Soc 200 final
What are the key differences between churches and sects?
-churches: religious bodies in a relatively low state of tension with their environment. -sect: religious bodies in a relatively high state of tension with their environment but which remain within the conventional religious traditions of their society
what do the "collective behavior" and "resource mobilization" approaches claim are the basic elements of social movements?
-collective behavior: emphasizes that social movements are outbursts of group activities in response to deeply felt grievances. Stresses the importance of ideology and of emotions and feelings in group decision making. -resource mobilization: stresses the importance of human and material resources in the development of social movements and places particular emphasis on the role of leaders and of rational planning.
for sociologists, "cult" is not a "four letter word" (the word is not pejorative). In fact, some sociologists prefer the phrase NRM (New religious movement). Explain.
-cult: religious movements that represent faiths that are new and unconventional in a society.
According to Mancur Olsen, why are governments necessary for the provision of public goods?
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Is pluralism an Illusion? (Mills' Power Elite)
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Messik and Wilke demonstrate the "tragedy of the commons" in a laboratory setting. Summarize their study and explain what this study teaches us about ourselves. (and about the state)
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What does the growth of protestant denominations, whose members mostly do or do not embrace Bible literalism, suggest about the thesis that secularization is inevitable as science triumphs over faith?
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explain the "tragedy of the commons" (i.e. explain the dead cows)
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what are the three public goods vital to the survival of human societies?
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what does it mean to "tame the state"? How do we do that?
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what main features of the family life of most pre-modern societies are described in your text?
Family: small kinship structured with the key function of nurturant socialization of the newborn. marriage children et. al. Kinship doesn't have to be biological. functions and structures of families are very different across cultures. pre-modern families: high infant and child mortality, children are leaving home to work at very early ages, parents often indifferent and neglect is common. Divorce much smaller rates and much more looked down upon. Many households contained non-blood family members. crowding was an issue, families served as emotional support for one another, as well as economic support.
Why are divorce rates so hard to calculate?
No one can really be sure exactly how much divorce actually happens because it is so hard to calculate. The usual method is to divide the number of divorces in a year by the total population to reflect the number of divorces per 1000 persons. this way of calculating has many shortcomings and requires many corrections. And in 1998, US stopped collecting the number of marriages and divorces because of the difficulty. To obtain an accurate divorce rate, we would have to wait until the last couple married that year had either divorced or died. Also because some people get married and divorced again and again, they contribute to the statistics on broken marriages. Recently, sociologists have turned to surveys to get a more accurate account.
explain the role of "Hope" in revolutions, being sure to explain the relevance of the J-Curve theory.
People will endure the most terrible of situations with considerable stoicism if they believe they must. The greater the gap becomes between expectation and reality gets, the more impatient and frustrated people get. the formulated version of this is called the j-curve theory. As long as what people want to get and what they actually do get remains relatively close, there will be no crisis.
which theory explains dyadic power? (ch. 3)
Rational choice theory: maximize rewards and minimize cost. when faced with choices, humans try to select the most rational choice, defined as the one that will yield them the maximum benefit. Humans will tend to maximize
according to guttenberg and Secord, how to males use structural power to limit their disadvantages in dyadic power where there is a regular, long-term excess of males?
Since men historically lack the dyadic power, so they have been motivated to shape the rules governing status to favor them. These organized efforts have led to the elaborate culture of traditional sex roles. these rules basically limit the dyadic power of women. limits the ability of women to form additional dyadic relations. some of these norms include: -brides shall be virgins: reduces margins which women can form alternative dyads -wives shall be chaste. reduces options outside the dyad once it is found -women shall devote themselves to the roles of wife and mother. tends to discourage divorce/pursuit of careers outside of marriage -defining women as temperamentally unsuited to positions of power and authority, which facilitates male control of laws as well as customs
what were the major findings of Katherine Trent and Scott South about what factors drive up divorce rates in some countries more than others?
South and Trent attempted to explain why divorce rates are higher in some nations than others. they proposed: -Modernization: (urbanization and economic development) reduces the importance of the family and increase the rate of divorce. -Rise in the female labor force participation: frees women from economic dependence on men, making it easier for people to get divorced. -Divorce will fluctuate according to sex ratios: where men greatly outnumber women, divorce rates will be low, when women outnumber men, divorce rates will be high. -because the catholic church bans divorce, the divorce rate will be lower the larger the proportion of catholics in a nation's population. --after doing a study on 66 nations, they found that the more the nation industrializes, the divorce rate climbs. second, divorce rate is higher where a lot of women are employed outside the home. third, the data highly supported Guttentag's sex ratio theory. (men outnumber women, divorce is low and vice versa). last, the notion that if there are more catholics, there is less divorce had no evidence to support.
what facts convinced the author of your text that secularization is not leading to the death of religion in a so-called "age of science"?
