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Sociology Exam Study Guide

Terms in this set (59)

Sociological Imagination
the ability to see the connection between the larger world and your personal life, created by C. Right Mills. How others have influenced your actions and behaviors. Allows one to view the world through others eyes
Sociological Perspective
the ability to look beyond commonly held beliefs to the hidden meanings behind human actions
Symbol
anything that represents something else
Latent Function
the unintended and unrecognized consequence of an element of society
Theory
systematic explanation of the relationship among phenomena
Culture
technology, symbos, languages, values, and norms shared by a community
Values
shared beliefs of what is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable
Folkways
norms that do not have great moral significance attached to them---the common customs of everyday life
Cultural Universals
common features that are found in all human cultures
Cultural Relativisms
belief that cultures should be judged by their own standards
Ideology
system of beliefs or ideas that justifies some social, moral, religious, political or economic interests held by a social group or by society
Social Movement
long term conscious effort to promote or prevent social change
Technology
knowledge and tools people use for practical purposes
Diffusion
spread of culture traits--ideas, acts, beliefs, and material objects--from one society to another
Reformulation
the process of adapting borrowed cultural traits
Social struture
network of interrelated statuses and roles that guides human interaction
Status
socially defined position in a group or in a society
Role
behavior--the rights and obligations--expected of someone occupying a particular status
Exchange
individual, group, or societal interaction undertaken in an effort to receive a reward in return for actions
Group
set of two or more people who interact on the basis of shared expectations and who possess some degree of common identity
Personality
sum of total behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, and values; continues to develop up to the time of death of an individual
Resocialization
break old habits and taught values and norms
Role-taking
George Robert Mead believed that seeing oueselves as others see us is only the beginning. He believed we actually take on the roles of others through this; We internalize expectations of parents, friends, relatives, siblings, and others. Significant others
Total Institution
a setting such as prison, military boot camp, monasteries, and psychiatric hospitals where someone is isolated from society
Heredity
the transmission of genetic characteristics from parents to children (DNA)
Deviance
behavior that violates significant social norms
Stigma
a mark of social disgrace that sets the deviant apart from the rest of society
Criminologist
social scientists who study criminal behavior
Strain theory
views deviance as the natural outgrowth of the values, norms, and structure of society
Anomie
the situation that arises when the norms of society are unclear or are no longer applicable
C. Wright Mills
Sociologist credited with creating the idea of sociological imagination. He described it as "the capacity to range from the most impersonal and remote topics to the most intimate features of the human self-- and to see the relations between the two". He has said that all good sociologists must possess sociological imagination
Conflict Perspective
focuses on the forces in society that promote competition and change
Survival of the fittest
coined by Herbert Spencer; the strongest will survive
The social sciences
the disciplines that study human social behavior or institutions and functions of human society in a scientific manner
Verstehen
involves an attempt to understand the meanings individuals attach to their actions
Function
the consequence that an element of society produces for the maintenance of its social system
Ethnocentrism
tendency to view one's own culture and group as superior to all other cultures and groups
Sociery
group of mutually interdependent people who have organized in such a way as to share a common culture and have a feeling of unity
Self-Fulfillment
commiymnt to the development of one's personality, talents, and potential
Accommodation
state of balance between cooperation and conflict
Reiprocity
idea that if you do something for someone, they owe you something in return
Barter
practice of exchanging one good for another
Division of Labor
specialization of individuals or groups in the performance of specific economic activities
Role expectation
socially determined behaviors expected of a person performing a role
Leaders
people who influence the attitudes and opinions of others
Instinct
an unchanging, biologically inherited behavior pattern. Most commonly associated with animals
John Pavlov
russian scientist who proved instinctual behavior could be taught
Feral Children
wild or untamed children who sometimes live with animals and were isolated from society in their formative years
Tabula Rasa
John Locke believed newly born humans were a blank state which anything can be written
Looking Glass Self
Charles Cooley was one of the founders of integrationist perspective and is Known for his theory explaining how individuals develop a sense of self in three steps
norms that do not have great moral significance attached to them---the common customs of everyday life and

social expectations that guide behavior
Folkways and Norms
conformity innovation ritualism retreatism rebellion
5 modes of adaption
Juvenile Justice System
contains 3rd largest category of US criminals; no specific laws in this system prior to 1960
human society and human behavior
what do sociologist study
physical objects created by human groups (artifacts)
vs

abstract human creations (languages ideas beliefs rules skills familypatterns workpractices and politicaleconomicsystems)
difference between material and nonmaterial culture
founded on freedom
americans value
Narcissism
extreme self centeredness
country preaches equality of citizens and democracy is a type of government in which power is exercised through the people
how does equality and democracy represent traditional American values
Nature
• Most human behavior is instinctual in origin
• Laughing, motherhood, warfare, religion, capitalism, and the creation of society
• During the 1900s scientists who supported this theory discovered over 10,000 human instincts

Nurture
• Human behavior is a result of his/her environment
• Russian scientist pavlov proved instinctual behavior could be taught
• Salivating dog experiment- fed dogs after ringing bell and didn't have food one day and dogs salivated
• John B. Watson claimed he could take dozens of healthy infants and turn them into anything
nature vs nurture
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