Ch 6 Social Inequality Flashcards
What are the 4 types of social stratification?
- Slavery
- Caste
- Clan
- Class
What is social stratification?
How a social system Ranks large groups of people into a hierarchy.
What was slavery based on originally, and who were among the first slaves?
• Debt
• Violation of law
• Conquest or war
And women were the first type
What is modern slavery referred to today?
human trafficking or indentured service.
When did human traffic start being considered a criminal offence in Canada?
2005
What is indentured service?
bonded labour that has a blurred line between slavery and work
Explain what a caste is
occupational groups (hereditary)
Tells you what you can or can’t pursue
You can only marry within the group
Explain what a clan is based on
determined at birth, like large extended families, Often used for alliances between clan
You can marry outside of it
Can you marry outside of a clan?
Yes
Can you marry outside of a caste?
No
What is a class system based on and when does it begin?
solely based on money, power, and possessions. Begins at birth with the parents status.
Will you always be stuck in a class?
No, you can move classes
Is gender a foundation for social stratification?
Yes
How do sociologists define social class?
Webarian terms.
Social class=social location
Differences in wealth, power and prestige result In?
Different opportunities
Different lifestyles
Different access to resources
Different perspectives
What are the 3 method types that people use to measure social class
Subjective
Reputational
Objective
What is a reputational method to measure social class?
What class others belong to based on their reputation
What is a subjective way of measuring social class?
Asking people to indicate their own social class
What is an objective measure of social class?
objective criteria that can be measured (wealth, education) sociologists primarily use this method
What are the three components of social class according to most sociologists
Wealth, power, and prestige
What s the difference between wealth, income, power, and prestige?
Wealth includes both property and income
income includes inheritance, pay, rand royalties
Power is being able to achieve goals regardless of opposition
Prestige is a way of regarding someone with immense respect, like an award or something
What does Marx believe determines social class?
Based on people relation to the means of production
What are the 3 original sets of non producing workers and non owning classes?
- Masters and slaves
- Lords and serfs
- Bourgeoisie and proletariat
What is false consciousness?
when workers are not aware of their own exploration, and mistakenly vote for a party, believing that they will help them. They support a party or something that is against their best interests.
What do sociologists and weber believe determines social class?
Wealth, power, and prestige
What is the functionalist perspective when it comes to social class?
inequality as inevitable, and necessary
Distribution of prestige and wealth is based on your own qualifications and meritocracy.
All positions are important
What is meritocracy?
you deserve to be where you are
What type of perspective do Davis and Moore subscribe to?
Functionalist
What do Davis and Moore believe about social class?
all society has tasks that must be accomplished and a certain position that must be filled
The most important positions must be filled by eg most qualified people, and they require more training and talent.
The most highly rewarded position should be those who are highly unique. Eg. Doctor- extremely imp for society, require extensive training
Identify three criticisms of Davis and Moores theory
Ignores inherited wealth
Are economic rewards the only motivator for people
Are all people able to maximize three talents and skills
What about structural factors? (Poverty, lack of jobs)
Assumes stratification is a result of meritocracy
Does ability really predict successes or status?
Who decides what positions are more important?
What do conflict theorists believe when it comes to social class?
Social inequality is unnecessary and avoidable and serves no function
Social inequality is created and maintained by the ruling classes, they do it so well, that we think the social order is normal
Conflict, not function is the basis of social inequality.
Social inequality can be eradicated
How do elites maintain social inequality?
Maintained through ideology (democratic society)
By force in undemocratic
Controlling information through propaganda, mass media, and money
Controlling police and politicians
What is the Horatio Alger myth?
If you work hard enough you can achieve anything
Why is the Horatio Alger myth socially destructive?
Based on the idea that people live how they want to live, and everyone has equal opportunity
Suggests material success has nothing to do with race, gender, class background, national origin
What percentage of the population is upper upper class?
1.1-3%
What percentage of the population is middle class?
26.5%
What percentage of the population is the working class?
63.7%
What percentage of the population is lower class?
8.7%
How does social class affect family life and education?
social class affects mate selection, divorce, and child rearing classes. Education: level of education increases once one goes up the social class ladder. More affluent schools leap are students for leadership roles in society.
How does social class affect religious orientation?
Anglican Church more likely to recruit from upper or middle classes. Baptists churches from lower classes.
What is intergenerational social mobility?
Adult children end up on a different rung of social class than their parents
What is structural mobility?
Changes in society that cause large numbers of people to move up or down the social class ladder
What is exchange mobility?
When large numbers of people move up or down the social class ladder but the proportions stay the same
What are the 4 groups of people that earn less money?
Aboriginal, women, children, and people with disabilities.
What is the key to social mobility?
