Chapter 4 Social Structure True or False 1. Social structure exerts no influence on the lives of individuals. Answer: False 2. Rich people work harder and take better advantage of opportunities than poor people. Answer: False 3. New Orleans, in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, was a society with a greatly weakened social structure. Answer: True 4. All societies have social hierarchies. Answer: True 5. Social hierarchies are based only on class, race, ethnicity, religion, education, region, and gender. Answer: False 6. Where we stand in key social hierarchies has a huge bearing on our lives and life chances. Answer: True 7. The feminist movement of the 1970s and 1980s has effectively eliminated the glass ceiling that bars women from high-level managerial positions in business. Answer: False 8. In sociological terms, power and privilege are the same thing. Answer: False 9. Stereotypes rarely result in discrimination against subordinate groups unless the force of law is behind them. Answer: False 10. Populations most commonly change over time as a result of immigration. Answer: True 11. Changes in the mix of racial and ethnic groups have been a constant challenge throughout American history, largely as the result of immigration. Answer: True 12. The "Great Migration" is a term used to describe a wave of immigration, beginning in 1965, as large numbers of people crossed over the southern border into United States from Mexico and Central America. Answer: False 13. Contrary to popular belief, it was necessary for people born in the 1940s to have a college degree in order to find a decent job by the time they reached their early 20s. Answer: False 14. Changes in population size matter for an individual's life chances. Answer: True 15. The unemployment rate in Detroit peaked at 35 percent in the years following the decline of the automobile industry. Answer: False 16. An institution, as sociologists define it, must be centrally located and occupy a physical building. Answer: False 17. If an idea lasts long enough and becomes widespread, it will then become institutionalized. Answer: True 18. Large formal organizations are social networks united by a common purpose. Answer: True 19. Adolf Hitler's Germany and Josef Stalin's Soviet Union are not considered states by sociological standards. Answer: False 20. Socialization is the process through which we are taught and trained to behave in society or in particular social settings. Answer: True 21. Members of different social classes teach their members different kinds of ways of living. Answer: True 22. Modern sociologists have completely refuted the antiquated concept of free will. Answer: False 23. One of the hallmark features of social structures is their endurance. Answer: True 24. What happened in our past does not impact what happens today or in our future. Answer: False 25. Once a particular element of social structure comes to be established, it often will generate its own interest groups. Answer: True Multiple Choice 1. What is social structure? A. a collection of rules that dictate how individuals behave B. a collection of sociological theories that rely on examining the difference between rich and poor C. a collection of forces that serve as the foundation of society D. a collection of social phenomena that enforce egalitarian principles Answer: C 2. Which of the following best illustrates a breakdown in social structure? A. Wall Street after the housing market crashed B. New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina C. a home after a house fire D. a parking lot after a sporting event Answer: B 3. How quickly does social structure tend to change? A. Social structure is highly volatile and changes very quickly. B. Social structure is durable but changes moderately quickly. C. Social structure changes over time but tends to do so very slowly. D. Social structure is incapable of change. Answer: C 4. What characteristic is a crucial part of what gives social structures their power? A. their durability B. their flexibility C. their physicality D. their interactivity Answer: A 5. What two components make up social structure? A. social hierarchy and institutional environments B. social inequality and structuralism C. social institutions and social arrangements D. social trends and traditions Answer: A 6. What is social hierarchy? A. the status a person acquires as a result of merit B. social arrangements in which some groups or individuals are elevated above others C. a system of social arrangements that make society more egalitarian D. a group of people who control a given social institution Answer: B 7. Most societies in the world today contain __________ hierarchies. A. one dominant and several subordinate B. only one or two C. many D. some visible and some invisible Answer: C 8. Differences in endowments and valued goods, such as incomes, status, and well-being, held by individuals or families define __________. A. inequality B. realism C. Marxism D. capitalism Answer: A 9. Which of the following statements regarding social hierarchy and life chances is true? A. Where we stand in key social hierarchies is inconsequential to life chances. B. Where we stand in key social hierarchies has a huge bearing on life chances. C. Where we stand in key social hierarchies as an adult, but not as a child, has a huge bearing on life chances. D. Where we stand in key social hierarchies is generally arbitrary and has an equally arbitrary bearing on life chances. Answer: B 10. Your position in key social hierarchies is likely to have the least impact