How Sociological Theories View Things Flashcards
Includes Major Theories and all Units (20 cards)
Functionalism - Education
Education helps maintain equilibrium via allocation and socialization
Conflict Theory - Education
Schools and education are designed to reinforce the values of capitalist society
Symbolic Interactionism - Education
Concerned with the meanings attached to school practices (where self-fulfilling prophecy can occur)
Feminism - Education
Concerned with gendered school material, extra-curricular, post-secondary majors, and educational employment
Anti-Racism - Education
Concerned with racial differences in schools (attention from teachers, depictions in school materials)
Post-Structuralist Theory - Education
Power and Knowledge cannot be separated
Functionalism - Religion
Emile Durkheim - Functions of Religion: joins people into communities, provides them with a social identity, provides social control, provides them with a sense of purpose, and provides a social services function
Conflict Theory - Religion
Religion is a form of social control and just dulls the pain of oppression for the proletariat
Symbolic Interactionism - Religion
An important origin of rituals and symbols that help define the social world
Feminism - Religion
Argue that rituals and symbols reinforce the assumption that gender hierarchy wasn’t created by man, but by god/meant to be
Post-Structuralist Theory - Religion
Social institutions as networks of power that dominate their subjects through tradition and institutional authority
Functionalism - Crime
Emile Durkheim: Crime as functional
Robert Merton: Strain Theory
Cloward and Ohlin: Illegitimate Opportunity Theory (criminal, conflict, and retreatist gangs)
Conflict Theory - Crime
Argues that the law is not neutral and serves those who are in power
Symbolic Interactionism - Crime
Criminal behaviour is learned in the same way as any other type of behaviour; through social interaction
Feminism - Crime
Chivalry Hypothesis: the argument that women and girls accused of criminal activity are treated more leniently by law enforcement officials as a result of the latter’s traditional, chivalrous attitude towards women
Functionalism - Media
Functions of Media: Socialization, Surveillance, Correlation, and Entertainment
Conflict Theory - Media
Used by the rich and powerful to promote their own values and control the masses reinforcing their false consciousness
Symbolic Interactionism - Media
Interested in exploring how media influences our perception of our social world
Feminism - Media
Media often excludes women and diminishes their values
Post-Structuralist Theory - Media
Jean Baudrillard: In the past society focused on the production and consumption of commodities and goods; in post-modern society we focus on simulation and the creation and interplay of images and signs
