Contemporary Social Problems test 1
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society
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people who live within some territory and share many patterns of behavior
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culture
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a way of life including widespread values (about who is good and bad), beliefs (about what is true), and behavior (what people do every day)
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sociology
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the systematic study of human societies
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sociological imagination
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a point of view that highlights how society affects the experiences we have and the choices we make
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social problem
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a condition that undermines the well-being of some or all members of a society and is usually a matter of public controversy
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social-constructionalist approach
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the assertion that social problems arise as people define conditions as undesirable and in need of change
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claims making
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the process of convincing the public and important public officials that a particular issue or situation should be defined as a social problem
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social movement
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an organized effort at claims making that tries to shape the way people think about an issue in order to encourage or discourage social change
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four stages in the life course of a social movement
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emergence, coalescence, formalization, and decline
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theory
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a statement of how and why specific events are related
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structural-functional approach
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a theoretical framework that sees society as a system of many interrelated parts
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social institutions
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major spheres of social life, or societal subsystems, organized to meet a basic human need
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social conflict approach
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a theoretical framework that sees society as divided by inequality and conflict
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feminism
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a political movement that seeks the social equality of women and men
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symbolic-interaction approach
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a theoretical framework that sees society as the product of individuals interacting with one another
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multicultural theory
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explains social problems in terms of racial and ethnic inequality
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survey
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a research method in which subjects respond to items in a questionnaire or an interview
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field research
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research method for observing people while joining them in their everyday activities
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experiment
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research method for investigating cause-and-effect relationships under tightly controlled conditions
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secondary analysis
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a research method that makes use of data originally collected by others
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social policy
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formal strategies that affect how society operates
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political spectrum
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a continuum representing a range of political attitudes, from \"left\" to \"right\"
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social issues
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political debates involving moral judgments about how people should live
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economic issues
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political debates about how a society should distribute material resources
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patriarchy
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a set of social relations between men that enables them to dominate women
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social stratification
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society's system of ranking categories of people in a hierarchy
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social classes
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categories of people who have similar access to resources and opportunities
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income
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salary or wages from a job plus earnings from investments and other sources
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wealth
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the value of all the economic assets owned by a person or family, minus any debts
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progressive taxation
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a policy that raises tax rates as income increases
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poverty line
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an income level set by the U.S. government for the purpose of counting the poor
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poverty gap
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the difference between the actual income of the typical poor household and the official poverty line
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feminization of poverty
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the trend of women making up and increasing share of the poor
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underclass
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poor people who live in areas with high concentrations of poverty and limited opportunities for schooling or work
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homelessness
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the plight of poor people who lack shelter and live primarily on the streets
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social welfare programs
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organized efforts by government, private organizations, and individuals to assist needy people considered worthy of assistance
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race
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a socially constructed category based on physical traits that members of a society define as important
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ethnicity
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a shared cultural heritage
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minorities
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categories of people that share a distinctive identity and suffer disadvantages
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genocide
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the deliberate killing of a category of people
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segregation
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the physical and social separation of some category of a population
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assimilation
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a process by which minorities adopt styles of dress, the language, cultural values, and even the religion of the dominant majority
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pluralism
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a state in which racial and ethnic categories, through distinct, have equal social standing
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prejudice
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any rigid unfounded generalization about an entire category of people
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stereotype
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an exaggerated description applied to every person in some category
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racism
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the assertion that people of one race are less worthy than or even biologically inferior to others
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institutional racism
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racism at work in the operation of social institutions, including the economy, schools, hospitals, the military and the criminal justice system
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multiculturalism
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educational programs designed to recognize cultural diversity in the US and to promote respect for all cultural conditions
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Eurocentrism
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the practice of using European cultural standards to judge everyone
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discrimination
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the unequal treatment of various categories of people
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institutional discrimination
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discrimination that is built into the operation of social institutions, including the economy, schools, and the legal system
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affirmative action
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policies intended to improve the social standing of minorities subject to past prejudice and discrimination
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queer theory
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a body of theory and research that callenges the heterosexual bias in U.S. society
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heterosexism
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bias that treats heterosexuality as the norm while stigmatizing anyone who differs from this norm as \"queer\"
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pluralist model
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an analysis of the political system that sees power widely distributed among various groups and organizations in a society
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telecommuting
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linking employees to the office using information technology, including telephones, computers, and the internet
