Ch. 7 Social Class: Structure of Inequality Flashcards
Social Stratification
Division of society into groups arranged in a social hierarchy
In social stratification, how are members grouped?
According to their gender, race, class, age, or other characteristics depending on what is important to that society; higher level groups enjoy rewards and resources, leaving lower levels with less
Social Inequality
Unequal distribution of wealth, power, and prestige
How are different systems of stratification operating in the United States?
Being a wealthy, white, male typically confers a higher status than being poor, nonwhite, or female
First principle of social stratification
It is a reflection of a society, rather than a reflection of individual differences (men rank higher in Japan as whole but it doesn’t mean a women could rank higher)
Second principle of social stratification
Persists over generations; inheritance of race, regional accents, wealth
How do different societies use different criteria to rank its members?
Criterion in industrialized society is wealth whereas as in hunter-gather societies, it is gender
How is social stratification maintained?
Through beliefs that are widely shared by members of society (people are poor because existing class structure and laziness)
Caste System
Type of social stratification based on heredity, where whole groups of people are born into a certain status
What does the caste system create?
Highly stratified society where there is little to no chance of changing positions, no matter what is achieved individually
Why is it hard to change positions in a caste system?
Members must marry within their own group and ranking is passed to their children
How do the divisions in castes affect the lives of individuals ?
Members of higher rankings are more prosperous whereas members on a lower ranking have fewer material resources live in poverty and object discrimination
What is karma?
What Hindus call the complex moral law of cause and effect that governs the universe
According to the beliefs of Karma, how is membership in a particular caste viewed?
Membership is seen as a well deserved reward or punishment for virtual or sinful behavior; spiritual status that results in real world inequalities
Apartheid
Legal separation of racial and ethnic groups that was enforced between 1948 and 1991 in South Africa.
What was the purpose of Apartheid?
To create great disparity among those in different stratas of society
How were South Africans classified?
White, Indian, Colored, or Black
In Apartheid, who was the majority?
Blacks
How were groups socially and geographically separated?
Blacks removed from 80% of country and relocated to independent homelands; main part of country reserved for 3 minority groups
When were blacks allowed to enter other parts of the country?
To serve as guest laborers in white areas; required a pass
How were African Americans visiting South Africa treated?
Given “honorably”white status and could move freely within country
How were Indians and coloreds treated?
They were discriminated against but led slightly more privileged lives than blacks
Under the apartheid system, who held all power?
Whites had all political, economic, and social power despite being the numerical minority
When did Apartheid as a legal institution finally abolished?
Pressure on white government continued to grow until the country was almost in a constant state of emergency
Social Class
System of stratification practiced primarily in capitalist societies that ranks people according to their wealth, property, power, and prestige
How do sociologists refer to social class?
As socioeconomic status, to keep in mind the social as well as the economic basis of this system of stratification
How does the social class system compare to the caste system?
It is much less rigid; although children usually inherit wealth they can move up or down levels of strata throughout their life
What is social class usually not based on?
Race, ethnicity, gender, age
Being difficult to draw lines between social classes in the U.S., how would it be more useful to view them?
Imagine them as occurring along a continuum rather than being strictly divided
How do most Americans identify in social classes?
Somewhere in the middle class, even when their life experiences and backgrounds suggest otherwise
Upper class
Makes up 1% of population and its total net worth is greater than the rest of the country
How do members of the upper class gain membership?
Through family fortunes (old money) or individual achievement (new money)
How do many in the upper class maintain status?
By investing large sums of money and taking advantage of tax deductions offered to those with investment based fortunes
Is the upper class self sustaining?
Yes, most members are stable and few new ones are able to gain membership in its ranks
Middle class
Makes up 30% of population and consist mostly of white collar workers with a broad range of education and incomes
White collar workers
Skilled laborers in technical and lower management jobs earning around $70,000 per year
Why can’t members of the middle class obtain the American Dream?
Costs of housing and the recent recession/mortgage crisis
The working class (lower middle)
30% of population, typically have a high school education, and generally work in manual labor
Blue collar jobs
Jobs in the service industry that are often more routine and workers have little control in the workplace
How do people in the working class usually live?
Have a low net worth and live in rental housing they have inherited or saved for
Status Inconsistency
Individual holds contradictory levels of status in terms of wealth, prestige, and other elements of socioeconomic status (founder of Walmart, Mother Teresa)
Why are status inconsistencies prevalent in the U.S?
