Chapter 11-13 soc Flashcards
1
Q
Homogamy
A
people enter into relationships with others who are similar to them on a range of important social and demographic dimensions like social class, education, occupation, race, and religion
- preserves group identity and values and prevents economic loss
- Dissimilarity leads to lower quality and shorter relationships
2
Q
What keeps us from dating outside of race/social class/etc
A
- Group pressures prevent people from crossing socially recognized boundaries, like pressure to not marry outside of your religion or race, or pressure against “dating down” with someone from a lower socioeconomic status.
- We are more emotionally attached to “sameness,” perhaps because people similar to us share our values and attitudes
- There are important material and financial considerations in relationships tied to education, income, and prestige
3
Q
Mate selection
A
- For heterosexual women, studies indicate that men who show more dominance, and who are taller and stronger partners—those who are better able to protect mates and accrue and defend resources—are viewed as more attractive
- For heterosexual men, fertility is a key biological and evolutionary factor. Youth, lustrous hair, good teeth, smooth skin, a curvy figure, and good muscle tone are outward indicators of fertility and genetic suitability for mating.
- While evidence shows that mate selection can be tied to biology, cultural, psychological, and social factors are equally, if not more, important.
4
Q
Monogamy
A
The practice of marriage or sexual practices with one person at a time
- Love often frames what an ideal intimate relationship should look like: closeness, intense feelings, sexual attraction, and monogamy
5
Q
Polygamy
A
Having more than one partner at a time
6
Q
Progression of mate selection
A
- Enlightenment ideals of individual liberty and the pursuit of happiness promoted individual freedom and choice and threw off the yoke of family and social control that had limited personal freedom in mate selection. This was especially true for women
- Previously, mate selection was beholden to traditional family and economic structures, and romantic love was a deviation from traditional norms. Only since the late 18th century has romantic love become a central feature of private relations between people in Western society
- It’s been a long process, however, and it took until the end of the 20th century for people to declare love to be the most important factor in mate selection.
7
Q
Assortative mating
A
The non-random matching of people into relationships.
- Leads to homogamy
- People still tend to form relationships with those of their own racial and ethnic background, notwithstanding greater social acceptance of interracial relationships
- Moreover, less similarity between partners has been shown to lead to lower quality and shorter relationships
8
Q
Pure relationships
A
relationships defined by the interests and needs of each partner rather than by laws, traditions, or necessity
9
Q
Assortative mating is therefore fostered by assortative meetings
A
Where the pool of available partners is shaped by social arrangements, like where you live and work, and these arrangements constrain the types of people with whom you form romantic relationships
10
Q
Mere exposure effect
A
You are more likely to be attracted to someone simply because you are around them more frequently and are more exposed to them. And this exposure is often controlled by geographic or social arrangements that favour homogamy.
11
Q
Marriage market
A
- In Canada, the marriage market is a colloquialism for the idea that we use assets like attractiveness, income, or education to attract desirable mates.
- Arranged marriages in some countries achieve similar ends by controlling mate selection, all but ensuring homogamy.
12
Q
The idea that love drives attraction
A
We may very well be hard-wired to be attracted to some people and not others, and we may very well follow our hearts and fall in love, but we do so in contexts that are shaped by relatively predictable social and cultural forces.
13
Q
LGBTQ and dating
A
- Young people are more likely to experience harassment, rejection, discrimination, and possibly violence. All of these factors create challenges for LGTBQ youth on the verge of beginning romantic relationships.
- Adolescence is a time of conformity to social norms around gender and sexuality, and sexual minority youth—those from the LGBTQ community—experience pressure to conform to heteronormativity to avoid rejection
- Dating relationships for same-sex young people have been shown to increase self-esteem, lower depression, and reduce the internalization of homophobia
14
Q
Hookups
A
- When asked about hookups, young adults report behaviour that ranges from kissing only to sex, and 80% of university students who reported engaging in hookups did so less than once a semester
- When people do engage in hookups, their partners are often friends rather than strangers, and repeated hookups are usually with the same person rather than with different people, what some call “friends-with-benefits.”
- About one-third of people who engage in sexual intercourse in a hookup report that it makes their relationship closer, and a similar proportion hopes that the hookup will lead to a more conventional dating relationship, particularly those hooking up with friends
- It’s also important to note that while hookups represent one form of intimacy engaged in by young people, they have not replaced committed romantic relationships among teens and young adults
15
Q
Do men equate sex with love?
A
We often think that women are more likely to connect sex with love, but there are few differences between men and women, and most men also connect sex with love. Indeed, a third of young men who have had sexual experiences outside of a relationship express a desire for their partners to become their girlfriends
16
Q
Online dating
A
- Dating apps provide a richer dating pool in a generally safe and more discrete environment.
