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Sociology Chapter 9
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27
Sociology
Undergraduate 1
04/11/2010

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Term
Race
Definition
A vast collectivity of people more or less bound together by shared and selected history, ancestors, and physical features; these people are socialized to think of themselves as a distinct group, and they are regarded by others as such
Term
Ethnicity
Definition
People who share, believe they share, or are believed by others to share a national origin; a common ancestry; a place of birth; distinctive concrete social traits (such as religious practices, style of dress, body adornments, or language); or socially important physical characteristics (such as skin color, hair texture, or body structure)
Term
Systems of Racial and Ethnic Classification
Definition
A systematic process that divides people into racial or ethnic categories that are implicitly or explicitly ranked on a scale of social worth
Term
Chance
Definition
Something not subject to human will, choice, or effort; it helps determine a person's racial and ethnic classification
Term
Context
Definition
The social setting in which racial and ethnic categories are recognized, constructed, and challenged
Term
Choice
Definition
The act of choosing from a range of possible behaviors or appearances; a person's choices may evoke associations with a particular race or ethnic group
Term
Foreign-Born
Definition
People living within the political boundaries a country who were born elsewhere
Term
Minority Groups
Definition
Subgroups within a society that can be distinguished from members of the dominant group by visible identifying characteristics, including physical and cultural attributes. These subgroups are systematically excluded, whether consciously or unconsciously, from full participation in society and denied equal access to positions of power, privilege, and wealth
Term
Assimilation
Definition
A process by which ethnic or racial distinctions between groups disappear because one group is absorbed into another group's culture or because two cultures blend to form a new cultural system
Term
Absorption Assimilation
Definition
A process by which members of a minority group adapt to the ways of the dominant culture
Term
Segregation
Definition
The physical or social separation of categories of people
Term
Involuntary Minorities
Definition
Ethnic or racial groups that were forced to become part of a country by slavery, conquest, or colonization
Term
Voluntary Minorities
Definition
Racial or ethnic groups that come to a country expecting to improve their way of life
Term
Melting Pot Assimilation
Definition
Cultural blending in which groups accept many new behaviors and values from one another. The exchange produces a new cultural system, which is a blend of the previously separate systems
Term
Ideology
Definition
A set of beliefs taken to be accurate accounts and explanations of why things are as they are. The beliefs are not challenged or subjected to scrutiny by the people who hold them
Term
Prejudice
Definition
A rigid and usually unfavorable judgment about an outgroup that does not change in the face of contradictory evidence and that applies to anyone who shares the distinguishing characteristics of the outgroup
Term
Stereotypes
Definition
Inaccurate generalizations about people who belong to an outgroup
Term
Selective Perception
Definition
The process in which prejudiced persons notice only the behaviors or events related to an outgroup that support their stereotypes about the outgroup
Term
Discrimination
Definition
Intentional or unintentional unequal treatment of individuals or groups because of attributes unrelated to merit, ability, or past performance-treatment that denies equal opportunities to achieve socially valued goals
Term
Nonprejudiced Nondiscriminators (All-Weather Liberals)
Definition
Persons who accept the creed of equal opportunity and whose conduct conforms to that creed
Term
Nonprejudiced Discriminators (Fair-Weather Liberals)
Definition
Persons who believe in equal opportunity but discriminate because doing so gives them an advantage or because they fail to consider the discriminatory consequences of their actions
Term
Prejudiced Nondiscriminators (Timid Bigots)
Definition
Persons who reject the creed of equal opportunity but refrain from discrimination primarily because they fear the sanctions they may encounter if they are caught
Term
Prejudiced Discriminators (Active Bigots)
Definition
Persons who reject the notion of equal opportunity and profess a right, even a duty, to discriminate
Term
Individual Discrimination
Definition
Any overt action of an individual that depreciates someone from an outgroup, denies outgroup members opportunities to participate, or does violence to their lives and property
Term
Institutionalized Discrimination
Definition
The established, customary way of doing things in society-the unchallenged rules, policies, and day-to-day practices that impede or limit minority members' achievement and keep them in subordinate and disadvantaged positions
Term
Stigma
Definition
An attribute defined as deeply discrediting because it overshadows all other attributes that a person might possess
Term
Mixed Contacts
Definition
"The moments when stigmatized normals are in the same 'social situation,' that is, in one another's immediate physical presence, whether in a conversation-like encounter or in the mere copresence of an unfocused gathering"
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