Studying Society

Question 0

What is social control?

Answer 0

It is the way of ensuring people behave in socially acceptable ways, such as socialisation, laws exercise of power etc.

Question 1

What is power?

Answer 1

Power is when a person or a group of people are able to direct the behaviour of another person or group. This can be done through force or authority, or even indirectly through coercion or persuasion.

Question 2

What is social structure?

Answer 2

Structures organised around people, such as the family, schools, government, religion…

Question 3

What is culture?

Answer 3

Where a group of people share common norms, values and beliefs.

Question 4

What is a subculture?

Answer 4

A smaller group of people who share norms, values and beliefs that are different from the main culture.

Question 5

What is socialisation?

Answer 5

The process of learning norms, values and beliefs. This can be primary of secondary.

Question 6

What is the Institution of socialisation?

Answer 6

The different social structures that are involved in socialising members of society, such as the family, education system, mass media and religion.

Question 7

What is race?

Answer 7

Race is a term that suggests differences in culture, nationality and skin colour.

Question 8

What is Ethnicity?

Answer 8

A term that refers to differences in culture but is not based on biology - this is about social differences.

Question 9

What does the term “sex” mean?

Answer 9

A term referring to the biological categories of male and female.

Question 10

What is gender?

Answer 10

A term referring to the social categories of masculine and feminine, which are usually related to the biological categories of male and female due to stereotyping and gender role socialisation.

Question 11

What is age?

Answer 11

The process of ageing is biological, but there are sociological points to make about this.

• Children are treated differently to adults.
• The mass media tend to present negative stereotypes of older people.

Question 12

What is a stereotype?

Answer 12

It is a ‘typical’ image of a person based on social categories such as gender, age, ethnicity, family position, job.

Question 13

What is deviance?

Answer 13

Acting in a way that goes against a culture’s norms, values and beliefs.

Question 14

What are Norms?

Answer 14

Ways to act and behave that are seen as “normal” within a culture/subculture.

Question 15

What are Values?

Answer 15

The things that a culture/subculture believes are important (eg. earning a living, owning a house).

Question 16

What are beliefs?

Answer 16

The things that a culture/subculture believes in (God, the innocence is children etc.).

Question 17

What is the Functionalist perspective of the family?

Answer 17

They see the family as a positive for society. They believe that the nuclear family is a positive institution that is beneficial to society. They believe that the family hold 3 primary functions; reproduction, primary socialisation and economic support.

Question 18

What is the new right perspective of the family?

Answer 18

They see the family as negative for society if it is not nuclear. They have nearly the same views functionalists. They believe that children from nuclear families: do better at school, get better jobs, do not turn to crime. They are against single parent and same sex families.

Question 19

What is the Marxist perspective of the family?

Answer 19

Marxists see the family as negative for society. They believe that society is based on a conflict between the classes - working class and ruling class. The family helps to maintain class differences in society. Marxists believe the family socialises the working class to accept that it is fair that the classes are unequal.

Question 20

What is the feminist perspective of the family?

Answer 20

Feminists see the family as negative for society. They say it is bad for women. Girls and boys learn their different gender roles within the family through socialisation. Girls copy their mothers, doing housework, whilst boys copy their fathers. Feminists believe that the males dominate the family - this term is patriarchal.