SOC1A Exam 3 Study Guide (Modules 9-12)

African American women make on average 64 cents for every dollar a Caucasian male makes

Latina women make 56 cents for every dollar a Caucasian male makes

Academic lessons become the focus of education as a child moves through the school system.

However, education is about much more than the simple learning of facts

In the United States, society tends to glorify youth and associate it with beauty and sexuality.

In comedies, the elderly are often associated with grumpiness or hostility. Rarely do the roles of older people convey the fullness of life experienced by seniors.

Oligarchy

a form is government in which power is held by a small, elite group

A democracy ensures certain basic rights for their citizens. Citizens are free to organize political parties and hold elections. Leaders, once elected, must

abide by the terms of the given nation's constitution and are limited in the powers they can exercise, as well as in the length of their terms

Socialism

an economic system in which there is government ownership (often referred to as "state run") of goods and their production, with an impetus to share work and wealth among the members of society

Continuity theory on aging suggests that

an enduring attempt to maintain social equilibrium and stability by making future decisions on the basis of already developed social roles contributes to a certain consistent span of life for the elderly, barring a major illness such as Alzheimer's

Structural Functional theorists view government and politics in a way enforce norms and regulate society's problems. They seek

consensus and order in society and believe that dysfunction creates social problems that lead to social change.

Karl Marx believed that the only way for the underprivileged to eventually gain some measure of equality would be to

continue to struggle against one another

It was not until the establishment of Title IX of the Education Amendments in 1971 that

discriminating on the basis of sex in U.S. education programs became illegal

Taoist beliefs

emphasize the virtues of compassion and moderation

The social construction of health

emphasized the socio-cultural aspects of physical health, objectively definable phenomena

Some religious scholars consider Confucianism more of a social system than a religion because

it focuses on sharing wisdom and moral practices but doesn't involve any type of specific worship

Despite the cost of college today,

it is more necessary than ever to complete a college degree

Power affects more than personal relationships;

it shapes larger dynamics like social groups, professional organizations, and governments

(Symbolic-Interactionist) Demedicalization

normalizes behavior that was once understood as "sick"

Religion is an institution that helps maintain

patterns of social inequality that keep poor people poor and disempowered

Conflict theorists believe that the public education system

reinforces and perpetuates social inequalities

The controversy surrounding death with dignity laws of physician-assisted suicide is hotly debated. Oregon, the first to institute a Death with Dignity Act in 1997,

required the presence of two physicians for legal assisted suicide

According to Structural Functional theorists, in this model of health, doctors

serve as gatekeepers, deciding who is healthy and who is sick, a relationship in which the disorder has all the power

In the United States, many people view caring for the elderly as a burden. Even when there is a family member able and willing to provide or an elderly family member,

60 percent of family caregivers are employed outside the home and are unable to provide the needed support

A government's power is not necessarily limited to control of its own citizens;

A dominant nation, for instance, will often use its clout to influence or support other governments or to seize control of other nation states

Max Weber identified and explained three distinct types of authority:

Charismatic, traditional, and legal-rational

Today, wealth is distributed inequitably at the top of the socioeconomic scale

Corporate profits have increased more than 141 percent, and CEO pay has risen by more than 298 percent

The Industrial Revolution and its accompanying social changes made education more accessible to the general population.

Many families in the emerging middle class found new opportunities for formal schooling.

Examples of charismatic authority:

Napoleon, Jesus Christ, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Ghandi

The government has four main purposes

Planning and directing society, meeting social needs, maintaining law and order, managing international relations

In the United States, median income has not increased, and in fact it has receded in many cases.

The size, income, and wealth of the middle class has been declining since the 1970s, effects that were perhaps hastened by the recession

The 1960s saw other important reforms in U.S. voting. Shortly before the Voting Rights Act was passed, the 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case Reynolds v. Sims changed the nature of elections. This landmark decision reaffirmed the notion of one person, one vote.

This concept holds that all people's votes should be counted equally. Before this decision, unequal distributions of population enabled small groups of people in sparsely populated rural areas to have as much voting power as the denser populations of urban areas. After Reynolds v. Sims, districts were redrawn so that they would include equal numbers of voters.

Social conflict suggests wars often result from religious disputes.

To understand a culture, sociologists must study religion

Max Weber studied power and authority, differentiating between power and authority, and

formulating a system for classifying types of authority

It is important to note that ethnic minorities, including African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Native Americans

have higher rates of diseases and causes of mortality than whites

Socialists claim that a capitalistic economy leads to

inequality, with unfair distribution of wealth and individuals who use their power at the expense of society

Direct purchase insurance

is coverage that an individual buys directly from a private company

Some of the drawbacks of globalization are

that countries can be weakened and polluted

Unfortunately, in June 2013 the Supreme Court repealed several important aspects of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, ruling that

that southern states no longer need the scrutiny that was once required to prohibit racial discrimination in voting practices in the South

