End of Year Reflection

Sociology has made me think more about society. I never thought that society was so vast and complex. Sociology also made me see how societies and people interact. I knew people and societies interacted but I never thought they interacted all the time and that there are many different processes of interaction. Sociology is not very interesting, especially when compared with psychology, but I learned things that I may have not without this class. The articles helped me remember the subjects we learned in class but I did not like how, when we made a presentation about a chapter we still had to write an article. I would have liked to watch more documentaries or take some sort of sociological test like we did in psychology. In psychology we took fun psychological/brain tests, I would have liked to take fun tests like that but sociology based. Sociology is not a fun subject to learn but if we had more activities like last semester, it could have been more fun than it was. I felt I learned a bunch of cool facts, like the age of the youngest mom is five. Sociology taught me to endure classes that were boring because it did not interest me. I was glad to have taken the class though, so I know what I like and what I don't.

Documentary Reflection

In 2011, “The Arab Spring” arose. The Arab countries like Tunisia, Egypt, and others used to be censored. But due to facebook and internet access, things have started to unravel. It started in Tunisia with Sid Bouzid, a food seller. Some corrupt government officials wanted him to pay money for no reason, he was taken to town hall but nothing was done. He ended up committing suicide by setting himself on fire. Some people took videos of his suicide and word spread. People soon gathered to protest against the corrupt government.

It started off as a peaceful demonstration but soon turned into a confrontation. Policemen started to arrest those with cell phones, for the videos were being posted on facebook. And sent across the Arab countries and the globe. Everywhere, on facebook and twitter, there were videos being posted of the corruption in Tunisia. Soon it spread to Egypt and then to Libya and later to the island country of Bahrain. Revolutions were spreading like wildfire, people were taking a stand against the corruption. A group of activists lead the protests throughout the different countries. Police forces tried to stop the activists and others from protesting. People were shot and killed and even still, more videos were being posted about the corruption. People in Tunisia wanted their leader out, they hated him. He eventually stepped down and people were rejoicing. But in Libya a new leader came, and people revolted against him just like in Tunisia. This has subsided, people are still going against the government in order to win democracy for their countries.

One theory of collective behavior is seen during this Arab Spring. The theory that I think is shown is the resource-mobilization theory which states that even the most ill-treated group with the most just cause will be able to bring about change without resources. If the Arabs had no internet access or phones with the technology to video what was going on, it wouldn't have succeeded. The Arabs needed the internet and technology in order to carry out their plan of revolution. One theory of social change is shown aw well. I think that the theory that is shown is the conflict theory of social change which states that change results from conflicts between groups with opposing interests. The Arabs wouldn't have revolted if it wasn't for the conflict between the people and the government. Without that difference in beliefs, the revolution wouldn't have happened and change wouldn't have been made.

So as we can see, collective behavior and social change occur all the time. It is a repeating process. So many times people revolt because of conflict, sometimes for the better sometimes not. People want change, even though change is sometimes hard, we secretly crave it. Social change occurs constantly, that is why society, in most cases, gets better. 

Chapter 18: Social Change and Modernization

 Social change occurs in any society that is willing to develop and grow. Social change is very important for a society to become the best they can be. Modernization goes along with social change for a society must change to become modernized. As modernization occurs, so does social change.

Sociologists define social change as alterations in various aspects of a society over time. A cyclical theory of social change views change from a historical perspective; societies arise, go through various stages o development, and then decline. Oswald Spengler suggested that all societies pass through four stages – childhood, youth, adulthood, and old age. Pitirim Sorokin's view was that all societies fluctuate between two extreme forms of culture. In an ideational culture, truth and knowledge are sought through faith or religion. The other extreme is a sensate culture, where people seek knowledge through science. Sometimes, societies reach a middle point between those extremes, which he called the idealistic culture. Sorokin referred to this natural tendency (of swinging back and forth between ideational and sensate cultures) toward social change as the principle of immanent change.evolutionary theory of social change views change as a process that moves in one direction – toward increasing complexity. Evolutionary theorists of the 1800s believed that all societies progress through the same distinct stages of social development. By the early 1920s, most social scientists had rejected evolutionary theory. It did not remain out of favor for long, however. Modern evolutionary theorists do not claim that all societies pass through a single set of distinct stages of development on their way toward some ideal of Western society, they hold that societies have tendency to become more complex over time. Talcott Parsons, a functionalist theorist, offered the equilibrium theory of social change, which argued that a change in one part of the system produces change in all of the other parts of the system. According to the conflict theory of social change, change results from conflicts between groups groups with opposing interests. Karl Marx saw violence as a necessary part of social change. Ralf Dahrendorf believed, opposing Marx, that social conflict can take many forms.

The

Modernization is the process by which a society's social institutions become increasingly complex as the society moves toward industrialization. According to sociologists' view of modernization theory, the more-developed nations modernized because they were the first to industrialize. Immanuel Wallerstein proposed the world-system theory, which views modernization in terms of the world economy. Core nations are the most powerful developed nations – the United States, Canada, Japan, and the countries of Western Europe – that form the center, or core, of the world economy. Peripheral nations are the poor countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Semiperipheral nations are somewhere in between core and peripheral nations. A country's external debt is the amount it owes to foreign individuals, organizations, companies, and governments. Modernization has both negative and positive consequences for social life and the natural environment. Modernization offers many benefits to developing countries. Modernization is often accompanied by the arrival of electricity and communication technology such as telephones. The very same technological innovations that improve the standard of living and prolong life in modern societies also give rise to problems. The family and religion lose some of their traditional authority in modern society. Modernization has brought with it the problems of soil, water, and air pollution. Modern technology also gives rise to moral and ethical questions.

As we can see social change is inevitable and important to a developing society. Modernization plays a big role in the development of nations from peripheral to core nations possibly in the future. Modernization is great for a society to grow but sometimes the growing of a society can cause damage to other societies or to the environment around them.  

Chapter 17: Collective Behavior and Social Movements

Collective behavior includes all different types of groups interacting with each other. This is important in sociology for sociology is all about the interactions of people. So collective behavior and all that is associated with it is very important to sociology as well as to a society.

