Chapter 2

1. Chapter 2 Concepts For Social And Cultural Theories

2. Chapter Outline • The Concept of Society • Social Structural Concepts • Stratification • Networks • The Concept of Culture • Cultural Concepts

3. Chapter Outline • Modernization and Globalization • Jews and Italians in North America • Theorizing About Ethnic Mobility • The Cultural Theory • The Social Theory • Reference Groups and Italian Traditionalism

4. Society • Any relatively self-contained and self-sufficient group united by social relationships. • A society occupies a definite physical location—even nomadic societies tend to travel a familiar route within a specific area. • Not all societies are nations and some nations include several societies.

5. Social Structures • Social structures are characteristics of a group rather than of individuals. • Social structures influence behavior in much the same way that physical structures such as doors and stairways channel movements.

6. Population Density As a Social Structure

7. Networks: Strong and Weak Ties • A tie is another word for a relationship. • Strong ties • Require more time and effort than weak ties. • More effective for exerting influence • Weak ties are more effective for spreading information. • Weak ties • Networks based on weak ties will be larger than networks of strong ties.

8. Redundant Ties and Networks • A tie that duplicates links among members. • Any member can send a message to another member by several routes. • Implications: • Information will get around rapidly. • Everyone’s information will be the same. • The scope of the information reaching the group will be very limited.

9. Local Networks • Members engage in direct, person-to-person interaction and form and sustain strong ties. • Members provide one another with emotional and material support. • Weakness: They are self-contained and lack input as well as outreach.

10. Cosmopolitan Networks • Members seldom engage in face-to-face interaction and tend to be scattered geographically. • Offer little solidarity and have little capacity to comfort and sustain members. • Benefit: Members have a constant flow of new information and a great reach of influence.

11. Nations and Local Networks

12. Culture • The pattern of living that directs human social life. • Everything that humans learn and the things they learn to use. • language, religions, science, art, notions of right and wrong, explanations of the meaning of life

13. Values and Norms • Values are general standards for assessing good and bad, desirable and undesirable. • Norms define what behavior is required, acceptable, or prohibited. • Groups and societies vary immensely in terms of values and norms.

14. Truth as a Value Across Cultures

15. Cultural Theory of Ethnic Mobility • The best way to predict how people will behave is to know their cultural background. • Example: Jewish and Italian Success in North America • Jewish values of learning and norms of educational achievement helped them become successful. • Italians valued family loyalty over learning which led them to drop out of school and thwarted their social progress.

16. Social Theory of Ethnic Mobility • Social causes account for the differences in the economic position of immigrants. • Upon arriving in new surroundings, people with higher status backgrounds are likely to regain higher-status positions. • A group’s average status in a new society will reflect their average status in the old society.

17. Reference Groups AndItalian Traditionalism • The reference group for large numbers of Italian Americans was the inhabitants of rural villages in southern Italy. • As the reference groups began to change, and Italian Americans began to adapt to the culture and conditions around them. • In a few years, Italians achieved rapid upward mobility.