Basic Key Words

• Sociology

  The study of society and the people within it
• Nature versus nurture


  The debate between sociologists and scientists. Scientists believe our behaviour is influenced by our genes, sociologists believe our behaviour is picked up through nurture/socialisation
• Norms

  Unwritten rules of behaviour. The normal and expected behaviour, it is not deviant.
• Values


  Things we consider important in society. Values tend to influence norms, e.g. we values privacy so we close our curtains at night
• Conformity


  This means sticking to the norms and values and not being deviant. You might conform because you're scared of being laughed at by people or punished by the police (these are examples of informal and formal social control)
• Deviance


  Deviance is behaviour that goes against the norm, e.g. a man wearing a dress
• Primary socialisation


  Learning norms and values at home with family. Some believe this is the most important place for socialisation and a poor socialisation leads to problems.
• Secondary socialisation


  Learning norms and values
• Informal social control


  Using rewards and sanctions to control/restrict people and make them conform. This is done by many different agents of socialisation, e.g. family, friends, teachers, media etc....
• Subculture


  A group of people who go against the norm. A criminal subculture is a group of people who go against the law
• Gender


  The expected behaviour, norms and values of masculinity and femininity. Femininity is caring, submissive and emotional. Masculine is tough, competitive and values status.
• Ethnicity


  A group of people with shared/common cultural background. This shared background may include religion, traditions or country of origin
• Gender socialisation


  The way we are socialised to be feminine or masculine. This can start at an early age when boys and girls are treated differently by parents, e.g. guns for boys and baby dolls for girls
• Social issues


  Topics of interest in society. This is what sociologists study, e.g. why did the riots happen, why is divorce more common now in comparison with the past, why do boys underachieve in comparison with girls
• Power and Status


  This is what you have if you have the ability to tell people what to do and you are respected in society. In a patriarchal society men have more power and status because they have the best jobs
• Patriarchal


  A male dominated society
• Role


  The expected behaviour of a person in a particular position. In the past the woman's role was to be a housewife
• Social policy


  A change to society or a part of society, introduced by the government
• Feminists


  Sociologists who believe we live in an unfair society in which men have too much power and status and women do not have enough
• Marxists


  Sociologists who believe we live in an unfair society in which the rich have too much power and status and the working class do not have enough
• Functionalists


  Sociologists who believe every part of society should, and does, work well together. They believe society is like a human body and every part has an important role, e.g. the family's role is primary socialisation, the school's role is secondary socialisation
• The New Right


  Sociologists who believe SPF's are bad for society and lead to poor primary socialisation, especially for boys