Collective behavior is the relativity spontaneous social behavior that occurs when people try to develop common solutions to unclear situations. A collectivity is a gathering of people who have limited interaction with one another and do not share clearly defined, conventional norms or a sense of group unity. A crowd is a temporary gathering of people who are in close enough proximity to interact. A mob is an emotionally charged collectivity whose members are united by a specific destructive or violent goal. A riot is a collection of people who erupt into generalized destructive behavior, the result of which is social disorder. A panic is a spomoral panic occurs when people become fearful about behavior that appears to threaten society's core values. Mass hysteria is an unfounded anxiety shared by people who can be scattered over a wide geographic area. Fashions refer to enthusiastic attachments among large numbers of people for particular styles of appearance or behavior. A fad is an unconventional object, action, or idea that a large number of people are attached to for a very short period of time. A rumor is an unverified piece of information that is spread rapidly from one person to another. Urban legends are stories that teach a lesson and seem realistic but are untrue. The term public refers to a group of geographically scattered people who are concerned with or engaged in a particular issue. Public opinion refers to the collection of differing attitudes that members of a public have about a particular issue. Propaganda is an organized and deliberate attempt to shape public opinion. According to the contagion theory, the hypnotic power of a crowd encourages people to give up their individuality to the stronger pull of the group. According to emergent-norm theory, the people in a crowd are often faced with a situation in which traditional norms of behavior do not apply. According to the value-added theory, collective behavior had six basic preconditions: structural conduciveness, structural strain, growth and spread of generalized belief, precipitating factors, mobilization for action, and social control.

ntaneous and uncoordinated group action to escape some perceived threat. A

Social movements are much more deliberate and long-lasting forms of collective behavior. The main goal of reactionary movements is to reverse current social trends. Most conservative movements try to protect what they see as society's prevailing values from change that they consider to be a threat to those values. The goal of revisionary movements is to improve some part of society through social change. The main goal of revolutionary movements is a total and radical change of the existing social structure. There is a life cycle of social movements, starting with agitation, then comes legitimation, then bureaucratization, it then ends with institutionalization. Relative-deprivation theory, people join social movements because they feel deprived relative to other people or groups with whom they identify. Resource mobilization is the organization and effective use of resources. According to resource-mobilization theory, not even the most ill-treated group with the most just cause will be able to bring about change without resources.

As we saw, collective behavior is very important. We also saw that social movements are important as well. Social movements are important for they add to a growing society and even promote already grown societies. In some cases, social movements can create damage to the government but may be beneficial to the people.  

Chapter 16: Population and Urbanization

Population is a very important part of a society. Population can show whether a society is increasing, decreasing or neutral. This is important because when a society has more people, I is considered more powerful. Urbanization is important also for it shows how developed a country or society is based on their cities and their populations.

A population is the number of people living in an area at a particular time. Demography is the are of sociology devoted to the study of human populations. The measure most often used by demographers to describe the births within a population is the birthrate. Fertility refers to the actual number of births occurring to women of childbearing age. Demographers distinguish fertility from fecundity, the biological capability to bear children. Mortality is the number of deaths within a a society. The measure most often used by demodeath rate. The infant mortality rate is the annual number of deaths among infants under one year of age per 1000 live births in a population. Life expectancy refers to the average number of years that a person born in a particular year can expect to live. Migration is the movement of people from one specified area to another. Migration rate is calculated as the annual difference between in-migration and out-migration. Growth rate is the rate at which a country's population is increasing. Doubling time is a period of time that is the number of years necessary for a population to double in size, given its current rate of growth. Demographers also study population composition. A population composition is shown in a pyramid, of the age and sex distribution of the population. The Malthusian theory predicted that the population would soon reach astronomical numbers. The demographic transition theory holds that the population patterns are tied to society's level of technological development. Zero population growth is the point as which nearly equal birthrates and death rates produce a growth rate of zero. Family planning is the conscious decision by couples to have a certain number of children. Some critics of family planning policies believe that economic development must proceed before people in less-developed nations will voluntarily limit their family size.

graphers to describe the deaths in a population is the

Urbanization involves the concentration of the population to move towards cities. A city is a permanent concentration of a relatively large number of people who are engaged mainly in non-farming activities. Most preindustrial cities contained a few thousand people while some were considerably larger. The industrial city covered a greater area and had a much larger population. Overurbanization is a situation in which more people live in a city than can be supported in terms of jobs and facilities. Urban ecology examines the relationship between people and the urban environment. According to a concentric zone model a typical industrial city spreads outward from the center, resulting in a series of circles, or zones. In the sector model growth occurs in wedge-shaped sectors outward from the center to the edge of the city. In the multiple nuclei model a city does not develop around one central core but around several centers of activity, or “nuclei.” Urban sprawl is characterized by poorly planned development on the edge of cities and towns. According to the urban anomie theory the city is an anonymous and unfriendly place, and living there carries serious negative consequences for residents. Compositional theory examined the ways in which the composition of a city's population influences life in the city. Subculture theory was used to explain the nature of city life, the characteristics of the city encourage rather than discourage the formation of primary group relationships.

As we can see population is very important for society. We saw that three factors influence population. We also saw that urbanization can bring about positive and negative effects. It is very important that we understand these two major concepts in order to further understand sociology.  

Chapter 13: The Economy and Politics

The economy is what shows neighboring countries what kind of country it is. Economy is what shows people how developed and how powerful a nation is. Politics are what all countries have in order to keep peace and to have authority over the people. Politics are anything that has to do with the government that contain power.

To satisfy people's needs and wants, every society develops a system of roles and norms that governs the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. This is called the economic institution. The factors of production are resources needed to produce goods and services which include the land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship. The primary sector deals wsecondary sector concentrates on the use of raw materials to manufacture goods. The tertiary sector shifts to providing services. In Preindustrial societies, there is very little technological development. In Industrial societies, the main emphasis in the economy shifts from the primary sector to secondary. Postindustrial societies, the tertiary sector is the most important. In capitalism the factors of production are owned by the individuals rather than by the government. Law of supply states that producers will supply more products when they can charge higher prices and fewer products when they must charge lower prices. Law of demand states that consumers will demand more of a product as the price of the product decreases. If government interference is kept to a minimum and if competition is restricted, the invisible hand of market forces will keep the economy in balance, sometimes known as laissez-faire capitalism. The commitment to limited government control of business operations has resulted in the labeling of capitalist economies as free-enterprise systems. In socialism, the factors of production are owned by the government, which regulates economic activity. Communism is a political and economic system in which property is communally owned. Totalitarianism: those in power exercise complete authority over the lives of individual citizens. Both have changed over time; capitalism has changed for the USA is capitalist but it uses programs that are socialist in nature and socialism collapsed. Corporation is a business organization that is owned by stockholders and is treated by law as if it were an individual person. Oligopoly is the market situation in which a few large companies control an industry. Protectionism is the use of trade barriers to protect domestic manufacturers from foreign competition. Free-trade is trade that is not restricted by trade barriers between countries. Multinational is any corporation that has factories and offices in several countries. The nature of work has shifted from an industrial base to a service base. E-commerce is business conducted over the internet. Recently in the USA the economy has gone down considerably, the national debt is worse than it has ever been in the past and this is because of the current president. $16,805,913,562,515.19 is the debt now in the USA.

ith the extraction of raw materials from the environment. The

Power is the ability to control the behavior of others with or without their consent. State is the primarily political authority in society. Political Institution is the system of roles and norms that govern the distribution and exercise the power of society. Functionalist view is to analyze political institutions in terms of functions of the state, creation of laws, settling conflicts with individuals and relations with other countries. Conflict theorist view is how the political institution brings social change. Different groups in society compete for power. Legitimacy is whether those in power have the right to govern others. Max Weber referred to legitimate power as authority. Coercion is power that is considered illegitimate by the people governed. Traditional authority is power based on a long standing custom. Rational legal authorities are rules and regulations that outline the rights and obligations of those in power. Charismatic authority is based on the personal characteristics of the individual in power. Political Parties are organizations that seek to gain power through legitimate means. Proportional representation ensures that minority parties receive a voice in the government. Interest Group is an organization that attempts to influence the political decision making process. Voter participation is the heart of the democratic process. Voter Participation varies among different groups of Americans. Race, education, employment and age are factors that affect voting. The Power-elite model was first presented by C. Wright Mills and states that political power is exercised by and for the privileged few in society. The Pluralist model states that the political process is controlled by interest groups that compete one another for power.

