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A2 Sociologay > Sheeite > Flashcards

Sheeite Flashcards

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1
Q

Action Theories

A

Argue people have free will and the power to create society through (inter)actions, e.g. interactionism and aspects of postmodernism.

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2
Q

Alienation

A

Where an individual or group feels socially isolated due to lack of power and control of their lives. (Marxism)

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3
Q

Anomie

A

Normlessness. Durkheim argued that it arises when there’s rapid social change and existing norms become unclear/outdated. Merton’s strain theory argues that an individual’s lack of means to achieve mainstream goals results in a strain to anomie, which some resolve by illegitimate means, and other by ritualism, retreating etc.

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4
Q

Case Study

A

Research that examines a single case or example.

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5
Q

Chivalry Thesis

A

(Pollak) The view that the CJS is biased in favour of women and thus they’re less likely to be charged, convicted or punished than men. It is argued that it’s because of the police, courts and prosecution services being male dominated.

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6
Q

Closed Ended Questions

A

Can only choose from set answers.

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7
Q

Collective Conscience

A

Durkheim argued that this is the shared norms, valued and beliefs within a society, which allows its members to cooperate.

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8
Q

Comparative Method

A

Comparing two social groups that are alike apart from one factor e.g. Durkheim’s suicide study.

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9
Q

Content Analysis

A

Analysing documents and media output to find out how often or in what ways people or events occur.

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10
Q

Control Group

A

The group not exposed to the independent variable (as opposed to the experimental group). Allows for comparison between the two to identify the effects of the independent variable.

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11
Q

Correlation

A

When two or more variables vary with each other e.g. there’s a correlation between low social class and low educational achievement. However this is different to cause and effect.

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12
Q

Critical Criminology

A

Neo-Marxist approach. Combines traditional Marxism and labelling theory to explain crime in capitalist society. Sees wc crime as a conscious and often political act of resistance to their exploitation and oppression.

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13
Q

Culture

A

All things learnt and shared by a society or group and transmitted through generations through socialisation e.g. norms, values etc.

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14
Q

Dependency Culture

A

The welfare state is over generous (according to New Right) and creates benefit scroungers.

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15
Q

Determinism

A

No free will. Marxism often accused of economic determinism. Can be used to criticise some theories.

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16
Q

Deviance

A

Actions that don’t conform to social norms. It’s a social construct and is relative. Primary deviance is a deviant act that hasn’t been publicly labelled and has little significance for the individual’s status. Secondary deviance results from society’s reaction (labelling) and may lead to a deviant career.

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17
Q

Deviance Amplification Spiral

A

Where attempts to control deviance actually produce an increase e.g. in a moral panic, calls for a crackdown on a folk devil increase the scale of the problem.

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18
Q

Disciplinary Power

A

Foucalt argued that this is the typical form of control in modern society. It’s based on self surveillance and its model is the panopticon.

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19
Q

Discourse

A

Foucalt sees them as a set of ideas that have become established as knowledge or a way of thinking and speaking about the world. They’re neither true nor false e.g. science nowadays.

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20
Q

Diversity

A

Social, cultural or religious diversity occur when people differ from one another in terms of occupations, lifestyles, beliefs etc.

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21
Q

Documents

A

Public documents are produced by organisations such as the government and the media, e.g. Acts of Parliament and newspaper articles. Personal documents are created by individuals and provide a first hand account of something e.g. a diary or letter.

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22
Q

Dramaturgical Model

A

This is an interactionist idea formulated by Goffman. Uses the analogy of drama for explaining social interaction. ‘Actors’ are ‘performing’ for others using ‘props’ to carry out their ‘scripts’ etc. We thus construct ourselves to manipulate the ‘audience’s’ perceptions of us.

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23
Q

Empathy

A

Understanding how someone feels by putting oneself in their place. Action theories use qualitative methods such as part ob to achieve verstehen.

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24
Q

Environmental Crime Prevention

A

A crime reduction strategy associated with Wilson and Kelling’s article Broken Windows. Sees crime as stemming from disorder and they say disorder should be eradicated to prevent further crime. They say a twofold strategy of environmental improvement and zero tolerance towards crime is how it should be tackled.

