Sociology Final Study Guide

Sociology Final Study Guide
Chapter 1
1. Sociology is defined as the systematic study of human society.
2. Origins
a. Sociology was the result of powerful social forces. Changes in Europe were very influential on the growth of sociology.
b. 3 key changes that lead to the development of sociology
i. New industrial economy : Rise of factory based industrial economy
1. People started inventing new ways to farm which lead to people working far away from home for strangers. This change in the system of production took people out of their homes weakening the traditions that had guided community life for centuries. ii. Growth of cities
1. Enclosure movement
a. Fencing off larger areas of land to create property lands and for animals to graze -> led to less land -> people headed to the cities to work.
2. Cities grew larger -> social problems increased
a. Pollution
b. Homelessness
c. Crimes iii. Political Change: New ideas about democracy and political rights
1. In the middle ages, society was viewed through religion
2. What happened as cities grew?
a. Shift in focus from moral obligations and God to the pursuit of self and self-interests
b. Society versus Self
3. Every person has “certain unalienable rights” including “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”
4. The more individualistic we become -> the more we think about society as a whole
2. Sociology and Science
i. Auguste Comte
1. Coined the term sociology in 1838
2. “A new way to look at society”
3. The Goal of sociology was to figure out how society operates so improvements could be made. ii. 3 stages of historical development in sociology
1. Theological stage -> religious view of society
2. Metaphysical stage -> society seen as a natural system rather than a supernatural
3. Scientific stage -> positivism  a way of understanding based on science
3. The Sociological Perspective
a. Seeing the General in the Particular
i. Sociologist Peter Berger refers to the fact that sociologists see general social patterns in the behaviour of particular individuals. In fact, each chapter in the text will illustrate how social forces shape our lives. Age, gender, and social class, for example, are seen to have a remarkable impact upon behaviour and life chances. While not erasing our uniqueness as individuals, social forces touch our lives in many unseen, yet significant ways, such as the behaviour of Canadian “peacekeepers” in Somalia who responded to cultural imperatives in the commission of atrocities.
b. Seeing the Strange in the Familiar
i. This is the process of detaching oneself from “familiar” individualistic interpretations of human behaviour and the acceptance of the initially “strange” notion that behaviour is a product of social forces. Students will typically respond to a question about their own attendance at a university in a personal way while, in social reality, factors such as family income, age, and race influence the choice.
c. Seeing persona l choice in social context
i. In a society that emphasizes individuality we are often reluctant to admit that our lives are predictable and patterned. The Window on the World Global Map1-1 (p. 4) titled “Women’s Childbearing in Global Perspective,” indicates that the decision to bear children is clearly shaped by social conditions. Even suicide, a seemingly very personal act, can be seen to be affected by social forces. The research by Emile Durkheim on suicide clearly shows how impersonal social forces affect personal behaviour. Records of suicide in central Europe during the last part of the nineteenth century were found by Durkheim to show certain social categories as having higher suicide rates than others. It was found that the degree of social integration, or how strongly a person is bound to others by social ties, had a significant influence on the patterns of suicide rates. Figure 1-1 (p. 5) provides rates of suicide over time in Canada for males and females, and Figure 1-2 (p. 5) demonstrates that the rates of suicide also vary by age in Canada.
d. Seeing sociologically marginality and crisis
i. Social marginality or being an “outsider” enhances sociological thinking. Women, gay people, visible minorities, and the very old are aware of social patterns others rarely think about. As well, social crisis can lead to a “sociological imagination.” C. Wright Mills shows how people experiencing the Great Depression in the 1930s came to understand their loss of job as less a personal problem than a public issue. The Thinking Critically Box (p. 7) explores his thinking.
4. Four general benefits of using the sociological perspective are identified. They include the following:
a. It challenges familiar understandings about ourselves and others, so that we can critically assess the truth of commonly held assumptions.
b. It allows us to recognize both opportunities we have and the constraints that circumscribe our lives.
c. It empowers us as active members of our world through the grasp of our “sociological imagination,” the capacity to comprehend the interplay between personal life and societal forces.
d. It helps us to recognize human diversity and to begin to understand the challenges of living in a diverse world.
5. Three major theoretical approaches in sociology.
a. Structural Functional Approach
i. Framework for building a theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability
1. Manifest functions
a. Recognized and intended consequences of a social pattern
2. Latent functions
a. Unrecognized and unintended consequences of a social pattern
b. Social Conflict Approach
i. Framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change ii. Ongoing conflict between the dominant and disadvantaged categories of people
1. Men versus women
2. Rich versus poor
3. Educated versus non-educated iii. Social conflict theory is used to bring about change and reduce inequality
c. Symbolic-Interaction Approach
i. Sees society as the product of the everyday interaction of individuals ii. Human beings live in a world of symbols  attach meaning to everything iii. Max Weber
1. German sociologist
2. Need to understand a setting from the people in it
Chapter 2
1. Three Ways to Do Sociology
a. Scientific Sociology
i. The study of sociology based on systemic observations of social behavior ii. Gathering evidence that we can verify with our senses iii. Limitations in Scientific Sociology
