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26 Cards in this Set
- Front
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What is the sociological imagination? |
Relationship between personal troubles and public issues Where biography and history intersect The ability to grasp the relationship between individual lives and the larger social forces that shape them. With whom is this concept associated? C. Wright Mills |
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What is sociological theory and how are theories used in the sociological study of social phenomena and institutions? |
“A sociological theory is a set of interrelated ideas that allow for the systematization of knowledge of the social world, the explanation of that world, and predictions about the future of the social world.” -Ritzer |
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What are the key characteristics (assumptions and questions) associated with the functionalist (structural functionalist) perspective? |
Functionalist: What function does this phenomenon or institution serve in (the maintenance of) society? Durkheim: crime is normal, dealt in social facts, modern society breaks down social solidarity. The functionalist perspective assumes: 1. The normal state of society is harmony, solidarity, equilibrium. 2. “Parts” of society are interrelated and interdependent. 3. The social order is reproduced through consensus. 4. Change is evolutionary & change can be disruptive and destabilizing. through consensus but through coercion. 4. Change is desirable...and inevitable. Focus on issues of power. |
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What are the key characteristics (assumptions and questions) associated with the conflict perspective? |
Who benefits from this social arrangement? Conflict theory assumes: 1. Groups in society are engaged in a struggle for power, control, resources. 2. Groups in society have divergent/conflicting interests. 3. The social order is reproduced not through consensus but through coercion. 4. Change is desirable...and inevitable. Focus on issues of power. Marx: class conflict, alienation |
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What are the dimensions of income inequality in the U.S. today? |
Top 20% earn as much as bottom 80% combined Top 5% earn 22% of total income, more than bottom 40% combined. |
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What are key trends in income inequality in the last decades? |
* Devalued service jobs favor women.
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What are the dimensions of wealth inequality in the U.S. today? (Please be sure that you can articulate the difference between income and wealth.) |
* Median household wealth of whites is 20 times that of black households and 18 times that of Latino households.
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What are the dimensions of poverty in the U.S. today? How is poverty measured? |
* Minimum wage workers earn below or just barely above the U.S. official poverty line.
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How do Davis & Moore use the functionalist perspective to explain the existence and persistence of social stratification? |
* Society offers rewards such as money, prestige, and leisure to ensure most important jobs are filled conscientiously by most competent people.
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How, according to their theory, is social stratification positively functional for society? |
Society offers rewards such as money, prestige, and leisure to ensure most important jobs are filled conscientiously by most competent people. |
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How have critics like Tumin responded to their analysis? |
* May limit discovery of talent: Those born to privilege are given fuller opportunities and avenues to realize occupational success. Others limited by poor schooling, little money, and lack of networks
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How does Gans use functionalist questions to build a conflict-oriented argument about poverty? |
* The “critical” use of functionalist questions can help to highlight important manifest and latent functions that might otherwise go unrecognized.
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What are the “positive functions of poverty” and the functional alternatives he identifies? (Please be sure that you can identify at least 2-3 specific “functions.”) For whom does he suggest that poverty is positively functional? |
Laborers to do society’s “dirty work” Creates jobs for people who help the poor Market for goods/services otherwise unused Serve as scapegoats for society’s problems |
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How does Wilson understand the concept of urban “joblessness”? |
* Data show that Blacks are more likely than whites or Hispanics who are poor to live in concentrated poverty neighborhoods.
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Why, according to Wilson, is joblessness worse for families and communities that poverty alone? |
Wilson emphasizes that poverty with joblessness is far worse than poverty alone…that is what distinguishes the “new urban poverty” of which he writes. |
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What sociological factors does Wilson identify as relevant for understanding the phenomenon of joblessness in the minority communities of cities like Chicago? |
De-industrialization (and its antecedent processes like globalization, automation) also has effects on low-skill “male” jobs in coal mining, agriculture, etc. Employment rates among less educated men have fallen over recent decades. |
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What social consequences does he associate with this phenomenon? |
High poverty urban area residents may be impeded by the “reputation” of neighborhoods. As legal business and job opportunities decline, shadow economies grow, but “off the books” economies do not confer experience and skills that can be readily cited or transferred, Low opportunity costs for criminal behavior, Comparatively higher health risks for depression, asthma, diabetes, heart disease, obesity. |
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What are key trends in marital behavior in the U.S. in recent decades? What sociological factors do Edin and Kefalas identify as relevant for understanding the phenomenon of rising non-marital birth rates and declining rates of marriage among poor and working class women? |
* Women value children and will have families without the men; This is an economic rather than normative/cultural argument.
