Sociology exam 2

How can we see gender inequality in politics?

Women are playing an increasingly important role in U.S. politics, although they are still far from achieving full equality. Women politicians are overwhelmingly affiliated with the Democratic Party. In the U.S. Congress, nearly three-quarters of women are Democrats. Typically, the more local the political office, the more likely it is to be occupied by a woman. One reason is that local politics is often part-time work, especially in smaller cities and towns. Local politics can thus be good "women's work," offering low pay, part-time employment, flexible hours, and the absence of a clear career path

What is the glass ceiling?

a promotion barrier that prevents women's upward mobility

What is intersectionality?

a sociological perspective that holds that our multiple group memberships affect our lives in ways that are distinct from single group memberships. The study of interacting effects of these different sources of inequality and the resulting experiences of oppression.

conformist

accept generally held values and the conventional means of realizing them regardless of whether they meet with success. Most of the population falls into this category

innovators

accept social approved values but use illegitimate or illegal means to follow them. Ex Mafia

What is race

as a socially constructed category rooted in the belief that there are fundamental differences among humans, associated with phenotype and ancestry. real or alleged traits

What is class consciousness?

awareness of one's place in a system of social classes, especially (in Marxist terms) as it relates to the class struggle.

income

1. Income: money received from paid wages and salaries or earned from investments.

Why did racism flourish historically?

1. The first reason lies in the exploitative relations that Europeans established with the peoples they conquered. The slave trade could not have been persisted had Europeans not constructed a belief system that allowed them to justify their actions by claiming that Africans belonged to an inferior race. Racism helped justify colonial rule over nonwhites and denied them the rights of political participation being won by whites in the colonists' European homelands. 2. Second, an opposition between the colors white and black as cultural symbols was deeply rooted in European culture. White had long been associated with purity and black with evil. 3. A third factor was the invention and diffusion of the concept of race itself. Racist attitudes have existed for thousands of years. Joseph arthur

What are the five types in Merton's typology?

1. conformists 2. innovators 3. ritualists 4. retreatist 5. rebel

what are the four components of social class

1. income 2. wealth 3. education 4. occupation

wealth

1. money and material possessions held by an individual or group.

What are the three systems of stratification

1. slavery 2. caste 3. class systems

Black feminism:

: focuses on the problems facing black women. Must take racism into account

Lower class:

: roughly 20 percent of American households, includes some full-time, low-wage workers and those who work part-time or not at all; their annual household income is typically lower than $20,000. Farmers, part time workers.

What does Harvey Molotch think we should do about security

? Advocates for a more reasoned, empathetic approach. Rather than designing security systems on the assumption that all individuals are potential deviants, he appeals to the human instinct toward "decency"—our natural instinct to help one another in times of need. Molotch argues that when people encounter someone who is drowning, they naturally throw a rope and do not need to be coerced to do so. As a result, measures that accord with the formal and informal norms of decency upon which a society already relies will be most effective in preventing deviant behavior.

What is the Theory of Broken Windows?

? Zimbardo abandoned cars in two social settings, one poor one rich. Cars were vandalized in both places regardless of class or race cuz people sensed the car had been abandoned. Wilson and kelling argued that Any sign of social disorder in a community even the appearance of a broken window encourages more crime.

What is a minority group?

A group of people in a given society who because of their distinct physical or cultural characteristics find themselves in situation of inequality compared with the dominant group within that society

Bourgeoisie:

capitalists, own the means of production

How are sanctions and laws related?

A sanction is any reaction from others that is meant to ensure that a person or group complies with a given norm. Sanctions may be positive (the offering of rewards for conformity) or negative (punishment for behavior that does not conform). They can also be formal or informal. Courts and prisons are the main types of formal sanctions. Laws are norms defined by governments as principles their citizens must follow; sanctions are used against people who do not conform to those principles.

What are microaggressions?

Are small slights, indignities, or acts of disrespect that are hurtful to people of color, even though they are often perpetuated by well-meaning whites. Ex. Telling Asian americans that they speak good English.

What are the Functionalist Theories?

Argue that crime occurs when the aspirations of individuals and groups do not coincide with available opportunities. The disparity between desires and fulfillment will lead to deviant behavior.

What are the debates about the poverty line?