1. Human behavior
a. Too complex for sociologists to predict
2. Response to surroundings
a. We can’t change people by studying them
3. Changing of social patterns
a. Human behavior is so variable → no universal sociological laws
4. Difficulty in being value free
b. Interpretive Sociology
i. Scientists study the natural world ii. Sociologist study SOCIETY
1. Has meaning to it
2. Have to interpret the society you are studying
3. Focuses on the meaning of people attached to their social world iii. How does Interpretive Sociology Differ?
1. Focuses on meaning people attach to their actions
2. Sees reality constructed by people
3. Focuses on qualitative data instead of quantative
4. Webers concept of understanding
a. Not just observing but understanding WHY people do what they do
c. Critical Sociology
i. Focuses on the need for social change ii. Ask moral and political questions instead of scientific questions iii. Sociology is not just to research but to make social changes based off of research iv. Opposite of Webers sociology
v. All research is political or biased
2. Objectivity
a. Being neutral while conducting research
b. Max Weber
i. German sociologist ii. Expected that people would choose research topics based off their personal beliefs and interests iii. He wanted people to be value free in their investigations
c. How do we Prove it?
i. By replication
1. Same study done by other researchers should have the same results
2. The more alike the results are, the better the objectivity is
3. Definitions
a. Concepts
i. A mental construct that represents some part of the world in a simplified form
b. Variable
i. A concept whose value changes from case to case ii. Independent vs dependent
c. Measurement
i. A procedure for determining the value of a variable in a specific case
d. Reliability
i. Consistency in measurement ii. How you measure
e. Validity
i. Actually measuring what you intend to measure
f. Cause and effect
i. A relationship in which changing one variable causes change in another ii. Example: If you change the time you study for an exam, will that result in a change in your grade?
g. Correlation
i. Relationship in which two or more variables change together ii. Example → if you live in a more crowded area, you are more likely to be arrested → density and delinquency change together
4. Two requirements for sociological investigation
a. Apply the sociological perspective
b. Be curious and ask questions
Chapter 3
1. Definitions
a. Nonmaterial culture
i. The intangible world of ideas created by members of a society
b. Material culture
i. The tangible things created by members of a society
c. Culture shock
i. Disorientation due to the inability to make sense out of one’s surroundings
1. Domestic and foreign travel
d. Culture
i. The values, beliefs, behaviour, and material objects that constitute a people's way of life.
2. SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS
a. People perceive the world through the cultural lens of language
b. Two anthropologists, Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf, have argued that language is more than simply attaching labels to the "real world." They reject the view that language merely describes a single reality. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis holds that we know the world only in terms of our language. Language then determines our cultural reality.
3. Norms vary in their degree of importance. Mores distinguish between right and wrong while folkways distinguish between right and rude.
a. FOLKWAYS
i. Norms for routine and causal interaction
b. MORES
i. Widely observed and have great moral Significance
4. Multiculturalism
a. An educational program recognizing the cultural diversity of the United States and promoting the equality of all cultural traditions
i. Eurocentrism – the dominance of European (especially English) cultural patterns ii. Afrocentrism – the dominance of African cultural patterns iii. Canadian society is officially multicultural, a society that encourages ethnic or cultural heterogeneity. Historically a European (primarily English) style of life was identified as ideal, but with massive immigration from non-European societies Canada moved away from Eurocentrism to multiculturalism. A debate rages on, however, about the usefulness of this concept for Canadian society. Proponents suggest a multicultural perspective will help us develop a more meaningful understanding of our past, present, and global interdependence while strengthening academic achievement of all our children. Those opposed suggest that multiculturalism promotes divisiveness rather than cohesiveness and denies children access to the knowledge that will enable them to compete. iv. 5. Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativity
a. ETHNOCENTRISM
i. A BIASED “CULTURAL YARDSTICK”
b. CULTURAL RELATIVISM
i. MORE ACCURATE UNDERSTANDING
c. Ethnocentrism is the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one's own culture. It creates a biased evaluation of unfamiliar practices. The evaluations of cultural variations in the maintenance of personal space or bathroom practices are illustrations of this concept. Cultural relativism is the practice of judging a culture by its own standards. The issue of cultural sensitivity related to international business ventures is amusing, but there are some cultural practices which are deeply disturbing, such as child labor in various parts of the world. This suggests that perhaps there are some universal standards we could identify as necessary rather than accepting any behavior within the context of cultural relativity.
Chapter 4
1. PEOPLE WHO INTERACT IN A DEFINED TERRITORY AND SHARE CULTURE
2. Explain how Lenski uses technological development as a criterion for classifying societies at different levels of evolutionary development.
a. Sociocultural evolution the changes that occur as a society acquires new technology
b. Societies range from simple to the technologically complex
c. Societies simple in technology tend to resemble one another
d. More complex societies reveal striking cultural diversity
e. TECHNOLOGY SHAPES OTHER CULTURAL PATTERNS. SIMPLE TECHNOLOGY CAN ONLY SUPPORT SMALL NUMBERS OF PEOPLE WHO LIVE SIMPLE LIVES.
f. THE GREATER AMOUNT OF TECHNOLOGY A SOCIETY HAS WITHIN ITS GRASP, THE FASTER CULTURAL CHANGE WILL TAKE PLACE.
g. HIGH-TECH SOCIETIES ARE CAPABLE OF SUSTAINING LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE ENGAGED IN A DIVERSE DIVISION OF LABOR.
h. Five types of societies according to Lenski technology.
i. Hunting and gathering
1. The use of simple tools to hunt animals and gather vegetation ii. Horticultural & pastoral
1. Horticultural – the use of hand tools to raise crops
2. Pastoral – the domestication of animals iii. Agricultural
1. Large-scale cultivation using plows harnessed to animals or more powerful energy sources iv. Industrial
1. The production of goods using advanced sources of energy to drive large machinery
v. Postindustrial
1. Technology that supports an information-based economy
3. Cite Marx’s ways in which capitalism alienates workers.
a. For Marx, alienation meant the experience of isolation resulting from powerlessness. Workers themselves are a mere commodity.
b. Four ways industrial capitalism alienates workers are identified:
i. Alienation from the act of working, ii. Alienation from the products of work, iii. Alienation from other workers, and iv. Alienation from human potential, and these act as a barrier to social class unity.
c.
