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Major Social Problems
Class focussing on the dominant social issues in todays world.
56
Sociology
Undergraduate 1
10/02/2010

Additional Sociology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
social problem
Definition
social situations that a large number of observers feel were innapropriate and need remedying
Term
problem individuals
Definition
Deviants who violate the expectations of society.  Due to the environmental surroundings and being labeled "abnormal"
Term
Two types of Social Problems
Definition

1. Norm violations (powerful people and and public decide what are considered social problems)

2. Social conditions (stray away from individuals and concentrate on society as whole)

Term
Self-actualization
Definition
The need for creative and constructive involvement of productive, significant activity. (Maslow's heirarchy of needs)
Term
Institutionalized devience
Definition

When a society and its formal organizations are not meeting the needs of individuals

*Escapes criticism and is rarely idnetified as a social problem

Term
The Sociological Imagination
Definition

  • view world from perspective of others
  • focuses on the social, economic, and historical circumstances that produce the problem
  • see things on an individual level but at societal level as well
  • be able to question the arrangements that shapes social behavior

Term
Person-blame
Definition
the individual is at fault for a social problem
Term
System-blame
Definition
the system or deviants are blames for a social problem
Term
Cultural deprivation
Definition
implies that the culture of the group in question is not only inferior but also deficient (majority vs. minority)
Term
Recidivism
Definition
The reinvolvement of crime
Term
Social-Darwinism
Definition
the placement of people in the stratification system is a function of their ability and effort.  (The rich are rich because they deserve to be)
Term
3 components of Capitalism
Definition

1. Private ownership of property

2. Profit

3. Competition

Term
Socialism
Definition
an economic system where the means of production are owned by the people for their collective benefits.
Term
5 principles of Socialism
Definition

1. Democratism

2. Egalitarianism (equal opprotunity for all, share benefits in society)

3.Community (ex. universal health care)

4. Public ownership

5. Planning (goal is to run the economy for the good of society)

Term
Shared monopoly
Definition
When four or fewers companies supply 50% of more of a particular market
Term
Interlocking directorates
Definition
The interlocking linkage between corporations that results when an individual serves on the board of directories for two companies (direct) or when two companies each have a director on board of a third company (indirect).
Term
Oligarchy
Definition

A government is run by a group of few very powerful people.

It is said this is what the US is turning into.

Term
Plutocracy
Definition
A government that is run by or in the interest of the rich.
Term
Democracy
Definition
A political system that is of, by, and for the people.  There is equality and decisions are made to maximize the common good.
Term
Power Elite
Definition
People who occupy the power rolls in society.  They are either wealthy or represent the wealthy.
Term
Systematic Imperatives
Definition
The bias that pressures the gov to do certain things and not other things.
Term
Power
Definition
The ability to get what one wants from someone else, by force, authority, manipulation, or persuasion.
Term
Fertility rate
Definition
The average number of births per woman.
Term
3 ways to reduce fertility rate
Definition

  1. Economic development
  2. Family-planning programs
  3. Social change

Term
Modern Demographic Transition
Definition
A three stage pattern of population change occuring as societies industrialize and urbanize, resulting ultimately in a low and stable growth rate. (agriculture, transition, and later transition stages)
Term
Agriculture Stage
Definition
Both birth and death rates are high, resulting in a low population growth rate.
Term
Transition Stage
Definition

birth rates remain high but death rates decrease because of medicine, increase of hygiene, safe water, and better diets

*most societies

Term
Later Transition Stage
Definition
Societies become more urban and traditional customs have less of a hold, birthrates decline, slowly the population will stop (Europe+Japan)
Term
What is the most significant societal change that needs to be made to reduce fertility rate?
Definition
Change the role of women.  Fertility rates drop when a woman gains opprotunities and a voice in society.
Term
Absolute poverty
Definition
(extreme poverty) People who make less than $1 a day.  More than 3 in 10 people are in this category.
Term
Life chances
Definition

the changes throughout one's life cycle to live and experience the good things in life.

*Maldistribution in life chances between developed and developing nations

Term
Primary problem of food and hunger
Definition
Inequality of control over productive resources- most land is controlled by a small elite.
Term
New Slavery
Definition

Loss of freedom, exploitation of people for profit, control of slaves through violence or threat.

*27 million slaves today

*Parents sell their children for as little as $15 in hopes of giving them a better life.

Term
Colony
Definition
A territory controlled by a powerful country that exploits the land and the people for its own benefit.
Term
Corporate dumping
Definition
The exporting of goods that have either been banned or not approved for sale in US because they are dangerous.
Term
3 Negative effects of corporate dumping
Definition

  1. Poses serious health hazards
  2. Contributes to the anit-US feelings in host countries
  3. Boomerang effect if brought back to US, can harm us

Term
Environmental justice
Definition
A movement to improve community environments by eliminating toxic hazards.
Term
Environmental racism
Definition
The overwhelming likelihood that toxic-producing plants and toxic waste dumps are located where poor people, especially people of color, live.
Term
Alternatives to dumping in landfills
Definition

  1. Dump in ocean :(
  2. Reprocess trash to its original form or convert to new product
  3. Incarcerate garbage
  4. Recycle!

Term
Consequences of fossil fuel dependence
Definition

1. Give extreme wealth to the elites

2. Most nations need to export oil (carried across ocean, damages + pollutes oceanlife)

3. The emission of carbon dioxide, which adds to climate change.

Term
Greenhouse effect
Definition
When harmful gases accumulate in the atomosphere and act like a glass roof of a greenhouse.
Term
Corna Copia view of nature
Definition

Belief that nature is a vast + bountiful storehouse to be used by human beings.

*abuses the environment

Term
Planned obsolescence
Definition
Manufacturing and selling goods designed to wear out or become out of fashion.
Term
Deferred gratification
Definition
Sacrifice present gains for future wants.
Term
Environmental classism
Definition
The poor, because of dangerous jobs and residential segregation, are exposed to more of environmental dangers.
Term
Assimilation
Definition
The process by which individuals or groups adopt the culture of another group, losing their original identity.
Term
Demography
Definition
The study of the population.
Term
Regressive tax
Definition
Taxing at a set percentage, which takes a larger proportion of the wealth from the poor than from the nonpoor.
Term
Dependency ratio
Definition
The proportion of the population who work compared to the proportion who do not work.
Term
Therapeutic care
Definition
The approach in a health facility that focuses on meeting the needs of residents.
Term
Custodial care
Definition
The approach in the health facility that focuses on meeting the needs of the institution, resulting in poor-quality care for the patients.
Term
Beanpole family structure
Definition
A family structure in which the number of living generations within linkages increases, but there is an intergenerational contraction in the number of members within each generation.
Term
Sandwhich generation
Definition
Where parents care for both their parents and their children at the same time.
Term
Ageism
Definition
The devaluation of and the discrimination against the elderly.
Term
Human agency
Definition
People are agents and actors who cope with, adapt to, and change societal structures to meet their needs.
Term
Disengagement
Definition
The response by some people to the aging process of retreating from relationships, organizations, and society.
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