Sociology Ch 11-15

authority

power that people consider legitimate as rightly exercised over them; also called legitimate power

polygany

a form of marriage in which men have one or more wives

polyandry

a form of marriage in which a woman has one or more husbands

family

two or more people who consider themselves related by blood, marriage, or adoption

nuclear family

a family consisting of a husband, wife, and child(ren)

extended family

a nuclear family plus other relatives

blended family

a family formed when two people marry and bring their children from previous relationships into a new family unit

houshold

people who occupy the same housing unit

family of orientation

the family in which a person grows up in

family of procreation

the family that is formed when a couple's first child is born

marriage

a group's approved mating arrangements, usually marked by a ritual of some sort

endogamy

the practice of marrying within one's own group

exogamy

the process of marrying outside of one's own group

incest taboo

the rule that prohibits sex and marriage among designated relatives

system of decent

how kinship is traced over generations

bilineal system

a system of decent that counts both the mother's and father's side

patrilinear system

one is related to only the ancestors on the father's side

matrilinear system

one is related to only the ancestors on the mother's side

patriary

a society in which males dominate females; authority is vested in males

matriarchy

a society in which females dominate males; authority is vested in females

egalitarian

authority more-or-less equally divided between people or groups

? Six basic survival needs of a family (Functionalist)

1. economic production
2. socialization of children
3. care of the sick and aged
4. recreation
5. sexual control
6. reproduction

What characteristics of a person do most people "fall in love" with?

people in their usual circles and whom they have regular contact with

Empty Nest Syndrome

a feeling of loneliness when all children have grown up and move out of their parent's home. However, more parents are experiencing "boomerang children

boomerang children

Adult children who come back to live with parents after having left

widowhood effect

causes the widow(-er) to grieve or be so emotionally shocked by the passing of their spouse that the too pass soon

African American families

-least likely to be lead by married couples and most likely by women
-are known for sharing scarce resources and "stretching kisnship" which are survival mechanisms

What is more important in determining family life in a Latino family?
a. Being Latino (race)
b. social class
c. country of origin

b. social class

Asian American families

-more likely to use guilt over physical punishment
-family life is framed by such values as: humanism, collectivism, self-discipline, hierarchy, respect for elderly, moderation, and obligation

Native American families

-avoid physical punishment
-the elderly play an active role in teaching and disciplining

One-parent families

children from these families are more likely to have behavioral problems in school, to drop out of school, get arrested, to have physical health problems, to have emotional health problems and get divorced

? The more ____ a family has, the more it assumes the characteristics of a _______ family. Compared to the ___________ families that have ____ children and ____ unmarried mothers.

resources, middle-class nuclear, poor, middle-class, fewer, fewer

Couples who cohabitate before marriage are ___ likely to divorce

more

cohabitation

adults living together in a sexual relationship without being married

Who receives more health benefits due to marriage and cohabitation?

men

homogamy

the tendency of people with similar characteristics to marry one another

Two components of romantic love

emotional - feeling of sexual attraction
cognitive - label we attach our feelings to

credential societies

employers use diplomas and degrees as sorting devices and indicators of certain skills one should have obtained

Two main goals of education

1. producing more educated workers
"Americanizing" immigrants

Something in common educational systems around the world have

they adjust to the country's changing values and the views of the world; the educational system is a means to directly influence students and impart the desires of the state

mandatory education laws

laws that require all children to attend schooluntil a specified age or until they complete minimum grade school

cultural capital

privileges accompanying a social location that help someone in life

manifest functions

intended beneficial consequences of people's actions

latent functions

unintended beneficial consequences of people's actions

cultural transmission values

schools pass on society's core values from one generation to the next

Values stressed in US schools

private property, individualism, and competition
Loyalty to the state as a cultural value is stressed by all countries

inclusion

helping people become part of the mainstream society; also called mainstreaming

social placements

the process by which schools sort the capable students from the "incapable" students

Schools bring about ___ ___. Schools help forge a ___ ___, and to forge a ___ ___ is to stabilize the ___ ___.

social integration, national identity, national identity political system

People have no reason to rebel if-

they identify with society's institutions and view them as advantageous to their own welfare

The ___ have vested interest in maintaining the status quo, but have a hard time getting the ___ ___ to identify and embrace the social systems

wealthy, lower class

gatekeeping

the process by which education opens and closes doors of opportunity; another term for the social placement function of education

tracking

the sorting of students into different programs on the basis of real or perceived abilities

hidden curriculum

the attitudes and the unwritten rules of behavior that schools teach in addition to the formal curriculum

IQ tests are-

culturally biased. They are another tool to maintain generational social class structure

___ ___ stress the way schools are funded stacks the deck against the ___.

Conflict theorists, poor

___ ___ is more important than test score in predicting who will attend college.

Family background

U.S. school closely reflect the ________.

U.S. social class system

self-fulfilling prophecy

a false assumption of something that is going to happen, but which then comes true simple because it was predicted

grade inflation

increasing grades so that the grade no longer has the same value or weight that it once had

Social promotion

passing students from one grade to the next even though they have not learned the basic materials

Functional illiteracy

high school graduates who have never mastered the skills they should have learned in high school

Three element of religion according to Durkheim

Beliefs: that some things are sacred
Practices (rituals): centering on things considered sacred
A moral community: resulting from a groups' beliefs and practices

sacred

aspects of life having to do with supernatural and that inspire awe, reverence, deep respect, even fear.

profane

aspects of life that are not concerned with religion but, instead, are part of ordinary, everyday life

rituals

ceremonies or repetitive practices; in religion, observances or rites often intended to evoke a sense of the sacred

cosmology

teachings or ideas that provide a unified picture of the world

religious experience

a sudden awareness of the supernatural or a feeling of coming in contact with God

