SOCI Midterm Flashcards
3 sociological approaches
- Structural Functional
- Symbolic-interaction
- Social Conflict
Structural functional approach
- Society is a system of interconnected parts that work together to maintain balance/stability
- Each part of society plays a role (whether functional or dysfunctional)
- Manifest + Latent Functions
Pros + Cons and Structural Functionalism
Pros: insight to how society maintains order through shared values
Cons: Understates role of power + conflict
Manifest functions
Intended + recognized consequences of an aspect of society
Latent functions
Unintended and unrecognized consequences of an aspect of society
Emile Durkheim
- Modern age (Machine age)
- a sociology daddy
- believed in functionalism + scientific method (positivism)
- collective conscience of values, norms and beliefs
- Social trends are social facts that exist independently of the individuals who make them up
- If sociology limited itself to the study of social facts it could be more objective
Symbolic interaction
- People create the reality they experience in day to day interactions
- society as an ongoing production from everyday interactions of individuals
- Human behavior is influenced by definitions + meaning that are created through symbolic interaction with others (we rely on symbolic meaning
- Individuals make change - negotiating, manipulating, changing society through daily actions
Pros + cons of symbolic interaction
Pros:
- Shows how people make sense of their surroundings
- gives insight into small-scale human interactions
- recognizes that perceptions of reality are variable
- doesn’t see humans as passive conforming objects of socialization (sees them as active + creative participants)
Cons
- not applicable to large-scale social structures (downplays larger social forces)
- Difficult to quantify (deals with subjective interpretations)
- overestimates human ability to create own realties (inhabiting a world we didn’t make)
- symbols may be interpreted differently among groups
George Herbert Mead
- modern age (machine age)
- believed in symbolic interactionism
- seeking meaning, allowing for imagining of others intentions
- exchange of symbols
- “theory of the social self” as a theory of socialization
Social conflict theory
- society is viewed as composed of groups that are competing for resources + power
- people pursue interests in conflict with others
- social order is the result of domination
- Society is a system of social inequalities
- social change comes through conflict
pros + cons of social conflict theory
Pros
- Recognizes the role of power + inequality in maintaining social order (seeking moral ends)
- recognizes that change happens (unlike functionalism)
- propose solutions for social problems
- unmasks universalist rhetoric (one group taking power justifying it on grounds of “freedom for all”)
Cons
- assumes that pretty much all conflict is about money, resources + power (when it’s sometimes just general disagreements)
- proposals for change not always definite
- Assumes that human nature is good by corrupted by civilization
- neglects role of cohesion in social stability
Max Weber
- Modern era (machine era)
- conflict theory
- theorized that service workers high income stabalized society
- pessimistic about modernization
Karl Marx
- born at end of enlightenment
- part of modern era (industrial + machine age)
- conflict theorist
- wanted to create workers revolution
- get rid of bureaucracy (treat everyone same)
Feminist theory
Society as a system of male domination
- seeking equality for men + women
Sociological Imagination
- Mindset to allow people to see how their individual lives are impacted by broader social structures (connection between self + wider society)
- seeing strange in familiar, seeing general in particular
Pros of sociological imagination
- help us make sense of struggles (seeing social roots, ubiquitousness of problems, understanding certain demographics more at risk)
- people aren’t alone in their troubles
- takes away some individual responsibility for social issues
- encourages individuals to take more action in changing public policies
Questions to ask using sociological imagination
- What is the structure of particular society (parts + their relations)
- who does it work and not work for - What is this societies place within development of humanity as a whole
- What varieties of men + women are coming to prevail
Positivist Sociology
- Structural-functional
- society is an orderly system