- almost 50% of younger people (aged 18–29) have used online dating, including 22% of those in high school or lower
- One possibility is that new technology can promote diversity in romantic relationships because of increased contact with a larger and more diverse pool of people, and the reduction of the third-party influence of friends and family
- Increase inter religion dating, but not interracial or inter social class
- They are less constrained by norms around assortive mating because their sexual minority status is itself non-normative, making gays and lesbians more likely to date across race
17
Q
How we date online
A
- Women online continue to adhere to gender scripts around passivity and dating, sending fewer messages to prospective dates than men and often waiting to be “approached” online with messages . That said, many women report more satisfaction with online platforms because they are safer and offer more control over partner selection.
→ This sense of empowerment allows women to shape the nature and direction of their dating, and in doing so has reversed some gender scripts. In one study of Tinder users, women reported a higher number of casual sexual partners than men
18
Q
Family
A
a social institution consisting of a socially recognized and intimate primary group usually joined by blood, marriage, cohabitation, or adoption that serves as a cooperative and economical unit.
- how families are defined has varied by culture and over time.
19
Q
Kinship:
A
one of the most fundamental human relationships and often centers on the family. In general, we establish kinship ties in three ways:
- through blood, such as the kinship between a parent and child,
- through affinities, such as kinship ties with people not related by blood, like partners or spouses
- through social ties with those not connected through blood or partnership, such as through religious affiliation or community membership
- Creates cooperative social relations, identifies how we are related to others, which is especially important for marriage and procreation, defines legal and social obligations, like obligations to children, and it helps people relate to one another in society as family, friends, neighbors, or even outsiders
20
Q
Nuclear family:
A
family of a mother, father, and children, the “ideal” family structure in Western society.
- This family structure was prominent during the “baby boom” period after World War II when economic and labor market conditions allowed a family to be supported on a single income, and where there was a rapid increase in marriages and fertility
- The prominence of the nuclear family model also ignores and diminishes a variety of family types in Canada
21
Q
Extended family
A
Includes aunts, uncles, grandparents and other relatives
22
Q
Census families
A
Married or common law couple and their children living in the same home
- Can be remarried or common-law couples with children, lone parent, or complex stepfamilies with step siblings or blended families
- A census family is always an economic family, but economic families aren’t always census
23
Q
Economic families:
A
Household of two or more people related by blood, marriage, cohabitation or adoption.
- Can be two siblings that live together, a person with foster children, or census family arrangements
24
Q
Indigenous families
A
- Indigenous families, for example, often have unique and varying family and household structures that may seem ambiguous to non-Indigenous people, reflecting cultural nuances and different child rearing practices
- In some Inuit communities, for example, “uncle” is a general term referring to many people in the community rather than to a blood relation like your mother or father’s brother, as is more typically the case in Western understanding of family. Overall, Indigenous understanding of family is evident in household membership, caregiving, kinship systems, and mobility.
- There is also a higher presence of skip generations where children are raised by grandparents without the presence of parents.
25
Highest percentage of non nuclear families based on geography
When looking at the proportions of children living in a lone-parent family, stepfamily, or family arrangement without their biological parents, the three territories (Nunavut at 40.3%, the Northwest Territories at 36.8%, and Yukon at 37.8%) stand out as among the highest (compared to Ontario at 29% and BC at 28%), in part due to the higher proportion of Indigenous people present
26
Importance of defining families
- How families are defined is not a trivial issue, and it can be a cause for concern when different notions of family limit access to or availability of resources. Complex family structures do not fit well with traditional definitions and may be at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing economic resources or social supports
- This is especially important when primary caregivers are not recognized as legal guardians of a child, which can lead to fewer resources or even the removal of children from their family and cultural environment.
27
Why do families have a lot of diversity?
The changes to the definition of the family and modern families come from a combination of social, political, and economic circumstances. These include longer life expectancy, changes in gender roles and employment, including shifts in gender norms and rights obtained through the women’s movement of the 1960s, a growing acceptance of unmarried or common-law unions, increased sexual freedom and the legalization of oral contraceptive in 1969, the growing acceptance of different sexualities and same-sex couples, and a growing elderly population
- As a result of these historical changes, there have been significant changes to households, children and fertility rates, and unions like marriage.
28
Children living at home
- About 1.9 million people in Canada aged 25–64 years (9% of Canadians) lived with one or more parents in 2017, which is more than double the number from just two decades earlier
- Just over one-third of young adults specifically—those aged 20–34 years—live with their parents, a number that has been steadily climbing with each census
→ Adults living with parents are about as likely to be employed as those not living with their parents (74% compared to 80%). The lower figure may be due to the higher proportion of students among those living with parents, or because they provide care for family members or have health issues or disabilities that limit employment
→ Adults living at home are more than three times more likely to be single compared to similarly aged young adults who do not live at home.
