Sociology 101 Test 2 (Chapters 4-6) RealWorldE4

Anomie

"Normlessness"; term used to describe the alienation and loss of purpose that result from weaker social binds and an increased pace of change

Deviance

A behavior, trait, belief, or other characteristic that violates a norm and causes a negative reaction

Aggregate

A collection of people who share a physical location but do not have lasting social relations

Group

A collection of people who share some attribute, identity with one another, and interact with each other

Criminal justice system

A collection of social institutions, such as legislatures, police, courts, and prisons, that create and enforce laws

In-group

A group that one identifies with and feels loyalty toward

Reference group

A group that provides a standard of comparison against which we evaluate ourselves

Crowd

A temporary gathering of people in a public place; members might interact but do not identify with each other and will not remain in contact

Social identity theory

A theory of group formation and maintenance that stresses the need of individual members to feel a sense of belonging

Triad

A three-person social group

Dyad

A two-person social group

Bureaucracy

A type of secondary group designed to perform tasks efficiently, characterized by specialization, technical competence, hierarchy, rules and regulations, impersonality, and forms written communication

Crime

A violation of a norm that has been codified into law

Id

According to Freud, the id consists of basic inborn drives that are the sure of instinctive psychic energy

Outsiders

According to Howard Becker, those labeled deviant and subsequently segregated from "normal" society

Positive deviance

Actions considered deviant within a given context but are later reinterpreted as appropriate or even heroic

In-group orientation

Among stigmatized individuals, the rejection of prevailing judgments or prejudice and the development of new standards that value their group identity

Rehabilitation

An approach to punishment that attempts to reform criminals as part of their penalty

Retribution

An approach to punishment that emphasizes retaliation or revenge for the crime as the appropriate goal

Deterrence

An approach to punishment that relies on the threat of harsh penalties to discourage people from committing crimes

Incapacitation

An approach to punishment that seeks to protect society from criminals by imprisoning or executing them

Self-fulfilling prophecy

An inaccurate statement of belief that, by altering the situation, becomes accurate; a prediction that causes itself to come true

Uniform crime report

An official measure of crime in the U.S., produced by the FBI's official tabulation if every crime reported by more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies

Out-group

Any group an individual feels opposition, rivalry or hostility toward

Traditional authority

Authority based in custom, birthright, or divine right

Legal-rationale authority

Authority based in laws, rules, and procedures, not in the heredity or personality of any individual leader

Charismatic authority

Authority bases in the perception of remarkable personal qualities in a leader

Social ties

Connections between individuals

White collar crime

Crime committed by a high-status individual in the course of his occupation

Violent crime

Crimes in which violence is either the objective or the means to an end, including murder, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery

Property crime

Crimes that did not involve violence, including burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson

Differential association theory

Edwin Sutherland's hypothesis that we learn to be deviant through our associations with deviant peers

Stigma

Erving Goffman's term for any physical or social attribute that devalues a person or group's identity and that may exclude those who are devalued from normal social interaction

Social influence

Exerting group control over others' decisions

Mcdonaldization

George Ritzer's term describing the spread of bureaucratic rationalization and the accompanying increases in efficiency and dehumanization

Labeling theory

Howard Becker's idea that deviance is a consequence of external judgments, or labels, that modify the individual's self-concept and change the way others respond to the labeled person

Primary deviance

In labeling theory, the initial act or attitude that causes one to be labeled deviant

Secondary deviance

In labeling theory, the subsequent deviant identity or career that develops as a result of being labeled deviant

Groupthink

In very cohesive groups, the tendency to enforce a high degree of conformity among members, creating a demand for unanimous agreement

Innovators

Individuals who accept society's approved goals but not society's approved means to achieve them

Ritualists

Individuals who have given up on hope of achieving society's approved goals but still operate according to society's approved means

Rebels

Individuals who reject society's approved goals and means and instead create and work toward their own (sometimes revolutionary) goals using new means

Secondary groups

Larger and less intimate than primary groups; members' relationships are usually organized around a specific goal and are often temporary

Expressive leadership

Leadership concerned with maintaining emotional and relational harmony within the group

Instrumental leadership

Leadership that is task or goal oriented

Category

People who share one or more attributes but who lack a sense of common identity or belonging

Coercive power

Power that is backed by the threat of force

Influential power

Power that is supported by persuasion

Passing

Presenting yourself as a member of a different group than the stigmatized group you belong to

Deviance avowal

Process by which an individual self-identifies as deviant and initiates her own labeling process

Tertiary deviance

Redefining the stigma associated with a deviant label as a positive phenomenon

Virtual communities

Social groups whose interactions are mediated through information technologies, particularly the Internet

Pilfering

Stealing minor items in small amounts, often again and again

Power

The ability to control the actions of others

Rationalization

The application of economic logic to human activity; the use of formal rules and regulations in order to maximize efficiency without consideration of subjective or individual concerns

Capital punishment

The death penalty

Social control

The formal and informal mechanisms used to increase conformity to values and norms and thus promote social cohesion

