Sociology paper 1

• Culture

  Group of people who share the same way of life they tend to share norms and values
• Norms

  Expectations of how individuals act in a social environment for example putting a seat belt on
• Values

  Things that are seen as being important in society for example road safety
• Social role

  Expected behaviours of people in different roles in society for example a mothers is to care for their children
• Role conflict

  When two roles clash for example a working mother who has a sick child
• Status

  Describes the position a person has in a particular setting
• Types of status

  • Achieved
  • Ascribed
• Ascribed status

  Status given at birth. For example your family having a high status
• Achieved status

  Status that was worked for. For example working your way up in a sport
• Identity

  Our sense of who we are as an individual and as members of a social groups sociologists argue this is socially constructed
• Primary socialisation

  First place where children are taught how to fit in with society by being taught norms and values like in the family
• Secondary socialisation

  Second stage of being taught norms and values by other means like in schools
• Factors in Gender roles and socialisation

  • Role models and imitation
  • Stereotypes in media showing male superiority
• Feral children


  Children who have been neglected from society and become wild like oxana
• Subcultures

  Groups who share the same norms, values and behaviours that normally differ from the rest of society
• Cohabitation

  when a couple live together but aren’t married
• Dependent children

  Children who still depend on their parents / guardians for support
• Family

  Group of two or more people linked by blood, adoption, marriage or cohabitation
• Household

  Groups of individuals that live together
• Nuclear family

  Family of two parents of the opposite sex and their two children
• Lone parent family

  Family of one parent and their kids
• Lone parent family popularity growth

  Divorce reform act - made divorce easier for families

  gender norms - women can now financially support themselves due to equal pay act
• Extended families

  closely related people of a few generations living together
• Beanpole family

  Multi generational family that is long and thin with few uncles, aunties or grandparents
• Reconstituted family

  Family made up of a couple who have re married
• Same sex family

  two parents of the same sex and their children
• Secularisation

  Religious thinking, ideas and institutions decreasing in importance
• law changes

  Divorce reform act

  Equal pay act

  Same sex marriage act
• Marriage

  Formal union of two people
• Marriage trends

  Over 200,000 marriages in 2019
• Pros V Cons

  Pros - reduce tax and strengthens relationship

  Cons - expensive and divorce is costly and stressful
• Why people don‘t get married

  Secularisation - not being married has become more acceptable

  Changing gender norms - women can now financially support themselves due to the equal pay act

  Expenses - average wedding cost is £30000
• Divorce

  Legal terminations of a marriage
• Divorce trends

  Average divorce rate in 2019 was 42%
• Why divorce has increased

  Legal changes - divorce act made it easier

  Changing gender norms - women can now financially support themselves so can live without the support of a man due to the equal pay act

  Secularisation - divorce is more accepted as religion has decreased that frowned upon it
• Monogamy

  Being married to one person at a time
• Polygamy 


  Man has multiple wives at once
• Polyandry 


  Women has multiple husbands at once
• Functionalism

  Consensus theory

  Positive functions

  Social cohesion - everyone is treated equally
• Functionalist (family) - Murdock 


  4 functions of the family

  • Sexual
  • Reproductive
  • Economic
  • Educational