Chapter 6: Deviance - Deviance: behavior, trait, belief, or characteristic that violates a norm and causes a negative reaction - Social judgement not moral judgement - Varies across cultures; can change over time (eg: cannibalism, murder), requirement of sanctions and varying degrees of sanctions - Functionalism: does deviance have a function? - Durkheim: deviance helps clarify moral boundaries (remind what is right when people violate norm) and promote social cohesion(brings people together through shared values) - Structural Strain Theory (Merton): how someone experiences or is effected by deviance depends on their place in the social structure - Inequality makes it easier adhering to social norms for people who are well off; Means to an end is not the same; vary in goals to adhere to society or adhere to goals - ex: American Dream is not easy for everyone, only those from wealthy family - Innovator: have conventional goals, want to adhere to social norms; deviate because use unconventional ways to achieve (way they chase goals) - Ritualists: go through conventional lotions, try to adhere to norms; know can’t achieve conventional success - Ex: people want American Dream, but als know it is difficult to buy house but still go through the motions - Retreatists: reject the conventions; live outside of conventional norms, not adhere to cultural norms - Ex: Hippies in America - Rebels: reject cultural definition of success, reject means of achieving them; advocate for radical changes to social order, new means and new orders (try to change society, not leave society) - Conflict Theory: rules are applied unequally and punishments for violators are unevenly distributed - Behaviors of less powerful groups are more likely to be criminalized than the behaviors of the powerful - Social control: norms/laws/rules that regulate behavior of individuals and groups - Rules intentionally exercised to unequally control behavior of group, formal or informal - Ex: different drug laws, voter IDs targeting low-income, racial minorities Symbolic Interaction: way relationships/interactions creates meaning - Differential Association Theory: we learn to be deviant through our interactions with others who break the rules (deviants because of peer pressure, look to other people on how to behave) - Theory makes assumption that those who make interactions with deviants will also be deviant: logical but doesn’t always work - - - - - Labeling Theory: deviance is determined by social context; whether behavior is deviant is based on culture and time but deviant title is “sticky” - Tertiary deviance: redefining the stigma into something positive; because deviant title is sticky, redefining allows deviants to reenter society - Primary deviance vs secondary deviance Self-fulfilling prophecy: prediction that causes self to be true merely by being stated - Ex: Russenheim + psychiatric hospital: snt non psychiatric person into hospital; doctors/nurses still saw their regular behavior as psychiatric - Once labeled as deviant, it is hard to remove and everything is seen through context of label - Stereotype Threat (worried poor performance will confirm negative stereotype that leads to panic and one does poorly; negative) vs Stereotype Promise (opposite effect; stereotype is positive and when acted on can confirm it to be true; positive) Outsiders: people living outside of mainstream society; embrace and choose label of stigmatization; deviance is a role not a trait they inhibit - Deviance avowal: some might initiate the labeling process against themselves or provoke others to - Deviance as a role instead of an instance Foreground Model of Deviance (Katz): in activity and orientation - Most approaches ignore the deviants of the moment; deviant is seen as an action of the moment not a characterized stigma - Social actors are not just products of their experience Crime: violating a norm that has been codified in law - Class: crime more common in poorer area (more policed in urban areas=more reported crime) - Also reflects how people are treated by police, courts, prisons - Different crimes= different response by courts - Areas become disadvantaged: less jobs/childcare/good schools/economic strains lead to more crime - White collar crime: higher class crimes that are policed and convicted less - Age: younger people commit more crime; age bias and type of crime (stigmatizing younger people) - Gender: male more likely to commit crime (stigma against women), effects of social and economic roles of women - Race: lower class + stigma/discrimination in legal system and live in poorer neighbrhoods - Deterrence: assumes punishment will have a deterring effect (make punishments harsh enough to prevent people from committing) - Retribution: emphasizes retaliation for the crime as appropriate (perfect types of justice) - Incapacitation: criminals should be confined to protect society from them (separation from society, deviants can’t change behavior) Rehabilitation: prison system should try to reform the criminal Chapter 7: Inequality - Social stratification: the division of society into groups arranged by hierarchy; lead to inequality - Social inequality: unequal distribution of wealth, power, prestige among members