- an objective reality is “out there”
- science + numbers (observing behavior through gathering empirical, quantitate date)
- knowledge based on positive facts instead of speculation
- Researcher is neutral
Interpretive Sociology
- Symbolic-interaction
- society is ongoing interaction
- understanding how humans attach meaning to behavior to construct reality
- Focus on subjective meaning and sense people make of their world (qualitative data)
- Researcher is participant
Critical Sociology
- Social conflict
- Social is patterns of inequality (some categories dominate)
- Actively seeking to change inequalities
- Goes beyond studying world as it is, but as it can be
- Research is social activist guided by politics
Critical Sociology
- Social conflict
- Social is patterns of inequality (some categories dominate)
- Actively seeking to change inequalities
- Goes beyond studying world as it is, but as it can be
- Research is social activist guided by politics
4 different research methods
Experiment, Survey, Participant Observation, Existing sources
Research method: Experiment
- to specify relationship between variables (explanatory)
- quantitative data
Pros + Cons of Research method: Experiment
pros
- greatest opportunity to specify cause + effect relationships
- easy to replicate research
cons
- artificial lab settings
- results may be biased if environment isn’t carefully controlled
Research method: Survey
- gathering info about unobservable qualities - ie. values/beliefs
- useful for descriptive + explanatory research
- quantitative or qualitative data
Pros + Cons of Research method: Survey
Pros
- can survey large populations
- in depth responses
Cons
- time consuming (carefully prepared questions) + expensive
- may yield low return rate
Research Method: Participant Observation
- study of people in a natural setting (exploratory + descriptive)
- qualitative data
Pros and Cons of Research Method: Participant Observation
Pros
- Inexpensive
- study of natural behavior
Cons
- Time consuming
- replication of research difficult
- must maintain balance of participant + observer roles
Research Method: Existing sources
- Exploratory, descriptive or explanatory research whenever suitable data are available
pros + cons of Research Method: Existing sources
Pros
- saves time + expense of collecting data
- allows for historical research
Cons
- no control over biases in data
- data may not fit all research needs
When did middle class emerge
Industrial/scientific revolution 1750-1850 (creation of more jobs)
also victorian era 1830-1900
Primary group
- personally orientated
- long term
- end in themselves (something that one does because one wants to and not because it will help accomplish something else)
Secondary Group
- goal orientated
- variable (short term)
- means to an end
- narrow range of activities performed
- ie. co-workers
2 types of leadership ROLES
Instrumental + Expressive
Instrumental leadership
making goals, completing tasks
Expressive leadership
Minimizing conflict, raising morale
3 leadership STYLES
Authoritarian, Democratic, Laissez faire
Authoritarian leadership
- making decisions individually
- make sure everyone obeys rules
Democratic Leadership
- inclusive of all ideas + perspectives
Laissez-faire (leave it alone) Leadership
- group of passionate, smart + independent workers
- self directed work
3 types of formal organizations
Utilitarian, normative, coercive
Utilitarian organization
One that pays people for efforts
Normative organization
one joined voluntarily to pursue a worthwhile goal
- popular among wealthy, left leaning, young homies
Coercive organization
One joined involuntarily for a change in behavior
Bureaucracy
Organizational model designed to perform tasks efficiently
Efficiency of Bureaucracy (6 things)
- Specialization
- Hierarchy of positions
- rules + regulations
- (hiring based on) technical competence
- impersonality
- formal communication
Problems of Bureaucracy (4 things)
- Alienation
- reduction of clients + workers to small cog in ceaselessly moving system - Inefficiency + ritualism
- unresponsive, inaccessibility
- Bureaucratic ritualism - focusing on rules but it undermines goals of organization - Inertia
- Organization taking life of its own beyond original objectives - Oligarchy
- rule of the many by the few (those in power to abuse power)
Characteristics of Modernization (5 things)
- Decline of traditional communities
- expansion of personal choice
- increasing social diversity
- Orientation towards future
- Increasing awareness of time
