Midterm Flashcards
(38 cards)
Social Problem
A harm in our society that people believe should and can be fixed
Objective elements
The measurable (empirical) features of harmful social conditions.
Positivism
A systematic attempt (scientific approach) to find and test natural laws through measurements of reality.
Subjective elements
Personal evaluations of objective conditions and the processes that influence their evaluations.
When believed, they become a social reality in their own right.
Social Constructionism
A subjective view of reality, not reality itself, shapes one’s behaviour.
Examines the ways people interact to create a shared social reality.
Something may not be real, but if someone (especially someone in power) says or feels it’s real, it is real in its effects.
Conventional wisdom
What you think is true about a topic based on info you’ve acquired over the course of your life.
Individual perspective
A way of understanding social problems that focuses on the person who commits wrongdoing.
From this perspective, their behaviour is deviant and violates social norms.
Places blame on people whom you can cast as distinct from the rule followers we believe we are
Sociological forces
Group influences that shape how a person behaves or thinks.
Influences the likelihood of following or deviating from social norms
Social inequalities
the disparities among people in their amount of money, power, or status.
Social change
Alteration, modification, or transformation of public policy, culture, or social institutions over time.
There are short-term, middle-term, and long-term strategies to deal with social problems
Micro level solutions
Focus on how individuals operate within small groups to try and solve a problem that affects them, their family, or their friends
Individuals with personal problems usually turn to primary groups: small, less specialized groups where members engage face-to-face, emotion-based interactions over an extended period of time (ex. Friends and family)
Mid-range solutions
Focus on how secondary groups and formal organizations can help individuals overcome issues (such as drug addiction or domestic violence
Focused on 2 assumptions:
-Some social problems can best be reduced by reaching one person at a time
-Prevention and intervention are most effective at the personal and community levels
Grassroot organizations
Started by ordinary people who
Focus on change that may reduce or eliminate a social problem in their specific community
Learning to empower themselves against people in positions of power
Social movement
An organized group that acts collectively to promote or resist change through collective action
Macrolevel Solutions
Focus on how large-scale social institutions such as the government and media may be persuaded to become involved in resolving social problems
The American Dream
The belief that hard work and self-discipline enable people to get ahead.
Determination and sacrifice are the keys to upward mobility.
Upward mobility
long-term increase in a person’s income and status.
Social mobility
The movement of people from one social class to another during the course of a lifetime.
Little chance of entering the “upper class,” or escaping the “poorest class.”
Intergeneration income elasticity
The relationship between a parent’s and a child’s income.
The greatest predictor of upward class mobility is education.
Poverty
Minimal standard of living that the federal government defines as having a household income below a given amount
Absolute poverty
Lacking the basic necessities (for food, shelter, medicine, etc.) for survival.
Relative poverty
Survival, but far below the general living standards of one’s society or social group, that impacts one’s life significantly.
Opportunity divide
The inequalities between people born into higher-income families who have lots of chances to better their lives and those born into.
Wealth
Total assets a person has in addition to their earning
