A large group that follows explicit rules and procedures to achieve specific goals and tasks.

A status achieved at some point after birth, sometimes through one’s own efforts and sometimes because of good or bad luck.

horticultural societies

Societies that use hoes and other simple tools to raise small amounts of crops.

Patterns of beliefs and behavior that help a society meet its basic needs.

hunting-and-gathering societies:

Societies of a few dozen members whose food is obtained from hunting animals and gathering plants and vegetation.

A human community, particularly a small society with a strong sense of community and strong group ties.

A status that is so important that it overrides other statuses a person may hold.

The social patterns through which a society is organized; can be horizontal or vertical.

All the positions an individual occupies.

An object that signifies a particular status that a person holds.

social construction of reality

The process by which individuals understand and create reality through their interaction with other individuals.

Feelings that begin with a stimulus and that often involve psychological changes and a desire to engage in specific actions.

The behavior expected of someone with a certain status.

The totality of relationships that link us to other people and groups and through them to still other people and groups.

The position that someone occupies in society.

dramaturgical approach

Erving Goffman’s metaphor that likens social interaction to a performance in a dramatic production.

The ways in which a society or group ranks people in a hierarchy.

The problems arising when a person has to deal with competing demands on two or more roles that the person is expected to play.

Two or more people who regularly interact on the basis of mutual expectations and who share a common identity.

nonverbal communication

Ways of communicating that do not involve talking.

Societies that raise livestock as their primary source of food.

background assumptions

Our understanding of the roles expected of people in a given encounter.

impression management

Erving Goffman’s term for the process whereby individuals who are interacting try to convey a favorable impression of themselves.

A large society characterized by weak and impersonal social ties.

The status that someone is born with and has no control over.

A group of people who live within a defined territory and who share a culture.

The problems arising when a person performing a role has to deal with competing demands on that role.

agricultural societies

Societies that cultivate large amounts of crops with plows and other relatively advanced tools and equipment.

postindustrial societies

Societies in which information technology and service jobs have replaced machines and manufacturing jobs as the primary dimension of the economy.

Large societies that rely on machines and factories as their primary modes of economic production.

The ways in which people act with other people and react to how other people are acting.

A general term for social backgrounds and other aspects of society.

The degree to which people succeed in life in such areas as education, income, and health.

The scientific study of social behavior and social institutions.

Sociological perspective

The belief that people’s social backgrounds influence their attitudes, behavior, and life chances.

A group of people who live within a defined territory and who share a culture.

From Peter L. Berger, a theme of sociology in which the aim is to see beyond superficial understandings of social reality.

Horizontal social structure

The social relationships and social and physical characteristics of communities to which individuals belong.

Sociological imagination

From C. Wright Mills, the realization that personal troubles are rooted in public issues.

The unequal distribution of resources, such as wealth, that a society values.

C. Wright Mills’s term for problems in society that underlie personal troubles.

C. Wright Mills’s term for the personal problems that many individuals experience.

The belief that people experiencing difficulties are to blame for these problems.

The belief that personal difficulties stem from problems in society.

The social patterns through which society is organized.

Vertical social structure

A term used interchangeably with social inequality.

That part of sociology that deals with social interaction in small settings.

Normlessness, a state in which social norms are unclear.

The view that low-income women of color face a triple burden of inequality because of classism, racism, and sexism.

The view that society is filled with gender inequality characterized by women's being the subordinate sex in the social, political, and economic dimensions of society.