→ A Lot of adults overall are moving back in with their parents or staying longer because of economic or cultural reasons
29
How to have a satisfying marriage
1. Be similar
2. Be conscientious, and don’t be neurotic
3. Be a man (men in marriages usually report higher satisfaction due to them taking on less emotional labour)
4. Be a good communicator, maybe
5. Be sexually active, and be good at satisfying one another
6. Get past the honeymoon period
7. Share the housework
8. Have money, or at least agree on how to spend what you have
9. If your #1 goal is satisfaction, do not have children
30
Infidelity overview
- Ashley Maddison - there are 1.13 active female accounts for every one active male account.
- Infidelity is one of the leading causes of relationship breakdown and divorce
- The actual rate of infidelity is around 50–60%
- women who are having affairs to fulfil unmet needs in their marriage report higher life satisfaction than before their affair. For them, infidelity is a way to stabilize their marriage by retaining the structure of a monogamous relationship while having unmet needs satisfied elsewhere
31
Reasons for infidelity
These can be categorized into situational, relational, and structural reason
- Situational: it could just be a matter of opportunity. Walker explains that some women will have affairs with acquaintances, coworkers, or on vacation because the opportunities are available
- Relational: both men and women report having affairs for emotional reasons, including unmet intimacy needs, the need for companionship, the thrill of a new relationship, self-esteem, or having an affair as a form of revenge
- Structural: economic dependence and economic dominance increase the likelihood of infidelity
→ Economically dominant women are also less likely to cheat, while economically dominant men are more likely to cheat
32
Polyamory
When people have multiple sexual relationships with the consent of all of the people involved.
- 1 in 5 people have been in a polyamorous relationship
- People may flow between monogamy and polyamory—exploring monogamy and polyamory when young, committing to monogamy during childrearing years and early career, and flowing back to more open relationships by midlife.
33
Structural functionalism on family
Families socialize children and prepare them to thrive as members of society, they pass on culture, and they are largely responsible for reproduction as most children are born to families. Families, therefore, are critical units for maintaining social coordination and order.
Functions of the family:
- Reproduction
- Sexual regulation
- Socialization
- Economic
- Shelter and security
- Belongingness
34
Conflict theory on families
With the advent of private ownership of property (by men) and the idea that family life is private and distinct from public life, women lost power and control inside and outside of families because they were not property owners and largely took on the work within the home.
- This economic and social arrangement concentrates autonomy and economic power in the hands of men.
- Economic change, therefore, can bring about more equality in family structures.
35
Feminist perspectives on family
- For some, the family provides a sense of shelter, security, and emotional support. But the family is also a site for exploitation, isolation, and violence
Many were unhappy with their role in the household despite living in material comfort and having children.
- Feminists showed that the men and women who provided care work and household management were contributing not only to the well-being of their family but also to their society and economy
- As part of a broader movement to recognize the value of domestic and care work and its importance in local and global economies, women’s groups pushed for reform and were successful in creating legislative change. These changes led to a presumption of equal sharing of assets under the assumption that both parties in a relationship contribute in meaningful ways.
-Feminists have demonstrated that families are not private, but are instead interconnected with other social institutions.
- women mobilized to overhaul sexual assault laws in Canada, including the absence of laws punishing men for assaulting their wives.
36
People are getting married later
Because of factors like the Economy → people move back in with family, pursuit of education, change in attitudes + norms
Declining marriage rates
- Expensive to get married, less societal push to get married as there was in the past,
Same sex couples
- Married and common law rates going up
Divorce rates (not including separation)
- Going down
- Cases in 2020 got backlogged because of covid
- Fewer people getting married, fewer people getting divorced
(Legal separation is very similar to divorce in canada
To get remarried you have to be divorce)
37
Birth rate in Canada
Women are having children later in life
- Around in their thirties
Children per family has dropped through the replacement rate
- Canada's replacement rate is maintained through immigration
- Children are expensive
38
Colorism and race
Colourism is a form of prejudice or discrimination that is based on social meanings attached to skin tone
Past research shows that whites and asians have a reluctance to date partners with dark skin
Skin tone as a predictor variable in recent studies of asian daters
- Darker skin asians more likely to date those with darker skin
- More likely to express preference for darker skin partners
- Could be that prejudice makes them sympathetic, reluctant to reach out to lighter skinned partners due to rejection
39
Most predictive factor in a child’s academic success and attainment
The family's SES is an enormously important influence on a child’s educational outcomes. Whether you measure SES via parental occupation, years in schooling, or income, nothing is more predictive of how a child does in school.
