Sociology Midterm Review 2019

Why do ethnic hertiage have both good/bad consequences ?

- refers to the shared social, cultural, and historical experiences, stemming from common national or regional backgrounds, that make subgroups of a population different from one another.our -ethnic membership thus has important consequences for how we are treated. In particular, history and current practice indicate that it is easy to become prejudiced against people with different ethnicities from our own.

How is education related to drug use?

-. Higher levels of alcohol use and lower levels of tobacco use

What is the difference between the individualist and structural explanations of poverty?

-The individualistic view attributes poverty to individual failings of poor people themselves, while the structural view attributes poverty to problems in the larger society. - Structural Theory of Poverty- approach that blames the system. If we blame the victim, we would spend our limited dollars to address the personal failings of individuals who suffer from poverty, illiteracy, poor health, eating disorders, and other difficulties. If instead we blame the system, we would focus our attention on the various social conditions (decrepit schools, cultural standards of female beauty, and the like) that account for these difficulties.

What is sex, gender, femininty, masuclintity?

-sex is a biological concept -gender is a social concept. - gender roles refers to a society's expectations of people's behavior and attitudes based on whether they are females or males. -femininity refers to the cultural expectations we have of girls and women, while masculinity refers to the expectations we have of boys and men. - masculinity is captured in the adjectives, again both positive and negative, our society traditionally ascribes to men: strong, assertive, brave, active, independent, intelligent, competitive, insensitive, unemotional, and aggressive. When we say that a boy or man is very masculine, we have some combination of these traits in mind: he is tough, strong, and assertive.

Why does racial inequality takes a hidden toll on people of color?

- African Americans are much more likely than whites to be poor, to live in high-crime neighborhoods, and to live in crowded conditions, among many other problems. -"The long-term stress of living in a white-dominated society 'weathers' blacks, making them age faster than their white counterparts

What are some manifestations of racial/ethnic inequality in US?

- Compared to non-Latino whites, people of color have lower incomes, lower educational attainment, higher poverty rates, and worse health. • Racial and ethnic inequality takes a hidden toll on people of color, as the stress they experience impairs their health and ability to achieve.

What are the effects of marijuana cociane and other illegal drugs?

- Its effects include distortion of time and space, euphoria, hunger, increased sensory perception, and relaxation. -In addition to relieving pain, narcotics may induce drowsiness, euphoria, and relaxation. Although narcotics do not damage bodily organs, they are very physically addictive, and high doses can be fatal. -They increase alertness and energy and can produce euphoria or anxiety. Some are legal and some are illegal, and many very different drugs are all considered stimulants: caffeine, cocaine, methamphetamine and other amphetamines, nicotine (tobacco), and Ritalin

What is meant by the blaming-the-victim belief?

- occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially at fault for the harm that befell them.

What are some of the potential problems associated with the growing proportions of older individuals in poor nations?

- will significantly lower economic growth due to decreased labour participation in the region - Population ageing could lead to an increase in government consumption due to the rise in the demand for health care.

What are some of the problems experinced by the US elderly?

-Although most elders have fixed incomes, the fact that their family size is usually one or two means that they are less likely than younger people to live in poverty. In fact, today's elderly are financially much better off than their grandparents were, thanks to Social Security, Medicare (the federal health insurance program for older Americans), pensions, and their own assets. We will revisit the health and financial security of elders a little later. If the elderly have more health problems, then adequate care for them is of major importance. They visit the doctor and hospital more often than their middle-aged counterparts. Medicare covers about one-half of their health-care costs; this is a substantial amount of coverage but still forces many seniors to pay thousands of dollars annually themselves.

How does drug use vary by gender?

-Males are more likely than females to commit the more serious forms of crime and deviance, such as homicide, robbery, and burglary. -shows that men are more likely than women to use alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs. -men are also more than twice as likely as women to engage in binge drinking

What are some of the benefits of being a male?

-Men can usually walk anywhere they want or go into any bar they want without having to worry about being raped or sexually harassed. - most men can work at any job they want without having to worry about sexual harassment. -Men can walk down the street without having strangers make crude remarks about their looks, dress, and sexual behavior. -Men can ride the subway system in large cities without having strangers grope them, flash them, or rub their bodies against them. -Men can apply for most jobs without worrying about being rejected because of their gender, or, if hired, not being promoted because of their gender.

Who are some of the agents of gender socialization?