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Sociology Midterm

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Term	Definition
formal organization	A large group that follows explicit rules and procedures to achieve specific goals and tasks.
achieved status	A status achieved at some point after birth, sometimes through one’s own efforts and sometimes because of good or bad luck.
horticultural societies	Societies that use hoes and other simple tools to raise small amounts of crops.
social institution	Patterns of beliefs and behavior that help a society meet its basic needs.
hunting-and-gathering societies:	Societies of a few dozen members whose food is obtained from hunting animals and gathering plants and vegetation.
Gemeinschaft	A human community, particularly a small society with a strong sense of community and strong group ties.
master status	A status that is so important that it overrides other statuses a person may hold.
social structure	The social patterns through which a society is organized; can be horizontal or vertical.
status set	All the positions an individual occupies.
status symbols	An object that signifies a particular status that a person holds.
social construction of reality	The process by which individuals understand and create reality through their interaction with other individuals.
Emotions	Feelings that begin with a stimulus and that often involve psychological changes and a desire to engage in specific actions.
Role	The behavior expected of someone with a certain status.
social networks	The totality of relationships that link us to other people and groups and through them to still other people and groups.
Status	The position that someone occupies in society.
dramaturgical approach	Erving Goffman’s metaphor that likens social interaction to a performance in a dramatic production.
social inequality	The ways in which a society or group ranks people in a hierarchy.
role conflict	The problems arising when a person has to deal with competing demands on two or more roles that the person is expected to play.
social group	Two or more people who regularly interact on the basis of mutual expectations and who share a common identity.
nonverbal communication	Ways of communicating that do not involve talking.
pastoral societies	Societies that raise livestock as their primary source of food.
background assumptions	Our understanding of the roles expected of people in a given encounter.
impression management	Erving Goffman’s term for the process whereby individuals who are interacting try to convey a favorable impression of themselves.
Gesellschaft	A large society characterized by weak and impersonal social ties.
ascribed status	The status that someone is born with and has no control over.
Society	A group of people who live within a defined territory and who share a culture.
role strain	The problems arising when a person performing a role has to deal with competing demands on that role.
agricultural societies	Societies that cultivate large amounts of crops with plows and other relatively advanced tools and equipment.
postindustrial societies	Societies in which information technology and service jobs have replaced machines and manufacturing jobs as the primary dimension of the economy.
industrial societies	Large societies that rely on machines and factories as their primary modes of economic production.
social interaction	The ways in which people act with other people and react to how other people are acting.
Social environment	A general term for social backgrounds and other aspects of society.
Life chances	The degree to which people succeed in life in such areas as education, income, and health.
Sociology	The scientific study of social behavior and social institutions.
Sociological perspective	The belief that people’s social backgrounds influence their attitudes, behavior, and life chances.
Society	A group of people who live within a defined territory and who share a culture.
Debunking motif	From Peter L. Berger, a theme of sociology in which the aim is to see beyond superficial understandings of social reality.
Horizontal social structure	The social relationships and social and physical characteristics of communities to which individuals belong.
Sociological imagination	From C. Wright Mills, the realization that personal troubles are rooted in public issues.
Social inequality	The unequal distribution of resources, such as wealth, that a society values.
Public issues	C. Wright Mills’s term for problems in society that underlie personal troubles.
Personal troubles	C. Wright Mills’s term for the personal problems that many individuals experience.
Blaming the victim	The belief that people experiencing difficulties are to blame for these problems.
Blaming the system	The belief that personal difficulties stem from problems in society.
Social structure	The social patterns through which society is organized.
Vertical social structure	A term used interchangeably with social inequality.
Microsociology	That part of sociology that deals with social interaction in small settings.
Anomie	Normlessness, a state in which social norms are unclear.
Intersectionality	The view that low-income women of color face a triple burden of inequality because of classism, racism, and sexism.
Proletariat	The working class.
Feminist theory	The view that society is filled with gender inequality characterized by women's being the subordinate sex in the social, political, and economic dimensions of society.
Bourgeoisie	The ruling class.
Critical race theory	The perspective that the United States is a racist society and that various social institutions both manifest and contribute to this racism.