Because of our “open class” system; easier to obtain class mobility and we see people with different mixtures of statuses
Feudal System
System of social stratification based on a hereditary nobility who were responsible for and served by a lower stratum of forced labors called serfs
How did Karl Marx’s opinion towards social inequality change during the industrial revolution?
Being born a noble or a serf was no longer relevant in determining one’s social standing. He saw a new kind of inequality between the bourgeoisie (owners) and the proletariat (workers)
According to Marx, how were the impersonal forces of the market changing society?
Creating a new, rigid system of social stratification where capitalists had every economic advantage and workers had none
How did Marx believe the classes would change over time?
They would remain divided and social inequality would grow; wealthy would focus on small groups of capitalists and workers would continue to be exploited
Pierre Bourdieu
Studied French schools to examine social reproduction
Social reproduction
Social class is passed down from one generation to the next and remains relatively stable
Cultural capital
Children inherit tastes, habits, and expectations from their parents. Helps or hinders them as they become adults.
How might cultural capital influence the ability to get a job?
Shapes the perception that others form about a person; Candidates who impress the employer with social skills has a higher chance of getting hired over someone with the same qualification but less socially adept
Why would it be difficult for someone who grew up in a less privileged environment project a different class?
They are already set in their own ways. Accent might give them away.
How do interactionists believe social structures are formed?
All social structures, including systems of inequality, are constructed from the building blocks of everyday interaction
David Sudnow
Argues that we make split second judgments about people and their social status based on appearance; take action based on what we observe “at a glance”
Aaron Cicourel
Suggests we make inferences about the status of others based on the situation we encounter them in (passengers on first class)
How did Ervin Goffman believe we read aspects of identity?
By interpreting the behavior of others and becoming accustomed to others “reading”our behaviors in the same way
Everyday Class Consciousness
Awareness of one’s own social status and that of others; important to understand yet difficult to identify empirically
What is the “Living room scale”?
Created by Paul Fussel at the Uni of Pennsylvania; a point system of value amongst common items found in living rooms to indicate SES
What was discovered in a study about the linguistic patterns in groups of black Appalachian women?
Locations of group interactions reinforced class divisions; people who met at church used higher vocabulary found in those with higher SES than those who met at a porch
Homogamy
Tendency to marry others with similar race, class, education, religion, etc
How does social class play a role in the age people get married and have kids?
Generally the more education one has, the later in life they get married and have kids
How does social class the health of individuals?
Those at bottom of social class less likely to obtain adequate health care compared to the wealthy
Although lower SES is generally associated with higher rates of crime, what other factor plays an even greater role?
Dense population and anomie (disconnection or lack of social connections)
Why are people in lower classes more likely to be labeled as criminals from higher social classes?
They are often more visible and less powerful
How does SES contribute to the way crimes are prosecuted?
White collar criminals are less likely to be arrested or prosecuted than street criminals. They can afford better lawyers and representation.
How does race play a role in capital punishment?
Prosecutors are more likely to seek death penalty if killer is black or for victim is white
How do lower class people compare to higher class people regarding their attitudes towards police?
As education increases, the less threatened they are by police
Who is more likely to be a victim of violent crime?
Lower class people. Also feel more at risk for harassment.
Social mobility
Movement within the hierarchical system of social classes
Closed system
Social system with very little opportunity to move from one class to another (India)
Open System
System with many opportunities to move from one class to another (US)
Intergenerational Mobility
Movement that occurs from one generation to the next, when a child eventually moves into a different social class from her parents (baby boomers)
Intragenerational Mobility
Movement that occurs between social classes that occurs during the course of an individuals lifetime; what you’re born into and what you achieve over your life
What are they two ways that intragenerational mobility can be measured?
Horizontal social mobility and vertical social mobility
Horizontal social mobility
Changing of jobs within a social class (therapist becomes teacher)
Vertical social mobility
Movement up or down on the social ladder (therapist marries president of large corporation)
Which type of intragenerational mobility are people more likely to experience?
Horizontal
Structural mobility
When large numbers of people move up or down the social ladder because of structural changes in society as a whole (Great Depression)
Ideology
Belief system that explains and justifies some sort of social arrangement
Why is the American dream more of an ideology than reality?
Legitimizes stratification by reinforcing the idea that everyone has the same chance to get ahead and success or failure depends on the person
How is inequality presented in the “American Dream”
As a system of incentives and rewards for punishment
Meritocracy
System in which rewards are distributed based on merit (popular opinion in U.S.)
Simplicity Movement
Opposes consumerism and encourages people to work less, earn less, and spend less for more nonmaterialistic values
