The Sociological Approach Flashcards
Culture
The whole way of life of a particular society.
Includes society’s values, norms, customs, beliefs, knowledge, skills and language.
Values
Ideas and beliefs about what is desirable and worth striving for.
Norms
Appropriate and expected behaviour in specific social settings such as classrooms or the cinema.
Norms are enforced by sanctions.
Positive Sanctions
Rewards people for conforming to the norms.
Example: promotion at work.
Negative Sanctions
Punishes people who deviate from the norms.
Example: verbal warning or prison.
Socialisation
The process by which people learn the culture, values and norms of society.
Primary Socialisation
Early childhood learning. Basic behavioural patterns, language and skills are learnt here.
Agencies of primary socialisation are families and parents.
Secondary Socialisation
Begins in early teens throughout adulthood. Society’s values and norms are learnt here.
Agencies of secondary socialisation include peer groups, schools, workplaces, religions and the mass media.
Social Structures
Families, the education system, the criminal justice system and the social stratification system.
Social Processes
Socialisation, group dynamics, conformity and social change.
Social processes are the ways in which individuals interact and influence each other within society.
Social Issues
Quality of parenting, care for the elderly, poverty and violent crime.
Roles
Sets of behaviours and expectations associated with a particular position within a society.
Labelling
The process through which individuals or groups are identified according to certain characteristics or attributes.
Social Cohesion
Social cohesion refers to the degree of unity within a society.
It reflects the extent to which members of a community feel connected to each other, share common values and goals, and cooperate for the collective good.
Consensus
Agreement and harmony
Conflict
Disagreement and lack of harmony
Value Consensus
Value consensus is a specific type of consensus. It’s when people in a society agree on what’s important or valuable.
For example, in a society where education is highly valued, there’s a value consensus that education is important for personal and societal development.
Value Conflict
Situations where you face a clash between your personal or professional values and those of your employer, colleagues or clients.
Social Stratification
Social stratification refers to the hierarchical arrangement of individuals or groups within a society based on various dimensions of inequality, such as wealth, power, social status, and access to resources.
In other words, it’s the division of people into different layers with some groups having more privilege, prestige, and opportunities than others.
Social Stigma
Social stigma refers to negative attitudes, beliefs, or stereotypes that society holds about certain characteristics, behaviours, or identities.
These stigmas can lead to the marginalisation, discrimination, or devaluation of individuals or groups who possess or are associated with these characteristics.
Social Mobility
It is a change in social status relative to one’s current social location within a given society.
Social mobility is the movement of individuals, families, households or other categories of people within or between social strata in a society.
Interactionists
Interactionism is a sociological perspective that focuses on how individuals interact with each other and how these interactions shape society.
It emphasises the importance of everyday social interactions, symbols, and meanings in understanding human behaviour and social phenomena.
Interactionists believe that society is created and maintained through ongoing interactions between individuals, and they study how people interpret and respond to symbols, gestures, and social cues in their interactions with others.
Marxists
Marxists are people who follow the ideas of Karl Marx, a famous philosopher and economist. They believe that society is divided into two main groups: the wealthy owners of businesses, called capitalists, and the workers who do the labour, called the proletariat.
Marxists think that the capitalists exploit the workers to make profits, and they want to change society to create a more equal system where everyone benefits.
Functionalists
Functionalists are sociologists who believe that society is like a living organism, where different parts work together to keep everything running smoothly.
They think that each part of society, like education, family, and government, has a specific function or purpose that contributes to the stability and well-being of the whole.
Functionalists study how these parts work together and how they help maintain social order and cohesion.
Feminists
Feminists are people who believe in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.
They advocate for the rights and interests of women and work to challenge and change systems of oppression and discrimination based on gender.
Feminism encompasses a range of ideologies and approaches, but at its core, it seeks to dismantle gender-based inequalities and create a more just and equitable society for all genders.