Class consciousness	Awareness of one’s placement in the social structure and the interests arising from this placement.
Rational choice theory	See definition for utilitarianism.
Utilitarianism	The view that people interact so as to maximize their benefits and minimize their disadvantages.
Functionalism	The view that social institutions are important for their contributions to social stability.
Symbolic interactionism	A micro perspective in sociology that focuses on the meanings people gain from social interaction.
Exchange theory	See definition for utilitarianism.
Macrosociology	That part of sociology that deals with issues involving large-scale social change and social institutions.
Conflict theory	The view that society is composed of groups with different interests arising from their placement in the social structure, and that social change is necessary to reduce inequality.
Collective conscience	From Émile Durkheim, the combined norms of society.
Nonparticipant observation	Field research in which the researcher merely observes a group or setting.
Random sample	A subset drawn from the larger population in which every unit in the population has the same chance of being included in the subset.
Quota sample	A nonrandom sample in which units in the sample are chosen according to one or more characteristics so that the sample resembles these characteristics of the population as closely as possible.
Unit of analysis	The focus of sociological research, usually a person, organization, or geographical region.
Secondary data analysis	The analysis of data from existing records.
Convenience sample	A nonrandom sample that is used because it is relatively quick and inexpensive to obtain.
Participant observation	Field research in which the researcher is an active member of the group or setting being observed.
Independent variable	A variable that affects the dependent variable.
Sample	A subset of a population.
Response rate	The percentage of a sample that agrees to be included in a study, usually a survey.
Hypothesis	A statement of the relationship between two variables concerning the units of analysis the researcher is studying.
Experimental group	In an experiment, the group that experiences the experimental condition.
Variable	Any characteristic that varies among units of analysis.
Dependent variable	A variable that is influenced by an independent variable.
Scientific method	The classic steps by which scientific research is conducted, including the formulation of a hypothesis and the gathering and analysis of data.
Generalizations	A conclusion drawn from sociological research that is meant to apply to broad categories of people but for which many exceptions will always exist.
Control group	In an experiment, the group that does not experience the experimental condition.
Spurious relationship	A relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable that exists only because the effects of a third variable have not been taken into account.
material culture	An element of culture consisting of society’s material objects, or artifacts.
Subculture	A smaller culture within a larger culture with distinctive ways of thinking, feeling, and acting.
cultural diversity	Variation in the elements of culture from one society to the next.
Artifacts	The material objects that constitute a society’s material culture.
Ethnocentrism	The tendency to judge another culture by the standards of our own, and the belief that our own culture is superior to another culture.
Eugenics	The view, popular in the early twentieth century, that certain categories of people were biologically inferior and hence should be sterilized.
formal norms	Norms that are very important and usually written down; also called laws and mores.
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis	The view that language influences the thoughts and perceptions of people in a society.
nonmaterial culture	The symbols, language, norms, and values that constitute a major part of a society’s culture.
Symbols	Things that stand for something else and that often evoke various reactions and emotions.
cultural relativism	The belief that no culture’s norms, values, or practices are superior or inferior to those of any other culture.
informal norms	Relatively unimportant norms, often unwritten, that still affect people’s behavior.
Values	Criteria of what is desirable or undesirable and right or wrong.
Sociobiology	The view that genes and other aspects of human biology influence human behavior and values.
Gestures	Movements of the hands, arms, head, and other parts of the body that are meant to convey ideas or emotions nonverbally.
Culture	The artifacts and ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that are part of any society.
Counterculture	A subculture whose norms and values directly oppose those of the larger culture.
Norms	Socially acceptable ways of behaving.
Rituals	Established procedures and ceremonies that often mark transitions in the life course.
Superego	Sigmund Freud’s term for society’s conscience.
Take the role of the other	George Herbert Mead’s term for what children do when they play that helps them acquire an understanding of their self.
Feral	Regarding children, a term used for those who have been extremely socially isolated.
Looking-glass self	Charles Horton Cooley’s term for one aspect of the process whereby we gain an understanding of our self-image and self-identity.
Self	Self-image, self-identity, or self-concept.
Socialization	The process whereby individuals learn the culture of their society.
