Socialisation and Identity Flashcards
Action theory
sociological perspective focusing on individuals and how their interactions create and re-create a sense of society.
Agency
free will or the ability to choose particular courses of action.
Anarchy
a state of disorder due to absence or non-recognition of authority or agencies of social control.
Anomie
according to Durkheim - a state of normlessness or moral uncertainty in which the social rules of behaviour are not clearly drawn, therefore making people more prone to deviance.
Appropriation
dishonest and unethical seizure of value or profit by the capitalist class of something produced by the labouring class.
Artefacts
material objects such as flags or monuments and buildings or cultural products such as sport, music and national dishes which have symbolic meaning for members of particular societies.
Authority
the power or right to give orders. Make decisions and enforce obedience. It normally derives from a legal source.
Beliefs
- ideas that members of society hold to be true.
- important and deep-rooted ideas that shape our values and are, in some respects, shaped by them. While all values express a belief, beliefs do not necessarily express a value.
Biological analogy
the human body resembles society in that, as an effective totality, it is the sum of all parts working together to ensure good health.
Black Feminism
Pending
Black Lives Matter
an international activist movement, originating in the African-American community, that campaigns against violence and systemic racism towards Black people.
Bonding social capital
the sharing of information or resources that may create opportunities for jobs or mutual help.
Bourgeois ideology
a set of ideas that originates with the capitalist class which attempts to convince members of society that inequality is a natural or normal outcome and that those who succeed or fail in the capitalist system deserve to do so.
Bourgeoisie
the socio-economic group that owns the means of production and is responsible for the organisation of capitalism.
Bridging social capital
social and political alliances or networks that increase the potential for social change.
Capitalism
an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit.
Caste system
a religious and ascribed system of stratification mainly found in India and Indian communities abroad that categorises people into five status groups, which determine their occupation and the Hindu concept of religious purity.
Charismatic personality
somebody with a compelling personality who has the ability to influence the behaviour of others.
Class consciousness
a Marxist concept that relates to awareness of one’s place in a system of social class, especially as it relates to the class struggle.
Coercion
the action or practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats.
Collective consciousness
a shared set of cultural values, norms and morality which function to unite society.
Collectivism
the practice or principle of giving a group priority over each individual with in it.
Conflict
disagreement or clash of interest.
Conflict theories
theories such as Marxism and feminism which see societies as characterised by conflict between social classes or between men and women.
Conformity
- behaving in a socially acceptable way.
* abiding by or complying with social norms, rules and laws.
Conscience
refers to the moral sense of right and wrong introduced to children from a very young age during the socialisation process which aims to deter deviant behaviour by setting off feelings of guilt if the child thinks about doing wrong.
Consensual policing
the power of the police to fulfil their functions and duties is dependent on public approval of their existence, actions and behaviour and on their ability to secure and maintain public respect.
Consensus theory
a type of Structuralist approach which sees society as characterised by agreement and order; for example, functionalism.
Conspicuous consumption
expenditure on, and consumption of, luxuries on a lavish scale in an attempt to enhance one’s prestige.
Consumerism
- repeated exposure to affluent lifestyles and desirable consumer goods that suggests that ‘happiness’ is something that can be bought.
- the preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods.
Consumption
consumers spending money on commodities / goods (shopping).
Control by consent
persuading a social group that they should obey rules because they will benefit from them in the long term.
Cost-benefit analysis
a process that involves members of society rationally weighing up the benefit of, say, obeying the law against the cost of not doing so or rejecting the need for law altogether.
Critical theory
theory developed by and associated with Marxism that seeks to understand, criticise and change the nature of capitalist societies or some feature of such societies.
Cultural amnesia
the collective loss of memory.
Cultural appropriation
this involves members of a dominant culture taking cultural artefacts from a marginalised group without permission, and usually with little respect for or knowledge about that culture.
