soci quiz 2

Question 1

Culture

Answer 1

values, beliefs and traditions associated with a group of people
-food and festivals
-spirituality and religion
-art
-practices and values
-sacred items
-knowledge

-Cultures are dynamic and change over time
-Culture and its elements are CONTESTED : there is little agreement as to who and what belongs to a culture
-One point of contestation is authenticity or what is true to a particular group

Question 2

Cultural typology

Answer 2

Types of cultures can be distinguished along two central oppositions

-dominant culture vs. subculture & counterculture
-high culture vs. popular culture & mass culture

Question 3

Dominant culture

Answer 3

Through political and economic power is able to impose its values, language, and ways of behaving and interpreting behaviour on a given society

Canadas dominants are white, male, English speaking, heterosexual, university grads, between ages of 30-55

Question 4

Minority cultures

Answer 4

Those who fall outside cultural mainstream

2 categories that fall under it:
-countercultures
-subcultures

Question 4

Counter cultures

Answer 4

Minority cultures that feel the power of the dominant culture and exist in opposition to it
ex. clothing styles, sexual norms, hippies, alternative fashion and music

Question 5

Subcultures

Answer 5

Minority cultures that differ in some ways from the dominant culture but dont directly oppose it
ex. groups organized around hobbies or occupations

Question 6

High culture

Answer 6

Culture of the elite, a distinct minority

Associated with the arts
ex. theatre, operas, ballet, classical music

Question 7

Pop culture

Answer 7

Culture of the majority, especially those who do not have power
ex. the working class, the less educated, women and racialized minorities

Question 8

Mass culture

Answer 8

Refers to people who have little or no agency in the culture they consume

ex. big companies dictate what people watch, value, buy, believe

created by those in power for the masses

Question 9

Simulacra

Answer 9

Jean Baudrillard

feature of mass culture

simulacra are stereotypically cultural images produced or reproduced like material goods or commodities by the media and sometimes by scholars

ex. inuits represented through igloos, kayaks etc..

Simulacra are hyperreal, thus considered more likely real than what exists

Question 10

Decipherment

Answer 10

Involves looking in a text for the definitive interpretation, for the purpose the culture industry had in mind when creating the text

Question 11

Reading

Answer 11

The process in which people treat what is provided by the culture industry as a resource, a text to be interpreted as they see fit

Question 12

Norms

Answer 12

Expected rules or standards of behaviour that are expected of a group, society, or culture

Norms may be contested along the lines of ethnicity, race, genders and age

norms are expressed in culture

Question 13

Sanctions

Answer 13

Positive sanctions
- rewards or punishments for doing “the right thing”
ex. smiles or high fives

Negative sanctions
-reactions designed to tell offenders that they have violated a norm
ex. eye roll, glare, parking ticket

Question 14

Folkway

Answer 14

Folkways or ettiquittes are norms that govern everyday matters

norms we should not violate

weakly sanctions

ex.double dipping

Question 15

Morals

Answer 15

More serious than folkways

often formalize norms we must not violate

violations are met with serious sanctions
ex. rape, stealing

Question 16

Taboos

Answer 16

Norms that are so deeply ingrained in our social consciousness that the mere thought or mention of it is enough the arouse disgust
ex. incest, child pornography

Question 17

Cultural symbols

Answer 17

Symbols are items that held significance for a culture
ex. seal hunt, Canadian anthem

Symbols can change over time

Question 18

Values

Answer 18

the standards used by a culture to describe abstract qualities such as goodness, beauty, and justice

Question 19

Ideal culture

Answer 19

what people believe in
ex. environmentalism

Question 20

Actual culture

Answer 20

what really exists
ex. driving large suvs

Question 21

Ethnocentrism

Answer 21

Occurs when someone thinks a certain culture (usually their own) is best and uses it as the standard to judge other cultures

often the product of the lack of knowledge

has played a role in colonizing nations- imposing their political, economic, and religious beliefs onto indigenous lands and people they “discovered”

Question 22

Eurocentrism

Answer 22

Involves addressing others from a broadly defined European position

Question 23

Cultural globalization

Answer 23

Intensification and expansion of cultural flows across the globe

The “americanization” of the world or the danger of the one-directional flow could be problematic

Question 24

Cultural Relativism

Answer 24

An approach to studying and understanding an aspect of another culture within its proper social, historical, and environmental context

Question 25

Presentism

Answer 25

the ability to judge figures of the past within their own time, instead we judge them by todays standards

Question 26

Socialization

Answer 26

A lifelong learning process that involves figuring out or being taught how to be a social person in each society brings changes in an individuals sense of self

Question 27

Primary socialization

Answer 27

socialization that occurs during childhood

Question 28

secondary socialization

Answer 28

socialization that occurs later in life

Question 29

sociolinguistics

Answer 29

study of language as a part of culture language is key to the communication and transmission of culture looks at language in relation to sociological factors like race, ethnicity, age, gender and region