As we can see economy is a huge factor for societies. If the economy is down, this shows that the country is not well, if it is high the country appears high. Politics can range from well behaved people to lesser behaved people. Some politics are good and others are bad. But a society needs politics in order to thrive. 

Chapter 15: Science and Mass Media

Science and mass media are two major things that influence society today. Science keeps getting better and smarter. And because science gets better so does the mass media. The mass media grows based off of the growth of scientific discovery.

Birth of science in Europe started in 300BC in Greece. Started with math, physics, astronomy, and biology/medicine. After the fall of Rome the Catholic Church and the economy silenced the scientific search. The Re-birth started with the renaissance. It was the start of the scientific method. The re-birth gained power after the 1800s with the industrialization. Modern science is composed of multiple branches and specialties. Norms are expected to be followed. It has a scientific community to ensure norms were followed during experiment before being accepted Scientific research norms are the judgments based on creating equality. Organized skepticism is when all scientist discoveries can be questioned and re-test. Communalism is the discovery belongs to the scientist society and will be shared in the scientist society. Disinterestedness is when a scientist must look for the truth not individual gain. Counter norms, if the research has a controversial or not well defined the research will be judged by mental state Realities of research include fraud, when researchers fake or tamper their results. Competition is the desire to obtain fame and money causes scientists to block their information that way no one can copy their experiment. This causes rushed research. Matthew effect is when the credit of the experiment goes to the most famous member instead of the group. Conflictive views include different theories on reality are used in some experiments that alter the method and ideas.

Mass media is the method to communicate that reaches multiple individuals. Writing and paper was used as mass media by the Sumerians with writing, Egyptians with papyrus. The printing press in Europe was invented in 1400AD. The industrial age multiplied the speed of the printing press and soon after the news paper, radios, and movies. Computer and information society, the invention of the internet caused the creation of digital society that exchanges information and social economic activities. Mass media in USA includes the print media which are news papers books and magazines Audio includes sound records, and radio. Visual media like movies, television, CD’s, and videocassettes. Online media is anything that is found online. Convergence is when areas with “media convergence” that is where to areas of media collide and combine. Functionalist perspective is that society runs smoother because individuals know what is happening. Conflict perspective is that the mass media distracts individuals with merchandise reducing the possibility that individuals notice and do something about the inequality. Knowledge-gap is caused by the economic difference this is know known as digital divide. Children have access to violence now. They also have less contact with others. And there is a decrease in social capital. The power of the media includes brain washing, and it can create spiral of silence, were a group silences those with different opinions. Gatekeepers that select only a part of the information to be released.

As we can see both science and mass media have changed over the past centuries. Mass media is very important in developed countries, as well as in some developing countries. Science keeps discovering knew things and improving. And because of this the media can grow too.

Chapter 14: Education and Religion

Education is very important for a society to become powerful. In dictatorships, the fist thing dictators do is get rid of books and literature in order to make stupid the people. For if the people can not think critically,

then they will agree with everything the leader says and does. Like in the book 1984 by George Orwell, the people listened to everything the Party did even though the Party was wrong. Religion is important for each society has a certain common religion, unless it is changed and people divert from the main society.

Education consists of the roles and norms that ensure the transmission of knowledge, values, and patterns of behavior from one generation to the next. Formal education, which involves instruction by specially trained teachers who folschooling. Functionalist sociologists believe that the functions performed by education work to maintain the stability and smooth operation of society. The basic function of education is to teach children the knowledge and skills they will need in the adult world. For societies to survive over time, they must pass on the core values of their culture to following generations. Functionalist sociologists also believe that education serves to produce a society of individuals who share a common national identity. All societies must have some system for identifying and training the young people who will do the important work of society in the future. Hidden curriculum is used to describe schools' transmission of cultural goals that are not openly acknowledged. Tracking involves the assignment of students ti different types of educational programs, such as general studies, vocational training, and college-preparatory studies. Most Americans have long believed that education is the key to social mobility. Interactionist sociologists seek to explain social phenomena in terms of the interaction among the individuals involved. To explain educational achievement they look at the interaction that takes place among students and teachers. Americans have always had a great deal of faith in the institution of education. In 1983 a report was made about the American education system, and in the report, it detailed a sharp decline in the level of quality of American education. Charter schools are funded with public money but are privately operated and run. With school choice parents may receive a voucher equal to the amount their state spends on education foe their children. Homeschooling is a system in which a child's main education is undertaken by parents at home. Most schools have adopted zero tolerance policies, which involve set punishments. Bilingual education is a system in which non-English-speaking students are taught in their native languages until they are proficient enough in English to attend regular classes.

low officially recognized policies, is called

The sacred is anything that is considered to be part of the supernatural world and that inspires awe, respect, and reverence. The profane is anything considered to be part of the ordinary world and thus, commonplace and familiar. Religion may be defined as a system of poles and norms that is organized around the sacred realm and that binds people together in social groups. According to sociologists, religion is a social creation. One of the most important functions of religion is that it encourages social cohesion, which is the strengthening of bonds among people. Religion also serves as a powerful agent of social control, encouraging conformity to the norms of society. A third function of religion is to provide emotional support for people during difficult times. A ritual may be defined as an established pattern of behavior through which a group of believers experiences the sacred. Animism is a belief that spirits actively influence human life. In shamanism it is believed that spirits communicated only with one person in the group. Totemism involves a belief in kinship between humans and animals or natural objects. Theism is the belief in a god or gods. Monotheism is the belief in one god. Polytheism refers to the belief in a number of gods. Ethicalism is based on the idea that moral principles have a sacred quality. An ecclesia is a type of religious organization is which most people in the society are members by virtue of their birth. A domination is a well-established religious organization in which a substantial number of the population are members. A sect is a relatively small religious organization that typically has split off from a denomination because of differences concerning beliefs. A cult is a new religion whose beliefs and practices differ markedly from those of the society's major religions. The United States has long been a haven for religious freedom. Although 90 percent of Americans say that they believe in God, only about 66 percent are affiliated with some religious organization. Sociologists generally find it hard to measure religiosity, or the depth of people's religious feelings and how the translate these feelings into behavior. Religion has become more secular or more like the world than a religion. In recent years, fundamentalist Christians have organized to exert political influence in the United States.

