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soci 250 > soci 250 midterm > Flashcards

soci 250 midterm Flashcards

1
Q

what is culture?

A

the way we learn how to behave; people LEARN culture

culture is enforced by law

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2
Q

what defines the meaning of a society?

A

culture

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3
Q

what is a social problem?

A

a social condition that people view as harmful and requires collective action to remedy

vary and in time and depend on world views

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4
Q

what are 2 reasons for social problems

A

an individual DOES the action/creates the problem

the government and its economy CREATE the problem

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5
Q

what are claim makers

A

people that define the problem and put blame on either society or people for the problem (ex: car manufacturer/person driving/pollution)

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6
Q

how are solutions implemented?

A

the government, depending on their ideology

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7
Q

what is government and what is state?

A

government: elected and appointed officials

state: people who occupy state agencies (law enforcement, regulatory agents)

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8
Q

how does the left vs right view the functions of the state?

A

right: the state should not try to solve social problems (charities/non-profits should); they should protect citizenry and secure order

left: the state should solve social problems, distribute power equally, and provide a safety net

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9
Q

how does the state deal with social problems?

A

always depends on the ideology of the party in power; can ask 3 questions

  1. in whose interest does the state ask?
  2. who influences and controls the state?
  3. to what extent do the general public hold the state accountable?
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10
Q

what is pluralism?

A

theory that assumes that the state acts as an impartial arbitrator for resolving disputes among interest groups

  • the state does NOT favour a particular party/interest group = all groups are equal
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11
Q

what is the problem with pluralism?

A

state often favours the interest group with the most economic power/benefit

interest groups can distort the public agenda

theory is largely abandoned- it is evident that this is NOT how the world works

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12
Q

pluralism ignores:

A

power

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13
Q

what are the 2 versions of class theory?

A

instrumentalism and structuralism

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14
Q

what are the class/marxist theories of the state?

A
  • there is one dominant class in society
  • the dominant class has relatively similar interests and try to cohesively protect those interests
  • capitalist economy shapes and constrains other institutions making the current elite un-important since they must only protect corporate interest
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15
Q

what is instrumentalism?

A

the state is only a committee to organize the interests of the ruling class

the state is under DIRECT CONTROL of those who control the economy (the upper class)

the upper class protects its interests by manipulating state policies directly or indirectly pressuring the state to get what they want

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16
Q

according to Domhaff, how does the ruling class assure that they win?

A
  1. lobbying government: paying/influencing politicians to vote a certain way
  2. controlling policy planning organizations
  3. controlling the candidate selection process (positive ads for their candidates and negative ads for opposing candidates)
  4. dominating the opinion sharing process
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17
Q

what is structuralism?

A

the most correct theory

the state is relatively autonomous from the ruling class (no direct control)

autonomy is LIMITED because the state needs to maintain the accumulation of profit within corporations

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18
Q

is structuralism still in favour of the upper class?

A

yes; the state needs a healthy economy to maintain revenue (economy = controlled by upper class)

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19
Q

when would the state NOT act in the interest of the elite?

A

times of crisis (war, depressions, social unrest) bec need to please the people

business confidence decreases

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20
Q

what is the power of corporations?

A

try to counteract by having people work in the public sector; therefore, if corporations lay people off in response to higher taxes the public sector will still be safe

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21
Q

what is ideology

A

set of beliefs held by an individual or group about sociopolitical goals & the methods to attain them

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22
Q

what is the social policy (role of the state) of the left?

A

role of the state is to promote social welfare and equality

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23
Q

what is the left’s overarching concern

A

to fight social and economic inequalities

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24
Q

what are the left’s fundamental assumptions about human nature

A

collectivism- we’re in this together (people are BORN fundamentally good but become bad/devious due to the world/situations around them

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25
Q

what is the left’s economic policy?

A

redistribution of wealth between the rich & poor

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26
Q

how does the left see education?

A

the great equalizer- getting in to university depends where you end up

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27
Q

how does the left see crime?

A

a function of social ills (poverty, unemployment, inequality, etc…)

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28
Q

how does the left see gays?

A

forward progress - trying to REDUCE inequalities

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29
Q

how does the right see social policy?

A

social control (military, order, laws, etc…)

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30
Q

what are the right’s overarching concerns?