on __________. A. how well you do in school B. whether or not you attend college C. your eventual occupation D. your preference for McDonald's or Wendy's hamburgers Answer: D 11. What is intergenerational mobility? A. the movement of individuals from one part of the country to another as they age B. the movement of individuals from the social position of their parents into one of their own as adults C. the movement of individuals through life's key stages, from infancy forward D. the movement of individuals from one social class to another Answer: B 12. The barrier against the advancement of which group is typically called a glass ceiling? A. homosexuals B. African Americans C. women D. low-income men Answer: C 13. Currently only __________ percent (approximately) of Fortune 500 companies' CEOs are women. A. 3 B. 8 C. 12 D. 15 Answer: A 14. Members of more powerful groups __________. A. work harder than others B. work less than others C. have advantages over others D. have no advantages over others Answer: C 15. How do sociologists define power? A. the ability to influence the behavior of others B. the financial means to acquire resources C. membership in dominant hierarchies D. the ability to claim rewards Answer: A 16. Privilege confers which kind of power on an individual's ability to seize opportunities and rewards? A. legal B. market C. amalgamation D. monopoly Answer: D 17. How is privilege most commonly maintained? A. with money B. through discrimination C. by means of gated neighbourhoods D. through apartheid Answer: B 18. Dominant groups use __________ to control opportunities and reduce or eliminate challenges from subordinate groups. A. informal means B. legal means C. informal and legal means D. neither informal nor legal means Answer: C 19. In modern democratic societies, legal forms of discrimination are likely to face challenges from subordinate groups through all of the following means EXCEPT __________. A. social protest B. legal action C. political action D. natural science Answer: D 20. Which of the following barriers to equal opportunity is legal in the United States? A. restrictions on women in managerial roles B. restrictions on women in combat roles C. restrictions on college admission based on race D. restrictions on college admission based on income Answer: B 21. When explicit legal restrictions on discrimination of subordinate groups have been repealed, why do inequalities remain? A. Subordinate groups are slower than dominant groups to assert legal rights. B. Dominant groups enact new legislative barriers to equality. C. Dominant groups can still assert their power through a variety of informal means. D. Subordinate groups have no effective means through which to assert their power. Answer: C 22. When are stereotypes most likely to enable discrimination? A. when stereotypes are widely held by the dominant group and others B. when stereotypes are based on gender rather than race C. when stereotypes are based on fact D. when stereotypes disproportionately affect one subordinate group Answer: A 23. Demography is the study of __________. A. democracy B. personality C. population size D. power relations Answer: C 24. How do populations most commonly change over time? A. through immigration B. through reproduction C. through legal mandates D. through intergenerational mobility Answer: A 25. Two waves of high immigration to the United States are commonly recognized. What are they? A. inflows of immigrants from Europe in the 1880s and in the 1920s B. inflows of immigrants from Europe between the 1880s and the 1920s, and from Mexico, Central America, and Asia beginning in the 1960s C. inflows of immigrants from Mexico and Central America in the 1920s and in the 1960s D. inflows of immigrants from Europe in the 1880s, and from the American South to cities in the North in the 1920s Answer: B 26. What was the leading reason for immigration to the United States from the 1880s to the 1920s? A. jobs in agriculture B. jobs in manufacturing C. escape from religious persecutions D. escape from political persecutions Answer: B 27. The "Great Migration" refers to the movement of which group of Americans? A. Latino Americans B. African Americans C. senior citizens D. migrant farmers Answer: B 28. How did the American economy shift between 1850 and 1950? A. from farming to service B. from manufacturing to agriculture C. from agriculture to manufacturing D. from manufacturing to service Answer: C 29. What percentage of the American workforce was engaged in farm labor in the 1850s? A. over 50 percent B. over 40 percent C. approximately 35 percent D. approximately 25 percent Answer: B 30. Since the decline of manufacturing in the 1970s and 1980s, what has replaced manufacturing jobs in the American economy? A. service sector jobs B. agricultural jobs C. high-tech jobs D. work-at-home jobs Answer: A 31. Which word accurately describes the decline in manufacturing jobs in America in the late 1970s and 1980s? A. rapid B. slow C. steady D. imperceptible Answer: A 32. Jobs in the service sector comprise __________. A. nonmanagerial technical work in a wide range of industries B. high-skill professional work in a wide range of industries C. low-skill work in a wide range of industries D. high-paying and low-paying work in a wide range of industries Answer: D 33. When groups become more equal in size, competition between them for jobs, housing, romantic partners, etc., __________. A. stabilizes B. decreases C. intensifies D. ends Answer: C 34. The dominant group in a society is __________ A. always a population majority