Ch 12 - Social Stratification

Question 1

social class

Answer 1

• people who share a similar socioeconomic position in society
  
  • economic opportunities, jobs, lifeestyle, attitude, behavior

Question 2

social stratification

Answer 2

• social inequalities and why
• SES
• ascribed status - clearly identifiable characteristics; age, gender, skin color
• achieved status - acquired via direct, individual efforts; hardwork and merit
• caste and estate based are ascribed status systems
• class systems are achieved SES systems
  
  • US is more class based

Question 3

Social Classes

Answer 3

• Upper - great wealth, reputations, lifestyles, large influence on society
  
  • highest prestige and power
• Middle -
  
  • upper - successful and professional
  • middle - not upper middle due to education and economic shortcomings
  • lower - skilled workers with few luxeries
• lower - greatly reduced sociopolitical power

Question 4

prestige and power

Answer 4

prestige - amount of positive regard society has for a person

power - ability to affect others behavior through real and perceived rewards and punishments

Question 5

Marxist theory

Answer 5

• proletariat (have-nots) could overthrow the bourgeoisie (haves) as well as the entire capitalist economy by developing class consciousness
• class consciousness - organization of working class around shared goals and recogniation of a need for collective political action
  
  • false consciousness - major barrier for action. Misperception of once position in society

Question 6

Anomie

Answer 6

• lack of social norms
• breakdown of social bonds between individual and society
• accelerates social inequality
• strain theory - anomic conditions lead to deviance
  
  • anomic conditions: excessive individualism, social inequality, isolation
  • inability to meet social norms leads to deviance (crime)

Question 7

social capital

Answer 7

• investments people make in society for economic and collective rewards
• greater investments allow for greater social intergration (movement into mainstream society)
• building relationships and influence in society increase social capital
• social network is a type of social capital
  
  • situational - SES advantages
  • positional - connections in network
  • network inequality leads to privilege
• low social capital - greater social inequality

Question 8

Cultural capital

Answer 8

• benefits received from knowledge, ability, and skills

Question 9

Strong and Weak Ties

Answer 9

• Strong ties - peer groups and kinship contacts
  
  • few but powerful
• weak ties - personally superficial but large in number
• many weak ties increases social capital
  
  • ex. LinkedIn

Question 10

Intersectionality

Answer 10

• compounding disadvantage in individuals who belong to more than one oppressed group
  
  • ex. black women. Both identities combine to be more disadvantaged then them seperately

Question 11

Five ethnicities model

Answer 11

Used by NIH and Census

• White
• Black
• Latino
• Asian
• Native American

Question 12

Social Mobility

Answer 12

• Move up or down in class
• Move via economic and occupational change
• The American Dream
• encourage through ambition and hardwork
• Intergenerational and Intragenerational mobility
• Upward and Downward (Vertical) mobility
• Horizontal mobility

Question 13

Inter/Intra generational mobility

Answer 13

• Intragenerational - change in social status within a lifetime
• Intergenerational - change from parent to child

Question 14

Meritocracy

Answer 14

• merit based system of social mobility
  
  • intellectual talent and achievement
• some say america is becomign a Plutocracy - rule by the upper class

Question 15

Upward, Downward, Horizontal Mobility

Answer 15

• upward - move up in social class
• downward - move down in social class
• vertical - upward or downward
• horizontal - change in occupation or lifestyle but remain in same class

Question 16

Poverty

Answer 16

• low SES and lack of possessionas or finances
• social reproduction - social inequality (ex. poverty) is passed on to the next generation
• structural poverty - poverty due to structure of society and NOT due to the actions of the person
• absolute - not enough money or resourcs to maintain basic life necessities
  
  • shelter, food, water, clothing
• relative - poor in comparison to the larger population that they live in
• poverty line - govt calculation of minimum income requirements to acquire necessities in life
  
  • does not account for geographic location. Rent may be greater and cause more poverty then the poverty line depicts

Question 17

Social exclusion

Answer 17

• sense of powerlessness when individual is segregated and isolated from society
• magnify feelings of alienation
• anomic conditions

Question 18

Spacial Inequality

Answer 18

• social stratification across territories and their populations
• Different groups settle in different areas
• poorer neighborhoods have less political influence - more undesirable buildings there
  
  • water refineries, trash plants, chemical manufacturers

Question 19

Residential segregation

Answer 19

• low income neighborhoods - greater crime, gang activity, bad schools, homelessness
• High income neighborhoods - good schools, low crime, professionals, managers,
• more opportunities in high income neighborhoods causes stratification
• suburbanization - migration pattern of middle classes to suburban areas
  
  • poor remain in bad areas
• Urban decay - can be caused by suburbanization, city deteriorates
• urban renewel - city land claimed and revamped
  
  • gentrification - upper/middle class populations renovate neighborhood and repalce lower SES

Question 20

Environmental justice

Answer 20

• dangerous environmental conditions are most likely found near cheap housing
• inadequtae housing, heating, and sanitation makes it worse
• cause flu, pneumonia, tb, whooping cough
• lack social and political power to cause change

Question 21

Global Inequalities

Answer 21

• world system theory - categorize countries and inequalitites in labor
• core nations - higher skills and paying, exploit peripheral nations
• peripheral nations - low skilled productions
• semi peripheral - between, try to work toward being a core nation
• globalization supports production of goods at a cheap rate
• worst areas are Africa, South Central Asia and India

Question 22

Epidemiology

Answer 22

• Incidence - number of new cases per population at risk over time
• prevalence - number of cases of illness (new or chronic) overall per total population in given time
• morbidity - burden of illness associated with a disease
• mortality - deaths caused by given disease

Question 23

Second Sickness

Answer 23

• exacerbation of health outcomes caused by social injustices
• low income more likely to have poor health
• racial and ethnic minorities are at a higher risk for poor health

Question 24

Men vs Women Life expectancy

Answer 24

• Worldwide women have a longer life expectancy
• men have a higher mortality rates for chronic and acute diseases
• higher suicide rate
• men “tough it out” and deny medical health or do not listen
• Women suffer more illness but have less mortality
  
  • women have higher morbidity

Question 25

Healthcare system in US

Answer 25

• One of few countries without central healthcare system
• poor americans have less access and quality even with the Affordable Care Act
• Medicare - patients over 65, ALS, and endstage renal disease
• Medicaid - patients with significant financial need
• Some doctors choose not to open practices in poor areas