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How do interviews with women reflect particular perceptions of both opportunities and opportunity costs of early pregnancy? |
“Many of these young women believe that children, not jobs or relationships with men, are their life’s work, and they face pregnancy with the strong determination to ‘do the right thing’– to have the child and embrace the role of the mother – even if it mean giving up other opportunities.” |
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How are patterns of marriage (and non-marriage) related to the male marriage pool in this context? |
Marriage too is highly valued and associated with “success” and “making it.” |
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How are both issues of structure and culture implicated in family change in recent decades? |
Children are highly valued and represent a goal & achievement.
But its defined purpose is not to provide the context for childbearing
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Be able to articulate the “nature vs. nurture” debate. According to most sociologists, is one approach stronger than the other for understanding how people behave? |
“Nature” (genetic inheritance) vs. “Nurture” (cultural and social experiences)
Interaction exists, but which is more influential? Capacity for behavior may be biological, but little of human behavior is “natural.” Rather, it is learned. Example: “Genie,” Victor, inability to fully acquire language and develop after isolation |
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Be able to articulate Cooley’s notion of the “looking-glass self”. How, if at all, does this relate to Mead’s idea of “self” (more specifically, his idea of “Me”? (Be able to articulate how “self” is constructed according to the Symbolic Interactionist perspective). |
Views “self” and society resulting from social interaction based on language and other symbols
Explains how we develop a social identity and capacity for social interaction. Cooley’s looking-glass self in an important concept in this tradition. The self-image that results from our interpretation of other people’s views of us Exp. “labeling theory” Type of group matter Primary groups—family, friends Secondary groups—school, workplace Reference groups—standards for behavior |
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According to Mead, what is the “self” and what phases make up the “self” be able to articulate the difference between the “I” and “Me” in the notion of “self”. |
The “self” is made up of two parts: the “I” and the “me”. “I”: impulse to act. Creative, innovative, unthinking, unpredictable. “Me”: we see ourselves as others see us; social convention, conformity. The “Me” controls the “I”—What will people think? Sounds a lot like Cooley’s looking-glass self People also develop the “self” through role-taking, the ability to take the role of others in interaction. Childhood socialization relies on an ever-increasing ability to take on more “roles” Move from “self-centeredness” to ability to take the standpoint of society as a whole. Identified this as a four-stage process: Preparatory: self-centered, limited response (up to age 3) Play stage: take on attitudes and roles of significant others (parents, siblings) (ages 3-4) Game stage: take on roles of multiple others, aware of societal positions and perspectives (ages 5-6) Adult stage: take on generalized other, sense of society’s norms and values (by age 8) |
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What is “socialization” and how does it relate to sociology? Identify important “agents of socialization”. |
Tend to be agents of informal social control. Agents of Socialization Family School Peers Media Family is the primary socialization group and key in transmitting cultural norms, values, and expectations. Stereotypical gender roles and behaviors most often reproduced in the family. Childhood experience linked to both pro-social and anti-social development behavioral outcomes. Homicide, college graduation, teen pregnancy, etc. Example: spanking and corporal punishment People of same age and social standing More time spent and more influential than family, high conformity to values and norms Unique set of norms, vocabulary, media, fashion, role models, and attitudes Anticipatory socialization: process of adopting behavior or standards of a group you emulate or hope to join Mass media: television, movies, radio, newspapers, books, magazines Unprecedented levels of Internet use Positive: anonymity, bridge distance, form new relationships, build stronger communities, freedom from stigmatization Negative: decline in face-to-face, depression, loneliness, Internet addiction, poor socialization, cyberbullying |
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What is the difference between gender and biological sex? When sociologists say that gender is socially constructed, what do they mean? |
* Sex is also becoming increasingly fluid as a category as more people find they do not fit easily into either sex category.
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