As seen education and religion are very important to society. It is very essential for every society to have an educational system and a religion of some sort. The reason why this is so, is so the society can grow with education and the religion to keep order.

Chapter 12: Gender, Age, and Health

In what ways to men and women differ? Some of the ways would be based off of biological features. However there are others ways that women and men differ mainly by the way each gender treats the other gender. Men have a tendency to treat women as lesser human beings because they are women.

Gender comprises the behavioral and psychological traits considered appropriate for men and women. The specific behaviors and attitudes that a society establishes for men and women are called gender roles. Gender identity is the awareness of being masculine or feminine as those traits are defined by culture. Most societies follow a division of labor similar to the one mentioned previously. Individuals learn appropriate gender-role behavior through socialization. In time, the power relationship between men and women developed into a patriarchy. Sexism is the belief that one sex is by nature superior to the other. In America, there was a women's movement which held that the sexes were socially, politically, and economically equal. The most important reform during the women's movement was suffrage or the right to vote. During this movement, women wanted the chance to get a higher education. The wage gap is the level of woman's income relative to that of men, which changed very little. The glass ceiling is the invisible barrier that prevents women from gaining upper-level positions in business. Working wives work a second shift which consists of working in the house as mother, cleaner, etc. There is also a political gender gap in the United States, women vote more but men dominate the political arena. 

Agism is the belief that one age category is by nature superior to another age category. By the year 2050, one in every five Americans will be elderly, this phenomenon is referred to by sociologists as the “graying of America”. During the 1960's, approximately 76 million children were born during this time period known as he baby-boom generation. Dependency ratio is the number of workers for each person receiving Social Security benefits. Medicare is the government-sponsored health-insurance plan for elderly Americans and Americans wit disabilities. Medicaid is the state and federally funded health-insurance program for low-income individuals. Some people claim that government transfer payments like Social Security have made older Americans financially secure at the expense of younger generations. In addition to dealing with their health problems, Americans with disabilities have to deal with prejudice and discrimination. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 has the potential to bring the most sweeping changes in the lives of people with disabilities. It helps people with disabilities in the areas of employment, public services, public accommodations, and telecommunications.

The United States spends a higher percentage of its gross domestic product (GDP) on health care than any other country in the world. Advances in medical technology have also affected health-care costs. One popular method of controlling health expenditures is the use of alternative health-insurance plans called managed care. In spite of the oversupply of doctors, access to health car is a problem for many Americans. One of the major factors affecting access to health care is the distribution of physicians, both geographically and within the medical profession. Poor people are less likely than wealthy Americas to receive adequate medical care. The majority of medical costs in the United States are covered by private or public insurance. Critics note that the Medicare-Medicaid system has created very uneven health-care delivery. Alternative medicine includes treating illness with unconventional methods such as acupuncture, acupressure, biofeedback, massage, medication, yoga, herbal remedies, and relaxation techniques, which has interested Americans. Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease that attacks the immune system, leaving a person vulnerable to a host of deadly infections. Many AIDS activists claim the the United States government has not responded adequately to the AIDS crisis. However, the United States government has made major efforts to combat this disease in recent years.
Diseases can be spread really easily, but now with advancing technology, they are being eliminated just as fast. Gender inequality has gotten better in the past years. And Americans have given more opportunities to women. Age has also become a big way of receiving benefits in the USA. 

Chapter 11: The Family

Family is a very important part of society. Any good society is based off of a good family. Societies that do not have strong families, do not have strong societies. This is because families provide economic resources when a person is a child and then later in life family becomes a way to gain economic advice. Family also provides emotions not found elsewhere, and for that reason, family is so important.

A family is a group of people who are related by marriage, blood, or adoption and who often live together and share economic resources. A nuclear family consists of one or both parents and their children. An individual's family of orientation is the nuclear family into which the person is born or adopted. When an individual marries, the new nuclear family is now a family of procreation. An extended family consists of two or more generations. Kinship refers to a network of people who are related by marriage, birth, or adoption. Sociologists use the term marriage as the set of norms that establishes and characterizes the relationship between married individuals. The marriage of one man to one woman is called monogamy. Marriage with multiple partners is called polygamy. Polygyny is when a man is permitted to marry more than one woman at a time. Polyandry is when a woman is permitted ti marry one man at a time. When a newly married couple lives or is expected to live with or near the husband's parents, it is called patrilocality. When the newly wedded couple lives or is expected to live with or near the wife's parents, it is called matrilocality. Bilocality allows the newly married couple to choose whether they will live near the husband's or the wife's parents. Patrilineal descent is when property is passed from father to son. Matrilineal descent is when property is passed from mother to daughter. In bilateral descent property can be inherited from either side of the family. A family may be a patriarchy, where the father holds most of the authority. It may be a matriarchy in which the mother holds most of the authority. Or it could be eaglitarian where the mother and father share authority. An incest taboo is a norm forbidding sexual relations or marriage between certain relatives. To survive, societies must replace members who die or move away, and so reproduce. Children must be taught the ways if the society they are born into. The family acts as an economic and emotional security system.

Americans usually marry individuals who have social characteristics similar to their own , this is called homogamy. Heterogamy is marriage between individuals who have different social characteristics. Family violence is considered the most-devastating family disruption. Another type of family disruption is divorce. Duel-earner families are families in which both husband and wife have jobs. When children leave home, the parents are usually left with an “empty nest” and feel sad. In the USA, marriage is often delayed and put off until later years. Delayed childbearing is also common in the USA. The sandwich generation are couples that are caught between the needs of their children and those of their parents. The choice to remain childless is called voluntary childlessness, which happens to be a trend in the USA. Another trend in American families is an increase in the number of duel-earner marriages. And yet another trend are one-parent families. And still, another trend is remarriage.

As we can see family is very important to societies, and for that reason a society can grow with the help of family. In the USA, families have been recently going through some major changes and this could be a reason why the USA is not as strong and powerful as it once was. If the families in the USA grew stronger, perhaps the country/society can grow stronger as well.  

Chapter 10: Racial and Ethnic Relations

Race an ethnicity are two very separate things. Both will be described in more detail below, along with discrimination and prejudice. People today need to learn that race should not be the first thing people see when they meet someone new. People need to learn to stop discriminating others. Even though we seem to know that it is wrong to discriminate and to judge others, we still do it.

A race is a category of people who share inherited physical characteristics and whom others see as being a distinct group. The set of cultural characteristics that distinguishes one group from another group is called ethnicity. People who share a common sense of identity are known as an ethnic group. A minority group is a group of peo

ple who, because of their physical characteristics or cultural practices, are singled out and unequally treated.