40
Statistics of schooling
- In the 2015–2016 school year, 97% of 15-year-olds were attending school
- The rate in which Canadians attend high school has gone up because less families require their child's labor for income ex. On farms, and attending high school is mandatory (even though the government doesn't enforce punishments)
- In 2016, almost 90% of Canadians aged 25 to 64 had a high school diploma or equivalent
- Enrolments are highest in the most populous provinces; in 2015–2016, 45% of undergraduate students were enrolled in a university in Ontario and 38% of community college enrolments were in Ontario, while growth in enrolment has slowed in Western provinces
- International enrollments have grown over time
41
Educational attainment
The highest level of education that an individual has completed, measured in terms of their qualification (such as “high school diploma”) or the level (such as “university”
- The province with the greatest proportion of university-educated individuals (and above the national average) is Ontario, though British Columbia, Alberta, and Yukon are also at or above the national average. Nunavut has the highest proportion of individuals without any certificate, diploma, or degree.
42
The hidden curriculum
- The lessons about expectations for behavior that tend to be more informal or unwritten
- May not necessarily be explicitly hidden
- Those who regard the hidden curriculum as positive are generally echoing the themes from structural functionalists
43
Structural functionalist on education
- Schools have become important for the moral education of young people
- Schools serve to socialize a new generation of individuals into their culture and society by emphasizing preferred behaviors, such as timeliness, attendance, not being disruptive, and doing your homework
- Preparation for being contributing, law-abiding citizens.
44
Conflict theory on education
- Conflict theorists in particular look at the hidden curriculum as one of the mechanisms for reproducing social class
- At the center of the correspondence principle is the idea that relations in the school system correspond to relations in the workplace
- A capitalist society needs workers who will be compliant, deferential to their superiors, perform their tasks effectively, and be motivated to compete with their co-workers for esteem in the workplace.
- These skills are fostered in the education system through deference to teachers and competition among peers, among other things
- Elite boarding schools especially reproduce power and privilege with a robust social network leading to opportunities those of lower SES cannot access
45
Correspondence principle
Relations in the school system correspond to relations in the workplace
46
The negatives of the hidden curriculum
Residential schools were more about the assimilation of Indigenous young people to European settler culture than fostering skills and abilities in young people
- Far from being places of learning, residential schools were modeled after reformatories and industrial schools; children were subjected to forced labor, isolation, and cultural and religious assimilation. This led to the loss of Indigenous language, values, spirituality, histories, and traditional ways of knowing. These institutions were rife with abuse: physical, mental, and sexual.
- This abuse leads to intergenerational trauma
The last residential school didn’t close until 1996
47
Impacts of residential schools
The class-action lawsuit brought against the federal government by residential school survivors is the largest class-action suit and settlement in Canadian history.
Intergenerational mistrust due to residential schooling and ongoing experiences of discrimination shape how parents interact with teachers and school administrators, with some Indigenous parents hesitant to become involved in their child’s school, especially if there is a risk that their interactions may be regarded as challenging the teachers
Indigenous peoples have lower levels of educational attainment, but the numbers are increasing
Indigenizing the curriculum: This means not just ensuring that the effect of residential schools is taught in the curriculum, but also ensuring greater representation of Indigenous Peoples, history, and cultures.
48
The largest impact on education
Socioeconomic status (SES) is the most important influence on educational achievement and attainment → A student is measured by their parents SES seeing as they usually don't have their own
In some cases, this is about the resources that a family can or can’t provide for their child’s education, such as money or fundraising or such as differences in the belief about the role parents should have in their child’s education and their knowledge of the school system.
Over a 14-year period, postsecondary enrolment increased across the income distribution but remained stratified; in 2014, 47% of the bottom income quartile 19-year old youth were enrolled in PSE, versus 79% in the top income quartile for the same age
- Gaps in education still persist even though everyone is collectively receiving higher education
49
How SES impacts opportunities from a young age
The years before schooling are primarily responsible for SES gaps in math and reading → Higher SES families have more time, resources and money to devote into developing their kids skills
Whether the child is read to daily; the number of age-appropriate books and toys in the home; the opportunity to learn colors, numbers, and the alphabet; the amount and richness of verbal interaction between child and adult; and access to computer
Lower-SES students are overrepresented in lower-tier, vocational, or applied streams in high school. The likelihood of dropping out of school is substantially higher among students from lower-SES backgrounds and among those whose parents themselves have low educational attainment
50
Likelihood of attaining a university degree
Students whose parents have less than a high school education are also underrepresented in postsecondary education. The likelihood of pursuing postsecondary education, and especially university, increases with each level of parental education and household income
The likelihood of earning a university degree is two times higher if you have even one parent with a university degree
In addition, students from lower-SES backgrounds have trouble completing their bachelor’s degrees in four years, while higher SES students are more likely to complete their degrees on time
51
Main factors of low educational attainment in relation to low SES
The financial burden of post secondary institutions (investment in education)
- But educational gaps appear before a child transitions (or not) to higher education, and SES gaps exist in tuition-free nations,
- Lower-SES parents may be in occupations that prevent them from providing the time and money necessary to support the child’s education
- These households may also be more stressful than higher SES households, and stress can impact cognitive functioning
Socioeconomic status shapes our educational aspirations by informing our sense of the costs and benefits of pursuing additional levels of education.
