Chapter 12: Social Stratification Flashcards
A ________ ________ is defined as a category of people who share a similar socioeconomic position in society, and can be identified by looking at the economic opportunities, job positions, lifestyles, attitudes, and behaviors of a given slice of society.
social class
________ ____________ refers to the solidarity and sense of connectedness among different social groups/classes.
Social cohesion
________ ____________ focuses on social inequalities and studies the basic question of who gets what and why.
Social stratification
____________ status derives from clearly identifiable characteristics, e.g. age, gender, skin color.
Ascribed
________ status is acquired via direct, individual efforts.
achieved
The proportional improvement in healthcare as one moves up in SES is called the ____________________ ____________ in health and development.
socioeconomic gradient
________ refers to the amount of positive regard society has for a given person or idea.
Prestige
________ can be described as the ability to affect others’ behavior through real or perceived rewards and punishments.
Power
________ ________________ refers to the organization of the working class around shared goals and recognition of a need for collective political action.
Class consciousness
e.g. proletariat could revolt if they worked as a unit
The one major barrier to class consciousness is ________ ________________, a misperception of one’s actual position within society. Can’t see how bad conditions are.
false consciousness
too clouded to assemble
Early sociologists explained that social inequality is further accelerated by what is called ________, which refers to a lack of widely accepted social norms and breakdown of social bonds between an individual and society.
anomie
________ ________ focuses on how anomic conditions can lead to deviance.
Strain theory
What would anomic conditions entail? What can they lead to?
- excessive individualism
- social inequality
- isolation
Erosion of social solidarity (sense of community and social cohesion
________ ____________ is the investment people make in their society in return for economic or collective rewards.
Social capital
________ ________________ is the movement of new or underrepresented populations into a larger culture while maintaining their ethnic idenitties.
social integration
________ ties refer to peer group and kinship contacts. ________ ties refer to social connections that are personally superficial.
Strong; weak
____________ is a social structure in which intellectual talent and achievement are a means for a person to advance up the social ladder.
Meritocracy
Some fear that the US meritocratic system is quickly becoming a ____________, or a rule by the upper classes.
plutocracy
Social inequality, esp poverty or inherited wealth, can be passed on from one generation to the next. This is ________ ________________.
social reproduction
____________ ____________ is based on the concept of “holes” in the structure of society being more responsible for poverty than the actions of any individaul.
Structural poverty
On an ____________ level , poverty is a socioeconomic condition in which people do not have enough money or resources to maintain a quality of living that includes basic life necessities such as shelter, food, clothing, and water.
absolute
Poverty can also be defined as ____________, in which people have less income and wealth in comparison to the larger population in which they live.
relative
The official definition of the ____________ ________ is derived from the government’s calculation of the minimum income requirements for families to acquire the minimum necessities of life.
poverty line
________ ____________ can arise from a sense of powerless when individuals who are poor/disadvantaged feel segregated/isoalted from soceity.
social exclusion
