Important Exam Notes PDF
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These are important exam notes on social structure and interaction. The notes cover topics such as macrosociology, microsociology, social structure, components of social structure, culture, social class, status, roles, groups, social institutions, and theoretical perspectives.
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Exam 2: Social Structure and Social Interaction Marcosociology - Analysis of social life that focuses on the features of society such as social class and relationships of groups to one another usually used bystructurefunctionalists and conflict theorists...
Exam 2: Social Structure and Social Interaction Marcosociology - Analysis of social life that focuses on the features of society such as social class and relationships of groups to one another usually used bystructurefunctionalists and conflict theorists. ( White supremacist, patriarchy ) Mircosociology - Analysis of social life that focuses on social interactions; typically used bysymbolic interactionist - Relationships -Roles -Statues Social Structure: The framework of society that surroundsus; consists of the ways that people and groups relate to one another; this framework gives direction to and sets limits on our behavior (guides our behavior) - Professor vs Students - Parents vs Children - Coach vs Player - Manger vs Employers ____________________________________________________________________________________ Components of Social Structure ____________________________________________________________________________ - Culture - Social Class - Social Status - Roles - Groups - Social institutions Culture - A group's languages, beliefs, values, behaviors, and even gestures Social Class: A large group of people who rank closeto one another in property, power, and prestige - Income - Education - Occupation Max fabor: Lower, lower mid, higher mid, higher Status - he position that someone occupies in a social group (also called social status, may carry T prestige) Status set - All the structures or positions that an individual occupies - College student, Mother, Daughter, Wife, Employee, Homeowner, Registered voter - Ascribed Status:A position an individual eitherinherits at birth or receives involuntarily later in life. ( Race/Ethnicity, Sex, Social Class) - Achieved Status:Positions that are earned, accomplished,or involved at least some effort or activity on the individual’s part ( College Graduate, Nurse, Ex-spouse, Bank Robber, Registered Voter). Status Symbols - A material object that presents your class status, Indicators of a status; items that display prestige. (wedding rings, Howard Sweatshirts, Uniforms, Exotic Cars, Jewelry etc) Master Status - A status that cuts across the other statuses that an individual occupies. Some master statuses are ascribed. ( Sex (Male or Female), Disabled, Wealthy, Student, Little person) Status Inconsistency - Ranking high on some dimensions of social status and low on others; also called status discrepancy. (Entering college at a young age). Roles - T he behaviors, obligations, and privileges attached to a status. You occupy a status, but you play a role. Groups - People who interact with one another and believe that what they have in common is significant; also called a social group (Values, Interests, and norms). (Democrats, Sports Team, Drama Club , Dorms). Social Institutions - Organized, usual, or standard ways by which society meets it basic needs. They set the context for your behavior and orientation to life. unctionalist Perspective: In order for society to survive we need these things. Society has different parts F but by coming together and working in harmony society will be fixed. 1.) Reproduction 2.) Socializing new members ( lEARN BASIC EXPECTATIONS) 3.) Producing and distributing goods services 4.) Preserving order 5.) Proving a sense of purpose Conflict perspective:Do not view social institutionsas working harmoniously for the common good. Small groups of elite people held the majority of society's wealth Symbolic Interactionist - Interested in how people view things and how this, in turn, affects their behavior and orientation to life. ( Stereotypes in everyday life, Personal space, Eye Contact, Body Language). Dramaturgy - An approach, pioneered by Erving Goffman, In Which social life is analyzed in terms of drama or the stage; also called dramaturgical analysis - Impression management (Front stage, Backstage) - Role Preformance - Role Conflict - Role Strain Role Strain and Role Conflict Ethnomethodology - The study of how people use background assumptions to make sense out of life or how people do things by Harold Garfinkel. Breaking assumptions,( Bargaining with cashiers Addressing your parents as Mr. or Mrs. Not Wearing pants on the Metro.) The Construction of Reality - The use of background assumptions and life experiences to define what is real.struct reali - “ If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences Subjective interpretation: Our definition of reality Construct Reality Deviance and Self-Control Why do people do bad things or violate norms? What stops people from doing bad things? Deviance - The violation of norms(or rules or expectations) - Driving over the speed limit - Serious Murder - Chagon’s encounter with the tribe from the rainforest. Relativity of Deviance - ecause groups have different norms, what is deviant to some may not be deviant to others, This B applies not just to cultures, but also to groups within the same society. Crime - The violation of rules that have been written into law. - An act that is applauded by one group may be despised by another. Stigma - To be considered deviant, a person doesn't have to do anything - Refer to characteristics that discredit people. ( violations of appearances, abilities, or involuntary membership) - “Blemishes” that discredit a person’s claim to a “normal” identity. Ho w Norms Make Social Life Possible - Norms make social life possible by making behavior predictable. - Without norms, we would have social chaos - Norms lay out the basic guidelines for how we should play our roles and interact with others. - We are socialized to follow norms and to play the basic roles that society assigns to us. Social Order - A group’s usual and customary social arrangements, on which its members depend and on which they base their lives Social Control - A group’s formal and informal means of enforcing its norms -Negative Sanctions - Positive Sanctions Deviance - Refers to all violations of social rules, regardless of their seriousness. Competing explanations of Deviance - Sociobiology - Psychology - Sociology Sociobiologology - Explains deviance by looking for answerswithin individuals - Assume thatgenetic predispositionslead people tosuch behavior as juvenile delinquency and crime. - People with “squarish muscular” Bodies were more likely to commit street crime” - acts such as mugging, rape, and burglary - Men are more violent; have less empathy, have lower control, and take greater risk - Women less violent; carry birth, and nurse childern; more empathetic, greater self-control; less risk-taking Psychology - Psychologists focus onabnormalities in the individuals,Instead of genes, they examine what is calledPersonality disorder: - They view that as personality disturbance of some sort causes an individual to violate social normals Bad toilet training =/= Murder Suppressed anger =/= Sniper Sociology - Sociologists search for factorsoutside of the individual - Social influences (Neighborhoods, peer groups, family) - External Factors (Socialization, subcultures, social class) Theoretical perspective - ifferential Association D - Control Theory - Labeling Theory ifferential association theory D Sociologist: Edwin Sutherland - People who associate with some groups learn an “excess of definitions” of deviance, increasing the likelihood that they will become deviant - Fromdifferentgroups weassociatewith, we learnto deviate from or conform to society’s norms - Girl Scouts, Boys Scouts: Pushed people to conform to society’s norms - Families: Make a big difference in whether people learn toward deviance or conformity - Of all prison inmates in the U.S about half have a Father mother, brother, sister, or spouse who has spent time in prison - Friends, Neighborhoods, and Subcultures - Most parents want to move out of “bad” neighborhoods because they know that if their kids have delinquent friends, they are likely to be delinquent ontrol Theory C Sociologist:Walter Reckless Two control systems- inner control and outer control- work against our tendencies to deviate. “ With the desire to deviate so common, why don’t we all just “bust loose”? - Inner Conrtole: internalized morality ( conscience, religious princples, ideas of right and wrong, fears of punishments and desire to be a “good person” - Outer Control: consists of people( Family, friends and the police, anyone who influences us not to deviate Sociologist:Travis Hirshi The stronger our bonds are with society, the moreeffective our inner controls are. These bonds are based on one: -Attachment: Our affection and respect for peoplewho conform to mainstream norms -Commitment: Having a stake in society that youdon’t want to risk, such as your place in your family being a college student or having a job -Involvement: Participating in approved activities -Beliefs: Convictions that certain actions are wrong abeling Theory L The significance of reputations, how reputations or labels help set us on paths that people us into deviance or divert us away from it. ow labels shape the way you see yourself H - Whore - Thug - Thief - Liar - Cheater - Bad - Intelligent - Talented Labeling Theory - We can also resist negative labels, even lesser ones than those mentioned that others try to pin on us Techniques of Neutralization - Ways of thinking or rationalizing that help people deflect (or neutralize) society’s norms - ociologist Gresham Sykes and David Matza S - Study on boys who rejected negative labels 5 techniques of