of society - Inequality is characteristic of society not a reflection of individual differences - Social stratification persists over generations; children inherit/experience stratification system (very durable) - All societies have stratification systems but the criteria varies - Stratification is maintained by beliefs; what people believe is true then there is no need for structural change - Major systems of stratification: slavery (based on legal ownership of people), caste (based on heredity; whole groups of people forced into categories and class), social class (based on wealth; common in industrial society + inherited socioeconomic status with little movement/mobility) - Social class stratification: common in industrial societies; not directly based on race/ethnicity/gender/age but large overlap - Intersectionality: identifies how different categories of inequality intersect to shape the lives of individuals and groups - Social economic status in US (status inconsistency, difficult cut-offs, variation in living standards) - Upper class (1%, income of $2M avg): mostly old/inherited wealth, new money, highly educated + influential, self-sustaining with little movement into category - Upper middle class (14%, income of 150K): well educated, highly skilled, rely on salary, financial stability, managerial jobs - Middle class (30%, income of 70K): shrinking (more movement downwards), white-collar jobs, college degree, home-ownership (not as guaranteed) - Working class (30%, income of 40K): high school education, manual labor (blue collared), little control in workplace Working poor (13%, income>25K): less educated + literate, unskilled job, temporary/seasonal jobs, minimum-wage jobs, high rates of unemployment + under-employment - Under class (12%, live in poverty, income> 15K): live in intercity or homeless (can have job but can’t afford home) - Conflict Theory: conflict between social groups is central to working of society and serves as agent of social change - Marx-Capitalism creates two classes: owners of means of production (bourgeoisie) and workers (proletariat) - - - - - - - Economic inequality was core; bourgeoisie has to pay you less than what labor is worth to profit; believed all issues of society came down to capitalism and exploitation - Industrial society: shift to urban centers, factory/industrial manual labor; source of inequality rose from this - Weber- owning means of production is not only way to be successful, you can have wealth - Wealth: income, property, other assets - Prestige: social honor given to people because of membership in certain groups (involved with role and status); affect wealth and power, prestige without wealth can be used to influence Structural Functionalism: stratification is not egalitarian but it serves a purpose - Argument: We need a variety of roles to be performed and we need incentives for those rules - Criticism: often unclear which roles are more critical or desirable, incentives do not always correspond with importance or difficulty Symbolic Interactionism - Everyday class consciousness: awareness of one’s own social status and that of others - People make judgements about others class based on appearance, stigma for social status - While are identities may be structured by preexisting categories, we still must perform those identities in everyday interactions - Role and status defines norms and behaviors Post-modern: class background is difficult to overcome, “goal-post” constantly shifts when lower SES people have cultural capital (loses prestige) - Bourdieu- social reproduction: tendency of social classes to remain relatively stable as class status is passed down from one generation to next; cultural capital is also passed down - Cultural capital: tastes, habits, expectations, skills, knowledge, cultural assets that help gain advantages in society - Perceive more socially adept person as more suitable Family: people are more likely to have relationships with and marry people similar to them - Higher SES women marry and have children later, also tend to have fewer children; delay for education and work Health: higher SES individuals have more access to healthcare and resources - Typically feel healthier and live longer - Potential: difference in education vs access to resources - Higher SES jobs have better benefits vs min. Wage jobs Higher education: performance in school affects where you go to college, what jobs you can get, and how much you are paid - Schools in lower SES have less resources; schools are not equal - Price of education: block out students who can’t afford it - - - - - - Income: lower SES individuals are more vulnerable to unemployment and underemployment - Jobs are more temporary, less safety net and benefits Poverty: in dense populated area,s trend to have higher cimr due to social problems with poverty - Lower SES are more likely to be charged and be victim of criminal activity; crimes of lower SES are more visible and less powerful - White collar: less likely to be charged and convicted Closed system (little opportunity of movement) vs open system (more opportunity of movement between classes) - Social mobility: movement with a stratification system - Intergenerational mobility: movement from one generation to next, every generation does better than before (stalled in US because of increased costs of living) - Intragenerational mobility: movement across a person’s lifetime, can go up or down - Horizontal movement: change jobs that are in same class vs vertical: up/down in class - Structural mobility: large number of people move up/down ladder due to structural changes (ex: Great Depression, 2008 Crisis, COVID Pandemic) Relative deprivation: person’s standard of living is below other members of society; comparative and relative to other people Absolute deprivation: people can’t meet minimal standard of food, shelter, and healthcare Most people living in poverty are employed; rates are higher for elderly, disabled, foreign-born, blacks, Latinos, women, children, single parent households Culture of Poverty (Lewis 1959): the poor, because they were excluded femur mainstream society, developed a way of life that was qualitatively different from middle class - Resignatio, fatalism, and acceptance of fate rather than trying to improve their own lives (get passed down to future generations) - Criticism: suggest poverty is a cultural problem and not an economic one; victim blaming; ignores the social structural factors that shape culture Just world hypothesis: tendency to see victims of social injustice as deserving of their fates; need to believe world is justified and fair to give sense of security and safe - Invisibility of poverty: residential segregation, product of red-lining Poverty, lack of access/help from friends and families, government housing/policies can contribute to homelessness Chapter 8: Race and Ethnicity - Social construction: concepts are negotiated, can change through interaction; meaning we give something when society tells us it is valuable, real, meaningful - Different meanings in different cultural contexts - - - - - - - - Tenets of symbolic interaction: i) human beings act toward ideas, concepts, values on the basis of the meaning that those things have for them; ii) these meanings are a product of social interaction in human society; iii) these meanings are modified and filtered through interpretive process that individual uses outward signal Race: socially defined category based on real or perceived biological differences between groups of people; social construction Ethnicity: social defined category based on common language, religion, nationality, history or some other cultural factor Symbolic (enactments of ethnic identity that only occur on special occasions) vs situational (deliberately assert ethnicity in some situations whale downplaying in others, each situation determines if it favors so) Majority minority: dominant group makes up half the population but still retain power, resources, and representation in social institutions Minority group: social group that is systematically denied the same access to power and resources available to society’s dominant group - Membership can be master status, crowding all other statuses - Lack of access to resources can unite minority groups Racism: ideology or set of beliefs about the claimed superiority of one racial or ethnic group over another - Used to justify inequality between dominant and minority groups (issue: race shows little genetic differences) Prejudice: idea about the characteristics of a group that is applied to all members of that group and is unlikely to change regardless of the evidence against it (more narrow; ex: stereotypes + based on ideas) Discrimination: unequal treatment of individuals based on their membership in a soicla group, usually motivated by prejudice - Based on behaviors, usually motivated by prejudice - Ex: those who enjoy privileges do not speak out on injustices, do not engage in prejudice but continues discrimination - Individual discrimination: one person treats others unfairly because of their race and ethniicty - Institutional: systematic and widespread, it occurs when institutions practice discriminatory policies that affect whole groups of individuals (long lasting effects) Privilege: unlearned advantage accorded to members of dominant social groups; based on membership Colorblind racism: ideology that removes race as an explanation for any form of unequal treatment; implies race is inconsequential + ignores inequalities Race consciousness: ideology that acknowledges race as a powerful social construct that shapes individual social experiences Cultural appropriation: the adoption of cultural elements belonging to an oppressed group by members of the dominant group, without permission and often for the dominant group's gain Functionalism: cultural differences and the lack of integration into the larger society on the part of minorities tend to feed fear and hostility - - - - - - Focus on social solidarity and group cohesion; argues inequality/discrimination builds social cohesion and does ont account for alternative options for social cohesion - In-group vs out-group : some groups will discriminate against other Conflict: focus on struggle for power and control - Bonacich: racism partly driven by economic competition and struggle over scarce resources; early arguments - Wilson: Early racist government policies and individual