Summary Topic: Intro to Sociology

1. Dr. James Reblando

2. Society – a group of people who share a culture and a
territory.
Social Structure – the framework or typical patterns
that surrounds us, consisting of the relationships of
people and groups to one another, which gives direction
to and sets limits on behavior such as its usual
relationships between men and women or students and
teachers.
The sociological significance of social structure is that
it guides our behavior.
Social stratification refers to a system by which a
society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. In the
United States, it is perfectly clear that some groups
have greater status, power, and wealth than other
groups.
A social class (or, simply,
class), as in class society,
is a set of subjectively
defined concepts in the
social sciences and
political theory centered
on models of social
stratification in which
people are grouped into a
set of hierarchical social
categories, the most
common being the upper,
middle, and lower
classes.
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3. In the social sciences, a social group has been defined
as two or more people who interact with one another,
share similar characteristics, and collectively have a
sense of unity. Other theorists disagree however, and
are wary of definitions which stress the importance of
interdependence or objective similarity.
Researchers within the social identity tradition
generally define Social Group as "a group is defined in
terms of those who identify themselves as members of
the group". Regardless, social groups come in a myriad
of sizes and varieties. For example, a society can be
viewed as a large social group.
Social Class as a large group of people who rank closely
to one another in property, power, and prestige. These
three elements separate people into different lifestyles,
give them different chances in life, and provide them
with distinct ways of looking at the self and the world
1. Property – e.g. buildings, land,
stocks, bonds, businesses, bank
accounts, etc.
2. Power – the ability to get your
way, even over the resistance of
others .
Power Elite – C. Wright Mills’ term for the
top people in U.S corporations, military
and politics who make the nation’s major
decisions
3. Prestige - Respect or regard.
***Distinguish Between Wealth and
Income?
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4. Types of groups can
be identified:
An ethnic group or ethnicity is a category of people who identify
with each other based on similarities such as common ancestral,
language, social, cultural or national experiences. Unlike other
social groups (wealth, age, hobbies), ethnicity is often an
inherited status based on the society in which one lives. In some
cases, it can be adopted if a person moves into another society.
Membership of an ethnic group tends to be defined by a shared
cultural heritage, ancestry, origin myth, history, homeland,
language or dialect, symbolic systems such as religion,
mythology and ritual, cuisine, dressing style, art, and physical
appearance.
Ethnic groups, derived from the same historical founder
population, often continue to speak related languages and share
a similar gene pool. By way of language shift, acculturation,
adoption and religious conversion, it is sometimes possible for
individuals or groups to leave one ethnic group and become part
of another (except for ethnic groups emphasizing racial purity as
a key membership criterion).
1. Ethno-linguistic, emphasizing
shared language, dialect (and
possibly script) – example: Slavs
2. Ethno-national, emphasizing a
shared polity or sense of national
identity – example: Iraqis
3. Ethno-racial, emphasizing
shared physical appearance based
on genetic origins – example:
African Americans
4. Ethno-regional, emphasizing a
distinct local sense of belonging
stemming from relative
geographic isolation – example:
South Islanders
5. Ethno-religious, emphasizing
shared affiliation with a
particular religion, denomination
or sect – example: Sikhs
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5. Ethnicity is often used synonymously with ambiguous
terms such as nation or people. In English, it can also
have the connotation of something exotic, generally
related to cultures of more recent immigrants, who
arrived after the founding population of an area was
established.
The largest ethnic groups in modern times comprise
hundreds of millions of individuals (Han Chinese being
the largest), while the smallest are limited to a few
dozen individuals. Larger ethnic groups may be
subdivided into smaller sub-groups known variously as
tribes or clans, which over time may become separate
ethnic groups themselves due to endogamy or physical
isolation from the parent group. Conversely, formerly
separate ethnicities can merge to form a pan-ethnicity,
and may eventually merge into one single ethnicity.
Whether through division or amalgamation, the
formation of a separate ethnic identity is referred to as
ethnogenesis.
Race and ethnicity are
considered to be related
concepts. Ethnicity is
often assumed to be
somewhat more of a
cultural identity of a
group, often based on
shared ancestry,
language and cultural
tradition, while race is
assumed to be strictly a
biological classification,
based on DNA and bone
structure.
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6. Ramón Grosfoguel (University of California,
Berkeley) argues that 'racial/ethnic identity'
is one concept and that concepts of race and
ethnicity cannot be used as separate and
autonomous categories.
Before Weber, race and ethnicity were
primarily seen as two aspects of the same
thing. Around 1900 and before, the cultural
differences between peoples were seen as
being the result of inherited traits and
tendencies. With Weber's introduction of the
view of ethnicity as a social construct, race
and ethnicity became more divided from each
other.
1. Africa
2. Asia
3. Europe
4. North America
5. South America
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7. Consequence of Social Class:
1. Family life: social class plays makes a significant
difference in family life, in our choice of spouse, our
chances of getting divorced, and how we rear our
children.
2. Education – education increases as one goes up the
social class ladder. It is not just the amount of
education that changes, but also the type of
education. Children of the capitalist class bypass
public schools. They attend exclusive private
schools where they are trained to take a
commanding role in society.
3. Religion – social classes tend to cluster in different
denominations. E.g. Episcopalians – attract middle
and upper classes. Baptists draw heavily from the
lower class. MSU – prefer muslims. SU or BC –
prefer UCCP
Social class
1. Capitalist
2. Upper middle
3. Lower middle
4. Working
5. Working poor
6. Underclass
*** See table 10.5 for more details
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8. 6/21/2017Dr. James Reblando 8

9. Social Effects:
LEDC's - Pressure on land as more people move in. Conflicts of
cultures from migrants can lead to civil wars. Pressure on medical
systems and schools.
MEDC's - Lack of skilled workers due to ageing populations.
Pressure on medical system.
Economic Effects:
LEDC's - Lack of money for services due to strain on government
MEDC's - Fewer people to work so higher taxes need to be paid to
cover costs of pensions and medical care.
Political Effects:
LEDC's - Government are not able to finance growing population
or provide work for them so informal sector becomes dominant
MEDC's - Government forced to charge people more taxes to
cover growing costs of an elderly population
Please check this YouTube for
your additional information
about effects of population:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CZ
5tfftAZ4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsB
T5EQt348
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10. Managing rapid population growth
A large population has many effects. It’s not always “the more the merrier”:
1. Social
Services like healthcare and education can’t cope with the rapid increase
Children have to work to help support their large families
There aren’t enough houses for everyone, so people are forced to live in makeshift houses
There are food shortages if the country can’t grow or import enough food
2. Economic
There aren’t enough jobs for the number of people in the country so unemployment rises
There’s increased poverty because more people are born into families that are already poor and have no jobs
More young people working means staff with short hours
3. Political
Most of the population is made up of young people so the government focuses on policies important to the young.
There are fewer older people so pensions become less important to the government
The government has to make policies to bring population growth under control
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11. David B. Brinkerhoff, et al “Essentials of Sociology” 9th edition
James M. Henslin, “Sociology” 10th edition.
Thank you…
7/20/2017Prepared by: Dr. James Reblando 11