B. always a population minority C. never a population minority D. sometimes a population minority Answer: D 35. Where was the legal system known as apartheid instituted? A. North Korea B. South Africa C. the United States D. Germany Answer: B 36. The dominant group in South Africa during the long period of apartheid was ___________. A. a numerical minority of South Africans B. a numerical majority of South Africans C. a mixed-race minority of South Africans D. a mixed-race majority of South Africans Answer: A 37. The population decline in Detroit over the past couple of decades has stemmed from __________. A. a decrease in manufacturing sector jobs B. an increase in the crime rate C. a negative birth rate D. tax incentives Answer: A 38. What are institutions? A. enduring customs and concrete organizations B. enduring customs, such as marriage C. concrete organizations, such as schools D. enduring customs, concrete organizations, and members of social groups Answer: A 39. Which of the following is NOT a social institution? A. marriage B. schools C. role models D. government Answer: C 40. When ideas are passed down from one generation to another, they begin to solidify, become accepted, and then become __________. A. obsolete B. taboo C. dominant D. institutionalized Answer: D 41. All of the following are recognized as evidence of the institutionalization of religion EXCEPT __________. A. the development of religious texts B. ideas about how the world began C. the construction of places of worship D. the systematized spread of religious beliefs Answer: B 42. When did education and learning become institutionalized? A. when teachers began to think of themselves as professionals B. when taboos against teaching began to disappear C. when a curriculum was established D. when social elites began to send their children to schools Answer: C 43. __________ are social networks unified by a common purpose. A. Institutions B. Organizations C. Families D. Regimes Answer: B 44. What, in terms of the power of the state, do the regimes of Hitler and Stalin illustrate? A. that weakly organized states produce brutal dictators B. that dictators seek validation for their actions from other dictators C. that democracies exercise less state power than dictatorships D. that, in extreme cases, states choose who lives and who dies Answer: D 45. What is the welfare state? A. social assistance programs that address poverty and equality in the developing world B. the bundle of government policies and programs in socialist countries that address poverty and inequality C. social insurance and social assistance policies and programs that address poverty and inequality D. the bundle of government policies and programs that address poverty and inequality, including social insurance and social assistance policies and programs Answer: D 46. In sociological terms, what is a role? A. a team member's position within an institution or organization B. a position within an institution or organization that comes with specific expectations for what to do and how to behave C. a position within an institution or organization that comes with a specific title D. a high-status position within an institution or organization Answer: B 47. Why do organizations establish roles? A. They establish roles to ensure the allegiance of their members. B. They establish roles to ensure the survival of the organization. C. They establish roles because it is generally an efficient way to organize things. D. They establish roles to comply with government regulations. Answer: C 48. Which of the following is NOT a key stage in a life course? A. dying B. retiring C. leaving fourth grade D. entering a committed relationship Answer: C 49. What word do sociologists use to describe movement from one role to another over the course of a life? A. tracking B. transitioning C. transferring D. exiting Answer: B 50. These are the basic rules of society that help us know what is and what is not appropriate to do in any situation. A. roles B. laws C. norms D. mores Answer: C 51. How do norms differ from laws? A. Norms are generally not written down. B. Violations of norms have few consequences. C. Norms are unambiguous. D. Norms constrain personal behavior, not social behavior. Answer: A 52. What do norms and laws have in common? A. Both norms and laws have consequences if violated. B. Both norms and laws are explicit. C. Both norms and laws are written down. D. Neither norms nor laws are capable of changing over time. Answer: A 53. Of the following behaviours, which is least likely to be considered a norm violation? A. talking too loud in a movie theatre B. physically assaulting a police officer C. leaving a public restroom without washing your hands D. standing too close to strangers at the bus stop Answer: B 54. What is the process through which people learn to behave in society or in particular social settings? A. memorization B. experimentation C. localization D. socialization Answer: D 55. Where does the process of socialization typically begin? A. in communities B. in families C. in schools D. in peer groups Answer: B 56. Which of the following is NOT associated with childhood socialization? A. games B. tests C. zoning laws D. sports Answer: C 57. Which theorist is credited with enlarging the scope of class to include more things than just money? A. Pierre Bourdieu B. W. E. B. Du Bois C. Karl Marx D. Adam Przeworski Answer: A 58. People who are socialized to the same norms __________. A. make the same moral judgments B. have the same tastes C. respond to identical incentives in predictable