- Lowered aspirations can be due to financial barriers, though it is also the case that some Canadian youth do not aspire to postsecondary education despite lack of barriers, presumably because the perceived value is low
- Having an extensive network—more common in higher SES families—provides knowledge about options and trajectories available to students
52
Intersectionality and education
Race, ethnicity, immigration status, disability, and gender are among the factors that also shape educational outcomes
- If a student with special needs comes from a higher-income family, their likelihood of attending college is higher than if the student is from a lower-income family.
The strongest barriers to postsecondary completion are encountered by students from a low-income background, students with a disability, and Indigenous student
- Compared to white students, Black students in Canada have below-average high school graduation rates rooted in SES disparities and the impact of family structure
- In fact, many studies on the intersection of race and educational outcomes point to the underlying impact of SES.
Nationally, second generation children (children with an immigrant background) are more likely to have a university degree than same-age third generation Canadians
53
Who is most impacted by tuition increases?
Those least impacted are those with parents with a graduate or professional degree and those whose parents have no postsecondary qualifications → their enrolment is less impacted because there are student loan programs available to these students, and some portion of tuition fee increases can be directed toward grants for these students with unmet financial needs
54
Fundraising gaps
Efforts tend to increase resource disparities within and across schools because low-income parents cannot match the fundraising capabilities of more affluent parents
55
Cultural capital and education
Early on, middle-class children learn how to function in the structured environment of schools with lessons, homework, and peers. Extracurricular activities run by adults prepare children to easily interact with teachers. Talking to children as equals develops children’s vocabulary and models the collaborative communicative styles used in schools
- Working-class parents, on the other hand, let their children spend a lot of time in unstructured play with friends and family members, are trained to be self-sufficient and are expected to be obedient when dealing with parents and other adults. Their vocabulary skills tend to be lower than their higher SES counterparts because their parents spend less time engaging them in conversation.
Middle-class parents coach their children to ask for extra help and accommodations in situations where they face challenges. Their working-class peers, on the other hand, are taught to rely on themselves and not request additional support from their teacher
Parents who have high educational attainment and successful careers tend to know more than less-educated parents about unwritten school expectations, available school resources, and school pathways.
- Interventionism also appears during school discipline proceedings, where higher-SES parents ultimately negotiate more favorable disciplinary outcomes for their children
- It is also the case that these parents see teachers as their equals, believe they can negotiate on their child’s behalf, and feel confident that the school system will serve their children.
56
Streaming
he practice of splitting students into groups based on ability
57
Pygmalion Effect
Teacher has a positive or negative expectation about a student’s ability, which then brings about the associated behavior (gains or losses in the student’s academic performance).
- That said, teacher expectations exert a small, but consistent, effect. And, more generally, the student-teacher relationship continues to be one of the ways that sociologists of education make sense of variations in students’ educational achievements
- Teachers’ interactions and relationships with students vary substantially according to the race and ethnicity of the students
--> This includes teachers’ assessments of things like a student’s academic abilities, motivation, and classroom disruptiveness
58
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Students have a conception about their ability, inducing new behaviors that make the conception actually manifest.
59
Stereotype threat
the idea that negative stereotypes about a group to which an individual belongs will have negative impacts on their academic performance
60
Stereotype promise
A positive expectation for academic performance on the basis of the student’s group membership that generates the stereotyped enhanced performance; occurs most notably in relation to an Asian racial identity.
61
The summer setback
A loss of literacy and numeracy skills over summer vacation (usually about eight weeks)
- In the same period, the bottom socioeconomic quartile starts school in the fall with a literacy level that is behind their June literacy score, while those in the top socioeconomic quartile have raised their literacy levels over the same period. They estimated that 25% of the student achievement gaps in any given September are attributable to the summer setback
- These effects compound over many years, creating a cumulative disadvantage rooted in SES
- “socioeconomic immersion,” which is about the quantity and quality of the practices within a family that can nurture or foster skills that contribute to a child’s literacy, such as ongoing reading in the home and participation in enriching conversations.