Cultural capital
the social, intellectual and cultural assets of a person that contribute to their educational success or social mobility, for example, knowing how to ‘dress for success’.
Cultural zombies
workers who have been convinced by bourgeois ideology that they are responsible for their own fate and that they should uncritically accept their social position.
Culture
- the way of life of a particular group or society.
- the way of a particular group of people, taught and learnt through socialisation.
- the language, beliefs, values and norms, customs, roles, knowledge and skills which combine to make up the way of life of any society (Browne, 2011).
Customs
- established and accepted cultural practices and behaviours.
- a regular pattern of behaviour that is accepted as a routine norm in a particular society; for example, shaking hands when greeting someone.
- norms which have existed for a long time (Browne, 2011).
Dalit
the non-caste of ‘untouchable’ who occupy the lowest social rung of the Indian caste system and who do the dirtiest jobs.
Decadence
spiritual emptiness.
Deferred gratification
the ability to forego or postpone gratification or pleasure now by making the decision to gain greater rewards later; say, by saving for the future or studying for a degree.
Demonisation
the social practice of treating some groups as if they were ‘social problems’ or a threat to those who belong to mainstream law-abiding society.
Development
improvement in the social and economic conditions of life of a society or people.
Deviance
behaviour that is regarded as either offensive or odd to a social group or society and is therefore regarded as requiring some from of formal or informal regulation.
Domain assumptions
fundamental assumptions on which a particular perspective or ideology is based. The domain assumptions of Marxism, for example, include economic exploitation and class conflict.
Dramaturgical approach
the idea that people’s day-to-day lives can be understood as resembling performers in action on a theatre stage.
Ethnocentrism
a tendency to see the experience of others in terms of one’s own culture. It often involves making judgements, because people assume that their cultural experience is ‘normal’ and all other experiences are ‘abnormal’.
Ethnomethodology
sociological approach that argues that all social interaction is underpinned by a search for meaning; if we can understand the meanings people give to a situation we can understand their behaviour in such situations. In this respect, it is possible to discover the nature of social order by disrupting it.
False class consciousness
being unaware that socio-economic position is caused by the organisation of the capitalist system.
Fatalism
the belief that all events are predetermined and inevitable, and that we are powerless and incapable of bringing about social change.
Fat-shaming
the action or practice of humiliating someone judged to be fat or overweight by mocking or critical comments about their size.
Feral children
children who have been deprived of interaction with other humans because they have been abandoned into the wild (and, in some cases, allegedly raised by animals) or kept in isolation.
Folk culture
a type of culture which stems from the experiences, customs, traditions and beliefs of rural communities such as the peasantry or tribes that make up part of a wider culture, and which is passed down by word-of-mouth.
Force
also referred to as coercion; using intimidation and threats to persuade someone to do something they do not want to do.
Formal social control
sanctions enforced by official agencies such as government in reaction to the breaking of written formal rules.
Free will
the power to make decisions or choices that are not shaped by social forces beyond the control of the individual.
Front
the way we present ourselves in any given social situation to create specific impressions in the mind of others.
Fundamentalism
a very conservative version of religion which believes that God’s word and religious texts are infallible and need to be interpreted literally.
Gender inequality
refers to inequalities in wealth, pay, political power, access to certain types of jobs, and in the distribution of domestic tasks such as childcare and housework.
Gender role socialisation
the process of learning behaviour that is culturally expected from males and females.
Gender roles
the social expectations that underpin what is expected of a boy/man and a girl/woman in any given society.
Gig economy
a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs.
Global risks
globalisation has increased people’s risk of being victims of global warming, terrorism, crime and so on.
Globalisation
the trend of increasing interaction between societies and people worldwide due to advances in transportation and digital communications.
Globalisation
the process through which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected as a result of increased trade and cultural exchange.
Glocalisation
a trend which sees global actors flexibility altering their global brands so that they suit the need of and respect local cultures. Local cultures may take aspects of a global product and adapt it so that it appeals to local consumers.