Ferdinand Tonnies on Modernization
Loss of Community (living among strangers)
- Gemeinschaft (community): United in spite of separating factors
- Gesellschaft (association on basis of self-interest): Separated in spite of uniting factors
- Industrial Revolution weakened social fabric of family/tradition (efficiency, facts and money)
- Tonnies born post S/I revolution
Emile Durkheim on Modernization
- Division of Labor
- increase in job specialization
- Mechanical solidarity (doing the same work, belonging together)
- Organic solidarity (dependency b/w people in specialized work)
- Modern society is “organic” + traditional societies societies are “mechanical” because they are so regimented
- Modernization being a change from (not loss of) community based on bonds of like-ness to community based on economic interdependence (labor)
Max Weber on Modernization
- Rationalization
- Rational thinking gets in way of asking questions abt human existence
- tradition acts as brake on social change
- Modern people have little respect for the past, find truth in rational calculation
- Regulations (ie from bureaucracy) to create human disconnection
- Modern society as an iron cage of bureaucracy
Karl Marx on Modernization
- Capitalism (all claims being triggered by + occurring within it)
- Tonnies - Capitalism draws population away from farms to cities
- Durkehim - specialization needed for efficient factories
- Weber - retionality seen in capitalist pursuit of profit
-Egalitarian socialist society - no social classes or explotation
- creativity, community + human freedom - Capitalism puts some people on top + promotes exploitation and destroys creativity
- Utopian communism
Social changes from enlightenment (4 things)
1685-1815
1. Economic
- factories/mass production (increase of jobs)
2. Urban growth
3. Political change
4. New thinking
- inequality isn’t natural
- human rights
- society as a thing that can be studied
- less importance of religion (running society based on rules + empirically based ideas)
- birth of bureaucracy (centralizing governmental power)
Jean Condorcet
- Industrial revolution
- pro abolition + women’s suffrage
- development of social welfare policies (free education, healthcare, minimum wage)
Who coined the phrase “sociological imagination”?
C Wright Mills
Who coined the phrase “sociology”?
August Comte
- sociology meaning the science of society
3 types of women’s gender ideology
- Traditional
- Women wants to identify with home activities and wants husband to identify with work activities - Egalitarian
- Equal power + orientation to home and careers - Transitional
- Woman wants to identify with home + work but wants husband to base more identity in work than her
Nuclear/conjugal family
- based on marriage
- education opportunities only given to men (therefore breadwinner)
- women –> child rearing
- 1 or 2 parents and children
- smaller growth in extended families (don’t need to live with grandma)
- monogamy
- privatisation of home with increase of factories
- as the cultural standard yikes
- isn’t universal or natural
- family form related to dominant economic + cultural beliefs of the time
Endogamy
marriage in same social category
Exogamy
marriage between different social categories
- builds alliances, encourages spread/connection of culture
monagamy
marriage of 2 partners
Polygamy
marriage between more than 2 spouses
Polgyny
1 man 2 or more women in marriage
- may increase the number of single males who can’t find wives which may lead to potentially bigger social problems (ie. sexual assault)
Polyandry
1 woman 2 or more men in marriage
- Mountainous tibet where agriculture is difficult and division of land according to monogamous marriages would mean too small parcels of land to support a family
Patrilocality
Married couple lives with/near husbands family
Matrilocality
Couple lives with/near wifes family
- north american iroquois
neolocality
couple lives apart from both sets of parents
Descent
system used to trace kinship over generations
Patrilineal descent
Tracing kinship through men
Matrilineal descent
tracing kinship through women
Bilateral descent
tracing kinship through men + women
Structural functional theory of family
Family as backbone of society (performing many vital tasks)
- socialization/child rearing
- regulation of sexual activity (incest laws)
- Social placement (maintains social organization)
- Emotional + material security
Incest laws
higher odds of damage + little genetic diversity for within family repr.
