Chapter 5 and 6 Flashcards
Class
A group of people with a similar level of wealth and income.
Social Stratification
The ranking of people in any given society by class and status.
Stratified Society
A society in which there is an unequal distribution of rewards among its members.
Achieved Status
A social position attained by a person largely through his or her own effort.
Ascribed Status
A social position assigned to a person without regard for his or her characteristics or talents.
Closed System
A system with strict boundaries between different social positions.
Intergenerational Mobility
Social movement experienced by family members from one generation to the next.
Intragenerational Mobility
Social movement of individuals within their own lifetime.
Open System
A system in which the boundaries between social positions are more flexible.
Social Mobility
The movement of individuals or groups from one level in stratification system to another.
Caste System
A system of social inequality in which a person’s permanent social status is determined at birth based on their parents’ ascribed characteristics.
Apartheid
An official policy of racial segregation formerly practised in South Africa involving political, legal and economic discrimination against non-whites.
Class System
A type of stratification based on the ownership and control of resources and the type of work people do.
Horizontal Mobility
When people experience a gain or loss in position and/or income that does not produce a change in their place in the class structure.
Vertical Mobility
When people experience a gain or loss in position and/or income that causes movement up or down the class structure.
Power
The ability to exercise one’s will over others.
Status Group
A group of people that have the same prestige or lifestyle