ways D. behave in different and occasionally unpredictable ways Answer: D 59. What argument do structuralists make about human behavior? A. They argue that social structure is the primary determinant of behavior. B. They argue that behavior is inherently irrational. C. They argue that behavior is self-interested and rational. D. They argue that attitudes structure behavior. Answer: A 60. In sociological terms, what is agency? A. Agency is the capacity of organizations to attract members. B. Agency is the capacity of individuals to engage in agenda setting. C. Agency is the capacity of individuals to make free choices and exert free will. D. Agency is the capacity of individuals to exert influence on others. Answer: C 61. Why is Karl Marx considered a structuralist? A. for his emphasis on behavior as largely determined by one's place within an economic structure B. for his rejection of behavior as largely determined by economic rationality C. for his emphasis on behavior as largely determined by the agency of economic actors D. for his emphasis on behavior as largely immune from economic incentives Answer: A 62. What analogy did economist and social theorist Joseph Schumpeter use to explain the endurance of social structures? A. social structure is like a football team B. social structure is like a hotel C. social structure is like a beehive D. social structure is like a marathon Answer: B 63. Path dependency is the process __________. A. by which individuals distinguish between logical outcomes and illogical outcomes B. by which children are socialized to their parent's behavioral expectations C. by which economies decline in theoretically expected ways D. by which historical legacies and past outcomes impact actors and organizations in the present Answer: D 64. Of the following groups of European ethnicities, which group was once considered not white but black? A. the French B. the British C. the Irish D. the Swiss Answer: C 65. Which of the following statements about interest groups is true? A. Interest groups would rather tear down parts of the social structure than reform it. B. Interest groups will fight to protect and extend existing social arrangements when they are viewed as beneficial to their members. C. Interest groups are completely averse to the status quo. D. Interest groups have no relationship to paths of dependence. Answer: B Scenario Multiple Choice 1. You are a sociologist about to launch a very ambitious project to understand as much about social structure as possible. Which of the following topics, more than the others presented, would you likely identify as the keys to your understanding? A. institutional environments and social hierarchies B. power and privilege C. agency and path dependence D. structuralism and cognition Answer: A 2. Rosa is from a working-class family of six. She was able to get scholarships for college and earned a law degree. Rosa is now an attorney for a Fortune 500 firm and has a compensation package worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Rosa's scenario best illustrates which sociological phenomenon? A. privilege B. the glass ceiling C. intergenerational social mobility D. critical mass Answer: C 3. Karen works for an Internet marketing company with annual billings of over $100 million. She was recently promoted to client services manager and began looking for a mentor. She noticed that over 90 percent of the executives at the director level or above are male and that only one woman has a seat on the firm's board. What does this scenario suggest may be at play in Karen's place of employment? A. intergenerational social mobility B. the glass ceiling C. a social hierarchy D. path dependency Answer: B 4. You are a veteran social activist in a new and growing social movement. You hope that the movement will soon be capable of sustaining important activities. You are waiting for it to __________. A. reach critical mass B. exceed its membership goals C. assume agency D. shift demographics Answer: A 5. Darlene is currently studying demography in her sociology class. What can she expect to learn about it? A. She will learn how socialization can impact children's behavior in adulthood. B. She will learn about the processes of social movements. C. She will study populations, including the size and composition of them. D. She will study the impact of prejudice and discrimination in democracies. Answer: C 6. You are the coach of a little league baseball team. You decide that it would be a good idea to teach the players about social roles. Which of the following examples is the clearest example of a role? A. The team that hits more baseballs tends to win. B. The job of the catcher is to catch the ball and throw it back to the pitcher. C. Players who hit more home runs are usually liked better by their teammates. D. Some kids prefer to play with grass in the outfield rather than pay attention to game play. Answer: B 7. Ben works at a local hospital. Every day he takes the elevator to his office on the tenth floor. He has noticed that, once he steps into the elevator, he looks straight ahead at the elevator door and does not make verbal or eye contact with others. This behavior is an example of __________. A. institutionalization B. agency C. transitory adjustment D. a social norm Answer: D 8. In the debate between structuralism and agency, you fall on the side of agency. Which of the following statements are you most likely to believe? A. Individuals have little control over the worlds they inhabit. B. Individuals have a great deal of control when it comes to