- Students learn at roughly equal rates while they’re in school, regardless of their socioeconomic background, the summer setback and other SES rooted disadvantages create the gaps in educational attainment
62
Human capital theory and education
- The employment rate is highest for those who hold a university degree (bachelor’s or above bachelor’s), and drops progressively as educational attainment decreases, to a low of just over 30% for Canadians age 25 and older without any degree, certificate, or diploma.
- On average, someone with a professional degree is making double the employment income two years after graduation than someone who earned a college credential
- In comparison, undergraduate degree holders see their employment income increase by almost 20% at the five-year mark, and doctoral degree holders’ employment income increases by just over 25% between the two-year and the five-year marks
63
Recent trends for men and women in education
- In recent years, the fastest growth in earnings has been among men holding apprenticeship certificates. From 2005 to 2015, their earnings outpaced men at all other levels of education.
- If you’re a young Canadian man, an apprenticeship certificate or bachelor’s degree are good investments.
- If you’re a young Canadian woman, a bachelor’s degree is a sound investment.
64
Educational achievement
Benchmarks/achievements you receive while you’re attaining your credential
64
Credentialism
Where human capital theory emphasizes a kind of technical function of schooling, Collins - credentialism - thinks of schools conferring graduates with a piece of paper that opens the door to labor market opportunities.
- There is a weak connection between credentials and skills required on the job, according to Collins. Instead, people pursue postsecondary credentials to keep pace with the competition of other job candidates who possess similar credentials, and candidates wish to meet the expectations of employers who are looking for the signals that a degree or diploma can give (such as the ability to work well independently and in teams).
65
Over the course of 30 years, tuition has increased 300% for domestic students in Canada
- Tuition fees have exceeded inflation
- Ontario is 386.1% increase
Public funding (transfers from the government) college and university system
--> Reduction in public funding (transfers are now less than 50%) → leads to increased tuition
--> Tuition regulation → Up to provinces or territories to determine how much universities can increase tuition every year (usually around 3%)
--> Professional programs are the most expenses in Canada → not tuition regulated so they can raise costs however much they want
There's no regulation of international student tuition at all levels of post secondary education
Ontario is in a tuition freeze until the next provincial election
- Universities can’t take funding from students and government funding is low
- Out of province can be increased (5%), same with international
- Government is going to be slashing the amount of international visas they give out → less funding for universities
66
Feminist theory on education
Gender-based inequalities in education (especially focusing on women), such as field of study choices and their impact on career
67
Symbolic interactionism in education
Classroom dynamics between student and teacher, especially those that shape outcomes
68
Postmodernism in education
Educational institutions as tools for surveillance and the regulation of students (less prominent in Soc of Edu)
69
Disenchantment:
describes the decline of religious and supernatural explanations for the world.
- Weber was not advocating for disenchantment—he felt that it would lead to a loss in values and richness of experience that came with religion. He was instead describing large-scale trends in the declining importance of religion in public and social life.
69
Secularization:
The secularization camp argues that the world is becoming more secular; that is, religion is losing its importance in society and religious organizations are becoming less powerful and less relevant for public life
- Declining religious attendance across Canada, the United States, and other countries; growing de-affiliation, where people are less likely to affiliate with religion; growing numbers of people with no religious belief; and the declining importance of religion in people’s lives. A more rational, scientific, democratic, prosperous, and differentiated world means a less religious one.
70
De-affiliation
Where people no longer affiliate themselves with religions or religious organizations
71
Desecularization:
The desecularization camp argues that the world is as “furiously religious as it ever was”
- In some places and for some people, religion is becoming even more important.
- How religions around the world are increasing in their political influence, economic prosperity, and industrial development occurring alongside strong growth in religion, a massive resurgence of
Christianity in lower-income countries, often referred to as the Global South; and large segments of the Chinese population reporting that religion is important.
- Argue that Canada is the exception not the rule
72
How are religious organizations classified?
Often, religious organizations are classified based on their size, power, and influence. The most significant typology in sociology is the church-sect distinction
73
A church:
a bureaucratic religious organization with a positive relationship to society and the state. Church is subdivided into ecclesia and denomination
74
Ecclesia:
A religious organization that is a formal part of the state.
- In effect, it is a state religion that may count most or all members of society as members. The Anglican Church in England is an example of ecclesia, where the reigning monarch is the supreme governor of the Church.
75
Denomination
a subgroup within a religion. It is large, bureaucratically organized, and integrated into the wider society, though it is not an official state religion.
- Judaism (in this example, a “church”) has distinct denominations, including Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform
- As you can see, denominations are often characterized by differences in some of their core beliefs.
