POSSIBLE CONCEPTS WITH DEFINITIONS AND EXAMPLES TO USE IN THE PAPERS:
Students are not required to use one of these concepts below -- ie, you could find a different concept from any of the readings. I'm just offering this list to give you ideas and make it easier for you!
1. Dominant cultural values: Dominant cultural values and beliefs are those that are widely shared among a community, group, or culture. They influence many judgments people make, as well as the support that may be given to a particular cause, individual, or group. Beliefs and values are formed throughout the course of life and may change over time. They contribute to a group's sense of who they are, as well as a group's global view. The primary influencers in the formation of values and beliefs include social, political, economic, and religious institutions; kinship; and customs and practices. Examples: The American Dream (ie, the belief that in this country, if you work hard you can achieve a comfortable standard of living); sexual double standard (ie, it's okay for one gender to do, but not for the other); compulsory heterosexuality (ie, the expectation that being heterosexual is 'normal' -- so much so that the laws in this country have generally supported that kind of marital relationship over same-sex unions).
2. Mores: Societal norms or rules that are enforced by members of a community. They can exist as both formal and informal rules of behavior. Formal mores or rules mean that the society has created actual laws to enforce them, and informal mores mean no laws have been created to enforce them, but the penalty is more social, where people get very upset if you do it (or don't do it, depending). For instance, being homosexual (in some families, especially with regards to their religion), being unfaithful in a marriage, abandoning one's family, etc.
3. Social devaluation: A situation in which a person or group is considered to have less social value than other individuals or groups. For example, in the US society we tend to 'devalue' people living in poverty, where we see them as 'lazy' and to blame for their circumstance (even though the percentage of families living in poverty have a family member who is working full-time, and sometimes more than one job).
4. Self-concept: A knowledge representation that contains knowledge about us, including our beliefs about our personality traits, physical characteristics, abilities, values, goals, and roles, as well as the knowledge that we exist as individuals. Sociologists believe that a person's self-concept is strongly influenced by their environment -- ie, family upbringing, religion, peers, and the media, for example. Here, for example, a person may see themselves as overweight, friendly, athletic, kind, hard working, and independent. Sociologists believe a person's self-concept is influenced by how they believe others see them. So if we think people like us, for example, we might develop a positive self-concept. Related to the family, if we think our parent(s) love us and have confidence in us, we might therefore develop a positive self-concept.
5. Socioeconomic status: A combined measure that, in order to determine class location, attempts to classify individuals, families, or households in terms of factors such as income, occupation, and education. How does a family's socioeconomic status affect their experiences -- specifically the experiences of children? This is a key consideration for sociologists. For example, if someone is raised in a wealthy family (a high socioeconomic status), their life experiences and opportunities will likely be much different than someone raised in poverty (a lower socioeconomic status).
6. Socialization: The lifelong process of social interaction through which individuals acquire self identity and the physical, social, and mental skills necessary for survival in society. For example, the family provides primary socialization, and then socialization continues throughout our lives. Sociologists put emphasis on socialization in the family, as that is where we first develop our sense of self and our understanding of society, and it's the place the determines our basic opportunities in life.
7. Role expectation: A group’s or society’s definition of the way a specific role ought to be played, and Role performance: how a person actually plays the role. A person's role performance may be different than the role expectation. For example, we expect parents to provide love and security to their children (role expectation), but their role performance may differ if they have the disease of drug addiction (or some other reason).
8. Ethnocentrism: The attitude that one's own culture is superior to others, that one's own beliefs, values, and behavior are more correct than others; and that other people and cultures can be evaluated in terms of one's own culture. It is common to be ethnocentric, as there is a tendency to understand the world only from the viewpoint of one's own culture. For example, when we judge the norms of another culture (or subculture) as being inferior to our own, we are being ethnocentric.