1.2 Social Control Conformity and Resistance- Theorists

Question 1

Parson’s

body analogy for structural consensus

Answer 1

Just as the different parts of the body work together to form something more complex than the sum of their individual parts, the different parts of a society work together to form a social system.

Question 2

Parsons

functional sub systems (structural consensus)

Answer 2

he argued that society consists of 4 different sub-systems- political, economical, cultural and family. each of these sub-systems performs a different but related function that addresses certain ‘problems’ faced by every society.

Question 3

Parsons

Functional Pre-requisites

Answer 3

four functional pre-requisites to ensure individuals conform to the needs of institutions and society as a whole:

A- Adaptation; to achieve institutional goals, people need a cooperative environment.

G- Goal Maintainance; Institutions must provide people with goals to achieve

I- Integration; Encourage a sense of belonging

L- Latency- Conflicts within an institution must be managed and rules created to encourage desireable behaviour and punish rule breaking(deviance)

Question 4

Garfinkel

Interactionism- give the appearance of order and stability

Answer 4

demonstrated the weak nature of our beliefs about social order by disrupting people’s daily routines and observing how upset, confused and angry people became.

Question 5

Schutz

interactionism

Answer 5

Subjective meanings give rise to an apparent objective world.

Question 6

Wrong

criticism(interactionist)

Answer 6

criticised what he calls an over-socialised conception of man. he rejects the idea that human behaviour is governed entirely by the effects of socialisations. for Wrong people are able to exercise a degree of freedom from the influences of their social environment.

Question 7

Giddens

Structuration

Answer 7

developed a perspective called structuration which outlined the importance of both structure and interaction in considering the relationship between society and the individual.

Question 8

Giddens

Structuration

Answer 8

uses the idea of social resources and power relationships. some rules are negotiated; friendship, and other rules cannot be negotiated; laws on murder for example.

Question 9

Adorno and Horkheimer, part of the Marxist Frankfurt School

Ideology

Answer 9

argued that ruling class ideology is passed on through a culture industry that creates forms of popular culture- film, magazines, comics, etc which are consumed uncritically and passively by the people.

Question 10

Dugan

Power(actively)

Answer 10

It involves the capacity to bring about change

Question 11

Lukes

Power(passively)

Answer 11

one definition of power involves the power to do nothing and make others believe nothing has to change

Question 12

Weber

Two types of Power

Answer 12

1. Coercive power or force, where people are forced to obey under threat of punishment.
2. Consensual Power(authority), where people obey because they believe its right to do so.
   * Charismatic power- people obeying because they trust the person issuing a command
   * Traditional power- based on custom and practice; the way things have always been done
   * rational/legal power- the idea that people expect their commands to be obeyed due to their positiona in an authority structure gives them a right to demand control

Question 13

Foucault

Power

Answer 13

argues power has become opaque or difficult to see.

in the past absolute power was exercised by kings and queens however this has changed- in modern societies foucault expresses power is exercised in more subtle ways, such as technological surveillance both from above; CCTV and from below- how smartphones may be used to gather data about people.

Question 14

Foucault

influence

Answer 14

further argues that knowledge about the social world and the language we use to express such knowledge are both aspects of belief systems that control behaviour by influencing how people think about the world.

Question 15

Miller

features of working class subcultures

Answer 15

• trouble; willingness to accept life involves conflict, and to get involved in fight
• toughness; demonstrating maleness through physical strength, drinking
• smartness; status among peers involves dressing as well as possible
• excitement; as work is repititive, fun and enjoyment is highly valued
• fate; believeing there is little that can be done to influence their lives
• autonomy; dislike of authority-of anyone trying to tell them what to do.

Miller suggested that these are normal featuresof working-class subculture that bring young working class males into conflict with wider society. their choices of leisure activities lead to involvement in gangs and conflict with authority in form of police, so these behaviours are seen as non-conformity. however they are infact conforming to their subcultural values- in that sense, they are not deviant.