-Several agents of socialization exist, including the family, peers, schools, the mass media, and religion, and all these institutions help to socialize people into their gender roles and also help them develop their gender identity

What are sexual orientations and gender identity?

-Sexual orientation refers to a person's preference for sexual relationships with individuals of the other sex (heterosexuality), one's own sex (homosexuality), or both sexes (bisexuality). - is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with assigned sex at birth or can differ from it.

What are some of the costs of being a male?

-They commit much more violence than women do and, apart from rape and sexual assault, also suffer a much higher rate of violent victimization. -They die earlier than women and are injured more often. Because men are less involved than women in child rearing, they also miss out on the joy of parenting that women are much more likely to experience

What are some problems in the measurement of official poverty?

-This way of calculating the official poverty line has not changed since 1963. It is thus out of date for many reasons. For example, many expenses, such as heat and electricity, child care, transportation, and health care, now occupy a greater percentage of the typical family's budget - fails to take into account regional differences in the cost of living

What are some of the reasons for gender inequality in income and the workplace in the US?

-Unequal pay. On average, American women are more educated than men -Sexual harassment- An obstacle that many women face in the workforce is sexual harassment. -Racism -Women are promoted less often than men -Fear of asking to be paid what you're worth - women bear children and need a long time off

What are the various harms caused by alcohol and tobacco?

-Using tobacco, alcohol, and drugs is dangerous. Not only do they impact emotional and physical development, but also can lead to long-term disease and addiction, which can interfere with school, relationships, and health.

Explain the racial basis for decisions to ban opium/cocaine/marijuana in the US?

-White workers feared their growing numbers as a threat to their jobs, and racial prejudice against the Chinese increased. Politicians, labor unions, and other parties began to focus on the Chinese habit of smoking opium at opium dens and warned that the Chinese were kidnapping little white children, taking them to the opium dens, and turning them into "opium fiends." This campaign had two effects: it increased prejudice against the Chinese, and it increased public concern about opium. Cocaine- one of this concern was fueled by the absurd belief that African Americans who used cocaine became extra strong, dangerous, and even invulnerable to bullets. Cocaine was heavily taxed by the 1914 Harrison Narcotics Act and later banned. Weed-After the Mexican Revolution of 1910, Mexicans moved to the United States in increased numbers and brought with them their habit of marijuana use. Whites feared that Mexicans would take their jobs, and, similar to what happened with opium and Chinese immigrants during the 1870s, began to charge that Mexicans who used marijuana would become violent and more likely to rape and murder innocent white victims.

How is family structure related to the poverty rate?

-are higher in families with one adult than in those with two adults (because they often are bringing in two incomes), and, in one-adult families - they are higher in families headed by a woman than in those headed by a man (because women generally have lower incomes than men).

How is the official poverty line in the US measured?

-by comparing a person's or family's income to a set poverty threshold or minimum amount of income needed to cover basic needs. People whose income falls under their threshold are considered poor

What are some criticques of the biological concept of race?

-is that an individual or a group of individuals is often assigned to a race arbitrarily

Why is race a social constrcution?

-race has no real existence other than what and how people think of it. -race is a social construction, it is also true that race has real consequences because people do perceive race as something real. Even though so little of DNA accounts for the physical differences we associate with racial differences, that low amount leads us not only to classify people into different races but also to treat them differently—and, more to the point, unequally—based on their classification.

Why does rape and sexual assault occur?

-that women enjoy being forced to have sex, that they ask or deserve to be raped, and that men should be sexually assertive or even aggressive—combine to produce a cultural recipe for rape. -A related cultural belief is that women somehow ask or deserve to be raped by the way they dress or behave. -is that a man who is sexually active with a lot of women is a stud and thus someone admired by his male peers.

What are the racial/ethnic difference in the poverty rate?

-the most typical poor person is white (non-Latino). -When Americans think about poor people, they tend to picture African Americans . This popular image is thought to reduce the public's sympathy for poor people and to lead them to oppose increased government aid for the poor. The public's views on these matters are, in turn, thought to play a key role in government poverty policy. It is thus essential for the public to have an accurate understanding of the racial/ethnic patterning of poverty.

What is the focus of symbolic interactionist work on poverty?

-tries to understand stratification and thus poverty by looking at people's interaction and understandings in their daily lives. -it examines the differences that stratification makes for people's lifestyles and their interaction with other people. Many detailed, insightful sociological books on the lives of the urban and rural p

What are some examples of white privilege?