Discrimination is the denial of equal treatment to individuals based on their group membership. Prejudice is an unsupported generalization about a category of people. Legal discrimination is upheld by law. Institutionalized discrimination is an outgrowth of the structure of a society. A steroptype is an over simplified, exaggerated, or unfavorable generalization about a group of people. A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that results in behavior that makes the prediction come true. Racism is the belief that one's own race or ethnic group is better than another. The sociological explanation of discrimination and prejudice focuses on the social environment. Some people explain discrimination and prejudice by psychological explanations. The practice of placing the blame for one's troubles in an innocent individual or group is called scapegoating. According to economic explanations, prejudice and discrimination arise out of competition for scarce resources. Cultural pluralism allows each group within society to keep its unique cultural identity. The blending of culturally distinct groups into a single group with common culture and identity is called assimilation. Legal protection is when the law protects the minority group. Policies that physically separate a minority group from the dominant group are referred to as segregation. De jure segregation is based on laws. Segregation based on informal norms is called de facto segregation. Subjugation is the maintaining if control over a group through force. Slavery is the ownership of one person by another. Population transfer is when the dominant part of society relocates the minority group to another area. When the goal of extermination is the intentional destruction of the entire targeted population, it is referred to as genocide. Ethnic cleansing involves removing a group from a particular area through terror, expulsion, and mass murder.

African Americans are one of the minority groups in the United States. They compromise more than 12 percent of the population. Hispanics are another minority group. The 2000 census shows that the United States us home to more than 35 million Hispanics. Asian Americans are yet another minority group in the United States. Also by the 2000 census, the figure of 7 million Asian Americans grew to 10 million. American Indians are still, another minority group, in the United States. In 2000 the American Indian population was approximately 2.5 million. White ethnics are the minority group composed of people from Ireland, Italy, France, Poland, and Greece. Today there are many white ethnics but not as many as the other minority groups.

As we can see, race and ethnicity are two different things. Discrimination is very bad, along with prejudice. We can see that the United States contains many different minority groups, some of which are discriminated. As much as we know it is wrong, we still discriminate, as said before.

Chapter 9: Social Stratification

Almost every society in the course of human history has separated its members on the basis of certain characteristics. There is a division of society into categories, ranks, and classes. That is what will be discussed below.

That division of society is called social stratification. Divisions based on such individual characteristics, abilities, and behaviors lead to social inequality, the unequal sharing of scarce resources and social rewards. In a caste system, scarce resources and social rewards are distributed on the basis of ascribed statuses. Exogamy is the marriage outside one's own social category. Endogamy is the marriage within one's own social category. In a class system the distribution of scarce resources and rewards is determined on the basis of achieved statuses. According to the followers of Marx, the owners of the means of production in a capitalist society are called the bourgeoisie. The workers who sell their labor in exchange for wages are called the proletariat. Social class is defined as a grouping of people with similar levels of wealth, power, and prestige. An individual's wealth is made up of his or her assets and income. Power is the ability to control the behavior of others, with or without their consent. Prestige is the respect, honor, recognition, or courtesy an individual receives from other members of society. The socioeconomic status is a rating that combines social factors with the economic factor of income. Functionalists view stratification as a necessary feature of the social structure. Their explanation assumes that certain roles in society must be performed if the system is to be maintained. Conflict theorists see competition over scarce resources as the cause of social inequality. Conflict theorists that follow Marx say that stratification comes from class exploitation. Some sociologists try to blend the two theories together to make a general synthesis.

In the reputational method, individuals in the community are asked to rank the community members based on what they know of their characters and lifestyles. The subjective method, individuals are asked to determine their own social rank. The objective method, is when sociologists define social class by income, occupation, and education. There are social classes everywhere, even in the United States. In the USA, you have the upper class, the upper middle class, the lower middle class, the working class, the working poor, and the underclass. Social mobility is the movement between or within social classes of strata, it is also an important feature of the open class system. Horizontal mobility refers to the movement within a social class or stratum. Vertical mobility is the movement between social classes or strata. Intergenerational mobility is a status differences between generations in the same family, it is a special form of vertical mobility. Individual effort often plays a major role in a person's movement up the social-class ladder. Downward mobility can result from such personal factors as illness, divorce, widowhood, and retirement or from changes in the economy.

Poverty is seen as a standard of living that is below the minimum level considered adequate by society. In the United States, the minimum income is called the poverty level. In the USA, the age group with the highest percentage of poverty is children. The sex with the highest percentage is women. The race and ethnicity with the highest percentage are the African Americans and the Hispanics. Life chances is the likelihood that individuals have of sharing in the opportunities and benefits of society. Life expectancy refers to the average number of years a person born in a particular year can expect to live. Certain behaviors also vary depending on social class. Divorce rates are higher among low-income families than among other segments of the population. How the USA government responds to poverty, varies just a little. Most of the time the government will create programs to help out the poor, like the Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). The government uses transfer payments to redistribute money among various segments of society.

As you can see social stratification is used in a similar way to deviance, it divides people. This is not always good, however, for people will be considered more or less depending on their social class or position. Poverty is a huge problem worldwide that many different countries are trying to solve today.  

Chapter 8: Deviance and Social Control

These next couple things are an example of what? a) continuously talking to oneself in public, b) drag racing on public streets or highways, c) regularly using illegal drugs, d) a man wearing woman's clothing, and e) attacking another person with a weapon. All of these are things that people don't expect to see in public. It is not considered “normal” to do any of the above five things.

Behavior that violates significant social norms is called deviance. The above five things are forms of deviance. A stigma is a mark of social disgrace that sets the deviant apart from the rest of society. The social functions of deviance are the classifying of norms, unifying a group, diffusing tension, promoting social change, and providing jobs. Criminologists are the social scientists who study criminal behavior. Strain theory views deviance as the natural outgrowth of the values, norms, and structure of society. Anomie is the situation that arises when the norms of society are unclear or are no longer applicable. Strain theory and anomie are part of the functionalist perspective. Conflict theorists believe that competition and social inequality lead to deviance. Control theory explains deviance as a natural occurrence. Cultural transmission theory explains deviance as a learned behavior. The concept of differential association refers to the frequency and closeness of associations a person has with deviant and non-deviant individuals. Techniques of neutralization act as a block on the controls that discourage deviant behavior. Labeling theory focuses on how individuals come to be identified as deviant. Primary deviance is nonconformity that goes undetected by those in authority. Secondary deviance results in the individual being labeled as deviant is usually accompanied by what Harold Garfinkel called a degradation ceremony. Control theory, cultural transmission theory, and the ones below them are all part of the interactionist perspective.