A

tendencies to maintain existing inequalities since they believe these inequalities are correct/fair

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31
Q

what are the right’s fundamental assumptions about human nature?

A

hierarchy exists- people are born fundamentally flawed/self-interested leading to selfishness that needs to be CONTROLLED by the state

people are individually responsible for their behaviour and have free will & personal choice

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32
Q

what is the right’s economic policy?

A

meritocracy
- the smartest/best people reach the top and become rich
- the less ambitious become poor and don’t deserve anything more
- being rich or poor depends on AMBITION

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33
Q

how does the right see education?

A

expensive prices- high prices help enforce the rich stay rich (sending kids to expensive schools)

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34
Q

how does the right view crime?

A

YOU are to blame
- reprehensible actions committed by individuals who exercise their own free will
- severe punishment is present to deter “rational acts”

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35
Q

how does the right see gays?

A

backward progress - wanting things to be like the past

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36
Q

why does the right believe that there are way more male CEO’s than female?

A

because women have less ambition (this is false- the left believe that this proves the meritocracy system is a scam and that women are actually discriminated against)

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37
Q

who views poverty as a personal problem and why?

A

the right: not smart enough, no ambition, made bad choices

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38
Q

who views poverty as a social problem and why?

A

left: not enough jobs in a community due to economic cycles, born into a poor situation

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39
Q

what is absolute poverty?

A

when individuals do not have the basic needs for survival (food, shelter, clothing)

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40
Q

what is relative poverty?

A

individuals have the basic needs for survival but have living standards below the average living standards of the community they live in

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41
Q

what considers you poor?

A

if you spend 55% of income on necessities (20% more than average)

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42
Q

what is Low Income Cutoff

A

a RELATIVE measure of poverty, most widely used measure in canada

conveys the income level at which a family may be in straitened circumstances because it has to spend a greater portion of its income on the basics

poverty is based of the size of the family and size of community

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43
Q

what is Market Based Measure

A

an ABSOLUTE measure of poverty (if you can’t afford to purchase the bare essential items, then you are POOR)

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44
Q

what is the Poverty Threshold

A

an ABSOLUTE measure of poverty that looks at FOOD ONLY - based on the cost of a basic diet multiplied by 3, assumes that the poor spend 1/3 of income on food
- if you don’t have enough money to eat, you’re considered poor

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45
Q

how do sociologists say that you’re considered poor?

A

if you make less than 1/2 of what the average makes, then you’re considered poor

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46
Q

who is poor in USA?

A
  • women: more likely than men
  • blacks and latinos are more likely than whites (22-25%)
  • foreign born > chance than native born
  • single moms with children > chance than other families (HUGE FACTOR 28%)
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47
Q

who is poor in canada

A
  • indigenous people, immigrants, visible minorities (32% of poor people)
  • single parent families (3x more likely to be poor) (32%)
  • disabled people (23%)
  • people who don’t graduate high school are 2x as likely to be poor than someone with a college degree
48
Q

what is a key factor that drives poverty?

A

underemployment: people are working hard just NOT BEING PAID ENOUGH
- poverty is NOT related to people being lazy

49
Q

what is The New Poor

A

blue collar workers losing their jobs due to plant closures
- suffer from downward mobility (accepting jobs that pay less than their original job) since they have few skills
- 15% simply cannot find a job
- being replaced by machines

50
Q

what is The Working Poor

A

people who have full time jobs but are getting underpaid to they point where they’re in poverty
- single parent with 2 children working min wage will be UNDER the poverty line

51
Q

what is the US min wage?

A

7.25

52
Q

what is the quebec min wage

A

10.75

53
Q

what is the poverty threshold for a family of 3 in a 500k + city

A

32k

54
Q

full time worker earning minimum wage earns how much?

A

21.5k –> would be POOR

55
Q

what is the first Deficiency Theory?

A

cause of poverty: Innate Inferiority (RIGHT theory)
- poor people are poor bec they are biologically inferior (poverty is nature’s way of eliminating those who are unfit)

56
Q

what is the second Deficiency Theory?

A

cause of poverty: Cultural Inferiority (RIGHT theory)
- certain cultural groups raise their kids with values that lead to poverty

57
Q

what is Institutional Discrimination?