Hegemonic
culturally dominant.
Hegemonic feminity
a version of feminine which stresses that females are subordinate and their ‘natural’ roles should be confined to the spheres of motherhood and the home.
Hegemonic masculinity
a version of masculine identity which defines a ‘real man’ in terms of toughness, emotional hardness and the power to provide for his family.
Hidden curriculum
the unwritten, unofficial, and often unintended lessons, values and attitudes that encourage conformity that students allegedly learn in classrooms and schools.
High culture
cultural products, such as art and literature, that are regarded as rare, unique and the product of exceptional talent.
High modernity
the later stages of modern societies identified by Beck, associated with manufactured risks to the ecology of the planet and high levels of individualisation.
Human agency
the power people have to think from themselves and act in ways that shape their experiences and way of life.
Humanist approach
a micro or ‘bottom-up’ approach which is interested in how social reality is ‘interpreted’ by individuals during their everyday interaction with others.
Hybridised identity
a form of identity that is constructed by combining aspects of two or more cultures.
Identity
the qualities, beliefs, personality, looks and/or expressions that constitute both how you see yourself and how other people may see or judge you.
Ideological
based on untrue information, propaganded by a powerful group, aimed at justifying and legitimating some type of inequality.
Ideological power
dominating culture or ideas.
Imitation
children copying the actions of significant role models in their lives, especially their parents.
Impression management
the conscious or subconscious process in which people attempt to influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event.
Individualisation
a social feature of late or postmodernity which encourages members of society to put the interest of themselves before the interest of the wider social group. It encourages selfishness rather than selflessness.
Individualism
being free from external pressures such as tradition and duty and being able to pursue one’s own interest (sometimes at the expense of others).
Inequality
the uneven distribution of resources so that some people have more benefits and opportunities than others.
Informal social control
the negative reaction of friends, relatives and peers to deviance that encourages conformity to the informal rules employed by such groups.
Infrastructure
the economic system.
Interactionism
an approach focused on the behaviour of individuals that refers to three related perspectives (phenomenology, ethnomethodology and symbolic interactionism), based on the concept of social action.
Intersectionality
the acknowledgement that middle-class white women are not as exploited or as equal as women from working-class and ethnic minority backgrounds, who may be held back by poverty, racism and religion.
Jati
the caste system.
Labelling theory
the idea that people come to identify and behave in ways that reflect how more powerful others label or stereotype them.
Labour power
the effort, skill and hours which a worker puts into the manufacture of a product.
Late capitalism
a term used by Marxists to describe the latter stages of modern capitalist society, especially capitalism’s ability to exploit new global markets and to create new forms of labour in order to generate profit.
Late modernity
a term used by Giddens to describe the later stages of modern society, which he claims is characterised by globalisation and reflexivity.
Law
a rule or system of rules which a society agrees to follow and which regulate the behaviour of all. The role of the police and the courts is to enforce those rules by arresting those who break them and to impose punishment if found guilty of doing so.
Liquid modernity
a term used by Bauman to describe the later stages of modernity, which he sees as characterised by uncertainty.
Looking-glass self
theory that argues that our sense of self develops from how we are seen by others; we understand who we are by looking in the ‘mirror’ of how others behave towards us.
Macro approaches
a top-down approach which is mainly interested in how society or aspects in how society or aspects of it influence individual actions.
Manufactured risks
the risks produced by consumer demand for more consumer goods and the inability of capitalism to manufacture goods without risking the environment (for example, through pollution).
Mass culture (popular culture)
the ‘culture of the masses’, as opposed to the high culture of a ruling elite, characterised as simple, worthless, mass-produced and disposable.
Mass or Popular culture
cultural artefacts such as pop music or Hollywood blockbusters that are mass produced for mass consumption.
Means of production
the resources required to manufacture a product; for example, capital for investment, raw materials, machinery and so on.
