SOC 313 Midterm Exam
Bogardus scale
Bogardus conceptulized a scale that could measure social distance empirically. His social scale is so widely used that it is often called the Bogardus Scale.
exploitation theory
Clearly part of the Marxist tradition in sociological thought. Karl Marx emphasized exploitation of the lower class as an integral part of capitalism.
1. Unequal Treatment: members of a minority experience unequal treatment and have less power over their lives than members of a dominant group have over theirs. Prejudice, discrimination, segregation, and even extermination create this social inequality. 2. Distinguishing physical or Cultural Traits: members of a minority group share physical or cultural characteristics such as sin color or language that distinguish them from the dominant group. Each society has its own arbitrary standard for determining which characteristics are important in defining dominant and subordinate groups. 3. Involuntary Membership: membership in a dominant or minority group is not voluntary: People are born into the group. A person does not choose to be African American or White. 4. Awareness of Subordination: minority-group members have a strong sense of group solidarity. William Graham Summer, writing in 1906, noted that people make distinctions between members of their own group (the in-group) and everyone else (the out-group). When a group is the object of long-term prejudice and discrimination, the feeling of "us versus them" often becomes intense. 5. In-group Marriage: members of a minority generally marry others from the same group. A member of a dominant group often is unwilling to join a supposedly inferior minority by marrying of its members. In addition, the minority group's sense of solidarity encourages marriage within the group and discourage marriage to outsiders.
What are the factors that determine what is a subordinate group and what is a dominant group?
1. Racial Groups: obvious physical difference (skin color,hair texture, facial features) 2. Ethnic Groups: cultural traits that are originated from their homelands or long history ex: Jews 3. Religious Groups: in the U.S Protestants outnumber the members of all religious groups while Roman Catholics are the largest minority in the U.S. Minorities in this group include Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Amish, Muslims, Buddhists, cults 4. Gender Groups: men and women *other subordinate groups include age, disability status, sexual orientation, and physical appearance
What are the four types of subordinate groups?
What ways
What are the ways in which members of subordinate groups respond to situations of institutional discrimination?
-minority group is a subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power over their own lives than do the members of a dominant or majority group. -being superior in numbers doesn't guarantee a control over its destiny or ensure majority status ex: in 1920 in Mississippi the majority of people were black but whites still had more control of blacks lives than they did -subordination of a minority involves more than its inability to rule over society -subordinate group experiences a narrowing of life's opportunities-for success, education, wealth, the pursuit of happiness
What is the role of power and privilege in minority/majority relations?
Anti-Semitism
anti-Jewish prejudice and discrimination-remains a very real phenomenon
racial profiling
any police initiated action based on race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than the person's behavior
Dysfunctions
are elements of society that may disrupt a social system or decrease its stability. Race is dysfunctional in 6 ways: o Society that practices discrimination fails to use the resources of all individuals. Discrimination limits the search for talent and leadership to the dominant group. o Discrimination aggravates social problems such as poverty, delinquency and crime and places the financial burden of alleviating these problems on the dominant group. o Society must invest a good deal of time and money to defend the barriers that prevent the full participation of all members. o Racial prejudice and discrimination undercut goodwill and friendly diplomatic relations between nations. They also negatively affect efforts to increase global trade. o Social change is inhibited because change may assist a subordinate group. o Discrimination promotes disrespect for law enforcement and for the peaceful settlement of disputes.
Conflict Perspective
assumes that the social structure is best understood in terms of conflict or tension between competing groups
authoritarian personalitty
basic characteristics that mean it's a personality type that's likely to be prejudiced
nativism
beliefs and policies favoring native-born citizens over immigrants
Apartheid
came to mean a policy of separate development, euphemistically called multinational development by the government Black South Africans were relegated to impoverished urban townships or rural areas and their mobility within the country strictly regulated.
naturalization
citizenship is conferred on a person after birth
Labeling theory
concept introduced by sociologist Howard Becker to explain why certain people are viewed as deviant and others engaging in the same behavior are not
Immigration
denotes coming into the new country
Emigration
describe leaving a country to settle in another
symbolic ethnicity
describes a nostalgic allegiance to, love for, and pride in a cultural tradition that can be felt and lived without having to be incorporated to the person's everyday behavior
Segmented assimilation
describes the outcome of immigrants and their descendants moving into different classes of the host society
Panethnicity
development of solidarity between ethnic groups, has emerged
Melting pot
diverse racial or ethnic groups form a new creation, a new cultural entity
reverse discrimination
emotional term, because it conjures up the notion that somehow women and minorities will subject White men in the United States to the same treatment received by minorities during the last three centuries.