A

a cause of poverty: the aspects of life that are required for success are structurally disadvantaged to the poor
- theory that shows how the poor stay poor while the rich stay rich

58
Q

what is the Political Economy of Society

A

cause of poverty: capitalism promotes poverty since employers are taking as much profit as possible & giving the bare minimum to the workers leading them into poverty

59
Q

what is the current trend of the homeless?

A

homeless population has been growing 6x faster than the overall population

60
Q

who is homeless?

A
  • single males between ages 22-55 = half the homeless population (47%)
  • first nations people
61
Q

what causes homelessness?

A
  • economic insecurity
  • lack of available affordable housing - LARGE COMPONENT
  • mental illness/addiciton
62
Q

how many canadians earn less than 30k a year?

A

1/3

63
Q

what cities have the highest poverty?

A

17% poverty rate in Toronto & Vancouver, 14% in MTL

64
Q

how many people can be homeless on any day, a year, and the last 5 years?

A

30k on any given day, 200k over a given year, and 1.3 million people in the last 5 years

65
Q

what is income inequality?

A

the concentration of income in the hands of a small group of people or disparities in the distribution of income/wealth

66
Q

how do the right/left see income inequality?

A

right: let the rich keep their money which INCREASES income inequality
left: lets tax the rich and redistribute it to the poor to DECREASE income inequality

67
Q

what is social stratification?

A

how wealth, power, and prestige is distributed & transmitted from one generation to the next = PATTERN of social inequality in society

68
Q

what is meritocracy

A

a social system in which positions are achieved and NOT ascribed
- equal oppertunity and high social mobility
- in reality, top & bottom classes are STICKY (hard to move once you’re there)

69
Q

what is occupational mobility, and who has the highest rates UPWARD mobility in the world?

A

moving up or down the occupation and income ladders: CANADA

70
Q

what is the status/quality of someone’s current job?

A
  1. the quality of an individual’s first job (based on education: ACHIEVED)
  2. the quality of the father’s job of that individual (ASCRIBED)
71
Q

Marx believed that:

A

class conflict is the driving force behind social change
- workers would develop awareness of their common class interests (class-consciousness) and create unions and parties to further their interests

72
Q

marx argued what about exploitation?

A

that proceeds from the sale of goods produced by wage-laborers FAR EXCEED the cost of wages, raw materials, etc
- this excess = surplus value = profit for owners = wage labourers are exploited

73
Q

what did marx argue the “super structure” is designed for?

A

to perpetuate and maintain the prevailing system of production

74
Q

what is the mode of production?

A

the overall system of economic activity, including the means (technology, materials) and social relations (class relations) of production

75
Q

what are the 3 classes marx identified?

A

the bourgeoisie (OWNERS OF MEANS OF PRODUCTION)

the working class

petite bourgeoisie (SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS, FARMERS)

76
Q

Davis and Moore’s Functional Theory of Stratification

A

stratification is more about people AGREEING with each other and NOT conflict between each other (consensus > conflict)

77
Q

criticism of functional theories:

A
  • defining some jobs as more impt than others is arbitrary
  • wealth is inherited and not the result of talent and effort
  • wealth is the result of ascription (women earn less than men for the same work)

THIS THEORY IS APPEALING TO THE PRIVILEGED BEC IT JUSTIFIES INEQUALITY ON THE BASIS OF EFFORT AND ABILITY, which is a fat lie lol

78
Q

mobility for those born to low income parents? (%)

A

70% remained in lower income bracket

26% rose to middle or upper-middle class

4% became high earners

79
Q

what do those who moved into the middle class have incommon?

A

53% were college grads
50% were two income families
35% were white
34% did not experience unemployment

80
Q

stratification in canada:

A

there is a large amt of stratification in canada: not the worst nor the best

81
Q

what is race?

A

ideologically asserting that different groups are inherently uneequal and thus can be ranked in a hierarchy of superiority and inferiority
- is a social construct that presumably have significance

82
Q

why are some groups dominant and some subordinate?

A

power: power is derived from superior numbers, technological advantage, weapons, property, or economical resources
- the MAJORITY GROUP establish a system of inequality by dominating less powerful groups

83
Q

the most important characteristic of a minority group is that

A

it is dominated by a more powerful group (size doesn’t matter)

84
Q

ethnic group:

A

people who share a common culture (common heritage, language, customs)

  • ethnic groups that were previously defined as a separate race (irish, italians, jews) are now legally defined as “white”
85
Q

The Thomas Theorem

A

if men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences

86
Q

white men in the US represent how much of the population, but how much of economic and political power?

