SOCY Exam (mainly weeks 6-12)

Question 1

POSITIVISM

Answer 1

• Macro
  -Often quantitative
  -“Bad Science”
• Every rationally, justifiable assertion can be scientifically verified
• the belief that phenomena can be analyzed and researched objectively and that research should not be subjective
• does not care about others experiences

Question 2

Interpretivism

Answer 2

• Mico
  -qualitative (Interviews, etc)
• the practice of seeking out subjective meanings and interpretations as main sources of knowledge
• studying the meaning is important to understand society

Question 2

Imperialism

Answer 2

• Taking over land by force (economic or political) where one country has power over the other countries
  e.g Roman

Question 3

Colonialism

Answer 3

Taking over a land and moving on to it
e.g Britain and the French conquest of North America

Question 4

What are the three topics subsumed into Western knowledge

Answer 4

1. Gender and Race
2. The Individual and society
3. Conception of time and Space

Question 5

Gender and Race 1/3

Answer 5

• Gender was first produced by Geeks and Romans
• the effects of the Indigenous people are still relevant today
  the product of knowledge that comes from colonialism and imperialism kept the whites dominant due to the rules created
• racism was created by man and his science

Question 6

The Individual and society 2/3

Answer 6

• Western society believes that they are the most dominant compared to other countries
• What makes ideas “real” is the system of knowledge, formations of culture, and relations of power in which these concepts are located – these ideas constitute reality

Question 7

Conception of time and space

Answer 7

-western created time and space – no the Indigenous
- space is physical psychological, and theoretical
- where was the time period before the western came to the north but was forgotten.

Question 8

Research through Imperial eyes
reading]

Answer 8

• the knowledge that we know is based off of colonialism and imperialism
• we have come to understand “knowledge” through Western values and narratives
• western knowledge inaccurately reflects the histories and experiences of indigenous people.

Question 9

DEFINING QUEER

Answer 9

• Queer can be thought of not just in terms of those who are not heterosexual, but all those who fall outside of hegemonic binaries of gender and sexuality
• An Umbrella term for the LGBTQ community
  It can also be used for Queer theory.
• Queer in terms of sexuality or gender identity
  Queer in the political sense –“queering” the mainstream

Question 10

GENDER ESSENTIALISM

Answer 10

Gender essentialism refers to the belief that gender is biologically determined –it is immutable and cannot be changed
gender is immunity (can not be changed) and it is biologically determined
TERF = Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists

Queey theory seeks to challenge the essentialist notion of, and rather than wanting rights, a queer theorist in their want to challenge the system that created it in the first place.

Question 11

HALLMARKS OF QUEER THEORY (STEIN & PLUMMER 1994):

Answer 11

1. A conceptualization which sees sexual power embodied in different levels of social life, expressed discursively and enforced through boundaries and binary divides
2. Problematization of sexual and gender categories (anti-essentialism)
3. Rejection of civil rights-based strategies in favour of a politics of transgression which leads to deconstruction & decentering
4. Willingness to interrogate areas which normally would not be seen as the terrain of sexuality, and to conduct ‘queer’ readings of heterosexual and non-sexualized texts

Question 12

GENDER TROUBLE (1990)
GENDER IS

Answer 12

Socially constructed (not inherent attributes)
Gender categories are not actualities of individuals but a series of Socially constructed behaviours within Western society.

Historical
Gender has changed differently throughout history, and are notion of gender changed over time.

Restricted
Gendre possibilities are not open, your gender identity and how you express yourself are restricted by social, cultural, and institutional power dramatic

Performative
. you are born with a sex, but gender is born through a relational nature

Question 13

CRITIQUES OF QUEER THEORY

Answer 13

• Has it gone too far by focusing on the discursive production of identities?
• We shouldn’t reject political action based on identity
• It can be inaccessible
• It is often generated by white middle-class intellectuals working in university settings in economically elite countries (Westernized)

Question 13

THE ‘BIG THREE’ & QUEER THEORY

Answer 13

FUNCTIONALISM –if queer sexualities were adopted on a large scale (as opposed to heterosexuality), procreation may eventually cease

CONFLICT THEORY –gender and sexuality are used as tools by elites to exploit those in marginalized positions to maintain power and wealth

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM –sexual behaviour and gender markers are symbolic and only have meaning in relation to people’s interpersonal relationships and interactions with one another

Question 14

WHAT IS INTERSECTIONALITY?

