Core Themes in Sociology (AQA A Level Sociology): Flashcards

Values are deeply held principles or standards that people in society consider important and desirable, e.g. family life and educational achievement.

Socialisation is the process through which children learn to be effective members of society, as adults pass down key norms, values, beliefs and traditions.

Sociologists tend to support the nurture side, arguing that behaviour is learnt by observing and imitating role models such as parents.

Feral children are children who have experienced little or no human contact during their early years.

The case of Genie shows that people are not born knowing how to live in a culture; they have to learn it from the people around them.

Primary socialisation is the socialisation that takes place in the early years of life within the family.

Parents often use positive and negative sanctions to reinforce primary socialisation.

False.

Secondary socialisation takes place outside the family, through agencies such as education, peer groups, mass media and religion.

Education is the most important agency of secondary socialisation because children spend over 10 years learning knowledge and skills at school.

Gender role socialisation is the part of socialisation in which children learn 'appropriate' masculine and feminine behaviour.

The hidden curriculum teaches the attitudes and behaviours that enable children to progress in society.

False.

In the 19th century, religion played a central role in teaching cultural norms and values, and church attendance was far higher than it is today.

Two examples of new media that influence socialisation are smartphones and social media networks; the internet is another.

Identity is how we understand and describe who we are, both in our own eyes and in the eyes of others.

Identity includes our personal traits, our social roles and the groups we belong to.

The self is a person's inner sense of who they are, including their awareness of their own thoughts, feelings and uniqueness.

False.

Identity is influenced by both social forces and individual choices.

Some sociological theories argue that social identities are imposed on us by the social structure.

Social identity is how others see and define a person within society, including how they handle the expectations of their social roles.

In the UK, the kind of job we have or how much we earn may lead others to see us as working class or middle class.

Social action theory and postmodernism argue that people use free will to play an active role in creating their identity.

True.

Socialisation partly shapes both parts of identity, while individual choices also play a role.

People can express their identity through choices such as the clothes they wear and the music they listen to; tattoos and piercings are other examples.

The self affects how a person expresses themselves to others; e.g. someone who sees themselves as confident may come across as outgoing.

Social differentiation is how society divides people into categories such as age, gender, class, ethnicity or occupation.

Social differentiation often results in social stratification, where some groups hold more power and privilege while others are marginalised.

Status is the level of respect, prestige or social standing a person holds in society.

Gender is a basis of social differentiation because society often expects different roles and behaviours from men and women; e.g. women earn less than men on average.

Status that a person is given at birth, such as membership of the royal family, is ascribed status.

One example of social differentiation based on ethnicity in the UK is that people from Black or Asian backgrounds are more likely to be stopped and searched by police.

False.

Achieved status is earned through effort or success, e.g. becoming a doctor, athlete or artist.

One example of social differentiation based on social class is that children from low-income families are less likely to attend top universities because of financial barriers and limited support.

The hierarchical system affects who gets access to resources, opportunities and influence.

True.

Differences in status create inequalities in areas such as income, healthcare, life expectancy and mortality rates.

One example of social differentiation based on disability is that a lack of accessible buildings or transport can prevent disabled people from fully participating in work or social life.

One example of age differentiation in the workplace is that young people may struggle to find full-time employment, while older people may face age discrimination in the workplace.

Stratification is the hierarchical layering of society into distinct groups.

Stratification involves inequality in the distribution of wealth, income, status and power.

Wealth is the ownership of assets, such as property, land, shares and money in savings accounts.

True.

Income includes money from work or other sources plus non-cash benefits, such as use of a company car.

Social class is seen as the main form of stratification in the UK today.

The Registrar General's scale distinguished between manual and non-manual occupations.

Power is the ability of an individual or group to get what they want despite opposition from others, e.g. getting a law passed.

The Registrar General's scale was abandoned because it did not include retired or unemployed people, people living off inherited wealth or people dependent on welfare benefits.

False.

The NS-SEC, first used in 2001, is based on occupation but includes unemployed people.

The NS-SEC groups occupations with similar rewards from work, employment status and levels of authority and control.

Ascribed status is a social position that is fixed at birth and does not change over time, e.g. being born into the royal family.

The difference is that in an open system, position is achieved and social mobility can occur, whereas in a closed system, position is ascribed and mobility is less likely.

The caste system in India is a form of stratification linked to the Hindu religion.

Inequality between castes was justified as stemming from religious beliefs.