Key terms & definitions

The desire to gain greater social standing, wealth or respectability.

A positive contribution to people's lives, such as providing resources, support, advice or a service.

Relationships and networks that provide access to support, information and opportunities.

Support with everyday living, such as washing, dressing or eating, provided at home or in a care setting.

Practical support that helps people manage everyday life and maintain their wellbeing and independence.

Support with everyday activities such as washing, dressing, eating and staying safe, provided at home or in settings such as care homes.

An explanation proposing that disadvantaged social circumstances contribute to the development of mental illness, rather than simply resulting from it.

A difficulty affecting people, such as exploitation, unsafe working conditions or harm to local communities.

Changes affecting people’s everyday lives, opportunities, family relationships and position in society.

Alteration over time in society’s structure, attitudes, behaviour, norms or values.

A change over time in the attitudes, behaviours or accepted norms of a society.

A social grouping shaped by factors such as wealth, occupation and status. Class strongly affected women’s opportunities and living conditions in early twentieth-century Britain.

A division within society connected to occupation, wealth and family background, which can influence a person’s status and opportunities.

For Weber, people who hold a similar position in the market economy and so have similar life chances.

A person's position within society, associated with factors such as occupation and income.

A social position associated with factors such as occupation, education, wealth and status; its representation can also involve speech, behaviour and relationships of power.

The process through which a group excludes others from membership and the advantages associated with belonging.

The trust, sense of belonging and willingness to cooperate that hold a society together.

The unity and bonds that bring people in society together, including shared values.

Comparing a performer’s or team’s performance with that of other individuals or teams.

Concern for the welfare of others, expressed through actions that address suffering and improve life for people, animals and communities.

An idea or category produced through social and cultural decisions, rather than fixed independently of society.

An idea or category whose meaning is shaped by society rather than being fixed universally. Crime is socially constructed because laws differ between societies and change over time.

Something shaped by people's definitions, interpretations and decisions rather than simply existing independently of them.

The view that identities, roles and expectations are shaped by society, including the media, rather than simply determined by nature.

A view that gendered characteristics, roles and expectations are shaped by society, including the media, rather than determined by nature.

A factor concerning communities or groups, such as public acceptance, access, fairness, employment or effects on quality of life.

The social circumstances surrounding a media product, including relationships, inequalities and expectations about groups.

Aspects of society and its structure reflected in a film, including relationships between groups and the pressures shaping people’s lives.

The shaping or restriction of people’s behaviour through social pressures, institutions or beliefs.