76
A sect
a religious group that has broken away from a major religious organization. Typically, sects form when members break away from a larger denomination because they disagree with elements of the parent religion or because they wish to reassert what they believe are the original views of the religion
- A sect may grow in popularity and transform into a larger denomination, or even ecclesia
77
A cult:
a small, less organized religious group that emphasizes private, personal beliefs. Sociologists have argued that the word “cult” is a loaded term used to negatively label religious movements and dehumanize the members of religious communities so labeled
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New religious movement (NRM)
New religious movements are modern religions or belief system that are made of converts (as opposed to being born into the religion), attract an atypical segment of the population, and have charismatic leaders that have more authority over members’ lives compared to more traditional religious leaders like priests or ministers
- However, NRMs are not much different from more traditional religions. Secret teachings, strong bonds with charismatic leaders, and different lifestyles all characterize NRMs as much as they characterized traditional religions as they first emerged
- Islam and Christianity both started as NRMs
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Atheists
The absence in belief in gods, spirits, or the supernatural
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Agnostic
Someone who doesn’t know whether or not god exists and believes it can’t be known
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Unaffiliated
Those without a preference for a specific institutional religion
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Why are people religious?
- Contemporary studies suggest that genes explain behaviors like conservative religious beliefs, spiritual commitments, and attending religious services
- It provides solidarity and shared values
- Ruling elites make use of it to maintain the status quo.
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Conflict Perspectives on religion
- “religion is the opium of the people,”
- Painting religion as a source of solace for the oppressed and marginalized working class, and as a tool of the ruling elites to ensure class domination
- Like a drug, religion was a means by which the oppressed in society could be stupefied and deceived into focusing on other-worldly rewards rather than on their depressing material and worldly circumstances. As a tool of the ruling elite, religion is used to camouflage personal interests, strengthen authority, and justify the political and economic status quo
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Liberation theology
a blend of Christian theology and Marxist notions of social conflict and class struggle, stands as a contemporary example of the synthesis of religion and conflict theory. It focuses on the practical application of faith and social justice to build just societies that eliminate poverty, inequality, and oppression.
- Reaction to widespread poverty, social inequality, and political repression
- Liberation theologians reject the separation between spirituality and worldliness—people do not have to wait for an afterlife to experience eternal reward when a just and equal world for all can be crafted in the here and now
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Structural Functionalist Perspectives on religion
According to Durkheim (1915), religion divides the world into the sacred and the profane. The sacred represents the numinous (or divine), transcendental, supernatural world. It is set apart through religious beliefs, rituals, rites, symbols, or anything defined as spiritual or religious in quality. Profane simply refers to the secular world of the everyday
Promotes social solidarity (cohesion in practices), social control (provides morals), provides a meaning and purpose, and marks social transitions like birth, marriage and death
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Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives religion
Religions are the outcomes of the social context in which religious actions and beliefs are socially constructed and imbued with meaning
This aspect of social reality provides social actors with the possibility to frame their own religious identity
Symbolic interactionists are therefore interested in studying religion in relation to the individual and their everyday lived experience
The meaning of a ritual or a particular belief depends on how people interpret them, how important they are to people’s lives, and how beliefs generate meaning in people’s lives
Indeed, the development of separate sects and denominations is often the result of different interpretations of core texts.
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Feminist and queer perspectives
They argue that religious power should be limited in order to curtail its control over women’s lives and to limit religious oppression of women
Often, gender inequality, like the prohibition against ordaining women, is said to be divinely inspired, and such divine warrants for inequality have widened the existing inequalities between the sexes
These beliefs and practices have led many feminist sociologists to ignore religion as nothing more than a patriarchal impediment to female equality in society and a form of false consciousness that binds women to their own oppression
While some women see institutional forms of religion as oppressive, which, in turn, has pushed them toward secularization, women also have fused religious and spiritual beliefs with their feminism
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Queer theology:
A variant of queer theory, queer theology, draws attention to how many traditional religions discriminate, sometimes violently, against sexual minorities while also promoting ideologies that condone this discrimination
Queer theology seeks to provide interpretations of the Bible that are non-discriminatory and absent of the prohibitive norms around sexuality and sexual identity
In addition, it explores the intersection between religious and sexual identities, for example how gay and lesbian Muslims or Christians reconcile their faith with their sexual identity
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lived religion
Focus on people’s everyday experiences of religion, distinct from institutionally-defined beliefs and practices.