A crime is any act that is labeled as such by those in authority, is prohibited by law, and punishable by the government. There are five main categories of crime. Violent crimes consist of murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Crimes against property consists of burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Victimless crimes consist of prostitution, illegal gambling, illegal drug use, and vagrancy. White-collar crimes are those of individuals of high social status in the course of their professional lives and commit crimes like misrepresentation, fraud, tax evasion, embezzlement, price fixing, toxic pollution, insider trading, and political corruption. Lastly is organized crimes like drug trafficking, illegal gambling, unfair labor practices, hijacking of merchandise, and loan-sharking. A crime syndicate is a large-scale organization of professional criminals that controls some vice or business through violence or the threat of violence. Once a crime has been committed and reported, it falls under the jurisdiction of the criminal-justice system. The power to decide who is actually arrested by the police is referred to as police discretion. Many people charge that the high rate of arrests among African Americans is a result of police use of racial profiling. After the police, and a person is arrested, they go to court. Plea bargaining is the process of legal negotiation that allows an accused person to plead guilty to a lesser charge in return for a lighter sentence. The sanctions used to punish criminals are called corrections. There are four major functions of the corrections: retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and social protection. Recidivism is the term for repeated criminal behavior. The juvenile-justice system is for juveniles, or offenders under 18. this system is like the criminal-justice system but less harsh for the people are not adults yet.

So as we can see deviance can have consequences. Deviance can cause people to do things that are unacceptable and cause them to go to jail for small amounts of time or for life. It is wise to think about what you do before you do it in order to not cause trouble in the future. 

Chapter 6 and 7: The Adolescent and Adult in Society

Adolescence and adulthood vary in a couple ways. Here it will discuss how they vary starting with adolescence and ending with adulthood.

Adolescence can be defined as the period between the normal onset of puberty and the beginning of adulthood. Puberty is the physical maturing that makes an individual capable of sexual reproduction. Adolescence is not universal, but puberty occurs in all human societies. There are five characteristics of adolescence, the first is the biological growth and development as kids enter adolescence. Second is undefined status, the adolescent expectations are quite vague. Then comes the increase of decision making, many make their own decisions. Then comes increased pressure, like from those around them might expect things from them at a certain time, at any time. And lastly the search for self, where they are mature enough to think about themselves and about what they want out of life. Anticipatory socialization involves learning the rights, obligations, and expectations of a role to prepare for assuming that role in the future.

Dating, or the meeting of people as a romantic engagement, is most commonly found in societies that allow individuals to choose their own marriage partners. Courtship differs from dating in that courtship's express purpose is eventual marriage, while dating may lead to eventual marriage. Homogamy is the tendency of individuals to marry people who have social characteristics similar to their own. Dating has a couple different functions, one is that it is a form of entertainment. Another is that it is a mechanism for socialization. Dating also fulfills certain basic psychological needs like conversation and companionship. It also helps individuals attain status and finally spouse selection becomes an important issue. Here are two types of basic dating patterns. One is the traditional way, where the man asks the girl, he was expected to pay for the expenses and set up the time and day of the event. The second way is the contemporary dating pattern, where there are no set stages of dating. The Amish begin dating at age 16 and around that time the Amish men received their own courting buggy, of horse drawn carriage. This is part of the contemporary pattern, for it can change over time. As with so many other social phenomena, the norms governing sexual behavior vary widely from society to society. Th rate of teenage sexual activity has gone up, but has dropped a little in this decade. There are influences on early sexual activity, mainly by social factors. There are many consequences of early sexual activity, like carrying around a child at age 15 for example.

A drug is a substance that changes mood, behavior, or consciousness. In the recent years the public has become increasingly alarmed over the social consequences of drug abuse. The rate of teen drug use in some areas has gone up and other areas has gone down. The influence on drugs is mainly people around them who do drugs as well. Teenage attitude towards drugs are more negative than positive but they still do them. The social problem of teenage drug and alcohol abuse has led to another big problem: teen suicide. Social integration is the degree of attachment people have to social groups or to society as a whole. There are seven predictors of teenage suicide, alcohol/drug use, triggering events, age, sex, population density, family relations, and cluster effect.

Now adulthood will be explained. The life patterns of adult males and females in American society are somewhat different. A life structure is the combination of statuses, roles, activities, goals, values, beliefs, and life circumstances that characterize an individual. There are three basic eras of adulthood: early adulthood ages 17-39, middle adulthood 40-59, and late adulthood 60-75+. The early adult transition occurs between the ages of 17-22. Entering the adult world is between the ages of 23-27. Then the age 30 transition which is from 28-32. These first three periods of the early adulthood era is called the novice phase. The last stage of early adulthood is the settling down period between 33-39. a mentor is someone who fosters an individuals development by believing in the person, sharing the person's dreams, and helping that person achieve those dreams. The midlife transition is between the ages of 40-44. All of this was the male life pattern. There are three phases of the female life pattern. First she leaves the family, then she enters the adult world, where she might get married and have kids, and lastly she enters the adult world again, where they may get a job again after having sent her kids to school.

The labor force consists of all individuals age 16 and older who are employed in paid positions or who are seeking paid employment. A profession is a high-status occupation that requires specialized skills obtained through formal education. Unemployment is the situation that occurs when a person does not have a job but is actively seeking employment. The unemployment rate is the percentage of the civilian labor force that is unemployed but actively seeking employment. There are many different occupations in the United States, these different occupations include: executive, administrative, managerial, professional specialty, technical occupations, sales workers, administrative support occupations, service occupations, precision production, craft and repair workers, operators, fabricators, laborers, farming, forestry, fishing, transportation and material working. The nature of work is changing, for example, farming used to be 35 percent of the population, now it is 27 percent are farmers and manufacturers included. Opinion polls and social-science research indicate that the vast majority of workers in the United States, regardless of what the do, are satisfied with their jobs.

The field of gerontology studies the process and phenomena of aging. Sociologists are most interested in social gerontology which is the study of the nonphysical aspects of the aging process. There are three different groups of older people, the young-old, 65-74, the middle-old, 75-84, and the old-old, 85+. As change continues, older people must adjust to retirement. As an individual ages, body cells begin to die. So they body will start to wrinkle and look older. The brain may not work as it used to. Diseases can occur, including Alzheimer's disease, an organic condition that results in the progressive deterioration of brain cells. For middle-old and the old-old, the issues of dependency and death take on increasing significance. For many older Americans, retirement is accompanied by a feeling of freedom.

So as you can see adolescence and adulthood are very different from each other. It is all a matter of time before a person will go from an adolescent to an adult. We must remember that as adolescents we have to respect the adults around us no matter their age.   

Chapter 5: Socializing the Individual

When people think of personality, they think of a person's social skills or social appeal. It is sometimes used to describe someone's specific characteristics or as an explanation for people's achievements or failures.

            To social scientists, personality is the sum total of behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, and values that are characteristic of an individual. Some sociologists say that heredity, the transmission of genetic characteristics from parents to children, is what determines personality and social behavior. An instinct is an unchanging, biologically inherited behavior pattern. Sociobiology is the systematic study of the biological basis of all social behavior. An aptitude is capacity to learn a particular skill or acquire a particular body of knowledge. Birth order can change how people's personalities are, which is the order in which we were born. Parental characteristics can also influence personality. The cultural environment in which a person lives also influences personality. When people are isolated as kids, that can also influence personality. Feral children, wild or untamed children, can result from isolation. There was the case of Anna and Isabelle where both girl were treated similarly wrong during childhood but one had a happier ending than the other. Another case was that of Genie, who had a terrible childhood and never recovered from it. Sociologists have also studied institutionalization, where they studied how children are in orphanages or hospitals. They found out that human interaction is very important in young childhood to help social and psychological development.