Mechanical solidarity
the sense of togetherness in a society that arises when people perform similar work and share similar experiences, customs, values and beliefs. Such societies view society as more important than the individual.
Meta-narratives
grand theories which aim to explain society and human behaviour.
Microsociology
type of sociology focused on the study of individuals and small groups.
Middle class
those occupations that require a professional qualification or who manage capitalism on behalf of the capitalist class. This group tends to be highly rewarded in terms of income and status.
Misogyny
hatred of women.
Modernity
- a period in history or a type of society that is characterised by the use of advanced technology, belief in science, innovation and economic progress
- a stage in historical development characterised by thinks like industrialisation, urbanisation and the development of science and reason.
Monopoly
the exclusive possession or control of the supply of, or trade in, a commodity or service.
Narcissism
extreme selfishness, with a grandiose view of one’s own talents and a craving for admiration.
Nation-states
a sovereign state of which most of the citizens or subjects are united by factors which define a nation, such as language, possession of a territory with borders and/or common descent.
Nature versus nurture debate
the debate as to whether human behaviour is the product of innate biological influences such as instinct or genetics or whether it is the product of environmental influences such as social upbringing or the quality of socialisation.
Nature versus nurture debate
a debate in the social sciences about whether human behaviour can be explained in biological/genetic (nature) or cultural (nurture) terms.
Negative sanctions
punishments aimed at deterring deviance.
Neo-Marxist theory
more recent form of Marxism, sometimes called hegemonic Marxism, that gives greater importance to cultural factors in explaining human behaviour than traditional Marxism (where the emphasis is on economic relationships).
New Age religion
a type of religion which aims to help people find spiritual fulfilment through practices such as meditation, healing and self-discovery.
New Social movements
political movements, which are often radical, global in reach and disproportionately supported by young people and coordinated online.
Norms
- social rules which define correct behaviour in a society or group (Browne, 2011).
- the rules that govern what behaviour is normal in any given social situation.
- socially acceptable ways of behaving in different roles.
- socially acceptable ways of behaving when playing a particular role.
Oligopoly
a state of limited competition, in which a market is shared by a very small number of producers or sellers.
Opportunity
the number of desirable options available to an individual or group in a particular society.
Organic solidarity
a type of system in which community ties are loose because people are exposed to a greater range of ideas, which encourages individualism and less moral certainty.
Over-deterministic
believing that everything that happens could not happen in any other way.
Over-socialised conception of man
criticism of the claim that human beings are simply the product of their socialisation and that behaviour can be understood as merely a response to external stimulation.
Patriarchy
male domination of society and the social institutions that comprise it.
Peer group
a group of people of approximately the same age, status and interest.
Phenomenology
interactionist approach that argues that the social world consists of phenomena whose meaning is both negotiated and interpreted through interaction.
Populism
a system of ideas that claims to support the will of the people.
Positive sanctions
rewards which encourage conformity.
Positivist
a scientific approach which aims to document the impact of social forces on human behaviour by collecting large-scale data using sociological methods which are regarded as highly reliable and objective.
Post-industrial
a stage in a society’s development when the service sector of the economy generates more wealth than the industrial or manufacturing sector of the economy.
Post-truth
a situation in which expert opinion and facts are less influential in shaping public attitudes than emotion, faith and personal belief.
Power
- the ability to make others do what you want, even against their will.
- define power in terms of influence, and influence in terms of psychological change. Change includes behaviour, opinions, attitudes, goals, needs, values, and all other aspects of the person’s psychological field (French and Raven, 1959).
- ’A’ has power over ‘B’ to the extent that he can get ‘B’ to do something that would not otherwise do“ (Dahl, 1957).
- the ability of people or groups to exert their will over others and get their own way (Browne, 2011).
- the ability to direct or influence the behaviour of others.
- (physics) is the rate of doing work or of transferring heat, i.e. the amount of energy transferred or converted per unit time. Power = Work / Time
Precariat
people whose employment and income are insecure, especially when considered as a class.