Answer 14

The concept of intersectionality is used to analyze power relations and intersecting systems of oppression

Question 15

CRENSHAW 1989

Answer 15

• Coined term intersectionality to critique how our existing understandings of Black women’s oppression are unidirectional
• Black women’s experiences with discrimination are both similar to and different from Black men and White women
• The American legal system at that time, measured black women.
• If a Black woman were to stand on the blue dot and got hit, the legal system would not know which to choose racism or sexism) they are only able to pick one, but both matter at the same time.

Question 16

CRENSHAW 1991 (“MAPPING THE MARGINS”)
3 realms where women of colour experience gendered issues differently from White women:

Answer 16

Structural
Difference structures in our society create different experiences for POC than white women.
E.g immigrant women who have been victims of sexual violence, do not get the same protection as those who are under the law

Political (i.e., “narrow activism”)
Both feminist and anti-racist politics conducive to the opinion of WOC
e.g neither white feminist groups nor anti-racist groups wanted to dress sexual assault of women of colour

Representational
How cultural representation of women of colour fails to account for their similarlization of racism and sexism

Question 17

ANTI-ESSENTIALISM & RACE

Answer 17

Rejects universalization of ‘The Black Experience’
- She also recognizes if we go down the path of race being socially constructed, this can lead to colour-blind racism.

Race is socially constructed, BUT has very real consequences
- She recognizes that there are no universal Black experiences, there are similarities but not one, it would be a vast over-simulation

Reclaim rather than do away with racial categories as an opportunity for resistance
- To reclaim them e.g, I am Black, Black is a beautiful opportunity for residents

Question 18

6 CORE ELEMENTS OF INTERSECTIONALITY AS AN ANALYTICAL TOOL

Answer 18

Social Inequality > caused by multiple factors that interact with one another
(2) Relational Thinking > rejects either/or thinking, embracing both/and

(3) Power > examines how social categories gain meaning from power relations
- Interpersonal domain of power
- Disciplinary Domain of power
- The cultural domain of power
-The structural domain of power

(4) Social Context > situates power relations in historically and geographically specific contexts 9the period and the geographic location (context is important)

(5) Complexity > allows for complexity and understanding of nuance

(6) Social Justice > Work employing intersectionality should have an emphasis on social justice ( (To understand other people’s experiences)

Question 19

Difference Way of Knowing

Answer 19

Informal Observation
Occurs when we make observations without any systematic process for observing

Selective Observation
we see only those patterns that we want to see or when we assume that only the patterns we have experienced directly exist

OvergeneralizationOccurs when we assume that broad patterns exist even when our observations have been limited

Authority
A socially defined source of knowledge that might shape our beliefs about what is true and not true

Research Methods
An organized, logical way of learning and knowing about our social world

Question 20

THE RESEARCH PROCESS

Answer 20

1. Define the problem
2. REVIEW THE LITERATURE
3. FORMULATE RESEARCH QUESTIONS / HYPOTHESES
4. SELECTING THE RESEARCH DESIGN & TYPES OF DATA
5. DEVELOPING THE CONCLUSION

Question 21

ETHICS, REFLEXIVITY, & POSITIONALITY

Answer 21

ETHICS
General Research Ethics Board (GREB) responsible for assessing all applications for research with human participants

REFLEXIVITY
Acknowledges your role in the research process –“a reflexive approach suggests that, rather than trying to eliminate their effect, researchers should acknowledge and disclose their selves in their work, aiming to understand their influence on and in the research process.” (Holmes, 2020:3).

POSITIONALITY
Acknowledges that researchers are part of the social world they are researching –as such, disclosure of your identity as a researcher in relation to the topic or people being studied is

Question 22

STIGMA

Answer 22

describes the ‘situation of the individual who is disqualified from full social acceptance

Deviance is not just about illegal activity (violating laws or engaging in criminalized acts)

Question 22

WHAT IS
DEVIANCE?