Based on cost estimates for families of different sizes. Ex family of 4 annual cash income of 24,000. Some critics believe it overestimates the amount of poverty. It fails to consider non cash forms (Medicaid, medicare, food stamps, under the table). Others argue that it underestimates poverty. It overemphasizes the family budget spent on food and severely underestimates the share spent on housing. Also that it underestimates the number of older adults (65up) living in poverty.

Why were Devah Pager's research results so significant?

Being a black male in America today is about the same as being a convicted criminal. She set up an experiment having both black and white people apply to jobs, both non offenders and ex offenders. Whites were preferred, non-offenders were preferred over ex offenders. Race has a major barrier opportunity according to this study.

What is overt racism?

Blatant, obvious and almost always meant to harm, can lead to mental and physical injury.

How does Conflict Theory analyze crime and deviance?

Conflict theory draws on elements of Marxist thought to argue that deviance is deliberate and often political. Conflict theorists deny that deviance is "determined" by factors such as biology, personality, anomie, social disorganization, and labels. Rather, they argue, individuals choose to engage in deviant behavior in response to the inequalities of the capitalist system. Conflict theorists analyze crime and deviance in terms of the social structure and the preservation of power among the ruling class.

Postmodern feminism:

challenges the idea that all women share a single basis of identity and experience. Encourages the acceptance of many different standpoints, representing very different experiences (heterosexuals, lesbians, black women). Most difficult relationship with the strands of feminism just discussed.

age poverty

children are the principal victims of poverty in the US. US ranks 2nd. Usually cuz of single moms, minority worse off. Old people don't get much during retirement (30,000).

education

college education. It is one of the strongest predictors of occupation, income and wealth.

gender

concerns the psychological, social, and cultural differences between males and females, such as personality, goals, and social roles

ritualists

conform to socially accepted standards, though they have lost sight of their underlying values. They compulsively follow rule for their own sake. A ritualist might dedicate herself to a boring job, even though it has no career prospects and provides few rewards.

How do crime and deviance intersect? (Venn Diagram)

deviance (left side): nudity and bizarre clothing. Deviance & crime intersection (middle): murder and sexual assault. Crime (right side): exceeding speed limit and underage drinking

Proletariat

earn their living by selling their labor to the capitalists

What is deviance?

Defined as nonconformity to a set of norms that a significant number of people in a community or society accept. Doesn't have to be criminal. Underage drinking or speeding isn't considered deviant cuz they are normative.

What does the occupation scale show?

Doctor got the highest score. The more prestigious or social helping jobs are higher. Nurses, lawyers, vet, school teacher. Janitor, sales person, taxi driver at the bottom

What is institutional racism?

EX. Ferguson. It is defined as the idea that racism occurs through the respected and established institutions of society rather than through the hateful actions of some bad people, that racism pervades all of society's structures in a systematic way. Study how social institutions such as schools, hospitals, police departments, and businesses have practices supporting white supremacy built into the very fabric of their operations

What is the idea of differential association?

Edwin Sutherland. Linked crime to differential association. Argues that we learn deviant behavior in precisely the same way we learn about conventional behavior: from our contacts with primary groups such as peers, family members, and coworkers. The term differential refers to the ratio of deviant to conventional social contacts. We become deviant when exposed to a higher level of deviant persons and influences, compared with conventional influences.

What is anomie?

Emile Durkheim! Suggest that in modern societies, traditional norms and standards become undermined without being replaced by new ones. Anomie exists when there are no clear standards to guide behavior in a given area of social life.

What is gender typing in the workplace?

Expanding areas of lower-level work, such as secretarial or retail sales positions, attract a substantial proportion of women. These jobs are poorly paid and hold few career prospects. Men with good educational qualifications aspire to something higher, whereas others choose blue-collar work. Once an occupation has become gender typed, inertia sets in: Job hierarchies are built around the assumption that men will occupy superior positions, while a stream of women will flow through subordinate jobs. Employers are guided in future hiring decisions by gender labels. And the very conditions of most female jobs lead to adaptive responses on the part of women—low job commitment, few career ambitions, high turnover, the seeking of alternative rewards in social relations—which fortify the image of women as suitable for only lower-level jobs

gender poverty

Females are more poor, due to divorce, separation. Single moms get caught in a vicious circle.

What are the Interactionist Theories?

Focus on deviance as a socially constructed phenomenon. Rejecting the idea that some types of conduct are inherently deviant, they ask how behaviors get defined as deviant and why only certain groups get labeled as deviant.

