Sociologists Flashcards
Mackintosh and Mooney- class, workplace
The upper class demonstrated Social Closure by marrying within the family to maintain the top 1% wealth.
Scott- class, education, workplace
The ‘Old Boy Network’- school ties, highly thought of from previous school- more likely to get the job.
King and Raynor- class, family
Parents socialise middle class identities by reinforcing the importance of educational success (child centredness).
Bordieu- class, education
Hidden curriculum reinforces middle class identities.
Goodwin- class, peer groups
‘Yummy mummies’ identity reflects peer group approval through cultural capital and wealth.
Saunders- class, media
Middle class are socialised through the media that is their target market. (Conspicuous consumption)
Hutton- class, workplace
Decline in manufacturing jobs has eroded working class identity.
Willis- class, education
‘Learning to labour’- anti-school subculture.
Mac an Ghaill- class, workplace
‘Crisis of masculinity’- loss of manual labour jobs.
Mead- gender, family
Mundugumor tribe, female traditional roles in the family.
Parsons- gender, family
Women have ‘expressive’ roles and men have ‘instrumental’ roles in the family.
Oakley- gender, family
Canalisation, manipulation, verbal appellation, domestic activities.
McRobbie- gender, peer groups
‘Bedroom culture’- lack of involvement in subcultures and ‘culture of femininity’ with female peer groups- outside is dangerous.
Billington- gender, media
Media reinforces gender stereotypes; feminine and attractive.
Ferguson- gender, media
‘Cult of femininity’- reinforced in magazines, women turn to the internet and social forums for support.
Mitsos and Browne
Boys do less well in education because teachers are less strict.
Skelton
‘Hidden curriculum’- ie sports are aimed at boys.
Plummer- sexuality, peer group
Homosexual subcultures for men.
Mac an Ghaill- sexuality, peer groups
‘Three Fs’: fighting, football, fucking- no emotion allowed.
McCormack- sexuality, peer groups
Homophobia is decreasing- the study in the Sixth Form College.
McIntosh- sexuality, peer groups
labelling male homosexuality as effeminate, expectation
Cashmore and Troyna- ethnicity, peer groups
Discrimination lead to minorities ‘turning inwards’ and creating subculture.
Hockey and James- ethnicity, peer groups
Black Afro-Caribbeans united against racism.
Hebdige- ethnicity, peer groups
Cultural resistance through expression of Jamaican culture.
Ghuman- ethnicity, family
Second generation minority’s socialised with norms and values of the extended family ie- religious commitment.
Anwar- ethnicity, family
Family conflict over freedom from socialising with westernised children at school.
Driver and Ballard- ethnicity, education
Asian families place importance on education.
Gillborn- ethnicity, education
Teachers are institutionally racist- labelling - self-fulfilling prophecy - looking glass self.
Archer and Francis- ethnicity, education
Chinese boys participate in lad culture but maintain commitment to school.
Alexander- ethnicity, media
Asian youths in East London unfairly targeted by police and media.
Sewell- ethnicity, media
Hypermasculinity- lack of male role models and turn to rappers in the media for inspiration.
Sewell- ethnicity, peer groups
‘Cultural comfort zones’- people from the same ethnic background stay together, view each other as family, not just friends.
Les Back- new ethnicity, peer groups
‘Hybrid identities’- the mixing of different cultures: eg chicken tikka pizza- Italian+Indian.
‘cultural borrowing’- borrowing aspects of other cultures and making it their own.
Gill- new ethnicity, peer groups
‘Blasian’- adopted ‘black’ dress code and language combined with their own Asian culture.
Johal- new ethnicity,peer groups
Asians wear a ‘white mask’ around peers at school to fit in.
Anderson- nationality, media
Nationality is socially constructed through flag and anthem.
Phillips et al- nationality, education
National curriculum eg history lessons are ethnocentric as they are taught from a British perspective- eg WW1 and WW2.