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25
Ethics
Issues of right and wrong; morality.
26
Ethnomethodology
An interpretivist approach developed by Garfinkel which sees society as a social construct. Although meaning are always potentially unclear (indexicality), commonsense knowledge is used to achieve a sense of order (reflexivity). This is similar to Shutz's typifications.
27
Experiments
A lab experiment is a test carried out in controlled conditions within an artificial environment to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between variables. A field experiment has the same aim but is carried out in a natural setting.
28
Exploitation
Paying workers less than the value of their labour. Marxists see it as how the bourgeoisie extract profit from the proletariat. Feminists see it as men exploiting women (domestic labour).
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Falsificationism
Popper - scientific knowledge should be falsifiable unlike religious claims of knowledge. A good theory stands up to attempts at falsification.
30
Feminism
A social perspective and political movement with the aim to end the oppression of women.
31
Fordism
A type of industrial production based on a detailed division of labour using closely observed, low skilled workers, along with assembly-line technology to mass produce standardised goods.
32
Function
An institution's contribution to society (think Functionalist organic analogy). Merton distinguished between manifest and latent functions. The former means the institution's intended consequences and the latter means the unintended or hidden.
33
Functional Alternatives
Institutions that perform the same function as another, for example some secular beliefs e.g. political ideologies may perform religion's role of maintaining social solidarity.
34
Functionalism
A consensus perspective that sees society as based on shared values that people are socialised into. Uses the organic analogy to explain society.
35
Globalisation
The idea that the world is becoming increasingly interconnected, particularly since the introduction of the internet. While there are some benefits, some people see it as creating risk e.g. conflict of beliefs and interests.
36
Green Crimes
Crimes against the environment, humans and animals. Primary green crimes involve destruction and degradation of the Earth's resources e.g. pollution, deforestation, species decline and animal rights. Secondary green crime involves breaking environment protecting laws e.g. dumping hazardous chemicals.
37
Hawethorne Effect
Where subjects know they're being studied and thus change behaviour.
38
Hegemony
A Marxist concept developed by Gramsci to explain how the bourgeoisie holds the ideological and moral leadership over society through institutions they own, for example religion, the education system and the media.
39
Hypothesis
An untested theory.
40
Identity
An individual's sense of self, influenced by socialisation and interactions with others. Postmodernists see this as a choice the individual makes derived form identity sources such as gender, ethnic group, religion, leisure interests etc.
41
Ideology
Originally a Marxists idea meaning a set of beliefs that serve the interests of the dominant group by justifying their privileged position e.g. myth of meritocracy.
42
Individualism
The idea that the individual is more important than the society as a whole. This is particularly true in modern and postmodern society as actions are influenced by calculations of self interest.
43
Industrialisation
Shift from agriculture based economy to factory production. Happened in Britain from late C18 to mid C19. Often occurs along with urbanisation.
44
Informed Consent
Subjects must be told what's being done in a study, how it's being done and what will be done with findings before agreeing.
45
Interactionism
A perspective focusing on small scale interactions between people rather than large scale workings of society. Seek to discover meaning social actors give to situations.
46
Interpretivism
Examples include social action theories, phenomenology, ethnomethodology etc. Focus on meanings acquired by qualitative methods.
47
Interview Schedule
List of questions to be asked in an interview. More likely to be used in structured interview as they're standardised.
48
Interviews
Method of gathering data by asking questions.
49
Labelling
Attaching a definition or meaning to an individual or group. It's often a stereotype e.g. a youth as a troublemaker. Labelling theory suggests that doing so can lead to a self fulfilling prophecy.
50
Left Realism
Regard crime as a real problem particularly for disadvantaged groups likely to be a victim. They're reformist socialists who see relative deprivation and marginalisation of the poor as causes of criminal subcultures. They argue crime can be tackled by structural reforms to reduce inequality.
51
Legitimation
Justifying something by making it seem fair and natural, and it is the main function of ideology. Marxists argue institutions such as education, the media and religion are ideological state apparatuses that legitimise inequality.