What are Marx's views on the means of production?

For Marx, the term class refers to people who have a common relationship to the means of production—the means by which they gain a livelihood. In modern societies, the two main classes are the bourgeoisie and proleteriat. the relationship between classes, according to Marx, is exploitative. During the working day, workers produce more than employers actually need to repay the cost of hiring them. This surplus value is the source of profit, which capitalists put to their own use. Marx concluded that the working class would eventually rise up and overthrow the capitalist system oppressing them, he termed this communism. Marx was wrong about a lot.

Transnational feminism:

focuses on intersections among nationhood, race, gender, sexuality and economic exploitation against the contemporary backdrop of global capitalism.

retreatists

have abandoned the competitive outlook rejecting both the dominant values ad the approved means of achieving them. Ex. Member of a self supporting commune.

Underclass:

have identified a group they call the underclass because they are "beneath" the class system in that they lack access to the world of work and mainstream patterns of behavior. Located in the highest-poverty neighborhoods of the inner city, the underclass is sometimes called the "new urban poor." Mostly African americans, with little possibility of escape.

Pluralism:

in which ethnic cultures exist separately yet participate in the larger society's economic and political life.

Middle Class:

is a catchall term for a diverse group of occupations, lifestyles, and people who earn stable and sometimes substantial incomes at primarily white-collar and highly skilled blue-collar jobs. It is generally considered to include households with income between $40,000 and $200,000, which includes roughly 55 percent of all households.

slavery

is an extreme form of inequality in which some individuals are literally owned by others as property. As a formal institution, slavery is illegal in every country and has almost completely disappeared.

Caste:

is associated with the cultures of the Indian subcontinent and the Hindu belief in rebirth. In caste systems, one's social status is given for life. This means that all individuals must remain at the social level of their birth throughout their life. It is believed that individuals who fail to abide by the rituals and duties of their caste will be reborn in an inferior position in their next life

What were the effects of colonialization generally speaking?

Global migratory movements resuting from colonialism helped create ethnic divisions by placing peoples in cloes proximaty. The early period of colonization coincided with the rise of scientific racism, or the misuse of science to support racist assumptions, and ever since then, the legacy of colonization has generated ethnic divisions that have affected regional and global conflicts. In particular, racist views distinguishing the descendants of Europeans from those of Africans became central to European racist attitudes.

Relative poverty:

is essentially a measure of inequality. It means being poor as compared with the standards of living of the majority. It is reasonable to call a person poor in the US if he or she lacks the basic resources needed to maintain a decent standard of housing and healthy living conditions

Race poverty:

Higher among minority groups. Blacks and latinos experience more than double the poverty rate than whites. Often have to work the lowest paying jobs cuz of racial discrimination.

Radical Feminism:

is the belief that men are responsible for, and benefit from, the exploitation of women. Radical feminists identify the family as one of the primary sources of women's oppression. They argue that men both exploit women by relying on their unpaid domestic labor in the home and, as a group, deny women access to positions of power and influence in society. Womens bodies and sexuality. Don't try to solve this using legislative reforms, but instead overthrow patriarchal order.

What is gender role socialization?

is the process through which we learn about male- and female-typed roles and practices from socializing agents such as the family, peers, schools, and the media

occupation

jobs is an important indicator of social standing. People rate jobs based on how prestigious they are. Require lots of education or public service

What is color-blind racism?

maintaining racial inequality without appearing racist.

Absolute poverty:

means that a person or family cant get enough to eat. people living in absolute poverty are undernourished and in situations of famine, may even starve to death. absolute poverty is common in the poorer developing countries

Assimilation:

meant that new immigrant groups would assume the attitudes and language of the dominant white community

secondary deviation

occurs when the individual accepts the label and sees himself as deviant.

What are the effects of mass incarceration?

Its really expensive. Has had a deleterious effect on black communities, they make up 35% of the prison population. Stigmatize and marginalize. effects people when released from prison

What is Becker's Labeling Theory? Interactionist approach.

