SOC 441 Study Guide - Final Guide: Speakeasy, Collective Behavior, System On A Chip
Document Summary
Social construction: something appears normal because we"re taught it should be normal, this can refer to gender and race oppression, something that is made by people and doesn"t have an objective basis. Consensus vs. conflict perspective: consensus perspective. Laws comes out of agreement between moral majority. A critical mass agrees that a behavior will not be tolerated and the state should intervene (hate crimes, domestic violence) Often, there is a rationale for casting out the deviate (durkheim) The lottery - where the action of the community was arbitrary, to eliminate a randomly selected person each year: conflict perspective. Law is a weapon that elites (the wealthy, the powerful) use to oppress the masses. As a response, we can use the law as a weapon against the powerful through legal mobilization, or we can avoid legal contests altogether. Norms vs. laws or convention and customs vs. laws: norms = common practices, that may or may not be backed in law.