racism/discrimination led to creation of a black underclass, however, economic factors not racial ones now continue to perpetuate that underclass; 70’s - Almaguer: racist beliefs become part of institutionalized and therefore a part of political and economic life; 90’s - 2000’s Symbolic interaction: ignore macro theories of stratification but both acknowledge race as social construct - Race and ethnicity are part of our identity and are displayed as part of our self presentation - Race is based on physical trait; argue skin color did not need to be criteria - race/ethnicity are not stable category, stable construct - Passing: living as if one is a member of a different racial category (intentionally or unintentionally; self-presentation to others) - Embodied identities: those elements of identity that are generated through others’ perceptions of our physical trait - Portray oneself to be seen as in perception of others, readable to others to be treated as we want to - De bois “double consciousness”: divided identity experience by African Americans Family: African Americans are more likely than whites and Hispanics to never marry or be divorced (low-income women view marriage as having fewer benefits) - African American and Hispanc women are more likely to have children at a younger age; fewer opportunities of education and work so choose motherhood earlier Health: minority groups have less access to healthcare resources or have benefits especially living in areas with crowded or expensive healthcare - Minorities typically have lower life expectancy - Hispanic paradox: lower mortality rates than white because of younger population and tradition of family support Education: disparities in education linked to both cultural and economic factors - Lower income areas have less funded education; college is expensive Income: positions that require advanced degrees are primarily filled by whites - Minorities more likely to have difficult jobs and work at semi-skilled or unskilled labor; more vulnerable to replacement - Generally more likely to be lower/working class while whites are disproportionately represented at higher income brackets - - Criminal justice: controversial relationship; African Americans make up 12% of population but 28% of arrests - More live in lower-income neighborhoods that are policed more and more biases in legal systems - Related to class and police/legal system bias Genocide: deliberate and systematic extermination of a racial, ethnic, national, or cultural group Population transfer: forcible removal of a group of people from a territory that they have occupied Internal colonialism: exploitation of a minority group within the dominant groups own borders Segregation: physical and legal separation of groups based on race and ethnicity Assimilation: minority group is absorbed into the dominant group - Minority group sacrifices cultures, beliefs, norms, values Pluralism: cultural pattern that encourages racial and ethnic variation and acceptance within society - Recognizes cultural differences without hierarchy, rewards and privileges Chapter 9: Race and Ethnicity - Sex: an individual’s membership in one of two categories (male or female) based on biological factors (chromosomes, hormones, reproductive organs); gender binary - Intersex: person whose chromosomes or sex characteristics are neither exclusively male or female - 1/1,700 births’ assume in culture that doctors go to surgical procedures to fit binary sex, but some cultures accept intersex within society Gender: physical, behavioral, personality traits that a group considers normal for its members - Cultural, masculine and feminine, - Gender identity: deeply held sense of self as either male or female - May or may not correspond with sex assigned at birth - Gender expression: external manifestations of gender - Includes masculine or feminine clothing, grooming, behavior, body language, gestures and names - How we communicate gender to other people - Gender nonconforming: gender identity or expression that differs from societal expectations about gender roles - Essentialists: gender as immutable, biological, unambiguous, two category system - Culture plays no role; used in medicine, theology, biology, sociobiology - Constructivists: gender as a social construction - Acknowledge the possibility that binary categories are not only way to classify individuals; belief that it just perpetuates inequality which is not natural/inherent - Used more in sociology - Use and comparison of culture and time to show difference in gender characteristics and is not inherent - - - - - - - - Sexual orientation or identity: inclination to feel sexual desire toward people of a particular gender or both genders - Hetereosexual: sexual desire towards other gender (dominant category) - Homosexuality: sexual desire towards same gender (minority, face disadvantages) - Bisexual: sexual deisre towards both genders - Asexual: lack of sexual attraction to any kind - Pansexual: sexual desire to any gender Kinsey scale: argued that sexuality falls on a spectrum (fluid continuum) - Stigma related issues; category changes over time or inaccurate defining experiences; fluid sexuality can change over individual lifespan - Queer theory: categorization is inaccurate and restrictive Gender role socialization: process of learning what constitutes masculinity and femininity - Perpetuates both binary ideas of gender and gender conformity and heteronormativity Family: gender role socialization begins before birth; the way babies are talked to, dressed, choice of toys, rooms and nursery - Social learning: learning norms and behaviors through interaction; chores and behaviors based on gender; by 2 years old, kids know gender of themselves - teaching/learning can be intentional or unintentional Schools: differences appear in educational experiences based on gender - Boys are viewed smart but believed more as troublemakers, girls are viewed as hard-working and less called on or favored - Textbooks can be sexist or stereotypical - Academia women are still lower level positions - Heteronormativity also pervades school life (gender restrooms, Prom King/Queen) Peers: gender segregation during play (same sex gruops reinforce gender boundaries) - Peer groups police gender norms - Children gain prestige based on gender stereotypes Media: sex role behavior in media is stereotypical - Learn what behavior is appropriate and inappropriate based on gender - Sexual diversity not common and often portrayed negatively (main focus of people’s views) Inequality- patriarchy-male domination: argues this date backs to division of labor in early human societies - Reverse argument for women; doesn’t explain persistence of hierarchy on binary gender - Sexism: belief that one sex is superior to another - Women experience both instiitutional and individual discrimination - Homophobia: prejudice and discrimination toward gay, lesbian, bisexual people - Transphobia: prejudice and discrmination toward transgender or other gender nonconforming poeple - - - - - - - LGBTQ individuals experience both institutional and individual discrmination Microaggressions: everyday use of ordinary language that may send degenerating messages to members of social groups Functionalism: some social roles are better suited to one gender over another - Female vs male roles are important for family - Instrumental (family member that provides material support, task oriented, an authority figure and breadwinner, income maker; argued better for men) vs Expressive (family member that provides emotional support and nurturing; argued better for women) - Criticisms: does not explain inequality between both roles because both are important nor explains why it is gendered, so long as both roles are performed; assumes family are ideal but can be unstable and not central to people’s lives Conflict theory: men have historically had access to most of society’s material resources and privileges and consequently seek to maintain their dominance - Engel: Gender inequality is a derivative of class inequality (capitalism needs hierarchy) - Women reproduce the labor force that capitalists rely on for free - Women provide a surplus army of labor when needed - Men benefit from inequality in the short term - Men don’t want to take on non-paid work (at home) and competitive markets for labor with women entering Interactionism: gender is socially constructed and maintained in everyday life - Interaction to be as smooth as possible, requiring assumptions of a person’s characteristics and roles - We need to categorize and be categorizeable because it allows us to make assumptions; difficulty for nonconforming individuals to fit because they don’t fall into strict categories Feminist theory: applies assumptions about gender inequality to various social institutions - Allows for new way of understanding institutions and the changing role of gender in contemporary society Family/life chances - Divorce is more difficult for women with children; must bear caregiver role with income issues; at a financial disadvantage - Women are more likely to be single parents - Second shift: women do more housework, outside of work - Stigma that women should not hold higher positions because of outside obligations - New technology, affordable house care allows women to do less housework but is only accessible for middle-class white women - LGBTQ couples faced legal restrictions against marrying Health - Women have a longer lifespan by 5 years - - - - Young men are more at risk of accidental death + suicide; risk taking behaviors - Result of socialization: risk-taking behaviors are not result of biology - Differences in health diagnoses: women diagnosed more with depression that makes them unfit for jobs; men less likely to be diagnosed with mental health (result of gender construct) - LGBTQ individuals are more at risk of suicide and homicide: living in areas less accepting reduces life by 12%; more stress and less access to doctors because of discrimination Education - Women more likely to go to college - Men are more likely to earn more money per degree - Couples in same sex relationships are more likely to have advanced degrees but less educated individuals are generally less likely to identify as LGBTQ - 9/10 LGBTQ kids report bullying Income - Women;s participation in labor force is increasing over time; still behind men because of family obligations and second shift - Many jobs are still