Labeling theory assumes that no act is intrinsically criminal but may become so through the formulation of laws and their interpretation by police, courts, and correctional institutions. In sociology, labeling theory is the view of deviance according to which being labeled as a "deviant" leads a person to engage in deviant behavior. Originating in Howard Becker's work in the 1960s, labeling theory explains why people's behavior clashes with social norms. For example, a teenager who lives in an urban area frequented by gangs might be labeled as a gang member. Accordingly, the teenager might begin to behave like a gang member or become one. Sometimes the person labeled incorporates the label into that person's self-concept (as when a teenager labeled as a gang member begins to think of himself or herself as a gang member). Some researchers believe people of lower social status are more likely to be labeled deviant.

Socialist feminism:

Marxist theorist. argues that capitalist society is oppressive toward ethnic minorities, the working class, and the poor. Like radical feminism it also recognizes the fundamental oppression of women in patriarchal societies. Focus on ways that gender and social class intersect. Gender is what causes oppression, not sexuality.

What is transgender?

May encompass those who move between genders, who live as a person of the opposite gender, or who use medical assistance to physically transition from one category to the other.

Sex:

physical differences of the body

Why does the death penalty continue in the U.S

political instituions and historical processes that explain the continuing use. t the federal and state level—"the state's relative autonomy from the national state, the local control of the power to punish, [and] the political dominance of small groups"—explain the historical development of capital punishment in America. Supreme court leaves it to the states.

What is racism?

prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.

What is cisgender?

refers to a person whose gender identity matches his or her biological sex: for example, a person born male who identifies as a man

What is ethnicity?

refers to a type of social identity related to ancestry (perceived or real) and cultural differences, which become effective or active in certain contexts. Language, history or ancestry

Discrimination:

refers to actual behavior that denies to members of a particular group resources or rewards that others can obtain. College admissions officers have been known to discriminate against members of ethnic or racial groups when those members do not conform with stereotypes of those groups.

Intragenerational:

refers to how far an individual moves up or down the socioeconomic scale during his or her working life.

Prejudice:

refers to opinions or attitudes held by members of one group toward another. These preconceived views are often based on hearsay and are resistant to change even in the face of direct evidence or new information

Intergenerational:

refers to social movement across generations; we can analyze where children are on the scale compared with their parents or grandparents.

How does White Privilege work?

refers to the unacknowledged and unearned assets that benefit whites in their everyday lives. It manifests itself in the most taken-for-granted conditions of everyday life.

rebels

reject both the existing values and the means of achieving them but work to substitute new ones and reconstruct the social system. Ex. Heavens Gate cult.

What are norms?

Norms are principles or rules that people are expected to observe; they represent the do's and don'ts of society. Ex. The mafia may have dif definitions of who is deviant and who is conformist.

Liberal feminism:

sees gender inequalities as rooted largely in social and cultural attitudes. Unlike radical feminists, liberal feminists do not see women's subordination as part of a larger system or structure. Instead, they identify many separate factors that contribute to inequalities—for example, sexism and discrimination in the workplace, in educational institutions, and in the media. Democratic means

What is hegemonic masculinity?

the social norms dictating that men should be strong, self-reliant, and unemotional—may be subtly sanctioned for not enacting gender roles in a way that is consistent with prevailing cultural norms

What is patriarchy?

the systematic domination of females by males—is of central concern, being viewed as a universal phenomenon that has existed across time and cultures.

What does research find on race and the criminal justice system?

Police increasingly rely on new surveillance techniques to control crime and the drug trade in urbans ghettos, which causes young black men to lead lives as fugitives on the run. While organized crime may have provided a pathway up and out for Italian americans, it seems to have had the opposite effect for black americans. Allow some deviants to enter mainstream (white Italians) while cutting off those pathways for others (blacks). couldnt gain relations with white politicians, and got caught up in drrug trade

wealth

usually measured in terms of net worth: all the assets one owns (cash, savibgs, checking, investments, bonds, real estate) minus ones debts (mortgages, credit card balances, loans). Its hard to truly get an accurate measure of the wealth in the US cuz the wealthiest americans hide their wealth through different ways.

Melting pot:

was different and involved merging different cultures and outlooks by stirring them all together

Class systems:

we can define a class as a large-scale grouping of people who share common economic resources that strongly influence the type of lifestyle they are able to lead. The concept of life chances, introduced by Max Weber, is the best way to understand what class means. Life Chances.

income

which refers to wages and salaries earned from paid occupations plus money received from investments, serves as an important determinant of one's social position. One of the most significant changes over the past century has been the rising real income of the majority of the working population. Income inequality has been increasing dramatically.

