Sociology

In recent years there has been a growth of homework: paid work done at home for an employer, though often for a low wage. This may mean producing goods such as clothing, with workers being paid for every item they produce rather than by the hour. It can also involve telework, which means using information technology for the same purposes, for example conducting market research surveys over the telephone for an external employer. 707-709

Women are not only less likely to be convicted of criminal offences, but also tend mainly to commit certain types of crime. Carol Smart argued that these crimes reflected women’s traditional gender roles, for example shoplifting of food and other household goods, and involvement in prostitution. 248-249

Sociologists argue that our identities are socially produced, through a process called socialization. This means that we have to to become members of our society, or of particular groups within it (such as social classes or subcultures), and we do this every time we join a new social group. Socialization involves learning the norms, values, and lifestyles of a group, to the extent that they become part of one’s personal identity. 5-6

After the initial growth of the city, population shifts slowed down, and distinct communities began to emerge in different areas. The city was segregated not only by ethnicity but also by social class. Working class communities emerged in many inner city areas, while the middle classes tended to reside in the suburbs as owner-occupiers who could afford to travel in and out of the city. 505

There are many different definitions of the word ‘family’, for it has many possible but not necessary features, such as biological descent or common residence. Sociologists often distinguish between two broad types of family: the nuclear family is a two generation unit of parents and their children, while the extended family includes wider kin, such as grandparents, aunts, and uncles. 448-449

Aries argues that childhood as we know it did not exist in medieval times, as children were seen as miniature adults and spent most of their time in adult company. Relationships between parents and children became more direct and emotional from around the seventeenth century, when children’s clothes and toys were introduced, and later compulsory education. Parents have became increasingly concerned with providing the best opportunities for their children and building close emotional bonds. 457

Stanley Parker (1976) was interested in the way that different social groups conceptualized their ‘work’ time as distinct from their ‘leisure’ time or ‘free’ time. He identified three main patterns. The segmentalist pattern, found in traditional working class homes, involved a rigid distinction between work (routine, monotonous and a means to an end) and leisure (creative and fun). The extension pattern, found in professional and skilled workers, allowed work to spill over into one’s free time, as it was seen as enjoyable and fulfilling. The neutrality pattern was in between, with no sharp division nor great extension; this was found in semi-skilled, clerical workers. 675

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory focuses on the emotional conflicts and drives that motivate human behaviour, through the relationships between different elements of the self. He saw the human mind as divided into three main parts: the unconscious drives of the id, the more conscious ego, which regulates these drives on a practical, rational basis and may lead to the suppression of behaviour, and the superego, which provides our moral conscience. 129-131

The educational policies of the New Labour government, which came to power in 1997, have been seen as radically different from those of the traditional Labour Party. Rather than promoting non-selective comprehensive education, there is an emphasis on selection, streaming and parental choice, which arguably reinforces class differences within and between schools. Local Education Authorities (LEAs) have less control over what and how they teach the pupils in an area, as central regulation by the state has increased. 352-354

Fulcher & Scott identify three models of media influence. The media effects model portrays audiences as passive recipients of the dominant ideologies to which they are exposed. The active audience model suggests that people select what they want to see and hear, and so the media must cater to their tastes. The media themes model combines elements of both of the other models, claiming that audiences are presented with dominant messages but do not necessarily engage with them; their interpretations are also shaped by social interaction with peers and family. 368-369