4. Examine how Weber used the concept of the rationalization of society as a means of understanding and interpreting historical change.
a. Weber made many contributions to sociology, perhaps more than any other sociologist. One of the most significant was his understanding about how our social world differs from societies of early times. His work reflects the philosophical approach of idealism which emphasizes the importance of human ideas in shaping society. New ways of thinking, not merely technology and materialistic relationships were the major force in social change. A conceptual tool used by Weber in his research was the concept ideal-type, defined as an abstract statement of the essential characteristics of any social phenomenon.
b. Two World Views: Tradition and Rationality
i. Weber differentiated between two types of societies in terms of how people thought. The first is characterized by tradition, or sentiments and beliefs about the world that are passed from generation to generation. The other is characterized by rationality, or deliberate, matter-of-fact calculation of the most efficient means to accomplish any particular goal. This process of change from tradition to rationality he termed the rationalization of society, denoting the change in the type of thinking characteristic of members of society. Industrialization was an expression of this process. The Global Map (p. 101) shows that personal computers are utilized intensively in the high-income countries and infrequently in low-income countries.
5. Major similarities and differences among the analyses of society developed by Lenski, Marx, Weber, and Durkheim.
a. What Holds Societies Together?
i. Gerhard Lenski
1. A shared culture ii. Karl Marx
1. Elites force an ‘uneasy peace’ iii. Max Weber
1. Rational thought, large-scale organizations iv. Emile Durkheim
1. Specialized division of labor
b. How Have Societies Changed?
i. Gerhard Lenski
1. Changing technology ii. Karl Marx
1. Social conflict iii. Max Weber
1. From traditional to rational thought iv. Emile Durkheim
v. From mechanical solidarity to organic solidarity
c. Are Societies Improving?
i. Gerhard Lenski:
1. Modern technology offers expanded human choice, but leaves us with new sets of dangers ii. Karl Marx:
1. Social conflict would only end once production of goods and services were taken out of the hands of the capitalists and placed into the hands of all people iii. Max Weber:
1. Saw socialism as a greater evil than capitalism, as large, alienating bureaucracies would gain even more control over people iv. Emile Durkheim:
1. Optimistic about modernity and the possibility of more freedom for individuals, but concerned about the dangers of anomic feelings
Chapter 5
1. Socialization
a. The lifelong social experience by which individuals develop their human potential and learn patterns of their culture
2. Examine the “nature versus nurture” debate and state how most contemporary sociologists would resolve it.
a. Sociobiology – the role of nature
i. Elements of society have a naturalistic root
b. Behaviorism - the role of nurture
i. Most of who and what we are as a species is learned, or social in nature
c. Is it sociobiology or behaviorism?
i. It’s both, but from a sociological perspective, nurture matters more
d. Human Development: Nature and Nurture
e. Charles Darwin: The Role of Nature
i. Naturalists during the mid 19th century, applying Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, claimed that all human behaviour was instinctive. Although this is no longer a dominant view the thinking is still with us as people, for example, talk about "born criminals."
f. The Social Sciences: The Role of Nurture
i. Social scientists reject much of the biological argument and see human nature itself as shaped by cultural context. ii. Psychologist John Watson challenged the naturalistic perspective and developed an approach called behaviourism, claiming that all human behaviour was learned within particular social environments. The work of anthropologists illustrating the great cultural variation existing around the world supports Watson's view. iii. Contemporary social scientists do not argue that biology plays no role in shaping human behaviour. At the very least, human physical traits are linked to heredity. Also, certain characteristics such as intelligence, potential to excel in music and art, and personality characteristics seem to be influenced by heredity. The current position on this issue is that nature and nurture are not so much in opposition as they are inseparable.
3. Outline Freud’s model of personality development.
a. Basic human needs
i. Eros and Thanatos as opposing forces
b. Developing personality
i. The id
1. Basic drives ii. The ego
1. Efforts to achieve balance iii. The superego
1. Culture within
c. Managed conflict
i. Id and superego are in constant states of conflict, with the ego balancing the two
d.