generalized other	George Herbert Mead’s term for society’s conscience.
significant others	George Herbert Mead’s term for parents and other important individuals in the lives of children.
Resocialization	A dramatic change in a person’s beliefs, values, and behavior, often occurring in total institutions.
degradation ceremony	An encounter designed to humiliate an individual.
Ego	Sigmund Freud’s term for the rational part of the personality.
hidden curriculum	The beliefs and values that children learn in school.
Id	Sigmund Freud’s term for the instinctual, selfish part of the personality.
total institutions	Institutions that have total control over their residents’ lives.
formal organization	A large group that follows explicit rules and procedures to achieve specific goals and tasks.
authoritarian leadership	Leadership with a primary focus on achieving group goals and on rigorous compliance with group rules.
iron law of oligarchy	Robert Michels’s prediction that large organizations inevitably develop an oligarchy, or the undemocratic rule of many people by just a few people, because their leaders monopolize knowledge and act to advance their own positions.
voluntary organizations	Normative organizations.
primary group	A group that is usually small, that is characterized by extensive interaction and strong emotional ties, and that lasts over time.
utilitarian organizations	Organizations that people join to receive an income or some other personal benefit.
social category	A collection of individuals who have at least one attribute in common but otherwise don’t necessarily interact.
laissez-faire leadership	Leadership that allows a group to function on its own.
social networks	The totality of relationships that link us to other people and groups and through them to still other people and groups.
bureaucracy	A formal organization with certain organizational features designed to achieve goals in the most efficient way possible.
coercive organizations	Formal organizations that people enter involuntarily.
social group	Two or more people who regularly interact on the basis of mutual expectations and share a common identity.
groupthink	The tendency of group members to remain silent and, against their better judgments, to go along with the desires and views of other group members.
bureaucratic ritualism	In a bureaucracy, a greater devotion to rules and regulations (red tape) than to organizational goals.
democratic leadership	Leadership that involves extensive consultation with group members on decisions.
instrumental leader	A leader whose main focus is to achieve group goals and accomplish group tasks.
reference group	A group that sets a standard for guiding our own behavior and attitudes.
expressive leader	A leader whose main focus is to maintain and improve the quality of relationships among group members and more generally to ensure group harmony.
in-group	A group to which members feel particularly loyal and take great pride in belonging to.
social aggregate	A collection of people who are in the same place at the same time but who otherwise don’t necessarily interact, except in the most superficial of ways, or have anything else in common.
out-group	A group with which an in-group feels it is competing for various kinds of rewards and compared to which the in-group feels superior.
whistle-blowing	The revealing by an employee of organizational practices that the employee believes to be illegal and/or immoral.
normative organizations	Formal organizations that people join to pursue their moral goals and commitment.
triad	A three-person group.
dyad	A two-person group.
secondary group	A group that is larger and more impersonal than a primary group and that exists to achieve a specific purpose.
social disorganization	The weakening of social bonds and conventional social institutions in a community.
strain theory	Robert Merton’s view that deviance is caused by a failure to achieve the American goal of financial success through the conventional means of working.
differential opportunity theory	Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin’s view that differential access to illegitimate means helps determine the types of deviance in which poor people engage.
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)	An annual survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice that asks a representative sample of the American public about crimes they have suffered.
deviance	Behavior that violates norms and arouses negative social reactions.
social control	How a society prevents and sanctions behavior that violates social norms.
labeling theory	The view that extralegal factors affect whether someone acquires a deviant label and that being labeled deviant increases the chances of future deviance.
white-collar crime	Crime committed in the course of one’s occupation.
get-tough approach	The use since the 1970s of more frequent arrests and more certain and severe incarceration to control crime.
status frustration theory	Albert Cohen’s view that delinquency results from school failure and the concomitant need to regain self-esteem by being successful in delinquent activities.
mass incarceration	The incarceration of millions of Americans accompanying the get-tough approach.
victimless crime	Illegal behavior in which people participate voluntarily, including drug use, sex work, and gambling.
social control theory	Travis Hirschi’s view that deviance results from weak bonds to conventional social institutions, such as the family and schools.
National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)	The FBI’s regular compilation of crime statistics, most of them on Index Crimes.
