Sociology 101 Exam 3

Front 1

Human Nature

Back 1

From a sociologists perspective: it is culture and society that makes us human. These things that we have created also makes us who we are.

Front 2

Nature vs. nurture

Back 2

the ongoing discussion of the respective roles of genetics and socialization in determining individual behaviors and traits

Front 3

Socialization

Back 3

the process of learning and internalizing the values, beliefs, and norms of our social group, by which we become functioning members of society

Front 4

Feral Children

Back 4

in myths and rare real-world cases, children who have had little human contact and may have lived in social isolation form a young age

Front 5

Self

Back 5

the individual's conscious, reflexive experience of a personal identity separate and distinct from others

Front 6

ID, Ego, Superego

Back 6

Freud: the three interrelated parts that make up the mind

Front 7

iD

Back 7

consists of basic inborn drives that are the source of instinctive psychic energy

Front 8

The Ego

Back 8

is the realistic aspect of the mind that balances the forces of the if and the superego

Front 9

The Superego

Back 9

has two components (the conscious and the ego-ideal) and represents the internalized demands of society

Front 10

Looking-glass self

Back 10

the notion that the self develops through our perception of others evaluations and appraisals of us

Front 11

Preparatory stage

Back 11

the first stage in Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children mimic or imitate others

Front 12

Play stage

Back 12

the second stage in Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children pretend to play the role of the particular or significant other

Front 13

Particular or significant other

Back 13

The perspectives and expectations of a particular role that a child learns and internalizes

Front 14

Game Stage

Back 14

the third stage in Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children play organized games and take in the perspective of the generalized other

Front 15

Generalized other

Back 15

the perspectives and expectations of a network of others (or of society in general) that a child learns and then takes into account when shaping his or her own behavior

Front 16

Dual Nature of the self

Back 16

the idea that we experience the self as both subject and object, the "I" - and the "me"

Front 17

Thomas Theorem

Back 17

Classic formulation of the way individuals determine reality, whereby "if people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences"

Front 18

Definition of the situation

Back 18

an agreement with others about "what is going on" in a given circumstance, this consensus allows us to coordinate our actions with others and realize goals

Front 19

Expressions of behavior

Back 19

small actions such as an eye roll or head nod that serve as an interactional tool to help project our definition of the situation to others

Front 20

Expressions given

Back 20

expressions that are intentional and usually verbal, such as utterances

Front 21

Expressions given off

Back 21

observable expressions that can be either intended or unintended and are usually nonverbal

Front 22

Impression management

Back 22

the effort to control the impressions we make on others so that they form a desired view of us and the situation; the use of self-presentation and performance tactics

Front 23

Dramaturgy

Back 23

an approach pioneered by Erving Goffman in which social life is analyzed in terms of its similarities to theatrical performance

Front 24

Front

Back 24

in the dramaturgical perspective, the setting or scene of performances that helps establish the definition of the situation

Front 25

region

Back 25

the contact in which the performance takes place, including location, decor, and props

Front 26

personal front

Back 26

the performance tactics we use to present ourselves to others, including appearance, costume, and manner

Front 27

backstage

Back 27

the places in which we rehearse and prepare for our performances

Front 28

frontstage

Back 28

the places in which we deliver our performances to an audience of others

Front 29

social construction

Back 29

the process by which a concept or practice is created and maintained by participants who collectively agree that it exists

Front 30

cooling the mark out

Back 30

behaviors that help others to save face or avoid embarrassment, often referred to as civility or tact

Front 31

Agents of socialization

Back 31

social groups, institutions, and individuals (especially the family, schools, peers and the mass media) that provide structured situations in which socialization takes place

Front 32

total institutions

Back 32

institutions in which individuals are cut off from therest of society so that they can be controlled and regulated for the purpose of systematically stripping away previous roles and identities in order to create new ones

