Understanding Social Problems Test

Front 1

Objective element (of a social problem):

Back 1

Awareness of social conditions through one’s own life and experience and through the reports in the media

Front 2

Subjective Element:

Back 2

The belief that a particular social condition is harmful to society, or to a segment of society and that it should and can be changed.

Front 3

Claims making activities:

Back 3

The strategies and actions that individuals or groups undertake to define social conditions as social problems that require remedy.

Front 4

Social problem:

Back 4

a social condition that a segment of society views as harmful to members of society and in need of remedy.

Front 5

Social facts:

Back 5

Social fact is a term created by Emile Durkheim to indicate social patterns that are external to individuals. Things such as customs and social values exist outside individuals, whereas psychological drives and motivation exist inside individuals. Social facts, therefore, are not to be explained by biology or psychology, but instead by society.

Front 6

Institution:

Back 6

an established and enduring pattern of social relationships; the five institutions are family, religion, politics, economics and education. Institutions are the largest elements of social structure.

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Social Group:

Back 7

Two or more people who have common identity and who interact and form a social relationship; institutions are made up of social groups.

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Primary group:

Back 8

a small group characterized by intimate and informal interactions.

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Secondary group:

Back 9

a group characterized by impersonal and formal interaction.

Front 10

Status:

Back 10

a position a person occupies within a social group.

Front 11

Ascribed status:

Back 11

status that society assigns to an individual on the basis of factors over which the individual has no control.

Front 12

Achieved status:

Back 12

a status assigned on the basis of some characteristics or behaviour over which the individual has some control.

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Master status:

Back 13

the status that is considered the most significant in a person's social identity.

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Role:

Back 14

a set of rights, obligations, and expectations associated with a status.

Front 15

Beliefs:

Back 15

Definitions and explanations about what is assumed to be true.

Front 16

Values:

Back 16

social agreements about what is considered good and bad, right and wrong, desirable, and undesirable.

Front 17

Norms:

Back 17

Socially defined rules of behaviour, including folkways, mores and laws.

Front 18

Folkways:

Back 18

the customs and manners of society.

Front 19

Laws:

Back 19

Norms that are formalized and backed by political authority.

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Mores:

Back 20

norms that have moral basis

Front 21

Sanctions:

Back 21

Social consequences for conforming to or violating norms. Types of sanctions include: positive, negative, formal and informal.

Front 22

Symbol:

Back 22

Something that represents something else.

Front 23

Sociological Imagination:

Back 23

A term created by C.wright mills. Refers to the ability to see the connections between our personal lives and the social world in which we live.

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Structural functionalist:

Back 24

Views society as interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of balance.

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Conflict theory:

Back 25

Inequality, upper class having all the resources, lower class fighting for them. Driving force behind many social problems.

Front 26

Symbolic interactionist theory:

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Human behaviour is influenced by definitions and meanings that are created and maintained through symbolic interaction with others.

Front 27

Feminist theory:

Back 27

A set of diverse perspectives joined by the focus on sex, and gender as defining and important categories of oppression.

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Postmodern theory:

Back 28

theory that rejects positivist notion that societies are completely rational and that a single truth about social worlds can be identified.

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Queer theory:

Back 29

how sexual identity relates to various problems rooted in oppression and prejudice.

Front 30

Latent function:

Back 30

Consequence that is unintended and often hidden or unrecognized. EX: unintended function of schools, babysitting for employed parents. Unintended function

Front 31

Manifest function:

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Consequence that is intended and commonly recognized, ex: education is to transmit knowledge and skills to youth. Intended function.

Front 32

Anomie:

Back 32

A state of normlessness in which norms and values are weak or unclear, results from rapid social change and is linked to many social problems including drugs, crime, violence etc.

Front 33

Corporate violence:

Back 33

the production of unsafe products and the failure of coporations to provide a safe working environment for their employees.

Front 34

Alienation:

Back 34

Concept used by Karl Marx, to describe the conditions when workers feel powerless as a result of performing repetitive, isolated work tasks. Alienation involves becoming estranged from one’s work and or education, the products one creates, other human beings or one’s self.

Front 35

Macro Sociology:

Back 35

the study of large aspects of society, such as institutions and large social groups

Front 36

Micro sociology:

Back 36

the study of social psychological dynamics of individuals interacting in small groups.

