Sociology 101 Jargon

73 terms by Hamish_Darling1

Thomas's law

Even if something is factually untrue, yet

enough people believe it to be true and
act upon that belief then it becomes true
in it's sociological consequences

Hegemony

leadership or dominance, specifically

dominance of one group or ideology
over another.

Self fulfilling prophecy

Where stereotypes turn to reality due to

thomas's law and social forces.

Life Chances

a way of describing how successful a

group is, considers, income success,
health, life expectancy and child
mortality

Social Mobility

The movement of individuals or groups

between the societal stratas

Deviance

Diverging from usual or accepted

standards, especially in social behaviour.
(e.g. crime)

Inter-generational transmission of class

Where someone born into a certain class

grows up into being part of that class
(cycle of poverty, poor parents lead to
poor education leads to poor
employment - trapped in poverty for
generations)

Functualism

The belief that society is made from

specialized interrelated parts that work
harmoniously together to form society as
a whole, (analogy: factory workers
specialize in each field to make the whole
productionline work) (Durkheim)

Class Conflict Theory

The belief that society consists of 2

groups (bourgeosie and proletariat) that
are competing for scarce resources
(Marx)

Social Stratification

The hierarchy of classes usually

dependent on percieved wealth, and
power

Social differentiation

Differences between individuals in

society, causing groups of like-people to
form, causing social divisions

Structure

Concept that individual behaviour is

completely determined by social
construction Forces that limit individual
abilities

Agency

all individuals behave in a unique and

idiosyncratic way: Individuals can create
their own worlds and are independent of
social forces

Social divisions

caused by differentiation in groups

making certain groups less interactive
with others thus causing a division

Disinvestment in Society

Where individuals loose their societal

links, typically leading to crime, and drug
abuse

Bourgeosie

The wealthy few who own the means of

production

Proletariat

The poor who work in factories and

labour, lower/ middle class

Verstehen

'to have insight into someones situation'

- like empathy

Social constructionism

How society affects the individual influences from peers, family and media
infiltrate our personalities and cause us
to behave in certain ways

Matrix of Domination

Where people of similar (usually higher)

social class live and work and play golf
together and their interaction results in a
total power increase of the group,

Social Location

The physical area where people of likeclass reside

Individualism

giving priority to oneself rather than the

whole/ group

income inequality

The income disparity between rich and

poor

Egalitarianism

a belief in human equality especially with

respect to social, political, and economic
affairs.

Culture Capital

Capital that isn't monetary yet helps

determine your class such as education,
values, and mana

Habitus

how individuals from certain

backgrounds express themselves and
how they epitomize their class with
tattoos, piercings, clothing and the likes

Relative Deprivation

Where one has enough money to survive

(for food and shelter) however not
enough to pay for things deemed
necessary to participate fully in society
(e.g. cannot pay for adequate health
care, education expenses etc.)

Absolute poverty

the total absence of resources needed

for survival

Ascribed Status

Status assigned to people, and they have

little or no say about it (usually ascribed
based on stereotypes)

Unmarked Term

the social 'norm' when it comes to race,

for example instead of specifing a white
male we just say a Man

Marked Term

The 'others' in terms of race, usually a

minority for example we describe people
as 'black' or 'pasifika'

Ideology

shared societal idea, not necessarily

backed with science

Anomie

The lack of usual social or ethical

standards in an individual or group.

Binary Opposition

Where the two related terms need one

another to determine their definition

Alienation

Where someone feels isolated or

estranged

Social Rules

The rights, duties, expectations, norms

and behaviours that a person has to face
or fulfill

Social Identity

the way people see themselves in owing

to their relation to social groups

Social Control

Regulation of an individual or groups

behaviour to maintain conformity

Norm

A guidline or expectation for behaviour

Class

Division of societry according to wealth

income and access to resources
OR
The difference of "breeding" and social
backgrund

Poverty Line

The point past which people are deemed

to no longer have enough monetary
resource

Work Rich Household

A household with a good history of stable

employment

Work Poor Household

A household with a history of

fragmented employment and part time
wage-type work

Paid Work vs Unpaid work

Work done in the market place/ public

sphere vs work done in the home /
private shphere

Public Sphere

Market Place/ public place

Private Sphere

Home / away from the market place

Normative

What is considered normal by most

Rogernomics

Economic policies implemented by roger

dougalas after his appointment as
finance minister

Neo-Liberalism

An approach to economics and social

studies in which control of economic
factors is shifted from the public to
private sector

Underclass

Segment of population that occupies the

lowest possible segment of social
stratification

Brazilianisation

use of foreigners for cheap labour

Race

Is the grouping which results from the

practise of classifying others by physical
characteristics and the belief that this
classification represents some form of
inate difference in terms of ability or
disposition

Racialization

The practise of ranking groups in regards

to physical characteristics and then
problematising those lower in the social
hierachy

Ethnicity

The ethnic group or groups that people

identify with, measure of cultural
affiliation

Stereotype

thought that can be adopted about

specific types of individuals or certain
ways of doing things

Scapegoat

Person or group that is made to be a

blame for others

Discrimination

giving favour to a group based on

prejudice against another group

Prejudice

Forming an opinion before becoming

aware of relevant facts

Hierachy

The system of which members of society

are ranked according to relative status or
authority

Scientific racism

Archaic form of pseudoscience believing

that certain ethnicities were
fundamentally and biologically different
from other ethnicities (basis for racism)

Objectification

treating a person as an object

ethnocentrism

practise of favouring one ethnic groups

ideologies over another

eurocentrism

favouring of european ideologies over

other groups

Assimilation

is the process by which a person or a

groups language and or culture come to
resemble those of another group

Gender

is the range of socialized characteristics

pertaining to and differentiating between
masculinity and femininity

Sex

The biological difference between males,

females

Masculinity

set of attributes behaviours and roles

generally associated with boys and men

Femininity

set of attributes behaviours and roles

generally associated with girls and
women

Hegemonic Masculinity

The domininant ideology sorrounding

masculinity (e.g. men should be tough
and able to hold their piss, & men =
dominant men and subordinate women)

Gender socialisation

The way people are socialised in relation

to their gender (e.g. in children girls have
barbie boys have hot wheels)

gender performance

the way in which we perform the actions

expected of our gender

competant perfomance

how well we perform the actions

expected of us

Discourse

Building blocks of Ideology