their day-to-day actions. C. Agency is an illusion but so is social structure. D. Agency is key to social power. Answer: B 9. As a young boy in the 1970s, Robert remembered that there was a push for public schools to teach children the metric system. The movement to adopt metric measurement was eventually abandoned in the United States. How did Robert explain this outcome? A. path dependency B. resocialization C. critical mass D. institutionalization Answer: A 10. You are the CEO of a powerful agriculture company that specializes in hybrid corn production. There is currently a proposed law in the state legislature that will require farmers to cull their yields by 20 percent so that they can grow soybeans. As a member of an interest group that would very much like to maintain the status quo, which of the following actions are you likely to take? A. You hire a well-respected lobbying firm to convince members of the legislature to reject the proposed soybean bill. B. You call leaders of an opposition social movement and consider compromising your interests on this issue. C. You do nothing and decide to ride out the vote. D. You consider the arguments made by the other side and change your mind. Answer: A Short Answer 1. How do external forces shape our lives? Give an example. Answer: External forces, combined with our personal agency, shape our lives, either enabling or restricting our behaviours, opportunities, etc. When the children of influential people are admitted to prestigious universities over noninfluential people, the external force of social hierarchy has played its part. The child of influential parents may have worked harder for admission than the child of less influential parents, but a bundle of forces beyond each child's control contributed to the outcome. 2. What are social structures? How do they shape our society? Answer: Social structures are vast bundles of social forces. They shape our society by providing a framework to guide how our society functions. 3. How does social structure determine one's opportunities and contribute to the lived experiences of the individual? Answer: Although the concept of social structure may seem a bit challenging to define, we all know about social structures in one way or another. Poor people know that the world is stacked up against them, and the rich know they have a lot of advantages (even if they sometimes prefer to think that isn't true). If you are born into a rich family or have well-educated parents, you are much more likely to do well in school and eventually find a good job. 4. What are the two key components of social structure and what do they do? Answer: The two key components of social structure are social hierarchies and institutional environments. Social hierarchies give certain people advantages over others in society. Institutional environments provide laws, rules, organizations, and the governments in which individuals navigate. 5. How do social hierarchies arise? Answer: Social hierarchies arise and persist in any situation in which members of one group are able to use their possession of some asset as the basis for claiming special advantages over others who do not have that asset. 6. How do social hierarchies contribute to our social structure? Answer: Social hierarchies contribute to social structure by providing meaning and by motivating people who benefit from them to try to maintain the existing social structure in most or all of its dimensions. 7. What is intergenerational social mobility, and how does it interact with social hierarchy? Answer: Intergenerational social mobility is the movement of individuals from social positions of their parents into their own social position as adults. It interacts with social hierarchies when social hierarchies prevent the children of disadvantaged people within the hierarchy from advancing, while it allows the children of the advantaged to move as they wish. 8. Explain the interplay between social hierarchy and privilege. What role does discrimination play in controlling the opportunities of subordinate groups? Answer: Privilege is the ability or right to have special access to opportunities or claims on rewards. Social hierarchy grants privilege to those of high social status and denies privilege to those of lower social status, sometimes through discrimination. Dominant groups discriminate, using either legal or informal means to monopolize opportunities, to prevent their rewards from eroding, and to reduce or eliminate challenges from subordinate groups. Certain features of the social structure (e.g., racism) also impact options, limiting opportunities for some while opening opportunities for others. 9. How do social movements contribute to changes in social structure? Give an example of a social movement and how it changed social structure. Answer: Social movements contribute to changes in social structure by questioning unjust elements of society and causing powerful individuals and the general population to reconsider the existing social structure. The civil rights movement changed the social structure of the American South by effecting the repeal of discriminatory Jim Crow laws. 10. Give an example of how changes in population impact life chances. Answer: The types of jobs and employment available to individuals can be determined by population size.An increase in population can strain resources such as education and healthcare, reducing individuals' access to these services and thereby diminishing their life chances. 