Sociology Terms

Front 1

The "I" and the "Me"

Back 1

The self is split into two components: The object (me) is the image of ourselves as we think others see us. The subject (I) is the active side of the self and how the information of "me" is processed.

Front 2

The Looking-Glass Self:

Back 2

The imagination of one's self appearance to others. It embodies forms of self-feeling such as pride and/or humiliation.

Front 3

Symbolic Interaction Paradigm

Back 3

people act toward things based on the meaning those things have for them; and these meanings are derived from social interaction and modified through interpretation.

Front 4

Outsider Within Perspective

Back 4

The process of an outsider studying an institution/organization and comparing it to other institutions on the outside. It is ideal for an outsider because the outsider is not integrated within the institution and can provide an objective and fair comparison of the institution to other outside institutions.

Front 5

Sociological imagination

Back 5

term by C. Wright Mills describing the ability to connect seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces to the incidents of an individual’s life. It suggests that people look at their own personal problems as social issues and, in general, try to connect their own individual experiences with the workings of society. The sociological imagination enables people to distinguish between personal troubles and public issues. For example, people in poverty by this perspective might stop to consider that they are not alone, and rather than blaming themselves should criticize the social forces that directed them into their present condition.

Front 6

Mechanical solidarity

Back 6

High levels of integration and regulation (corresponds to altruistic suicide)ex. armies

Front 7

Organic solidarity

Back 7

Low levels of integration and regulation (corresponds to egoistic suicide). Weaker systems of common beliefs. Individual personality/characteristics

Front 8

Altruistic suicide

Back 8

High levels of integration and regulation. Suicide is a moral duty. Durkheim's examples: old people, widows, soldiers, servants at the death of masters. contemporary ex: Jim Jones mass suicide

Front 9

Egoistic suicide

Back 9

Low levels of integration and regulation. Excessive individualism/ detachment from society. Results from a sense of uselessness or purposelessness from detachment. Ex: protestants (relative to catholics or jews), unmarried individuals

Front 10

Anomic suicide

Back 10

Low regulation, high integration. Characteristic of individuals who are rightly integrated into two normatively distinct separate worlds. Ex. Poor man who becomes rich, farmer who enters market in times of economic prosperity, banker who loses his fortune in depression

Front 11

Fatalistic suicide

Back 11

High regulation, low integration. Characteristic of those occupying marginal or peripheral positions in a social group, although heavily regulated by the groupEx. Married childless women, columbine

Front 12

Society

Back 12

a part of a community that is a unit distinguishable by particular aims or standards of living or conduct : a social circle or a group of social circles having a clearly marked identity <literary society> b : a part of the community that sets itself apart as a leisure class and that regards itself as the arbiter of fashion and manners

Front 13

Social Structure

Back 13

Three considerations:
1. Patterned social relations that are defined by statuses and roles
2. Norms provide the content of patterned social relations
3. Social structure includes the social institutions, organizations, groups, statuses and roles, cultural beliefs, and institutionalized norms that ass order and predictability to our private lives.

Front 14

Institutions

Back 14

Institutions are the building blocks that organize society. They are patterned ways for people to collectively solve problems and to meet the requirements of society.

Front 15

Culture

Back 15

The language, values, beliefs, rules, behaviors, and physical artifacts of a society. Culture is a society's personality.

Front 16

Authority

Back 16

according to Coleman, authority is having the right to control another's actions in some domain

Front 17

Traditional authority

Back 17

Draws legitimacy form the belief in the sanctity of tradition
. persons designated according to traditionally transmitted rules
. obedience is to the personal author, ty; public/private spheres not distinguished
. Characterizes relations in pre-modern societies )middle ages)
ex: the family patriarch, the pope, kings and queens

Front 18

Charismatic authority

Back 18

draws legitimacy from claims of extraordinary virtuosity, whether ethical, heroic, religious
. Claim to authority is specifically in conflict w/ the bases of legitimacy of an established, fully institutionalized order; always a revolutionary
. Temporary state; eventually evolves into either rational – legal or traditional authority

Front 19

Rational-legal authority

Back 19

. legitimacy is drawn from reason and abstract rule; rates are universalistic
. Persons designated according to impersonal rules that have been legally enacted or contractually established
. Obedience is specific to sphere of technical competence; no authority when private individuals – characterizes hierarchized relations in modern societies, where rationalized systems of bureaucracy reign (ex. Judge, physicians, police, teachers, academics)

Front 20

Structural functionalist theory

Back 20

A working society NEEDS to motivate people to make sacrifices and compete with eaach other. It needs to distribute individuals to different fields and positions in order to function correctly. It focuses on integration and NOT social differences (The conflict theory focuses on social differences).

