Concept Summary

Sociology: Theories and Institutions

• Theoretical approaches provide frameworks for the interactions we observe within society.

  • Functionalism focuses on the function of each component of society and how those components fit together. Manifest functions are deliberate actions that serve to help a given system; latent functions are unexpected, unintended, or unrecognized positive consequences of manifest functions.
  • Conflict theory focuses on how power differentials are created and how these differentials contribute to the maintenance of social order.
  • Symbolic interactionism is the study of the ways individuals interact through a shared understanding of words, gestures, and other symbols.
  • Social constructionism explores the ways in which individuals and groups make decisions to agree upon a given social reality.
  • Rational choice theory states that individuals will make decisions that maximize potential benefit and minimize potential harm; exchange theory applies rational choice theory within social groups.
  • Feminist theory explores the ways in which one gender can be subordinated, minimized, or devalued compared to the other.
• Social institutions are well-established social structures that dictate certain patterns of behavior or relationships and are accepted as a fundamental part of culture. Common social institutions include the family, education, religion, government and the economy, and health and medicine.

• There are four key ethical tenets of American medicine.

  • Beneficence refers to acting in the patient’s best interest.
  • Nonmaleficence refers to avoiding treatments for which risk is larger than benefit.
  • Respect for autonomy refers to respecting patients’ rights to make decisions about their own healthcare.
  • Justice refers to treating similar patients similarly and distributing healthcare resources fairly.

Culture

• Culture encompasses the lifestyle of a group of people and includes both material and symbolic elements.

  • Material culture includes the physical items one associates with a given group, such as artwork, emblems, clothing, jewelry, foods, buildings, and tools.
  • Symbolic culture includes the ideas associated with a cultural group.
• Cultural lag refers to the idea that material culture changes more quickly than symbolic culture.
• A cultural barrier is a social difference that impedes interaction.
• Language consists of spoken or written symbols combined into a system and governed by rules.
• A value is what a person deems important in life.
• A belief is something a person considers to be true.
• A ritual is a formalized ceremonial behavior in which members of a group or community regularly engage. It is governed by specific rules, including appropriate behavior and a predetermined order of events.
• Norms are societal rules that define the boundaries of acceptable behavior.
• There is evidence that culture flows from evolutionary principles, and that culture can also influence evolution.

Demographics

• Demographics refer to the statistics of populations and are the mathematical applications of sociology. One can analyze hundreds of demographic variables; some of the most common are age, gender, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and immigration status.

  • Ageism is prejudice or discrimination on the basis of a person’s age.
  • Gender is the set of behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with a biological sex. Gender inequality is the intentional or unintentional empowerment of one gender to the detriment of the other.
  • Race is a social construct based on phenotypic differences between groups of people; these may be either real or perceived differences.
  • Ethnicity is also a social construct that sorts people by cultural factors, including language, nationality, religion, and other factors. Symbolic ethnicity is recognition of an ethnic identity that is only relevant on special occasions or in specific circumstances and does not specifically impact everyday life.
  • Sexual orientation can be defined by one’s sexual interest toward members of the same, opposite, or both sexes.
  • Immigration is the movement into a new geographic area. Emigration is the movement away from a geographic area.
• A fertility rate is the average number of children born to a woman during her lifetime in a population. A birth rate is relative to a population size over time, usually measured as the number of births per 1000 people per year.
• A mortality rate is the average number of deaths per population size over time, usually measured as the number of deaths per 1000 people per year.
• Migration refers to the movement of people from one geographic location to another.
• Demographic transition is a model used to represent drops in birth and death rates as a result of industrialization.
• Social movements are organized to either promote (proactive) or resist (reactive) social change.
• Globalization is the process of integrating a global economy with free trade and tapping of foreign labor markets.
• Urbanization refers to the process of dense areas of population creating a pull for migration or, in other words, creating cities.