11. What is an institution? Give an example of an institution. Answer: Institutions are enduring customs of social life as well as longstanding formal organizations like the government, legal courts, churches, schools, or the military. The family is an example of an enduring custom of social life. 12. How is an idea institutionalized? Answer: Ideas become institutionalized, or formalized, when beliefs spread systematically, and are passed down from one generation to another. Gradually they begin to solidify and become accepted. 13. How do the institutions of government impact social structure? Answer: Government stands above the institutional structure of any society and is the ultimate expression of the power of institutions. It can influence many other institutions in a variety of ways. 14. Bourdieu argued that socialization works most powerfully through the development of a set of specific habits. What does he mean by this? Be sure to define habitus in your answer. Answer: Habitus is a set of specific habits through which we are socialized. Through these habits we acquire a set of understandings about rules and norms that become so ingrained that they become routine. Our habitus guides how we act in the world and how we respond to situations and includes our tastes, preferences, skills, and dispositions. 15. What is path dependency? How can path dependency impact the development of society? Answer: Path dependency is the process by which the historical legacies and outcomes of the past impact actors and organizations in the present, making some choices or outcomes appear logical and others illogical. This is because it is far easier to use preexisting social structures than to destroy those structures and develop new ones. Path dependency impacts the development of society by perpetrating the existing social structure and preventing social change. Essay 1. How is social structure like the structure of a tall building? Answer: Social structure is like the structure of a tall building in that the structural foundation of a building is what holds the building up. When the building is complete, the foundation is not visible. Other architectural elements may obstruct portions of the building so that its exterior appears different from different angles. If the structural foundation of the building were to be compromised in some way, the entire building could come down. 2. Why does the absence of social structure make its importance clearer? Answer: Like anything that is normally hidden from view, it is only when structure is absent that its importance becomes clear. We've all seen movies or read novels about situations where social structures completely break down— for example, in the aftermath of a nuclear war, a mammoth plague, or a shattering natural disaster. When social structures break down, so does social order. A powerful recent example of this was during Hurricane Katrina, when lootings and crime skyrocketed in New Orleans. 3. Why are social hierarchies important to any society's social structure? Answer: Social hierarchies are important components of any society's social structure for two critical reasons: (1) Where we stand in key social hierarchies has a huge bearing on our lives and life chances, and (2) hierarchies shape our social lives and relationships in many different ways. 4. Why does population change matter? What is the most common way in which populations change over time? Answer: One of the most important aspects of the social hierarchies in any society is the relative size of key social groups and how their size changes over time. Population size is particularly important for examining the ways in which groups within a social hierarchy relate to one another. Changes in the overall size of different social roles—such as the mix of jobs and occupations, but also including the size of various social groups such as those divided along racial and ethnic lines—can become a critical source of overall social change and impact individual lives. Individuals may not notice population changes until they reach critical mass, a point where everyone becomes aware of them. The key point is that changing population size can itself generate important social conflicts. The most common way populations change over time is the result of immigration, when individuals and families move to take up residence in a new country. At first, the flow of immigrants to a new place may be just a trickle, and hardly anyone notices their presence. But as members from a foreign land settle in their new country and become more numerous, competition for jobs, housing, places in schools, and other forms of conflict may begin to occur. In some cases, changes in the relative size of the native and immigrant populations may continue to evolve over time such that eventually the immigrants may be as numerous as the native group, although more commonly the immigrant population will remain a minority in the community. 