Soc 310 - A Stranger To These Shores Ch 1-4

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Sociology

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Scientific study of social behavior and human groups. Everyone could be considered an “armchair sociologist” but sociology applies critical thinking and science to understand social life instead of simply personal experience or opinions.

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The sociological imagination

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Allows us to move beyond our limited individual experiences and recognize that most aspects of our private lives are connected to broader social realities. The ability to recognize the connection between individual experiences and social life is the hallmark of a good sociologist.

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Humanism

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Places human interests and ideals above supernatural or mystical interests. Made it okay to ask “why do we do the things we do?” and could use human reason to search for the answers. Occurred during the European Renaissance; radical break from medieval way of looking at the world.

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Positivism

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A way of thinking about the world that emphasizes the importance of gathering information through the senses and interpreting that information through logic and human reason. Helped establish science as an independent mode of inquiry leading to The Enlightenment as well as the scientific method.

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Primary agents of socialization

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a. The family – first and perhaps most influential agent
b. Education – second and perhaps second most influential agent
c. Peers – can become more influential than a or b during the teenage years; varied
d. The media – influential depending on access and morals internalized from parents

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Group

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Way of categorizing individuals based upon similarities and differences.

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Race

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Category in which a large number of people sharing visible biological characteristics regard themselves or are regarded by others as a single group.

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Ethnicity

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Shared cultural traits and/or national origin.

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Racism

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A false linkage between biology and socio-cultural behaviour to assert the superiority of one race.

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Nativist

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One who advocates a policy of protecting the interests of native inhabitants against those of immigrants.

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The stranger

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The concept signifies the human tendency to be weary of or curious about perceived outsiders.

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Similarity-Attraction relationship

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How social distance is typically determined. The more we think a group is similar to our group, the more comfortable we feel around that group.

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Catagoric knowing

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People ignore individual characteristics and instead focus on those characteristics that easily lets them fit people into pre-conceived categories.

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In-group/out-group dichotomy

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Illustrates people’s tendency to favor in-groups and to exclude or be biased toward out-groups. We almost always associate ourselves with one group and contrast/dislike ourselves with another. An important basis for forming a social identity and demonstrates how hard it will be to eliminate such things as prejudice and stereotyping.

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10. Ethnocentrism

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The view that one’s own culture is the center of everything and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it. Has been a quality of all peoples in all times – might be impossible to completely eliminate.

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Cultural Relativism

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Practice in which we evaluate beliefs and behaviours in the context of a specific culture. Requires the abandoning of the notion that your culture is better or more “normal” than another. Used so we can free ourselves from our own cultural prejudices and view the world through the eyes of a foreign culture.

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Dominant group/Minority group

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a. A group that possesses some form of power be it political, cultural, economic, or social, relative to some other group.
b. A group that lacs some form of power be it political, cultural, economic, or social, relative to some other group.

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Characteristics of minority groups

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a. Must receive unequal treatment as a group.
b. Can be identified by physical or cultural traits that are held in low esteem by society.
c. Feel a sense of group solidarity in common with other members.
d. Negative characteristics associated with the group are an “ascribed (inherent) status.”
e. Group members generally practice “endogamy” (marriages occur in same group)

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Definition of theory

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Simply a set of statements that seeks to explain problems, actions, or behavior.

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Functional Theory

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Argument 1 – Change is disruptive and potentially destructive to a system, so it must occur slowly.
Argument 2 – Social systems must be structured in a way that their various components work together.
Argument 3 – Systems exist because they meet, or once met, important needs.

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Functional Theory Background

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i. Based on what is called the organic analogy
ii. Compares society to a living organism, where the proper functioning of the whole is dependent upon the proper integration, regulation, and functioning of the parts.
iii. Functionalist seeks to understand the “function” of social phenomenon

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Dysfunctions

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Elements of social life that disrupt social stability.

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Conflict Theory Background

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Argues that society is a set of social relationships in which different and contradictory groups compete for advantages over others. Those groups on top use political, economic, and cultural power to maintain their privileges as the expense of the have-nots.

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Conflict Theory

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Argument 1 – Society is always subject to change, and the change need not be gradual.
Argument 2 – Society is ripe with conflict and dissent.
Argument 3 – Order in society does not come from consensus but rather from coercion and power.
Argument 4 – Those with power and those without power have contradictory and irreconcilable interests.

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Interactionist Theory

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i. Micro-sociology rather than a macro-sociology.
ii. Argues that individuals create society through interaction with others. Social order is created through shared meanings of behaviors and symbols, and society can change by altering such behavior’s and symbol’s meanings.

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Interactionist Theory Propositions

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ii. Proposition 1 – If people define something as real, it becomes real in its consequences (Thomas Theorem)
iii. Proposition 2 – Humans are self-conscious social animals that use symbols to understand the world.
iv. Proposition 3 – The “self” is primarily developed through a process of interacting with others, therefore your “self identity” is constructed socially, rather than being an “innate thing.”

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Symbols

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Objects used to represent something else.

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Social Construction of Reality

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The shaping of our perception of reality by the subjective meanints we bring to any experience or social interaction.

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Culture

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Material objects as well as non-material attitudes, beliefs, customs, lifestyles, and values shared by members of a society and transmitted to the next generation.

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Material Culture

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All physical objects created by members of a society and the meanings attached to them.

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Non-material culture

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Abstract human creations and the meanings associated with them.

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Norms

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A culture’s rules of conduct dictating what is and is not culturally acceptable behavior.

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Values

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A culture’s determination of what is good and bad and right and wrong.

