Sociology Chapters 10-13 – Flashcards

- democrats; the working class; support legislation that transfers income to those who are richer to those who are poorer or that control wages, working conditions, and competitions - republicans; the wealthier people; oppose democratic legislation - both have contrasting philosophical principals but each party represents slightly different slices of the center; firmly support such fundamental of the US political philosophy such as free public education, a strong military, freedom of religion, speech, and assembly, and capitalism, especially the private ownership of property - difficult to distinguish conservative democrat from a liberal republican

- capitalism; private citizens own the means of production and pursue profits - socialism; the state owns the means of production and has no goal of profit - US current form is state capitalism; welfare; private citizens own the means of production and pursue profits, but they do o within a vast system of laws designed to protect the welfare of the population and ensure that the government can collect taxes; economic system is highly regulated

- major elements of FLC are love and courtship, marriage, child birth, child rearing, and the family in later life - regarding marriage, important social channels are age, education, social class, and race-ethnicity - child rearing patterns vary amongst social classes - marriage statistics have fluctuated over time; dramatic change in U.S. marriage is the increase in marriages between African Americans and whites; illegal in the past; average first-time bride and groom are older than at any other time in U.S. history - changes due to cohabitation, adults living together in a sexual relationship without being married; rates have risen steeply and consistently and is now at the highest it ever has been - Divorce rates have also increased over time and are at their highest point today; remarriage has become incredibly common

- families of the same social class are likely to be similar, regardless of their race-ethnicity - one-parent, childless, blended, and gay/lesbian families are common - social class is important in determining their primary characteristics - poverty is very significant with one-parent families, which are most often headed by women

- postponement of first marriage, an increase in cohabitation, and having the first child at a later age - more people are living longer, many middle-aged couples find themselves sandwiched between rearing children and taking care of their aging parents

- analyze the functions, the benefits, that the school provides to society; stabilize society by forging a national identity; gatekeeping is a controversial function, sorting students for various levels of jobs; schools have expanded their domains, taking over some function formerly performed by families - functions of education; teaching of knowledge and skills, providing credentials, cultural transmission of values, social integration, social placement (gatekeeping), and mainstreaming - education has replaced some traditional family functions - cultural transmission of values; the process of transmitting values from one group to another; often refers to how cultural traits are transmitted across generations; in education, the way in which schools transmit a society's culture, especially in its core values - social placement (gatekeeping) is a function of education- funneling people into a society's various positions - gatekeeping; process by which education opens and closes doors of opportunity; another term for the social placement function of education

- that it is universal for it meets universal human needs - provides followers with a sense of purpose and a framework of living; comfort by assuring people that there is a purpose to life, even if you're suffering; unites believers into a community that shares values and perspectives; provides practical guidelines for everyday life; incorporated into criminal law, such as prohibiting the sale of alcohol before noon on Sundays so that people would go to church - functions of religion are answering questions about ultimate meaning; providing emotional comfort, social solidarity, guidelines for everyday life, social control, and social change - dysfunctions of religion include religious persecution and war and terrorism