Hewitt- nationality, education
Education presumes racism of students ie- in a fight the white student would be treated as racist towards ethnic minority.
Postman- age, family
‘Innocent child’ shielded from adult content.
Parsons- age, education
Children learn different social roles to contribute to society.
Brannen- age, family
‘Pivot generation’ and ‘dual burden’- second generation looks after parents and children (first and third) during middle age.
Saunders- age, media
Media targets middle-aged because they have the most disposable income.
Willis- age, workplace
Boys took after their fathers in manual labour jobs.
Sontag- age, media
Old women are still required to be youthful in the media in a ‘double standard of ageing’.
Johnson- age, workplace
Old are institutionally discriminated against- stereotypical assumptions about competency.
Equality Act 2010- Disability, workplace
Legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society, including those with a long term impairment or disability.
Shakespeare- disability, peer groups
‘Victim mentality’ people respond to disabled people with pity, avoidance and awkwardness.
Ridley- disability, peer groups
2 out of 3 people admitted to feeling awkward when talking to a disabled person.
Murugami- disability, peer groups
Disabled see disability as just a characteristic and not something that defines who they are.
Barnes- disability, media
Disabilities are seen as the person, not own identity.
FUNCTIONALISM
Everything in society has a function.
Social solidarity (Emile Durkheim)
Everything functions for the benefit of society to create order.
Meritocracy (Davis and Moore)
If you work hard you should be successful in society and be rewarded.
Social mobility
Ability to move through the social structure- work hard= moving up social classes.
Stratification
Systems of inequality (eg gender, ethnicity, race, social class).
Division of labour
People doing different jobs.
Function importance
Everything has a function in society.
Family- main function
Primary socialisation, helps children to grow up and disciplines them.
Education- main function
Teaches people most of what they need to know for life.
Workplace- main function
Teaches people about the real world and how to grow up after education.
Media- main function
To influence people: how to act, dress, speak etc.
Murdock
Women are carers and in the house because of biology- they can give birth to children and can breast feed, whereas men cannot.
Rastogi
Men are work orientated and committed to their jobs where as women choose to prioritise their roles as homemakers and caring for family over their careers.
The New Right
stratification serves important functions.
believe that a communist society would act as a disincentive to entrepreneurship and innovation.
New Right- Saunders
Inequality in the workplace is desirable and functional in order to encourage competition.
Marxism- class is important
Karl Marx
Bourgeoisie (ruling class)
Own the means of production.
Factories, machinery, land, etc
Proletariat (working class)
Have to use the means of production for survival. Only have their labour to sell in return for a wage. Forced to work for the ruling class in order to survive.
Exploitation
In a capitalist system the bourgeoisie (ruling class) exploit the proletariat (workers) by paying them low wages for their work so that they can make greater profits.
Alienation
The way the workers (proletariat) feel when they are doing boring, monotonous work e.g. In factories
False class consciousness
A false view of society and your position within it.
Not aware of being exploited & think you can get wealthy too
Westergaard (1996)
Polarisation- the gap between the bourgeoisie and proletariats has widened.
Weberian- Max Weber- class, party and status are important
Differences of status and power were important and were not always linked to economics of the class inequalities as Marx suggested.
Class- Weberian
- your position in the economic marketplace
- positions vary according to income, occupational skills, and educational qualifications.
Status- Weberian
- the degree of honour and prestige which is attached to social groups in society.
- different status groups compete with each other for a greater share of social esteem.
- members of a status groups tend to share common values and lifestyles.
Party- Weberian
- the exercise of power that people have within their social system.
- parties use their power to enhance their economic economic wealth.
- groups compete for power.
Fragmentation- Weberian
The class system is now broken up and the classes have to be measured through their status and party.
Dual labour market- Weberian
- primary- jobs are more stable, better trade unionism- permanent/ full-time contracts.
- secondary- less stable- flexible/ part-time/ zero hour contracts.
