The Challenge of Change

Prologue
1. Flash Mobs/Robs: Flash mobs are defined as a large public gathering at which people perform an unusual or seemingly random act and then disperse, typically organized by means of the Internet or social media. Flash robs on the other hand are an organized form of theft in which a group of participants enter a retail shop or convenience store in groups and steal goods and other items.
2. The Tipping Point
  1. Law of a few: relies on talent as a small group of individuals, 20/80
  2. Stickiness factor: memorable presentation
  3. Power of context: time and place, environmental factors
3. Cognitive Dissonance
  1. The state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes.
4. Leon Festinger
  1. Best known for his theory of cognitive dissonance, according to which inconsistency between thoughts, or between thoughts and actions, leads to discomfort (dissonance), which motivates changes in thoughts or behaviours.
5. Rites of Passage
  1. A way to understanding cultural beliefs. They are elaborate ceremonies that sigle an individual's progress from one status to another
6. Youth Voice
  1. Refers to the distinct ideas, opinions, attitudes, knowledge, and actions of young people as a collective body.
7. External Factors
  1. Population Changes
  2. Proximity
  3. Physical Environment
  4. Technology
  5. Social Environment, Culture, and Social Values
8. Theories of Change
  1. Evolutionary: society evolves from simple beginnings and becomes more complex; progress
  2. Cyclical: society change is like changing seasons, each has different conditions; reaches a pinnacle, then gives way to the next season; trends
  3. Challenge and Response: every society faces a challenge posed by the physical environment, the ability to respond is the deciding factor to the success of the society
  4. Functionalist: society is affected by social institutions ; social stability
  5. Conflict: inequities that plague societies, rich and poor,
Chapter 1: Close to home
1. Origins of Adolescents
  1. Adolescents: a period between childhood and adulthood that lasts until the ages of 18 to 21
  2. Not always recognized
  3. The increasing cost of living and the rapidly rising cost of post-secondary education are issues that today's adolescent must tackle head on.
2. Stanley Hall
  1. Coined the term 'adolescents'
  2. Focused on the emotional development of adolescents
  3. Storm and Stress Period: can be felt both physically and emotionally.
3. Elkind's Theory
  1. The primary feature of this phase of life is the immaturity of the thinking process.
  2. Adolescents can be argumentative, related to underdeveloped formal reasoning ability
  3. Believed that teenagers had the mindset that they are invincible and invulnerable, these beliefs lead to risk-taking behaviours
4. Socialization Factors
  1. Socialization: the process by which an individual learns to function successfully in society, by internalizing the values, norms, and roles of that society
  2. Factors: Family, social groups, culture and identity in adolescents
  3. Socialized Anxiety: refers to the tension and discomfort felt by individuals that motivate and influence behaviour
5. Theories of Adolescent Development
  1. Eduard Spranger and Dominant Values: lasting values that shape the world view an individual carries forward into adulthood
  2. Leta Stetter Hollongworth and Gradual Change to Adulthood: adolescents allows for a calm and continual development into adulthood
  3. Lewin's Field Theory of Adolescence: explains the individual's behaviour without making wide-sweeping generalizations about youth at a whole
  4. Structural Functionalism: social structures exist to serve the needs of society and its members
  5. Conflict Theory: Power is the basis for relationships among groups and individuals in society and is the source of certain forms of social conflicts
  6. Feminist Theory: Social conflict is created by inequality related to gender issues and roles
  7. Symbolic Interaction: the individual's role and function in society is determined by his or her interpretation and reaction to it
  8. Social Exchange: weighs the costs and benefits of belonging to and participation in personal relationships and social groups
6. Generational Theories
  1. Karl Manniheim
    1. Fresh Contacts: the personal interpretation of the world by a young person
  2. Strauss-Howe
    1. Generational archetypes, or universal symbols or patterns
      1. G.I. Generation (1901-1924)
      2. Silent Generation (1925-1942)
      3. Baby Boom Generation (1943-1960)
      4. Generation X (1961-1981)
      5. Millennial Generation (1980-2000)
      6. Generation Z/iGen (2001- Present)
  3. Generational Replacement
    1. Claims that changes in adolescent attitudes are important markers of long-term social change
    2. Adolescents are subject to influence (peer pressure)
  4. Adolescent Development
    1. Learn important life skills
    2. Life choices can influence your future (ie. mental and physical health)
    3. Erik Erikson's Psychosocial development theory: Adolescents (10-20) are in the Identity vs. role confusion
Chapter 2: Growing trends
1. Family Trends Today
  1. Family Structures
    1. Nuclear: spouses and their dependent children
    2. Extended Family: Several generations in a single household
    3. Lone-Parent Family: One parent with one or more dependent children
    4. Blended Family Divorced partners, married or not, with or without children from a previous union/marriage
    5. Same-Sex Family: Two individuals of the same sex, married or not, with or without children
    6. Married/Cohabiting couple: Spouses or partners without dependent children
2. Challenges in Social Relationships
  1. Conformity: act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours to what individuals perceive as normal to their society or social group
  2. Festinger and the Social Comparison Theory: individuals routinely compare themselves with others when they are unable to judge their status and abilities on their own
    1. Downward comparison: occurs when an individual compares himself or herself to someone who is worse off
    2. Upward Comparison: occurs when an individual compares himself or herself to someone who is better off
  3. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Physiological, safety, Love and belonging, esteem, self-actualization
3. Adolescents and Technology
  1. Social Networking
  2. Cyber-bullying
  3. Sexting
Chapter 3: Views of Canadian society
1. Canadian Diversity
  1. Languages: English and French are most prevalent