-whites can count on being able to move into any neighborhood they desire to as long as they can afford the rent or mortgage. -They generally do not have to fear being passed up for promotion simply because of their race. -White students can live in college dorms without having to worry that racial slurs will be directed their way. -White people in general do not have to worry about being the victims of hate crimes based on their race. -They can be seated in a restaurant without having to worry that they will be served more slowly or not at all because of their skin color. I -f they are in a hotel, they do not have to think that someone will mistake them for a bellhop, parking valet, or maid. -If they are trying to hail a taxi, they do not have to worry about the taxi driver ignoring them because the driver fears he or she will be robbed.

How does drug use vary by race?

-whites have the highest rate of drinking, and Native Americans, despite the popular image that they have alcohol problems, have the lowest rate. -For tobacco use, Native Americans have the highest rate of use, and Asians have the lowest rate. -For illegal drugs, Native Americans again have the highest rate of use, and Hispanics have the lowest rate. -Note that African Americans have roughly the same illegal drug use rate as whites, and have lower rates of alcohol and tobacco use than whites do. - Although many people believe that African Americans are more likely than whites to use drugs, research data show that this belief is a myth.

What are the stages of the natural history of social problems?

4 stages - Emergence -Claims making -Legitimacy -Renewed claims making -Alternative strategies

What are the assumptions of the functionalist and conflict views of poverty?

Fuctionalist- Poor people buy goods that others don't such as day-old bread Poor people do work that others don't want to do Poor people provide work for low-quality doctors and lawyers Programs for poor people provide good jobs for others Conflict- -stratification results from a lack of opportunity and discrimination against the poor and people of color. -The former takes advantage of their position at the top of society to stay at the top, even if it means oppressing those at the bottom. At a minimum, they can heavily influence the law, the media, and other institutions in a way that maintains society's class structure.

How does poverty affect health and educational attainment?

Health: -Poor children are more likely to have inadequate nutrition and, partly for this reason, to suffer health, behavioral, and cognitive problems. These problems in turn impair their ability to do well in school and land stable employment as adults, helping to ensure that poverty will persist across generations. Education: -Poor children typically go to rundown schools with inadequate facilities where they receive inadequate schooling. -Their lack of education in turn restricts them and their own children to poverty, once again helping to ensure a vicious cycle of continuing poverty across generations.

What are the differences between individual discrimination and institutional discrimination?

Individual -is discrimination that individuals practice in their daily lives, usually because they are prejudiced but sometimes even if they are not prejudiced. Individual discrimination is common. -occurs in the workplace. Institutional - is discrimination tht affects the life chances of people of color in many aspects of life today

How does life expectancy differ around the world?

Life expectancy certainly differs within each nation, with some people dying younger and others dying older, but poverty and related conditions affect a nation's overall life expectancy to a startling degree.

What are the social constructionist view of social problem?

Nothing exists unless it bothers the group targeted Persepetion of things that make things real. Ex: race is a social construction.

What are the objective and subjective components of the definition of a social problem?

Objective-element of a social problem refers to the existence of a social condition Subjective - element of a social problem refers to the belief that a particular social condition is harmful to society

How might a "private trouble" reflect a structural problem in society?

Private issues are the problems faced at the individual, or micro, level, while public issues are seen at a macro level, affecting institutions or society. Personal troubles refer to a problem affecting individuals that the affected individual, as well as other members of society, typically blame on the individual's own personal and moral failings. Examples include such different problems as eating disorders, divorce, and unemployment. Public issues, whose source lies in the social structure and culture of a society, refer to social problems affecting many individuals. Problems in society thus help account for problems that individuals experience. Mills felt that many problems ordinarily considered private troubles are best understood as public issues, and he coined the term sociological imagination to refer to the ability to appreciate the structural basis for individual problems.

What is a 'social problem"?

a social condition that has negative consequences for individuals, our social world or the physical world. **Impacts a larger group of people**

What are the most important beliefs and assumptions of functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism?

symbolic interactionalism: Individuals construct meaning via the communication process. Self-concept is a motivation for behavior. A unique relationship exists between the individual and society. conflict theory: Conflict theory sees social life as a competition, and focuses on the distribution of resources, power, and inequality. is better at explaining social change, and weaker at explaining social stability. functionalism: emphasizes the consensus and order that exist in society, focusing on social stability and shared public values. From this perspective, disorganization in the system, such as deviant behavior, leads to change because societal components must adjust to achieve stability: