Sociology test 2 Flashcards
primary sex characteristics
genitals, organs used for reproduction
secondary sex characteristics
bodily development, apart from genitals, that distinguishes biologically mature females and males
gender
element of culture and refers to personal traits and patterns of behavior that a culture attaches to being female or male
intersexual people
people whose bodies have both female and male characteristics
transsexuals
people who feel they are one sex even though biologically they are the other
incest taboo
an norm forbidding sexual relations or marriage between certain relatives
asexuality
a lack of sexual attraction to people of either sex
what gives sexual orientation?
society and biology
sexual issues and controversies
teen pregnancy
pornography
prostitution
sexual violence
queer theory
body of research findings that challenges the heterosexual bias in US society
heterosexism
view that labels anyone who is not heterosexual as queer
deviance
recognized violation of cultural norms
social control
attempts by society to regulate people’s thoughts and behavior
social foundations of deviance
- deviance varies according to cultural norms
- people become deviant as others define them that way
- how societies set norms and how they define rule breaking both involve social power
Durkheim’s Theory
- deviance affirms cultural values and norms
- responding to deviance clarifies moral boundaries
- responding to deviance brings people together
- deviance encourages social change
Merton’s strain theory
deviance lies on whether a society provides the means to achieve cultural goals. Done in four ways: innovation, ritualism, retreatism, conformity and rebellion.
innovation
using unconventional means to achieve a culturally approved goal
ritualism
people may not care about becoming rich but rigidly stick to rules anyway to feel respectable
retreatism
rejecting both cultural goals and conventional means so that a person in effect drops out
rebellion
reject both cultural definition of success and conventional means of achieving it, but they go one step further by forming counterculture supporting alternatives
deviant subcultures
criminal
conflict
retreatist
delinquent
labeling theory
idea that deviance and conformity result not so much from what people do as from how others respond to those actions
stigma
powerfully negative lavel that greatly changes a person’s self-concept and social identity
retrospective labeling
interpreting someone’s past in light of some present deviance
projective labeling
using person’s deviant identity to predict future actions
medicalization of deviance
transformation of moral and legal deviance into a medical condition
Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory
person’s tendency toward conformity or deviance depends on amount of contact with others who encourage or reject conventional behavior
Hirschi’s Control Theory
states that social control depends on people anticipating the consequences of their behavior
linked conformity to four types of social control: attachment, opportunity, involvement and belief
Social-Conflict Theory
deviance and power deviance and capitalism white-collar crime corporate crime organized crime
white-collar crime
crime committed by people of high social position in the course of their occupations
corporate crime
the illegal actions of a corporation or people acting on its behalf
organized crime
a business supplying illegal goods or services
types of crime
crimes against the person
crimes against property
victimless crime
types of punishment
retribution
deterrence
rehabilitation
societal protection
retribution
an act of moral vengeance by which society makes the offender suffer as much as the suffering caused by crime
deterrence
attempt to discourage criminality through use of punishment
rehabilitation
program for reforming the offender to prevent later offenses; motivates offender to conform
societal protection
rendering an offender incapable of further offenses temporarily through imprisonment or permanently by execution
types of reform after prison
probation
shock probation
parole
intragenerational social mobility
change in social position occurring during person’’s lifetime
intergenerational social mobility
upward or downward social mobility of children in relation to their parents
relative poverty
lack of resources of some people in relation to those who have more
absolute poverty
lack of resources that is life-threatening
true hermaphrodite
one testicle, one ovary, penis and uterus/half-uterus
male pseudo hermaphrodite
chromosome of male, but have vagina and clitoris, do not have ovaries but testicles instead
female pseudo hermaphrodite
female chromosomes, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, but externally male
explanations for deviance
biological
personality
what does a person look like if looks deviant?
different colored eyes, long arms, lots of hair, crooked nose, large lips, well defined ears
endomorph
roundness, long limbs, soft skin, shorter
mesomorph
more muscle, bone, connective tissue
ectomorph
fragile people, long and tall
containment theory
we are equally predisposed to deviant behavior, but some of us have ability to control our actions better than others
