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Sociology

Sociology. Chapter 3: American Values, Social Control and Change. Who came up with a list of American values?. Robin Williams studied American society and came up with a list of values which he found most Americans believe in.

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Sociology

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  1. Sociology Chapter 3: American Values, Social Control and Change

  2. Who came up with a list of American values? • Robin Williams studied American society and came up with a list of values which he found most Americans believe in.

  3. What are some major American values as identified by Williams? • Personal Achievement • Work • Morality and Humanitarianism • Efficiency and Practicality • Progress and Material Comfort • Equality and Democracy • Freedom

  4. What was the point of the ‘Agree/Disagree’ activity? • Although most Americans have similar basic values, there is also considerable debate when it comes to current events. • Further, certain values, like ‘morality,’ are going to mean different things to different people. • Also, some values contradict, such as equality and material comfort. • Even though people disagree and argue, society finds ways to control behavior. How?

  5. What are positive sanctions? • Society maintains social control through rewards, or positive sanctions. • When society’s methods for maintaining social control are lost, stability breaks down and chaos ensues. What sociological theorists were concerned about stability? • What are some examples of positive sanctions which encourage appropriate behavior?

  6. What are negative sanctions? • Negative sanctions are punishments which discourage inappropriate behaviors. • What are some examples of negative sanctions?

  7. What are formal sanctions? • Formal sanctions are rewards or punishments that involve a serious decision on the part of a person or an organization that has a higher status than the person receiving the sanction. • What are some examples of formal sanctions?

  8. What are informal sanctions? • Informal sanctions are spontaneous expressions of approval or disapproval for good or bad behavior. • What are some examples of informal sanctions?

  9. What is internalization? • Internalization is the process by which a norm becomes part of an individual’s personality. • Typically, people come to accept certain behaviors as ‘normal’ and rarely, if ever, question them. • Mostly, this refers to ‘thinking inside the box.’ When people ‘think outside the box,’ they and society can change.

  10. Due to the fact that all societies change over time, what is a long term effort to promote or prevent change called? • Social movements occur when some people’s values begin to change. • Give some examples from history or today of people organizing to bring about change.

  11. Concerning technology, describe the difference between discovery and invention. • Discovery involves recognizing new uses for elements that already exist. • Invention involves creating something brand new. • Provide examples of each.

  12. How can population change a society? • A population can increase, creating a need for more resources. However, a population can decrease, thereby creating unemployment. Immigration also brings diversity and new cultural traits.

  13. What is the process of spreading cultural traits amongst societies? • Diffusion involves the borrowing or adopting cultural traits from one society to another. • Thinking about the article read in class and your homework assignment, what are some examples of things that have spread to America?

  14. How can the physical environment change society? • The physical environment can involve changes in energy, food supplies, as well as natural disasters. • Disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and cyclones can wreak tremendous damage to people’s property and lives.

  15. What brings about the greatest change in the least amount of time? • War and conquest can bring about significant changes in technology, government, economics, politics, military, lives, and/or landscape. Firebombing of Dresden

  16. What are the three forms of resistance to social change? 1. Ethnocentrism: believing one’s culture to be superior to all others. 2. Cultural lag: involves one part of society adapting to change more readily than another part. 3. Vested interests: when one group in society benefits from maintaining the ‘status quo.’ If things change, their privileged status might be threatened.

  17. What are the two views on cultural diversity in American society? • A salad bowl refers to several ethnic backgrounds co-existing, but maintaining their own unique identities. • A melting pot refers to the idea that lots of ethnic backgrounds have blended into one, distinct American identity.

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