Sociology: Unit 3 Vocabulary
Silverman
UNIT THREE: Socialization & Social Control
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Personality – the sum total of behaviors, attitudes, beliefs and values that are characteristic of an individual
Sociobiology – the systematic study of the biological basis of all social behavior
Socialization – the interactive process through which people learn the basic skills, values, beliefs and
behavioral patterns of society
Heredity – the transmission of genetic characteristics from parents to children
Aptitude – the capacity to learn a particular skill or acquire a particular body of knowledge
Feral Children – wild or untamed children; children raised in isolation
Self – one’s conscious awareness of possessing a distinct identity that separates you and your environment
from other members of society
Looking-glass self – refers to the interactive process by which we develop an image of ourselves based on how
we imagine we appear to others
Role-taking – a theory of socialization in which individuals take on or pretend to take on the roles of others
Peer group – primary group composed of individuals of roughly equal age and social characteristics
Mass media – newspapers, magazines, books, television, radio, films and other forms of communication that
reach large audiences without personal contact between the individuals sending the information and those
receiving it
Total institution – a setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society for a set period of time and
subjected to the control of authority
Resocialization – a break with past experiences and the learning of new values and norms
Adolescence – the period between the normal onset of puberty and the beginning of adulthood
Puberty – the physical maturing that makes an individual capable of sexual reproduction
Anticipatory Socialization – learning the rights, obligations, and expectations of a role to prepare for assuming
that role in the future
Social control – the enforcement of norms through either internalization or sanctions
Deviance – behavior that violates significant social norms
Stigma – a mark of social disgrace that sets a deviant apart from the rest of society
Strain Theory – theory of deviant behavior that views deviance as the natural outgrowth of the values, norms
and structure of society
Control Theory – theory of deviant behavior in which deviance is seen as a natural occurrence and conformity
is seen as the result of social control
Cultural Transmission Theory – theory that views deviance as a learned behavior transmitted through
interaction with others
Differential association – proportion of associations a person has with deviant versus non-deviant individuals
Techniques of Neutralization – the suspending of moral beliefs to commit deviant acts
Labeling Theory – theory that focuses on how individuals come to be labeled as deviant
Primary deviance – nonconformity undetected by authority in which the individuals who commit deviant acts
do not consider themselves to be deviant, and neither does society
Secondary deviance –nonconformity that results in the individuals who commit acts of secondary deviance
being labeled as deviant and accepting that label to be true
White collar crime – crime that is committed by an individual or individuals of high social status in the course
of their professional lives
Hate crime – a crime, usually violent, motivated by prejudice or intolerance toward a member of a gender,
racial, religious or social group
Minor – Anyone who is under the age of 18
Juvenile – anyone who has not yet reached the “age of majority” (threshold of adulthood)
UNIT THREE: ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS/STANDARDS
Essential Question: How are humans socialized? What are the major sources of socialization and how do they
help/hurt the socialization process?
SSSocSC1: Students will explain the process of socialization.
a. Identify and describes the roles and responsibilities of an individual in society.
b. Analyze the individual development theories of Cooley and Mead.
c. Identify and evaluate the stages of socialization; include childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and
death/dying.
d. Evaluate the factors that socialize the individual; include family, peers, education, media, and religion.
e. Analyze how individuals are socialized by gender and race/ethnicity.
Essential Question: What is deviance and what causes people to be deviant?
SSSocSC2: Students will analyze deviance in society.
a. Explain the socially constructed nature of deviance.
b. Explain the relationship of social control and power in society.
c. Analyze the causes of deviant behavior.
d. Explain the impact of deviance on society.
SSSocSC3: Students will analyze the impact of social control on deviance in society.
a. Explain theories of social control; include control and labeling theories.
b. Explain conformity in relationship to deviance and social control.
c. Describe adaptation, cooperation, accommodation, and competition in the context of social control.
Essential Question: How does society identify and deal with criminal behavior?
SSSocSC4: Students will analyze the function of social institutions as agents of social control across differing
societies and times.
a. Analyze the function of social institutions in society; include family, education, religion, economy,
government/politics, health care, and media.
b. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various social institutions.
c. Evaluate other possible social institutions such as sports and science.
d. Analyze the functions and inequalities of the criminal justice system in relationship to a society’s
construct of crime and punishment.
e. Explain the role of total institutions.
f. Analyze the re-socialization process.