Education
Where is occupational inheritance strongest?
Occupational inheritance is higher for those at the very top and at the very bottom of he socio economic ladder
What is absolute poverty?
people cannot afford the most basic needs of life. Eg. Home
What is relative poverty?
by reference to the general living standards of a particular society. (You’re able to maintain basic needs, but not society’s idea of general living standards)
What does stats Canada believe constitutes as the ‘poverty line’ or low income cut off?
A family that spends more than 55% of their money on basic necessities, you would all into the low income cut off.
What two provinces have the highest rate of poverty?
British Columbia and Manitoba
What political party believes that poor people need to work harder, be more motivated. And wants to remove social assistance or keep it to a minimum?
Conservatives
What political party believes that the state should help the poor, and increase social programs?
The progressives
What are the 7 factors that put people at a higher risk of poverty?
age, gender, education, race, geography, disabilities, or being a child
How does geography affect poverty levels?
Poverty may vary across the country
How does race and ethnicity affect poverty?
Aboriginals, recent immigrants, or other visible minorities earn less
True or false, Since the 1970s, poverty among Canadians 65 and olde has consistently dropped.
True
When are men and women closest in pay equity?
When they’re young adults, both working at McDonald’s or something
When was the record high for child poverty?
Record high for child poverty was in 1996
Explain the feminization of poverty
Women are stuck in low income jobs because they have job interruptions and lack of affordable childcare
What did Micheal Harrington and Oscar Lewis believe in when it comes to social class?
The poor get trapped in a culture of poverty
People are transformed by poverty
Socialized in a way they cannot escape poverty
What is the difference between the deserving and undeserving poor, and who created these ideas?
The deserving poor are drug abusers, and the undeserving poor are those who are widows or such. Harrington and Lewis created this
What are the two ways we could explain poverty, ie blame?
Blame the individual or blame society
Explain Edward Banfields theory of deferred gratification
You defer the gratification of buying things when going to school, but you’ll have the benefits later..saving money instead of spending it. Poor people cannot use deferred gratification
What is endogamy, and what type of group believes in it
Marriage between their own group they prohibit intermarriage, caste
What type of social stratification group is most fluid?
Class
What social stratification group allows for social mobility?
Class
What sociologist openly criticized Karl Marx?
Weber
What are the three p’s that Weber created
Power prestige and property
What is the subjective of method for measuring social class, and how does it fail us?
When people are asked what their social class is, people may deny what class they belong in for the class they wish they were in
What is the reputational method for measuring social class, and how does it fail us?
People are asked what class others belong to based on the reputation of the person it fails us becausepeople see finer divisions had their own social class level but tend to group other people together as one class
What is the objective method for measuring social class?
Researchers rank people according to wealth power and prestige
What type of theorist would believe that positions with greater responsibility require greater accountability?
A functionalist or conservative
What were Melvin Tumins 4 criticisms of the functionalist perspective?
Who decides the importance of the positions, based on feminist theory it does not live up to the argument that talent and ability are the best bases for positions, there is too much emphasis on money, it’s stratification is to be functional it should benefit almost everyone
How do elites maintain social inequality?
Controlling ideas, information, and sometimes force
What is a contradictory class location?
Some people are in two different classes at one time. For example someone may own the garage and wants to raise wages for his workers but he needs to stay competitive so he doesn’t raise the wages
What are Eric Wrights 4 modified classes of Marxs’ original 2
Capitalists business-owners who employee many workers, petty bourgeosie- small business owners, managers-who sell their own labor but exercise authority, workers who sell their labor to others
What is the six step model of social class?
Upper-class, upper middle, lower middle, working class, working poor, lower class and underclass
Give example of the job in the capitalist or upper-class
The Eatons, Molsons the Fords
Give an example of a job in the upper-middle-class
Upper managers
Example of a job in the lower middle-class
Lower managers
Give an example of a job in the working class
Factory workers, low-paid retail sales
Give an example of a job in the working poor class
Newly moved immigrants, maids
Give an example of a job a lower class or underclass individual would have
None, unemployed
Why do Canadians become homeless?
Lack of income, lack of affordable housing
Is the lower-class more likely to vote?
No
Why is poverty ignored?
Because it’s a complex and sad topic
How do nations maintain social stratification?
Through gov’t ideologies
True or false, in the 1950s, C Wright Mills was criticized for insisting that power was concentrated in the hands of few
True
What does Domhoff believe?
That the power elite is so powerful that no major gov’t decision is made without its approval
Who was the first sociologist to point out major flaws in the functionalist perspective?
Melvin Tumin
What two sociologists created the six class model to portray the class structure in the us?
Gilbert and Kahl
What are the three types of social mobility?
Structural, exchange, and intergenerational