gendered; pink collar job are less appreciated and less prestige; social construction, men outnumber jobs of higher income and prestige - Many traditionally female jobs are undervalued and underpaid - Feminization of poverty - Employers can still discriminate against LGBTQ employees in many state Criminal Justice - Men are more likely to be perpetrators and victims of violent crimes - Men outnumber women in every arrest except prostitution - More individuals are assaulted because of sexuality; firstmost is race - Women are more likely to be victims of theft, rape and partner ridence Chapter 10: Social Institutions - Social institutions: systems and structures within society that shape the activities and groups and individuals (individuals can change social institutions too); cross of individual interaction with social institutions - Functionalism: social institutions provide critical functions for the needs of society and help maintain order and unity - Conflict theory: social institutions represent the interests of those in power and thus create and maintain inequalities in society; not so much in cultural factors except for status quo - Symbolic interaction: social institutions are created through individual participation, they give meaning to and are a part of the everyday experience of members (participation in social institutions, how do they act and what role it takes) - Politics: method and tactics intended to influence government policy, policy-related attitudes, and activities (what people do to change policies and attitudes) - Government: formal organized society that exercises power and control in modern society especially through the creation and enforcement of laws - - - - - - Power: ability to impose one's will on others, but can be illegitimate Authority: legitimate right to wield power Authoritarianism: system of government by and for a small number of elites that do not include the representation of ordinary citizens - Dictatorship: leaders seize power and become an absolute ruler (military coup or elected and never leaves) - Totalitarianism: government seeks control of every aspect of citizen’s lives (surveillance and mass communication; maintain power through propaganda) - Monarchy: government ruled by a king or queen with succession of rules kept within family Democracy: political system where all citizens have the right to participate - Educated citizens should participate in the election of officials who then represent their interests (law making, law enforcement, resource allocation) - Not all citizens are represented equally (women, ethnic minorities, religion, immigrants) Voting: steady decades-long decline in American voter-turnout - Too busy/scheduling conflict/not interested - Disenfranchised: barriers preventing voting (felons, parole) - Registration issues: differing times state-by-state; voting are on Tuesday’s or working days, not weekend or holiday - Voter identification requirements Pluralist model (functionalist argument): system of political power in which a wide variety of individuals and groups have equal access to resources and mechanisms of power - All groups have equal access to power structure, system of checks and balances to keep any one group from having too much power - Different corporations, political powers, religious groups have power and interests Power elite model (conflict theorists): power is held by a small but extremely influential group who form an elite social class - Occupy top positions within major economic, political, military institutions of the country and control a lot of the key decision-making power - Power elites collaborate and recognize each other in power and status with “members-only” club; 0.0026% of population - Debunks American Dream: most people will never be in position to have power Special interest groups: organizations that raise and spend money to influence elected officials and public opinion - Powerful, can raise hundred of millions and have positive correlation with election results - 527s: raise unlimited amounts of “soft” money which can be used for various types of advocacy; not directly for candidates - - - Political action committees: organizations that raise money to support the interests of a select group or organization; promotes candidates, policies, interests; supports select group of people or organizations - Super PACs: can accept unlimited contributions and use money to support candidates as long as they do not coordinate directly with a candidate or a candidate’s political party (60% come from wealthy elites); get around finance laws The 4th Estate (the Media): serves as another checks and balances on power; intended to educate and serve as watchdog on government - Must balance the rights of a free press while protecting the country from abuses of power by the media or individuals who control the media - Focus on human-interest stories; as a result, ews are objective/pundit and gives opinions - Media has tremendous potential to sway and manipulate our thoughts and feelings and to influence the political process - Not everything gets covered; not all news programs are strictly objective - Social media: celebrities can have a lot of influence, social networking as source