A

30% of the population, but 3/4 of positions of economic and political power

87
Q

criminal justice system in canada:

A

black canadians are more likely to be stopped by police, searched/arrested and incarcerated when compared to white
- 35% of Black defendants held before trial – 23% of other backgrounds. Best data on race in the CJ system in Canada.
- 7% of the black male population between 18 and 34 were incarcerated between 18 and 34, relative to 1.4% of white males in that age group

88
Q

racism:

A

systems of racial inequality (social construct based on false biological assumptions linked to behaviour and social worth)

89
Q

prejudice:

A

an attitude or judgment, usually negative, about an entire category of people

90
Q

aversive racism

A

a subtle, often unintentional form of prejudice- exhibiting feelings of discomfort, unease, fear around minorities

91
Q

modern racism

A

involves rejection of traditional racist beliefs, but displaces negative racial views onto abstract social political issues
- believes discrimination no longer exists and that inequalities remain at the fault of minorities

92
Q

frusteration-aggression theory:

A

prejudice is a form of hostility that results from frustration about the economy, job market, and minorities act as convenient target of such frustration

93
Q

minority threat theory

A

(group threat) dominant group members feel entitled to a disproportionate share of rights, privileges, rewards of society and minorities threaten this position

94
Q

how do we learn prejudice/racism

A

socialization- we learn prejudice, often a result of segregation

negative stereotypes

the media

95
Q

scapegoating

A

when dominant members of society are frustrated by crises, they may blame some entire groups as responsible (ex: those of arab origin after 9/11)

96
Q

what are 2 types of racism?

A

personal racism (individuals treating persons unfairly)

institutional racism (disadvantageous treatment of minority populations within institutions (CJS, company policy, etc)

97
Q

who believes individual racism is the problem and who believes institutional racism is the problem

A

most whites believe individual racism is a problem, while 1/2 of blacks believe that institutional racism is a problem (most ppl believe racism is ind and not inst)

98
Q

Functional Family Theory (& who)

A

Durkheim and Parsons: families maintain the stability of a society

  • family is a replica of larger society and has a strong ability of establishing a division of labor within the household
  • healthy family = solutions to social problems
99
Q

conflict family theory:

A

believe that family is a source of social inequality & causes conflict over power
- stay at home moms reinforce women’s subordination to men since work is unpaid & devalued
- adherents suggest that the fundamental source of the
problem is capitalism that reproduces itself hierarchical
form within the home

100
Q

feminist perspective (family theory)

A

believe the subordination of women began long before capitalism, rooted in PATRIARCHY
- solution: increase education and occupational opportunities for women (FALSE: would need to change the perspective of men or avoid getting into relationships with them)

101
Q

what % of families are solely supported by male breadwinners

A

only 15%, even though most men construct their identity based on this role

102
Q

canada normative experience (family):

A

get married first (30/28) and then have a baby (30)

103
Q

USA normative experience

A

get married & have a baby at the same time (25 y/o)

104
Q

Quebec average age at first birth

A

29

105
Q

how many families in canada have a single parent?

A

20%

106
Q

how many single parent households are headed by a single mom

A

83%

107
Q

how many marriages end within 5 years

A

1/5

108
Q

how many marriages end within 10 years

A

1/3

109
Q

the lower one’s income, the greater likelihood of ___

A

divorce
- poor 2 parent families are 2x more likely to divorce than 2 parent couples not in poverty

110
Q

divorce rate for visible minorities are ___x higher than that of whites

A

2

111
Q

couples with children are LESS likely to divorce than childless couples why?

A

there is a financial/economic dependency on each other when u have children

112
Q

violence in the family: the organization of a family encourages ____

A

conflict
- more “events” can cause dispute/violence within the family

113
Q

the lifeitme probability of victimization is highest where?

A

in the home, despite our fear of strangers

114
Q

women are more likely to be injured/killed ___x because of domestic violence

A

3x

115
Q

_ / _ of homocides commited by family member

A

1/3

116
Q

how many adults reported being abused as a child

A

1/3

117
Q

what are conditions that increase intimate partner violence?

A
  • families threatened by economic hardship
  • unemployment
  • alcohol abuse
  • growing up in an abusive family

soci 250 (2 decks)

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