Neutralization - Denial of responsibility (Accident or Victitims) - Denial of injury (No one got hurt or just having a little fun) - Denial of victim ( Avengers people deserve what they got) - Condemnation of the condemner (NO right to judge me) - Appeal to higher loyalties ( I had to help my friends) Embracing Labels - While most people resist labels of deviance, some embrace them. - Symbolic Interactionist: Examine how people’s definition of the situation underlie their deviating from or conforming to social norms - Focus on group membership( Differential Association) - How do people balance pressure to conform and to deviate (Control theory) - The Significance of Reputations( Labeling Theory) Functionalist Perspective - train Theory S - Illegitimate Opportunities Functionalist Perspective: Can Deviance including crime be functional for society? Yes. Deviance Contrubuttes to the Social Order - Deviance Clarifes moral boundaries and affirm norms - Tells us how we should think and act - Deviance encourages social unity - Creates a group dynamic amongst conformers - Deviance promotes social change - Helps groups adapt to society and its changes Crime is a natural outcome of the conditions that people experience, not some alien element in our society unctionalist Perspective F Strain Theory: How Mainstream Values Produce Deviance - obert Merton’s Term for the strain caused when a society socializes large numbers of people to R desire a cultural goal - Success, prestige, Wealth - Institutionalized means: Approved Means of reaching that goal) onformity: Most people, want a successful job and take the traditionalist route C Innovation: Drug dealers. Want to be successful, but not go to colleges Ritualist: Not going to be successful or wealthy, but still needs the job, so go to work Retreatist: Rejects society, don't care about being wealthy or successful, and does not want to go to work etc, voluntary homeless people, people who are alcoholism or drug addicts Rebels: Looks at the goals and means, and seeing oppression, revolutionary, needs a whole new system, Black Panthers Social Class and Crime Street crime - Socializing the poor into wanting to own things - Bombarded with messages to buy Ipones, Cars, Jewelry, etc Illegitimate opportunity Structure (Crimes woven into lives) - Robbery - Hustling - Pimping - Prostitution - Drug Dealing Illegitimate opportunity structure: social class and crime White-Collar Crime - Edwin Sutherland’s term for crimes committed by people of respectable and high social status in the course of their occupations - Bribery of the public Officials - Embezzlement - False Advertisting Corporate Crime - Crimes Committed by executives to benefit their corporation Conflict Perspectives Conflict Theorist - Regard Power and social inequality as the main characteristics of society - The criminal justice system is a tool designed by the powerful to maintain power and privilege. - The ruling class promotes the idea that the law is impartial to secure the cooperation of the poor. - The criminal justice system does not focus on executives of corporations, but on controlling the poor (heavy penalties to deter rebellion). Reactions to Devinacne - The influx of prisons and prisoners (private prisons) - The decline in violent Crimes (Get tough laws; employment) - Death Penalty (Racial disparities) - Police Discretion(Person's Decision to arrest or fine someone).. Medicalization of Deviance - o make deviance a medical matter, a symptom of some underlying illness that needs to be T treated by physicians. Medicalization - The transformation of a human condition into a medical matter to be treated by physicians Thomas Szas - Mental illness is neither mental nor illness. They are simply problem behaviors (ADHD; Depression) Marriage and Family Types of Marriages: - Polygny- Societies where men have more than one wife - Polyandry- Societies where women have more than onehusband Family: - A group of two or more people who consider themselves related by blood (Marriage or Adoption) - Live together (or has lived together) Household - Consist of all people who occupy the same living space Family - Nuclear Family- Husband, wife, and children - Extended family- A nuclear family plus other relatives Types of Family - Family ofOrientation- the family in which peoplegrow up - Family ofprocreation- The family formed when a couple’sfirst child is born Marriage: A group’s approved mating arrangement isusually marked by a ritual Common themes - Mate selection - Descent - Inheritance - Authority Common themes run through the concepts of marriage and family Each group establishes norms to govern who can and cannot marry - Endogamy: Marrying within one’s group (race and ethnicity) - Exogamy: Marrying outside one’s own group (Interracial) Some norms of mate selection are written into law, others are informal Patterns of descent (Tracing kinship over generation) are: - Bilineal- Descent traced on both the mother’s andfather’s side - Partrineal- Descent traced on only the father’s side - Matrilineal- Descent traces only on the mother’sside Mate selection and a system of descent are regulated in all societies to provide an orderly way of passing property, kinship, etc…to the next generation - In abilateralsystem, the property passes to malesand females - In apatrilinealsystem, the property passes onlyto males - In amatrilinealsystem, the property passes onlyto females Authority Patriarchy - A social system in which men dominate women - Found in all societies Matriarchy - A social system in which women dominate men Egalitarian - A social system of authority is more or less equally divided between men and women Theoretical Perceptive Functionalists - Stress that to survive, a society must meet certain basic needs - They examine how the family, in turn, contributes to the well-being of society The Family is Universal - It serves functions essential to the well-being of society - Includes economic production, socialization of children, care of the sick and aged, recreation, sexual control, and reproduction Incest taboo - Rules specifying which people are too closely related to have sex or marry - Helps the family avoid role confusion and forces people to look outside the family for marriage partners, creating an extended network of support Conflict Theorist - The issue is the struggle over power - Argue that within the family, the conflict over housework is really about control over scarce resources—time, energy, and the leisure to pursue interesting activities - There are many dual earner families today, but women still pull the “second shift” leaving many women dissatisfied with their marriage - The balance between power in marriages has led to the rising divorce rate Symbolic Interactionists:Look at the meanings peoplegive to their experiences - For example, they are interested in how husbands view housework - esearch indicates that men are doing more housework and childcare than they used to R - Both genders are spending more time taking care of children and women are spending less time doing housework Jesse Bernard - Husbands and wives“see” their marriages in different lights which causes a lot of dissatisfaction - Looks at the meaning of housework - Look at how the definition of family, marriage, and divorce has changed over the past 50 years a he Family Life Cycle T Romantic love provides the ideological context in which people in the United States seek mates and form families - Romantic love has two components: - Emotional- A feeling of sexual attraction - Cognitive- A feeling we describe as being “in love” The social channels of love and marriage in the United States include age, education, social class, race, and religion. - Homogamy- The tendency of people with similar characteristicsto marry one another, usually resulting from spatial nearness - People living near one another (in close proximity) tend to marry Interracial marriage is an exception to these social patterns - In the U.S. about 7% of the population marries someone from a different race - At the same time, interracial marriages are becoming more acceptable The number of children that Americans consider ideal has changed over the years Due to: Birth control, the sexual revolution, and women’s perception of work Religion and age are factors in the size of the family hild Rearing C Traditionally, child rearing automatically fell on the mother - As more mothers become employed outside the home, this has changed Overall, childcare arrangements appear to be quite similar for married couples and single mothers - The main difference is the role played by the child’s father while the mother is at work Grandparents often help to fill the childcare gap left by absent fathers One in four children are in day care - Only a minority of U.S. day care centers offer high-quality care, primarily due to the low salaries paid to day care workers Social class is also important in child rearing - According to Melvin Kohn, parents socialize children into the norms of their respective work worlds - Working-class parents want their children to behave in conformity with social expectations - M iddle-class parents are more concerned that their children develop curiosity, self- expression, and self-control - The upper-middle class have nannies, who provide individual attention and selective daily plans Family Transitions The later stages of the family life cycle - Aside from the death of a spouse, the “empty nest” syndrome is not so empty any more Grown children, or“adolescents,” those aged 25-29, represent 42% of those who have moved back home - Problems include disruption of routines, and disagreements about turf, responsibility, and authority - More U.S. children are leaving home later, or returning after initially leaving home; this is due to prolonged education and the growing cost of establishing households idowhood W Women are more likely than men to face the problem of adjusting to widowhood. - Not only does the average woman live longer than a man, but she has also usually married a man older than herself