Front 33

status

Back 33

a position in a social hierarchy that carries a particular set of expectations

Front 34

role

Back 34

the set of behaviors expected of someone because of his or her status

Front 35

role conflict

Back 35

experienced when we occupy two or more roles with contradictory expectations

Front 36

role strain

Back 36

experienced when there are contradictory expectations within one role

Front 37

role exit

Back 37

the process of leaving a role that we will no longer occupy

Front 38

Agency

Back 38

the ability of the individual to act freely and independently

Front 39

deviance

Back 39

a behavior, trait, belief, or other characteristic that violates a norm and causes a negative reaction

Front 40

innovators

Back 40

individuals who accept society's approved goals but not society's approved means to achieve them

Front 41

ritualists

Back 41

individuals who have given up hope of achieving society's approved goals but still operate according to society's approved means

Front 42

retreatists

Back 42

individuals who renounce society's approved goals and means entirely and live outside conventional norms altogether

Front 43

rebels

Back 43

individuals who reject society's approved goals and means and instead create and work toward their own (sometimes revolutionary) goals using new means

Front 44

social control

Back 44

the formal and informal mechanisms used to elicit conformity to values and norms and thus promote social cohesion

Front 45

differential association theory

Back 45

Edwin Sutherland's hypothesis that we learn to be deviant through our associations with deviant peers

Front 46

labeling theory

Back 46

Howard Becker's idea that deviance is a consequence of external judgements, or labels, that modify the individuals's self-concept and change the way others respond to the labeled person

Front 47

Tertiary deviance

Back 47

redefining the stigma associated with a deviant label as a positive phenomenon

Front 48

self-fulfilling prophecy

Back 48

an inaccurate statement or belief that, by altering the situation, becomes accurate; a prediction that causes itself to come true

Front 49

stereotype threat

Back 49

a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy in which the dear of performing poorly- and confirming stereotypes about their social groups - causes students to perform poorly

Front 50

stereotype promise

Back 50

a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy in which positive stereotypes, such as the "model minority" label applied to Asian Americans, lead to positive performance outcomes for Asian Americans

Front 51

stigma

Back 51

Erving Goffman's term for any physical or social attribute that devalues a person or a group's identity and that may exclude those who are devalued from normal social interracation

Front 52

Passing

Back 52

presenting yourself as a member of a different group than the stigmatized group you belong to

Front 53

In-group orientation

Back 53

among stigmatized individuals, the rejection of prevailing judgements or prejudice and the development of new standards that value their group identity

Front 54

outsiders

Back 54

according to Howard Becker, those labeled deviant and subsequently segregated from "normal" society

Front 55

deviance avowal

Back 55

provess by which an individual self-identifies as deviant and initiates her own labeling process

Front 56

crime

Back 56

a violation of a norm that has been codified into law

Front 57

white collar crime

Back 57

crime committed by a high-status individual in the course of his occupation

Front 58

deterrence

Back 58

an approach to punishment that relies on the threat of harsh penalties to discourage people from committing crimes

Front 59

retribution

Back 59

an approach to punishment that emphasizes retaliation or revenge for the crime as the appropriate goal

Front 60

incapacitation

Back 60

an approach to punishment that seeks to protect society from criminals by imprisoning or executing them

Front 61

rehabilitation

Back 61

an approach to punishment that attempts to reform criminals as part of their penalty

Front 62

capital punishment

Back 62

the death penalty

Front 63

positive deviance

Back 63

actions considered deviant within a given context but are later reinterpreted as appropriate or even heroic

Front 64

Theories of Deviance: Functionalism

Back 64

deviance reminds us of our shared notions of wrong and right and promotes social cohesion

Front 65

Theories of Deviance: structural strain

Back 65

social inequality creates tension between society's goals and menas an individual has to achieve those goals

Front 66

Theories of Deviance: conflict

Back 66

both society's rules and the punishments for breaking those rules are applied unequally

Front 67

Theories of Deviance: differential association

Back 67

we learn to be deviant through interactions with people who break the rules

Front 68

Theories of Deviance: labeling

Back 68

deviance is determined by social context