4. Identify and describe Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development.
a. Cognition
i. How people think and understand
b. Stages of development
i. Sensorimotor stage
1. Sensory contact understanding ii. Preoperational stage
1. Use of language and other symbols iii. Concrete operational stage
1. Perception of causal connections in surroundings iv. Formal operational stage
1. Abstract, critical thinking
c. Differed from Freud viewed the mind as active and creative
d. Cognitive stages result of biological maturation and social experience
e. Sociology views traditional society as limits development of abstract and critical thought
5. Define Mead’s theory of the social self and outline the development of the self.
a. The Self – the part of an individual’s personality composed of self-awareness and self-image
i. Self develops from social interaction ii. Social experience is the exchange of symbols iii. Understanding intention requires imagining the situation from the other’s point of view iv. By taking the role of the other we become self-aware
b. Development
i. IMITATION
1. INFANT MIMIC BEHAVIOR WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING INTENTIONS ii. PLAY
1. TAKING THE ROLES OF SIGNIFICANT OTHERS iii. GAMES
1. TAKING THE ROLES OF SEVERAL OTHERS AT ONCE iv. “GENERALIZED OTHER”
1. USING CULTURAL NORMS AND VALUES IN EVALUATING OURSELVES
c. Mead found the root of both self and society in symbolic interaction.
i. Critics say: Mead does not allow biological elements ii. MEAD
1. I and Me
2. Rejected biological origins of I and Me
3. Work together cooperatively iii. FREUD
1. Id and Superego
2. Id and Superego originated in biology
3. Locked in continual combat
6. Identify and describe Erikson’s eight stages of development.
a. Eight stages of development, Challenges throughout the life course.
i. Stage 1 - INFANCY: TRUST (versus mistrust) ii. Stage 2 - TODDLERHOOD: AUTONOMY (versus doubt and shame) iii. Stage 3 - PRESCHOOL: INITIATIVE (versus guilt) iv. Stage 4 - PREADOLESCENCE: INDUSTRIOUSNESS (versus inferiority)
v. Stage 5 - ADOLESCENCE: GAINING IDENTITY (VERSUS CONFUSION) vi. Stage 6 - YOUNG ADULTHOOD: INTIMACY (VERSUS ISOLATION) vii. Stage 7 - MIDDLE ADULTHOOD: MAKING A DIFFERENCE (VERSUS SELF-ABSORPTION) viii. Stage 8 - OLD AGE: INTEGRITY (VERSUS DESPAIR)
b. Theory views personality as a lifelong process and success at one stage prepares us for the next challenge
c. Critics say: not everyone confronts the challenges in the same order
d. Not clear if failure to meet one challenge predicts failure in other stages
e. Do other cultures share Erickson’s definition of successful life
Chapter 6
1. Define social interaction and identify its components.
a. THE PROCESS BY WHICH PEOPLE ACT AND REACT IN RELATION TO OTHERS
2. Ascribed and Achieved Statuses
a. An Ascribed Status is a social position that someone receives at birth or involuntarily assumes later in life.
i. A status that cannot be changed by individual effort – we have them whether we want them or not (ex. Age, sex, race, ethnicity – religion and class can also be ascribed but may be changed).
b. An Achieved Status is a social position that someone assumes voluntarily and that reflects personal ability and effort
i. Obtained through individual effort (ex. Education and occupation).
1. Usually comes out through a combination of effort, ability, and luck.
a. In many cases, achieved and ascribed statuses are closely related – men (ascribed) usually have higher incomes and education (achieved).
B. Class and Race/Ethnicity also play an important role in our achieved status
c. Master Status: A status that has exceptional importance for social identity, often shaping a person's entire life
i. Master Status: One status that is more important than the others
1. It has the greatest impact on a person's self-identity and appearance to others.
2. People usually organize their lives and identity around it.
a. It is their main social identity (ex. Occupation, familial, etc.)
3. Distinguish between role set, role strain, and role conflict.
a. Role: A role consists of behavior expected of someone who holds a particular status
i. Role: The expected behavior associated with a status
1. A status is a social position and a role is the behavior of that position.
2. Role expectations are powerful, so powerful that if we diverge to far from what is expected we encounter resistance. ii. Some characteristics of roles:
1. Role performance differs from role expectation
2. Roles are relational, organizing our behavior toward some other person
3. Role Set refers to a number of roles attached to a single status
a. A collection of roles associated with a given status
b. Role Conflict and Role Strain
i. Role conflict refers to incompatibility among roles corresponding to two or more different statuses
1. Incompatibility of different roles played by a single person – or difficult moral choices.
a. Competing and conflicting demands stemming from a role set
2. It can be reduced by:
a. Defining some roles as more important than others
b. Setting priorities
c. Insulating roles from one another ii. Role Strain refers to incompatibility among roles corresponding to a single status
1. The attempt to meet incompatible expectations within a single status iii. Role Stress: The anxiety produced by being unable to meet all role requirements at the same time. iv. Role Exit: The process by which people disengage from social roles that have been central in their lives
4. Outline the characteristics of Goffman’s dramaturgical analysis.
a. Examining social interaction in terms of theatrical performances
i. Presentation of self
1. Key is impression management or making oneself appear in the best light possible ii. Role performance includes
1. Stage setting
2. Use of props: costume, tone of voice, gesture iii. Example:
1. Going to the doctor and playing the patient role as expected
5. Discuss the importance of nonverbal communication in human social interaction.
a. Novelist William Sansom's description of a fictional character named Mr. Preedy walking across a beach in Spain is used to illustrate the process of nonverbal communication. This concept refers to communication using body movements, gestures, and facial expressions rather than spoken words. Types of smiles, eye contact, and hand movements can convey particular meanings and when Aboriginals in Canada confront a court room their reluctance to establish eye contact makes them appear to look guilty to those unfamiliar with Native nonverbal communication norms.
