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Textbook Reading Notes Sociology: Compass for a New Social World Chapter 1 - Social forces, he showed, strongly influence suicide rates. - For example, he discovered that insane asylums (as they were then called) housed slightly more women than men, b...

Textbook Reading Notes Sociology: Compass for a New Social World Chapter 1 - Social forces, he showed, strongly influence suicide rates. - For example, he discovered that insane asylums (as they were then called) housed slightly more women than men, but there were four male suicides for every female suicide. - Jews had the highest rate of psychological disorder but also the lowest suicide rate. - In turn, the greater the group’s social solidarity, the more connected members are to society, and the less likely they are to take their own life if adversity strikes. - Egoistic suicide results from the poor integration of people into society because of weak social ties to others. For instance, someone who is unemployed has weaker social ties and is thus more likely to die by suicide than someone who is employed. - Anomic suicide occurs when vague norms govern behaviour. Thus, the rate of anomic suicide is likely to be high among people living in a society lacking a widely shared code of morality. - Marriage creates social ties and a sort of moral cement that connects individuals to society. - Women are less likely to die by suicide than men are because women tend to be more involved in the intimate social relations of family life. - “suicide varies with the degree of integration of the social groups of which the individual forms a part” - someone’s likelihood of dying by suicide decreases with the degree to which they are anchored in society. - youth suicide rate is higher in Canada today. - a movement among the Innu to return to the land and to traditional hunting practices for up to seven months a year led to a dramatic improvement in health. Participants in the movement led a vigorous outdoor life. Alcohol misuse stopped. Diet improved. Their emotional and social environments stabilized and became meaningful. Suicide was unknown - Less firmly rooted in society, and less likely to share moral standards, young people in Canada today are more likely than they were at one time to take their own lives if they happen to find themselves in a deep personal crisis. - People to whom you are weakly connected (and who are weakly connected among themselves) are more likely to know different people. Therefore, they will give you more information about job possibilities and ensure that word about your job search spreads farther. - They tend to ignore the fact that, in our society, most married women who work full-time in the paid labour force and are married to men are responsible for more housework, child care, and care for aging parents than their husbands are. - Governments and businesses support this arrangement insofar as they provide little assistance to families in the form of affordable and accessible daycare facilities, after-school programs for children. - When spouses share domestic responsibilities equally, their marriages tend to be happier and divorce is less likely - Rather than explaining marriage breakups solely as the result of conflicting personalities, it is useful to understand how the macrostructure of patriarchy contributes to marital dissatisfaction. - These examples show that personal problems are connected to social structures at the micro, macro, and global levels.  - Theories are useful insofar as they guide research, telling us what to look for and how facts might be related. They thus help to broaden knowledge and solve social problems. - He argued that societies function best when families effectively raise new generations, the military successfully defends society against external threats, schools teach students the skills and values they need to become productive adults, and religions help people share a moral code - Many people assume that differences in the way women and men behave are the result of their different biological makeup. In contrast, social constructionists show that many of the presumably natural differences between women and men depend on the way power is distributed between them and the degree to which certain ideas about women and men are shared - They conclude that gender is more a performance shaped by social conditions than part of a person’s essence. - Moreover, by reinforcing the notion that men are entitled to sexual gratification and that women who show interest in men are obliged to do what men want, hookup culture put women at risk for sexual assault and rape. - a woman who expressed interest in a man, hooked up with him, but refused to have intercourse with him was at especially high risk of sexual assault - It supports the conflict theorists’ claim that online dating reinforces racial differences, doing little or nothing to lessen racial animosity and conflict in the larger society. Chapter 2 Definitions Concrete experience: is obtained by seeing, touching, tasting, smelling, and hearing. (It is meaningless by itself. Life would be full of sensations, but devoid of meaning). Abstract experience: occurs in your mind. Composed of concepts (example: allows you to find meaning in the letters on pages). Concepts: abstract terms for organizing sensory experience. (enables you to buy things with money from the bank of Canada but not with fake money). Propositions: abstract statements that express the relationship between two or more concepts. Overgeneralization: occurs when we treat an exception as the rule. (assuming if a poor person works hard they will become rich, because one poor person was able to achieve that). Selective Observation: occurs when we unconsciously ignore evidence that challenges firmly held beliefs and pay attention to evidence that confirms them. (During psychic reading only paying attention to the facts that are right, and paying little attention to the ones that are wrong). Illogical Reasoning: Internet hoaxes, conspiracy theories, and fake news thrive due to their rapid spread when we fail to critically evaluate their validity before sharing them on social media. Biases contribute to the tendency to think uncritically about illogical claims on social media. Intersubjective reliability: when independent researchers examining the same thing make consistent observations. (More independent observations and more consistency yield stronger evidence). Deductive reasoning: begins with a general idea and then tests to see if the idea is credible. Inductive reasoning: when observations are made of specific empirical instances. Anonymity: both the researcher and the consumers of the research do not know how particular research subjects answered questions. (Sometimes it is impossible to guarantee anonymity). Confidentiality: when the researcher possesses the link between research subjects and evidence but agrees to destroy or not share this information. (Weaker form of privacy compared to anonymity). Operationalization: the process by which a concept is translated into a variable. Probability samples: samples in which every member of a population has a known and nonzero chance of being selected. Spuriousness: occurs when change in a control variable causes change in both the independent and dependent variables and erases the association between the independent and dependent variables. Participant