52
Longitudinal Study
Study of a sample of people in which information is collected at regular intervals over time.
53
Macro-level
Theories such as functionalism and Marxism that focus on the large scale as opposed to individual interactions. They see individuals as shaped by society.
54
Marxism
A conflict perspective based on the ideas of Karl Marx. Sees society as divided in two; bourgeoisie and proletariat. Marx predicted that the proletariat would overthrow the bourgeoisie and create a classless society.
55
Micro-level
Theories such as interactionism that focus on small scale face to face interactions. They see individuals as creating society through their actions.
56
Modernism
Modernist theories (e.g. functionalism and Marxism) believe society has a clear cut, predictable structure and that it's possible to gain true scientific knowledge about it.
57
Modern Society
Seen as beginning with the industrial revolution. It's characterised by rapid social change, scientific and technological development, secularisation, the decline of tradition. Modernist perspectives seek to explain and predict its development. Beck, Giddens and other believe this has been accelerated in late or high modern society, especially as a result of globalisation.
58
Neutralisation Techniques
Used by delinquents to justify their behaviour. Matza identified five: 1) Denial of responsibility. ("Not my fault") 2) Denial of injury. ("They could afford the loss") 3) Denial of victim. ("They had it coming") 4) Condemnation of condemners. 5) Appeal to higher loyalties. ("My kids need food")
59
New Right
A conservative political perspective whose supporters believe in self-reliance and individual choice, rather than dependence on the state. They believe in applying free market principles e.g. marketisation of education.
60
News Values
The criteria by which journalists and editors decide whether a story is newsworthy enough to make it into the news. Crime often meets the criteria and is thus over reported. The criteria includes; immediacy, drama, personalisation(about people), higher-status(e.g. celebs), simplification(eliminating shades of grey), novelty(a new angle), risk, violence.
61
Non Participant Observation
Observing people and not taking part in what they're doing, but recording events of interest.
62
Norms
Social rules, expectations or standards that govern how people live. Can be formal (written rules) or informal (e.g. politeness).
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Objectivity
Absence of bias or preconceived ideas.
64
Official Statistics
Quantitative data collected by the government.
65
Open and Closed Belief Systems
(Popper) Closed make knowledge claims that can't be disproved e.g. Marxism and religions. Open are able to be criticised and falsified.
66
Open Ended Questions
Answers that allow respondents to answer in their own words.
67
Operationalisation of a Concept
Changing a concept into something measurable.
68
Paradigm
(Kuhn). A paradigm defines for a scientific community what 'normal' science is, and provides a shared framework of assumptions within which to work. A paradigm will eventually be overthrown when lots of anomalies have been accumulated, and a scientific revolution occurs, creating a new paradigm.
69
Part ob
A primary research method in which the researcher observes subjects by taking part in their day to day lives. Can be covert or overt.
70
Patriarchy
Rule by men.
71
Phenomenology
An interpretivist approach developed by Shutz. We make sense of the world through shared concepts/categories called typifications (similar to Garfinkel's commonsense knowledge in Ethnomethodology). They can be unclear, but they help us to communicate and cooperate.They make the world seem orderly whereas it's just a construction.
72
Pilot Study
A small scale trial study to ensure everything is fine such as questions being clear in an interview.
73
Polarisation
A process that results in the creation of two opposite extremes. Marx describes how in capitalist society the class structure becomes polarised.
74
Survey Population
The group of people a researcher is interested in/has at their disposal.
75
Positivism
The belief that society is made up of social facts that can be scientifically studies to identify cause and effect relationships, e.g. Durkheim's study.
76
Post-Fordism
A type of industrial production. A highly skilled, adaptable workforce, combined with computerised technology, means production takes the form of 'flexible specialisation.
77
Postmodernism
Reject modernist belief in progress and that we can have true knowledge of society. Their view is that postmodern society is so unstable and diverse that it's impossible to produce any explanations. No theory is truer than any other, and all (including science) are meta-narratives.
78
Postmodern Society
A globalised, media saturated society in which signs become 'hyper-real' simulacra with no reference to any external reality. Culture is fragmented, unstable and ever changing, and individuals create and change their identities through consumptions of signs and brands. Marxists see postmodernity as simply the latest phase of capitalism, in which globalisation and post-Fordist production processes permit flexible accumulation of capital.