The rapid increase in computer use in all aspects of daily life is a main reason for the transition to an information economy. Fewer people are needed to work in factories because computerized robots now handle many of the tasks. This is referred to as

the Post-industrial revolution

Religion plays a major role in

the process of socialization

Besides formal offices, authority can arise from

tradition and personal qualities

Structural unemployment

when there is a societal level of disjuncture between people seeking jobs and the available jobs. This mismatch can be: Geographic (they are hiring in California, but most unemployed live in Alabama), or Technological (skilled workers are replaced by machines, as in the auto industry)

Globalization has led to the development of a global commodity chain

where internationally integrated economic link connect workers and corporations for the purpose of manufacture and marketing

Brown v. Board of Education

a court case decided by the US Supreme Court in 1954 unanimously strikes down segregation in public schools, sparking the Civil Rights movement

Monarchy

a government in which a single person rules until he or she die or abdicates the throne; typically pass down through birth right

Outsourcing

a practice where jobs are controlled to an outside source, often in another country

Age Stratification theory falls under the social conflict theory on aging, suggesting that

because age serves as a basis of social control, different age groups will have varying access to social resources such as political and economic power

Although real poverty exists in the United States, we tend to have what is called relative poverty, defined as

being unable to live the lifestyle of the average person in your country

Some people suggest secularization is a root cause of many social problems, such as

divorce, drug use, and educational downturn

Credentialism

the emphasis on certificates or degrees that symbolize what a person has achieved, and allows the labeling of that individual

Polarization means that a gap has developed in the job market, with most employment opportunities at

the lowest and highest levels and few jobs for those with midlevel skills and education.

The quaternary sector produces ideas; these include

the research that leads to new technologies, the management of information, and a society's highest levels of education and the arts.

The economy

the social institution through which a society's resources are exchanged and managed to allow individuals to meet their needs and wants

Symbolic-Interactionist: Medicalization of deviance

is the process that changes "bad" behavior into "sick" behavior

One of the most misunderstood concepts of Islam is that of Jihad, which many people interpret as a holy war, but actually has two definitions:

a struggle or fight against the enemies of Islam, and the spiritual struggle within oneself against sin

Conrad and Barker show how medical knowledge is socially constructed

and can both reflect and reproduce inequalities in gender, class, race, and ethnicity

Liberation theologians discuss theology from the point of view of the poor and oppressed,

and interpret the scriptures as a call to action against poverty and injustice

The United States Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States

and it has the final say on decisions about the constitutionality of laws that citizens challenge

Growing up poor can cut off access to the opportunities and services people need to more out of poverty and into stable employment. As we saw, more education was often a key to stability

and those raised in poverty are the ones least able to find well-paying work, perpetuating a cycle.

In underdeveloped countries, as economies develop, more and more people

are employed in the secondary sector

Social Conflict theorists suggest that issues with the healthcare system, as with most other social problems,

are rooted in capitalist society.

Latent (or secondary) functions

are the hidden or unintended functions.

Structural functional theorists suggest that manifest (or primary) functions

are the intended and visible functions of education

In 2015, the United States continued its recovery from the Great Recession

arguably the worst economic downturn since the stock market collapse in 1929 and the Great Depression that ensued.

Structural Functionalist theory suggests that religious rituals

bring order, comfort, and organization through shared familial representations and patterns of behavior

The individual who has fallen ill is not only physically sick

but now must adhere to the specifically patterned social role of being sick with rights and obligations

Cultural attitudes shape the way our society views old age and dying,

but these attitudes shift over time

Cultural attitudes in Japan prior to about 1986 supported the idea that the elderly deserve assistance, but major social shifts have created and increased demand for

community and government care, and the increase in women working outside the home has made it more difficult to provide in-home care to aging parents, which leads to an increase in the need for government-supported institutions

As capitalism began to dominate the economies of several countries during the Industrial Revolution, the rapid growth of businesses an their tremendous profitability gave some owners the resources they needed to

create enormous corporations that could monopolize an entire industry

Evidence suggests that legal protection of voting rights

does not directly translate into equal voting power

According to Social Conflict, struggles in the present era are

driven by the desire to gain or protect power and wealth, whether in the form of land and resources or in the form of liberty and autonomy. Internally, groups within the U.S. struggle within the system, by trying to achieve the outcomes they prefer

Functionalists view government and politics in a way to

enforce norms and regulate conflict; all aspects of society serve a purpose

According to Durkheim, religion has 3 major functions:

establishing social cohesion, promoting social control, and providing meaning and purpose

Employment-based insurance

is health plan coverage that is provided in whole or in part by an employer or union; it can cover just the employee, or the employee and his or her family

The Agricultural Revolution led to development of the first economies that were based on trading goods. Eventually, the mechanization of the manufacturing process

led to the Industrial Revolution and gave rise to two major competing economic systems, capitalism and socialism

Many contend that our society and even our healthcare institutions discriminate against certain

like mental disorders, AIDS, venereal diseases, and skin disorders. This is known as the stigmatization of illness

Monotheism

single God

An example of institutionalized sexism is

the way that women are more likely than men to be diagnosed with certain kinds of mental disorders

Political debate about immigration is often fueled by conversations about low-wage-earning workers,

there are actually as many highly skilled, and high-earning, workers involved as well

While women are getting more and better jobs and their wages are rising more quickly than men's wages, U.S. Census statistics show that

they are still earning only 77 percent of what men are for the same positions