Question 30

dialect

Answer 30

A variety of language that differs from others in terms of pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar

Question 31

Sapir-whorf hypothesis

Answer 31

Describes the relationship between language and culture language, words and meanings are cultural specific therefore language outside of cultural context doesn't make sense

Question 32

linguistic determinism

Answer 32

Suggests the way we view and understand the world is shaped by the language we speak

Question 33

Determinism

Answer 33

Nature vs nurture Central to any discussion of socialization 2 topics Determinism vs. free will Biological determinism(nature) vs. Social determinism( nurture) Determinism refers to the degree to which an individuals behaviours, attitudes and other personal characteristics are determined by something specific

Question 34

Biological determinism

Answer 34

"nature" in the nature vs. nurture states that who we are is determined by genetics ex. if we are good at sports or music or art that is because we are genetically predisposed

Question 35

Sigmund Freud

Answer 35

Argued that both biological and social factors shape human personality Mind has 3 parts -Id- represents our unconscious instinctive drives -eros- life drive dedicated to pleasure seeking -Thanatos- death wish the instinct for aggression and violence -Superego- part of your mind that polices your id -your conscious -internalized moral messages -ego-main agent of personality, driven by the id and its demands but restrained by the superego

Question 36

Erik Erikson

Answer 36

recognized the influence that society has on ego development well into old age each stage in life is defined by a central crisis

Question 37

Behaviorist

Answer 37

School of thought that takes a strong cultural-determinist position "nurture" in the nature vs. nurture emphasizes the power of learning in the development of behaviour

Question 38

Behaviour modification

Answer 38

shaping someones behaviour through rewards and punishment Edward Thondike called this the law of effect Desired behaviours are rewarded and reinforced undesired behaviours are ignored and abandoned

Question 39

2 agents of socialization

Answer 39

signified others: -key individuals-parents grandparents, siblings, friends whom young children model themselves after generalized others: -attitudes, viewpoints and general expectations of the society into which the child is socialized

Question 40

3 stages of socialization of a child

Answer 40

prepatory stage- involves the imitation on the part of the child play stage- child engages in role-taking and assumes the perspective of significant others ex. parents, grandparents, siblings game stage- the child is able to consider several roles and viewpoints simultaneously

Question 41

Looking glass self

Answer 41

Charles Cooley introduced this as a way to explain how the self develops the individuals self image is based on how a person thinks they are viewed by others 3 components - how you imagine you appear to others -how you imagine those others judge your appearance -how you feel as a result (self confidence, proud etc)

Question 42

Family

Answer 42

First and most often powerful agent of socialization socialization of a child is a key function of family

Question 43

Peer group

Answer 43

Social group sharing key characteristics peer pressure peer pressure is socialization in action

Question 44

Community and neighbourhood

Answer 44

can be important things like city vs, small town vs. suburbs and rich.vs poor vs. mixed neighbourhoods affect a child

Question 45

Mass media

Answer 45

One of the most powerful agents of socialization in contemporary sense mass media influences our behaviour suggests that violence exposure on tv desensitizes people

Question 46

Observational theory

Answer 46

Children acquire aggressive scripts for solving social problems by watching violence on tv

Question 47

Desensitization theory

Answer 47

increased exposure to tv violence desensitizes the natural negative reaction to violence

Question 48

Habitus

Answer 48

a wide ranging set of manners set set of socially squires characteristics ex. manners, good taste

Question 49

Reproduction

Answer 49

The means by which classes preserve status difference among classes

Question 50

Education

Answer 50

another powerful socializing agent schools are often the first source of information that a child receives about a social group other than their own socialized thru textbooks, curriculums and social environment of classroom

Question 51

issues of socialization

Answer 51

David Elkind argues that todays children have lost free play and instead have rigid scheduled activities over programming and kids feel adult level stress digital communication creates generational gaps

Question 52

secondary socialization

Answer 52

usually occurs during early childhood and adolescence takes place outside the family and involves a group smaller than a society ex.new school, neighbourhood

Question 53

resocialization

Answer 53

the process of unlearning old behaviours, attitudes and values and learning new ones can either be voluntary or involuntary

Question 54

voluntary resocialization

Answer 54

occurs when some starts school, changes school, starts a new job, undergoes religious conversion often marked as a rite of passage/ ritual

Question 55

involuntary resocialization

Answer 55

occurs when someone is forced to change resocialize by regulating all aspects of ones life ex. residential schools, degradation ceremonies, unlearning

Question 56

Hazing as resocialization

Answer 56

entails resocializing new members of a group or organization such a as a frat or sports team often entails enduring demeaning or uncomfortable experiences typically involves ritual humiliation of rookie members by veterans

Question 57

Dennis Wrong

Answer 57

argued that behaviourists worked with an overspecialized representation of human beings