Sociology Midterm
Describe family-related social problems such as intimate partner violence, child abuse, and elder abuse, and the causes and prevention of violence in the family
Intimate Partner Abuse and Violence•Intimate partner abuse -Psychological abuse, economic abuse, physical violence, and sexual abuse occurring between spouses or former spouses, cohabiting couples, or boyfriends and girlfriends Income and Racial/Ethnic Differences•While Americans of all social classes experience intimate partner violence, those with low incomes are at greater risk. Native Americans, multiracial Americans, and African Americans have higher rates of intimate partner violence. Effects of Intimate Partner Violence•Intimate partner violence has serious psychological, social, health, and economic consequences Child abuse -The physical, sexual, psychological, or emotional maltreatment or neglect of a child (a person under age eighteen), especially by a person or persons responsible for the child's wellbeing. • Child neglect -The form of child abuse involving neglecting to provide for the child's basic needs such as food, health care, hygiene, shelter, clothing appropriate for the environment and weather, and proper supervision. Demographic Characteristics of Victims•Younger children are more likely to be abuse victims. •Race/ethnic differences Effects of Child Abuse•While many people who experience abuse as children appear to have no long-term effects, a significant number suffer harmful consequences such as a tendency towards low self-esteem, lack of trust towards other people, social isolation, and being more likely to engage in law-breaking behavior, including illegal drug use and engaging in child abuse themselves. Elder abuse -Any behavior that harms or causes serious risk of harm to a vulnerable "senior" adult. •Elder abuse includes physical abuse, any nonconsensual sexual contact, neglect (failure to provide basic necessities such as food, health care, or shelter), exploitation (the illegal theft, misuse, or concealment of the money, property, or other assets of a senior for another person's benefit), emotional abuse, or abandonment. Preventing Family Violence•Economic - More economic opportunity, security and assistance•Political - More representation of women in the political system; Reforming the criminal justice procedures to more effectively identify violence against women, children, and the elderly•Cultural - Elimination of patriarchal culture and male domination; Elimination of cultural norms and practices, such as corporal punishment of children, that encourage violence to solve problems Individual Characteristics - Certain individual characteristics, such as substance abuse, untreated mental illness, and having witnessed or been the victim of family violence increase the likelihood of engaging in family violence. Treatment programs can help abusers. • Providing Safety for Abuse Victims -Increasing domestic violence shelters
Describe the major causes of prejudice.
Personality Type • -----Authoritarian Personality Type • Situation • ------Frustration -Aggression, scapegoat • Culture -------Socialization• Social Structure• ----The economic benefit of slavery to whites motivated the creation of an ideology of white supremacy that became a major element of American culture.
Compare major sociological approaches to prejudice and discrimination
•Structural-Functionalist Perspective • -----Prejudice and discrimination can be dysfunctional by denying opportunity to talented persons• Conflict Perspective • ------Economic insecurity caused by capitalism fosters racism and prejudice which in turn protects the capitalist class by keeping other members of society divided --------->(Conflict) Critical race theory: Racism is profoundly integrated into American institutions, culture and everyday social life and operates in ways not even understood from the subjective perspective of whites who benefit from its existence. Symbolic-Interactionist Theory• ----------Analyzes how people learn to accept or reject the social structure and social roles that society imposes on them African American freedom movement -The struggle for equal rights for African Americans throughout American history
modern concentrated economic power
"Conglomerates" -corporations operating in multiple economic sectors "Interlocking directorates" -Individuals on one corporation board of directors simultaneously serving on the board of other corporations Major corporations have much power over workers and labor unions •Can move their operations from unionized states to other states or to other countries with low labor costs and weak enforcement of safety or environmental regulations
Absolute poverty vs relative poverty
Absolute poverty is the measurement of the poor by the actual minimum amount of money that a person has. Relative poverty is the measurement of a person's income in relation to another individual or group
Describe how marriage and the family have changed overtime in the United States.
