Sociology StudyGuide Ch 9-12
Max Weber identified and explained three distinct types of authority
(charismatic, traditional, legal-rational).
Today, wealth is distributed inequitably at the top of the socioeconomic scale. Corporate profits have increased more than 141 percent, and CEO pay has risen by more than
298 percent
African American women make on average 64 cents for every dollar a Caucasian male makes. Latina women make
56 cents for every dollar a Caucasian male makes.
The Agricultural Revolution led to development of the first economies that were based on trading goods. Eventually, the mechanization of the manufacturing process led to the
Industrial Revolution and gave rise to two major competing economic systems, capitalism and socialism.
Monotheism
Single god
Oligarchy is
a form of government in which power is held by a small, elite group
Polarization means that
a gap has developed in the job market, with most employment opportunities at the lowest and highest levels and few jobs for those with midlevel skills and education.
outsourcing
a practice where jobs are contracted to an outside source, often in another country
One of the most misunderstood concepts of Islam is that of jihad, which many people interpret as a holy war, but actually has two definitions -
a struggle or fight against the enemies of Islam and the spiritual struggle within oneself against sin.
Socialism is
an economic system in which there is government ownership (often referred to as "state run") of goods and their production, with an impetus to share work and wealth equally among the members of a society.
Cultural attitudes in Japan prior to about 1986 supported the idea that the elderly deserve assistance, but major social shifts have created an increased demand for community and government care, and the increase in women working outside the home has made it more difficult to provide in-home care to aging parents, which leads to
an increase in the need for government-supported institutions
Max Weber studied power and authority, differentiating between power and formulating a system for classifying types of
authority
Monarch is a government in which a single person rules until he or she dies or abdicates the throne; typically pass down through
birth right
Taoist beliefs emphasize the virtues of
compassion and moderation
Despite the cost of college today, it is more necessary than ever before to
complete a college degree
Evidence suggests that legal protection of voting rights does not
directly translate into equal voting power.
It was not until the establishment of Title IX of the Education Amendments in 1972 that
discriminating on the basis of sex in U.S. education programs became illegal.
Some people suggest secularization is a root cause of many social problems, such as
divorce, drug use, and educational downturn.
Power affects more than personal relationships; it shapes larger dynamics like social groups, professional organizations, and .
governments
The individual who has fallen ill is not only physically sick, but now
must adhere to the specifically patterned social role of being sick with rights and obligations
Religion is an institution that helps maintain
patterns of social inequality that keep poor people poor and disempowered
Social Conflict theorists suggest that issues with the healthcare system, as with most other social problems, are
rooted in capitalist society.
Demedicalization normalizes behavior that was once understood as
sick
Liberation theologians discuss theology from the point of view of
the poor and the oppressed and interpret the scriptures as a call to action against poverty and injustice
The controversy surrounding death with dignity laws or physician-assisted suicide is hotly debated. Oregon, the first to institute a Death with Dignity Act in 1997, required
the presence of two physicians for a legal assisted suicide
Besides formal offices, authority can arise from
tradition and personal qualities.
Religion has 3 major functions (Durkheim)
Establishing social cohesion•Promoting social control•Providing meaning and purpose
The Industrial Revolution and its accompanying social changes made education more accessible to the general population.
Many families in the emerging middle class found new opportunities for formal schooling.
Symbolic-Interactionist
Medicalization of deviance is the process that changes "bad" behavior into "sick" behavior
Charismatic
Napoleon, Jesus Christ, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ghandi
Structural functional theorists suggest that manifest (or primary) functions, are
The intended and visible functions of education. and latent (or secondary) functions, which are the hidden and unintended functions.
Academic lessons become the focus of education as a child moves through the school system. However, education is
about much more than the simple learning of facts.
Credentialism is the emphasis on certificates or degrees that symbolize what a person has
achieved, and allows the labeling of that individual
Direct purchase insurance is coverage that
an individual buys directly from a private company.
Continuity theory on aging suggests that an enduring attempt to maintain social equilibrium and stability by making future decisions on the basis of already developed social roles contributes to a
certain consistent span of life for the elderly, barring a major illness such as Alzheimer's
A government's power is not necessarily limited to control of its own citizens. A dominant nation, for instance, will often use its
clout to influence or support other governments or to seize control of other nation states.
he United States Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States, and it has the final say on decisions about the
constitutionality of laws that citizens challenge.
Political debate about immigration is often fueled by
conversations about low-wage-earning workers, there are actually as many highly skilled, and high-earning, workers involved as well
n the United States, median income has not increased, and in fact it has receded in many cases. The size, income, and wealth of the middle class have been
declining since the 1970s, effects that were perhaps hastened by the recession.
Health differs around the world and some theorists categorize three categories of countries based on
degree of development.
Structural Functional theorists view government and politics as a way to enforce norms and regulate society's problems. They seek consensus and order in society and believe that
dysfunction creates social problems that lead to social change.
Employment-based insurance is health plan coverage that is provided in whole or in part by an employer or union; it can cover just the
employee, or the employee and his or her family
Functionalists view government and politics as a way to
enforce norms and regulate conflict; all aspects of society serve a purpose.
As capitalism began to dominate the economies of many countries during the Industrial Revolution, the rapid growth of businesses and their tremendous profitability gave some owners the resources they needed to create
enormous corporations that could monopolize an entire industry.