Answer 22

Deviance refers to “behaviour that
violates the standards of conduct or
expectations of a group or society” (i.e.,
deviating from the norm)

Defining an act as deviant depends on
the context and what is defined as
standard behaviour in that context

Question 23

CRIME

Answer 23

refers to a violation of criminal law for which some governmental authority applies formal penalties

The law acts as a governmental tool of control, and developing the law occurs through a social process in response to perceived needs for formal social control (sanctions)

Question 24

SOCIAL CONTROL, CONFORMITY, AND OBEDIENCE

Answer 24

the techniques and strategies for preventing deviant human behaviour in any society
e. g Families, peers, and organizations socialize individuals to social norms in societies

Question 25

SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY (Hirschi, 1969)

Answer 25

A theory to explain why people refrain from engaging in deviant behaviour
Premise – those who are highly socially integrated will be less willing to engage in deviance due to concerns about the potential damage to relationships and roles that such behaviour might illicit. In contrast, those with few social relationships or broader stakes in conformity have less to lose by engaging in crime

(those who have privileges, have more to lose when it comes to committing crime)

Attachments (friends, family, etc) – less willing to be deviants in fear of losing people

Commitment (education, occupational) – less willing to fear in loss of job or education

Involvement (time in a day) – the more time you spend doing positive things, less time for deviants

Beliefs (individual believes in the common values in society and the law) – If you think the law is bullshit, the law is not going to matter, but if you believe, you will follow it

Question 26

STRAIN THEORY (MERTON, 1938)

Answer 26

Merges conflict and functionalist perspectives to explain how people achieve their goals through means (either socially acceptable or unacceptable).
Extends Durkheim’s concept of anomie to criminology – suggests that anomie results when there is a discrepancy between societal goals and the means individuals have to achieve them.

CONFORMITY– accept social goals and institutions for achieves the goals

Rejects
Ritualism – will do it but reject it at the same time – in a job low paying but do not move up in the ranks

Innovation – like social goals but reject or do not have access to achieve them – creative there own needs
E.g high level drug dealing
High-level crime

Retreatism – reject goals and means ( retreat form sociality)
– different from rebels,

Rebellion – they creat new means and goals
E.g revolution groups, actviites groups

Question 27

DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION (SUTHERLAND, 1939)

Answer 27

Emphasizes that individuals learn criminal behaviour by interacting with others

Basic Premise – people are more likely to engage in norm-defying behaviour if they are part of a group or subculture that stresses deviant behaviour values (e.g., street gangs)
As such, criminal behaviour is learned, not inherited; it is learned in interaction with others who communicate (a) logistics/techniques of committing the crime, and (b) the motives and rationalizations for the crime

Stemming from this theory, Ronald Akers developed Social Learning Theory (1973), suggesting that people learn both conforming and deviant behaviour through the same types of learning processes

Question 28

LABELLING THEORY, PRIMARY & SECONDARY DEVIANCE
(Lemert, 1951; 1967)

Answer 28

Primary – any behaviour that departs from a social norm, yet causes no longterm consequences for the individual (no societal reaction or stigmatization)
We do not see ourselves as deviant or others have not sigamtized us as devinant

Secondary – when a violation of social norms is coupled with the realignment of an individual’s self-concept with deviance itself (internalizing the deviant label being applied)
Society is labeling the person doing something deviant, deviant, it is because it is stigmatised that makes people believe that they are deviant

Question 29

TRADITIONAL CRIMINOLOGY

Answer 29

largely focused on individual criminal conduct (uncovering why individuals commit crime) and the efficacy of criminal justice measures (e.g., program evaluations for policy practices)

Question 30

CRITICAL

Answer 30

views crime as a consequence of social and economic institutions, processes of labelling, and meaning-making
While both Merton’s strain theory and Lemert’s labelling theory (primary & secondary deviance) cover these factors, the focus remains on why individuals commit crimes as opposed to critiquing the structures responsible for these inequalities and labelling processes

Question 31

FEMINIST CRIMINOLOGY & THE “ADD X & STIR” PROBLEM

Answer 31

Feminist criminology emerged to address two main problems with existing criminological literature:
The Gender Ratio Problem (why is it the men commit more crimes than women?)
The Generalizability Problem (Can we generalize theories of criminology, to women when they have been developed to explain male offending).

Add gender and stir – using theories developed for males & applying them to female samples
The problem with this approach – while some female offending may be able to be explained by traditional theories, there are also experiences that are unique to women that cannot be accounted for by these theories and are not built into their frameworks

Question 32

INTERSECTIONAL CRIMINOLOGY

Answer 32

To advance an understanding of gender, crime, and justice that achieves universal relevance and is free from the shortcomings of past ways of thinking, feminist criminologists must examine linkages between inequality and crime using an intersectional theoretical framework that is informed by multiracial feminism.”