b. Body Language and Deception
i. A discussion of Paul Ekman's research in the Applying Sociology Box (p. 142) reveals examples of nonverbal clues which can be identified to suggest if a person is telling a lie. Words, voice patterns, body language, and facial expressions can be analyzed to see if the informal cues are consistent with the formal messages. Several photographs demonstrating emotional expression ask the reader to determine whether these are universal or culturally constrained.
c. Gender and Personal Performances
i. Gender is a central element in personal performances.
d. Demeanor
i. Demeanor refers to general conduct or deportment. It tends to vary by an individual's power. Given that men are more likely than women to be in positions of dominance it is suggested that women must craft their performances more formally and display appropriate deference.
e. Use of Space
i. Power is a key here as well. Masculinity has been traditionally associated with greater amounts of personal space, or the surrounding area over which a person makes some claim to privacy. Also, men tend to intrude on a woman's space more often than women intrude on a man's space.
f. Staring, Smiling, and Touching
i. While women tend to maintain interactions through sustaining eye contact longer than men do, men tend to stare more. Meanings associated with smiling also seem to vary with gender as do touching patterns, with men tending to touch women more than women touch men. Various rituals are created in which men tend to express their dominance over women.
g. Idealization
i. Goffman suggests that we attempt to idealize our intentions when it comes to our performances. The context of a hospital involving physicians making their rounds with patients is used to illustrate how people, in this case doctors, try to convince people they are abiding by ideal cultural standards, when, in fact, less noble reasons are often involved.
h. Embarrassment and Tact
i. As hard as we may try to craft perfect performances, slip-ups do occur and may cause embarrassment, or the recognition that we have failed through our performance to convince our audience. Often times audiences will ignore flaws in performances, using tact to enable the performance to continue. This is because embarrassment causes discomfort for all present. ii. While life is not a scripted play, to some extent, Shakespeare's "All the world's a stage" idea does portray our relationships within social structure to some extent.
Chapter 7
1. Distinguish between instrumental and expressive leadership and identify and describe leadership styles in terms of decision making.
a. Two roles:
i. Instrumental
1. Task oriented ii. Expressive
1. People oriented
b. Three decision making styles:
i. Authoritarian
1. Leader makes decisions; Compliance from members ii. Democratic
1. Member involvement iii. Laissez-faire
1. Mainly let group function on its own
2. Summarize the research findings on group conformity, including the research of Asch, Milgram, and Janis.
a. Asch’s research
i. Willingness to COMPROMISE our own judgments ii. Line experiment
b. Milgram’s research
i. Role authority plays ii. Following orders
c. Janis’ research
i. Negative side of groupthink ii. Lack of objectivity
3. Distinguish between in-groups and out-groups.
a. Two other kinds of groups provide us with standards against which we evaluate ourselves. An in-groups is an esteemed social group commanding a member's loyalty. This group exists in relation to out-groups, or social groups toward which one feels competition or opposition. This dichotomy allows us to sharpen boundaries between groups and to highlight their distinctive qualities. The operation of the group dynamics created by these distinctions affects broader social patterns in society, such as social inequality between whites and people of color.
4. Identify and describe three types of formal organizations.
a. Large secondary groups, organized to achieve goals efficiently
i. Utilitarian
1. Material rewards for members ii. Normative
1. Voluntary organizations
2. Ties to personal morality iii. Coercive
1. Punishment or treatment
2. Total institutions
5. Distinguish between primary and secondary groups.
a. Primary Group
i. Traits
1. Small
2. Personal orientation
3. Enduring ii. Primary relationships
1. First group experienced in life
2. Irreplaceable
3. Security iii. Assistance of all kinds
1. Emotional to financial
b. Secondary Groups
i. Traits
1. Large membership
2. Goal or activity orientation
3. Formal and polite ii. Secondary relationships
1. Weak emotional ties between persons
2. Short term iii. Examples
1. Co-workers
2. Political organizations
Chapter 8
1. Define sex from a cultural perspective.
a. While sexuality has a biological foundation, its expression is widely variant.
b. Cultural variation
i. Sex is viewed differently in other cultures ii. Notions of modesty iii. Restrictions placed upon openness
c. The incest taboo
i. Found in every society ii. The norm forbidding sexual relations between certain relatives
2. Summarize the profound changes in sexual attitudes and practices during the last century, noting in particular the sexual revolution and the sexual counter-revolution.
a. The sexual counterrevolution
i. The return to sexual responsibility ii. Limited partners iii. STD’s iv. Premarital sex
b. The Sexual Revolution
i. 1960’s: fostered a new openness toward sexuality
1. The pill
2. Attitude of sex was part of everyone’s life, married or not
3. Double standard challenged ii. Premarital sex
1. Men and women are almost equal in the percent reporting engaging in premarital sex
2. Premarital sex is broadly accepted among America's young iii. Extramarital sex
1. 75% of men and 90% of women remain faithful during the marriages
c. Sexual Orientation : A person’s romantic and emotional attraction to another person
i. Heterosexuality
1. “Hetero:” the other of two ii. Homosexuality
1. “Homo:” the same iii. Bisexuality
1. Strong attraction to both sexes iv. Asexuality
1. No sexual attraction
v. Roots of sexual orientation
1. Biological or a choice
2. Social influences
3. Discuss the issues surrounding the high rate of teenage pregnancy.
a. Teen pregnancy
i. Highest rates of other high-income countries ii. Sex education in schools: solution or problem?