differential association theory	Edwin Sutherland’s view that deviance stems from interacting with primary group members who commit deviance and have values conducive to deviance.
social ecology approach	The view that certain characteristics of neighborhoods and communities influence the likelihood of committing deviance and crime.
self-report survey	A survey given to individuals, usually adolescents, that asks them about offenses they have committed.
focal concerns	Walter Miller’s term for the key values of lower-class subcultures.
subculture of violence	Marvin Wolfgang and Franco Ferracuti’s term for the value system of impoverished, urban neighborhoods that calls for violent responses to insults and other interpersonal problems.
crime	Behavior that violates criminal laws.
conventional crime	Violent and property offenses, including homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft.
class consciousness	An awareness of one’s social class membership, the structural reasons for it, and the needs arising from such membership.
ideology	A set of beliefs that supports the status quo.
socioeconomic status (SES)	A measure based on occupation, education, and income favored by functionalist sociologists as an indicator of social class position.
conspicuous consumption	The acquisition and display by wealthy people of lavish products that show off their wealth.
wealth	Income, stocks, bonds, real estate, and other dimensions of one’s total material possessions.
estate system	A system of stratification characterized by control of land that was common during feudalism.
economic inequality	The extent of the economic difference between the rich and those living in poverty in a society.
intragenerational mobility	Vertical mobility within a person’s own lifetime.
false consciousness	A failure to possess class consciousness.
social stratification	Rankings of people based on wealth and other resources a society values.
poverty threshold	The government's official poverty measure, based on the cost of a minimal diet for a family that is then multiplied by three.
power	The ability to influence others to do one’s bidding even if they don’t want to.
vertical mobility	Movement up or down through a society’s stratification system.
intergenerational mobility	Vertical mobility from one generation to the next within the same family.
classless societies	Societies with no social stratification.
prestige	The status and esteem people hold in the eyes of others.
class system	A system of stratification containing unequal groups but with a relatively high degree of social mobility.
episodic poverty	As defined by the Census Bureau, being poor for at least two consecutive months in some time period.
caste system	A stratification system based on rigid placement at birth into unequal groups based on one’s parents’ status, with no chance of moving out of these groups.
slavery	The ownership of people.
individual discrimination	Discrimination that individuals practice in their daily lives.
frustration or scapegoat theory	As an explanation of racial and ethnic prejudice, the view that individuals blame the problems they experience on racial and ethnic minorities and thus scapegoat them instead of recognizing the real sources of their own misfortunes.
institutional discrimination	Discrimination that pervades the practices of whole institutions, such as housing, medical care, law enforcement, employment, and education, even if such discrimination is not intended.
microaggressions	Regarding racial/ethnic discrimination, the indignities and slights that people of color suffer in their everyday lives.
authoritarian personality	A personality emphasizing such things as obedience to authority, a rigid adherence to rules, and low acceptance of people not like oneself and said to help account for racial and ethnic prejudice.
social construction	A concept that has no objective reality but rather is what people decide it is.
ethnic group	A subgroup of a population with a set of shared social, cultural, and historical experiences; with relatively distinctive beliefs, values, and behaviors; and with some sense of identity of belonging to the subgroup.
racism	The belief that certain racial or ethnic groups are inferior to one’s own.
racial profiling	The stopping, questioning, and/or searching of Black and Latinx drivers and pedestrians.
affirmative action	The preferential treatment of minorities and women in employment and education.
race	A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature.
prejudice	A set of negative attitudes, beliefs, and judgments about whole categories of people, and about individual members of those categories, because of their perceived race and/or ethnicity.
white privilege	The advantages that white Americans enjoy in their daily lives simply because they are white, whether or not they are aware of these advantages.
structural racism	A system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial group inequity.
implicit bias	In criminal justice, unconscious racial/ethnic bias among criminal justice professionals that may affect their decisions and behaviors regarding suspects and defendants.
stereotypes	Simplified, mistaken generalizations about people because of their race and/or ethnicity.
discrimination	The arbitrary denial of rights, privileges, and opportunities to members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups.
ethnicity	The shared social, cultural, and historical experiences, stemming from common national or regional backgrounds, that make subgroups of a population different from one another.