Stark disagrees with the views that religion is going to be extinct in the future. He believes that faith is alive and well in many different religions and churches. Stark has concluded that the secularization theory is flawed. Stark believes that these scientists have mistaken the decline of religions that were once very successful for a general decline of religion. "secularization is a self-limiting process that leads not to irreligion, but to a shift in the sources of religion. We must always expect a response to secularization:revival. Not only revival, but it has sparked new faiths altogether.
what kinds of practices can lead to an excess of males?
an unfavorable sex ratio- more women than men--> men desperate to find wife and cherish her forever (example: Magic Flute) Sex ratios are not traits of individuals, they are social structure. Guttentag studied in depth about sex ratios. some reasons for the unbalanced ratios: 1. Geographical Mobility: periods of rapid and large-scale migration or immigration. (young men depart in pursuit of economic opportunity, leaving the women behind.) 2. Female infanticide: the most major cause. most human societies have developed a system of killing a substantial proportion of female infants 3. health and diet: less adequate diet for females 4. Differential life-expectancy: in most societies, women outlive men. but it used to be that men outlived women, leaving excess of men 5. War: men go to war and die 6. Sexual practices: extreme excess of male births among Orthodox Jews. similar patterns exist or have existed in other cultures
stark acknowledges secularization at an institutional level, but questions it at a societal level. explain (hint: church-sect theory.)
church-sect theory: the proposition that, in time, successful sects will be transformed into churches, thereby creating the conditions for the eruption of new sects.
which theory explains structural power? (ch. 4)
conflict theory: organized activities of gender groups. this is the ways that the groups shape social structures to serve their own interests.
when women are in short supply, they have the dyadic power. explain
dyadic power: the capacity of each member of a dyad to impose his or her will on the other member is called dyadic power. A social circumstance that can greatly influence dyadic power is the sex ratio within which a dyad is located. Guttentag and Secord explained: in an opposite sex relationship, the individual member whose sex is in short supply has a stronger position and is less dependent on the partner because of the larger number of alternative relationships available to him or her. When women are in short supply, they can select from among several suitors who must vie for their affection. (micro level)
what do we mean when we say that contemporary understandings of marriage and romance are a product of modernization?
immense changes have resulted from modernization. Modernization changed the conditions of life, giving people the opportunity to seek individual happiness. Basically people are allowed to make their own marital choices based off love and companionship. Romantic attraction is now the basis of marriage. "I love you"= precondition of "will you marry me?" We don't only hope for a tolerable marriage, we seek love.
what, according to stark, are the major factors behind the rise of romantic attachments as the basis for marriage?
modernization has created marriage as something that is based out of love and romantic attachments. notions of love weren't discovered in modern times, they just weren't the sole reason for marriage. few could AFFORD to have love as the basis for their marital relations. Puritans in England were really the first to stress the importance of romantic sentiments between man and wife. this showed their status as members of a newly affluent middle class who could afford to marry for love. affluence actually explains a lot of modern family life. the rise of romantic love in marriage is also attributed to the primary attachments within the household. AKA husbands and wives now expect their relationship to take precedent over relationships with their peers. this is fueled by mobility. also effects children. encourages the idea that children should be wanted or not engendered at all.
In many ways, "Arab Spring" revolutions (specifically Tunisian and Egyptian) are "textbook" examples of how and when revolutions occur. Explain the relevance of grievance, networks, and mobilization of resources in Tunisia and Egypt.
revolutions lead to good but take years and years. social networks play a major part-- they included people in their riots through facebook events; etc. peaceful protest = the militaries in Tunisia and Egypt both ended up backing down. Used facebook to show the police brutality on facebook "we are all kahlied Siad" (the man who was murdered). the focus is on grievances, people use their resources to mobilize to bring on revolution
In class we discussed findings from the Center for Disease Control on cohabitation. Summarize these findings. ("first marriages in the United States: data from the 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth" Copen, 2012)
sample size of 22,000 15-44 year olds...collected data to see who was living together now or before they were married. or if they had ever cohabited before. if ENGAGED first, cohabitation does NOT increase the risk of divorce. if NOT ENGAGED, it DOES increase the risk of divorce. statistically speaking: go in committed (engaged)...unrelated to divorce. testing waters is not a good thing. "testing waters" couples...living together first can lead to inadvertently pushing towards marriage and that makes it weird. Bottom line? the gap in divorce rates between those who live together and those who do not is narrowing. cohabitation is a standard part of the eventual transition to marriage. "old" argument that cohabitation is risky for a future marriage doesn't hold as much water as it once did.
what have been some of the consequences of a relative shortage of men for African American women?
sex ratio of African Americans is nearly even at birth. African Americans have a higher infant mortality rate, and male infants are more likely to die. Young African American men have higher mortality rates and incarceration rates. The excess of women leads to: -irresponsibility of men -sexual exploitation of women -promiscuity of men -increase in "illegitimacy" ratio (% of births out of wedlock--> 73% in African American families) -desperate need for employment for women -so many single african american mothers
When women are in short supply, men have the structural power. explain
the macro-level sociological part of it. structural power: power based on statuses within social structures. if men lack dyadic power, they have the structural power. This means they are basically in charge of society etc..."organize yourselves to protect yourself in dyadic relationships" When women are in short supply, men will do things such as croon from beneath their window or send poetry or even duel one another.
what kinds of people are most likely to join cults? where are cults most likely to thrive?
those who say they have no religion are more likely to express faith in an unconventional or supernatural beliefs. cults are most likely to thrive in places where people who grew up in unreligious homes and areas where there are a lot of unreligious people.
what are some of the key reasons, other than sex discriminations, for the gender wage-gap among the full time, year round workers?
women workers are generally younger. some women take smaller, not as well paying jobs (secretary, library, etc) because of socialization (women don't see themselves as the main breadwinner. turnover: women change jobs more frequently than men. Women are more likely to take time off for their family. "female" positions generally paid not as well as "male" positions. discrimination.