Key Sociological Concepts

1. Key Sociological Concepts

2. Culture • “An inherited system of • Symbolic forms & • Moral demands • That controls individual behavior”

3. Culture • Symbolic Forms • Signs • Actions or gestures used to communicate an idea • Symbols • Signs to which we attach generalized meanings • Language • Formal knowledge systems (intellectual disciplines) • Informal knowledge systems

4. Aspects of Culture • Diversity: • Variations in the symbolic/moral systems underlying different human societies • Related to pluralism (diversity within a society) • Universals: • Beliefs, values, practices common to all human societies • Relativism: • What people consider to be "normal" is specific to that society/culture & historical period

5. Aspects of Culture • Ethnocentrism: • The belief that one's own culture is preferable and superior to others • Values: • Broad general standards about how things ought to be • Norms: • Informal rules for how things ought to be done

6. Social Structures • Repeated and more or less predictable patterns of behavior • Patterns produced by norms • Norms are produced by values • Norms • Rules for how things ought to be done • Informal • Invisible

7. Social Structures • Norms enforced by Sanctions • Rewards for abiding by the norm &/or • Punishments for violating the norm

8. Types of Social Structure & Their Definitions • Status • A social position • Role • The behavior expected of a person because of the social position they occupy • Ascribed Status • A social position based upon some inherited characteristic

9. Types of Social Structure & Their Definitions • Achieved Status • An earned social position • Status/Role Set • All of the social positions a person occupies • Status/Role Consistency • The degree to which there is congruence among social positions in a person’s status set • (Status)-Role Strain • Conflicting social statuses

10. Types of Social Structure & Their Definitions • Group • Two or more statuses • Shared norms • Oriented to a general purpose • Primary Groups • Small, long-lasting, intimate • Intrinsic reward • Secondary Groups • Large, short-term, instrumental • Extrinsic reward

11. Types of Social Structure & Their Definitions • Organizations • Two or more groups • Shared norms • Oriented to one or more purposes • Institutions • Society-wide, aggregate patterns of behavior, designed to • Solve specific problems &/or • Accomplish specific tasks

12. Types of Social Structure & Their Definitions • Society • “A population of people • In a territory • With an identity (shared) • That survives across at least two generations” • Most inclusive and complex form of social structure

13. Relationship Between Culture & Social Structure • Social Structure: • Repeated and more or less predictable patterns of behavior • Culture: • An inherited system of symbolic forms and moral demands that controls individual behavior • Relationship is Dialectical • Social structures both produce and are produced by culture

14. Culture and Social Structure Dialectical Relationship CultureSocial Structure Society Institutions Organizations Groups Status-Role Symbolic Forms Language Knowledge Systems Moral Demands

15. Four Universal Institutions • Economy • “That institution in society that arranges for the production & distribution of the goods needed for survival” • Hunter-Gatherer • Agrarian • Industrial (Capitalism, Socialism, Communism)

16. Four Universal Institutions • Polity (Political System) • “That institution in society that arranges for the distribution of power” • Violence • Democracy • Monarchy • Totalitarian

17. Four Universal Institutions • Religion • “That institution in society that helps people adjust to those things which are both undesirable and inescapable.”

18. Four Universal Institutions • Kinship (Family) • “That institution in society that arranges for: • Regulation of sexual relations • Who may have sex with whom? • Child-rearing • Who cares for the young? • Household composition • Who lives with whom?