KEY TERMS

After studying the chapter, review each of the following terms.

born again: a term describing Christians who have undergone a life-transforming religious experience so radical that they feel they have become a “new person” (359)

charisma: an extraordinary gift from God; more commonly, an outstanding, “magnetic” personality (361)

charismatic leader: literally, someone to whom God has given an extraordinary gift; more commonly, someone who exerts extraordinary appeal to a group of followers (361)

church: to Durkheim, one of the three essential elements of religion—a moral community of believers; used by other sociologists to refer to a highly organized religious organization (355)

cosmology: teachings or ideas that provide a unified picture of the world (359)

credential society: a group that uses diplomas and degrees to determine who is eligible for jobs even though the diploma or degree may be irrelevant to the actual work (342)

cult: a new religion with few followers, whose teachings are practices put it at odds with the dominant culture and religion (361)

cultural transmission: in reference to education, the ways by which schools transmit culture, especially its core values (346)

ecclesia: a religious group that is so integrated into the dominant culture that it is difficult to tell where one begins and the other leaves off (362)

functional illiteracy: people having difficulty with basic reading and math even though they have graduated from high school (352)

gatekeeping: the process by which education opens and closes doors of opportunity; another term for the social placement function of education (348)

grade inflation: higher grades for the same work; a general rise in student grades without a corresponding increase in learning or test scores (352)

hidden curriculum: the unwritten goals of schools, such as teaching obedience to authority and conformity to cultural norms (349)

latent functions: the positives consequences that people did not intend their actions to accomplish (346)

mainstreaming: helping people to become part of the mainstream of society (347–348)

manifest functions: the positive things that people intend their actions to accomplish (346)

profane: Durkheim’s term for common elements of everyday life (354)

Protestant ethic: Weber’s term to describe the ideal of a self-denying, moral life, accompanied by hard work and frugality (360)

religion: to Emile Durkheim, beliefs and practices that separate the profane from the sacred and unite its adherents into a moral community (355)

religious experience: awareness of the supernatural or a feeling of coming into contact with God (359)

rituals: ceremonies or repetitive practices; in this context, religious observances or ties, often intended to evoke a sense of awe of the sacred (358)

sacred: Durkheim’s term for things that are set apart or forbidden, that inspire fear, awe, reverence, or deep respect (354)

sect: a group larger than a cult that whose members feel hostility from and toward society (362)


secularization of religion: the replacement of a religion’s “otherworldly” concerns with concerns about “this world” (367)

social placement: a function of education; funneling people into a society’s various positions (348)

social promotion: promoting students to the next grade even though they have not mastered basic materials (352)

spirit of capitalism: Weber’s term for the desire to accumulate capital as a duty—not to spend it, but as an end in itself—and to constantly reinvest it (360)

tracking: sorting students into educational programs on the basis of real or perceived abilities (348)