Sociology

The lifelong process through which individuals learn and internalize the values, norms, beliefs, and behaviors expected by their society. Socialization occurs through agents such as family, peers, schools, media, and religious institutions, and it is essential for both individual development and the continuity of culture.

The hierarchical arrangement of individuals and groups in a society based on factors such as wealth, income, education, race, and power. Stratification systems range from rigid caste structures to more fluid class systems, but all involve unequal distribution of valued resources and opportunities.

Behavior that violates the established norms or expectations of a group or society. Deviance is socially constructed, meaning what is considered deviant varies across cultures, time periods, and social contexts. Sociologists study how deviance is defined, who gets labeled deviant, and what functions deviance may serve for society.

Organized, enduring sets of social relationships and practices that meet fundamental societal needs. The major social institutions include the family, education, religion, the economy, government, and healthcare. Each institution has established roles, norms, and structures that guide behavior and maintain social order.

A major theoretical perspective in sociology that views society as a complex system of interconnected parts working together to maintain stability and social order. Associated with Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons, functionalism examines how each social institution contributes to the overall equilibrium of society.

A theoretical framework rooted in the work of Karl Marx that emphasizes power, inequality, and competition as the driving forces of social life. Conflict theorists argue that social structures and institutions primarily serve the interests of dominant groups and that social change arises from struggles between those with power and those without it.

A micro-level theoretical perspective that focuses on how individuals create meaning through social interaction. Developed by George Herbert Mead and elaborated by Herbert Blumer and Erving Goffman, this approach emphasizes that people act toward things based on the meanings those things have for them, and that these meanings arise from interaction.

The movement of individuals or groups between different positions within a system of social stratification. Mobility can be upward or downward, and can occur within a single lifetime (intragenerational) or across generations (intergenerational). Societies differ in the degree to which they facilitate or constrain mobility.

The shared beliefs, values, norms, symbols, language, material objects, and practices that characterize a group or society. Culture provides the framework through which people interpret their experiences and guide their behavior. Sociologists distinguish between material culture (physical artifacts) and nonmaterial culture (ideas and beliefs).

Spontaneous, relatively unstructured actions by large groups of people who are responding to a common stimulus or situation. Collective behavior includes phenomena such as crowds, mobs, panics, fads, rumors, and social movements. Sociologists study the conditions under which collective behavior emerges and how it can lead to lasting social change.