People face the legal system differently due to race
Black man + society = better than black women
Black man + legal system = you’re going to jail for no reason

This work was imperative to the field of feminist criminology, because it emphasized that intersecting systems of race, class, and gender act as “structuring forces” affecting how people act, the opportunities that are available to them, and the ways that their behaviour is socially defined, labelled, and sanctioned

Question 33

QUEER CRIMINOLOGY

Answer 33

QUEER CRIMINOLOGY
THE PROBLEM:
There is very limited criminological research with considers LGBTQ2S+ populations
This is a problematic oversight given that queer people are not only overrepresented in criminal legal systems

THE RESPONSE:
Despite sharing some experiences with non-LGBTQ2S+ people, LGBTQ2S+ populations have differing, unique experiences related to their gender and sexual identities.

Question 34

CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGY IN ACTION: THE NEW JIM CROW (ALEXANDER, 2012)
Takeaways

Answer 34

1. The War on Drugs is a form of racialized social control (e.g., mandatory minimum sentences for powder vs. crack cocaine)
2. Incarceration has grown at exponential rates and drug offenders make up the majority of the prison population
3. White people use and sell more drugs, but Black and Brown people make up the overwhelming majority of drug-related incarcerations
4. Cops have too much power (discretion) in deciding where, when, and whom to arrest
5. Sociologists have been complicit in justifying the concentration of arrests in low-income and racialized neighbourhoods
6. Colour-blind racism enables the courts to systematically challenge claims of racial biases

Question 35

WHAT IS SOCIALIZATION?
Socialization refers to the lifelong process whereby we learn:

Answer 35

1. Attitudes
2. Values
3. Behaviours
   It varies from culture to culture

Question 36

NATURE VS. NURTURE?

Answer 36

Socialization Process = heredity (nature) + environment (nurture)
Is an individual’s behaviour and development the result of genetic inheritance (biological factors) or upbringing and life experience (environmental factors)?
Sociologists are more interested in the nurture side (are people born criminals or do they learn criminal activity)

Question 37

SOCIALIZATION & SOCIOLOGY

Answer 37

The Transmission of social culture is transmitted and cultralized by an individual.

The impact that socialization has on people is empirically evident (i.e., has been found to be true through research and case studies).

EXAMPLES:
1. Genie Wiley (1970s) – sociology isolate for 13 years, her social ability was the same as an 18-month-old.
Socialization is important to human development
Less about the brain but rather affects being a social being in society

Socialization & COVID-19
COVID affects children ( intreated into setting, classroom, focus in a group environment, test schools (lower))
University, took away half of the average

Harry Harlow – Primate Studies (1958)
Testing primate for isolation ( the Mokey study)
Isolate had a damaging effect on the money ( on edge, easily frightened)

Question 38

What is the self – Freud

Answer 38

According to Freud, the self has components that work in opposition to each other – part of us seeks limitless pleasure while another part seeks rational behaviour.
In our minds, we regulate our basic instincts in socially acceptable ways through the ID, Ego, and Superego.

Question 39

What does the ID, Ego, and Superego do?

Answer 39

ID > animalistic (I want X)
Basic instincts
Ego > responds to desires expressed by ID (I take X)
I want, I take
Superego > Morality (is it acceptable to take X?)

It will be conducted what we need for social order, so we learn to satisfy these needs by our superego

Question 40

COOLEY & THE LOOKING GLASS SELF (1902)
We learn who we are by interacting with others. We…

Answer 40

We learn who we are by interacting with others. We…
1. Imagine how we present ourselves to others
We look in a mirror to see determine how people are going to look
2. Imagine how others evaluate us based on these presentations
Base on how I look, how are others going to look at me
3. Define our self as a result of these impressions
How we represent ourselves is how others going to perceive us, and how they treat us makes us who we are

Question 41

MEAD & THE SELF (1934)
According to Mead, there are two core components to the Self:

Answer 41

1. The I – our acting self; the part of the self that walks, reads, sings, smiles, etc.
   Any action we take
2. The Me – our socialized self; the part of the self that plans actions, judges performance, based on the standards we have learned in interaction with others (i.e., our internalization of how others in society expect us to behave)

