Chapter 1 Sociology the systematic study of human societies Social problem a condition that undermines the well being of some or all members of a society and is usually a matter of public controversy Social problems come into being as people decide an issue as harmful and in need of change Sociological imagination C W Mills The sociological imagination enables us to grasp the relationship of history and connecting personal problem to the workings of society biography within society root of sociology Mills argues that how systems impact individuals and their quality of life is at the Claims making The process of convincing the public and important public officials that a particular issue or situation should be defined as a social problem Claims start when people reject the status quo Success in claims making usually results in a law Social movements a type of group action They are large sometimes informal groupings of individuals or organizations which focus on specific political or social issues In other words they carry out resist or undo a social change Approaches structural functionalism approach sees society as a system of many interrelated parts which serve social functions Social problems arise from rapid changes and disorganization social conflict sees society as divided by inequality and conflict social problems arise between the haves and the have nots or employer vs employee feminism a political movement that seeks social equality for men and women Feminist differs from social conflict in that is focuses on gender inequality symbolic interactionist sees soicety as the product of individuals interacting with one another Social constructionist approach This sociological theory examines the development of jointly constructed understandings By jointly constructed we mean that one person s understanding shapes another person s understanding Understandings aren t developed separately within a person Instead a person develops understandings by using experiences and interactions with other people This makes each person s reality unique Empirical research is a way of gaining knowledge by means of direct and indirect observation or experience Empirical evidence the record of one s direct observations or experiences can be analyzed quantitatively or qualitatively Field research fieldwork is the collection of information outside of a laboratory library or workplace setting Social disorganization theory Too Much Change a breakdown in social order caused by rapid social change Political spectrum a system of classifying different political positions upon one or more geometric axes that symbolize independent political dimensions Additional Social institutions major spheres of social life or societal sub systems organized to meet basic human need Social policy the enactment of a course of action through a formal law or program Social innovation a unique approach to a social problem which can take the form of a social policy or program Agency the amount of freedom that an indivudal or institution has in its actions within the confines of the system or society Chapter 2 Income vs wealth yearly wages vs the value of assets owned Wealth inequality is greater than income inequality but difficult to study Income inequality Currently increasing to levels similar to the Great Depression of the 1920 s Poverty line an income level set by the U S government for the purpose of counting the poor 2012 23 492 was the poverty line for a family of four Children 35 of the U S poor Almost half of these children live in families that earn only 50 of the poverty line household income less than 12 000 a year for a family of 4 Poverty gap difference between the actual income of the typical poor household and the poverty line In 2012 the most recent year for which data are available the poverty threshold for a family of four was 23 492 The official national poverty rate was 15 0 percent There were 46 5 million people in poverty Feminization of poverty is the concept that describes the idea that women represent disproportionate percentages of the world s poor The majority of the 1 5 billion people living on 1 dollar a day or less are women In addition the gap between women and men caught in the cycle of poverty has continued to widen in the past decade a phenomenon commonly referred to as the feminization of poverty Underclass the lowest social stratum in a country or community consisting of the poor and unemployed Cultural capital Ideas and knowledge that people draw upon as they participate in social life Cultural tastes and knowledge ex Ways of talking acting socializing language practices values types of dress and behavior How to Marry the Rich video example 3 theories perspective view of income inquality class poverty Social conflict theory Symbolic interactionist Functionalist theory Views the operation of society how it functions as the source of inequality Rejects the idea that poverty results from individual flaws Individual micro level tries to understand how individuals view and understand the poor and how those views are constructed Some inequality is useful for the operation of society Certain jobs require more talent than others which causes rewards to vary Gans 1971 critique inequality is useful but only to affluent people Feminist Approach Analyzes why women make up and increasing share of the poor Single parent families headed by women with no father 41 in poverty vs headed by men with no mother 23 Intersectional inequality of race class and gender Social stratification society s system of ranking categories of people in a hierarchy Social classes categories of people who have similar access to resources and possibilities Elite Upper Middle Working Below poverty Underclass Additional Chapter 3 Race is not biological socially constructed category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of society define as important Europeans began using race to categorize groups of people in the 1500 s into Caucasian Negroid and Mongoloid Racial categories have no scientific evidence they are a social categorization No biologically pure races Colorblind racism While the majority of U S citizens no longer claim to be racist the claim that racial categories are invisible equal and that racism doesn t exist is colorblind racism which maintains racial inequalities Ethnicity is shared cultural characteristics ancestry heritage Minorities any category of people identified by physical or