4. Discuss the range of sexual violence and abuse in the United States.
a. A culture of rape
i. Sexual violence ranges from verbal abuse to rape to assault
b. Rape
i. A violent act that uses sex to hurt, humiliate, or control another person
c. Date rape (or acquaintance rape)
i. Forcible sexual violence against women by men they know
d. Myths about rape
i. Rape involves strangers ii. Women provoke their attackers iii. Rape is simply sex
5. Examine human sexuality by applying sociology’s three major theoretical approaches.
a. Structural-functionalism
i. Need to regulate sexual behavior ii. Latent function
b. Symbolic-interactionism
i. The social construction of sexuality ii. Global comparison
c. Social-conflict
i. Creating social inequality
d. Feminist theory
i. Sexuality may ultimately lead to the degradation of women in society
e. Queer theory
i. Challenging the heterosexual bias against homosexuals
Chapter 9
1. Define deviance
a. Deviance is the recognized violation of cultural norms.
2. Evaluate the general biological and psychological explanations of deviance and criminality.
a. A century ago most human behavior was explained by biological instincts. Understandably early attempts to understand deviance emphasized biological causes.
b. Early work by Lombroso and later, William Sheldon, suggested that criminals possessed distinctive physical traits or body types. Today there continues to be genetic research with attempts to isolate predisposition to criminality. While it may be true that biology affects some behavior, the majority of current research focuses upon social influences.
c. Psychological explanations of deviance concentrate on personality abnormalities, and like biological theories are focused on "individualistic" characteristics.
d. Containment theory suggests that non-delinquents have personalities that intervene in any social impulses towards deviance. Longitudinal research by Reckless and Dinitz in the 1960s supported this notion.
e. Since, however, most serious crime is committed by people who are psychologically normal, the limitations of this theoretical approach are obvious. What is also ignored is the different likelihoods of being labeled as deviant, depending upon people’s location within the power structure of society.
3. Explain Merton’s strain theory of deviance and identify and describe four types of deviant responses.
a. Merton uses strain theory to point out imbalances between socially endorsed "means" available to different groups of people and the widely held goals and values in society. As a result of this structured inequality of opportunity, some people are prone to deviant responses. Four adaptive strategies are identified by Merton: innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion. Figure 9-1 (p. 212) outlines the components of this theory. Conformity, or the acceptance of both cultural goals and means, is seen as the result of successful socialization and the opportunity to pursue these goals through socially approved means. The text discusses Rocco Perri's life as an example of Merton's "innovation" mode of adaptation for those experiencing social marginality.
b. Merton finds that many people respond to the strain by abandoning success goals through ritualistic maintenance of rules. Others reject the goals of success and the means and retreat, perhaps into drugs or alcohol. The final group rejects both goals and means but replaces them with others through rebellion.
c. As insightful as Merton is in identifying structural sources of deviance, strain theory does not explain all kinds of deviance equally well nor does every individual necessarily seek wealth for personal success.
4. Outline the major dimensions of labeling theory, including the concepts of primary and secondary deviance, stigma, degradation ceremonies, and retrospective and progressive labeling.
a. Labelling Theory
i. Primary and Secondary Deviance
1. Edwin Lemert has distinguished between the concepts of primary deviance, initial acts of deviance that may provoke little action and secondary deviance, repeated norm violations that lead the individual to accept the deviant definition. ii. Stigma
1. Erving Goffman suggested secondary deviance is the beginning of a "deviant career." This is typically a consequence of acquiring a stigma, or a powerful negative social label that radically changes a person's social identity and self-concept. Some people may go through a "degradation ceremony," like a criminal prosecution, where a community formally condemns the person for deviance allegedly committed. iii. Retrospective and Projective Labelling
1. Retrospective labelling is the interpretation of someone's past consistent with present deviance. In this case, other people selectively rethink the "deviant's" past, arguing all the evidence was there that would predict the person's problem.
2. Projective labelling is the projection of a deviant identity into the future, so that escape from stigma is difficult. iv. Labelling Difference as Deviance
1. Thomas Szasz argues that the concept "mental illness" should not be applied to people. He says that only the "body" can become ill, and mental illness is therefore a myth. Szasz suggests that the label mental illness is attached to people who are different and who disturb the status quo of society. It acts as a justification for forcing people to comply with cultural norms.
5. Define white-collar crime, corporate crime, and organized crime.
a. The concept white-collar crime, or crimes committed by persons of high social position in the course of their occupations
b. When whole companies break the law, corporate crime, illegal actions of a corporation or people acting on its behalf, takes place.
c. Organized crime is a business supplying illegal goods or services such as illegal drugs, prostitution, and credit card fraud.
6. Name four justifications that have been advanced for punishment and how adequately each is being carried out by the contemporary U.S. criminal justice system.
a. The four justifications for using punishment include:
i. Retribution
1. Oldest justification for punishment
2. Punishment is society’s revenge for moral wrong
3. In Principle, punishment should be equal in severity to the deviance itself ii. Deterrence
1. An Early Modern Approuch
2. Deviance is considered social disruption which society acts to control
3. People are viewed as rational and self-interested; deterrence works because the pain of punishment outweighs the pleasure of deviance iii. Rehabilitation
1. A modern strategy linked to development of social science
2. Deviance is viewed as the result of social problems and personal problems.
3. Social conditions are improved; treatment is tailored to offenders condition iv. Social Protection
1. A modern approach easier to carry out than rehabilitation
2. If society is unable or unwilling to rehabilitate offenders or reform social conditions, people are protected by imprisonment or execution of offender.