            The interactive process through which people learn the basic skills, values, beliefs, and behavior patterns of a society is socialization. Your self is your conscious awareness of possessing a distinct identity that separates you and your environment from other members of society. John Locke believed that we acquire our personalities as a result of our social experiences and that we are born without personality. Charles Horton Cooley had the looking-glass self as part of his theory, it refers to the interactive process by which we develop an image of ourselves based on how we imagine we appear to others. George Herbert Mead believed we not only see ourselves in others but we actually take on or pretend to take the roles of others. The act of role-taking forms the basis of the socialization process by allowing us to anticipate what others expect of us. The people closest to us a considered significant others. The internalized attitudes, expectations, and viewpoints of society is the generalized other. According to Mead, the self consists of two parts, the I which is the unsocialized part and the me which is the socialized part.

            The term agents of socialization is used to describe the specific individuals, groups, and institutions that enable socialization to take place. The family is the most important agent of socialization in almost every society. A peer group is a primary group composed of individuals of roughly equal age and similar social characteristics. Peer groups are usually very influential. School also plays an important part in socialization. The mass media are instruments of communication that reach large audiences with no personal contact between those sending the information and those receiving it. The mass media plays a huge part in socialization as well. A total institution is a setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society for a set period of time and are subject to tight control. Resocialization involves a break with past experiences and the learning of new values and norms.

            As you can see, personality can be influenced by a number of different factors. There are many ways for a person to become who they are based on who they hang out with and what they watch along with who their family is. It is a mix of all the above, that is what influences a person to become the person he/she is today. Socialization is also pretty huge in society and what influences it is also huge, from family to the media.

Chapter 4: Social Structure

Social structure gives characteristics to a society. Sociologists view society as a system of interrelated parts, or a structure.

Social structure means the network of interrelated statuses and roles that guide human interaction. A status is a socially defined position in a group or in a society. A role is the behavior expected of someone occupying a particular status. An ascribed status through their own direct efforts. The status that plays the greatest role in shaping a person's life and determining his or her social identity is their master status. Reciprocal roles are corresponding roles that define the patterns of interaction between related statuses. The socially determined behaviors expected of a person performing a role are called role expectations. A person's role performance is their actual role behavior. Sociologists call the different roles attached to a single status a role set. Role conflict occurs when fulfilling the role expectations of one status makes it difficult to fulfill the role expectations of another status. Role strain occurs when a person has difficulty meeting the role expectations of a single status. When these statuses and roles are organized to satisfy one or more of the basic needs of society, the group is called a social institution.

Wherever people interact in an effort to receive a reward or a return for their actions, an exchange has taken place. Reciprocity is the idea that if you do something for someone, that person owes you something in return. The volume of exchange in daily interactions has led to the emergence of an exchange theory, which is the theory that people do things on purpose for rewards. Competition occurs when two or more people or groups oppose each other to achieve a goal that only one can attain. Conflict is the deliberate attempt to control a person by force, to oppose someone, or to harm another person. Cooperation occurs when two or more people or groups work together to achieve a goal that will benefit more than one person. Accommodation is a state of balance between cooperation and conflict.

A group is a set of people who interact on the basis of shared expectations and who possess some degree of common identity. A subsistence strategy is the way a society uses technology to provide for the needs of its members. In a preindustrial society, food production is the main economic activity. Hunting and gathering is the daily collection of wild plants and the hunting of wild animals. A pastoral society will rely on domesticated herd animals to meet their food needs. The division of labor is the specialization by individuals or groups in the performance of specific economic activities. Fruits and vegetables grown in garden plots hat have been cleared from the jungle or forest provide the main source of food in a horticultural society. In an agricultural society animals are used to pull plows to till the fields. Many agricultural societies barter, which is the exchange of goods or service. In industrial societies the emphasis shifts from the production of food to the production of manufactured goods. Urbanization is the concentration of population in cities. In a postindustrial society much of the economy is involved in providing information and services. Mechanical solidarity means that when people share the same values and perform the same tasks, they become united in a common whole. Organic solidarity is the impersonal social relationships that arise with increased job specialization, in which individuals can no longer provide for all of their own needs. Gemeinschaft is the German word meaning community, and Gesellschaft is the German word meaning society.

When people gather in the same place at the same time but lack organization or lasting patterns of interaction, they form an aggregate. A social category is simply a means of classifying people according to a shared trait or a common status. The smallest group possible, a group with two members, is called a dyad. A three-person group is called a triad. Sociologists consider a small group one with few enough members that everyone is able to interact on a face-to-face basis. Time is also very important to groups, like how long it has been around. In a formal group the structure, goals, and activities of the group are clearly defined. In an informal group there is no official structure or established rules of conduct. A primary group is a small group of people who interact over a relatively long period of time on a direct and personal basis. A secondary group is a group in which interaction is impersonal and temporary in nature. Any group with whom individuals identify and whose attitudes and values they adopt is called a reference group. The group that a person belongs to and identifies with is called an in-group. Any group that the person does not belong or identify with is called an out-group. In an e-community people interact with one another regularly on the Internet. The web of relationships that is formed by the sum total of person's interactions with other people is termed a social network. Groups need to select leaders, people who influence the attitudes and opinions of others. Instrumental leaders are task-oriented, while expressive leaders are emotion-oriented.

A formal organization is a complex secondary group that has been established to achieve specific goals. A bureaucracy is a ranked authority structure that operates according to specific rules and procedures. Rationality involves subjecting every feature of human behavior to calculation, measurement, and control. Max Weber developed a theoretical model of bureaucracies. It includes: division of labor, ranking of authority, employment based on formal qualifications, rules and regulations, and specific lines of promotion and advancement. A voluntary association is typically a nonprofit organization formed to pursue some common interest. Bureaucracies are not always effective however. Sometimes the bureaucracy will lose sight of its goal, sometimes it requires too many rules and regulations. The tendency of organizations to become increasingly dominated by small groups of people is the iron law of oligarchy.

Social structures are very essential and important in a society. Groups can be personal or not. Sometimes they are formal, other times they are formal. The world will always have societies with groups. Groups will always be a very important part of a society. 

Chapter 3: Cultural Conformity and Adaption

Every society develops norms that reflects their culture. A society will only work if these norms are enforced and upheld. It is important for a culture to be able to adapt to other cultures while still remaining as a separate culture.

Internalization is the process by which a norm becomes a part of an individual's personality, thus conditioning that individual to conform to a society's expectations. Some people must be reenforced by sanctions, which are rewards or punishments used to enforce conformity to norms. An action that rewards a particular kind of behavior is a positive sanction. Society also employs negative sanctions, which are punishments or the threat of punishment used to enforce conformity. A formal sanction is a reward or punishment given by a formal organization or regulatory agency, such as a school, business, or government. An informal sanction is a spontaneous expression of approval or disapproval given by an individual or group. The enforcing of norms through either internal or external means is called social control.

