Soc

Front 1

agents of socialization

Back 1

the various individuals, groups, and organizations who influence the socialization process

Front 2

anticipatory socialization

Back 2

process through which people acquire the values and orientations found in statuses they will likely enter in the future

Front 3

collectivist culture

Back 3

culture in which personal accomplishments are less important in the formation of identity than group membership

Front 4

game stage

Back 4

stage in the development of self during which a child acquires the ability to take the role of a group or community and to conform his or her behavior to broad, societal expectations

Front 5

generalized other

Back 5

perspective of the larger society and its constituent values and attitudes

Front 6

identity

Back 6

essential aspect of who we are, consisting of our sense of self, race, gender, ethnicity, and religion

Front 7

individualist culture

Back 7

culture in which personal accomplishments are a more important component of one's self-concept than group membership

Front 8

looking-glass self

Back 8

sense of who we are that is defined by incorporating the reflected appraisals of others

Front 9

play stage

Back 9

stage in the development of self during which a child develops the ability to take a role, but only from the perspective of one person at a time

Front 10

reflexive behavior

Back 10

behavior in which the person initiating an action is the same as the person toward whom the action is directed

Front 11

resocialization

Back 11

process of learning new values, norms, and expectations when an adult leaves an old role and enters a new one

Front 12

role taking

Back 12

ability to see oneself from the perspective of others and to use that perspective in formulating one's own behavior

Front 13

self

Back 13

unique set of traits, behaviors, and attitudes that distinguishes one person from the next; the active source and passive object of behavior

Front 14

socialization

Back 14

process through which one learns how to act according to the rules and expectations of a particular culture

Front 15

total institution

Back 15

place where individuals are cut off from the wider society for an appreciable period and where together they lead an enclosed, formally administered life

Front 16

account

Back 16

statement designed to explain unanticipated, embarrassing, or unacceptable behavior after the behavior has occurred

Front 17

aligning action

Back 17

action taken to restore an identity that has been damaged

Front 18

disclaimer

Back 18

assertion designed to forestall any complaints or negative reactions to a behavior or statement that is about to occur

Front 19

embarrassment

Back 19

spontaneous feeling that is experienced when the identity someone is presenting is suddenly and unexpectedly discredited in front of others

Front 20

impression formation

Back 20

the process by which we define others based on observable cues such as age, ascribed status characteristics such as race and gender, individual attributes such as physical appearance, and verbal and nonverbal expressions

Front 21

impression management

Back 21

act of presenting a favorable public image of oneself so that others so that others will form positive judgements

Front 22

stigma

Back 22

deeply discrediting characteristic that is viewed as an obstacle to competent or morally trustworthy behavior

Front 23

absolutism

Back 23

approach to defining deviance that rests on the assumption that all human behavior can be considered either inherently good or inherently bad

Front 24

criminalization

Back 24

official definition of an act of deviance as a crime

Front 25

deterrence theory

Back 25

theory of deviance positing that people will be prevented from engaging in deviant acts if they judge the costs of such an act to outweigh its benefits

Front 26

deviance

Back 26

behavior, ideas, and attributes of an individual or group that some people in society find offensive

Front 27

labeling theory

Back 27

theory stating that deviance is the consequence of the application of rules and sanctions to a offender; a deviant is an individual to whom the identity "deviant" has been successfully applied

Front 28

medicalization

Back 28

definition of behavior as a medical problem and mandating the medical profession to provide some kind of treatment for it

Front 29

relativism

Back 29

approach to defining deviance that rests on the assumption that deviance is socially created by collective human judgements and ideas

Front 30

bureaucracy

Back 30

large hierarchical organization governed by formal rules and regulations and having clearly specified work tasks

Front 31

division of labor

Back 31

specialization of different people or groups in different tasks, characteristic of most bureaucracies

Front 32

free-rider problem

Back 32

tendency for people to refrain from contributing to the common good when a resource is available without requiring any personal cost or contribution

Front 33

hierarchy of authority

Back 33

ranking of people or tasks in a bureaucracy from those at the top, where there is a great deal of power and authority, to those at the bottom, where there is very little power and authority

Front 34

oligarchy

Back 34

a system of authority in which many people are ruled by a privileged few

Front 35

social dilemma

Back 35

potential for a society's long-term ruin because of individuals' tendency to pursue their own short-term interests

Front 36

social structure

Back 36

framework of society - social institutions, organizations, groups, statuses and roles, cultural beliefs, and institutionalized norms - which adds order and predictability to our private lives

Front 37

tragedy of the commons

Back 37

situation in which people acting individually and in their own interest use up commonly available resources, creating disaster for the entire community