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Beliefs

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Ideas concerning what is true and false.

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Cultural diffusion

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An on-going process where cultures exchange ideas, inventions, and practices with one another.

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Hybridization

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Cultural diffusion that occurs back and forth between major cultures or on a smaller scale between subcultures and the dominant culture.

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Social Structure

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The organized patterns of behavior in a social system governing people’s interrelationships.

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Social Institutions

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Established and enduring patterns of human relationships that serve long-term purposes.

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Primary institutions

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Family, organized religion, political system, economy, and eduction.

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Social Stratification

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The process in which individuals and groups are ranked in society according to the power (ability to influence or control others), prestige (related to one’s status), or valued resources (related to income, property, and borrowing capacity) they possess.

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Social Class

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An important means of understanding stratification for sociologists. The difference between status and income draws our attention to some of the problems in defining class.

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Structural differentiation

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The larger the class distinctions between the dominant group and minority group, the more likely it is that conflict will occur.

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Cultural differentiation

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The larger the cultural differences that exist between the dominant group and the minority group, the more likely it is that conflict will occur.

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Prejudice

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Negative beliefs and feelings against a certain group or groups of people. More common than racism.

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Levels of Prejudice

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a. Cognitive Level – focuses on the individual’s belief system, or what they think is true and false. Might think that their prejudicial beliefs are empirically true, that they represent reality.
b. Emotional Level – focuses on how an individual feels about the particular group. Group might arouse feelings of fear, rage, or other strong emotions.
c. Action Level – refers to one’s disposition toward discriminatory behavior.

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Self Justification

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A psychological defense mechanism used to excuse the maltreatment of individuals.

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The Authoritarian Personality

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Children may acquire authoritarian personalities at the hands of overly stern parental discipline.

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Displaced Aggression

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Some children that grew up with overly stern parental discipline might project displaced aggression onto powerless social groups due to internalized fears and hostilities toward their parents.

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Frustration

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Leads to prejudice through the act of scapegoating.

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Scapegoating

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When an individual’s expectations remain unsatisfied, they become frustrated and look for a culprit who may be certain ethnic or racial groups.

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The Sociology of Prejudice

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a. Competition is one important origin of prejudices. Not only individuals, but groups also compete over economic, cultural, and social power.
b. If it is considered proper and natural to behave in a prejudicial way, than such attitudes will continue to prevail.
c. Stereotypes are oversimplified generalizations attributing certain characteristics to an entire group.
d. Ethno-racial slurs are the language of prejudice. They reflect a verbal symbol and negative stereotype about a people.
e. Prejudicial attitudes are taught, learned, and passed from generation to generation through socialization.
f. Socialization – the lifelong process where we learn our culture, develop our sense of self, and become functioning members of society.

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Discrimination

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The differential and unequal treatment of certain groups or types of people.

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Institutional Discrimination

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Occurs as the result of the unequal treatment of groups in the ongoing operations of society’s institutions.

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Social Discrimination

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The exclusion of out-group members from close relationships with in-group members.

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Five levels of Discrimination

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a. Verbal Discrimination
b. Avoidance
c. Exclusion
d. Physical Abuse
e. Extermination

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6 dominant-group responses to minority-groups

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a. Xenophobia – the fear or contempt for foreigners. This reaction is necessary for some of the other more damaging responses to occur.
b. Immigration legislation – might occur if the influx of foreigners is seen as too great for the nation to absorb, although xenophobia often motivates much immigration legislation.
c. Segregation – might occur to keep new immigrants and other minority groups “in their place.”
d. Exploitation – can be another dominant-group response toward minorities. Defined as the selfish use of another’s labor for personal profit.
e. Expulsion – the removal of a group that is seen as a problem, or are seen as “in the way” of the dominant group.
f. Annihilation – the most extreme type of response.

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5 minority-group responses to dominant groups

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a. Identity Development – groups labeled with minority status typically develop a sense of group solidarity. The sense of group identity and solidarity is passed from one generation to the next, creating a subculture.
b. Avoidance – a common minority-group response to dominant groups
c. Deviance – when cultural behavior in the minority is different enough from the dominant group, then this behavior might be seen as deviant. Groups that experience repeated discrimination might intentionally engage in deviant social behavior.
d. Defiance – when group consciousness and cohesiveness are strong enough, minority groups might openly defy negative dominant-group behavior.
e. Acceptance – some minority-group members might simply accept their status with reluctance or indifference.

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4 consequences of minority-group status

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a. The vicious-circle phenomenon – minority-group gets a low paying job and lives in poverty. Because of this they are viewed as lazy by the dominant-group and there is continued support for discrimination so it continues again and again. The minority group can develop a negative self-image due to this circle.
b. Negative self-image – often occurs as dominant-group prejudices and stereotypes become prevalent and are accepted as fact.
c. Marginality – occurs as members of minority-groups struggle over membership in their minority-group and coming to terms with the demands, beliefs, and expectations of the dominant group.
d. Middlemen minorities – some minority-groups might also end up becoming middlemen minority that occupy a trade or commerce position between the dominant-group and another minority-group.

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3 theories of minority-group integration

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a. Majority-Conformity Theory – associated with the idea that minorities should assimilate to dominant Anglo-American culture.
b. Melting-Pot Theory – associated with the idea that American culture is a mixture of all cultures and minority groups should add their ingredients to this stew.
c. Pluralistic Theory – associated with the idea that each unique culture should live in harmony with other cultures in the same society while also maintaining cultural distictions.