Socialization
life long process by which people internalize the culture of a given society; learning how to use things within the culture
Agents
people or groups responsible for our socialization
Main agents of socialization
family, media, peers, school
Main agent: Family
Primary/most important agent; first place we learn values, norms, and gender roles
Main agent: Media
influences political views, views of other genders/races/ethnicities, often blamed for social ills
Main agent: Peers
teaches us how to act in common group; learn what's popular, what we should or shouldn't do, wear, say, etc.
Main agent: School
can/does promote values like honesty, respect, and competition
Socialization theory of "the looking glass self
feelings of self largely based on how others see us
3 components of self based on the looking glass self theories ARE:
1. Appearance- how I look to others
2. Reactions- how people respond to my appearance
3. Emotions- how I feel about people's reactions to my appearance
Socialization theory of the I and Me
the I and Me interacting/communicating with each other that contributes to the way you interact with/respond to others
What is the "I
uniquely you; personal reaction to situations
What is the "Me
the you in the glass/appearance; the social you or how the generalized other sees you
3 stages of development of the I and Me
1. Imitation stage (3+ yrs):
2. Play stage (3-6 yrs):
3. Game stage (6+ yrs):
Prep/Imitation stage
child starts to mimic behaviors of others without any real processing of the roles
Play stage
child starts to pretend to fulfill roles in more imaginative ways. Starts to tap into looking glass and appreciate others' perspectives
Game stage
more sophisticated play with complex rules; interdependent, coordinated behavior, gains sense of generalized other.
Generalized other
not significant other; the rest of society
Resocialization
the process by which one's sense of social values, beliefs, and norms are re-engineered. This process is often deliberate, through an intense social process that may take place in a total institution.
total institutions
place where people undergoing resocialization live and are cut off from the world
stereotypes
rigid characterization of a group
Dramaturgy
idea that individuals put on different impressions of themselves and play different roles depending on the audience and situation
Conflict Theory in social interaction
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Status
A socially defined position in society characterized by certain expectations, rights, and duties.
Ascribed Status
Social position based on attributes over which the individual has little or no control, such as race, age, gender
Achieved status
Social position that a person assumes as a result of personal choice, merit, or direct effort. Parents, employment, education level..
Master Status
The most important status that a person occupies... homeless people, etc
Status symbols
Material signs that inform others of a person's specific status. Wedding ring.. etc
Roles
A set of behavioral expectations associated with given status.
Role expectation
A group or society's definition of the way a specific role ought to be played.
Role Performance
How a person actually plays a role.
Role conflict
Occurs when incompatible demands are placed on a person by two or more statuses held at the same time.
Role strain
Occurs when incompatible demands are built into a single status that the person holds.
SOCIALIZATION
the process of learning to participate in a group
SELF-CONCEPT
an image of yourself as having an identity separate from other people
LOOKING-GLASS SELF
an image of yourself based on what you believe others think of you
SIGNIFICANT OTHERS
those people whose reactions are the most important to your self-concept
ROLE TAKING
assuming the viewpoint of another person and using that viewpoint to shape the self-concept
IMITATION STAGE
Mead's first stage on the development of role taking; children begin imitate behaviors without understanding why
PLAY STAGE
Mead's second stage in the development of role taking; children act in ways they imagine other people would
ME
the part of the self formed through socialization
I
the part of the self that accounts for the unlearned, spontaneous acts. The first to react.
PEER GROUP
set of individuals of roughly the same age and interest
MASS MEDIA
means of communication designed to reach the general population
TOTAL INSTITUTIONS
places in which people are separated from the rest of society and controlled by officials in charge
DESOCIALIZATION
the process of giving up old norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors
ANTICIPATORY SOCIALIZATION
the voluntary process of preparing to accept new norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors
REFERENCE GROUP
group whose norms and values are used to guide behavior; group with whom you identify
game stage
Mead's third stage in the development of role-taking;children anticipate the actions of others based on social rules
resocialization
the process of adopting new norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors
reference group
group whose norms and values are used to guide behavior; group with whom you identify
Sociology
the scientific study of social structure (human social behavior)
Sociological Imagination
Ability to see the connection between the larger world and our personal lives
Charles Wright Mills
Created the concept of sociological imagination, the awareness of the relationship between personal experience and the wider society.