Observation: when researchers participate in the activities of the social group being studied, and observe what occurs and interpret why it occurs. The goal is to experience and understand what it is like to be a member of a community. Key informants: insiders who can help guide the researcher through the community. Structured interviews: all the questions are crafted in advance of the interview to measure specific variables, and answers are closed-ended, meaning that subjects must select from a fixed set of responses. Exploratory research: research that seeks to formulate theories about the subject of interest rather than test theories in the rigorous manner of quantitative research. ______________________________ - Experience helps determine how we perceive reality, including what patterns we see and whether we can see patterns at all. Your experience, which is also shaped by your age, can influence whether you notice discrimination based on class, race, and gender. - Bias often leads us to draw incorrect conclusions about what we see. To decide if a statement is true, humans rely on 3 ways of knowing. - Casual observation: Searching for a cause and effect understanding of events to help predict and control what will happen to us. But our memories of events are rarely as accurate as we think. Eyewitness testimony can lead to many wrongful convictions. - Tradition: Some traditional knowledge is valid, but some is not. Science helps to separate valid from invalid knowledge. - Authority: Experts often provide accurate information, but even authorities can be mistaken. Scientists are taught not to rely on authority. - Pseudoscience and conspiracy theories exploit selective observation and illogical reasoning, threatening public health by confusing trust, generating panic, and hindering effective response by public health agencies.  - Outsiders offer a different perspective. Insiders’ perspectives restrict them from understanding what outsiders can see. (People that visit countries can offer insights about the country that are not obvious to the people that live there). - We conclude that our social position shapes our perspective and what we know. No person or group has a monopoly on knowledge. - Positivists - Social realities are objective. - Develop tools to observe and measure objective social reality in a quantitative manner (surveys and stats). - Believe research will guide constructive social change. - Interpretivism - Emphasises importance of subjectivity and insider's understanding. - Key drivers of human conduct (meanings and motives) cannot be observed directly. - Favours using qualitative methods (systematically observing social settings and describing observations using words, not numbers). Qualitative vs Quantitative - Quantitative studies provide a broad understanding that focuses on a relatively small number of variables. Qualitative studies provide a narrower understanding that is rich in detail. - In 1942, researchers did experiments on Indigenous children to see how different nutritional supplements affected health outcomes. - Hypotheses are educated guesses that are tested using research evidence, such as experiments and surveys, to determine their fit with observable evidence. - The variable considered the cause is called an independent variable, while the outcome or effect is identified as the dependent variable. - Surveys are the most widely used sociological research method. Participant Observation Full participation - Advantage - Minimizes reactivity (tendency for observed people to conceal certain things or exaggerate their authentic actions in an effort to impress the researcher.) - Disadvantage - Ethical concerns Just observation - Reactivity concerns increase but ethical breaches are reduced. - The pure observer role is rarely used, however, since non-participation denies the researcher the kind of insider experience that is key to qualitative investigations. Structured vs Unstructured interviews While structured interviews seek specific information, unstructured questions probe to encourage respondents to share their thoughts, feelings, and actions in their own words. Chapter 3 Definitions: Dominant Culture: culture that helps rich and powerful categories of people exercise control over others. Subordinate Culture: culture that contests dominant culture to varying degrees. Abstraction: the ability to create general concepts that meaningfully organize sensory experience. Beliefs: cultural statements that define what community members consider real. Cooperation: the capacity to create a complex social life by establishing generally accepted ways of doing things and ideas about what is right and wrong. Social Organization: the orderly arrangement of social interaction. Folkways: norms that specify social preferences; violating them evokes the least severe punishment because they are the least important norms. Mores: (pronounced mor-ays) core norms that most people believe are essential for the survival of their group or their society. Taboos: the strongest norms; when someone violates a taboo, it causes revulsion in the community and punishment is severe. Sapir-Whorf Thesis: theory that we experience certain things in our environment, form concepts about those things, develop language to express our concepts, and that language itself influences how we see the world. Ethnocentrism: the tendency for people to judge other cultures exclusively by the standards of their own culture. Cultural Relativism: the belief that all cultures have equal value. Globalization: the process by which formerly separate economies, states, and cultures are tied together and people become aware of their growing interdependence. Postmodernism: era characterized by an eclectic mix of cultural elements, the erosion of authority, and the decline of consensus around core values. Rationalization: the application of the most efficient means to achieve given goals and the unintended, negative consequences of doing so. Consumerism: the tendency to define ourselves in terms of the goods we purchase. Cultural Capital: the beliefs, tastes, norms, and values that people draw on in their everyday life. _________________________ Superstitions  - Translate particular experiences into meaningful observations that enable people to cope with specific life challenges. The Elements of Culture - Notion that people can become rich if they work hard and make smart choices. - Ignores the economic and other advantages that many people inherit from their parents. - Plays down that people that are not rich do not have the means to make the right choices (can’t afford education). The Origins of Culture - Main way humans adapt to their environments. Cultural survival kits three main tools: 1. Abstraction ○ We are able to recognize and distinguish objects by giving them a name. Beliefs ○ When beliefs are widely shared in a community, members accept such beliefs as truths. ○ Cultural constructions of reality and truth do not necessarily coincide with scientifically established fact. 2. Cooperation ○ Different times and places give rise to different norms and values. ○ By analyzing how people cooperate and produce norms and values, we can learn much about what distinguishes one culture from another. 