MCAT Psych/Sociology from 132 Scorer
Residential segregation
Instance of social inequality on the local scale, where demographic groups are separated into different locations with unequal access to resources
Manifest functions
Intended and obvious consequences of a social structure
White-collar work
Jobs that are professional, administrative, or managerial in nature; defines the middle class
Bilateral descent
Kin groups that involve both maternal and paternal relations
Absolute poverty
Lack of essential resources (food, shelter, clothing, hygiene). More extreme form of poverty
Symbolic interactionism
Micro social perspective. Focuses on the smaller scale interactions between individuals in small groups. Through social interactions, individuals develop shared meanings and labels for various symbols. Allows for human agency in creating and changing meaning in society, rather than society acting upon the individual. Meaning can change with a single interaction, so addresses subjective meanings. Humans ascribe meaning to things, act based on those meanings, use language to generate meaning through social interaction, and modify meanings through thought processes. However, ignores larger societal forces that shape people's lives.
Polyandry
More than one man married to one woman
Intragenerational mobility
Movement of a young person from a lower social class to a higher social class through merit (achieving the "American dream")
Intergenerational mobility
Movement through the class system between generations (old generation is poor/rich, sets up environment for new generation to become rich/poor)
Symbolic culture
Non-material culture that consists of the elements of culture that only have meaning in the mind. Based on a shared system of collective beliefs in the form of symbols. Includes the meanings ascribed to rituals, gestures, and objects.
Material culture
Objects involved in a certain way of life
Blue-collar work
Occupations that require skilled or unskilled manual labor
Assisted marriage
Parents provide children with possible mates, out of which the child can choose
People in higher social class tend to have more:
Power, Privilege, and Prestige
Matrilineal descent
Preference for maternal relations in the kin group
Patrilineal descent
Preference for paternal relations in the kin group
Ludwig Gumplowicz
Proposed that society is shaped by war and conquest, and that cultural and ethnic conflicts lead to certain groups becoming dominant over other groups.
Models
Provide an approximation (physical/conceptual representation) of a scientific phenomenon that cannot be observed directly
Poverty
an insufficiency of material goods, monetary wealth, and access to resources
Immigration
The influx of new people to a specific area; increases population size
Downward mobility
The movement of an individual down the class hierarchy. Due to unemployment, underemployment, reduced household income, lack of education, or health issues
Upward mobility
The movement of an individual up the class hierarchy. Achieved through education, marriage, career, or financial success
Emigration
The outflow of people to other areas; reduces population size
Endogamy
The practice of marrying within a particular group
Socialization
The process by which people learn customs and values of their culture. It is the way that children learn the culture into which they have been born
Fertility
The production of offspring within a population
Migration
The relocation of people from one place to another; influences population size
Cultural capital
The set of non-monetary social factors that contribute to social mobility. Examples include dress, accent, vernacular, manners, education, cultural knowledge, intellectual pursits
Sociology
The study of how individuals interact with, shape, and are subsequently shaped by the society in which they live. Attempts to understand the behavior of GROUPS.
Social inequality
The unequal distribution of opportunities or treatment of individuals within a society based on various demographic categories
Language
The use of symbols to represent ideas
Social reproduction
Transmission of social inequality from one generation to the next
Society
Two or more individuals living together in a definable area and/or sharing elements of a culture. A society can encompass multiple cultures.
Spatial inequality
Unequal access to resources and variable quantity of life within a population or geographical distribution. Can be affected by income, unemployment, and unequal access to resources. Influences health by affecting access to healthcare
Latent functions
Unintended or less recognizable consequence of a social structure. Can be considered beneficial, neutral, or harmful
Upper vs lower class families
Upper class families have concerns related to continuing a larger family tradition and properly training children, while lower class families are focused on completing the everyday tasks necessary for survival. Upper class parents are more permissive/authoritative, while lower class parents are more authoritarian.
Urbanization
Increase in the proportion of people living in specified urban areas, due to industrialization
Religion
A system of beliefs that affects how people make sense of their experiences and provides a framework for questions about life, death, and the purpose of existence
Church
A type of religious organization that is well-integrated into the large society. Membership teds to occur by birth, but most churches allow people to join. Can be tied to the state or independent of it.