Divorce rates have changed: The divorce rate, the number of divorces per 1,000 married women aged fifteen or older, rose from the latter half of the 1950s and reached 22.8 in 1979. Women's increasing labor force participation and financial ability to leave unsatisfactory marital situations• Social stigma attached to divorce decreased • All states instituted some form of "no fault" divorce laws that made divorce easier. Divorce (cont.)•The rate of ever-married people experiencing divorce leveled off between 1980 and 1990. Then it increased through 2008 and declined a little after that. • About 40 percent of marriages are estimated to end in divorce.• An estimated 16 percent of children live in a "blended family" a family with a stepparent, stepsibling, or half-sibling. Rates of divorce and children living with only one parent are lower among Americans with higher education and higher income. There are also significant differences by race and ethnicity.
Describe the movement to end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Many countries have laws against homosexuality. A few countries even impose the death penalty for homosexuality. Worldwide, LGBT persons have been elected to political office in more than forty-five countries. In 2010 the U.S. Senate voted to allow lesbians and gays to openly serve in the armed forces and President Obama signed the bill into law.
Outline the stages of development and decline of social movements
STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT Incipiency-A large number of people become distressed by a particular situation Coalescence-In the second phase a social movement becomes more organized and develops resource gathering capabilities Institutionalization-The government tries to cope with the movement and the movement establishes one or more geographically extensive social movement organizations DECLINE OF SOCIAL MOVEMENT Fragmentation -A movement breaks apart for reasons such as arguments among participants over whether the essential goals of the movement have been achieved or over strategy or tactics. Demise -A movement comes to an end because it has achieved its goals, lost popular support, or been repressed Revival -Certain movements thought to have ended re-emerge, sometimes in a modified form
Describe the structural-functional, conflict, and symbolic-interactionist perspectives on poverty
structural functional perspective: Since economic inequality and poverty have existed in most societies, they must fulfill a necessary positive function. This function is that they motivate people to train hard to perform vital jobs that will pay much higher incomes than other less important jobs. symbolic interactionist perspective: This perspective focuses on how the problem of poverty is socially constructed and portrayed through communication. This process helps determine people's views on what causes poverty and what they think about poor people. Conflict Perspective: Most people are poor not because of personal characteristics, but rather because the society in which they live makes them poor ------>The Marxist Perspective: Capitalism thrives on maintaining a "reserve labor force" of poor people. This pressures many workers to accept low wages. Corporate executives also increase profits by shipping millions of U.S. jobs to countries where extreme poverty causes people to work for very low pay. ------->Racial/Ethnic-Conflict Perspective-Poverty is linked to discrimination on the basis of skin color and ethnic heritage ------->The Feminist-Conflict Perspective -Focuses on how gender inequality affects poverty. ------>Intersectional View -Economic factors, race/ethnicity, and gender each independently affect the probability that a person will live in poverty. Thus those at the intersection of the disadvantaged positions in regard to class, race/ethnicity, and gender (along with their children), have the highest poverty rates.
Apply the concept of the sociological perspective
understanding human behavior by placing it within its broader social context
Explain different types of sexual orientation and distinguish between the concepts of heterosexism, homophobia, and transphobia.
A number of explanations have been offered for sexual orientation from biological factors like brain or genetic characteristics, to parent-child relationships, to childhood sexual experiences, to culture and learning experiences, or even to free choice. • Evidence indicates that people who believe that sexual orientation is due to biology tend to be more supportive of equal civil, economic, legal, and political rights for non-heterosexuals, whereas those who feel that sexual orientation is more due to learning experiences or to free choice tend to be less supportive. Heterosexism-The belief that heterosexuality is the inherently normative and superior sexual orientation and to any act or omission that discriminates against non-heterosexuals. • Homophobia-An umbrella term to refer to negative feelings and attitudes toward persons who are perceived to be LGBT, as well as the belief that homosexuality and transgender identity are inherently deviant. • Transphobia-Negative feelings, attitudes, and discrimination specifically toward transgender people or persons with gender ambiguity
Identify the contrasting sociological explanations for the development and success of social movements
Absolute Deprivation Theory: social movements develop when people are unable to obtain basic needs Relative Deprivation Theory: social movements develop when people's living conditions or political limitations become unacceptable relative to their conception of the way they think things should be resource mobilization theory: the idea that people motivated to create a social movement must have access to necessary resources to succeed political opportunities theory: People only initiate a social movement when they perceive that the political circumstances will allow them to organize successfully and achieve their goals Leadership theory: The idea that the emergence and success of social movements require exceptional leaders. Framing Theory: The idea that a social movement emerges because of framing: the process of describing a social movement in such a way that it makes sense Multi-Factor Theory: The idea that a social movement emerges and is shaped by multiple factors including communication, discontent, shared beliefs, dramatic events, movement leadership's ability to mobilize people, and the response of those in power.
