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MCAT Behavioral Sciences Chapter 11

Terms in this set (121)

sociology
study of society; how we create society, how we interact within it, how we define what is normal and abnormal in society, and how we institutionalize these ideas
macrosociology
focuses on large groups and social structure
microsociology
focuses on small groups and the individual
social structure
a system of people within a society organized by a characteristic pattern of relationships
functionalism; conflict theory; symbolic interactionism; social constructionism; rational choice theory; feminist theory; exchange theory
7 major sociological theories
functionalism; functional analysis
study of the structure and function of each part of society
function
refer to the beneficial consequences of people's actions that help keep society in balance
dysfunctions
refer to harmful consequences of people'e actions as they undermine a social system's equilibrium
manifest function
action intended to help some part of the system
latent function
unstated or unintended positive consequence on other parts of society
deviance
act or behavior that goes against social norm
power
refers to a form of influence over other people
conflict theory
theory that focuses on how power differentials are created and how these differentials contribute to the maintenance of social order
symbolic interactionism
study of the ways individuals interact through shared understanding of words, gestures, and other symbols; symbols are the key to understanding how we view the world and communicate
symbols
things we attach meaning to
social constructionism
focuses on how individuals put together their social reality; arises from humans communicating and working together to agree on the significance of a concept or principle
rational choice theory
focuses on decision making in an individual and attempts to reduce this process to a careful consideration of benefits and harms to the individual
exchange theory
focuses on interactions in groups and posits that an individual will carry out certain behaviors because of anticipated rewards and will avoid certain behaviors because of anticipated punishments
feminist theory
attempts to explain social inequalities that exist on the bases of gender and focuses on the subordination of women though social structures and institutional discrimination
gender roles
refer to the behaviors expected of a given gender
objectified
being viewed as a sexual object rather than as a person; more common in women than men
glass ceiling
an invisible limit on women's climb up the occupational ladder
social institutions
well-established social structures that dictate certain patterns of behavior or relationships and are accepted as a fundamental part of culture
family; education; religion; government; economy; medicine
6 major social insitutions
family
a social institution found in all societies that unites people in cooperative groups to care for one another, including any children
patterns of kinship
the terms used to refer to different members of the family and the resultant responsibilities tied to those titles between different cultures
domestic violence
spousal abuse that may include physical violence, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and financial abuse
elder abuse
the abuse or neglect of older family members usually by the caretaker of the individual
child abuse
deliberate action that is harmful to a child's physical, emotional, or sexual well-being
mandated reporter
legal requirement to report suspected cases of elder or child abuse
education
the social institution through which society provides its members with important knowledge, including basic facts, job skills, and cultural norms and values
hidden curriculum
the informal and unofficial aspects of culture that children are taught in school including social norms, attitudes, and beliefs
teacher expectancy
refers to the idea that teachers tend to get what they expect from students; example of self-fulfilling prophecy
religion
social institution that is considered to be a pattern of social activities organized around a set of beliefs and practices that seek to address the meaning of existence
religiosity
refers to how religious one considers him or herself to be, and includes strength of religious beliefs, engagement in religious practices, and attitudes about religion itself
denominations
Groups within large religious umbrellas which share certain beliefs and practices but not others
church
large universal religious group that can be divided into multiple coexisting denominations
sect
religious group that has chosen to break off from a parent religion
cult
religious sect that takes on extreme or deviant philosphies
secularizes
movement from a world dominated by religion toward rationality and scientific thinking
fundamentalism
maintenance of strict adherence to religious code
government
social institution that can be defined as a systematic arrangement political relationships, activities, and social structures that affect rule making, representation of the individual in society, and rights and privileges
economy
the social institution that organizes a society's production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services
democracy
government that allows every citizen a political voice, usually through electing representatives to office
monarchies
system of government that include a royal ruler, although the ruler's power may be limited by the presence of a consitution and parliamentary system
dictatorship
form of government where a single person holds the power and usually includes mechanisms to quell threats to this power
theocracy
form of government where the power s held by religious leaders
charismatic authority
leadership based around a leader with a compelling personality
capitalist economies
focus on free market trade and laissez-fair policies, where success or failure in business is primarily driven by consumerism with as little intervention from central governing bodies as possible
division of labor
encouraged in capitalist societies where specific components of a larger task are separated and assigned to skilled and trained individuals
socialist economies
treats large industries as collective, shared businesses, and compensation is provided based on the work contribution of each individual into the system; profit is distributed equally to the workforce
healthcare and medicine
institutions aimed at maintaining or improving the health status of the individual, family, community, and society as a whole
life course approach to health
maintaining and considering a comprehensive view of the patient's history beyond the immediate presenting symptoms
sick role
role in which he or she was not responsible for the illness and was exempt from normal social roles
medicalized
