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Personal documentsrefer to a wide variety of papers and other documentary material which can be used as a valuable qualitative source of secondary data. Personal Documents are usually made up of written texts, including diaries, letters, and other expressive documents such as biographies and autobiographies. Almost any personal document can be of interest to a sociologist, but among those more frequently used are letter, diaries, school reports, photographs, birth, marriage, and death certificates, rent books, and other documents relating to property, and wills....

The petty bourgeoisie, or petit bourgeoisie, in sociology refers to a social class between the working class and the middle class, often including small business owners, managers, salespeople, independent professionals, and other workers who may own means of production but do not employ a substantial workforce. As they share aspects of both classes, they typically lack a cohesive identity and clear economic interests as a class, leading to fluctuating political alliances....

On This Page:ToggleWhat is Habitus?How Habitus WorksHow Does One Obtain a Habitus?Habitus and Inequality On This Page:Toggle On This Page: Habitus3 Key Takeaways What is Habitus? French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of “habitus” explains how individuals self-regulate their own behavior to fit social expectations. Think about how you go through your day: you do things like walk on the right side of the sidewalk or say “Bless you” when someone sneezes without really thinking much about it....

As a phenomenon, political socialization has been around for centuries, but it has been studied extensively and systematically since the early 20th century. Family watching news in living room. Back view of couple and child sitting on couch at TV. Early research also focused on understanding how World War II and the Cold War influenced children’s attitudes toward politics and government (Greenstein, 1965). In more recent years, scholars have taken a broader approach to political socialization, studying factors such as race, gender, and social class in addition to age, education, and family background....

On This Page:ToggleDefinitionBeliefsPatriarchyFeminism vs. PostmodernExamplesCritical Evaluation On This Page:Toggle On This Page: Postmodern feminism is a philosophical tendency within feminism that incorporates postmodern theory and thought into its analysis and critiques of gender, sexuality, culture, politics, power, identity, society, and social relations, arguing that reality and power dynamics aresocially constructedrather than innate or essential. Key Takeaways seamless pattern with with faces of women of different nationalities and cultures What is Postmodern Feminist Theory?...

On This Page:ToggleWhat is Primary Deviance?HistoryExamples On This Page:Toggle On This Page: Key Takeaways What is Primary Deviance? The important differentiator of primary deviance from other forms of deviance is that it happens before they are publicly labeled, and have only marginal implications for the status and psychology of the person who commits the deviant act (Martino, 2017). History The concepts of labeling and stigma come from the symbolic interactionist school, and focus on the symbolic meanings of actions....

On This Page:ToggleDefinitionProletariat Vs. The BourgeoisieImplications beyond MarxismExamples On This Page:Toggle On This Page: The proletariat is the working class or lower class in society who live solely from selling their labor power and do not own the means of production. They are viewed in Marxism as the revolutionary class with the potential to overturn capitalism. Key Takeaways Definition The first people to write about the idea were Marx and Engels (2012), the originators of the Communist Manifesto and the populizers of communist theory....

On This Page:ToggleDefinitionPrinciplesGoalsHistoryCritical EvaluationFAQs On This Page:Toggle On This Page: Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical reordering of society in order to eliminate patriarchy, which it sees as fundamental to the oppression of women. It analyses the role of the sex and gender systems in the systemic oppression of women and argues that the eradication of patriarchy is necessary to liberate women. Key Takeaways What Is Radical Feminism?...

Rational choice theory of criminology views offenders as rational actors who weigh the costs and benefits of committing a crime. It assumes individuals decide to offend based on a cost-benefit analysis of both personal factors and situational factors, choosing to commit crimes when the perceived benefits outweigh potential costs. Key Takeaways Theoretical Origins The emphasis on the relationship between human rationality and criminal conduct dates to the 17th century which saw increasingly naturalistic views on human beings gain predominance in intellectual discourse....

On This Page:ToggleDefinitionTypesCharacteristicsApplication On This Page:Toggle On This Page: In sociology, a reference group refers to a group to which an individual compares themselves, providing a standard of evaluation. It influences an individual’s behavior and attitudes, regardless of whether they are a member of that group. Reference groups can be aspirational (ones individuals wish to join) or non-aspirational (ones individuals wish to avoid). Key TakeawaysA reference group is a collectivity to which individuals or groups refer when making comparisons about their lives....

Routine activities theory states that crime occurs when a motivated offender encounters a suitable target in the absence of a capable guardian. Rather than focusing on criminality, it examines how changes in routine activities of potential victims and offenders affect crime rates based on availability, proximity, and exposure. Key Takeaways Theoretical Examples The macro-level analytic focus of routine activities theory highlights the overarching shifts within the patterns of offender and victim behavior (Cohen, Kluegel & Land, 1981)....

On This Page:ToggleDefinitionExampleImplications On This Page:Toggle On This Page: Key Takeaways Definition As a result, the deviant is labeled as a deviant, or a criminal. However, this label contradicts the self-image of the person being labeled. In order to escape the dissonance between their inner, non deviant identity and their outer, deviant one, the individual adopts the label deviant or criminal themselves and adapts their future behavior accordingly. Secondary deviation is deviation that becomes a pivotal, central, and engulfing activity to which a person becomes committed....

On This Page:ToggleDefinitionExamplesTypesThe Pygmalion EffectThe Causal LoopLearning Check On This Page:Toggle On This Page: Key Takeaways A self-fulfilling prophecy is a belief or expectation about oneself or others that, when held strongly, influences behavior in a way that confirms or fulfills the initial belief or expectation. Definition In 1948, Robert K. Merton coined the term self-fulfilling prophecy to describe “a false definition of the situation evoking a behavior which makes the originally false conception come true” (Merton, 1968, p....

On This Page:ToggleWhat Are Social Institutions?FamilyEducationReligionGovernmentEconomy On This Page:Toggle On This Page: Key TakeawaysA social institution is a group or organization that has specific roles, norms, and expectations, which functions to meet the social needs of society.The family, government, religion, education, and media are all examples of social institutions.Social institutions are interdependent and continually interact and influence one another in everyday society. For example, some religious institutions believe they should have control over governmental and educational institutions....

On This Page:ToggleTypesCausesImplications On This Page:Toggle On This Page: Social mobility is the up-and-down movement of persons, households, families, or other groups of individuals between or within a society’s various social class strata. The study of social mobility is one of the central concerns ofsocial stratificationtheorists.Key TakeawaysThe amount of social mobility measures how rigid a society is and how locked into traditional structures.In an open stratification system, characteristics ofachieved statusare rendered some value....