All cultures change over time. Some cultures change faster than others. There are a few sources of social change, which can cause the culture to change. An ideology is a system of beliefs of ideas that justifies the social, moral, religious, political, or economic interests held by a group or society. A social movement is a long-term conscious effort to promote or prevent social change. The knowledge and tools people use to manipulate their environment is called technology.

A change in size of population could bring about social change. The process of spreading culture traits from one society to another is known as diffusion. Adapting borrowed culture traits is called reformulation. The physical environment provides conditions that may encourage or discourage cultural change. Natural disasters can also produce social and cultural change. Wars and conquests are not as common as the other sources of social change but they bring about the greatest change in the least amount of time.

These are people though, who do not want change to occur and therefore resist cultural change. Ethnocentrism is when people think their ideas or their culture is better than others and so they reject any other idea that is not the same as theirs. Some cultural traits change at the same rate, while others change rapidly, and the transformation of others may take a longer amount of time. This situation is known as cultural lag. A person who is satisfied with the way things are may be resistant to change. They will resist any change that threatens their security or standard of living, they have a vested interest to protect.

All cultures are different. Some take longer to change. But all are capable of change and adaption. It just takes time, even though some will not want the change, sometimes the change is good.

Sometimes the change can cause the culture to expand and become greater.

Chapter 2: Cultural Diversity

Most sociologists believe that humans are not controlled by natural instincts, like animals are. Humans are able to adapt to their surroundings. The methods by which collections of people deal with their environment is the foundation of culture.

Culture consists of all the shared products of human groups. The physical objects that people create and use form a group's material culture. Abstract human creations form a group's non-material culture. A society is a group of interdependent people who have organized in such a way as to share a common culture and feeling of unity.

Culture is both learned and shared. This idea means not everyone in a certain area dresses exactly the same and acts exactly the same. But most people in a certain area will act or dress similarly to the rest. A society's culture consists of not only physical objects but also the rules for using these objects, sometimes referred to as technology. The use of symbols is the basis of human culture. Through symbols, we create culture. One of the most obvious aspects of any culture is its language, which is the organization of written or spoken symbols into standardized system. Language and other symbols are important partly because they allow us to communicate our values to one another and to future generations. Values are the shared beliefs about what is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable. All groups create norms to enforce their cultural values. Folkways are norms that describe socially acceptable behavior but do not have great moral significance attached to them. Mores have great moral significance attached to them. Societies have established punishments for violating mores in order to protect the well-being, these are formalized into laws.

Sociologists examine culture by breaking it down into levels and studying each level separately. The simplest level of culture is the culture trait. A culture trait is an individual tool, act, or belief that is related to a particular situation or need. Individual culture traits combine to form the next level: culture complexes. A culture complex is a cluster of interrelated traits. Culture complexes combine to form larger levels called culture patterns. A culture pattern is the combination of a number of culture complexes into a interrelated whole.

Cultures can differ widely. But we also share things in common. Some of our needs are so basic that all societies must develop certain features to ensure their fulfillment. These common features to all cultures are called cultural universals. There are two different tribal groups in New Guinea, they live in the same area but are very different. The Arapesh are contented, friendly people. Their society is based on complete cooperation. The children grow up in a very loving society. The girls are taken at age 7 or 8 to be married, picked by the fathers. Most marriages consist of one husband and wife. Unlike the Arapesh, the Mundugumor are aggressive. The men are competitive, jealous, and violent. They delight in fighting. The children tend to push their parent away. They receive physical punishments for violating rules made by the community. These two cultures are very different, but they live in the same area. Sociologists would wonder why they were so different and why they stay living in the same area.

The study of variations in cultures presents challenges for social sciences. Culture variations make the differing societies interesting. The tendency to view one's own culture and group as superior is called ethnocentrism. The belief that cultures should be judged by their own standards rather than applying the standards of another culture is cultural relativism. Some groups in society share values, norms, and behaviors that are not shared by the entire population, these groups from a subculture. Sometimes a group rejects the major values, norms, and practices of the larger society and replaces them with a new set cultural patterns. This is called a counterculture.

As we can see, society and differ, it varies. Sometimes it splits into smaller cultures, sometimes the smaller cultures reject the bigger culture. Culture is a very interesting subject. Sociologists find cultures interesting when they differ.  

Chapter 1: Sociology Introduction

As we begin looking at sociology, we discover new things. Sociology brings us to think about society and it's behavior. There are a couple of different perspectives associated with sociology. As well as characteristics of society.

Sociology, itself, is the social science that studies human society and social behavior. Social sciences are the disciplines that study human society in a scientific matter. Sociologists will study social interaction in a scientific way. They will observe how society interacts with the people in and around it. By examining social phenomena, sociologists examine observable facts or events that involve human society, within a group. By using a sociological perspective, people can look beyond commonly held beliefs to the hidden meanings behind human actions. To see a connection between the larger world and your personal life is called sociological imagination.

There are a couple of other social sciences that connect or relate a little to sociology. Anthropology, which is the study of past and present cultures, psychology, which deals with the behavior and thinking of organisms. Social psychology, the study of how social environment affects an individual's behavior, economics, the study of choices people make in an effort to satisfy needs and wants, political science, the examination of the organization and operations of governments, and lastly, history, the study of past events. All these other social sciences can connect to sociology in some way, each has to to with the study of people or society in different ways.

There were five men who had different sociological beliefs or perspectives on society. August Comte focused on social statics, things that stay the same, and social dynamics, things that change. Both having to do with society. Herbert Spencer believed in Social Darwinism, which is “the survival of the fittest,” which in society, only the strong society will survive. Karl Marx believed in the conflict theory, which was the idea that every society will have conflict between the capitalist class and the working class. Èmile Durkheim believed in parts working together to make a function. And Max Weber believed in Verstehen, understanding the meaning individuals attach to their actions, and in ideal type, a description comprised of the essential characteristics of a feature of a society.

A theory is an explanation of the relationship among particular phenomena. Sociologists develop theories and theoretical perspectives. There are three modern perspectives today developed by sociologists. The functionalist perspective is based on the ideas of Comte, Spencer, and Durkheim. They view society as a set of interrelated parts that work together to make a good or stable society. A dysfunction is a negative consequence associated with societal choices. A manifest function is the intended result of the consequence. A latent function is the unintended result. The Conflict perspective focuses on the forces in society that promote change and competition. They follow the traditions of Karl Marx. The Interactionist perspective focuses on how individuals interact with one another in society. Symbols, something that represents something else, are used and observed. How people use symbols when interacting, called symbolic interaction, is used often.

These were the characteristics and perspectives of sociology. Sociology is a social science that focuses on society. Sociology is a very important part of social sciences.