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Sociology Chapter 4

Terms in this set (74)

the distinctive interaction humans are capable of having with other humans
what is the difference between humans and animals according to sociologists
Micro-macro continuum
rather than being clearly distinct, social phenomena tend to blend into one another, often without our noticing; ex: interaction that occurs between a group is difficult to distinguish from the group itself; relationships between countries are difficult to distinguish between their regional and global connections
Feral Children
children who have been raised in the wilderness by animals; generally unable to talk or show human emotion;
people do not become human or at least fully human unless they interact with other people at an early age
conclusion from literature on feral children and children raised in isolation
Charles Horton
explained how parents help children develop the ability to interact with others with the concept of the looking glass self
Looking Glass Self
idea that as humans we develop a self-image that reflects how others see and respond to us; We imagine how we appear to others and how they evaluate our appearance; based on that we develop a sort of self-feeling like pride or embarrassment
Parents
children earliest interactions (usually with their________) are most important in the formation of self image
there are no others to respond to them
Feral children and others who spend their formative years in prolonged social isolation are unlikely to form a fully developed self image because
George Herbert Mead
major thinker associated with symbolic interactionism; prioritized the social, including interaction, and the importance of symbols in social interaction; distinguished between humans and non humans
Gestures
the movements of one individual that elicit automatic and appropriate responses from another individual
Conversational Gestures
both humans ad animals are capable; series of gestures to relate to ne another ex: flirting
Vocal Gestures
bark of a dog or grunt of a human; separates humans from animals; in humans _______ can affect the speaker as much and in the same way as the hearer; thus, humans react to and interpret their own vocal gestures and their words; only humans able to develop language out of _______; humans have a greater ability to control ______ whereas animals don't
Significant Symbol
gesture that can be made only by humans; a gesture that arouses in the individual making it a response of the same kind as the one it is supposed to elicit from those to whom it is addressed; allow for communication in the full sense (especially those that are vocal)
Language
according to Mead, _________ involves significant symbols that call out the same meaning in the person to whom an utterance is aimed as they do in the person making the utterance; utterances have meaning to all parties involved; both vocal gestures and meanings are communicated; makes the mind and mental processes possible;
According to Mead
thinking is nothing more than internalized conversations individual humans have had with themselves; thinking involves talking to oneself which is a little different from talking to others
Symbolic Interaction
interaction on the basis of significant symbols; symbols allow for much more complex interaction patterns than those that occur where interaction is used only on gestures;
Mind (according to mead)
an internal conversation using words (and also images, especially, but certainly not only, for the autistic and deaf)
Meads Ideas about mind and self
social world and its relationships and interactions priced the mind and not vice versa; this perspective contrasts with the view that prioritizes the brain and argues that we think first and then engage in social relationships; he believes the mind and the brain are separate--the brain is an organ while the mind is a social phenomenon
Self (according to Mead)
the ability to take oneself as an object; develops overtime; people need to take the role of others ignorer to get a sense of their own self;
Play stage
Babies are not born with the ability to think of themselves as having a self but as they develop they learn to take on the attitudes of specific others towards themselves ex:young children play at being Mommy and Daddy, adopt their parents' attitudes toward the children and evaluate themselves as do their parents
Game Stage
Children begin to develop a self in the full sense of the term when they take on the roles of a group of people simultaneously rather than the roles of discrete individuals; children develop organized personalities because of their ability to take on multiple roles
Generalized other
the attitude of the entire group or community; includes the roles, prescriptions, and proscriptions that individuals use to develop their own behaviors, attitudes, etc; "what would people think if I"--demonstreates role of_____; central to the development of self during the game stage; children begin developing more fully rounded and complete selves
Examples of Generalized Other
the attitude of the group working on the collaborative project; attitude of all family members
as an adult one must become a member of a group or community
To have a coherent self in the full sense of the term,
Mead
argues that although selves within a group share some commonalities, each self is different because each has a unique biographical history and experience
The "I"
the immediate response of an invidiaual to others; the part of the self that is unconscious, incalculable, unpredictable, and creative; people often surprise themselves, and certainly others, with the unexpected things they say and do as a result of the _____; it is the source of new and original response and it allows a person to realize the self fully and develop a definite, unique personality;
individual acts more creatively
more "I"
individual acts more as a conformist
more "me"
the "me"
an organized set of others' attitudes and behaviors adopted by the invidiaual; involves the acceptance and internalization by the invidial of the generalized other; involves a conscious understanding of what a person's responsibilities are to the larger group; behaviors associated tend to be habitual and conventional; through the ____ that society is able to dominate the individual; individuals control themselves with little or no need for control by outside influences, they analyze and critique their own thoughts and actions from the point of view of the social group and what its critisicims are likely to be
the conformity needed for stable and orderly interaction; source of changes in society as it develops and adapts to the shifting environment
for society the me provides _______ and the I provides _______
the dominance of the "I" by the "me"
Mead Defines social control as
me
consumer society is all about change and as a result the ____ is constantly changing; ex: one is expected to adopt a fashion trend but then soon after, a completely different trend comes out
Goffman
distinction between the I and the me takes the form of the tension between what we want to do spontaneously and what people expect us to do; notion of dramaturgy; he also focuses on possibilities of how performances can be disrupted by the actions of audiences and how people can prevent this by improving their performances or dealing with disruptions as they occur
dramaturgy
views an individuals social life as a series of dramatic performances akin to those that take place on a theatrical stage. The self is not a thing possessed by the individual but the dramatic product of the interaction between people and their audiences
Impression Management
when people interact with others, they use a variety of techniques to control the images of themselves that they want to project during their social performances; seek to maintain impressions even when they encounter problems in their performances ex: you convey a studious image of yourself during class but you stayed out late partying and didn't get the reading done one day--you try to maintain your image by writing busily in your notebook rather than raising your hand