Interaction theory
- ‘bottom up’
- social action theory
- ‘micro’ perspective
Deviancy amplification
Media can take a story about a person/ group of people and exaggerate it- reality of the situation is very different to what is presented.
Folk devil
Folk=made up/fiction
Devil= bad/immoral person
Eg: teenagers, Muslims, homeless people, ethnic minorities, teen mothers, single parents, immigrants
Key features of functionalism
Verstehen- view it ‘in their shoes’- understanding human behaviour- empathy with participant- qualitative data
- negative comments- under confidence
- positive comments- confidence
- gender labelling begins from a young age
- self-fulfilling behaviour
Moral panic
When deviant behaviour gets worse because of media exaggeration and moral panic
Self-fulfilling prophecy
When a social actor lives up to a label that has been applied.
Micro
A sociological approach which focuses on the small scale interactions between individuals.
Ethnography
When you study a group by being part of that group eg using participant observations and in depth interviews.
Feminism- gender is important
FEMINISM
First wave feminism
1903, the Suffragette movement- women fighting for the right to vote
Eg- violent acts, smashed windows on Oxford Street, attacked politicians, blew up George Lloyd’s house, burned churches, chained to palace gates, unpaid taxes, hunger strike, ‘cat and mouse’ act.
Second wave feminism
1960s- civil rights march together with black power, trade unions, gay and lesbians- access to education, jobs, equal pay act of 1970, sex discrimination act 1971- divorce and reform act (richer women)- fought for abortion 1967.
Radical feminism
Believe that men are potential rapists, dominant- hate all men- change it into the matriarchy.
Small minority of feminism- more likely to be lesbians.
Marxist feminism
- Capitalism exploits everyone- all (working class) men and women- strong empathy with men.
- communist society- more equal balance between genders.
Liberal feminism
Most common- change things from within this society by changing laws- more equal based society.
Black feminism
(Mostly been about white women) this is also part of the third wave feminism- point out that black women experience three types of oppression:
- sexism
- racism
- class issues
Postmodernism
Postmodernism
Globalisation
Expansion of global organisations, corporations, celebrities, norms, values etc. Generally based on that of Western culture.
Popular culture
Opposite to high culture- associated with shallow activities that can be accessed by the masses through the media.
Multiculturalism
Idea that society is now made up of a variety of different ethnic and cultural groups who all mix together.
Consumer culture
What we buy or consume in society- people often portray a sense of identity through what they buy or wear.
Super rich
People who have achieved their wealth through hard work and merit
New working class
Labour market has changed into a service sector economy- class identity has changed and solidarity has changed.
Global culture
Emerged as a result of globalisation.
Hybridity
The mixing of two or more different ethnic identities to form a new culture.
Individualisation
People are more focused on their own needs rather than that of society- focus on own careers.
Risk society
No longer face inequalities as we used to- live inn a risk society of new development- threats to technology or vaccinations- threat to everyone despite class backgrounds.
Work- the post modern world
- move away from factory production eg working on an assembly line.
- move to Service Sector economy where jobs involve selling/ providing services.
Culture- the post modern world
- Society is dominated by the media.
- media is available in different formats eg TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, Internet, computer games, social networking.
Identity- the post modern world
- influenced by the media and advertising eg the role models and celebrity endorsement.
- influenced by ‘popular culture’.
- people can buy into identities eg a woman may wear hair.
Globalisation- the post modern world
- societies have become increasingly interconnected- events in one part of the world have a growing impact on events in other parts.
- big global companies are located in countries around the world (eg. Coca Cola and McDonald’s).
Knowledge- the post modern world
- people have less faith and confidence in things that they would have previously believed in such as:
- decline in the influence of religion in the UK
- less confidence in science due to scares such as the MMR vaccine.
Ethnic and national identity key concepts
Ethnic and national identity key concepts
Race
Perceived biological/ physical difference was between groups eg skin colour.