What is a deviant subculture?

whose members have values which differ substantially from those of the majority in a society. Ex. Heavens gate cult

What is social stratification?

Ð the existence of structured inequalities between groups in society in terms of their access to material and symbolic rewards. By this we mean inequalities among individuals and groups that are determined not so much by individual personality or small-scale social situations but, more broadly, by attributes such as gender, age, race, ethnicity, or religious affiliation.

What are the categories of the U.S. class structure?

The Upper class The Middle Class • The upper middle class • The lower middle class The working class The lower class The underclass

What is the evidence challenging biological essentialism?

The belief that 'human nature', an individual's personality, or some specific quality (such as intelligence, creativity, homosexuality, masculinity, femininity, or a male propensity to aggression) is an innate and natural 'essence' (rather than a product of circumstances, upbringing, and culture). Another source of evidence is direct observation of animal behavior. Other evidence comes from studies of identical twins, who derive from a single egg and have exactly the same genetic makeup. In one anomalous but particularly high-profile case, one identical male twin was seriously injured while being circumcised, and the decision was made by his physician and parents to reconstruct his genitals as female. BRAIN IMAGING

primary deviation

The child then relapses into further criminal behavior, widening the gulf between himself and orthodox social conventions. Edwin Lemert (1972) called the initial act of transgression primary deviation

Why is Bourdieu's concept of "cultural capital" important

The cultural advantages of coming from a 'good home'. Wealthier families are able to afford to send their children to better schools, an economic advantage that benefits the childrens social status as adults. In the US its better to start at the top than the bottom.

Lower middle:

The lower middle class consists of trained office workers (for example, secretaries and bookkeepers), elementary and high school teachers, nurses, salespeople, police officers, firefighters, and others who provide skilled services. This group, which includes about 40 percent of American households, is the most varied of the social-class strata

What is relative deprivation?

The recognition that one has less than his or her peers. Merton says its an important element in deviant behavior.

How is wealth divided in the U.S. in general terms?

The rich keep getting richer. Whites have more than blacks. Family advantages. Blacks have a disadvantage, rejected on mortgages a lot. People have been going into debt using credit cards to pay for things. Wealth Is unequal globally.

Upper class

The upper class consists of the very wealthiest Americans—those households earning more than $200,000, or approximately 5 percent of all American households. Likely the own a big home, a vacation home, expensive cars, colleges, private schools. Doctors, lawyers. As a consequence of globalization and the information revolution, the number of superrich Americans has exploded in recent years.

Upper middle:

The upper middle class consists of highly educated professionals (for example, doctors, lawyers, engineers, and professors), mid-level corporate managers, people who own or manage small businesses and retail shops, and some large farm owners. Household incomes range quite widely, from about $100,000 to perhaps $200,000.

Working class:

The working class, which comprises about 20 percent of all American households, includes primarily blue-collar workers such as mechanics and pink-collar laborers such as clerical aides. Household incomes range from about $20,000 to $40,000 (Elwell, 2014a), and at least two household members work to make ends meet. Factory workers, restaurant and hotel people. Kids usually don't go to college

How does Control Theory view crime?

Travis hirschi: selfish beings, weigh benefits and risks of criminal activity. Posits that crime results from an imbalance between impluses toward criminal activity and the social or physical controls that deter it. Assumes that people act rationally and that given the opportunity everyone would engage in deviant acts. social control and conformity: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief.

What is social mobility?

Upward or downward movement of individuals and groups among different class positions through changes in occupation, wealth, or income.

What is the magnitude of violence against women?

Violence directed against women is found in many societies and takes multiple forms, including physical and sexual abuse, mutilation, and murder. A 2013 study by the World Health Organization indicated that more than a third of all women around the world have been abused in some way by intimate partners and that abuse from intimate partners is the most prevalent type of violence against women. Some radical feminist scholars claim that men are socialized to regard women as sex objects and that this partly explains the high levels of victimization of women. From seemingly innocent high school locker room jokes, to television commercials and magazine ads depicting women as sexually inviting, to television and movie images equating masculinity with the conquest of women, many males learn to believe that women exist for their pleasure. Under such circumstances, rape is all too "normal"

difference between sex and gender

While sex is something we are born with, gender is something that we both learn and do

What is false consciousness?

(especially in Marxist theory) a way of thinking that prevents a person from perceiving the true nature of their social or economic situation.