Authority

The legitimate right to wield power

Group dynamics

The patterns of interaction between groups and individuals

Primary groups

The people who are most important to our sense of self; members' relationships are typically characterized by face-to-face interaction , high levels of cooperation, and intense feelings of belonging

Social loafing

The phenomenon in which as more individuals are added to s task, each individual contributes a little less; a source of inefficiency when working in teams

Group cohesion

The sense of solidarity or loyalty that individuals feel toward a group to which they belong

Cyberbullying

The use of electronic media to tease, harass, threaten, or humiliate someone

Social network

The web of direct and indirect ties connecting an individual to other people who may also affect the individual

Status

a position in a social hierarchy that carries a particular set of expectations

Saturated self

a postmodern idea that the self is now developed by multiple influences chosen from a wide range of media sources

Achieved status

a status earned through individual effort or imposed by others

Embodied status

a status generated by physical characteristics

Master status

a status that is always relevant and affects all other statuses we possess

Definition of the situation

an agreement with others about "what is going on" in a given circumstance, this consensus allows us to coordinate our actions with those of others and realize goals

Dramaturgy

an approach pioneered by Erving Goffman in which social life is analyzed in terms of its similarities to theatrical performance

Ascribed status

an inborn status; usually difficult or impossible to change

Total institution

an institution in which individuals are cut off from the rest of society so that their lives can be controlled and regulated for the purpose of systematically stripping away previous roles and identities in order to create new ones

Cooling the mark out

behaviors that help others to save face or avoid embarrassment, often referred to as civility or tact

Thomas theorem

classic formulation of the way individuals define situations, whereby "if people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences"

Role-taking emotions

emotions like sympathy, embarrassment, or shame that require that we assume the perspective of another person or many other people and respond from that person or group's point of view

Autoethnography

ethnographic description that focuses on the feelings and reactions of the ethnographer

Role conflict

experienced when we occupy two or more roles with contradictory expectations

Expressions given

expressions that are intentional and usually verbal, such as utterances

Copresence

face-to-face interaction or being in the presence of others

Psychosexual stages of development

four distinct stages of the development of the self between birth and adulthood , according to Freud; personality quirks are a result of being fixated, or stuck, at any stage

Superego

has two components (the conscience and the ego-ideal) and represents the internalized demands of society

Feral children

in myths and rare real-world cases, children who have had little human contact and may have lived in social isolation from a young age

Backstage

in the dramaturgical perspective, places in which we rehearse and prepare for our performance

Region

in the dramaturgical perspective, the context or setting in which the performance takes place

Frontstage

in the dramaturgical perspective, the region in which we deliver our public performances

Front

in the dramaturgical perspective, the setting or scene of performances that helps establish the definition of the situation

Stereotyping

judging others based on preconceived generalizations about groups or categories of people

Expressions given off

observable expressions that can be either intended or unintended and are usually nonverbal

Social construction

process by which a concept or practice is created and maintained by participants who collectively agree that it exists

Expressions of behavior

small actions such as an eye roll or head no that serve as an interactional tool to help project our definition of the situation

Agents of socialization

social groups, institutions, and individuals (especially the family, schools, peers, and the mass media) that provide structured situations in which socialization takes place

Feeling rules

socially constructed norms regarding the expression and display of emotions; expectations about the acceptable or desirable feelings in a given situation

Agency

the ability of the individual to act freely and independently

Impression management

the effort to control the impressions we make on others so that they form a desired view of us and the situation; the use of self-presentation and performance tactics

Personal Front

the expressive equipment we consciously or unconsciously use as we present ourselves to others, including appearance and manner, to help establish the definition of the situation

Preparatory stage

the first stage in Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children mimic or imitate others

Dual nature of the self

the idea that we experience the self as both subject and object, the "I" and the "me"

Self

the individual's conscious, reflexive experience of a personal identity separate and distinct from other individuals

Looking-glass self

the notion that the self develops through our perception of others' evaluations and appraisals of us

Nature vs. Nurture Debate

the ongoing discussion of the respective roles of genetics and socialization in determining individual behaviors and traits

Generalized other

the perspectives and expectations of a network of others (or of society in general) that a child learns and then takes into account when shaping his or her own behavior

Particular or significant other

the perspectives and expectations of a particular role that a child learns and internalizes

Emotion work (Emotional labor)

the process of evoking, suppressing, or otherwise managing feelings to create a publicly observable display of emotion

Socialization

the process of learning and internalizing the values, beliefs, and norms of our social group, by which we become functioning members of society

Role exit

the process of leaving a role that we will no longer occupy

Resocialization

the process of replacing previously learned norms and values with new ones as a part of the transition in life

Ego

the realistic aspect of the mind that balances the forces of the id and the superego

Play stage

the second stage in Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children pretend to play the role of the particular or significant other

Role

the set of behaviors expected of someone because of his or her status

Role strain

the tension experienced when there are contradictory expectations within one role

Game stage

the third stage in Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children play organized games and take on the perspective of the generalized other

Hidden curriculum

values or behaviors that students learn indirectly over the course of their schooling because of they structure of the educational system and the teaching methods used