5. Explain how waves of migration have impacted demographic patterns in the United States since the mid-1800s. Answer: Changes in the mix of racial and ethnic groups have been a constant challenge throughout American history, largely as the result of immigration. There have been two periods of high immigration from foreign countries that have had particular impact. The first of these waves of immigration occurred between the 1880s and the 1920s as the United States became the destination for large numbers of immigrants from Central and Southern Europe who were drawn by jobs in manufacturing industries into large cities in the Northeast and Midwest. A second, more recent wave of immigration into the United States started in 1965, coming primarily from Mexico and other countries in Central America and from Asia. The other major population shift that had a dramatic impact on social structure in America was the movement of different groups of Americans within the United States, most notably the "Great Migration" of African Americans from the South to the North from the 1910s through the 1960s. 6. Why are the institutions of the government critically important to the overall social structure? Answer: The institutions of the government are critically important in determining the overall social structure because government policy can influence many other institutions in a number of ways. The government stands above the institutional structure of any society and is the ultimate expression of the powers of institutions. 7. How does socialization instil roles and norms in the individual? Answer: Socialization is the process through which we are taught and trained to behave in society or in particular social settings. It is how we come to understand the expectations and norms of our groups. Throughout our lives, we are constantly being socialized to behave in certain ways (or to not behave in others). The process begins in families, where parents attempt to teach their children a wide range of different rules and norms. But socialization continues at every stage of the life course and involves learning from many different people: in schools from our classmates and teachers; in workplaces from our colleagues and bosses; in churches from priests, rabbis, imams, and our fellow congregants; in political, cultural, and civic organizations, where we are socialized by an array of people ranging from a camp counsellor to a piano teacher; and even through the mass media, where we learn about behavior by watching television shows. 8. How do economic classes teach their members different ways of living? Answer: French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu argued that socialization works most powerfully through the development of a set of specific habits, or what he called our habitus. We develop, Bourdieu argued, a set of understandings about rules and norms that become so ingrained that they become routine, taken for granted in ways that we do not even reflect upon as we act. Our habitus guides how we act in the world and respond to situations, and includes our tastes, preferences, skills, and dispositions. Our habitus represents the outcome of the various socialization processes we have been through in our lives, and because people go through different socialization processes, they acquire different habit uses. These differences depend on family background and the particular kinds of institutions (most notably schools, but also cultural institutions and products like museums, theatre, films, and books) that we are exposed to and absorb as we grow up. 9. Explain and evaluate both sides of the debate between the structuralism and agency. Answer: Central to much of sociology is the debate between structure and agency. Ardent structuralists argue that the vast majority of social interactions in our society are determined by social structure and the structure of the organizations we interact with. From this point of view, it could be said that most of the choices we seem to make are actually illusions and that we have very little actual choice in our behavior. Social scientists on the side of agency argue that humans make decisions based not on social behaviours but on the most rational choice for the individual in a given situation. In short, whereas structure is connected with constraints, agency is connected with freedom. While agency places power in the hands of the individual, structure places power in the hands of the larger society. In evaluating the structuralism versus agency debate, the critical question becomes how to weigh the relative impact of social structure versus individual choice. The textbook clearly states that research confirms that people are not robots and that they will respond in different and occasionally unpredictable ways, depending on the choices and opportunities confronting them. This research and evidence from experiments suggest that people do indeed have a significant measure of individual choice, and, indeed, most contemporary sociologists are uncomfortable with excessively structuralist approaches. One of the principle ways that sociologists have tried to reconcile approaches that leave society and social structure out altogether is by considering structures as not just constraints on action but also as things that enable action. 10. How and why do interest groups tend to work to maintain social structure? Answer: An interest group is an organization that is established to promote the concerns of a group or business corporation. These groups act in a way that will further the growth and profit of their given interests. These interest groups will fight to protect and extend existing social arrangements when they are viewed as beneficial to their members. We've already discussed how this works in the case of social hierarchies, where members of a dominant group have strong incentives to maintain their privileges. Similar dynamics exist in social institutions. For example, institutions create jobs, and the workers in those jobs have incentives to try to maintain the institution. Test Bank for The Sociology Project : Introducing the Sociological Imagination Jeff Manza, Richard Arum, Lynne Haney 9780205949601, 9780205093823, 9780133792249
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