MATSEC IM Sociology key terms

The lifelong process through which people learn the norms, values, and skills of their society, beginning in childhood with family and continuing through school, peers, work, and media.

The earliest stage of learning, usually within the family, where a child acquires basic language, emotional responses, and fundamental ideas about right and wrong from close carers.

Later learning that takes place outside the family, in institutions such as schools, peer groups, workplaces, and religious bodies, where people acquire more specific roles and skills.

The social institutions and groups that transmit culture and teach people how to behave, including the family, education system, peer group, mass media, religion, and workplace.

Shared expectations about how people should behave in particular situations, ranging from everyday manners to formal rules backed by law and punishment.

Broad beliefs held by a society or group about what is good, desirable, and worth pursuing, which underpin the more specific rules of everyday behaviour.

Rewards or punishments used by a group to encourage conformity to norms, such as praise and prizes for approved behaviour or ridicule and fines for disapproved behaviour.

The total way of life of a society, including its language, beliefs, values, customs, knowledge, art, and material objects, passed on from one generation to the next.

Judging another culture by the standards of one's own, usually treating one's own way of life as normal or superior and other ways as strange or inferior.

The approach of understanding a society's beliefs and practices within its own cultural context rather than measuring them against the standards of another culture.

The mechanisms, formal and informal, by which a society persuades or forces its members to conform to accepted norms and discourages behaviour that breaks them.

Behaving in line with the expectations of a group or society, often because of the pressure of others, the desire to be accepted, or internalised norms.

Behaviour that departs from the norms of a particular society or group, which may range from minor rule-breaking to serious crime and may attract disapproval or punishment.

Behaviour that breaks a formal law of the state and is therefore liable to official punishment by the criminal justice system.

A condition in which norms are weak, unclear, or conflicting, so that people lack clear guidance on how to behave and may turn to deviant or self-destructive conduct.

Merton's explanation that deviance results when society encourages everyone to pursue the same goals, such as wealth, but blocks legitimate means of achieving them for some groups.

The process by which an audience, often an authority, defines a person as deviant, so that the label becomes part of the person's identity and shapes how others respond to them.

A prediction or label that becomes true because people act in ways that bring about the expected outcome, for example a pupil treated as a failure who then stops trying.

A strong mark of social disapproval attached to a person or group because of a characteristic regarded as shameful, which can lead to exclusion and discrimination.

The arrangement of a society into ranked layers or groups that have unequal access to wealth, power, and prestige, so that advantages tend to pass between generations.

A broad grouping based on economic position, usually combining occupation, income, wealth, and education, which shapes life chances and lifestyle.

Movement of individuals or groups between social positions, either upward or downward, and either within a person's lifetime or across generations.

The opportunities a person has to obtain the good things in life, such as health, education, housing, and rewarding work, which vary with social position.

Unequal distribution of resources, opportunities, and rewards among members of a society, visible in differences of income, wealth, health, and access to education.

A condition of lacking the resources needed for a decent standard of living, defined either in absolute terms of basic needs or relative to the standards of the wider society.

The process by which individuals or groups are pushed to the margins of society and prevented from taking part fully in economic, social, and political life.

The socially constructed expectations, roles, and identities attached to being male or female in a particular society, distinct from biological sex.

The biological characteristics, such as chromosomes, hormones, and reproductive anatomy, used to classify people as male or female.

The process through which children learn the behaviour expected of their sex, for example through different toys, chores, and praise given to boys and girls.

A social system in which men hold most positions of power and authority and in which male dominance is built into family life, work, and culture.

The set of expected behaviours attached to a particular social position, such as parent, student, or worker, which guides how the person in that position should act.

The social position a person occupies, which may be ascribed at birth such as sex or family background, or achieved through effort such as a qualification or job.

The tension experienced when the demands of one role clash with those of another, for example when paid work and caring responsibilities make competing claims on a person's time.

A group of people related by blood, marriage, civil partnership, or adoption, or who choose to live as a caring unit, forming a basic institution of society.

A household made up of two parents and their dependent children, often presented as a standard form although it is only one of many family arrangements.

A family unit that includes relatives beyond parents and children, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins, either living together or maintaining close ties.

The network of relationships created by descent, marriage, or adoption that defines who counts as a relative and carries obligations of support and mutual help.

The unofficial lessons of schooling, such as punctuality, obedience, and competition, learned through the routines and organisation of school rather than the formal syllabus.

A group of people of similar age and status whose approval matters greatly to its members and who exert strong pressure on one another's attitudes and behaviour.

Forms of communication that reach large audiences, such as television, newspapers, radio, and online platforms, and which shape public knowledge and opinion.

A preconceived negative attitude towards a person or group based on their membership of a category rather than on individual evidence or experience.

Unequal or unfair treatment of people because they belong to a particular group, such as unequal access to jobs or housing on grounds of sex, ethnicity, or religion.

An oversimplified and widely held generalisation about the characteristics of a group, which ignores individual differences and often supports prejudice.