Present-day orientation
a view likely to be held by members of the precariat, whose members may believe that people should live for today and that there is little hope for the future because of their experience of job insecurity.
Primary socialisation
the process of learning that occurs in the family when parents teach children the language, attitudes, values, norms and ethics of the culture in which they live so that they grow up to be citizens and workers who conform to what society expect of them.
Proletariat
the labouring or working class.
Reflexivity
the state of being able to examine one’s own feelings, reactions and motives for acting and being able to adjust one’s behaviour or identity accordingly.
Relativism
the view that there is not such thing as absolute truth and that all opinions and experiences have validity.
Relativity of culture
the idea that what constitutes culture differs across time periods, societies and even between social groups living in the same society.
Reproductive rights
the right of women to control their own bodies.
Resistance
individual or group opposition to social control.
Risk society
Beck’s idea that technology used by capitalist societies has many negative consequences for humankind in terms of pollution, new diseases and environmental destruction.
Sampling frame
a list of people who might take part in a sociological study.
Role models
significant others who are respected by those with less status (such as children) and whose behaviour sets an example to be imitated.
Roles
- the behaviour that is expected from those who occupy a particular status.
- expected patterns of behaviour associated with each status that we hold, such as friend, pupil or teacher.
- the patterns of behaviour which are expected from individuals in society (Browne, 2011).
Sanctions
a negative sanction is a threatened penalty for disobeying a law or rule. A positive sanction may take the form of approval or a reward.
Satipatthana
a Buddhist concept that stresses mindfulness or awareness of others.
Scientific method (wikipedia)
The scientific method is an empirical method of acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century. It involves careful observation, applying rigorous skepticism about what is observed, given that cognitive assumptions can distort how one interprets the observation. It involves formulating hypotheses, via induction, based on such observations; experimental and measurement-based testing of deductions drawn from the hypotheses; and refinement (or elimination) of the hypotheses based on the experimental findings. These are principles of the scientific method, as distinguished from a definitive series of steps applicable to all scientific enterprises. Although procedures vary from one field of inquiry to another, they are frequently the same from one to another. The process of the scientific method involves making conjectures (hypotheses), deriving predictions from them as logical consequences, and then carrying out experiments or empirical observations based on those predictions. A hypothesis is a conjecture, based on knowledge obtained while seeking answers to the question. The hypothesis might be very specific, or it might be broad. Scientists then test hypotheses by conducting experiments or studies. A scientific hypothesis must be falsifiable, implying that it is possible to identify a possible outcome of an experiment or observation that conflicts with predictions deduced from the hypothesis; otherwise, the hypothesis cannot be meaningfully tested.
Secondary socialisation
the process of social learning that is in addition to that which occurs in the family. Agents of secondary socialisation include formal education systems, religion, the workplace, and the media.
Secular
not subject to religious routines or rules.
Self
this is composed of two parts; the ‘I’ is how people see themselves, while the ‘me’ is how we present ourselves when interacting with others.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
this involves the application of a false definition or label to a person which makes a prediction about future behaviour. This labelling results in a new behaviour which confirms the initial label or prophecy.
Self-religions
new age religions which claim to improve self.
Semiology
sometimes called ‘semiotics’, this is the sociological study of signs and symbols. Sociologists have used it to study the content of media, for example, some feminists argue that the frequent use by journalists of the word ‘girls’ instead of ‘women’ symbolises patriarchal subordination.
Significant others
people who are important to us and whose opinions we value.
Social actors
term used by social action theories to describe people or individuals who freely enter into interaction with others.
Social capital
the collective value of all social networks (the value of knowing influential people), and the obligations that arise from these networks to do things for each other (for example, to return a favour).
Social change
the transition from one form of social arrangement, or type of society, to another.
Social class
a socio-economic status and identity which is hierarchically organised on the basis of occupation, wealth, income and life chances.