Describe the factors involved in cultural sexism and institutional sexism
Cultural sexism refers to how elements of culture, including traditions, stereotypes, values, norms, and symbols, promote the idea that one sex or gender identity is inherently superior.• Institutional (structural) sexism refers to how society and its institutions are organized to privilege or discriminate against persons on the basis of their sex or gender identity. Work and Income•The gender wage gap -year-round female workers median annual earnings was only 78.6 percent of males' in 2015.•Women's earnings are less than men's earnings at all the levels of academic achievement, and the gender wage gap is wider at higher levels of education. Education-Limited educational opportunities for women in the early United States, steering women into sex stereotyped education, bias against women graduate students in scientific fields of study, sexual harassment and sexual assault of women in educational settings
Explain the different types and concepts of marriage and family worldwide
Family -A group of two or more people who are recognized by others as a family and identify themselves as a family• Household -All people who occupy a housing unit together regardless of relationship.• Kinship -Being related to another person through common ancestry (sharing common DNA) or marriage or adoption nuclear family(also called elementary family) in its original sense refers to two parents and their children. More recently some sociologists have preferred to expand the concept to also include single parents and their children. extended familyincludes the nuclear family plus other relatives such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and first cousins Family Authority Types• Patriarchal family: Families in which the father has the greatest influence in making decisions for the family and its members.• Egalitarian family: Families in which the partners have equal influence in decision making and share equally in family-centered activity such as child-rearing and housework.• Matriarchal family: Families that are mother centered and in which the mother has the greatest influence. Forced marriage: Marriages in which one or both persons do not give free consent to marry but are instead forced into the marriage by third parties, such as parents or religious leaders.• Arranged marriage: Marriages where a third party, typically the families of the persons to be married, take the leading role in selecting a marriage partner but in which the proposed parties to the marriage are free to decide whether to go through with it.• Autonomous marriage: A marriage in which persons freely chose who to marry. Monogamous marriage: Marriage between only two persons.• Polygamous marriage: Marriage to two or more spouses.• ------Polygyny -the form of polygamy in which one man has more than one wife• ---------Polyandry -the marriage of a woman to more than one husband
Compare the major sociological perspectives on social problems
Major sociological perspectives: the functional perspective-(macro sociology) society is a system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of balance and social equilibrium for the whole the conflict perspective-(macro sociology) the conflict perspective views society as composed of different groups and interest competing for power and resources the symbolic interactionist perspective-(micro sociology) Symbolic interactionism emphasizes that human behavior is influenced by definitions and meanings that are created and maintained through symbolic interaction with others. Social Problems: 1) Affects a large number of people. 2) Goes against cherished values 3) Able to be remedied
Explain the different types of racial/ethnic relations.
Mutually Beneficial Trade and Cultural Exchanges -----Throughout history, peoples of different races and ethnicities often began their relationships by interacting with each other for mutual benefit. Genocide ------The deliberate attempt to annihilate, in whole or in part, a racial, ethnic, national, or religious group Slavery ------A situation in which one person is owned by another and must do whatever the latter demands•In America slavery was "justified" by several arguments Removal and Segregation -------A dominant category of people removing another category of people from one geographic area to another or barring them from certain locations. Colonialism -------A process in which a typically more technologically advanced nation dominates the people of a lesser-developed area in order to benefit from their resources. Assimilation ---------The process through which a culturally distinct group gradually adopts the dominant culture in a society Racial and Ethnic Pluralism/Multicultural Pluralism -----Racial and ethnic pluralism: a social environment in which all racial and ethnic categories have the same level of civil rights, economic opportunity, and respect, regardless of their level of assimilation to the dominant culture -------Multicultural pluralism: A social environment in which no group is socially disadvantaged and racial and ethnic groups maintain a high level of cultural distinctiveness
Describe the concepts of race, ethnicity, racism, and diversity in the U.S.
Race-A socially constructed category of persons who share one or more physical traits such as skin color that affect access to political rights, economic opportunities, and other forms of resources and power Ethnicity -Asocial category of people who share the same cultural heritage, often -but not always -involving a common language and a common religion Racism -The belief that people of one race are superior to people of another race or of all other races Minorities -Categories of people who are subjected to disadvantages such as barriers to educational, employment, or political opportunities because of their physical or cultural characteristics, or other reasons such as sexual orientation
Explain the concepts of sex, gender, gender identity, gender binary, sexism, and heteronormativity.
Sex -Being biologically (physically) male or female in terms of a person's chromosomal, chemical, reproductive, and anatomical characteristics such as external genitalia Gender -A social construct that is the product of people learning from their culture and interactions with others what behaviors and psychological traits are expected of men or women. Gender binary -The cultural belief that men and women have distinct personality traits, capabilities, and strengths, and weaknesses. Gender identity -How one's sense of gender corresponds to biological sex characteristics. • Cisgender identity -Having a gender identity that is the same as the person's sex identity assigned at birth (the same as her or his physical sex characteristics) .• Transgender identity -Having a gender identity that is the opposite of the person's physical sex characteristics.• Cisnormativity-The individual or institutional assumption that everyone is cisgender and cisgender identities are superior to transgender identities Doing gender -How people try to display masculinity or femininity through attitudes, traits, clothing, symbols, and behaviors that represent the gender they want to present to others.• Sexism -Prejudice or discrimination against a person on the basis of sex or gender identity. Sexual orientation -A person's sexual attraction and/or emotional-romantic attraction to persons of the opposite sex, same-sex, or both sexes.• Heteronormativity-The individual or institutional assumption that everyone is heterosexual and heterosexual orientation is superior to other sexual orientations.• Coming out -The process of identifying and accepting one's own sexual orientation or gender identity (coming out to oneself) and of publicly acknowledging it to others (coming out to others).
Describe the major sociological perspectives on social problems as they are found to exist within families
Structural-functionalist perspective •Anything that disrupts or competes with the traditional family structure, such as divorce, having children outside of marriage, or single-parent households leads to other social problems such as poverty, child abuse, substance abuse, and juvenile delinquency and crime. Structural functionalists also recognize that changes in other institutions, such as the economy, can disrupt the family. Conflict Perspective •Economic-Conflict Perspective -Many U.S. businesses have influenced policies affecting families to protect their profits, like opposing extensive maternal leaves, rather than to protect the welfare of women and children. The shipping of U.S. manufacturing jobs to other countries contributed to a decrease in the percentage of married people and an increase in the percentage of children born outside of marriage. ------> •Feminist-Conflict Perspective -The patriarchal structure of families and male-dominated governmental and legal systems have contributed to men taking out their frustrations through abuse and violence against their wives and girlfriends. Furthermore, where women have fulfilling careers outside the home, lingering male privilege and gender stereotypes contribute to women doing most child care and housework. -------> •Racial/Ethnic-Conflict Perspective -The frustration people of color experience from being victimized by discrimination can lead to violence against their partners. Criminal justice system policies have resulted in the mass incarceration of Black men. Many Black men with a criminal record find it difficult to get any job. Symbolic-Interactionist Perspective•This approach focuses on factors such as the impact of communication and the quality of family life on what children and spouses think about themselves. In the family the child learns how to interact with other people, including loved ones, and children who see violence between their parents or witness or experience abuse are more likely to engage in similar behavior themselves.
Explain gender and sexual orientation from each of the three dominant sociological perspectives
The Structural-Functionalist Perspective • -------During primitive times, the different biological characteristics of men and women led to a functional divisional division of labor between the sexes and to women developing "expressive" traits such as warmth and emotional supportiveness and men developing "instrumental" traits such as aggressiveness and independence. The Economic-Conflict Perspective• ------As technological advances increased, men, due to their instrumental specialization, had nearly complete control over the tools, machines, weapons, and wealth that were the main bases of power. As the power gap between men and women grew, men came to define women as inferiors and ultimately as a valued form of property. Feminist Conflict Perspective (Multiple Views)• --------------Feminist Economic -Men's control of advancing technology and economy increased men's power over women and cultural rationales for the subordination of women • --------------Male violence and rape -the threat of male violence forced women to submit to some men in order to avoid victimization by other men Racial/Ethnic-Conflict Perspective• -------------Emphasizes intersectionality, the impact of the intersection of different forms of oppression. Among the most oppressed members of society are women who not only suffer sexist discrimination but also class discrimination because of low income, racial discrimination because of color, and sexual orientation hostility because of same-sex relationships. Symbolic-Interactionist Perspective• -------------Emphasizes interpersonal interaction, learning experiences and labeling in analyzing the causes and effects of gender inequality and sexual orientation inequality and that the social liberation of women and persons with same-sex orientation or transgender identity requires both a positive self-concept and the transformation of culture and the attitudes of other people
how is poverty measured in the U.S.
The U.S. federal government defines and measures poverty using the concept of absolute poverty •During 1963-1964 Mollie Orshanskyof the Social Security Administration developed the "poverty threshold" to count the number of poor people•She calculated the poverty threshold by simply multiplying by three the amount of money required to purchase the cheapest food plan for minimal-required nutrition.
Describe trends in unwed parenthood and efforts to reduce teen pregnancy
The United States continues to have teen birth rates two to five times those of other highly advanced countries Causes of Teen Pregnancies•Low-income neighborhoods with high levels of unemployment•Teenagers who lack positive attitudes towards school and are doing poorly academically are more likely to father or have a baby than other teenagers. •Teenagers whose mothers gave birth as teens or whose mothers never attended college were more likely to have a baby. •Teenagers who were not living with both biological parents in their early teens were more likely to have a baby. Preventing Teen Pregnancies•For sexually active teens, the correct use of contraceptive methods can be highly effective in reducing the risk of pregnancy.•Some studies indicate that trying to prevent teen pregnancy by focusing only on abstinence does not work but that programs explaining the benefits of abstinence while also showing how to use contraceptive methods have better results.
Define social problem
a condition that undermines the well-being of some or all members of a society and is usually a matter of public controversy
Describe the different types of social movements
alternative-limited social change-changing the behavior of a particular group of people mothers against drunk driving redemptive-specific subset of the population but want to change overall lifestyle org. that treat drug addiction reformative-targets whole pop.-seeks to change specific behavior campaigns to recycle revolutionary--Targets whole population asking for broad structural change me-too movement
economic types
blended systems: most countries are a blend of capitalist and socialist features Capitalist-Socialist Societies -Nations with predominantly capitalist economies that eventually adopted measures advocated by socialist movements such as universal public education for children and publicly funded health care systems Socialist-Capitalist Societies -Nations with predominantly socialist economies which significantly expanded capitalist business activity such as owning and running businesses for profit
Describe movements for equality of opportunity and the various approaches to reducing prejudice and discrimination
protests and court cases by african americans In 1955 the African-American residents of Montgomery Alabama launched a new mass participation protest phase of the freedom movement by boycotting segregated buses for more than a year after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person.• Another successful mass participation protest was begun by four African-American college students who sat at a whites-only Woolworth's lunch counter in the Greensboro, North Carolina. The non-violent civil disobedience sit-ins spread to other states until the store changed its policy. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed segregation in public accommodations and banned racial discrimination in hiring and in programs receiving federal funds. • The Voting Rights Act of 1965 forbids any state or local government from interfering with the right to vote on account of race or color.
Explain the important role of social movements in addressing social problems
social movements are alliances of people that come together to fight for social change. they tend to protest legislation that negatively impacts society or that they disagree with.
Explain how social movements can change society.
social movements have the ability to shape the direction of society and shift the way it thinks and feels about something
Explain how the major types of sociological research are used to understand social problems
sociologists such as emile durkheim made the connection between the society and the human body the functionalist perspective is used to determine how society creates and maintains social order, it al;so determines whether a social problem serves a function. the conflict perspective tells us how society is held together by power and coercion for the benefit of those in power. This is how social problems emerge from the continuing conflict between social groups in our society based on social class race ethnicity feminist perspective gender is a source of social inequality, group conflict, and social problems interactionist perspective how we create and maintain our social reality through language ----->symbolic interactionism existence of mind and self emerges from interaction and the use of symbols