of expression or information; also provides different areas where people get information on politics - Publics are influenced by opinion viewers (others who interpret politics and influence the thoughts of others) Education: process by which a society transmits knowledge, values, and expectations to its members so they can function effectively - Government’s responsibility to educate its citizens; however, varying curriculum to educate diverse skill sets - From a luxury to a necessity, beneficial for both society and the individual, great increases in high school graduation rates - Can transmit knowledge, but also roles of society; students learn to be obedient workers and expectations of society - Tracking: placing students in educational tracks/programs of study that determine the type of classes they can take (can promote inequality) - Hidden curriculum: values and behaviors that students learn indirectly over the course of schooling (seeing lack of Latino/black and disabeled students, promoting stigmatization) - Train students on personality and behavior for corporate jobs; students have little control over what they learn - Educational system replicates systems of inequality: institution in our culture with same problems - Higher education=better life chances; benefits everyone, but unequally - Functionalism: schools are not intended to provide equal chances and instead prepare people for occupational inequality; class inequality are replicated to maintain structure, protect middle class for mid-class jobs - - Conflict theory: schools are funded by local property taxes; children in poorer neighborhoods are trapped in poorer schools which reinforces inequality (fewer opportunities, worser quality of education, schools need more resources) - Symbolic interaction: teacher’s expectations can affect student achievement and can reinforce biases (students perform as well as a teacher expects them to, labeling is bias that reinforced in classroom) - Public school issues: low rates of literacy, poor standardized test scores, lack of sufficient funding, crumbling infrastructure, low pay for teachers, overcrowded classrooms, high rates of crime on campuses - Achievement gap between students from different demographic groups - Link between poverty and underachievement (the less you have, the worse you will do; poorer communities have poorer schools) - No child left behind: doesn’t work in standardized testing, federal led - Common core: state-led, “one-size-fits-all” method - Charter schools: public schools run by private entities to give parents greater control over their children’s education - Mixed evidence that they are any better than public schools - Drain funds from vulnerable public schools and cause them to deteriorate further; shift $$ to vouchers over public schools - Can reinforce stigma against students who can’t afford - Home-schooling: education of school-aged children under their parents’ supervision outside a regular school campus (control over socializing component of education); can be part-time in school or forming groups - Academic achievement of homeschooled students on average was above public students - Parents are able to adjust curriculum but losing out on social interactions - Unschooling: homeschooling alternative that rejects the standard curriculum for student-driven types of learning - Community colleges: two year institution that provides students with general education and facilitates transfer to a 4 year university - Provide vocational and technical training retrain individuals seeking new careers, offer enrichment classes for retirees, offer non credited class - More and more colleges are offering a 4 year degree; allows low-income students to get a college degree Religion: institutionalized belief system of shared beliefs and rituals that identify a relationship between the sacred and profane - Belief: idea held on basis of faith - Ritual: practice based on beliefs - Sacred: related to the holy, divine, or supernatural - Profane: ordinary, mundane, everyday - Functionalism: religion shapes everyday behavior by providing morals, values, rules and norms for its participants; gives meaning to lives; provides an opportunity for people to come together (explanation for fundamental questions - - and brings people together under shared values); can also promote sexism, racism, but also liberate people Conflict theory: religions can promote inequalities but also can be agents of social and political change Symbolic interaction: focus on how religious meaning is constructed in interaction and how religion is incorporated into the everyday life Religiosity: regular practice of religious beliefs, often measured in terms of frequency of attendance at worship services and importance of religious beliefs to an individual - Extrinsic: person’s public display of commitment to a religious faith - Intrinsic: person’s inner religious life or personal relationship to the divine - 58% of Americans say religion is important, but only 37% attend service Moderate levels of religious diversity; shifts in religious preferences toward fundamentalism, away from organized churches toward unchurched spiritually Secular society: separation of church and state