set of characteristics, typically but no necessarily physical
Anomie
a sense of normlessness. A rapid shift in the expected rules of society (everyday life)
Social deviance
any transgression of socially established norms
White privilege
the uncritical acceptance of white skin
Ethnicity
cultural values and norms that distinguish a given group from another. Often voluntary, self-defined, and fluid
Gunnar Myrdal
- Difference in how blacks and whites prioritize issues of equality
- Whites tend to focus on keeping social distances but little concern toward economics equality
- Blacks value economic and legal equality but care little about social distance
Social Darwinism
the application of biological natural selection to explain social hierarchy
Those at the top are the “fittest” for the structure of society
Strain theory
argues that society does not give all its members equal ability to achieve socially accepted goals
Primary Deviance
the first act of rule breaking that may incur a label of “deviant”
Racism
belief that members of separate races posses different and unequal traits