3. Production ○ We call the tools and techniques material culture because they are tangible, whereas symbols, norms, values, and other elements of nonmaterial culture are intangible. ○ Uniquely human activity. Social Organization ○ Within many species, ordered activities are a result of genetic programming. Example: bees are born to build hives. ○ With humans our organized social conduct is rooted in a cultural blueprint. Four Types of Norms Folkway: norms that specify social preferences. Example: violating a folkway if a man walks down a busy street wearing nothing on the top half of his body. Mores: norms that specify social requirements. Example: violating a more if a man walks down the street wearing nothing on the bottom half of his body. Taboos: the strongest and most central norms. Example: incest. - Mores and Taboos are often turned into laws. - The law specifies the form of punishment that people convicted of robbery should receive. Culture and Biology - Many claim that biological factors play a much more important role in shaping human behaviour than cultural forces do. Evolutionary Psychologists: - Argue that genes (chemical units that carry traits from parents to children) account not just for physical characteristics but also for many behaviours and social practices. - Tend to minimize the significance of culture. Male Promiscuity, Female Fidelity, and Other Myths Evolutionary psychologists three-step argument: 1. Identify a “supposedly” universal human behavioural trait. ○ Example: men are more likely than women to want and have many sexual partners. 2. Offer an explanation for why the behaviour in question increases the survival chances of the human species. ○ Example: male sexual promiscuity and female sexual fidelity are sex-specific strategies for maximising the survival chances of the human species. 3. Conclude that the behaviour in question cannot easily be changed. ○ Example: sex-spesific reproductive strategies have presumably been encoded or hardwired in our genes. - Main problem with evolutionary psychology argument is that it oversimplifies reality. - They divide people into just two categories that are the “opposite” of those in the other category. But, men or women each vary greatly and can change in different social circumstances. ★ Changes in social environment produce physical and, to an even greater degree, behavioural change. Language and the Sapir-Whorf Thesis - Language as a cultural invention distinguishes humans from other animals. - Language obliges people to think in certain ways. Example: income and power inequality between men and women encourages some men to use harmful terms (bitch, ho, etc) and influences men to think about women as sexual objects. Sapir-Whorf Thesis - We make distinctions for things that are important to us. Example: Different types of snow are important for Inuit in Canada’s Far North and Alaska, and the Sami people in northern Finland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden. Ethnocentrism and Functionalist Explanations of the Effects of Immigration  - Immigrants help the economy insofar as they bring needed skills, start new businesses, and help the economy grow. - Immigrants help fill jobs that are unfilled because of a lack of workers. - Tax-paying immigrants help to support our ageing population. - International students that become Canadian citizens help sustain our system of higher education. Culture as Freedom and Constraint Is culture a dependent variable? (culture is an effect of certain patterns of social relations) Is culture an independent variable? (culture establishes certain patterns of social relations) Symbolic Interactionists: - Believe elements of culture result from human creativity. - Culture is the outcome of our choices and shapes and constrains our social relations. Culture as Freedom - Canadian society is diversified. More cultural options of what we eat, who we date, etc. - Critics argue that by promoting cultural relativism, multiculturalism encourages respect for practices that are abhorrent to most Canadians. Multiculturalists reply that cultural relativism need not be taken to an extreme. Moderate cultural relativism encourages tolerance and should be promoted. Conflict Theory - Cultural diversity debate in which socially excluded groups struggle against advantaged groups to win equal rights under the law and in practice. Rights Revolution: the process by which socially excluded groups struggled to win equal rights under the law and in practice beginning in the second half of the twentieth century. - Example: indigenous peoples demanding compensation and restitution. Rites of Passage - Ceremonies marking the transition from one stage of life to another. - May consist of body painting, chants, dancing, etc. - Typically occurs in public. Globalization - Most important root is the expansion of international trade and investment. - Helps to break down political, economic, and cultural isolation. The Erosion of Authority - The social bases of authority have weakened and multiplied and we are more likely to challenge authority.  - More likely to defer to authority in religion, the family, schools, politics, medicine, etc. The Decline of Consensus around Core Values - 21st century: value shifts are more rapid. Postmodernism: empowers ordinary people and makes them more responsible for their own fate. Canada: The First Postmodern Culture? - Canada became an independent country in a gradual, evolutionary manner. Culture as Constraint - Rationalization, consumerism, and cultural capital act as constraining forces on our lives. They increase social control and reinforce privilege. Rationalization - Describes the most efficient way of attaining goals and the unintended negative consequences of doing so. - Constrains all aspects of life (living in an “iron cage”). - One of the most restrictive aspects of modern culture. - First mechanical clocks in public were made to increase productivity. - Signalled the timing of meals, clocking in and out, etc. - Clocks made their lives harder. - The regulation of time helps us achieve things (example: school and work start on time), but makes life more hectic. Consumerism - Because of more personal video recorders and channel surfing advertisers started paying to have their products appear in TV and movies. - Wanting to be more like a celebrity, people are more likely to buy the product. - Social media platforms are meant so people will get addicted to them so that platform owners earn more ad revenue. - Constrain us by becoming a compulsion. - Neglect of loved ones, decreased capacity to focus, etc. - Effective at taming countercultures using rewards and punishments. - Examples: Hippies of the 1960s, environmentalists, etc. - Hip-hop was inspired by drug problems, and would highlight the problems in the world. Money was offered to mute the political force of hip-hop, but there was too big of an audience for it. Instead major media corporations signed deals with small independent recording labels. Clothing companies were marketing clothing influenced by ghetto styles. - The fate of hip-hop is testimony to the capacity of consumerism to change countercultures into mere subcultures, thus constraining dissent and rebellion. Cultural Capital - Important resource for accomplishing goals. - People with different socialization histories occupy different social positions. - About differences with important social consequences. - Example: Public schools have expectations (sit still, arrive punctually, etc.) and when immigrants or students from lower socioeconomic classes come they might