Ethnicity
Cultural differences between groups based on things such as religion, language, country of origin, customs, norms, values, food, music, dress.
Ethnic minority group
A group who share the same cultural background which is different to that of the majority culture in the country where they reside.
Nationality
- Refers to your country of origin where you are legally entitled to reside. This also gives you rights (citizenship) in that country such as to vote or have a passport.
- dual nationality/ ethnicity.
Immigrant
Someone who has moved from one country to permanently reside in another.
First/ second/ third generation immigrant
First- moved to a new country themselves- brought their culture with them and hold onto it.
Second- Their children
Third- grandchildren
Asylum seeker
Someone who seeks refuge in another country for a temporary period if it is too dangerous for them to be in their own country- eg due to war/ religious persecution/ sexuality- homosexuality is not accepted in their country.
Illegal immigrant
Someone who is not legally entitled to live in a country eg they may have entered the country illegally or simply outside their visa.
Racism
- prejudice, pre-judging before you know them- negative stereotyping.
- discrimination- act upon your prejudices due to their ethnic or racial background.
Institutional racism
When the way an organisation operates eg polices and practices have the unconscious effect of discriminating against and disadvantage get certain ethnic groups.
Assimilation
When an ethnic minority group become absorbed into the ethnic majority and adopt their cultural norms and values.
Integration
When ethnic minorities become part of the majority culture and adopt their norms, values and cultural practices. This has led to multiculturalism.
Cultural/ ethnic resistance (to racism)
When an ethnic minority group unite together and strengthen their own ethnic identities as a way of fighting/ ‘resisting’ the racism they face from the ethnic majority.
- Cashmore and Troyna
- Hockey and James
- Hebdige
- Hewitt
Code switching
Behaving differently around different ethnic identities.
- acting ‘black’ around black peers.
- acting ‘white’ around white peers.
Cultural comfort zones
- a behavioural state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition.
- People of similar ethnicities and from the same cultural background tend to stay together and there is very little splitting up and mixture especially with black Caribbean boys as they feel safe within the group and viewed each other as family, not just friends.
- Sewell
Ethnocentric curriculum
Ethnic inequalities in education- they curriculum excludes religion, prioritises the country’s majority- eg
- religious holidays such as Ramadan are not included in the hidden curriculum.
- dress codes between religion and school uniform clash.
-coard
Hyper masculinity
An exaggeration of hegemonic masculinity due to coming from a matriarchal family background with the absence of a male role model, so they get inspiration of what makes are expected to be in society by researching the internet/ media.
Blasian/ Brasian identity
Blasian- a black and Asian dual identity.
Brasian- a British and Asian dual identity.
Dual identities
Mixing different cultures to create something new to give a dual identity (eg Brasian and Blasian). A person who has a different personality, beliefs, qualities depending on who they are with.
Cultural borrowing
Trying out other aspects of ethnic identities (eg music, clothing, food) and adopting it to your own.
Cultural masks
Trying out aspects of other ethnic identities (eg music, clothing, food)- wearing a ‘white mask’- acting ‘white’ around white peers- depending on your surroundings or people.
Organic analogy
The human body is like society- some parts are important, others aren’t as much.
Value consensus (Talcot Parsons)
Social institutions such as family, media, education and workplace, creates order and stability in society.
Consensus theory
An agreement of values in society that creates order and stability in society.
YOUTH SUBCULTURES KEY TERMS
YOUTH SUBCULTURES KEY TERMS
Tweenagers
Children today that are growing up too fast, aware of body image and worry about adult issues such as sexuality.
Generation gap
A difference of attitudes between people of different generations, leading to a lack of understanding.
Consumption
The action of using up a resource.
Magical solution
Memberships of a subculture could provide safety from social and economic problems experienced by working class.
Exaggeration
Represents something as better or worse than it is.
Malestream sociology
Where research is based on males and excludes females.
Bedroom culture
Theory that girls are not socialised into crime and deviance, eg. where girls are encouraged to stay in.
Delinquent subcultures
A value system adopted by lower-class youths that is directly opposed to that of the larger society.
Criminal subcultures
A subculture in society who have values and attitudes that are linked with crime and violence.
Gangs
An organised group of criminals.
Anti-school subcultures
Subcultures opposed to the dominant values of a school.
Moral panics
A widespread, but disproportionate, reaction to a form of deviance.
Neo-tribes
Loose groupings around shared styles and tastes, with flexible and often fleeting membership.
KEY TERMS
KEY TERMS
Nature
Refers to the idea that social behaviour is biological or innate (born with).
Nurture
Refers to the roles played in society due to social influences and the way different cultures and body habitis effect/ influence our behaviour.
Values
Believes/ moral views that are held by most people in a particular culture/ society.
Norms
Unwritten rules/ expected behaviour patterns of everyday life.
Sanctions
Actions that encourage/ discourage particular behaviour.
Social control
The process of persuading or forcing individuals to norms and values. The process can be informal or formal.
Customs
Traditional forms of behaviour associated with particular social occasions.
Roles
The part you play in society.
Instrumental role
The role men play in society according to Parsons. Eg. Being the main breadwinner.
Expressive role
The role women play in society according to Parsons. Eg. Domestic worker/ carer.
Status
The position you hold in society
Status set
The status that you are either born with or that you work for.
Achieved status
The status that you work for. Eg. Footballer.
Ascribed status
The status that you are born with. Eg. Prince William (royalty).
Feral children
Children that are undomesticated, wild and not socialised by humans.
YOUTH SUBCULTURES SOCIOLOGISTS
YOUTH SUBCULTURES SOCIOLOGISTS
Eisenstadt (functionalist)
Need to go from ascribed status of a child to achieved status of an adult.
Parsons (functionalist)
Rites of passage have replaced youth culture.
Rosak (functionalist)
There’s is a generation gap emerging due to differences between adults and adolescents in regards to norms, values and styles.
Abrams
TEDDY BOYS
Teddy Boys emerged due to their ‘affluence without responsibility’, spent disposable income on music, fashion, leisure. Gained status through style and aggression.
Hall and Jefferson (Marxist)
TEDDY BOYS
Rebellious in response to destruction of their communities from WW2+aggressively defended their territory.
Hall (Marxist)
HIPPIES
Opposed mainstream culture+capitalism, live alternate lifestyle based on freedom, nature, peace. Took drugs, wore bright colours+sandals.
Brake (Marxist)
HIPPIES
Middle class- resisting parents’ middle class values. Listened to chilled music. Anti-war attitudes.
Hebdige (marxist)
SKINHEADS
Dress sense exaggerated WC style- assert masculinity that was lost due to high unemployment. Identity enabled them to become deluded- believed they had steady jobs+earned a lot of money.
Clarke (marxist)
SKINHEADS
Territorial+negative to people outside of their WC communities. Socialised in pubs, street corners+football matches.
Cohen (Marxist)
MODS
WC attempts to imitate MC- adopting style. Hedonistic lifestyle+ drugs+ dancing+ fashion. Escaped boredom of WC jobs by partying at weekends to avoid alienation.
Hebdige (marxist)
MODS
Appearance took time. Aimed to gain MC status. Dress conservatively. Disposable income allowed them to afford scooters+travel.
Cohen (interactionist)
ROCKERS
Clash between mods+rockers exaggerated by media. Wore leather, rode motorbikes to ‘stand out’. Disposable income= motorbikes+travel.
Hebdige
RASTAFARIANS
Emerged in UK due to high unemployment. Elimination displayed through simple clothing from army surplus stores- express resistance through ‘sinister Guerrilla chic’.
Sivanadan
RASTAFARIANS
Jamaican culture- black British youths source of identity. Felt repressed by UK economic policies. Fight against capitalism+racism was a continuation of struggle against white slave owner.