Question 42

Three Stages to the Self-development process:

Answer 42

1. Preparatory stage (0-3)
   Development through imitations, moves towards understanding the use of basic symbols
2. Play stage (3-5)
   Children through play present to be other people (if a child is playing house, they are presenting to be a parent or sibling that they know) understanding that some relations involve roles, and are able to image the perspective of that person (acting like mom).
3. Game stage (6-9)
   Children can start to think of several tasks or relationships at the same time, and children understand the generalization of others. To begin people have multiple roles (she may be a mom, but she is also a wife and sister; the role of mother extends outside your house).

Question 43

DRAMATURGY (FRONT & BACK STAGE SELF)

Answer 43

Front Stage – an idealized display whenever outsiders are present (this is where you engage in impression management)
You atler yourself to become the ideal one

Impression management – altering the presentation of yourself as the idealized version

Back Stage – who you are when relaxed in guarded secrecy (solitude); your true self
On your own, your true self

Question 44

INTERACTION RITUALS
Five Types of Interaction Rituals (Geiser 2001 reading):

Answer 44

1. Presentation rituals – person depicts appreciation of the recipient
   E.g compliments, ackenglowing someone, express acppeasion
2. Avoidance rituals – individual respects the privacy of others through distancing behaviours
   Respect the priatie of other through distances
   E.g limited eye contact
3. Maintenance rituals – reaffirm the well-being of a relationship
   Maintain relationship
   E.g arranging a get together with a old friend
   Plan an interaction to keep the relationship
4. Ratification rituals – mark the passage of an individual from one status to another
   E.g Celecbtrory message when people get married, graduated, or have a child
5. Access rituals – employed when people transition in and out of states of increased access to one another
   E.g greeting hello/saying goodbye when leaving

Question 45

CODE-SWITCHING

Answer 45

involves adjusting one’s style of speech, appearance, behaviour, and expression in ways that will optimize the comfort of others in exchange for fair treatment, quality service, employment opportunities, etc.
First created for two languages developed by Haugen in 1954
Relates to Du Bois’ concept of double consciousness & Collins’ concept of ‘the outsider within’

Question 46

WHAT IS POVERTY?

Answer 46

POVERTY – the lack of access to basic resources deemed normal in a society *
Generally measured by looking at peoples’ access to resources like food, water, housing, and how money impacts their overall health and well-being
- Poverty is multidimensional

Question 47

What are the differences between Absolute and Relative poverty?

Answer 47

ABSOLUTE – the lack of resources that leads to hunger and physical deprivation
Not meeting the standard to survive
RELATIVE – a deficiency in material and economic resources compared with some other person or population
Having a rich friend

Question 48

What is MBM?

Answer 48

Market Basket Measure (MBM) – based on the cost of a specific basket of goods and services representing a modest, basic standard of living. It included the costs of food, clothing, footwear, transportation, shelter, and other expenses for a reference family.
This is the system that Canada uses
These costs are compared to the disposable income of families to determine whether or not they fall below the poverty line.
If a family’s disposable income is less than the MBM, they are considered low income\

Question 49

How does HPI measure poverty

Answer 49

1. Deprivation of a long and healthy life (longevity)
2. Deprivation of knowledge (access to education)
3. Deprivation of decent living standards

Question 50

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
Types

Answer 50

Class
Gender Identity
Race/Ethnicity
Age
Ability
Sexuality

Question 51

What is SOCIAL MOBILITY

Answer 51

refers to the movement of individuals, families, households, or other categories of people between social strata in a society.

Question 52

HORIZONTAL—SOCIAL MOBILITY

Answer 52

There has been s shift to the catogies your in but it is at the same level of hierirachy
Changing job, but your socal status is the same time
Switch jobs but same title and income just moved companies

Question 53

VERTICAL—-SOCIAL MOBILITY

Answer 53

Intergenerational
The next generation is wealthier/pooer than the last
Intragenerational
Vertical movement within your own life span, based on your own achievements in social norms
For were a struggling student, then go to law school then become rich
Another e.g is older queer people have seen a shift in where they sit on the social hierarchy (being gay is more powerful now).
Structural
Full group movement within the structure of society
E.g. being Gay as a movement as a social structure has become more rights and has become more powerful.