SOC 101 Core Competency C

innovation

A clever young man who is making lots of money as a computer "hacker"

ritualism

A low-level clerk in a bank who has never missed a day of work nor ever asked for a raise

rebellion

A person critical of existing society, who holds to a new vision of the world and is trying to convince others to leave the familiar and join in this new way of life

conformity

A successful stand-up comic who is working hard to advance her career

retreatism

An alienated young man who has dropped out of school and spends time alone drinking alcohol

Robert Merton

Argued that society is set up in a way that encourages excessive deviance. Strain Theory.

Emile Durkheim

Believed in functionalism and the scientific method; saw society as a set of independent parts that maintain a system but each separate part has a function. Believed deviance is a necessary part of social organization.

strain theory

Merton's theory that deviance occurs when a society does not give all its members equal ability to achieve socially acceptable goals

functionalist approach

a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability

conflict theory

a framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change

interactionist Approach

a framework for building theory that sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals

totalitarianism

a highly centralized political system that extensively regulates people's lives

authoritarianism

a political system that denies the people participation in government

Democracy

a political system that gives power to the people as a whole.

communism

a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

stigma

a powerfully negative label that greatly changes a person's self-concept and social identity

function

a relation in which each element of the domain is paired with exactly one element of the range

welfare state

a system of government agencies and programs that provides benefits to the population

power-elite model

an analysis of politics that sees power as concentrated among the rich

Pluralist model

an analysis of politics that sees power as spread among many competing interest groups

Marxist political economy

an analysis that explains politics in terms of the operation of a society's economic system

social order

an arrangement of practices and behaviors on which society's members base their daily lives

socialism

an economic system in which natural resources and the means of producing goods and services are collectively owned

capitalism

an economic system in which natural resources and the means of producing goods and services are privately owned

Karl Marx

argued that the law and all other social institutions support the interests of the rich. Also used sociology to try to make society better.

Max Weber

believing that people form not clear-cut classes but a multidimensional status hierarchy. Saw as the dominant type of organization in modern societies, is based on specialization hierarchy of positions rules and regulations technical competence impersonality formal, written communications

C. Wright Mills

called this point of view the "sociological imagination," which transforms personal troubles into public issues.

values

culturally defined standards that people use to decide what is desirable, good, and beautiful and that serve as broad guidelines for social living

charisma

extraordinary personal qualities that can infuse people with emotion and turn them into followers

power

interests of the rich

social institutions

major spheres of social life or societal subsystems organized to meet human needs.

structural forces

obstacles to advancement are greater for women, minorities, those without access to high quality education, and those with fewer skills

special interest group

people organized to address some economic or social issue

traditional authority

power legitimized by respect for long-established cultural patterns

terrorism

refers to acts of violence or the threat of violence used as a political strategy by an individual or a group

norms

rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members

control theory

social control depends on people anticipating the consequences of their behavior. Travis Hirschi

institutional forces

the country's rules, policies, and enforcement processes that influence individuals' and organizations' behaviors that operate within a country's borders

social forces

the demographic characteristics of the population , culture and its values

cultural forces

the forces that affect a society's basic values, perceptions, preferences, and behavior

labeling theory

the idea that deviance and conformity result not so much from what people do as from how others respond to those actions

mass media

the means for delivering impersonal communications to a vast number of people

political revolution

the overthrow of one political system in order to establish another

gender

the personal traits and social positions that members of a society attach to being female or male

manifest functions

the recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern

deviance

the recognized violation of cultural norms

feminist theory

the study of society that focuses on inequality and conflict between women and men

social change

the transformation of culture and social institutions over time

latent function

the unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern

crime

the violation of a society's formally enacted criminal law