79
Primary Data
First hand information.
80
Privatisation
The separation of an aspect of social life from the rest of society, or the loss of its public role, e.g. religion.
81
Proletariat
WC in capitalist society.
82
Bourgeoisie
Ruling class in capitalist society who own means of production and exploit the proletariat.
83
Punishment
Has many functions including deterrence, rehabilitation, incapacitation. May be a form of retribution. Durkheim argued in modern society it's largely restitutive.
84
Realism
The view that science deals with unobservable underlying structures (such as class), in contrast to the positivist view that it only deals with observable phenomena. Realists distinguish between sciences dealing with closed systems that can be studied in a lab, and those studying open systems (such as society), which cannot.
85
Reflexivity
Giddens. Tradition and custom no longer guide actions and thus we need to be more reflexive - i.e. monitor and modify our actions in light of information about risk and opportunity.
86
Relativism
There's no absolute truth.
87
Right Realism
Politically they're conservatives who favour a tougher stance on crime. Reject strategies that try to tackle causes (poverty or inadequate socialisation) as impractical. See crime as a rational choice (individuals weighing up cost/benefit). They focus on situational and environmental crime prevention strategies such as target hardening and zero tolerance policing as a means of deterrence.
88
Risk Society
Beck. Problems faced by humans are increasingly man made e.g. climate change and not natural, for example famine. They're also on a global scale which leads Beck to describing late modern society as global risk society.
89
Role
How someone who occupies a status is expected to act.
90
Situational Crime Prevention
Reducing opportunities for crime e.g. target hardening. (Also think Broken Windows article)
91
Social Control
The means by which society tries to keep people behaving as expected. Can be formal (e.g. laws) or informal (e.g. peer pressure). Punishments and rewards may be used to encourage conformity.
92
State Crimes
Crimes committed by, on behalf of, or with the complicity of governments or state agencies such as the police, armed forces or secret services. They include genocide, war crimes, torture, imprisonment without trial and assassination of political opponents. They're of concern because of the state's immense power and ability to define their actions as legal, as they can make laws.
93
Status
Ascribed status is decided by fixed characteristics born with e.g. ethnicity and family origin. Achieved status is a result of effort and ability e.g. getting into uni.
94
Stereotype
A simplified, one-sided and often negative view of a group or individual.
95
Stigma
A negative mark or label often used to exclude the individual from normal social activity.
96
Stratification
The division of society into a hierarchy of unequal groups. The inequalities may be of wealth, power and/or status. Stratification systems may be based on differences in social class, ethnic group, age, gender, religion etc. Members of different groups often have different life chances.
97
Structural Theories
Deterministic theories that see individuals as shaped by society e.g. functionalism and Marxism.
98
Subculture
A group of people within society who share norms, values, beliefs and attitudes that are in some way different to mainstream ones. Deviant subcultures often form as a result of failure to achieve mainstream goals (Willis' lads).
99
Subjectivity
Bias, lack of objectivity. The individual's own viewpoint affect their judgement.
100
Value Freedom
The idea that values can and should be kept out of research. Modern positivists favour this, but others argue it's impossible or undesirable.
101
Verification
Proving something to be true; opposite of falsification.
102
Victimology
The study of victims. Positivist victimology aims to explain patterns in victimisation. It focuses on interpersonal violent crime, particularly how the victim contributes to their own victimisation. Critical victimology sees victimisation as a form of powerlessness. It focuses on the role of structural factors such as poverty that place powerless groups at greater risk, and on the state's role of denying them the victim label.
103
Voluntarism
The idea that humans have free will and can exercise choice in how they act.
104
Zemiology
The study of harms. Concerned with why some harms come to be defined as crimes while others don't, even when they cause more damage e.g. environmental damage such as pollution. They're often committed by the state or big businesses who have the power not to define it as a crime. Green criminology takes a zemiological approach and is an example of transgressive criminology, meaning it goes beyond the boundaries of criminology (the study of law breaking) to study environmental harms even when they break no laws.

A2 Sociologay (2 decks)

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