Social class inequality
inequality in income and wealth, political power, life chances, levels of education, health and so on between the richest and poorest groups in capitalist society.
Social closure
exclusionary practices employed by wealthy high-status groups to protect their monopoly and ownership of both wealth and property, so preventing other groups from becoming members of their class.
Social construct/construction
a belief, characteristic or set of behaviours and assumptions that is produced or manufactured by the actions of those who constitute society or powerful social groups.
Social construction
an interactionist concept that refers to behaviour that is thought to be natural but is actually the product of cultural expectations and processes.
Social construction of reality
the idea that our perception of what is real is created through a variety of historical and cultural processes rather than something that is fixed and naturally occurring. Different societies, for example, construct male and female identities differently.
Social control
- the ways in which our behaviour, thoughts and appearance are regulated by the norms, rules and laws of society.
- regulations and rules which aim to reinforce ‘ideal’ behaviour and to ensure conformity. Failure to abide by social controls may result in public punishment.
Social engineering
cultural manipulation of individuals to produce particular social outcomes, such as gender equality.
Social exchange
interaction and negotiation between individuals that involves maximum benefit and minimum cost for mutual or reciprocal benefit.
Social exchange theory
a sociological theory which explains social order and stability as a consequence of negotiated exchanges between social actors. Interaction involves transactions between individuals that result in mutual value being exchanged. For example, if a group of people agree to abide by the law, the whole community benefits.
Social identity
- a person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership.
- collective or group identities applied to important roles. Cultures classify, group and give meaning to broad identities, such as male or female, that define how ‘men’ and ‘women’ are generally expected to behave.
Social integration
fitting into society.
Social meanings
when we interpret the actions of others, we apply meaning to that action and respond accordingly.
Social mores
values, often influenced by religion, which set out the moral principles and rules of societies; for example, that sexual relationship should only be conducted in the moral context of marriage.
Social pressure
influence exerted on an individual or group by a more or equally powerful person or group. The influence might take the form of rational argument, persuasion or coercion (threats, violence and so on). For example, a peer group mat exert social pressure on an adolescent to behave in an anti-social manner.
Social relations of production
the relationships between employers and workers.
Social sanctions
rewards and punishments designed to exert social control and enforce conformity to roles, norms and values.
Social self
an awareness of how others expect us to behave in given situations means that our sense of Self - who we believe ourselves to be - is created through social interaction and exchange.
Social solidarity
a feeling of community or social belonging which results in feeling a bond with others.
Social stratification
a system of social ranking, usually based on wealth, income, race, education and power.
Social structure
- the social organisation of society.
* the system of social institutions and patterned relations between large social groups.
Socialisation
the process of social learning that occurs in the period from birth to death in which individuals acquire and absorb the cultural values and norms of the society in which they live.
Socialisation
- the process through which people learn about the norms, rules and laws of society.
- process through which people learn the various forms of behaviour consistent with membership of a particular culture. Young children, for example, must learn the roles, norms and values they will need to become a fully functioning member of their society; these are things children do not acquire ‘naturally’.
Socialism
a left-wing political ideology or set of beliefs that states all people are equal and should enjoy equal opportunities with regard to access to education, qualifications. Jobs and wealth creation.
Society
- a community of people who share a common territory and culture and consequently interact with one another daily.
- involves two types of space: Physical space, in the sense of a distinctive geographical area marked by either a physical border. Such as a river. Or a non-physical border, such as a frontier. Mental space. Which separates people based on the beliefs they have about the similarities they share with people in ‘their’ society and the differences from people in other societies.
Sociology
is the systematic (or planned and organized) study of human groups and social life in modern societies (Browne, 2011).
Spectacular youth subculture
highly visible groups of young people who commit themselves to a certain ‘shocking’ look in terms of hairstyle, dress codes and so on, and whose behaviour is often interpreted by the older generation and the media as ‘threatening’ the moral order or stability of society.