- confuses kinship ties
Law:
- limits sexual competition in families
- ties larger society together
Social-conflict theory of family
- family perpetuates social inequality (handing down wealth from gen to gen)
- property and inheritance (men reproducing class structure, obtaining heirs, concentrating wealth)
- patriarchy (controlling women’s sexuality to obtain heirs, women responsible for child rearing + housework)
- race + ethnicity persist because people marry others like themselves
Symbolic interaction theory of family
- micro level
- intimacy (sharing fear)
- building bonds + trust through sharing activities
- reality of family life made in their interactions
Social exchange theory of family
- micro level
- courtship + marriage as forms of negotiation (bringing together or people who offer same level of advantages)
- shopping around to make best deal
Arranged marriages
Alliances between 2 families fo similar social status
- exchange of wealth (+ children)
- younger the bride, smaller the dowry paid to grooms family + no question about virginity (raising value on marriage market)
- children raised to be culturally compatible
- lower divorce rates (than canada where marriage is more based on love rather than cultural traditions/social + economic considerations
Homogamy
Marriage between people with same social characteristics
When + why did kids become a liability (economically)
Industrial revolution
- pre industrialization kids were an asset + payed off because they provided labour
Do high-income nations have smaller or bigger families? Why?
Smaller
- women have more alternatives to being a mom
- better sex education
Latchkey kids
kids who fend for themselves after school
Why do women outlive male spouses?
- greater life expectancy
- women tend to marry older men
What people hope for in marriage is linked to their social class
tru dat
What demographic makes up for largest proportion of foster care in Canada?
Indigenous kids
Colonialism effects on family (2)
- Language policy made kids culturally dislocated (couldn’t communicate with family)
- abuse/trauma affects ability to parents for survivors
Recent shift to prioritizing the economic class of immigrants over the family class
Raising the minimum qualifying earning requirements
Tru dat
Monster homes
very problematic reference to large houses of visible minority families
Who is more likely to endorse intermarriage - Canada or USA?
Canada
mental health of marriage men vs women (compared to singles)
Men - live longer + are happier
Women - poor mental health, less happy
Who’s most likely to get divorced?
- Young couples
- Unexpected pregnancy
- Substance abuse problems
- Non-religious people
- Children of divorced parents
- Non-post-secondary attendees
- Places where more social change occurs
Why are more people getting divorced
- its really easy to do it (legally)
- more socially acceptable
- stressful (esp with kids)
- individualism (emphasis on personal happiness)
- women less dependent on men
- fading of romantic love
Alimony
Court ordered child support
2 examples for men getting away with sexual assault
- women were mens property (rape legally impossible within marriage)
- Domestic violence seen as a private family matter
Most child abusers are male
- abused when they were kids
- violent behavior in close relationship is learned
Ectogenesis
- joining of sperm + egg in a glass (implanted in woman’s body)
- raises ethical questions
Future of family
- still high divorce rate
- more diverse family life (cohabitation, single parent, queer parents)
- weakening child-father ties (higher rate of single motherhood)
- increased risk of poverty - economic change (parents + full work schedule, young people not feeling economically secure to marry)
Blended families
or a stepfamily - partners make a life together with the children from one or both of their previous relationships
Cohabitation
living together and having a sexual relationship without being married
Mary Wollstonecraft
Family structure causes discrimination
Harriet Martineau
First female sociologist
- society operates according to natural laws (understood through science + education)
Pronatalist society
pro having kids
- wats wrong with you if you dont like
Large families in pre industrial/scientific revolution times
- kids for labour
-infant mortality rate (before science could slay)
Middle class values in Victorian era
- privacy and space
- buying a nice suburban home (1950)
Womens role in hunter gatherer society
Economic breadwinners
Family trends in 1950s
- marrying young
- low divorce rates (though many wanted it)
- more kids
- single income source
- close connections with extended family
- increased work for women (alcohol abuse, less servants)
- women being depressed after being culturally subordinated after the war - miltown first antidepressants
- high teen pregnancy
Negative of self reported study
Easy to inflate numbers
Share control (in parent-adult kid relationship)
learning to live together as adult kids + parents
personal control (in parent-adult kid relationship)
Kids say “I’m an adult so I’m not going to do it”