Cultural attitudes shape the way our society views old age and dying, but these attitudes shift and
evolve over time.
The economy the social institution through which a society's resources are
exchanged and managed to allow individuals to meet their needs and wants
Structural Functionalist theory suggest that religious rituals bring order, comfort, and organization through shared
familiar representations and patterns of behavior.
A democracy ensures certain basic rights for their citizens. Citizens are
free to organize political parties and hold elections. Leaders, once elected, must abide by the terms of the given nation's constitution and are limited in the powers they can exercise, as well as in the length of the duration of their terms.
According to Structural Functional theorists, in this model of health, doctors serve as
gatekeepers, deciding who is healthy and who is sick, a relationship in which the doctor has all the power.
Structural unemployment is when there is a societal level of disjuncture between people seeking jobs and the available jobs. This mismatch can be:
geographic (they are hiring in California, but most unemployed live in Alabama)•\ technological (skilled workers are replaced by machines, as in the auto industry
It is important to note that ethnic minorities, including African Americans, Mexican Americans and Native Americans,
have higher rates of diseases and causes of mortality than whites
Socialists claim that a capitalistic economy leads to
inequality, with unfair distribution of wealth and individuals who use their power at the expense of society.
The rapid increase in computer use in all aspects of daily life is a main reason for the transition to an
information economy. Fewer people are needed to work in factories because computerized robots now handle many of the tasks. This is referred to as the Post-industrial revolution.
Globalization has led to the development of global commodity chain, where internationally integrated economic links connect workers and corporations for the purpose of
manufacture and marketing.
Many contend that our society and even our healthcare institutions discriminate against certain diseases—like
mental disorders, AIDS, venereal diseases, and skin disorders. This is known as the stigmatization of illness.•
The quaternary sector produces ideas; these include the research that leads to
new technologies, the management of information, and a society's highest levels of education and the arts
The 1960s saw other important reforms in U.S. voting. Shortly before the Voting Rights Act was passed, the 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case Reynolds v. Sims changed the nature of elections. This landmark decision reaffirmed the notion of one person, one vote. This concept holds that all
people's votes should be counted equally. Before this decision, unequal distributions of population enabled small groups of people in sparsely populated rural areas to have as much voting power as the denser populations of urban areas. After Reynolds v. Sims, districts were redrawn so that they would include equal numbers of voters.•
Conflict theorists believe that the public education system reinforces and
perpetuates social inequalities.
The social construction of health: emphasizes the socio-cultural aspects of
physical, objectively definable phenomena
The government has four main purposes:
planning and directing society•meeting social needs•maintaining law and order•managing international relations
Religion
plays a major role in the process of socialization
Age Stratification theory falls under the social conflict theory on aging suggesting that because age serves as a basis of social control, different age groups will have varying access to social resources such as
political and economic power.
n the United States, many people view caring for the elderly as a burden. Even when there is a family member able and willing to provide for an elderly family member, 60 percent of family caregivers are employed outside the home and are unable to
provide the needed support
Brown v. Board of Education was a court case decided by the US Supreme Court in 1954 unanimously strikes down segregation in
public schools, sparking the Civil Rights movement.
Social conflict suggest wars often result from
religious disputes. To understand a culture, sociologists must study its religion.
n underdeveloped countries, as economies develop, more and more people are employed in the
secondary sector
Some religious scholars consider Confucianism more of a social system than a religion because it focuses on
sharing wisdom about moral practices but doesn't involve any type of specific worship.
Conrad and Barker show how medical knowledge is
socially constructed, and can both reflect and reproduce inequalities in gender, class, race, and ethnicity
Unfortunately, in June 2013 the Supreme Court repealed several important aspects of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, ruling that
southern states no longer need the stricter scrutiny that was once required to prohibit racial discrimination in voting practices in the South.
In 2015, the United States continued its recovery from the Great Recession," arguably the worst economic downturn since the stock
stock market collapse in 1929 and the Great Depression that ensued.
Karl Marx believed that the only way for the underprivileged to eventually gain some measure of equality would be to continue to
struggle against one another.
In the United States, society tends to glorify youth and associate it with beauty and sexuality. In comedies, the elderly are often associated with grumpiness or hostility. Rarely do
the roles of older people convey the fullness of life experienced by seniors.
An example of institutionalized sexism is
the way that women are more likely than men to be diagnosed with certain kinds of mental disorders.
While women are getting more and better jobs and their wages are rising more quickly than men's wages are, U.S. Census statistics show that
they are still earning only 77 percent of what men are for the same positions
According to Social Conflict, struggles in the present era are driven by the desire to gain or protect power and wealth, whether in the form of land and resources or in the form of liberty and autonomy. Internally, groups within the U.S. struggle within the system, by
trying to achieve the outcomes they prefer.•
Although real poverty exists in the United States, we tend to have what is called relative poverty, defined as being
unable to live the lifestyle of the average person in your country.•
Some of the drawbacks of globalization are that countries can be
weakened or polluted.
Growing up poor can cut off access to the opportunities and services people need to move out of poverty and into stable employment. As we saw, more education was often a key to stability, and those raised in poverty are the ones least able to find
well-paying work, perpetuating a cycle.