STUDY GUIDE – SECOND EXAM
INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY
SPRING 2002 - KESSLER

The format will be definition and short essay, similar to the first exam.  The exam will cover Chapters 5-8 and Chapter 10 in Macionis (Chapters 11 and 12 will be covered on the final exam) all lecture material and presentations since the first exam, all supplemental readings (see your on-line syllabus), and the following videos: “Quiet Rage”, “Road Warriors”, and Seinfeld clips.

Chapter Five - Socialization:

Be able to explain and contrast the biological (nature), psychological, and sociological perspectives (nurture) on human social development.  Be familiar with the findings from the studies of isolated children and their contribution to the “nature versus nurture” debate.  Understand the fundamental differences between the behaviorists (for example, Watson, Skinner and Pavlov) and the social behaviorists (Cooley and Mead).  Be able to explain the primary assumptions of Mead’s theory of Social Self.  Be familiar with the principal agents of socialization and their importance to the socialization process.

Chapter Six – Social Interaction in Everyday Life:

Be able to define and discuss Goffman’s Dramaturgical Analysis of social interaction.  Understand and be able to explain how gender socialization reproduces inequality in everyday interactions, including demeanor, use of space, expressions, gestures, and language.

Chapter Seven – Groups and Organizations:

Be able to discuss the significance of Asch’s (line experiment) and Milgram’s (teacher-learner experiment) findings they relate to group conformity.  Be able to define bureaucracy and discuss its origins, characteristics, and problems.  Be able to explain what is meant by the “McDonaldization” of society and some of its social implications.

Chapter Eight – Deviance:

Be able to explain and contrast the non-sociological views of deviance with the sociological perspective and its principal premises concerning deviance.  Be familiar with the structural-functional, symbolic interaction, and social conflict analyses of deviance and the major theories within each paradigm.  Be able to discuss how deviance is gendered.  Be able to describe how violent and property crime arrests break down by age, gender, social class, and race, and why.  What accounts for the higher arrest rate among African Americans?  Be able to identify, describe, and critique the four justifications for punishment of criminals.

Chapter 10 – Social Stratification:  

Be able to define social stratification and its four basic principles.  Understand the difference between caste system and class system.  In which system would you find high status consistency and why?  Why is it that hierarchies in societies endure, and that resources are not shared more equally?  Be able to define and discuss the functional and social conflict perspectives on social stratification, including the Davis-Moore thesis, the Marxist analysis, and Weber’s tri-dimensional model of inequality.  What is the difference between class and socioeconomic status (SES)?

Be able to briefly define:

Socialization

Agents of Socialization

Total institutions

Resocialization

Behavioralism

Social behavioralism

Looking-glass self

Mead’s concept of Self

Generalized other

Status

Role

Social construction of Reality

Thomas theorem

The presentation of self (Goffman)

Primary group

Secondary group

Groupthink

Bureaucracy

Bureaucratic ritualism

Bureaucratic inertia

Deviance

Social control

Merton’s (structural) strain theory

Primary and Secondary deviance

Stigma

White-collar crime

Corporate crime

Organized crime

Hate crime

Retribution

Deterrence

Rehabilitation

Societal Protection

Recidivism

Social stratification

Social mobility – intergenerational and intragenerational

Caste system

Class system

Meritocracy

Status consistency

Davis-Moore thesis

Socioeconomic status

The Kuznets Curve