chapter 1-5

• Social structure


  The underlying pattern of social relationships in a group
• Status


  A socially defined position in a group or in a society
• Types of status

  • Ascribed status
  • Achieved status
• Ascribed status


  Status assigned at birth, not based on individual's abilities, efforts, or accomplishments
• Achieved status


  Status earned or chosen through one's own direct efforts, special skills, knowledge, or abilities
• Roles


  The component of social structure that brings statuses to life
• Reciprocal roles


  Corresponding roles that define the patterns of interaction between related statuses
• Rights


  Behaviors that individuals expect from others
• Obligations


  Behaviors that individuals are expected to perform toward others
• Role conflict


  When fulfilling the role expectations of one status makes it difficult to fulfill the role expectations of another status
• Role strain


  When a person has trouble meeting the many roles connected with a single status
• Role exit


  When role performance does not match the expectations
• Social institutions


  • Family
  • Economic institution
  • Political institution
  • Education
  • Religion
• The Family is the most universal social institution, taking responsibility for raising children and teaching accepted norms and values
• The Economic institution organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services
• The Political institution is the system of norms that governs the exercise and distribution of power in society
• Education ensures the transmission of values, patterns of behavior, certain skills and knowledge
• Religion provides a shared, collective explanation of the meaning of life
• Group


  A unit of interacting personalities with an interdependence of roles and statuses existing between members
• Social Group


  Any system or social relationship in which members are differentiated from non-members
• Man exists as a member of the public, a public which is a product of the total pattern of interaction among human beings in all their particular functions and roles in society
• Importance of Groups


  • The group is a transmitter of culture
  • The group is a means of social control
  • The group socializes the individuals
  • The group is the source of ideas
  • The group trains the individual in communication
• Classification of Groups

  • They are in regular contact with one another
  • They share some ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving and must interaction among the member
  • They take one another's behavior in account
  • They have one or more interest or goals in common
• Primary Group


  Typically a small social group whose member share close, personal, enduring relationship
• Secondary Group


  They interact on a less personal level than in a primary group, and their relationships are temporary rather than lasting
• Informal Group


  When two or more individuals interact with each other on issues and concerns affecting their interest and welfare
• Formal Group


  A formal organization with an established philosophy of vision and mission in achieving its specific goals and objectives
• Reference Group


  A social group that serves as a point of reference in making evaluations and decisions
• In-Group


  A social group toward which a member feels respects and loyalty
• Out-Group


  A social group toward which a person feels a sense of competition or oppositions
• Social Networks


  The web of relationships formed by the sum total of a person's interaction
• Deviance


  Behavior that departs from societal or group norms
• Types of Deviance

  • Positive Deviance - idealize group norms
  • Negative Deviance - fails to meet group norms
• Social Control


  The rules and restrictions that shape, supervise, and regulate the behaviors of individuals and societies
• Types of Social Control

  • External Social Control - society or institutions regulate individual behavior through external means
  • Internal Social Control - individuals regulate their own behavior based on internalized moral standards and values
• Functionalist Perspective


  • Suggests that social structures within society may pressure citizens to commit crime
  • Views deviance as the natural growth of the values, norms and structure of the society
  • Deviance refers to any behavior that violates social norms and expectations
• Conflict Perspective


  • Suggests that competition and social inequality lead to deviance
  • Sees deviance as a product of power struggles and social inequalities, with marginalized groups disproportionately affected by the labeling and punishment of deviant behavior
• Interactionist Perspective


  • Offers a nuanced understanding of deviance by focusing on the meanings and interpretations individuals attach to deviant behavior within social interactions
  • Interaction among individuals influences deviance
• Control Theory


  • Focuses on why people conform rather than the cause of deviance
  • An individual's behavior is bonded by society, and the extent to which an individual feels the bond or commitment to society determines their deviance from conventional societal norms
• Factors that influence the bond an individual feels toward society

  • Attachment to others
  • Belief in moral codes of society
  • Commitment to traditional societal values
  • Involvement in non-deviant activities