Status
social standing or the prestige attached to particular social roles.
Structuralist theories
theories such as functionalism, Marxism and feminism which claim people’s action are the product of the ways their societies are organised or structured.
Structuration
- a theory of society invented by Giddens which argues that human behaviour is caused by a combination of structure and agency.
- theory, developed by Giddens, which argues that structure and action are equally significant in terms of our ability to understand the relationship between the individual and society.
Subculture
a distinct group that exist within a wider society. A subculture has a very distinct and separate identity, for example. In terms of the way they dress or behave - that stands out from mainstream culture.
Sub-cultures
a culture within a larger culture. Sub-cultures take many forms, such as religious groups, fans of a particular singer or actor, school gangs, etc. Sub-cultures usually develop their own norms and values, although these do not necessarily conflict with those of the wider culture within which they exist.
Super-rich / uber-wealthy
an expression used to describe the richest 1 per cent of billionaires and multi-millionaires.
Superstructure
all of the cultural and social institutions that function to transmit capitalist ideology, especially the idea that the existence of wealth and poverty are justified.
Surplus value
the excess of value produced by the labour of workers over the wages they are paid.
Symbiotic
inter-dependent.
Symbol
a thing that represents or stands for something abstract. For example, language in the form of writing is symbolic of spoken sounds. The word ‘cat’ is symbolic of a general group of domesticated pet, whereas the word ‘Siamese’ is symbolic of a particular breed of cat.
Symbolic interaction
a social action theory that claims that identity is developed through interactions with others. A key feature of such interaction is the process of interpreting the symbolic behaviour of others, for example, their facial expression and body language.
Symbolic Interactionism
interactionist perspective that analyses society and situations in terms of the subjective meanings people impose on objects, events and behaviours.
Symbolisation
a process found in some news reporting of social groups in which journalist identify key features of particular groups, especially young people, so that they can be avoided by others or be easily identify and targeted by the police.
Taxonomy (wikipedia)
is the practice and science of classification. The word is also used as a count noun: a taxonomy, or taxonomic scheme, is a particular classification. Originally, taxonomy referred only to the classification of organisms or a particular classification of organisms. In a wider, more general sense, it may refer to a classification of things or concepts, as well as to the principles underlying such a classification. Taxonomy is different from meronomy, which is dealing with the classification of parts of a whole. Many taxonomies have a hierarchical structure, but this is not a requirement. Taxonomy uses taxonomic units, known as “taxa” (singular “taxon”).
Toxic masculinity
a consequence of hegemonic masculinity in that males may suffer from depression or suicidal thoughts because they believe they cannot publicly display emotion or vulnerability. It may also be expressed through violence and misogyny.
Traditional society
a type of society based on an agricultural economy where behaviour is regulated by largely unchanging customs and beliefs.
Unskilled class/underclass
the lowest social stratum or status group found in a society consisting of the unskilled, low-paid and possibly unemployed and welfare-dependent poor.
Upper class
the social group that has the highest status in society. This status is often inherited. It is often called the ‘ruling class’.
Value consensus
common or shared agreement.
Value judgement
Pending
Value system
a collection of values, norms, traditions and customs agreed upon and shared by a social group or society.
Values
- general guidelines about how members of society should behave. Values generally shape norms of behaviour. For example, many societies value marriage.
- beliefs or ideas that are important to the people who hold them. A value always expresses a belief about how something should be.
- refers to attitudes, beliefs or opinions which people hold more or less strongly and which people hold more or less strongly and which influence their behaviour.
- general beliefs about what is right or wrong, and the important standards which are worth maintaining and achieving in any society (Browne, 2011).
Voluntarism
the idea that human action is voluntary rather than imposed externally by social forces beyond the individual’s control. Voluntarist as represented by social action theories believe that social behaviour is the result of people having free will and the ability to choose how to act.
Xenophobic
fear or hatred of foreigners such as refugees or migrants.