Chapter 10
1. Define and state the four basic principles of social stratification.
a. Social stratification refers to a system by which categories of people in society are ranked in a hierarchy.
b. Four principles are identified which help explain why social stratification exists.
i. First, social stratification is a characteristic of society and not merely of individuals. ii. Second, social stratification is universal but variable. iii. Third, it persists over generations. iv. And, fourth, it is supported by patterns of belief.
c.
2. Distinguish between caste and class systems.
a. A caste system is a system of social stratification based on ascription. Pure caste systems are "closed" with no social mobility.
b. A class systems are defined as systems of social stratification based on individual achievement.
3. Evaluate the Davis-Moore thesis.
a. The Davis-Moore thesis asserts that some degree of social stratification is even a social necessity. They theorize that certain tasks in society are of more value than others, and in order to ensure the most qualified people fill these positions, they must be rewarded better than others.
4. Examine how stratification changes as societies pass through the stages of sociocultural evolution as outlined by Lenski.
a. The Lenskis model of sociocultural evolution (outlined in Chapter 4) can help us to understand the varying degrees of inequality found in the world.
b. Hunting and Gathering Societies
i. In technologically simple societies no categories of people have more than others.
c. Horticultural, Pastoral, and Agrarian Societies
i. As technology advances and surpluses in resources occur, fairly rigid social strata emerge where the elite wield enormous power.
d. Industrial Societies
i. As technology continues to advance in industrial societies inequality tends to diminish as the workforce becomes better educated and participates in decision making.
e. How Have Societies Changed?
i. The sociocultural evolution model used by the Lenskis focuses on technology in answering this question. Marx's conflict approach focuses on historical differences in the productive system. And, while Weber focussed on characteristics of human thought, Durkheim concentrated on how societies differ in terms of how they are bound together.
5. What is kuznet’s Curve? What is its significance
a. This curve suggests that technological progress first sharply increases but then moderates the intensity of stratification.
b. Global Map 10.1 (p. 253) generally supports the notion expressed in Kuznet's Curve where less income inequality is found in the highly industrialized countries. It may well be, however, that the Information Revolution will increase the economic polarization in Canada.
6. Do you believe that marx’s predictions that advanced capitalist societies would eventually experience revolutions were simply wrong or has the revolution merely been postponed?
a. Stratification and Conflict.
i. Karl Marx: class and conflict.
1. Marx saw classes as defined by people's relationship to the means of production.
a. Capitalists (or the bourgeoisie) are people who own factories and other productive businesses.
b. The proletariat are people who sell their productive labor to the capitalists.
2. Critical evaluation.
a. Marx's theory has been enormously influential.
b. His work has been criticized for failing to recognize that a system of unequal rewards may be necessary to motivate people to perform their social roles effectively. ii. These reasons are suggested for the failure of Western capitalism to experience a Marxist revolution:
1. The capitalist class has fragmented and grown in size, giving more people a stake in the system.
2. A higher standard of living has emerged.
a. Blue-collar occupations, lower-prestige work involving mostly manual labor, have declined.
b. White-collar occupations, higher-prestige work involving mostly mental activity, have expanded.
3. Workers are better organized than they were in Marx's day, and their unions have been able to fight for reform.
4. The government has extended various legal protections to workers.
5. Supporters of Marxist thought respond:
a. Wealth remains highly concentrated.
b. White-collar jobs offer no more income, security or satisfaction than blue-collar jobs did a century ago.
c. Class conflict continues between workers and management.
d. The laws still favor the rich. iii. Max Weber identified three distinct dimensions of stratification: class, status and power.
1. Following Weber, many sociologists use the term socioeconomic status, a composite ranking based on various dimensions of social inequality.
2. Inequality in history: Weber's view.
3. Critical evaluation. Weber's views have been widely accepted in the United States although increasing income inequality may lead to a renewed emphasis on the importance of economic classes.
Chapter 11
1. Identify and describe the dimensions of social inequality in the United States.
a. Income
i. Occupational wages and earnings from investments
b. Wealth
i. The total value of money and other assets, minus any debt
c. Social power
i. The ability to control, even in the face of resistance
d. Occupational prestige
i. Job-related status
e. Schooling
i. Key to better career opportunities
2. Characterize the four social classes in the United States.
a. The upper class
i. 5 % of the population
b. The middle class
i. 40-45% of the population
c. The working class
i. 33% of the population
d. The lower class
i. The remaining 20% of people
e.
