Social Structure Flashcards

1
Q

What is habitualization?

A

How any action repeated frequently becomes cast into a person. We construct our own society and we accept it as it is because others have created it before us: habit.

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2
Q

What is institutionalization?

A

Act of implanting a convention or norm into society

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3
Q

What did Thomas Theorem say?

A

“If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.”
People create their own realities

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4
Q

What did Howard Becker (1963) believe?

A

If one violates a rule it does not mean they are deviant in other respects, but labelling them as deviant makes it difficult for one to conform to other rules.

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5
Q

Who defined concept of self-fulfilling prophecy?

A

Robert K.Merton

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6
Q

What is a social structure?

A

Set of social statuses, roles, groups, networks, and institutions that organize/influence people. Boundaries people confront as they make decisions.

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7
Q

What are the two types of structural boundaries?

A

Rules: expectations for behaving in given situations
Resources: things we may nave or acquire that help us accomplish goals

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8
Q

Two types of rules?

A

Formal: laws. policies
Informal: norms

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9
Q

Define life chances

A

opportunities to provide yourself with favourable lfie

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10
Q

Define status.

A

Person/group’s socially determined positions, places people in social hierarchies, influences resources available

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11
Q

Two types of status?

A

Achieved status: voluntary, results from some efforts
Ascribed status: involuntary, assigned to you by society, often at birth

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12
Q

Define roles.

A

Set of expectations about the behaviours of those in particular social statuses, increases social stability (we can anticipate behaviours of others)

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13
Q

Define role strain and role conflict.

A

Role strain: when one role requires too much (e.g. stressful job)
Role conflict: when multiple rules contradict each other, competing structural rules (e.g. being a student and an athlete)

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14
Q

Define groups.

A

Consists of two or more people with similar values and expectations who interact on a regular basis, behaviour may be influenced by norms of group, provides resources

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15
Q

Describe two types of groups.

A

Primary groups: members are not interchangeable, relationships often long-term, close, meaningful
Secondary groups: goal oriented, temporary/impersonal, may have organized structures and rules

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16
Q

Define networks

A

Series of social relationships that link a person directly to other individuals and indirectly to even more people
Examples: social organizations

17
Q

Define institutions.

A

Practices and rules that organize a central domain of social life, guide behaviours and meet basic needs. Can perpetuate inequalities.
examples: education, religion, government

18
Q

Define agency.

A

Our ability to act given the structural rules and resources that impact our behaviours

19
Q

Define socialization

A

Experiences that give us an identity and teach us values, beliefs, and ways of acting/thinking expected in society

20
Q

What did George Herbert Mead argue?

A

Argued sense of self develops from social experiences and interactions in daily life, we form sense of self through eyes of others and the generalized other (values and norms of larger culture that individuals use to guide their actions)

21
Q

What concept did Charles Horton Cooley form?

A

Looking-glass self: the way our perception of how others see us affects our sense of self

22
Q

What are agents of socialization? Name 4 major agents of socialization.

A

Influential factors that shape your identity
School, peer groups, family, mass media

23
Q

Define resocialization.

A

Process of adopting new social norms and identities, dramatic resocialization greatly changes behaviour and sense of self

24
Q

Give type of dramatic resocialization.

A

Total institutions: where groups of people are largely cut off from wider society and lives are greatly controlled by institution (e.g. military), behaviours molded to suit institution

25
Q

Who was major influence in micro-sociology and what did he believe?

A

Herbert Blumer, contributed to theory called symbolic interaction, which studies human interaction by focusing on words/gestures people use and meanings they create, claims individuals act towards things based on meanings they have for them (e.g. wearing hijab)

26
Q

Who was major influence in macro-sociology and what did he believe?

A

Robert Merton, argued people make choices based on resources available to achieve their goals.
Structure of opportunity: unequal distribution of resources and opportunities across society shapes choices individuals make

27
Q

A) What did Erving Goffman say about social interaction?
B) According to Goffman explain context of ‘line’ and ‘face’

A

A) Describes how people try to control impression they make on others; while others judge person by comparing what person intentionally expresses about themselves against unintentional expressions
B) Individuals act out a line in any social encounter (“I am polite, so I will use manners”) and present a face based on the line (e.g. kind)
Claims face does not belong with individual but something that belongs to flow of encounters and how they manifest

28
Q

Define Goffman’s face-work

A

Management of maintaining face, make it consistent with line, make adjustments to cover inconsistencies,

29
Q

What did Byrm et al. believe about emotions

A

Emotions are not simply natural and biological reactions

30
Q

Define feeling rules

A

Set of socially shared guidelines that direct how we cant to try to feel and not feel emotions according to situations, must manage emotions in response to different situations

31
Q

Define emotional management

A

The way people produce or inhibit feelings based on social expectations of different situations

32
Q

Define emotion labour

A

Managing emotions by protocols is part of job (e.g. nursing)

33
Q

What did Gilles Deleuze believe about emotional management?

A

Joy and sadness as expressions of power and powerlessness respectively:
Joy: feeling empowered, fulfilled one of our abilities
Sadness: feeling disempowered, separated from our power, failure to do something we could have/were prevented from doing

34
Q

Define role performance

A

How a person expresses his or her role, using certain gestures, manners, and routines to try to convince others

35
Q

What is Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical analysis?

A

Uses theory as analogy for social interaction, saying social interaction is like a stage performance. Rule of tact says audience will overlook minor flaws.

36
Q

Define Goffman’s Front and Back Stage.

A

Front stage: where performance is given to audience where performer puts on personal front/face
Back stage: out of public eye, where front stage is prepared, performer is temporarily themselves

37
Q

Key point to Goffman’s front and back stage.

A

No single self, not even back stage is “true self.” Self is collection of roles no matter if played sincerely or with role distance (knowing role is not fully identified with self)