Front 37

Labelling theory:

Back 37

A theory that is based on the idea that behaviors are deviant only when society labels them as deviant. As such, conforming members of society, who interpret certain behaviors as deviant and then attach this label to individuals, determine the distinction between deviance and non-deviance. Labeling theory questions who applies what label to whom, why they do this, and what happens as a result of this labeling.

Front 38

Sexism:

Back 38

Discrimination based on gender, especially discrimination against women. The belief that one gender is superior to the other, especially that men are superior to women.

Front 39

Gender:

Back 39

The social definitions and expectations associated with being male or female.

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Sex:

Back 40

A person’s biological classification as male or female.

Front 41

Expressive roles:

Back 41

The nurturing and emotionally supportive roles that women are generally socialized into.

Front 42

Instrumental Roles:

Back 42

Task-oriented roles that males are generally socialized into.

Front 43

Heteronormativity:

Back 43

the group of assumptions and demands that people fall into two opposite sexes that are reproductively oriented toward each other; as a bias, creates structures and institutions that privilege opposite sex relations and deny full rights and freedoms and recognition to those engaged in same sex relations.

Front 44

Structural Sexism:

Back 44

The ways in which the organization of society, and specifically its institutions, subordinate individuals and groups based on their sex classification.

Front 45

Devaluation Hypothesis:

Back 45

The hypothesis that argues women are paid less because the work they perform is socially defined as less valuable than the work performed by men

Front 46

Emotional Labour:

Back 46

Work traditionally performed by women in the role of providing care and concern for others. Either professionally or in the home.

Front 47

Human Capital Hypothesis:

Back 47

The hypothesis that female—male pay differences are a function of differences in women’s and men’s level of education, skills, training and work place experience.

Front 48

Comparable worth:

Back 48

Tasks and jobs that are distinct but have equal value and utility in the workplace and economy.

Front 49

Family gap/child pay:

Back 49

The income losses associated with women’s responsibilities for raising children. As a measure, it compares the earnings of women who have children and those who do not in the same age group, with equal education and occupational attainments

Front 50

Occupational sex segregation:

Back 50

The concentration of women in certain occupations and of men in other occupations.

Front 51

Pink collar jobs

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Jobs that offer few benefits, often have love prestige, and are disproportionately held by women.

Front 52

Glass ceiling:

Back 52

An invisible, socially created barrier that prevents women and other minorities from being promoted into top corporate positions.

Front 53

Cultural sexism:

Back 53

The ways in which the culture of society perpetuates the subordination of individuals based on their sex classification.

Front 54

Gender Tourism:

Back 54

The recent tendency for definitions of masculinity and femininity to become less clear, resulting in individual exploration of the gender continuum.

Front 55

Sexual harassment:

Back 55

When an employer requires sexual favours in exchange for a promotion, salary increase, or any other employee benefit, or the existence of a hostile environment that unreasonably interferes with job performance as in the case of sexually explicit remarks or insults being made to an employee.

Front 56

Employee Equity:

Back 56

An attempt to ensure that there is a proportional number of designated target groups. Women, visible minorities, aboriginal peoples and people with disabilities. Throughout all income and occupational levels at ratios that are consistent with the proportion of these groups within the local or regional workforce.

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Poverty:

Back 57

Lacking resources for an adequate standard of living

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Absolute Poverty

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The chronic absence the basic necessities of life, including food, clean water and housing

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Relative Poverty:

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A deficiency in material and economic resources compared with some other population

Front 60

Human Poverty Index (HPI):

Back 60

A composite measure of poverty based on three measure of deprivation: Deprivation of life, which is measured by the percentage of people expected to die before age 40. Deprivation of knowledge, which is measured by the percentage of adults who are illiterate. Deprivation in living standards, which is a measured composite of three variables. The percentage of people without access to health services, safe water and percentage of malnourished children under five.

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Proletariat:

Back 61

Workers who were often exploited by the bourgeoisie.

Front 62

Bourgeoisie:

Back 62

The owners of the means of production.

Front 63

Surplus value:

Back 63

Concept developed by Marx, Refers to the difference in the amount people will pay for a service or consumer good compared to the cost of its production. Surplus value produces the profit from exploited labour.