Functional Perspective
emphasizes how the parts of society are structured to maintain its stability. 5 functions that racial beliefs have for dominant group (See Pg. 14)
Afrocentric perspective
emphasizes the customs of African cultures and how they have pervaded the history, culture, and behavior of Blacks in the United States and around the world.
ethnophaulism or
ethnic slurs which include derisive nicknames such as honky, gook, and wetback; speaking about or to members of a particular group in a condescending way
asylees
foreigners who have already entered the United States and seek protection because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country
Migration
general term used to describe any transfer of population
sexism
ideology that one sex is superior to the other
glass walls
imaginary wall that keeps women and racial and ethnic minorities from moving laterally
transnationals
immigrants who sustain multiple social relationships that link their societies of origin and settlement
absolute deprivation
implies fixed standard based on a minimum level of subsistence below which families should not be expected to exist
Pluralism
implies that various groups in a society have mutual respect for one another's culture without suffering, prejudice, or discrimination
Self-fulfilling prophecy
in certain situations, we may respond to negative stereotypes and act on them, with the result that false definitions become accurate
wealth
more inclusive term that encompasses all of a person's material assets including land and other types of property
Prejudice
negative attitude toward an entire category of people
Fusion
occurs when a minority and a majority group combine to form a new group. [A(groups presented in society)+B(groups presented in society)+C(groups presented in society)D(result, ethnocultural=group that shares some of characteristics of each group)]
denomination
organized religion that is not linked officially with the state or government ex: Catholicism is the largest form
environmental refugees
people forced to leave their communities because of natural disasters or the effects of climate change and global warming
sinphobes
people who fear anything associated with China, appealed to racist theory developed during the slavery controversy that non-Europeans were subhuman.
refugees
people who live outside their country of citizenship for fear of political or religious persecution
creationists
people who support the literal interpretation of the Bible
Re-segregation
physical separation of racial and ethnic groups reappearing after a period of relative integration
Blaming the Victim
portraying the problems of racial and ethnic minorities as their fault rather than recognizing society's responsibility
white privilege
refers the rights or immunities granted as a particular benefit or favor for being White.
religion
refers to a unified system of sacred beliefs and practices that encompass elements beyond everyday life that inspire awe, respect, and even fear
chain immigration
refers to an immigrant who sponsors several other immigrants who on their arrival may sponsor still more
mixed status
refers to families in which one or more members are citizens and one or more are noncitizens. This especially becomes problematic when the noncitizens are illegal or undocumented immigrants.
income
refers to salaries, wages, and other money received
glass escalator
refers to the White male advantage experienced in occupations dominated by women. Whereas females my become tokens when they enter traditionally male occupations, men are more likely to be advantaged when they move out of sex-typical jobs
environmental justice
refers to the efforts to ensure that hazardous substances are controlled so that all communities receive protection regardless of race or socioeconomic circumstances
Ethnic Cleansing
refers to the forced deportation of people, accompanied by systematic violence including death.
ethnic paradox
refers to the maintenance of one's ethnic ties in a manner that can assist with assimilation with larger society
color-blind racism
refers to the use of race-neutral principles to defend the racially unequal status quo
Class
social ranking of people who share similar wealth (Max Weber)
secessionist minorities
some religious groups that reject both assimilation and coexistence in some form of cultural pluralism
contact hypothesis
states that intergroup contact between people of equal status in harmonious circumstances causes them to become less prejudiced and to abandon previously held stereotypes.
Marginality
status of being between two cultures, as in the case of a person whose mother is a Jew and father is a Christian
Sociology
systematic study of social behavior and human groups, so it is aptly suited to enlarge our understanding of intergroup relations
relative deprivation
the conscious experience of a negative discrepancy between legitimate expectations and present actualities.
Discrimination
the denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups because of prejudice or for other arbitrary reasons
institutional discrimination
the denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups that results from the normal operations of a society
homophobia
the fear of and prejudice toward homosexuality is present in every facet of life: : the family, organized religion, the workplace, official policies, and the mass media
xenaphobia
the fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
intelligent design
the idea that life is so complex it could only have been created by higher intelligence
brain drain
the immigration to the United States of skilled workers, professionals, and technicians who are desperately needed by their home countries.
Colonialism
the maintenance of political, social, economic, and cultural dominance over people by foreign power for an extended period
remittances
the monies that immigrants return to their countries of origin
redlining
the pattern of discrimination against people trying to buy homes in minority and racially changing neighborhoods
Segregation
the physical separation of two groups in residence, workplace, and social functions
affirmative action
the positive effort to recruit subordinate-group members including women, for jobs, promotions, and educational opportunities
Amalgamation
the process by which a dominant group and subordinate group combine through intermarriage into a new people.
Assimilation
the process by which a subordinate individual or group takes on the characteristics of the dominant group and is eventually accepted as part of that group. [A(majority)+B(minority)+C(minority)A]
civil religion
the religious dimension in the United States in the United States that merges public life with sacred beliefs
Stratification
the structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal rewards and power in a society
social distance
the tendency to approach r withdraw from a racial group
Ethnocentrism
the tendency to believe that one's culture and way of life are superior to all others'.
normative approach
the view that prejudice is influenced by societal norms and situations that encourage or discourage the tolerance of minorities
globalization
the worldwide integration of government policies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets through trade, movement of people. and the exchange of ideas
scapegoating theory
theory says that prejudiced people believe they are society's victims
glass ceiling
this refers to the barrier that blocks the promotion of a qualified worker because of gender and minority membership
stereotypes
unreliable generalization about all members of a group and don't take individual differences into account
Stereotypes
unreliable generalization about all members of a group that don't take individual differences into account
Genocide
used to describe the deliberate, systematic killing of an entire people or nation
World Systems Theory (Immanuel Wallerstein 1974)
views global economic system as divided between nations that control wealth and those that provide natural resources and labor
principle of third-generation interest
was an early exception to the assimilation approach to White ethnic groups
hate crime
when offenders are motivated to choose a victim because of some characteristic and provide evidence that hatred prompted them to commit the crime (ex: rrace, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability)
Globalization
worldwide integration of gov. policies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets through trade and exchange of ideas