| A | B |
|---|
| structural-functional approach | A framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. |
| social-conflict approach | A framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change. |
| critical sociology | The study of society that focuses on the need for social change. |
| mores | Norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance. |
| subculture | Cultural patterns that set apart some segment of a society's population. |
| diffusion | The spread of objects or ideas from one society to another. |
| cultural universals | Traits that are part of every known culture. |
| sapir-whorf thesis | The idea that people perceive the world through the cultural lens of language. |
| behaviorism | A theory which states that behavior is not instinctive but learned. |
| preoperational stage | The level of human development at which individuals first use language and other symbols. |
| resocialization | Radically changing an inmate's personality by carefully controlling the environment. |
| ascribed status | A social position a person receives at birth or takes on involuntarily later in life. |
| ethnomethodology | The study of the way people make sense of their everyday surroundings. |
| in-group | A social group in which a member feels respect and committment. |
| coercive organizations | Organizations that force people to join as a form of punishment or treatment. (Prisons or Psychiatric Hospitals) |
| asexuality | No sexual attraction to people of either sex. |
| queer theory | A growing body of research findings that challenges the heterosexual bias in U.S. society. |
