D & E
D
DEFENSIVE MEDICINE. The use of widespread medical tests on the part of physicians in order to avoid possible malpractice suits.
DEFORESTATION. The removal of all trees from an area.
DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION. The movement of mental patients out of hospitals and into the "community."
DEMOCRACY. A form of government that recognizes the citizen as having the right to participate in political decision-making, or to elect representatives to government bodies.
DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION. A stabilization of population level in industrial society once a certain level of economic prosperity has been reached. Population is thought to stabilize because of economic incentives on families to limit the number of children.
DEMOGRAPHY. The scientific study of human population--including size, growth, movement, density, and composition.
DENSITY. A measure of human crowding usually expressed as the number of people per square mile.
DEPENDENCY THEORY. The thesis that many Third World countries cannot control major aspects of their economic life because of the dominance of industrialized societies.
DEPLETION. One of the primary constraints of the environment on socio-cultural systems. Refers to the limited supplies of natural resources (although the limits are unknowable, that there are limits can be inferred). These limits can often be stretched through the use of technology.
DESERTIFICATION. A fertile region that has been made barren by the activities of human societies .
DETERRENCE THEORY. The prevention of military conflict through the build up of armaments. The basis of deterrence theory is in ensuring that a potential aggressor would suffer too many losses to make the initiation of hostilities worthwhile M.A.D. or mutually assured destruction was based on this theory.
DEVIANCE. Behaviors which do not conform to significant norms held by most of the members of a group or society. What is regarded as 'deviant' is highly variable across societies.
DEVIANT SUBCULTURE. A subculture which has values and norms which differ substantially from those of the majority in a society.
DIALECTICAL. An interpretation of change emphasizing the clash of opposing interests and the resulting struggle as the engine of social transformation.
DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION. Theory of crime and delinquency that holds that deviance is learned as a result of long-term interaction with others.
DIFFERENTIATION. The development of increasing complexity and division of labor within socio-cultural systems.
DIFFUSION. The spread of cultural traits from one socio-cultural system to another.
DISCRIMINATION. The denial of equal access to social resources to people on the basis of their group membership.
DIVISION OF LABOR. The specialization of work tasks or occupations. All societies have some division of labor based on age and sex. But with the development of industrialism the division of labor becomes far more complex which affects many parts of the socio-cultural system.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. Violent behavior directed by one member of a household against another.
DOUBLE STANDARD. A code of behavior that is more restrictive on women than on men.
DOUBLING TIME. The time it takes for a particular level of population to double in size. A fairly accurate doubling time estimate can be computed by taking the annual growth rate and dividing it by 70. At 2% annual growth world population (5.5 billion in 1996) will double in size (to 11 billion) in about 35 years (2031) assuming the annual growth stays constant.
DUAL CAREER FAMILY. Families in which both spouses are in the outside labor force.
DUAL WELFARE SYSTEM. Refers to disguised forms of welfare that go to the middle class and the rich (also called Wealthfare).
DYSFUNCTION. Refers to an institution's negative impact (or harmful effect) on the socio-cultural system.
E
ECOLOGY. The study of the system of relationships between organisms and their environment.
ECONOMY. The organization of production and distribution of goods and services within a socio-cultural system.
ECONOMIC INTERDEPENDENCE. Comte and Durkheim both refer to the fact that in societies with a high division of labor individuals depend more on others to produce most of the goods they need to sustain their lives.
ECOSYSTEM. A self-sustaining community of plants and animals within a natural environment.
EDUCATION. The transmission of knowledge to members of society. The knowledge passed on is in the form of technical and cultural knowledge, technical and social skills, as well as the norms and values of the society.
EDUCATION SYSTEM. The system of formalized transmission of knowledge and values operating within a given society.
EGALITARIAN FAMILY. Family arrangement in which power is shared more-or-less equally by both the wife and the husband.
ELDERLY ABUSE. Acts of violence (or neglect) directed at the elderly (often by family members).
EMIGRATION. The movement of people out of their native land to other countries.
ENDOGAMY. A system in which an individual may only marry within the same social category or group.
ENTREPRENEUR. A person who organizes and manages a business firm.
ENVIRONMENT. The physical, biological and chemical restraints to which action is subject.
ENVIRONMENTALISM. Refers to a concern with preserving the physical environment in the face of the impact of industrialism.
ESTATE. A form of stratification established by law.
ETHNICITY. An ethnic group is one of a common cultural identity, separating them from other groups around them.
ETHNOCENTRISM. The tendency to judge other cultures by the standards one's own culture.
EVOLUTION. The change of biological organisms by means of the adaptation to the demands of the physical environment. Organisms that successfully adapt pass on their genes to future generations thereby changing the species itself.
EXOGAMY. A system in which an individual may only marry outside their social category or group.
EXPERIMENT. A research method in which variables can be analyzed under carefully controlled conditions--usually within an artificial situation constructed by the researcher.
EXPONENTIAL GROWTH. A geometric rate of progression which has the potential of producing a very fast rise an "explosion" in the numbers of a population experiencing such growth.
EXTENDED FAMILY. A family group consisting of more than two generations of the same kinship line living either within the same household or, more usually in the west, very close to one another.
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The kingdom of the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah. He indeed is able to do all things. -Quran, Al-Imran, Surah 3:189
Somayya
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