Key Terms

Question 1

Agency

Answer 1

The idea that individuals have free will and can make their own choices.

Question 2

Capitalism

Answer 2

Private ownership of companies.

Question 3

Collective conscience

Answer 3

A set of shared beliefs and attitudes shared by all members of a group or society.

Question 4

An agency socialisation

Answer 4

Any group or institution that passes on cultural norms and values

Question 5

Organic analogy

Answer 5

The act of viewing society as a human body

Question 6

Cultural deprivation

Answer 6

Being deprived of the cultural attributes necessary for educational success.

Question 7

Compensatory education

Answer 7

Additional educational provision for disadvantaged children to give them a helping hand to compete on equal terms.

Question 8

Deterministic theory

Answer 8

Individuals don’t have a choice about how they behave. Human behaviour is determined by social structures and circumstances.

Question 9

Ethnicity

Answer 9

Groups within a population regarded by themselves as culturally distinctive and different.
They usually see themselves as having a common origin, and they may share some practices or beliefs.

Question 10

Ethnocentric

Answer 10

Believing that the history, customs and traditions of your own race or nationality are superior to those of other races.

Question 11

Globalisation

Answer 11

The process of all parts of the world becoming interconnected so that national boundaries become less important.

Question 12

Hidden curriculum

Answer 12

The unwritten rules, values and behaviours that students are expected to conform to and learn while in school e.g punctuality or respect for authority.

Question 13

Ideology

Answer 13

A set of beliefs that promotes the interests of one group at the expense of others.

Question 14

Institutionalised racism

Answer 14

The failure of an organisation or institution to provide an effective service for people because of their colour or ethnicity.
The organisation processes, attitudes and behaviours will discriminate - often unconsciously - through prejudice and racial stereotyping.

Question 15

Labelling

Answer 15

When labels or names are attached to people, ascribing certain characteristics to those individuals.
Labels are often simplified and drawn upon stereotypes.

Question 16

Legitimation

Answer 16

The process of justifying or gaining support for an idea or policy. It often involves justifying injustice or inequality, perhaps by portraying it as natural.

Question 17

Marketisation

Answer 17

Organising state-run services more like private companies, competing for ‘customers’.

Question 18

Material deprivation

Answer 18

A lack of money or resources, preventing members of society from purchasing goods and services that other members of society can afford.

Question 19

Meritocracy

Answer 19

A society or system in which success or failure is seen as the result of ability and hard work.

Question 20

Patriarchy

Answer 20

A system or society in which men hold the power, and largely excluded from it. Women’s interests are subordinated to the interests of men.

Question 21

Relativism

Answer 21

The idea that no absolute truth can ever be known or exist.

Question 22

Role allocation

Answer 22

The process of deciding who does what role within society.

Question 23

Self-concept

Answer 23

The sort of person you think you are.

Question 24

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer 24

Accepting and taking on labels that people have given you.

Question 25

Self-refuting prophecy

Answer 25

Rejecting labels that people have given you.

Question 26

Socialisation

Answer 26

The process of learning how to behave in a way that society accepts

Question 27

Social mobility

Answer 27

The ability to move upwards (or downwards) between the groups of a social hierarchy (i.e working class to middle class).

Question 28

Peer group

Answer 28

A group of friends and/or fellow pupils

Question 29

Individualisation

Answer 29

A process in which group identities are lost i.e class, gender. Individuals have more freedom to choose different lifestyles and lose loyalty to their groups.

Question 30

Hegemonic masculinity

Answer 30

The dominant ideas of what it means to be masculine in a particular culture.

Question 31

Moral panic

Answer 31

Public anxiety often generated by mass media reports. It involves an exaggerated and often irrational fear about something portrayed as new/growing.

Question 32

Tripartite System

Answer 32

Form of secondary education introduced by the 1944 Education Act - all students taking the 11+. Separated into 3 types of schools: Grammar, Technical schools and Secondary Modern

Question 33

Subculture

Answer 33

Groups within wider social groups who share a unique set of lifestyles, attitudes and values. This allows members to gain status, mutual support and a sense of belonging.

Question 34

Norms

Answer 34

Behaviours and attitudes in which are considered normal.

Question 35

Values

Answer 35

Things that people consider important to them.

Question 36

Primary Socialisation

Answer 36

The process by which parents and significant family members teach their children how to behave in a way that society accepts and expects.