Auguste Comte
Coined the term sociology, also known as the father of sociology.
Comte's Beliefs
Sociology should contribute to the welfare of humanity by using science to understand and predict human behavior.
Herbert Spencer
Thought of society as an organism. Interactive parts contribute to the whole. Government should leave social problems alone. Social Darwinism, survival of the fittest in society.
Emile Durkheim
taught the first Sociology class at a University in France. The first to be called a Sociologist and use observable scientific data for a study on suicide.
Karl Marx
Class conflict. Capitalism breeds conflict. Inequalities between the working class (proletariat) and the rich capitalists (bourgeoisie).
Max Weber
Ideas and values impact social change as much as economy. Argued that verstehen, empathetic understanding, is crucial to understanding human action and social change.
Verstehen
empathic understanding of human behavior
Harriet Martineau
Sociology must include analysis of women's lives. Focused on women's equality, marriage, children, religion and race relations.
Jane Addams
Founded the Hull House in Chicago. Dealt with many social ills but one at a time. Social security, child labor, workmans comp. Nobel peace prize 1931, used formal scientific methods.
W.E.B. Du Bois
First African American to receive a doctorate at Harvard. Worked on racial equality and created the NAACP, a civil rights organization founded in 1909.
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
Microview of society. Language is crucial. People assign meaning to others words. All interactions involve symbols. Response is due to our subjective interpretation. Behavior is fluid.
Functionalist Perspective
Society is made up of interdependent parts that perform functions for society as a whole. Society is held together by social consensus. Social change is harmful.
Conflict Perspective
Portrays society as always changing and marked by conflict. Different groups compete with each other for scarce resources. EG. Men vs Women, Black vs. white.
Feminism Perspective
Explains human life in the terms of the experiences of women. Different from men, women's position in most social situations is unequal to that of men, women are oppressed by patriarchy.
3 Theories of Perspective
Conflict, Functionalist, Symbolic Interactionism,
Marxist Perspective
Class conflict between the working class and the ruling class. Macro perspective. Capitalist societies will eventually lead to a revolution.
conventional wisdom
common beliefs or ideas that most people hold true
Positivism
a scientific approach to knowledge based on "positive" facts as opposed to mere speculation
When did Sociology develop?
during the Industrial Revolution in order to tackle problems in cities due to rapid urbanization.
Social Darwinism
The belief that only the fittest survive in human political and economic struggle.
Herbert Blumer
coined the term "symbolic interactionism
Symbolic Interactionism
a theoretical perspective in which society is viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop their views of the world, and communicate with one another
social structure
a pattern of organized relationships among groups of people within a society
sociological perspective
a view that looks at behavior of groups, not individuals
manifest functions
intended and recognized functions
latent functions
unintended and unrecognized functions
case study
in-depth analysis of a single event, situation, or individual - Qualitative research
code of ethics
a set of guidelines that the American Sociological Association has established to foster ethical research and professionally responsible scholarship in sociology
Correlation
a mutual relationship or connection between two or more things
Experiment
the testing of a hypothesis under controlled conditions (example: lab experiment or survey)
field research
gathering data from a natural environment without doing a lab experiment or a survey
Hypothesis
An educated guess that attempts to explain an observation or answer a question.
Population
A defined group serving as the subject of a study
Qualitative Research
to understand social situations by collecting data by observing people in their natural habitats, following social media sites, in-depth interviews. Open-ended questions.