Front 64

Wealth-fare:

Back 64

Government policies and regulations that economically favour the wealthy

Front 65

Corporate welfare:

Back 65

Laws and policies that favour corporations, such as low interest government loans to failing businesses and special subsidies and tax breaks to corporations.

Front 66

Cultureof poverty:

Back 66

The set norms, values and beliefs and self-concepts that contribute to the persistence of poverty among the underclass.

Front 67

Underclass:

Back 67

A persistently poor and socially disadvantaged group that disproportionately experiences joblessness, welfare dependency, involvement in criminal activities, dysfunctional families and low educational attainment.

Front 68

Gender-based analysis:

Back 68

Feminist policy analysis that understands gender to be a key factor in vulnerability to poverty and the differential effects of poverty; it uses gender as a central grounding point for analysis.

Front 69

Narrative Analysis:

Back 69

A feminist practice that combines a symbolic approach with the collection of w omen’s life histories as legitimate sources of knowledge and information.

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Wealth:

Back 70

The total assets of an individual or household minus liabilities.

Front 71

Feminization of Poverty:

Back 71

The disproportionate distribution of poverty among women.

Front 72

Working poor:

Back 72

individuals who work in the labour force, but who nevertheless live in poverty.

Front 73

Inter-generational poverty:

Back 73

poverty that is transmitted from one generation to the next.

Front 74

Family Allowance:

Back 74

Canada's first universal welfare program, introduced in 1945. Promised a monthly allowance paid to families with children. The term universal here refers to the fact that the benefit flowed from the principle of entitlement and was available without reference to a recipient’s income or assets.

Front 75

Demo-grant:

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A benefit directed at a particular group within the population.

Front 76

Payequity:

Back 76

Also known as “equal pay for work of equal value”, requires equal pay for women who perform jobs of equal value to men in the same establishment. Employers are required to compare women’s and men's jobs on the basis of skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions to determine their value.

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Bio invasion:

Back 77

The emergence of organisms in regions where they are not native.

Front 78

Environmental Footprint:

Back 78

The environmental impact of building, farming and consuming, etc. The footprint is measured in terms of loss arable land, use of water resources, fuel depletion and carbon emissions.

Front 79

Planned obsolesce:

Back 79

the manufacturing of products that are intended to become inoperative or outdated in a fairly short time.

Front 80

Eco-feminism:

Back 80

A synthesis of feminism, environmentalism and anti-militarism.

Front 81

Greenwashing:

Back 81

The corporate practice of displaying a sense of corporate responsibility for the environment. For example, many companies publicly emphasizes the steps they have taken to help the environment. Another greenwashing strategy is to retool, repackage, or relabel a company's product.

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Ecosystems:

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Complex environments that support a variety of interdependent life forms.

Front 83

Deforestation:

Back 83

The destruction of earth's rainforests.

Front 84

Desertification:

Back 84

The expansion of deserts and the loss of usable land due to the overuse of semi-arid land on the desert margins for animal grazing and obtaining firewood.

Front 85

Settler Colonialism:

Back 85

Refers to the means of structuring land use in ways that eliminate native/indigenous populations from the land; ruptures the cultural ties of indigenous peoples to the land, and so commits cultural genocide as well.

Front 86

AcidRain:

Back 86

The mixture of precipitation with air pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide.

Front 87

Global warming:

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The increasing average of global air temperature, caused mainly by the accumulation of various gases that collect in the atmosphere.

Front 88

Green housegases:

Back 88

The collection of increasing amounts of chlorofluorocarbons (cfcs) Carbon dioxide, methane and other gases in the atmosphere, where they act like glass in a greenhouse, holding heat from the sun close to earth and preventing the heat from rising back into space.

Front 89

Environmental Justice:

Back 89

The tendency for socially and politically marginalized groups to bear the brunt of environmental ills.

Front 90

Environmental racism:

Back 90

The tendency for hazardous waste sites and polluting industries to be located in areas where the surrounding residential population is an ethnic or racial minority.

Front 91

Biodiversity:

Back 91

The variability of living organisms on earth.

Front 92

Environmental refugees:

Back 92

people forced to move because of environmental destruction.

Front 93

Eco-terrorism:

Back 93

Any violent crime intended to coerce, intimidate, or change public policy on behalf of the natural world.

Front 94

Sustainable development:

Back 94

Societal development that meets the needs of current generations without threatening the future of subsequent generations.