have different expectations which make it harder for them to adapt. Chapter 4 Definitions: Socialization: the process by which people learn to function in social life and become aware of themselves as they interact with others. Self: consists of your ideas and attitudes about who you are as an independent being. Generalized Other: according to Mead, a person’s image of cultural standards and how they apply to their self. Epigenetics: the study of how gene expression (rather than DNA itself) is modified by behavioural and social forces. Subjective Age: the extent to which people might experience themselves as younger or older than their actual age. Primary Socialization: the period early in a person’s life that usually takes place in a family and during which they become self-aware and develop their sense of self through practising skills and engaging in the everyday activities of childhood. Secondary Socialization: socialization that takes place outside the family, such as schools, friends, and media. Thomas Theorem: the concept that “situations we define as real become real in their consequences.” Self-fulfilling Prophecy: an expectation that helps bring about what it predicts. Peer Group: a group of individuals that share similar characteristics with one another, such as age, education, and so on, and acts as an agent of socialization. Resocialization: the process in which powerful socializing agents deliberately cause rapid change in a person’s values, roles, and self-conception, sometimes against a person’s will. Total Institutions: settings in which people are isolated from the larger society and under the strict control and constant supervision of a specialized staff. Anticipatory Socialization: taking on the norms and behaviours of a role to which we aspire. __________________________ The Consequences of Social Isolation in Childhood - During the first few months of life, children must be exposed to other humans who will care for and love them. Otherwise, the neural structures that are responsible for emotional and intellectual development wither. - Socialization is necessary for people to reach their potential as humans. Romanian Orphans: - Did not have access to lots of food and love. - 600 were adopted by Canadian families.  - Romanian adopted children caught up to Canadian children in weight and height, but their brains were less developed than they should have been. - Resulted in emotional and intellectual deficits. Freud - Infants begin to form a self-image when their demands are not immediately met. - They will learn things (example: going back to sleep when they wake up during the night). - Argued that the self emerges only as a result of social interaction. Cooley’s Symbolic Interactionism - Proposed idea of “looking-glass self”. - We imagine how we are perceived by others and then judge how others evaluate us. We use these judgments to develop a self-concept (a set of feelings and ideas about who we are). Mead - Argued that a subjective and impulsive aspect of the self is present from birth. - Claimed that social interaction leads to the emergence of a repository of culturally approved standards as part of the self. Four Stages of Development: 1. Children learn language by imitating significant others (example: parents). 2. Children pretend to be other people by role-playing in games (example: house). 3. Children learn to take the role of several people simultaneously while playing complex games (example: in sports, knowing what all the positions are when playing). 4. Children take the role of generalized other (understanding that people can consider them funny, intelligent, etc). - Has led to debates about nature vs nurture, and whether inborn characteristics or early life care best explain why people turn out the way they do. Epigenetics: - Genes and environment influence each other (relationship is interactive). - Epigenetics demonstrate that our behaviour and social settings change how our genes work. - Can influence whether a given gene is expressed. At the Intersection of Biography and History - Socialization is a lifelong process (expectations and behaviours change). - What we can become is made possible (or not) because of the historical circumstances in which we live. - Patterns of socialization are different because of contrasting ways countries organize work. Sociology of the Life Course  - Individuals pass through distinct stages of life (called the life course). The number, timing, and character of life stages vary socially and historically. Childhood and Adolescence: - In poorer countries or poor communities, children go into adulthood sooner (work jobs, marry). - Children in rich countries, childhood is prolonged (receive education and remain free of adult responsibilities). - Adolescence, like childhood, is a social construction, the contours of which are socially and historically determined. The Social Significance of Age - Age has become a defining characteristic (evident in laws: drinking age, cannabis, driving, voting, etc). - Society sets expectations for how people of different ages should behave. - Subjective age: How old you feel may affect your well-being. People are Shaped by Two Factors: 1. Their cumulative experience as they move through life is defined by their culture and slice of history in which they live. 2. The age-specific norms and expectations in place when they reach each age threshold. Cohort and Generation - You develop patterns of behaviour that are common to those who are the same age and culture as you. - Cohorts: explore how individual lives are connected to social change. - The experience of moving through the life course also leads people to behave differently because society is changing around them. 1. The Greatest Generation: 1900-1928 2. The Silent Generation (or Lucky): 1929-1945 3. Baby Boomers: until mid-1960s 4. Generation X: 1966-1981 5. Millennials: 1982-1994 6. Generation Z: 1995-2010 How Socialization Works - The main agents of socialization (families, peer groups, schools, and mass and social media) often operate at cross-purposes, teaching different norms, values, and practices. Theories and Agents of Socialization - Functionalists, conflict theorists, symbolic interactionists, and feminist theorists interpret socialization differently, partly because they tend to examine different aspects of the socialization process. Families - Primary socialization. - Families provide children with attention that helps them learn how to feel, think and act. - Contemporary parenting: responsive and child-centred. - Helicopter parenting leads to children not being able to work independently and have difficulty regulating their emotions. Schools - Secondary socialization. - Education may offer students perspectives that differ from the worldview of their families. - Leads to disagreements between educators and parents (banning of books). - Hidden curriculum: students learn punctuality, respect for authority, and other conformist behaviours and beliefs that are expected of good citizens. - Students from economically marginalized backgrounds struggle with the hidden curriculum. (Believe that privilege always ends up on top and that conventionally good behaviour will get them nowhere). Symbolic Interactionism and the Self-fulfilling Prophecy - When teachers hold high expectations for students, academic performance improves. Peer Groups - Peer groups are used for children and adolescents to develop their own identities. - Conflict between generations is likely to occur (hair and dress styles, curfew, etc). - Conflict is temporary. Families have more influence than peer groups. - They help to prepare youth for the adult world and integrate them into it. Mass and Social Media - Continuous connectivity is starving our culture of conversation. - Encourages superficial interaction. - Compromises our capacity to develop empathy. Resocialization and Total Institutions Residential Schools: - Without proper role models, Indigenous children who left the school as young adults had no concept of what it meant to be a parent. - Many resorted to what they knew, neglecting and abusing their children in ways that mimicked what had happened to them in the school system. Socialization and the Flexible Self - One factor contributing to the growing flexibility of the self is globalization.  - People are less obliged to accept the culture into which they are born. - More opportunities to change our appearance (cosmetic surgery, technology, etc). - Social interaction on the internet. - Feedback online has the ability to shape how we think, act and see ourselves. Chapter 5 Definitions: Organizations: collectivities characterized by structure that encourages patterns in individual action. Ascribed Status: a social position imposed on a person at birth; related to a characteristic that is impossible or extremely difficult to change. Achieved Status: a social position that a person acquires through their efforts and choices. Master Status: a social position that is considered central to a person’s social identity. Role-playing: behaviour that involves conforming to existing performance expectations. Role-making: the creative process by which individuals generate role expectations and performances. Social Interaction: the process by which role performers act in relation to others. Instrumental Communication: sending messages that are a means to an end. Expressive Communication: sending messages that are ends in themselves. Mediated Interaction: communication that uses technologies to send and receive messages. Technological Determinism: an assumption that the adoption of technologies leads to inevitable and sometimes undesirable effects. Emotion Labour: emotion management that many people do as part of their job and for which they are paid. Domination: a mode of interaction in which nearly all power is concentrated in the hands of people of high status; fear is the main emotion involved. Cooperation: a basis for social interaction in which power is more or less equally distributed between people of different status; trust is the main emotion involved. Competition: a mode of interaction in which power is unequally distributed but the degree of inequality is less than in systems of domination; envy is an important emotion. Dramaturgical Analysis: an approach to social interaction that views it as a sort of play in which people present themselves so that they appear in the best possible light. Role Distancing: giving the impression of just “going through the motions” but actually lacking serious commitment to a role. Ethnomethodology: the study of how people make sense of what others do and say by adhering to pre-existing norms. Breaching Experiments: methods that disrupt interaction patterns to illustrate the importance of pre-existing shared norms and understandings in the establishment of social order. Status Cues: visual indicators of a person’s social position. ___________________________ The Building Blocks of Interaction Social Environment: - People in the social environment act in an orderly patterned way. Organizations: - Social spaces where people are connected to others (example: classrooms). Status and Role Statuses: - Connected in systematic ways (gives organization its structure). - Connections between statuses → norms. - People occupy a status, but a person is not a status (you are not reducible to the status of a student, or daughter, etc). - Organizations exist independently of individuals (if you drop a class, it will still continue to run). - Two main ways a person can come to occupy a position: ascription and achievement. - People are more committed to the roles associated with some statuses than others (example: loves being an employee at their job, does not like being a parent). Role-Playing: - Constraint occurs in the form of role-playing (someone performing a role in exactly the way social convention prescribes). - Sometimes role expectations are unclear (example: how you should act on a first date). - Sometimes a person's character may prohibit them from conforming to clear role expectations (vegans not eating thanksgiving turkey). - Called role-making. Social Interaction: - People are governed by the dictates of the surrounding social structures and agents who shape their own actions. - The medium of communication (face-to-face or online) influences how we interact and the consequences of our interaction. Mediated Interaction  - Arguments that “smart” technologies reduce our capacity for attention and memory, make us less intelligent, lower trust and privacy, and contribute to loneliness. Instrumental Communication: - Example: asking a question to receive a clear answer. Expressive Communication: - Example: expressing joy after getting a good test score. Face-to-face Interactions: - Synchronous - Rich with social cues - Difficult to save and replicate - Take place over a small distance Web-based Communication: - Poorly endowed with social cues - Easily saved and replicated - Narrow or wide reach - May take place over long distances - May be synchronous or asynchronous How do Social Media Help or Harm us? Social Media Affecting Empathy: - Social media removes facial expressions. - More likely to result in misunderstanding and disagreement. - Involves remote and often anonymous communication. - You are more likely to behave aggressively and develop extreme views if you can’t be identified (because there are fewer potential costs). - Exposure to aggressive content and nasty people on social media decreases our capacity for empathy. Social Media and Well Being: - Displacement hypothesis: media use weakens in-person connections. - Results in poorer social and emotional well-being. - Positively affect mental health 1. Must be routine and not disruptive to daily life. 2. Healthier if we don't have a strong emotional connection to it (FOMO, constantly checking in, etc). ★ Social media affects empathy and mental health, but the direction of the effects depends on how people choose to use it. Feminist Theory and Emotions - Differences in role performance are often related to gender status. - Example: men are less likely to ask for assistance when doing so would reduce their authority, such as asking for directions while driving. Emotion Management - Emotional responses are not involuntary and don’t just happen to us. - As status subordinates, women must control their emotions more often than men must. - When individuals experience an external stimulus, they try to follow the culturally designated emotional response to that stimulus. Conventions: - Individuals have conventional expectations about what they should feel, how much, how long, etc. - Conventions change over time and vary by culture. Emotion Labour - Examples of jobs that require emotion labour (dealing with angry and rude customers) are sales clerk, nurse, and flight attendant. - Have