Front Stage
social performance tends to be idealized and designed to define the situation for those who are observing it
Back stage
people feel free to express themselves in ways that are suppressed in the front
Socialization
the process by which an individual learns and generally comes to accept the ways of a group or a society of which he or she is a part; it is during the socialization process that children develop a self as they learn the need to take on the role of the generalized other;
Agents of Socialization
those who do the socializing; ex: child's parents as well as other family members and friends (primary agents of socialization)
educational system, the media, consumer culture (secondary agents of socialization) all play a part in creating an individual who can effectively operate within and shape culture
Primary socialization
newborns, infants, and young children acquire language, identities, cultural routines, norms, and values as they interact with parents and other family members; lays the foundation for later personality development
Anticipatory Socializaiton
teach children what will be expected of them in the future; how parents prepare children for important developmental changes (ex: puberty) as well as changes like college, elementary school, and the work force
Reverse Socialization
those who are normally being socialized are instead doing the socializing; ex: children in immigrant families are more likely than their parents to learn the culture and language of the new country and as a result end up teaching their parents
Peers
primary form of socialization (______) compete with secondary forms of socialization (teachers, school system employees) this informal socialization is very important as students progress through the school years
peer socialization
increasingly likely to conflict with what is being taught at home and at school;
Gender Socialization
transmission of norms and values about what boys and girls can and should do; ex: dress boys up in blue and give them monster trucks
as children grow up they learn from their parents and other significant others (as well as the generalized other) what behaviors are considered appropriate and innapropraite for their gender; they also learn the consequences for deviating from these expectations ex: parents console girl when she cries but tell boy to suck it up
Mass Media and New Media
more socialization mistaking place via the computer, smartphones, video games, and other new and emerging technologies ex: video games like Grand Theft Auto encourage allow children to engage in activities like stealing cars which deviates from the concepts that parents wish to impart on kids
Consumer Culture
children need to be socialized in order to become consumers and especially in order to devote a significant portion of their lives to consumption
resocialization
to unlearn old behaviors, norms, and values, and to learn new ones; each time workers change jobs they need _______ and can no longer rely on what they learned as children, in school, or in their early years on the job
Total institution
a closed all encompassing place of residence and work set off from the rest of society that meets all of the needs of those enclosed in it; ex: prison, military
prisons are schools for crime
they socialize inexperienced criminals into becoming more experienced criminals
changes in societal values and norms; family changes (divorce, death of a spouse, remarriage); graphic mobility (job change, retirement, migration); changes associated with aging
situations that call for adult socializaiton/resocialization
Interaction
social engagement involving two or more individuals; who perceive and orient their actions to one another; generally seen as involving face-to-face relationships among people; however, now increasingly mediated by smartphones
Reciprocity
those engaged in interaction expect to give and receive rewards of roughly equal value; relationship is likely to end when one party feels that the other is no longer adhering to the norms
Conversation Analysis
concerned with how people do or accomplish conversations; you must know an utilize certain practices in order to carry on a successful conversation like knowing when it is appropriate to laugh
Interaction Order
a social domain that is organized and orderly; order is created informally and governed by those involve din the interaction rather than by some formal structure such as bureaucracy and its constraints ex: students form their own clique and develop their own norms to govern their interaction
Status
a position within a social system occupied by people ex: student and professor
Role
what is generally expected of a person who occupies a given status; ex: professors are expected to show up for class
Ascribed Status
one that is not chosen; it is beyond the individual's control; ex: born into a certain race/gender
Achieved status
position that a person acquires on the basis of accomplishment or the nature of the individuals capacities; may be based on merit, earned, or the person may choose it ex: successful entrepreneur, mother
Master status
a portion that is or becomes more important than any other status both for the person in the position and for all others involved; a master stats become central to a person's identity, roles, behaviors, and interactions ex: race, disability, gender, sexuality
Role Conflict
conflicting expectations associated with a given position or multiple positions; ex: professor who is expected to excel at both teaching and research can be seen as having role conflict--devoting a lot of time to research can make him ill prepared to teach the class
Role Overload
people are confronted with ore expectations than they can possibly handle ex: students during finals week are confronted with _____ as they have to satisfy the expectations of several professors and courses
Role-Making
the ability to modify roles at least to some degree ex: reducing work hours or turning down promotions to allow parents to reduce work family conflict
Dyads
two person groups; most basic of interpersonal relationships; often evolve into three person groups
Triads
three person groups ex: couple welcomes a new child
Networks
broadly defined as interconnected nodes or positions
ex: individuals can be seen as nodes in a ______ of people
Social networks
involve two or more invidiuals but groups, organizations, and societies can also form such networks
the "strength of weak ties" those who have only weak ties with others can have great power; while those with strong ties tend to remain within given groups those with weak ties can more easily move between groups and thus provide important linkages among and between group members
Key idea in the network theory
Group
relatively small number of people who over time develop a patterned relationship based on interaction with one another
Primary Groups
those that are small, close-knit, and involve intimate face to face interaction ex: family
Secondary Groups
generally large and impersonal; ties are relatively weak, members do no know one another very well nd members' impacts on one another are typically not very powerful ex: parent teacher student association
Reference Group
those groups that you take into consideration in evaluating yourself;
that people tend to conform to the demands of authority figures even if they are ordered to inflict pain on others
Experiments by Stanley Milligram and Zimbardo demonstrate
groups with no clear authority figure also promote conformity; the power of the group is so grate that it may override an individuals own judgements and perceptions--students made the wrong choice even though they knew it was the wrong choice
Solomon Asch showed that
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