ethnic pride	The sense of self-worth that many people derive from their ethnic backgrounds.
cisgender	Having a gender identity and expression that correspond to the sex assigned at birth.
glass escalator	The smooth path afforded men in promotion in the workplace, especially in occupations primarily filled by women.
sexual orientation	The sex of people to whom someone is attracted emotionally, romantically, and sexually.
sex segregation	In the workplace, the concentration of women in a relatively few low-paying clerical and service jobs.
gender	The social and cultural differences a society expects of people based on the sex they were assigned at birth.
gender roles	A society’s expectations of people’s behavior and attitudes based on whether they are considered females or males.
secondary sex characteristics	Biological differences between females and males that emerge during puberty.
primary sex characteristics	Biological differences in the form of the genitalia that develop in the womb and lead people to be designated female or male at birth.
sexual harassment	Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or physical conduct of a sexual nature used as a condition of employment or promotion or that interferes with an individual’s job performance and creates an intimidating or hostile environment.
comparable worth	The idea that women’s and men’s jobs may be of roughly equal value and thus deserve the same pay, even though women’s jobs typically pay less than men’s jobs.
femininity	Cultural expectations of girls and women, including gentleness and attractiveness.
glass ceiling	The invisible barrier facing women as they try to advance in the workplace.
masculinity	Cultural expectations of boys and men, including toughness and bravery.
androgynous	Containing aspects of both femaleness and maleness, or of both femininity and masculinity.
sexism	The belief that women are inferior to men.
male privilege	The advantages a male enjoys in a patriarchal society just because he is a male.
transgender	Having a gender identity or expression that does not correspond with the sex assigned at birth.
sex	A medical term referring to the biological differences leading most people to be assigned a female or male designation at birth.
gender identity	Whether someone thinks of oneself as female, male, both female and male, or neither female nor male.
feminism	The belief that women and men should be equal.
patriarchy	Male domination.
generational equity	The argument by critics of political activism on behalf of older Americans that programs for aging adults threaten to take money from programs to help younger Americans, either now or as they age.
gerontology	The study of aging.
disengagement theory	The view, now largely abandoned, by some past social gerontologists that a society needs to encourage its older adult population to disengage from their previous roles and to take on roles more appropriate to their declining physical and mental abilities.
activity theory	The view by social gerontologists that older people will benefit both themselves and their societies if they remain active and try to continue to perform the roles they had before they aged.
social aging	The changes in roles and relationships that occur as people age.
biological aging	The physical changes that “slow us down” as we get into our middle and older years.
elder abuse	Physical violence, mental and emotional abuse, neglect of care, and financial exploitation committed against the elderly, most often by their relatives who are caring for them.
psychological aging	The psychological changes, including those involving mental functioning and personality, that occur as we age.
life expectancy	The average age to which people can be expected to live.
ageism	Negative views about, and prejudice and discrimination toward, various age groups, especially older people.
chronological age	The number of years since we were born.
conflict theory	The view by social gerontologists that ageism and structural obstacles pose several problems for the older adult population and prevent them from realizing their potential and achieving the best physical and mental health possible.
secondary sector	The part of the economy that transforms raw materials into finished products.
civilian labor force	All noninstitutionalized civilians 16 years old or older who work for pay or are looking for work.
military-industrial complex	The close relationships among military leaders, government officials, and defense contractors.
corporation	An organization that has a legal existence apart from that of its members.
primary sector	The part of the economy that takes and uses raw materials directly from the natural environment.
socialism	An economic system in which the means of production are collectively owned, usually by the government.
tertiary sector	The part of the economy that provides services rather than products.
outsourcing	The hiring by U.S. companies of overseas workers for customer care, billing services, and other jobs that Americans used to do.
capitalism	An economic system in which the means of production are privately owned.
embezzlement	The stealing of money in its various dimensions (cash, electronic transactions, etc.) by employees from their workplaces.
professional fraud	Theft of money or property via guile or deception by attorneys, physicians, or other people in a professional occupation.
democratic socialism	An economic system in which the government owns several important industries, but much property remains in private hands, and political freedom is widespread.
employee theft	Theft of objects or money by employees from their workplaces.