Quantitative Research
Represent research collected in a numerical form that can be counted. Closed ended questions.
random sample
a study's participants being randomly selected to serve as a representation of a larger population
Reliability
a measure of a study's consistency that considers how likely results are to be replicated if a study is reproduced
Samples
small, manageable number of subjects that represent the population
Scientific Method
A series of steps followed to solve problems including collecting data, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, and stating conclusions.
secondary data analysis
using data already collected by others but applying new interpretations
Validity
The degree to a sociological measure accurately reflects the topic of study
Surveys
collect data from subjects who respond to a series of questions about behaviors and opinions, often in the form of a questionnaire/survey
4 types of sociological questions
Factual, Comparative, Developmental ,Theoretical
Objectivity
treating facts without influence from personal feelings or prejudices, remaining neutral when conducting research
Bias
prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair. A particular preference or point of view that is personal, rather than scientific.
open-ended questions
questions a person is to answer in his or her own words
closed-ended questions
questions that are followed by a list of possible answers to be selected
mean
average
Median
the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it
Mode
The value that occurs most frequently in a given data set.
independant variable
The factor that is manipulated; variable whose effect is being studied
dependent variable
The measurable effect, outcome, or response in which the research is interested.
intervening variable
variables that are used in order to explain the relationship between two variables.
positive correlation
A correlation where as one variable increases, the other also increases or as one decreases so does the other. Both variables move in the same direction.
negative correlation
the relationship between two variables in which one variable increases as the other variable decreases
CULTURE
knowledge, values, customs, and physical objects that is shared by a group of people
SOCIETY
a specific territory inhabited by people who share a common culture
SYMBOLIC CULTURE
anything that carries particular meaning recognized by people who share culture, system to communicate
NORMS
are rules defining appropriate and inappropriate behavior.
FOLKWAYS
norms that lack moral significance
MORES
norms that have moral dimensions and that should be followed by members of the society
TABOO
a rule of behavior, the violation of which calls for strong punishment
LAW
a norm that is formally defined and enforced by officials
SANCTIONS
rewards and punishments used to encourage people to follow norms
FORMAL SANCTIONS
sanctions imposed by persons given special authority
INFORMAL SANCTIONS
rewards or punishments that can be applied by most members of a group
VALUES
broad ideas about what is good or desirable shared by people in a society
COGNITIVE CULTURE
ideas, knowledge, values, and beliefs that influence people's behavior
BELIEFS
specific ideas that people hold to be true
MATERIAL CULTURE
the concrete, physical, tangible objects of a culture
SUBCULTURE
a group that is part of the dominant culture but that differs from it in some important respects
COUNTERCULTURE
a subculture deliberately and consciously opposed to certain central beliefs or attitudes of the dominant culture
ETHNOCENTRISM
judging others in terms of one's cultural standards
CULTURAL UNIVERSALS
general cultural traits that exist all cultures
CULTURAL PARTICULARS
the ways in which a culture expresses universal traits
LANGUAGE/COMMUNICATION
critical to passing along culture from one generation to the next
CULTURAL VARIATION
refers to the differences in social behaviors that different cultures exhibit around the world
CULTURE SHOCK
personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
not judging a culture but trying to understand it on its own terms
Functionalist Perspective
Suggests each part of society is connected, working together to maintain social stability and functioning. Society has manifest and latent functions, as well as dysfunctions.
Conflict perspective
Society is viewed in terms of conflict or tension between competing groups. Society is in continuous struggle for wealth, income, power, prestige, and status.
Symbolic Interactionist perspective
Emphasizes that social life is possible only because people attach meanings to symbols/things. Focuses on micro level communication.
Feminist perspective
Women are subordinate to men only because men enjoy more legal/economic/political/cultural rights. Focus is on various aspects of patriarchy, system of male domination in society.
Sociology
The systematic study of human society
Sociological imagination
Ability to see the connection between the larger world and our personal lives
Sociological Theory
a set of ideas that explains human behavior and a variety of social and societal events
Macrosociology
Sociological investigation that concentrates on large-scale phenomena or entire societies.
manifest function
intended and recognized consequences of an aspect of society
latent function
The unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern
School's manifest function
Instruction
School's latent function
making friends, eating lunch
Dysfunction
abnormal functioning, negative function in society
Dysfunction at school
fights
Microsociology
analysis of social life that focuses on social interaction in small groups; typically used by symbolic interactionists
Functionalist
Each part of society works together for the benefit of the whole, much like a living organism. (Emile Durkheim)
Conflict Theorist
a theorist who assumes that society is based on class conflict and that laws tend to reflect the interests of the powerful. (Karl Marx)
Symbolic Interactionism
Approach that focuses on the interactions among people based on mutually understood symbols and their meanings. (Max Weber)