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Honors Sociology > Ch. 7 Social Class: Structure of Inequality > Flashcards

Ch. 7 Social Class: Structure of Inequality Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

Social Stratification

A

Division of society into groups arranged in a social hierarchy

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2
Q

In social stratification, how are members grouped?

A

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

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3
Q

Social Inequality

A

Unequal distribution of wealth, power, and prestige

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4
Q

How are different systems of stratification operating in the United States?

A

Being a wealthy, white, male typically confers a higher status than being poor, nonwhite, or female

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5
Q

First principle of social stratification

A

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)

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6
Q

Second principle of social stratification

A

Persists over generations; inheritance of race, regional accents, wealth

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7
Q

How do different societies use different criteria to rank its members?

A

Criterion in industrialized society is wealth whereas as in hunter-gather societies, it is gender

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8
Q

How is social stratification maintained?

A

Through beliefs that are widely shared by members of society (people are poor because existing class structure and laziness)

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9
Q

Caste System

A

Type of social stratification based on heredity, where whole groups of people are born into a certain status

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10
Q

What does the caste system create?

A

Highly stratified society where there is little to no chance of changing positions, no matter what is achieved individually

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11
Q

Why is it hard to change positions in a caste system?

A

Members must marry within their own group and ranking is passed to their children

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12
Q

How do the divisions in castes affect the lives of individuals ?

A

Members of higher rankings are more prosperous whereas members on a lower ranking have fewer material resources live in poverty and object discrimination

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13
Q

What is karma?

A

What Hindus call the complex moral law of cause and effect that governs the universe

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14
Q

According to the beliefs of Karma, how is membership in a particular caste viewed?

A

Membership is seen as a well deserved reward or punishment for virtual or sinful behavior; spiritual status that results in real world inequalities

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15
Q

Apartheid

A

Legal separation of racial and ethnic groups that was enforced between 1948 and 1991 in South Africa.

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16
Q

What was the purpose of Apartheid?

A

To create great disparity among those in different stratas of society

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17
Q

How were South Africans classified?

A

White, Indian, Colored, or Black

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18
Q

In Apartheid, who was the majority?

A

Blacks

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19
Q

How were groups socially and geographically separated?

A

Blacks removed from 80% of country and relocated to independent homelands; main part of country reserved for 3 minority groups

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20
Q

When were blacks allowed to enter other parts of the country?

A

To serve as guest laborers in white areas; required a pass

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21
Q

How were African Americans visiting South Africa treated?

A

Given “honorably”white status and could move freely within country

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22
Q

How were Indians and coloreds treated?

A

They were discriminated against but led slightly more privileged lives than blacks

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23
Q

Under the apartheid system, who held all power?

A

Whites had all political, economic, and social power despite being the numerical minority

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24
Q

When did Apartheid as a legal institution finally abolished?

A

Pressure on white government continued to grow until the country was almost in a constant state of emergency

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25
Q

Social Class

A

System of stratification practiced primarily in capitalist societies that ranks people according to their wealth, property, power, and prestige

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26
Q

How do sociologists refer to social class?

A

As socioeconomic status, to keep in mind the social as well as the economic basis of this system of stratification

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27
Q

How does the social class system compare to the caste system?

A

It is much less rigid; although children usually inherit wealth they can move up or down levels of strata throughout their life

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28
Q

What is social class usually not based on?

A

Race, ethnicity, gender, age

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29
Q

Being difficult to draw lines between social classes in the U.S., how would it be more useful to view them?

A

Imagine them as occurring along a continuum rather than being strictly divided

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30
Q

How do most Americans identify in social classes?

A

Somewhere in the middle class, even when their life experiences and backgrounds suggest otherwise

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31
Q

Upper class

A

Makes up 1% of population and its total net worth is greater than the rest of the country

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32
Q

How do members of the upper class gain membership?

A

Through family fortunes (old money) or individual achievement (new money)

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33
Q

How do many in the upper class maintain status?

A

By investing large sums of money and taking advantage of tax deductions offered to those with investment based fortunes

34
Q

Is the upper class self sustaining?

A

Yes, most members are stable and few new ones are able to gain membership in its ranks

35
Q

Middle class

A

Makes up 30% of population and consist mostly of white collar workers with a broad range of education and incomes

36
Q

White collar workers

A

Skilled laborers in technical and lower management jobs earning around $70,000 per year

37
Q

Why can’t members of the middle class obtain the American Dream?

A

Costs of housing and the recent recession/mortgage crisis

38
Q

The working class (lower middle)

A

30% of population, typically have a high school education, and generally work in manual labor

39
Q

Blue collar jobs

A

Jobs in the service industry that are often more routine and workers have little control in the workplace

40
Q

How do people in the working class usually live?

A

Have a low net worth and live in rental housing they have inherited or saved for

41
Q

Status Inconsistency

A

Individual holds contradictory levels of status in terms of wealth, prestige, and other elements of socioeconomic status (founder of Walmart, Mother Teresa)

42
Q

Why are status inconsistencies prevalent in the U.S?

A

Because of our “open class” system; easier to obtain class mobility and we see people with different mixtures of statuses

43
Q

Feudal System

A

System of social stratification based on a hereditary nobility who were responsible for and served by a lower stratum of forced labors called serfs

44
Q

How did Karl Marx’s opinion towards social inequality change during the industrial revolution?

A

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)

45
Q

According to Marx, how were the impersonal forces of the market changing society?

A

Creating a new, rigid system of social stratification where capitalists had every economic advantage and workers had none

46
Q

How did Marx believe the classes would change over time?

A

They would remain divided and social inequality would grow; wealthy would focus on small groups of capitalists and workers would continue to be exploited

47
Q

Pierre Bourdieu

A

Studied French schools to examine social reproduction

48
Q

Social reproduction

A

Social class is passed down from one generation to the next and remains relatively stable

49
Q

Cultural capital

A

Children inherit tastes, habits, and expectations from their parents. Helps or hinders them as they become adults.

50
Q

How might cultural capital influence the ability to get a job?

A

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

51
Q

Why would it be difficult for someone who grew up in a less privileged environment project a different class?

A

They are already set in their own ways. Accent might give them away.

52
Q

How do interactionists believe social structures are formed?

A

All social structures, including systems of inequality, are constructed from the building blocks of everyday interaction

53
Q

David Sudnow

A

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”

54
Q

Aaron Cicourel

A

Suggests we make inferences about the status of others based on the situation we encounter them in (passengers on first class)

55
Q

How did Ervin Goffman believe we read aspects of identity?

A

By interpreting the behavior of others and becoming accustomed to others “reading”our behaviors in the same way

56
Q

Everyday Class Consciousness

A

Awareness of one’s own social status and that of others; important to understand yet difficult to identify empirically

57
Q

What is the “Living room scale”?

A

Created by Paul Fussel at the Uni of Pennsylvania; a point system of value amongst common items found in living rooms to indicate SES

58
Q

What was discovered in a study about the linguistic patterns in groups of black Appalachian women?

A

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

59
Q

Homogamy

A

Tendency to marry others with similar race, class, education, religion, etc

60
Q

How does social class play a role in the age people get married and have kids?

A

Generally the more education one has, the later in life they get married and have kids

61
Q

How does social class the health of individuals?

A

Those at bottom of social class less likely to obtain adequate health care compared to the wealthy

62
Q

Although lower SES is generally associated with higher rates of crime, what other factor plays an even greater role?

A

Dense population and anomie (disconnection or lack of social connections)

63
Q

Why are people in lower classes more likely to be labeled as criminals from higher social classes?

A

They are often more visible and less powerful

64
Q

How does SES contribute to the way crimes are prosecuted?

A

White collar criminals are less likely to be arrested or prosecuted than street criminals. They can afford better lawyers and representation.

65
Q

How does race play a role in capital punishment?

A

Prosecutors are more likely to seek death penalty if killer is black or for victim is white

66
Q

How do lower class people compare to higher class people regarding their attitudes towards police?

A

As education increases, the less threatened they are by police

67
Q

Who is more likely to be a victim of violent crime?

A

Lower class people. Also feel more at risk for harassment.

68
Q

Social mobility

A

Movement within the hierarchical system of social classes

69
Q

Closed system

A

Social system with very little opportunity to move from one class to another (India)

70
Q

Open System

A

System with many opportunities to move from one class to another (US)

71
Q

Intergenerational Mobility

A

Movement that occurs from one generation to the next, when a child eventually moves into a different social class from her parents (baby boomers)

72
Q

Intragenerational Mobility

A

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

73
Q

What are they two ways that intragenerational mobility can be measured?

A

Horizontal social mobility and vertical social mobility

74
Q

Horizontal social mobility

A

Changing of jobs within a social class (therapist becomes teacher)

75
Q

Vertical social mobility

A

Movement up or down on the social ladder (therapist marries president of large corporation)

76
Q

Which type of intragenerational mobility are people more likely to experience?

A

Horizontal

77
Q

Structural mobility

A

When large numbers of people move up or down the social ladder because of structural changes in society as a whole (Great Depression)

78
Q

Ideology

A

Belief system that explains and justifies some sort of social arrangement

79
Q

Why is the American dream more of an ideology than reality?

A

Legitimizes stratification by reinforcing the idea that everyone has the same chance to get ahead and success or failure depends on the person

80
Q

How is inequality presented in the “American Dream”

A

As a system of incentives and rewards for punishment

81
Q

Meritocracy

A

System in which rewards are distributed based on merit (popular opinion in U.S.)

82
Q

Simplicity Movement

A

Opposes consumerism and encourages people to work less, earn less, and spend less for more nonmaterialistic values

Honors Sociology (6 decks)

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