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Morality and religion
Historically, groups that have shared a common moral code have been more cooperative and more successful, benefitting from their solidarity. This is especially the case when those moral codes are enforced by an invisible and permanent supervisor in the form of a god, spirit, or ghost
Religious beliefs are associated with greater self-control, and religion functions as a form of social control against criminal behavior. This is true even among young people, where the more religious disapprove of criminal behavior and remain unwilling to engage in crime. Moreover, those with higher degrees of religiosity are less likely to engage in property crime or use drugs
- Studies found religiosity has little to do with crime
- Some religions are intertwined with criminal behavior. Narco-religions, so-called because they are used by Mexican drug cartels, often blend Christianity with folk traditions to provide an underlying cultural and ideological justification for violence
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God is dead
In 1882, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.”
He feared that the absence of a higher moral authority could lead to nihilism or the rejection of religious and moral principles and the belief that life is meaningless
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Religiosity:
The importance of religion in society
- Higher incomes and educational attainment tend to predict lower religiosity, and there is a notable age and gender gap in religious belief with younger people and men being less religious.
- The poorest countries tend to be the most religious, while the wealthiest countries tend to be the least religious.
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Why is religiosity more rare in wealthy countries?
Modern industrial and post-industrial capitalist societies tend to be both the wealthiest and also the least religious, with the exception of the United States
- However, the United States is often held up as a counterexample to the secularization thesis, but American religiosity has been declining for decades and in the same generational pattern consistent with religious decline elsewhere.
As countries become wealthier they become more existentially secure, meaning that they experience improved quality of life through health care, employment opportunities, education, social welfare, and so on. As a result, life becomes less precarious and the demand for supernatural or metaphysical supports offered through religion declines
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Education and religion
Scholars have long argued that religiosity will decline as secular education becomes more widespread. Increases in educational attainment expose people to new ideas, different cultures, and secular viewpoints, which are incompatible with religion’s emphasis on revelation and mysticism.
- Exposure to the natural sciences in particular, like biology and physics, can erode religious faith, while exposure to other disciplines like philosophy, anthropology, and sociology, have been shown to trigger doubts in believers
Research in the United States confirms that, on average, the highly educated are less religious—but this is not the case among educated American Christians and American Muslims, who report levels of religiosity similar to their less-educated peers
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Deaffiliation:
When people no longer affiliate with a religion
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Religion and age:
These two figures show a generational drift away from regular involvement in religion toward religious disaffiliation to, more recently, younger people not identifying with religion at all
This is matched by data on how important people’s religious beliefs are, where we again see a steady intergenerational drop. About 60% of the older generation, compared to only 20% of the youngest generation, describe religion as very important
In addition, religiosity appears to increase with age, even in Western countries that have shown a decline in religiosity. Regardless of birth cohort, as people throughout the world get older they are more likely to invest psychologically in religious belief and embed themselves within religious groups or organizations
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Fizzy fidelity
A passive indifference to religion and a tentative adherence to religious traditions
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Takeaways from religion:
Although secularization continues to grow in many places, it has been limited to advanced industrialized nations with relatively low birth rates
Those who describe themselves as nonreligious are not necessarily atheistic. While religious affiliation and attendance have declined in a seemingly straightforward way, belief remains complex
Finally, while there has been growth in the number of nonreligious, there are also signs of growth in the very religious
If poorer countries improve their wealth, health, and education, and as Internet usage penetrates those countries, we may see continued growth in those who identify as non-religious
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Spirituality
practices, feeling or experiences that are beyond life as ordinarily experienced
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Secularization thesis:
asserts that modernity produces a decline in religion worldwide. As societies become more modern, religious values and institutions lose their social and cultural significance and give way to secular values and institutions
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Religiosity over time
Around the world, there has been a 9% drop in the number of people claiming to be religious, while those claiming to be atheists have increased by 3%
Conservative estimates show that there are several hundred million nontheists across the world, though these individuals are not necessarily non-religious.
For example, some have drifted from their faith but still adhere to elements of spirituality
Religion is its own sphere instead of extending over everything like it used to
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Examples of new religious movements
Raelians → borrows from existing traditions, modifies them slightly, benign, supports equality
Shinrikyo → cult, countercultural beliefs, controlling leaders, brainwashing, isolation from outside world, part of gas attack on tokyo subway
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Day to day spirituality
If you report high baseline spirituality, on days that you feel more self confident or that your life is more meaningful, you feel more spiritual
Identification and commitment to a spiritual belief system on a given day provides meaning and purpose in life, which in turn increases self esteem
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The global south
a massive resurgence of
Christianity in lower-income countries, often referred to as the Global South
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Socioeconomic immersion
“socioeconomic immersion,” which is about the quantity and quality of the practices within a family that can nurture or foster skills that contribute to a child’s literacy, such as ongoing reading in the home and participation in enriching conversations.
