Sociology 101 Final

white-collar crime

Crime committed by a high-status individual in the course of her or his occupation.

violent crime

Crimes in which violence is either the objective or the means to an end, including murder, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery.

property crime

Crimes that do not involve violence, including burglary, larceny theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

Stigma

Erving Goffman's term for any physical or social attribute that devalues a person or group's identity, and which may exclude those who are devalued from normal social interaction.

Role Conflict

Experienced when we occupy two or more roles with contradictory expectations.

Stereotype

Judging others based on preconceived generalizations about groups or categories of people.

applied research

Research designed to allow the researcher to use what is learned to create some sort of change.

quantitative research

Research that translates the social world into numbers that can be treated mathematically; this type of research often tries to find cause-and-effect relationships.

qualitative research

Research that works with nonnumerical data such as texts, fieldnotes, interview transcripts, photographs, and tape recordings; this type of research more often tries to understand how people make sense of their world.

Norm

Rule/guideline regarding what kinds of behaviors are acceptable and appropriate within a culture

Non-material culture

The intangible, invisible parts of a culture, such as values.

Gender socialization

The lifelong process of learning to be masculine or feminine, primarily through four agents of socialization: families, schools, peers, and the media.

basic research

The search for knowledge without any agenda or desire to use that knowledge to effect change.

Role

The set of behaviors expected of someone because of his or her status.

Role Strain

The tension experienced when there are contradictory expectations within one role.

Assimilation

a pattern of relations between ethnic or racial groups in which the minority group is absorbed into the mainstream or dominant group, making society more homogeneous

Sociological Imagination

a quality of the mind that allows us to understand the relationship between our particular situation in life and what is happening at a social level

Ethnicity

a socially defined category based on common language, religion, nationality, history, or other cultural factors

Race

a socially defined category, based on real or percieved biological differences between groups of people

Prejudice

an idea about the characteristics of a group that is applied to all members of that group and is unlikely to change despite evidence against it

Functionalist Theory on Deviance

argue that deviance serves as a positive social function by clarifying moral boundaries and promoting social cohesion

Deviance

behavior, trait, belief that violates a norm and causes a negative reaction (social - not moral - judgement)

Conflict Theory on Deviance

believe that a society's inequalities are reproduced in its definitions of deviance, so the less powerful are more likely to be criminalized

Group

collection of people who share the same attribute, identify with one another, and interact with each other

Labled Theory

deviance is a consequence of external judgements or labels which both modify the individuals self concept and change the way others respond to the labled person (self fulfilling prophecy- prediction causes itself to come true)

Auguste Comte

early classical, coined the term sociology, began thinking about how the scientific method can be applied to social affairs

Fundalmentalism

emphasizes literal interpretation of texts and a return to a time of greater religious purity (conservative)

Out Group

group one feels opposition/rivalry towards

In Group

group one identifies with

Counter Culture

group within society that openly rejects and opposes society's values and norms

Values

ideas about what is desirable or contemptible and right an wrong in a particular group ~ articulates the essence of everything a group cherishes and honors

Sex

individual's membership in one of two biologically distinct categories (male/female)

Secondary Groups

large, less intimate, temporary

Folkway

loosely enforced norm that ensures smooth social interaction

Material Culture

objects associated with culture

Primary Groups

people who are most important to our sense of self ~ face to face interactions, intense feelings of belonging

Sanction

positive or negative reactions to the way that people follow or disobey norms ~ rewards for conformity and punishments for violations

Belief

proposition or idea held on the basis of faith

Symbolic Interactionism

sees interaction and meaning as central to society and assumes that behaviors are not inherent but are created through interaction (American Thought)

Agents of Socialization

social groups, institutions, and individuals that provide structured situations in which social situations take place (family, schools, peers, and mass media)

Social Stratification

the division of society into groups arranged in a social hierarchy - every society has it, passed from parents to children, creates beliefs about groups in society, (slavery, caste system, social class)

Social Control

the formal and informal mechanism used to increase conformity to values and norms and they increase social cohesion

Gender

the physical, behavioral, and personality traits that a group considers normal for its male and female members

Cultural Relativism

the principle of understand other cultures on their own terms, rather than judging them by ones own culture

Ethnocentrism

the principle of using one's own culture as a means of standard by which to evaluate another group of individuals ~ leading to the view that other cultures are abnormal ~ suspend it through sociological imagination, culture shock, and beginners mind

Gender Identity

the roles and traits that a social group assigns to a particular gender

Sociology

the systematic or scientific study of human society and social behavior, from large scale instituions and mass culture to small groups and individual interactions

Social Inequality

the unequal distribution of wealth, power, or prestige among members of society

Discrimination

unequal treatment of individuals based on their membership in a social group (motivated by prejudice)

Socialization

2 fold process: 1) process by which individuals are taught to become functioning members of society 2) process by which individuals learn and internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of our own social group (begins in infancy)

Socioeconomic Status (SES)

A measure of an individual's place within a social class system; often used interchangeably with "class."

Status (Achieved, Ascribed, Master)

A position in a social hierarchy that carries a particular set of expectations.

achieved status

A status earned through individual effort or imposed by others.

master status

A status that is always relevant and affects all others statuses we possess.

Social Class (middle, lower, etc.)

A system of stratification based on access to resources such as wealth, property, power, and prestige.

Crime

A violation of a norm that has been codified into law.

ascribed status

An inborn status; usually difficult or impossible to change.