Test 2 sociology Terms and definitions – Flashcards
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(CH 5) Social interaction
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process of acting or reacting to ones environment (many components)
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(CH 5) Social structure
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an organized pattern of behavior that governs peoples relationships
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(CH 5) Status
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a social position that a person occupies in a society
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(CH 5) Ascribed status
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a social position that a person is born into
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(CH 5) Achieved status
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a social position that a person attains through personal effort or assumes voluntarily
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(CH 5) Master status
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a status that overrides other statuses and forms an important part of a person's social identity
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(CH 5) Role
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the behavior expected of a person who has a particular status
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(CH 5) Role performance
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the actual behavior of a person who occupies a status
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(CH 5) Social exchange theory
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proposes that individuals seek through their interactions to maximize their rewards and minimize their costs
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(CH 6) Social group
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two or more people who share some attribute and interact with one another
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(CH 6) Primary group
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a small group of people who engage in intimate face-to-face interaction over an extended period
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(CH 6) Secondary group
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a large, usually formal, impersonal, and temporary collection of people who pursue a specific goal or activity
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(CH 6) Reference group
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people who shape our behavior, values, and attitudes
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(CH 6) Types of leaders
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Authoritarian, Democratic, and Laissez-faire
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Authoritarian leader
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gives orders, assigns tasks, and makes all major decisions
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Democratic leader
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encourages group discussion and includes everyone in the decision-making process
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Laissez-faire leader
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offers little or no guidance to group members and allows them to make their own decisions
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(CH 6) Groupthink
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a situation in which in-group members make faulty decisions because of group pressures, rather than critically testing, analyzing, and evaluation ideas and evidence
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(CH 6) Formal organization
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a complex and structured secondary group designed to achieve specific goals in an efficient manner
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(CH 6) Bureaucracy
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a formal organization designed to accomplish goals and tasks in an efficient and rational way
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(CH 6) Social institution
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an organized and established social system that meets one or more of a society's basic needs
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(CH 7) Deviance
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a violation of social norms
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(CH 7) Crime
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a violation of society's formal laws
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(CH 7) Stigma
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a negative label that devalues a person and changes her or his self-concept and social identity
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(CH 7) White-collar crime
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illegal activities committed by high-status people in the course of their occupations
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(CH 7) Corporate crime
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(also called organizational crimes) illegal acts committed by executives to benefit themselves and their companies
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(CH 7) Organized crime
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activities of individuals and groups that supply illegal goods and services for profit
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(CH 7) Anomie
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the condition in which people are unsure how to behave because of absent, conflicting, or confusing social norms
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(CH 7) Differential association theory
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asserts that people learn deviance through interaction, especially with significant others
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(CH 7) Labeling Theory
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posits that society's reaction to behavior is a major factor in defining oneself or others as deviant
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(CH 7) Social control
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the techniques and strategies that regulate people's behavior in society
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(CH 7) Control theory
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proposes that deviant behavior decreases when people have strong social bonds with others.
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(CH 7) Crime control model
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proposes that crime rates increase when offenders don't fear apprehension or punishment
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(CH 8) Social stratification
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a society's ranking of people based on their access to valued resources such as wealth, power and prestige
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(CH 8) Social class
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people who have a similar standing or rank in a society based on wealth, education, power, prestige, and other valued resources
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(CH 8) Class system
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peoples positions are based on both birth and achievement
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(CH 8) Wealth
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economic assets that a person or family owns
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(CH 8) Prestige
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respect, recognition, or regard attached to social positions
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(CH 8) Power
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the ability to influence or control the behavior of others despite opposition
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(CH 8) Socioeconomic status
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an overall ranking of a persons position in society based on income, education, and occupation
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(CH 8) Working poor
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people who work at least 27 weeks a year but whose wages fall below the official poverty level
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(CH 8) Underclass
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people who are persistently poor and seldom employed, residentially segregated, and relatively isolated from the rest of the population
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(CH 8) Life chances
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the extent to which people have positive experiences and can secure the good things in life because they have economic resources
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(CH 8) Absolute poverty
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not having enough money to afford the basic necessities of life
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(CH 8) Relative poverty
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not having enough money to maintain an average standard of living
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(CH 8) Feminization of poverty
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the disproportionate number of the poor who are women
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(CH 8) Meritocracy
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a belief that social stratification is based on peoples accomplishments
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(CH 8) Corporate welfare
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subsidies, tax breaks, and assistance that the government has created for businesses