True in practice: American holidays are mostly Christian holidays, but not other religious holidays; mostly Christian presidents Chapter 7 response: Everyday class consciousness is the awareness of one's own social status and that of others. Essentially, people make judgments about other's class based on appearance as appearance signals social status. Role and status are important when interacting as it defines norms and behaviors. It is an example of symbolic interactionism because people and culture define what signals status and assign meaning to these objects. Social reproduction is the tendency of social classes to remain relatively stable as class status is passed down from one generation to the next. Cultural capital contributes to this because those of higher social statuses tend to receive more cultural capital that allows them to keep their higher socioeconomic status versus people who do not have the same access. An example is that of a low-income family versus a kid whose parents may run their own company. Under the family that owns a company, the kid may have more time to partake in more activities like golfing or being able to drive a nice car that would suggest to other people that they are socially adept, in comparison to the other child who may have to spend more time helping around and does not have access to the same resources. The culture of poverty argument suggests that the poor are in their current life situation because they developed their own way of life that differs from the middle class. The issue with this argument is that it puts the blame directly on the poor instead of their access to resources and social institutions. It suggests that poverty is a cultural problem and not an economic one. Chapter 8 Response: Individual racism is when one person treats others differently based on their race and ethnicity. Institutional discrimination is when institutions practice discriminatory policies. One example of individual racism is a barista or waiter refusing to serve a minority or only choosing to serve whites. In that situation, it is the action of one person directly affecting others based on their race and ethnicity. One example of institutional racism is the voter suppression rights that the government passes. It is a racial policy that directly affects groups of individuals. Cultural appropriation is the adoption of cultural elements that belong to an oppressed group for profit or by a dominant group. The effects are that it furthers the inequality between dominant and minority groups. Minority groups' culture becomes exploited for profit and is redefined and copied by the dominant group's culture. One example is Kim Kardashian's Kimono line. While the Kimono has a significant cultural meaning in Japanese culture, Kim Kardashian is able to exploit the culture of others for her own profit and at the same time, redefining what the kimono represents into something different to Americans. Effects of cultural appropriation can vary depending on the context. If those of a minor culture adopt an element from those of the dominant group for further improvement and development, the overall results are considered positive and effective. Cultural appropriation can simply be spread of certain aspects of certain culture; for example, a type of entertainment, such as music festivals, or exercise, such as yoga, have now spread around the globe. However, there may be cases where those of the dominant culture adopt elements from minor culture and not give any credit, that may cause greater power and cultural imbalance.Cultural appropriation degrades the cultural values of underrepresented groups in society, simplifying one group's beliefs and values and objectifying a minority group's heritage. Moreover, cultural appropriation labels target aspects of minority group culture as appealing and worthy of recognition, cheapening the overall value of other characteristics as not worthy of recognition Chapter 9: Gender expression is the external manifestations of gender, and how gender is communicated to other people. It serves the purpose of hinting to other people what our gender is by subtle traits, like the way we dress, behave, and our gestures, body language, and names. One example of gender expression is the common use of blue and pink. Many people tend to associate blue with masculine and pink with feminine. This is prominent in the way parents choose to dress their children, using more of one color to signify their baby's gender. Essentialists see gender as biological and in a very two-category system: male or female. To essentialists, culture plays no role, rather it is purely based on biological differences. On the other hand, constructivists see gender as a social construction. This shows that gender is not binary and there are more ways to classify individuals. Sociologists rely on the latter because essentialists view the two-category system and the roles of each gender as constant. However, as seen through different cultures and generation differences, the roles of genders are everchanging and are not solely defined by biology. Instead, sociologists view essentialist arguments as justification of inequality which is not natural and inherent.
