Sociological Approach
Conditions that cause physical, mental, or material
suffering for some category of people.
What is a Social Probelm?
This economic system is characterized by the dominance of large corporations that control significant portions of the market, limiting competition, and concentrating economic power. For example, Amazon.
What is Monopolistic Capitalism?
This theory broadly promotes free-market capitalism and limited government intervention, emphasizing deregulation, austerity, opposition to labor unions, individualism, private businesses, and competitive markets.
What is neoliberalism?
The label of is associated with those who are seen as capable to working, but are not due to their bad moral character, bad decisions, or personal failings that they are unwilling to fix.
What is the "deserving poor"?
To make the connection between your personal experiences and larger social patterns, historical contexts, and societal forces.
What is the Sociological Imagination?
The previous era in U.S. history that is characterized by unprecedented economic growth, as well as the accumulation of wealth in the hands
of a few and thus large scale economic inequality.
What is the Gilded Age?
This term refers to the tactic of closing down or threatening to close down factories in order to drive down worker's wages and disarm labor unions' power in the workplace.
What is capital-flight or capital-mobility?
These concepts intend to diminish, demean, and demonize individuals by framing systemic issues like racism, sexism, and poverty as personal failings, which have a far-reaching impact that obscures the structural causes of injustice
What is a "controlling image"?
This perspective explains social problems by finding their cause in the individual rather than in society. It often sees "bad" people as the cause of social problems.
What is the “person-blame” or "pathological" perspective?
Because wealthy individuals have the resources, money, time, and institutional support to run for elected office more effectively than those in a lower social class standing, which allows them to shape laws and policies that best meet their own interests.
Why is white-collar government common in the U.S.?
This concept refers to the idea that employers have an obligation to provide quality wages, benefits, and safe working conditions to their employees, and that both workers and employers benefit from this arrangement .
What is the Social Contract?
This government program introduced work requirements and time limits (60 months), which reduced welfare use, but forced the most vulnerable to face increased poverty.
What was the Welfare Reform Act (Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996)?
Politicians, corporations, public opinion, mass media play a big role in deciding which issues get called "problems" in society.
Who or what defines a social problem?
A social entity that has legal rights,
privileges, and liabilities apart from
those of its members.
What is a modern corporation?
"A widespread, systematic disinvestment in
the nation’s basic productive capacity" which changed the very structure of the economy; work; role of government
What is Deindustrialization?
This theory suggests that the presence of small problems in a community, like broken windows or graffiti on buildings, demonstrates the lack of social control within the community and acts as an invitation for criminal activity.
What is the Broken Windows Theory?
This approach explains issues like poverty or inequality by looking at systems of housing, education and the economy, rather than blaming individuals.
What is a structural approach?
This leads to concentrated wealth and power, higher prices and lower quality goods for consumers, reduced wages and fewer job opportunities for workers, and increased economic inequality.
What Is A Consequence of the Growth of ”monopolies” or “oligopolies"?
This economic term that refers to the increase in temporary workers, contract workers, and freelancers, which provides businesses with flexibility while leading to greater worker insecurity.
What is the “Great Transformation"?
This theory refers to the government's use of space, such as how it is used, the design of the space, or who can use that space, as a way to create a desired behavior in certain populations without having to use direct force.
What is Spatial Governmentality?