Front 21

Conflict theory

Back 21

is a Marxist-based social theory which argues that individuals and groups (social classes) within society have differing amounts of material and non-material resources (the wealthy vs. the poor) and that the more powerful groups use their power in order to exploit groups with less power.

Front 22

Stratification

Back 22

the dividing of a society into levels based on power or socioeconomic status

Front 23

Social inequality

Back 23

refers to a situation in which certain groups in a society do not have equal social status. Instances of social inequality often involve property rights, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, access to health care, and education as well as many other social commodities.

Front 24

Social capital

Back 24

refers to the resources individuals have access to by dint of their connection to others in their network of relations. These social relations reinforce identity and recognition.

Front 25

Human capital

Back 25

the value added when an individual acquires knowledge, skills, and other assets that increase his/her productivity in the marketplace. Most often measured in terms of education, training and experience.

Front 26

Cultural capital

Back 26

refers to the general background, knowledge, disposition, and skills that are passed from generation to the next

Front 27

Meritocracy

Back 27

people with merit create the standards and the rules of merit. The people on the top are defining it for the bottom

Front 28

Equality of opportunity

Back 28

the principles to achieve should not be limited by background

Front 29

Equality of condition

Back 29

keep inequalities in wealth, status, etc at a minimum

Front 30

Race

Back 30

A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics.

Front 31

The social construction of race

Back 31

no biological basis for race, ideas of race change over time, they are different around the world

Front 32

Racialization process

Back 32

categorization or representation where real or imagined biological characteristics are imbedded with meanings that define presumed naturally occurring populations.

Front 33

Discrimination

Back 33

treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit

Front 34

Audit studies

Back 34

Audit studies measure discrimination directly with experimental field-work. Subtle discrimination can be hard to detect. Was a person rejected for a job because of the color of their skin or a poor interview? Audit studies overcome this, by presenting the subjects of their studies with two nearly identical candidates who differ in one only characteristic like, race, age or gender.

Front 35

Stereotype threat

Back 35

the fear that one's behavior will confirm an existing negative stereotype of one's in-group. This fear may lead to poorer performance than individuals might otherwise have

Front 36

Sex

Back 36

the biological distinction between females and males

Front 37

Gender

Back 37

the meaning that a society attaches to being female or male.

Front 38

Doing gender

Back 38

Going either with or against gender norms to reinforce or reshape gender

Front 39

Sameness taboo

Back 39

Genders have to be distinguishable. That means that men and women shouldn't wear similar clothing. Example: Men should wear long pants and women should wear skirts so the two genders are not the same.

Front 40

Gender as process, stratification, and structure

Back 40

As a process, gender creates the social differences that define “woman” and “man.” In social
interaction throughout their lives, individuals learn what is expected, see what is expected, act and react in expected ways, and thus simultaneously construct and maintain the gender order.
As part of a stratification system, gender ranks men above women of the same race and class.
As a structure, gender divides work in the home and in economic production, legitimates those in authority, and organizes sexuality and emotional life

Front 41

Status characteristic theory

Back 41

A person's behavior and achievements can be predicted/expected based on his/her status in society. It focuses on the probability of a person's actions based on the social status of the person.

Front 42

Performance expectations

Back 42

how a member of a gender is expected to do; generally men have higher expectations therefor women have to work harder to prove themselves and get into mens positions

Front 43

Individualism

Back 43

Emphasized here are the rights and priorities of the individual. The child is an individual, unique in her temperament, needs, abilities, and interests. Individuality is discussed to an exclusion of equality.

Front 44

Groupism

Back 44

Makes possible the realization of something truly human, the experience of camaraderie, of unity with something larger than the self. A child's humanity is realized most fully in his ability to cooperate with and feel part of a group.

Front 45

Collectivism

Back 45

The social, the collective, and the group are valued over the personal, the familial, and the individual. What is good for society is good for the individual. Individual sacrifices for the group.