3. Examine ways in which social standing is linked to health, values, politics, and family life.
a. Health
i. Amount and type of health care
b. Cultural values
i. Vary with position
c. Politics
i. Conservative or liberal ii. Degree of involvement
d. Family and gender
i. Type of parental involvement ii. Socialization practices iii. Relationships and responsibilities
4. Discuss trends in social mobility in the United States.
a. Upward
i. College degree or higher-paying job
b. Downward
i. Drop out of school, losing a job or divorce
c. Structural social mobility
i. Changes in society or national economic trends
d. Intergenerational mobility
i. Change in social position during one person’s lifetime
e. Intergenerational mobility
i. Upward or downward movement that takes place across generations within a family
5. Debate the issue of whether poverty is a result of individual or social factors.
a. Poverty
i. Relative (in relation to others) ii. Absolute (life threatening)
b. Poverty threshold (line)
i. Three times the income needed to purchase a nutritionally adequate diet ii. Adjusted for family size and cost of living
c. Extent of poverty in America
i. 12.7% (40 million) are so classified
d. Age
i. In 2004, 17.8% of all children were poor, contributing to high infant mortality rate
e. Race and ethnicity
i. Two-thirds of all poor are white ii. In 2004, 24.3% of all African Americans and 21.9% of all Latinos lived in poverty, in relation to population numbers they are three times as likely to be poor
f. Gender
i. The feminization of poverty: ii. 60% of poor are women
g. Rise in households headed by single women
h. Blame the poor
i. The poor are mostly responsible for their own poverty ii. A culture of poverty: produces a self-perpetuating cycle of poverty iii. 1996, time limits of 2 years and total of 5
i. Blame society
i. Little opportunity for work ii. William Julius Wilson proposes
1. Government hire people (WPA)
2. Improve schools, transportation and daycare
j.
6. Examine the causes and scope of the problem of homelessness.
a. No precise count
i. How could there ever be?
b. Experts “guess-ti-mate”
i. 500,000 on any given night ii. 3.5 million at some time during the course of the year
c. Causes
i. They are poor ii. Personal traits
1. One-third are substance abusers
2. One-fourth suffer from mental illnesses iii. Many homeless are entire families due to structural changes in economy “new homeless”
Chapter 12
1. Distinguish between the high-income countries, the middle-income countries, and the low-income countries.
a. A Word About Terminology
i. The traditional classification of countries with respect to economic development into first, second, and third worlds has been replaced because of the sweeping political changes in recent years. Also, lumping together nations with widely divergent economic development into the third world category was not satisfactory. The new classification of the 192 nations focuses upon per-capita income development and divides nations into high-income, middle-income, and low-income categories.
b. High-Income Countries
i. These are the first countries to have industrialized. They are comprised primarily of Western Europe, North America and Oceania, along with Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Their total population is 18% of the world's population but they control over 50% of the world's income. Their people live primarily in urban areas and their productive technology is capital intensive. They are also at the forefront of the new Information Revolution.
c. Middle-Income Countries
i. While the high income countries are characterized by per-capita income between 10 and 25 thousand dollars, these countries are in the 2500 to 10,000 dollar range. They have begun to industrialize but over half their residents are involved in agricultural production. Among this group are nations of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe which have begun to introduce market systems. Also included are oil producing nations of the Middle-East, some Latin American countries and north and west Africa. These countries comprise one-third of the globe's population, but the usual amenities of the high-income countries are available to very few of these nations' citizens.
d. Low-Income Countries
i. The majority of people in these countries are abjectly poor and starvation is a recurrent feature of life. Half the world's population lives in these countries, primarily in rural areas where the productivity levels are low. They are found primarily in central and eastern Africa as well as Asia.
2. Examine the severity of global poverty.
a. GLOBAL WEALTH AND POVERTY
i. While deprivation exists in societies like Canada the poorest countries are characterized by severe and extensive poverty.
b. The Severity of Poverty
i. The data presented in Table 12-1 (p. 289) suggest why poverty is more severe in the low-income countries. This table compares the GDP and per-person income between countries from around the world for the year 1999. Further, a quality of life index measure is suggested for each nation. (Canadians enjoy the third highest quality of life.) Significant differences are indicated. Figure 12-2 (p. 289) shows the relative share of global income and population by world region. Economic productivity is lowest where population growth is highest.
c. Relative Versus Absolute Poverty
i. Every society experiences some level of poverty. In wealthy nations poverty is often viewed as a relative matter, but in the low-income countries absolute poverty is much more critical. The people there typically lack the resources necessary to survive. Global Map 12-1 (p. 391) shows the significant differences in median age of death depending upon the income level of countries.
d. The Extent of Poverty
i. Poverty in the poor countries is more extensive also. Most people there live in conditions far worse than the poor of Canada. These statistics boil down to one devastating fact, people are dying from a basic lack of nutrition. The magnitude of this tragedy is almost impossible to imagine with 40,000 people dying each day from starvation.
e. Poverty and Children
i. As in Canada, poverty worldwide hits children hardest. Many of the world's poor children live in the streets of cities forced to beg, steal, sell sex, or serve as couriers for drug gangs in order to survive.
f. Poverty and Women
i. While women in high-income countries like Canada face discrimination in the workforce and family, women in low-income countries fare far worse. They receive little schooling, they are responsible for most child-rearing and house maintenance, own little of the resources and are disproportionately poor. In poorer countries women have little access to birth control and often give birth without the assistance of trained health personnel
3. Compare and contrast modernization theory and dependency theory.
a. The two dominant explanations for the unequal distribution of the world's wealth and power are modernization theory and dependency theory.
i. Modernization Theory
1. Modernization theory maintains that global inequality reflects differing levels of technological development among societies. ii. Dependency Theory
1. Dependency theory maintains that global poverty historically stems from the exploitation of poor societies by rich societies.