defined and treated as medical conditions
beneficience; nonmaleficence; respect for patient autonomy; justice
four key tenets of medical ethics in the united states
beneficience
medical ethical tenet in that a physician has a responsibility to act in the patient's best interest
nonmaleficence
medical ethical tenet that the physician has a responsibility to avoid treatment or interventions in which the potential for harm outweighs the potential for benefit; "do no harm"
respect for patient autonomy
medical ethical tenet that the physician has a responsibility to respect patients' decisions and choices about their own healthcare
justice
medical ethical tenet that the physician has a responsibility to treat similar patients with similar healthcare, and to distribute healthcare resources fairly
culture
defined as encompassing the entire lifestyle for a given group
ethnography
study of cultures and customs
ethnographic methods
experimental methods used to study ethnicity or culture of a group
artifacts
material items that people make, possess, and value that drives the concept of material culture
material culture
meaning of objects in a given society and its contribution to culture
symbolic culture; nonmaterial culture
focuses on the ideas that represent a group of people in relation to culture
culture lag
a period of maladjustment when the nonmaterial culture is still struggling to adapt to new material conditions
language
most highly developed and complex symbol system used by most cultures; consists of spoken, written, or signed symbols
values
what a person deems important in life, which dictates one's ethical principles and standards of behavior
belief
something that an individual accepts to be truth
cultural barriers
situation when a cultural difference impedes interaction with others
norms
societal rules that define the boundaries of acceptable behavior
ritual
formalized ceremony that usually involves specific material objects, symbolism, and additional mandates on acceptable behavior that may be associated with specific milestones
demographics
refer to the statistics of populations and are mathematical applications of sociology
age cohort
an aggregate group of people born during the same time period
agism
prejudice or discrimination on the basis of a person's age
gender
social construct that corresponds to the behavioral, cultural, pr psychological traits typically associated with a biological sex
gender inequality
intentional or unintentional empowerment of one gender to the detriment of the other
gender segregation
separation of individuals based on perceived gender
race
social construct based on phenotypic differences between groups of people that may be either real or perceived differences
racialization
establishment of a group as a particular race (Judaism)
racial formation theory
posits that racial identity is fluid and dependent on concurrent political, economic, and social factors
ethnicity
social construct which sorts people by cultural factors, including language, nationality, and religion
symbolic ethnicity
describes a specific connection to one's ethnicity in which ethnic symbols and identity remain important, even when ethnic identity does not play a significant role in everyday life
sexual orientation
direction of one's sexual interest toward members of the same, opposite, or both sexes
heterosexual
attraction to individuals of the opposite sex
bisexual
attraction to members of both sexes
homosexual
attraction to individuals of the same sex
kinsey scale
Measures hetero vs. homosexuality; significant portions of the population fell somewhere between them; demonstrates the idea that sexuality is more fluid than previously believed
LGBT
term used to refer to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender individuals as a group
intersectionality
interplay between multiple demographic factors, especially when it leads to discrimination or oppression
demographic shifts
changes in the makeup of a population over time
population pyramids
provide a histogram of the population size of various age cohorts
surplus
occurs when one sex has a larger population than the other in population pyramids
fertility; mortality; migration
3 factors that contribute to increased population size
fertility rate
refers to the average number of children born to a woman during her lifetime in a population
mortality rate
refer to the number of deaths in a population per unit time
crude rate
rate that is adjusted to a certain population size over a specific period of time and multiple by a constant to give a whole number
migration
A movement from one country or region to another that contributes to population growth
immigration
movement into a new geographic space
emigration
movement away from a geographic space
pull factors
positive attributes of the new location that attract the immigrant
push factors
negative attributes of the old location that encourage the immigrant to leave
demographic transition
specific example of demographic shift referring to changes in birth and death rates in a country as it develops from a preindustrial to industrial economic system
stage 1; preindustrial
stage of demographic transition where birth and death rates are still high
stage 2
stage of demographic transition where death rates drop due to improvement in healthcare
stage 3
stage of demographic transition where birth rates drop due to improvements in contraception, women's rights, and shift to industrial economy
stage 4; industrialized
stage of demographic transition where birth and death rates are both low
malthusian theory
theory that focuses on how the exponential growth of a population can outpace the growth of the food supply and lead to social degradation and disorder
social movements
A large group of people who are organized to promote or resist some social change
relative deprivation
decrease in resources, representation, or agency relative to the past or to the whole of society that may motivate social movements
proactive
social movements that promote social change
reactive
social movement that resist social change
globalization
process of integrating the global economy with free trade and the tapping of foreign markets
urbanization
refers to dense areas of population creating a pull for migration; formation of cities
ghettoes
defined as areas where specific racial, ethnic, or religious minorities are concentrated, usually due to social or economic inequities
slum
extremely densely populated area of a city with low-quality, often informal housing and poor sanitation
cultural sensitivity
recognition and respect of differences between cultures and research ethics
birth rate
number of births in a population per unit of time
0
exclusively heterosexual on the Kinsey scale
6
exclusively homosexual on the Kinsey scale
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