Functionalist Perspective: 6 functions and 2 dysfunctions of religion

Functions:
1. Questions about Ultimate Meaning
2. Emotional comfort
3. Social Solidarity
4. Guidelines for everyday life
5. Social control
6. Social Change
Dysfunctions:
1. Justification for Persecution
2. War and terrorism

cult

simply a new or different religion whose teachings and practices are at odds with the dominant culture or religion; all new religions begin as cults. Start with a charismatic leader.

sect

larger than a cult, but members still feel some sort of tension between their views and the larger society; with growth comes an easing of tensions between the group and the larger culture

church

religion is highly bureaucratized; often has a national or international headquarters, specific rules and regulations

Ecclesia

there is no conflict or competition between the religion and the state; rather there is complete cooperation. The state absorbs the religion; citizenship makes everyone a member

Denominations

strands of major religions

__% of Americans belong to a denomination

62

Demography

the study of size composition, growth, and distribution of human populations

Malthus theorem

as the population grows exponentially and is left unchecked, the population will outstrip it's food supply, which grows arimathically

New Maltusians

argue that the situation is just as bad - if not worse - than it used to be. They utilize the exponential growth curve.

exponential growth curve

if growth doubles in approximately equal intervals of time, it accelerates

Anti-Maltusians

far less bleak and more hopeful in terms of population growth. Europe's demographic transition consist of four stages. They argue that there will be too few children

reasons of hunger

drought and war

three demographic variable

fertility, mortality, migration

fertility

number of children a woman has

mortality

number of deaths or the number per 1000 people

migration

number of immigrants minus emmigrants

push factors

-what people try to escape
poverty, war and violence, persectution

pull factors

-what draws people to a new land
opportunities in education, better jobs, freedom to worship pr to discuss political ideas, more promising future for children

basic demographic equation

births - deaths + net migration

demographic transition

3-staged historical process of change in the size of populations:
first: high birthrates and death rates
second: high birthrates and low death rates (medicine from Most Industrialized Nations, hybrid seeds, purer drinking water)
third: low birthrates and

population pyramids

a graph that represents the age and sex of a population

fecundity

the number of children that an average woman bears (2.4 children)

zero population growth

women bearing only enough children to reproduce the population

city

a place in which a large number of people are permanently based and do not produce their own food

urbanization

the process by which a proportion of the population lives in cities and has a growing effect on culture

metropolis

a central city surrounded by smaller cities and their suburbs

megalopolis

an urban area consisting of at least two metropolises and their many suburbs

megacity

a city of 10 million people; largest is Tokyo, largest in U.S. is New York

metropolitan statistical area (MSA)

a central city and the urbanized counties adjacent to it

edge city

a large clustering of service facilities and residential areas near highway intersections that provide a sense of place to people who live, shop and work there

gentrification

middle-class people moving into a rundown area of a city, displacing the poor as they buy and restore homes

suburbanization

the migration of people from the city to the suburbs

suburb

a community adjacent to a city

redlining

bankers refusing to make loans to certain people by drawing a line around a problem

disinvestment

withdrawal of investment

deindustrialization

moving U.S. companies to countries where labor costs are lower

Urban renewal

a redevelopment and restructure of a problem rundown area

enterprise zone

the use of economic incentives in a designated area to encourage investment

human ecology

the relationship between people and their environment; also called urban ecology

4 models of urban growth

Concentric zone model, Sector model, Multiple- nuclei model, Peripheral model

invasion-succession cycle

the process of one group of people displacing a groups whose racial-ethnic or social class characteristics differ from their own

social change

a shift in the characteristics of culture and society

How many social revolutions have there been? What are they?

1. Hunting and gathering societies developed into horticulture and pastoral societies
2. The plow brought the emergence of agricultural societies
3. The steam engine ushered the Industrial Revolution [These changes are called modernization]
4. The microch

Evolution from lower to higher societies: unilinear & multilinear

1. Unilinear theories suggests that all societies follow the same path: each evolve from simpler to more complex forms
2. Multilinear theories take a different approach and suggest that different routes lead to the same stage of development

Natural cycles

civilizations are like organisms: they are born, enjoy exuberant youth, come to maturity, and then decline as they reach old age. They eventually die.

Marc's view: dialectic process [of history]

Thesis (current power arrangement) + Antithesis (contadictions to the power arrangements) = Synthesis lead to a Classless State

Ogburn's theory

technology changes society by three processes:
1. Invention - combining existing elements and materials to form new ones
2. Discovery - a new way of seeing reality
3. Diffusion - the spread of an invention or discovery from one area to another

cultural lag

technological advances cause society to change first, but the culture lags behind. We must change and adapt our cultures as ways to meet the needs to catch up with technology

Proactive social movement

seeking to promote social change in the face of intolerable conditions, such as injustice

Reactive social movement

resistance to social change (ex. KKK, Tea party)

Social movement organizations

group of individuals who seek to further their goals to promote or resist social change

Public opinion

the way the mass of people feel about an issue

propaganda

the presentation of information in an attempt to influence people

three meaning of technology

1. tools: items used to accomplish tasks
2. procedures: necessary to produce tools, ways we manufacture computers, combs, etc.
3. skills: needed to use tools

coersion

power that people do not accept as rightly exercised over them; also called illegitimate power

state

a political entity that claims monopoly on the use of violence in some particular territory; aka government. Citizens are not allowed to do that the state is sanctioned to do.

___ is the ultimate foundation of any political order

Violence

rational-legal authority

authority based on laws or written rules

traditional authority

authority based on custom (monarchy, parental authority)

charismatic authority

authority based on an individual's outstanding traits, which attracts followers