pilferage	The stealing of goods by employees from their workplaces.
militarism	An overemphasis on military policy and spending.
multinational corporation	A corporation with headquarters in one nation but with factories and other operations in many other nations.
economy	The social institution that organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of a society’s goods and services.
capital flight	The moving of manufacturing companies from U.S. cities to sites in the developing world in Asia and elsewhere.
division of labor	The specialization of work, such that individuals perform only specific aspects of a task or project.
political ideology	Views on social, political, and economic issues.
transnational terrorism	Terrorism committed by the citizens of one nation against targets in another nation.
power elite	C. Wright Mills’s term for the leaders from government, big business, and the military that he thought constitute a ruling class that controls society and works for its own interests, not for the interests of the citizenry.
politics	The distribution and exercise of power within a society.
totalitarianism	Political systems that are more repressive than authoritarianism because they try to regulate and control all aspects of citizens’ lives and fortunes.
political action committee (PAC)	An organization formed by special-interest groups to raise and spend money on behalf of political campaigns and various political issues.
political system	The type of rule by which a state is run.
democracy	A political system in which citizens govern themselves either directly or indirectly.
insurgent terrorism	Terrorism committed by private citizens against their own government or against businesses and institutions seen as representing the “establishment.”
state	The political unit within which power and authority reside.
elite theories	Theories that say that power in a democracy is concentrated in the hands of a relatively few individuals, families, and/or organizations.
political party	An organization that supports particular political positions and tries to elect candidates to office to represent those positions.
power	The ability to have one’s will carried out despite the resistance of others.
government	(a) The group of persons who direct the political affairs of a state; and (b) the type of rule by which a state is run.
monarchy	A political system in which power resides in a single family that rules from one generation to the next generation.
political alienation	A lack of faith that voting makes any difference and that government can be helpful.
polity	The political institution through which power is distributed and exercised.
authoritarianism	Political systems in which an individual or a group of individuals holds power, restricts or prohibits popular participation in governance, and represses dissent.
legitimate authority	Power whose use is considered just and appropriate by those over whom the power is exercised.
traditional authority	Power that is rooted in traditional, or long-standing, beliefs and practices of a society.
international war	War between nations.
felony disenfranchisement	The denial of the right to vote to people convicted of a felony.
terrorism	The use of unexpected violence to intimidate or coerce people in the pursuit of political or social objectives.
charismatic authority	Authority that stems from an individual’s extraordinary personal qualities and from that individual’s hold over followers because of these qualities.
rational-legal authority	Authority that derives from law and is based on a belief in the legitimacy of a society’s laws and rules and in the right of leaders acting under these rules to make decisions and set policy.
civil war	War within nations.
pluralist theory	The view that political power in the United States and other democracies is dispersed among several veto groups that compete in the political process for resources and influence.
state terrorism	Violence by a government that is meant to frighten its own citizens and thereby stifle their dissent.
vigilante terrorism	Terrorism committed by private citizens against other private citizens.
routinization of charisma	The transformation of charismatic authority into either traditional authority or rational-legal authority.
patriarchal family	A family where the husband and father holds the main authority in the household.
family	A group of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or a mutual commitment and who care for one another.
exogamy	Marriage between social categories or groups.
egalitarian family	A family where both spouses share authority equally.
nuclear family	A family composed of two parents and their children living in the same household.
patrilineal	Inheritance through the male line.
matrilineal	Inheritance through the female line.
endogamy	Marriage within a social category or group, including race, ethnicity, social class, and religion.
matriarchal family	A family where the wife and mother holds the main authority in the household.
extended family	A family in which parents, children, and other relatives live in the same household.
informal education	Learning that occurs outside the schools, traditionally in the home.
formal education	Learning that occurs in schools under teachers, principals, and other specially trained professionals.
credential society	A society in which higher education is seen as evidence of the attainment of the needed knowledge and skills for various kinds of jobs.
de jure segregation	School segregation stemming from legal requirements.
educational attainment	The highest grade or degree someone completes or obtains through formal education.
