Study Sociology Midterm Flash Cards

 
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Sociology Midterm

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Routine Activities and Individual Deviant Behavior (Osgood)
--age is most dramatic determinant for criminal behavior
--lack of structure means more time for deviance
--presence of peers makes it easier and more rewarding to participate
--no authority figure reduces potential for social control
Testing Control Theory and Differential Association (Matsueda)
--study confirms differential association theory
--number of delinquent friends increases ones own delinquency
--older boys with modest SEC, broken homes, more perceived trouble in neighborhood: favorable definition of crime
--delinquent behavior reduced by parental supervision
Inequality and Crime (Kelly)
--violent crime is strongly affected by inequality
--income inequality correlated with poverty and percent of female headed families
--violent crime not much affected by police activity or poverty,
--violent crime affected by income and education inequality
--property crime not impacted by inequality
--fatherless families most important single predictor
--property crime goes up with higher population
Self-Control and Criminal Opportunity (Longshore)
--low self control positively correlated with property and personal crime
Low Self-Control
--impulsive
--lack diligence, tenacity, persistence
--risk-seeking
--physical activity over contemplation
--indifferent, insensitive
--low tolerance for frustration
Post Industrial Society
--we are past industrial society, so Marxist categories of stratification are not the main basis for class stratification
--technical knowledge and expertise are the new dividing factor (dominance of service sector)
Davis-Moore's Thesis
--functionalist explanation; everything in socieity is interdependent (consensus model)
--we need division of labor and specialization, as well as different degrees of skill
--people would want to have occupations with the least skill required, so there is an inequality of reward for those people
Social Disorganization Theory
--organized community: lower likelihood you will commit crime (sense of solidarity with community)
--age distribution: greater population of youth in a community increases rate of crime
--unity in community: involved in society, strong schools, families, higher incomes
Self Control Theory
--crime as product of abnormal psychological state, stress, absolutely irrational
--lack of self-control
--pursuit of short term interest vs. long term interest
Utilitarian Theory
--crime is a response to the pursuit of self-interest
--if the punishment for a crime is high, people will commit less crime but if they think they can get away, it's made rational to commit crime
Cultural Theory
--changing patterns of norms and values of society in different cultural groups
--the values of personal self, freedom, and individualization lead to the decline of the traditional group conception of society in which you are in some way responsible to that society
Differential Association Theory (Sutherland)
--people learn to act in a criminal fashion of the group they socialize with glorify crime
--learn to be proud of crime if those around you encourage it
Social Control Theory (Hirschi)
--Why do many people choose not to commit crime?
--subject to cocntrol mechanisms of society, become part of a group to which they are commited and from which they get values
--young people aren't clearly invested in any sort of group: susceptible to crime
Labeling Theory
--the only different between a criminal act and a non-criminal is that a criminal act is labeled that way
--criminals commit crime because they have been labeled as criminals
Strain Theory (Merton)
--society defines particular goals and means for people
--making money is supreme goal of American society
--when access to legitimate means are distributed unequally, ppl with little access turn to illigitimate means and crime to meet this societal goal
--crime is product of social inequalities
--doesn't fit trend of white-collar crime or other trends in the US
Life Cycle Theory
--we learn by taking on different roles in different stages of life
--we become more flexible as we assume new roles, and this is how we learn
--different societies and culture have different trajectories of these roles
Mead's Theory
--called symbolic interactionism
--stage based learning: play, game, generalized other
--emergence of a personality/self depends on the creation of an "I-Me" structure
--thinking is an internalized conversation
--We are not just products of society (me) nor are we purely "I" without influence of society
Piaget's Theory
--stage based learning
--structure of perception goes through stages, we understand the world differently in every stage
Freudianism:
--stage-based learning, not incremental
--id (I): system of gratification, primitive desires
--ego: realm of experience that allows us to learn things, morality; balances id and superego
--superego: conscience, realm of values and normative orientation
--learn by going through oral, anal, and phalic stages
--identification as mechanism of learning
Behaviorism
--idea that a behavior followed by a reward is likely to be repeated, and vice versa
--this is how we learn language; gradual process during which conditioning is the key mechanism
Socialization (Parsons)
--individuals become members of larger and larger groups
--by becoming members, we learn to be socialized, starting with a small group and finally identifying with the larger society
--when this happens, the values of these groups are internalized
--personality to social organization to culture
Institutionalization (Parsons)
--the abstract notion of culture becomes more specific through social organization, which leads to specific personalities
Norms
--specific rules for performance of particular social roles; we engage in behaviors related to those roles
--different roles dominant in different situations
Values
--few in number, identify general patters of preference (what ought to be)
--equality, hard work, freedom, autonomy, community, etc.
Culture (2 definitions)
1. culture as opposed to nature: language, economy, state, religion, politics
2. culture as opposed to material structure/phenomenon; the way people think, their idea, values, religious views
Freedom
--Are we agents of our own actions or are they determined by other sources?
--Choice of religion: determined by your society, people claim certainty that other religions don't have
Goffman (self)
--all of our behaviors are forms of "acting out" as if we were always on stage
--there is no self behind our performances (presentation of self)
Idea of Self
--In psychology, they say that traits define a personality, people act in predictable ways
--Other view: no such thing as stable traits, people act in accordance with the situation
Socialization
--process by which individuals internalize norms and values of a society and become part of it
--failure of socialization leads to crime, which represents a negation of culture, norms, and values
Realsim
--society is real and objective, individuals do not exist
--people are essentially systems of personalities and products of the cultural group that they belong to
Nominalism
--the only thing that is real are individuals and their actions/characteristics
Historic Idealism
--the interpretation of reality determines events and actions in a society
Historic Materialism
--Social phenomena are expressions of economic factors
--Marx says everything is determined by the economic structure of society
Hermeneutics
--scientific method is inadequate in the study of society
--social phenomena are cultural phenomena, they are symbolic
--need to know meaning of phenomena (intentions, etc.)
--expression rather than causation
Positivism
--sociology can be studied on the basis of the scientific method
--establishing causal relations after careful observation
Consensus Model
--social relations are mutually beneficial
--Also called functional model
-- interests: mutually beneficial
--reality of classes: class is a relative concept
--state: represents collective interests of society
--order: dependent on shared values, normative orientation
Conflict Model
--social relations are inherently antagonistic
--interests are antagonistic
--reality of classes: classes are real
--state: represents interests of dominant class
--order: happens because of coersion and fear of punishment
Consensus Model (interests)
--pursuing interests is mutually beneficial for both parties
--employer/employee relationship: both benefit because employee receives wages, employer receives labor
Parson's Theory
--different social sciences represent different aggregations and complexities of social action
--rational optimization of utility (money) causes collision and conflict in society
--creation of state, social contract is the next level, give up some freedom for order
--cultural values turn individuals into citizens, see each other as "us"
Simmel's concept
--traces back to Kant (form vs. matter)
--sociology deals with the form of social interaction (leader/subject, etc. are general forms of interaction)
Marxist Definition of Sociology
--everything in society is an expression of various economic factors which determine every aspect of life
--this is called materialism
--specialization and fragmentation is illigitimate
--normative by its very nature
Comte/Spencer Thesis
--It's necessary to create a new science that compiles major findings of all specialized areas of knowledge
--combine those into a holistic conception of being
--supposed to be the religion of modernity
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