to carefully manage their emotions while making an effort to keep the customer happy. - More women than men are likely to do emotion labour (they are more often socialized to take on caring and nurturing roles). - Constant and intense emotion labour can take a heavy toll on the mental health of workers. - The need for emotional labour is growing as the economy continues to move from producing mainly goods to producing mainly services. Conflict Theories of Social Interaction Competing for Attention: - Recurring interaction usually requires that both parties need for attention be met. - In a typical conversation, the participants secretly compete for attention. - According to conflict theory, competition for attention, approval, prestige, information, money, and other resources are what guide social interaction. - Competitive interaction involves people trying to gain the most socially, emotionally and economically while paying the least. Power and Social Interaction - When people interact, their statuses are often arranged in a hierarchy. - In face-to-face communication, the degree of inequality strongly affects the character of social interaction between interacting parties. - Extreme cases of power in social interaction: domination and competition. A middle ground is coordination. - An organization's mode of interaction strongly influences its efficiency or productivity (ability to achieve goals with the least cost). - Domination: punishment is a less effective motivator than reward is, they will work with less than maximum effort.  - Competition: prestige and money are stronger motivators than the threat of coercion is. - Coordination: most efficient workers are those who enjoy their work and identify with their employer. Power and Position - Power is exercised in all modes of interaction. - A product of social circumstances. - Power is a principal determinant of successful action. - Cultural scaffolding: the set of cultural values and beliefs that legitimize existing power arrangements, making them seem reasonable and giving them a natural, taken-for-granted quality. - Example: the pressure to learn standard English. Symbolic Interaction - Fair or altruistic behaviour occurs when people interact with others based on learned norms (example: people should act honourably and help those in need). - You need to see yourself from the point of view of the people with whom you interact (“taking the role of the other”). - Mead: We understand how other people see us by interpreting their words and nonverbal signals and then adjust our behavior to fit their expectations about how we have to behave. - We are constantly negotiating and modifying the norms, roles and statuses as we interact with others. Goffman’s Dramaturgical Analysis - Dramaturgical analysis implies there is no single self, just the ensemble of roles we play in different social contexts. Role Distancing: - When people think a role they are playing is embarrassing or beneath them, they afton want to give their peers the impression that the role is not their “true” self. - Example: “my mom made me do this”. Ethnomethodology Breaching Experiments Four Fundamental Sociological Facts: 1. Social life tends to be orderly or patterned. 2. If the social order is disrupted, people quickly try to reestablish a new social order. 3. The orderliness of social life is maintained by shared norms and understandings. 4. People can establish orderly behaviour without talking to each other. Verbal and Nonverbal Communication The Social Context of Language:  - We communicate information through visual cues and body language that vary from one culture to the next. Status Cues: - When individuals interact, they try to obtain information that will help them define the situation and therefore make interaction easier. - Status identification is assisted by status cues. - Can be the way people dress and speak, where they live, etc. - Can degenerate into stereotypes. - Can create social barriers that impair interaction or prevent it altogether. Body Language and Facial Expressions: - Feminine body language is considered “not taking up too much space” and “keeping her body small”. - Expansive body postures indicatie power and entitlement. - Lead people to feel more powerful and such feelings encourage deviant conduct. - There are cross-cultural similarities found in facial expressions. - Facial expressions require interpretation, and can be misread. - Gestures and body postures can mean different things in different societies and cultures. - In all societies, people communicate by manipulating the space that separates them from others. - Intimate zone, personal zone, social zone, public zone. ★ A wide range of cultural assumptions, unconscious understandings, and nonverbal cues underlie human interaction and make communication possible. Chapter 6 Definitions: Bureaucracy: a large, impersonal organization comprising many clearly defined positions arranged in a hierarchy, with a permanent, salaried staff of qualified experts who try to find ways of running the bureaucracy more efficiently, and written goals, rules, and procedures. Social Network: a bounded set of individuals who think of themselves as network members, who are linked by the exchange of material or emotional resources, whose patterns of exchange determine the boundaries of the network, and who exchange resources more frequently with one another than with non-members; may be formal (defined in writing) but is more often informal (defined only in practice). Dyad: a social relationship between two nodes or social units (e.g., people, firms, organizations, countries). Triad: a social relationship among three nodes or social units (e.g., people, firms, organizations, countries). Social Groups: one or more networks of people who identify with one another and adhere to defined norms, roles, and statuses. Social Categories: people who share a similar status but do not identify with one another. Primary Groups: social collectivity with norms, roles, and statuses that are agreed on but are not put into writing, strong emotional ties expressed through interaction over a long period, and involving a wide range of activities that result in group members knowing one another well. Secondary Groups: larger groups that are more impersonal than primary groups are, with social interaction that creates weaker emotional ties, extends over a shorter period, and involves a narrow range of activities, resulting in most members having at most a passing acquaintance with one another. Groupthink: group pressure to conform despite individual misgivings. Bystander Apathy: effect that occurs when people observe someone in an emergency but offer no help. In-Group Members: people who belong to a group. Out-Group Members: people who are excluded from an in-group. Reference Groups: people against whom individuals evaluate their own situation or conduct. Formal Organizations: secondary groups designed to achieve explicit objectives. Dehumanization: effect that occurs when bureaucracies treat clients as standard cases and personnel as cogs in a giant machine, frustrating clients and lowering worker morale. Bureaucratic Ritualism: condition in which bureaucrats become so preoccupied with rules and regulations that they make it difficult for the organization to fulfill its goals. Oligarchy: organization in which power is concentrated in the hands of a few people at the top of the