  2. Immigration to Canada: over the past 30 years Canada's population growth is mainly due to immigration
  3. Immigrants bring customs and cultures from around the world when they settle in Canada. This adds to Canadian customs, beliefs, and languages and to the already existing Canadian culture
2. Feminism
  1. Is a social perspective devoted to equality and equal rights between the sexes.
  2. Gender inequality can be seen in the workplace as well as everyday activities
Chapter 4: Growing trends in Canadian society
1. The Economy and Wealth
  1. Having a job defines social status among the population, integral part of a persons identity
    1. Working Teens: 34-40% of teens aged 15 to 18 have a job, work in low paying services (minimum wage)
    2. Challenges facing youth workers: getting into the workforce
    3. Unemployment: 7.4% of Canadians are unemployed, creates a social stigma
  2. Work and Identity: people define themselves through their occupation
    1. Looking-glass self: a person's self-image, which forms by imagining what others think of his or her behaviour and appearance
  3. Credit and Debt: troubling trend for Canadians, can make households vulnerable
2. The Media and Technology
  1. Media Consumption: view an average of 22 hours of television each week
  2. Media and Culture: George Gerbner researched the impact of TV on a society, means of reinforcing behaviour, a means of transmitting culture
  3. Influential Media Figures are a ruling class, this class sets standards and norms for others to follow. Often, the beliefs of these figures are also believed by their followers
    1. People often conform to what they see in the media
  4. Albert Bandura: Learning through observation, people follow and learn from what their peers do
  5. There is a very strong presents of violence in the media, this leads to the desensitization to the violence
3. Politics
  1. Participation: the youth population do not express as large of an interest in politics; politicians are trying to appeal to younger voters
  2. Overall, there has been a decrease in voter participation in all age groups
  3. There is a belief that in order to increase voter participation, education is important. People are not going to vote if they do not even know how it works
4. Health and Beauty
  1. Body Image: undergoing extreme weight loss or fluctuation influences how teenagers view their surroundings. A component of defining who we are is self reflection
  2. The use of media campaigns to promote healthy behaviours and reduce harmful behaviours. This allows the government to reach out to their adolescent demographic
Chapter 5: Social stratification and inequality
1. Theories of Social Inequality
  1. Marx and Weber
    1. Marx: examine class conflict within an economic context, between the bourgeoisie, or capitalist class, who own the means for producing wealth in industrialized society, and the proletariat, or working class, and predicted that the exploitation of the working class would lead to a conflict between the classes
    2. Weber: believe that no single characteristic defines a person's position within the stratification system
  2. Functionalist: inequality is not only inevitable but also positive and necessary for the proper functioning of society
  3. Symbolic Interactionist: George Mead, views human interaction and behaviour, examines individual actions, behaviours, and understandings
2. Class System
  1. A type of stratification based on the ownership and control of resources and the type of work people do
  2. Four Classes: Upper (3-5% of the population), Middle (40-50% of the population), Working (30% of the population), Lower (15-20% of the population)
3. Social Inequality
  1. Most people encounter only one class with only a few interactions with people who are in a different social class
  2. Economic Inequality: income vs wealth
  3. Poverty: Those who do not possess specific benefits that are important to a society are defined as poor.
4. Ascription and Inequality
  1. Gender, race, social background, and ethnicity have fundamental effects on our lives
  2. Ethnicity and Race: defining feature in Canadian society, poverty rates are higher for these visible minorities
  3. Social Background: level of education, access to education, household income
  4. Glass ceiling: an invisible but real barrier through which the next stage or level of advancement can be seen, but cannot be reached by a section of qualified and deserving employees
  5. Gender: gender pay gap, women get paid less then men
  6. Physical and Mental Disability: excluded from participating in mainstream society (workforce), face prejudice and discrimination
Chapter 6: Moving towards social justice
1. Deviance and Social Control
  1. Deviance: actions or beliefs that violate societal expectations or beliefs
  2. Standards of Deviance: Location, age, social status, individual societies
  3. A person does not need to act deviant, in order to be considered deviant
  4. Social Control: ways to promote conformity to social norms
2. Theories of Deviance
  1. Functionalist: common part of human existence, positive and negative consequences; Strain: more likely when a gap exists; Control: depends on strong bonds between individuals
  2. Symbolic Interactionist: how people learn and develop conforming behaviour; Differential Association: learn the behaviours from people they associate themselves with; Labelling: deviants are people who have been labeled by others
  3. Conflict Perspective: suggest that individuals who are lower income are more likely to be labeled as deviants
3. Criminal Justice System
  1. A system comprising institutions and processes responsible for enforcing criminal statutes
4. Police, Courts, and Corrections
  1. Police: primary contact between the population and the criminal justice system, maintain order by enforcing the societies laws
  2. Courts: determines guilt or innocence
  3. Corrections: designed to punish, deprive a person of things of value because of a criminal offence
5. Social Movements
  1. The most highly structured, rational, and enduring form of collective behaviour
  2. Goal is to promote or prevent social change
  3. Types of Social Movements: Revolutionary (American Revolution), Reformative (Women's Liberation), Redemptive (Cults), Alternative (Mothers against drunk driving)

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The Challenge of Change

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	Created by Darien T Shinniman about 5 years ago