Globalization
Increasing amount of interaction and integration on the international scale through exchange of products, services, ideas and information
Dynamic equilibrium
Aspect of functionalism. Complex societies contain many different but interdependent parts working together to maintain stability. Unhealthy cites are unable to maintain this.
Power
Influence over a community
Religiosity
The extent of influence of religion in a person's life
Religion as a social institution
Acts as an organized structure of behaviors and social interactions that addresses the spiritual needs of society. From a functionalist standpoint, can create social cohesion/dissent, social change/control, and provide believers with meaning and purpose.
Quantified demographic parameters include:
Age, gender, nationality, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, SES, immigration status, education level
Health disparity
Aka health inequity. Differences in health and healthcare that occur between groups of people
Culture
All of the beliefs, assumptions, objects, behaviors, and processes that make up a shared way of life. Has a pervasive effect on worldview.
Isolation
Also known as social exclusion. Describes how impoverished people are often excluded from opportunities available to others.
Polygamy
An individual married to more than one individual
Social capital
An individual's social networks and connects that may confer economic or personal benefits
Food deserts
Areas where it is difficult to find affordable, healthy food options. More common in highly populated low-income urban neighborhoods where there are fewer grocery stores/transportation options to seek out other food choices. Contribute to obesity in these areas bc people resort to buying cheap, highly caloric foods
Emile Durkheim
-Father of sociology, pioneer of modern social research and established the field as separate and distinct from psychology and politics -Major proponent of functionalism -Argued that modern society was more complex than primitive societies because they were all similar, shared a common language. Even when people were dissimilar, they relied on each other to make society function.
Brute facts vs Institutional Facts
-Part of WEAK social constructionism -Brute facts are physical realities that exist outside of human input -Institutional facts only exist as a function of society's structures and beliefs
Social construct
A concept or practice that is construct of a group. Everybody in society agrees to treat a certain aspect a certain way regardless of its inherent value in nature.
Demographic transition
A demographic change that takes place over time
Ecclesia
A dominant religious organization that includes most members of society, is recognized as the national or official religion, and tolerates no other religions
Polygyny
A man married to more than one woman
Sect
A religious organization that is distinct from that of the larger society. Formed from breaking away from larger religious institutions. Membership may be by birth or through conversion.
Cult/New religious movement
A religious organization that is far outside society's norms and often involves a very different lifestyle. Many major world religions originated as cults.
Exogamy
A requirement to marry outside a particular group, with it being the norm in almost all cultures to prohibit sexual relationships between certain relatives
Family
A set of people related by blood, marriage, adoption, or some other agreed-upon relationship that signifies some responsibility to each other. Serves five functions: -Reproduction and the monitoring of sexual behavior -Protection -Socialization -Affection and companionship -Social status
Social group
A subset of a population that maintains social interactions. Alternatively, includes a collection of shared experiences that create a group identity among a set of individuals
Dramaturgical approach
Assumes that people are theatrical performers and that everyday life is a stage, where people choose what kind of image they want to communicate verbal and nonverbally to others. Critics say this research may not be objective, ad that theory is focused too narrowly on symbolic interaction.
Family as a social institution
Creates a social group in which to procreate, rear children, pass on cultural knowledge, and cooperate to better meet life's challenge
Socioeconomic status (SES)
Defines the economic and social position of a person in terms of income, wealth, education, and occupation
Biomedical approach to health and illness
Disease is studied by examining only the biological factors of illness, neglecting contributing factors of psychological life and sociological context.
Nonmaterial culture
Encompasses the elements of cultures that are not physical. Includes shared ideas, knowledge, assumptions, values, and beliefs that unify a group of people.
Period study
Examining the number of offspring produced during a specific time period
Social norms
Expectations that govern what behavior is acceptable within a group. Social interactions help define a culture by establishing these
Max Weber
Father of sociology. Argued that in a capitalist society inequalities would lead to conflict, but that there would be more than one source of conflict. Argued that there were several factors that moderated people's reaction to inequality.
Karl Marx
Father of sociology. Associated with Conflict Theory. Looked at the economic conflict between different social classes, and argued that societies progress through class struggle between those who own and control production and those who labor and provide the manpower for production. Believed that capitalism would ultimately lead to self-destruction of society due to internal tensions.
Social class in America is largely determined by ________.
Financial wealth
Cohort study
Following a subset of a population over a lifetime
Functionalism
Founder: Emile Durkheim Macrosocial perspective -Factions of society work together to maintain stability. Society is a system that consists of different components working together, with distinct institutions that contribute to functioning. Seeks to understand what different structures in society contribute to society at large. When disruptions occur, the interacting systems respond to get back to a stable state. Explains societal stability but NOT societal change (assumes stability is the ideal)
Conflict Theory
Founder: Karl Marx Macrosocial perspective Views society in terms of competing groups that act according to their own self-interests, rather than according to the need for societal equilibrium. Society is a competition for limited resources. Explains societal changes but NOT societal societal stability (assumes stability is undesirable to societal groups that are oppressed) Views human actions in terms of larger forces of inequality, but leaves motivations choices of individuals unexamined. Ignores the non-forceful ways in which people reach agreement, and approaches society more from those who lack power. Tends to be too economically focused.
Health/medicine as a social institution
Fulfills the need for healthcare in an organized manner, with beliefs about diseases and approaches to healing varying between societies and cultures
Social movement
Group of people who share an ideology and work together toward a specific set of goals
Divorce rate in America
Has generally increased due to social and religious acceptance, more opportunities for women's autonomy, and lessened financial and legal barriers
Caste system
Hierarchy of society is strictly defined, position is inherited, and movement or marriage between castes is prohibited
Kinship/kin
How we think about who we are related to. Considered a cultural group rather than biological
Social constructionism
Human actors actively construct their "reality", rather than discovering a reality that has inherent validity, through their social interactions. The beliefs and shared understandings of individuals create social realities. In the context of illness, there is a gap b/t the biological reality of a medical condition and the societally created meaning of the condition. (ex. changing conceptualizations of mental illness results in changes to the DSM). It is a dynamic, ongoing process.
Biopsychosocial approach to health and illness
Illness is determined by a variety of influences, rather than a single cause. The causes and effects of illness can be examined at multiple levels in the life of an individual, and no single level provides the whole picture. Collecting info about psychosocial context is key to the understanding of physical health and illness.
Income vs wealth
Income is assets EARNED while wealth is assets already OWNED.
Education as a social institution
Provides a formal structure during childhood and the transition to adulthood, and an opportunity to instruct youth on social norms, expectations for behavior, knowledge, and skills needed to operate within society. Its manifest function is to systematically pass down knowledge and give status to those who have been educated. Its latent function is socialization, serving as agents of change, and maintaining social control. Serves to reinforce and perpetuate social inequalities. Experience educational segregation because of differential funding of schools based on residential segregation.
Government/economy as a social institution
Provides order to a society through the services it provides and the making and enforcement of law
Theories
Provides the conceptual framework for understanding objects of study
Relative poverty
Social inequality in which people are relatively poor compared to other members of society in which they live
Social dysfunction
Social process that has undesirable consequences, reducing the stability of society
Meritocracy
Society in which advancement is based solely on the abilities and achievements of the individual
Egalitarian family
Spouses are treated as equals and may be involved in negotiation when making decisions
Social institutions
Stable hierarchical systems that bring order to interpersonal interactions, structuring society. Examples are government/economy, education, religion, family, and health/medicine. Provide predictability and organization for individuals within a society, and mediate social behavior between people.
Demographics
Statistics used to examine the nature of a specific population by quantifying subsets of that population. They are a statistical snapshot in time, and do not capture the ever-changing nature of society.
Social class
System of stratification that groups members of society according to similarities in social standing. Multifaceted, and tied to status within a community and power
Symbols
Terms, concepts, or items that represent specific meanings by accepted convention. Meanings ascribed to symbols are determined by social norms and cultural values.
The nuclear family
The concept of family in which one man and one woman live together with their children; most common concept of family in the US. Consists of DIRECT blood relations.
Mortality
The death rate within a population.
Culture shock
The discomfort and ensuring reevaluation of personal cultural assumptions when an individual experiences a culture different from her own
Social facts
The elements that serve some function in society, such as the laws, morals, values, religions, customs, rituals, and rules that make up a society.
Environmental justice
The equal treatment of all people regardless of race, gender, or other social grouping with regard to prevention and relief from environmental and health hazards
Prestige
the relative value assigned to something within a particular society