organizational hierarchy. Bureaucratic Inertia: the tendency of large, rigid bureaucracies to continue their policies even when their clients’ needs change. Foraging Societies: a type of society that predominated until about 10 000 years ago and whose members survived by searching for wild plants and hunting wild animals; inequality, the division of labour, productivity, and settlement size were very low. Horticultural Societies: a type of society that first emerged about 10 000 years ago in which people domesticate plants and use simple hand tools to garden. Pastoral Societies: a type of society that first emerged about 10 000 years ago in which people domesticate cattle, camels, pigs, goats, sheep, horses, and reindeer. Agricultural Societies: a type of society that first emerged about 5000 years ago in which plows and animal power are used to substantially increase food supply and dependability as compared with horticultural and pastoral societies. Industrial Societies: a type of society that first emerged in Great Britain in the last decades of the eighteenth century and uses machines and fuel to greatly increase the supply and dependability of food and finished goods. Postindustrial Societies: a type of society in which most workers are employed in the service sector and computers spur substantial increases in the division of labour and productivity; after World War II, the United States became the first postindustrial society. Postnatural Society: a type of society in which genetic engineering enables people to create new life forms. __________________________________ How Social Groups Shape Our Actions 1. Norms of solidarity demand conformity. ○ In relationships we develop shared ideas or norms of solidarity (how to behave towards each other to maintain the relationship). ○ We sometimes pay too much attention to these instead of morals because these relationships are important to us. ○ Example: soldiers killing people not because they hated the people they killed, but because they did not want to let down fellow soldiers. 2. Structures of authority tend to render people obedient. ○ People are scared to disobey authorities because of their fear of being punished. ○ Stanley Milgram: we tend to obey those in power, even if there are no repercussions, and even if we are causing pain to another human. 3. Bureaucracies are highly effective structures of authority. ○ Example: Nazis’ jobs were broken into small tasks (checking train schedules, maintaining supplies), and by focusing on their jobs (while were distant for the death camps) they could avoid or ignore the full horror caused by the Nazi genocide. Netherlands → more jews killed because bureaucracy was more organized. Romania → less jews killed (even though there was more hatred toward Jews), because bureaucracy was inefficient. Social Networks - If asked to deliver a letter to a complete stranger, research shows it will take no more than six acquaintances to get the letter to the stranger. - Our social networks are made up of overlapping sets of social relations. - Our social networks connect us to the larger world. The Value of Network Analysis: - Units of analysis (nodes) in social networks can range from individuals to groups to organizations, etc. - Analysts study intimate relationships all the way to diplomatic relations among nations. - Networks do not have names or offices. - Analysts claim we can obtain a full understanding of why certain things happen in the social world by examining the network level. Finding a Job - Social networks are a source of information regarding events, ideas, and opportunities (family introducing you to a certain university).  - Weak ties are more important than strong ties in finding a job. - Acquaintances are more likely to provide useful information. - This is because people who are close to you typically share overlapping networks (information is redundant). - Acquaintances are likely to be connected to diverse networks. Contracting COVID-19 - Contact tracing: identifying people who have come into contact with an infected person and recording when and where contact occurred. - Can identify hot spots, contacts who need to be quarantined, and superspreaders. - Limits death experienced by a population. Online Networks - Telegraphs: the new technology frightened many people because it disrupted the traditional mechanism of relationship formation and the authority of the family and church in setting standards of behaviour. - People believe that social media impairs social interaction, isolates individuals, and ruins community life. - Most social networks on the internet and on social media are based on shared interest. - Results in the formation of virtual communities. The Building Blocks of Social Networks Dyad: a social relationship between two nodes or social units. - Example: Dyadic Relationship - A Marriage needs both partners, but only needs one to opt out for it to “die”. - Does not have free riders (people that benefit from the relationship without contributing to it). - Partners must assume full responsibility for all that transpires (cannot shift responsibility because no collective exists beyond the two people in the relationship). Triad: a social relationship among three nodes. - Les intimate and intense. - Restricts individuality (allows one partner to be constrained for the collective good). - Allows the formation of coalitions or factions. - Allows one partner to mediate conflict between the other two. Primary and Secondary Groups Primary Groups: - Strong emotional ties. - Extends over long periods of time. - Involves a wide range of activities. - Group members know each other well. - Example: family. Secondary Groups: - Larger and more impersonal. - Weak emotional ties. - Extends over a short period. - Involves a narrow range of activities. - Example: university classes. Benefits of Group Conformity - Primary groups generate more pressure to conform than do secondary groups. - Example: WW2, primary group cohesion was the main factor motivating soldiers to engage in combat (feelings of camaraderie, loyalty and solidarity were main motivators instead of belief in the cause). - This explains the importance of uniforms, anthems, flags, drills, to form group solidarity. - Conformity ensures group cohesion. The Asch Experiment: - Individuals will conform to group pressure and ignore individual beliefs. Factors that affect the likelihood of conformity: 1. The likelihood of conformity increases as group size increases. 2. As group cohesiveness increases, so does the likelihood of conformity - If there is more intimacy and shared beliefs, members are less likely to express dissent. 3. Social statuses affect the likelihood of conformity. - People with low status are less likely to dissent. 4. Culture matters. - People in Canada vs people in collectivist societies (example: China). 5. The Appearance of unanimity. - One dissenting voice greatly increases the chance that others will dissent. Disadvantages of Group Conformity - A group's common view can sometimes be misguided or dangerous. - Disagreement can save the group from making mistakes, but the pressure to conform despite individual doubts can result in catastrophe (called groupthink). Groupthink: - Dangers are greatest in high-stress situations.  - Example: space shuttle Columbia. Dismissed engineers' concerns, others in the meeting did not interfere. Seven astronauts died. Bystander Apathy: - As the number of bystanders increases, the likelihood of any one bystander helping another decreases. - This is because the greater the number of bystanders, the less responsibility any one individual feels. - Behaviour shows that people usually take their cues for action from others and demonstrates the power of groups over individuals. Group Conformity, Group Conflict, and Group Inequality - Group conformity encourages conflict and reinforces inequality. - In-Group Members: Draw boundaries separating themselves from members of the out-group. - Race, class, athletic ability, academic talent, and physical attractiveness act as boundaries separating groups. Group Boundaries: - Dominant groups construct group boundaries in particular circumstances to further their goals. - Example: the division between Germans and Jews came into existence because of its perceived usefulness to a dominant group. Groups and Social Imagination Reference Groups: - Members of the reference group function as role models. - They represent a largely imaginary ideal, they may still influence us. - Example: people trying to imitate body ideals even though they know few people can look like runway models. Imagined Communities: - Example: postsecondary institution. - They are imagined because you cannot possibly meet most members of the group and can only speculate about what they must be like. - They are communities because people believe strongly in their existence and importance. Bureaucracies - Formal Organizations: the most common and influential are bureaucracies. - Weber: Bureaucracies are the most efficient type of secondary group. - He compared bureaucracies with traditional and charismatic forms of organizations. (They are more efficient when compared with these organizations). - He thought they operated efficiently only in ideal situations. Four Main Criticisms Against Bureaucracies:  1. Dehumanization 2. Bureaucratic Ritualism 3. Oligarchy 4. Bureaucratic Inertia Factors Underlying Bureaucratic Inefficiency: 1. Size ○ It is more difficult for functionaries to communicate when the bureaucracy is bigger. ○ Coalitions and rivalries form more easily in bigger bureaucracies. ○ Possibility of clique formation, rivalries, conflict, and miscommunication rise as quickly as the number of possible dyadic social relationships in an organization. 2. Social Structure ○ Communication becomes more difficult as the number of levels in a bureaucratic structure increases (people must communicate indirectly). Information may be lost, blocked, reinterpreted, or distorted as it moves up the hierarchy. ○ Top levels in the hierarchy can become overwhelmed with work, which can prevent them from seeing the needs of the organization and its clients (leads to vague and imprecise ideas of what happens on the ground). Bureaucracies Informal Side - Hawthorne Study: Employees are members of social networks that regulate output. - Bureaucracies rely on informal interaction to get the job done. - Example: deciding important matters face-to-face instead of email or phone. - People feel more comfortable in intimate settings (can gauge other peoples trustworthiness). - Informal side of bureaucracy operates at lower levels. - Example: office workers taking time to text/email colleagues and friends. - Dysfunctional → lowers office productivity. - Functional → gives workers a chance to communicate about matters of importance to the workplace. Can strengthen friendship ties. - Line between functional and dysfunctional informal communication depends on how much and what kind of chatter takes place. Overcoming Bureaucratic Inefficiency - Innovative firms have flatter and more democratic organizational structures - Network structure has fewer levels.. - Workers and clients and happier. - Profits are larger. Societies - Help shape human action. - Influence the kind of work we do and how productively we work. - Mould patterns of class, gender, racial, and ethnic inequality. - Impinge on the way religious, family, and other institutions operate. - Affect the way we govern and the way we think ourselves.  - Societies affect our most personal and intimate choices. - Example: deciding how many kids you want. - Certain identifiable social conditions prompt them to reach the same conclusion and increase the chance that we will choose one course of action over another. Foraging Societies - Most lived in temporary encampments, and migrated when food was scarce. - Aquatic foragers: concentrated on fishing and hunting marine animals. - Equestrian foragers: hunted large mammals from horseback. Hierarchical, male-dominated and warlike. - Pedestrian Foragers: engaged in diversified hunting and gathering on foot and could be found on all continents. Non-heirchal, shared their wealth, and women and men had approximately equal status. Pastoral and Horticultural Societies - Social inequality became widespread when bands began to domesticate plants and animals. - Increased food supply and made it more dependable. - Nature could support more people. - Allowed people to specialize in producing food, tools/weapons, making clothes, trading, etc. - Some families and bands accumulated more valued objects, resulting in a higher level of social inequality. - Feuding and warfare grew as the wealth accumulated. - Conducted raids to acquire prestige and power. - Pastoralists: - Nomadic. - Had migration patterns dictated by their animals' needs for food and water. - Some were able to establish villages in two warm locations. - Horticulturalists: - Established permanent settlements beside cropland. - The development of large permanent settlements took place only with the development of intensive agriculture. Agricultural Societies The Plow: - Invented to harness animal power for more intensive and efficient agricultural production. - Allowed farmers to plant crops over much larger areas and dig below the topsoil (brings nutrients to the surface increasing yield). - Many people built permanent settlements, because more food was able to be produced. - Idea of individual property emerged. - Could buy land and water. - People could become rich. Results: - Ancient civilizations became rigidly divided into classes. - Governments collected taxes, enriching the upper classes. - Inequality between women and men reached its historical high point. Industrial Societies - Owners of factories and mines became rich, labourers barely earned enough to survive. - Labourers used union power and political influence to improve working and living conditions. - To raise the profits of businesses, they hired the most talented people. - Rewarded their improved talents with higher salaries. - Inequality between women and men decreased because of demand for talent. Postindustrial Societies - Individuals specialize in providing services rather than producing goods. - Women have been recruited to the service sector. - This has helped to ensure an increase in equity in terms of education, income and other indicators of rank. - Computers created more jobs in the service sector and eliminated them in manufacturing. Postnatural Societies Recombinant DNA: - Technique to manipulate DNA. - Scientists could create new life forms and repair DNA. - A way to “speed up” natural selection by creating a perfect society. - Genetic engineering could result in increased social inequality. - Rich people are more likely to benefit from it. - The safeguard from this outcome is democracy.