education	The social institution through which a society teaches its members the skills, knowledge, norms, and values they need to learn to become good, productive members of their society.
hidden curriculum	A set of values and beliefs learned in school that support the status quo, including the existing social hierarchy.
de facto segregation	School segregation stemming from neighborhood residential patterns.
monotheistic	Believing in one god.
religiosity	The significance of religion in a person’s life.
profane	Aspects of life that are practical and down-to-earth.
secularization	The weakening importance of religion in a society.
religious preference	A synonym for religious affiliation.
civil religion	The devotion of a nation’s citizens to their society and government.
ecclesia	A large, bureaucratically organized religious organization that is a formal part of the state and has most or all of a state’s citizens as its members.
religious conservatism	In the U.S. context, the belief that the Bible is the actual word of God.
polytheistic	Believing in more than one god.
sect	A relatively small religious organization that is not closely integrated into the larger society and that often conflicts with at least some of its norms and values.
sacred	Aspects of life that are supernatural and awe-inspiring.
church	A large, bureaucratically organized religious organization that’s closely integrated into the larger society.
cult	A small religious organization that is at great odds with the norms and values of the larger society.
religion	The set of beliefs and practices regarding sacred things that help a society understand the meaning and purpose of life.
denomination	A large, bureaucratically organized religious organization that is closely integrated into the larger society but is not a formal part of the state.
religious affiliation	Actual membership in a church or synagogue, or just a stated identification with a particular religion, whether or not someone actually belongs to a local house of worship.
disability rights movement	A social movement that arose during the 1970s to struggle for improved conditions and legal protections for people with disabilities.
national health insurance	A system of medicine in which the government pays all or most of the costs of health care, prescriptions, and other items for the entire population.
direct-fee system	A system of medicine in which patients pay for health care, prescriptions, and other medical costs themselves.
ableism	Discrimination against and devaluation of people with disabilities.
disability	A social category resulting from structural practices and cultural understandings that limit a society’s ability to attend to the needs of people with impairments.
“Why me? Why Now?” response	A common reaction among people who discover they have a disability as they struggle to understand how and why they developed it.
contested illnesses	Conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome for which there is no apparent medical cause but which can impair people’s lives significantly.
biographical disruption	The idea that a person’s normal life activities and social relationships may change after they develop a chronic illness or disability.
health	The extent of a person’s physical, mental, and social well-being.
medicine	The social institution that seeks to prevent, diagnose, and treat illness and to promote health in its various dimensions.
social epidemiology	The study of how health and illness vary by social and demographic characteristics, such as social class, race and ethnicity, and gender.
impairment	A physical, cognitive, or psychological condition that limits a person’s ability to engage in various life activities.
sick role	Expectations of how people are supposed to think and act when they are ill.
generational equity	The argument by critics of political activism on behalf of older Americans that programs for aging adults threaten to take money from programs to help younger Americans, either now or as they age.
gerontology	The study of aging.
disengagement theory	The view, now largely abandoned, by some past social gerontologists that a society needs to encourage its older adult population to disengage from their previous roles and to take on roles more appropriate to their declining physical and mental abilities.
activity theory	The view by social gerontologists that older people will benefit both themselves and their societies if they remain active and try to continue to perform the roles they had before they aged.
social aging	The changes in roles and relationships that occur as people age.
biological aging	The physical changes that “slow us down” as we get into our middle and older years.
elder abuse	Physical violence, mental and emotional abuse, neglect of care, and financial exploitation committed against the elderly, most often by their relatives who are caring for them.
psychological aging	The psychological changes, including those involving mental functioning and personality, that occur as we age.
life expectancy	The average age to which people can be expected to live.
ageism	Negative views about, and prejudice and discrimination toward, various age groups, especially older people.
chronological age	The number of years since we were born.
conflict theory	The view by social gerontologists that ageism and structural obstacles pose several problems for the older adult population and prevent them from realizing their potential and achieving the best physical and mental health possible.

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