Chapter 7 Flashcards
Alienation
A feeling of powerless and estrangement from other people and from oneself.
Absolute poverty
A level of economic deprivation that exists when people do not have the means to secure the most basic necessities of life.
Bureaucracy
An organizational model characterized by a hierarchy of authority, a clear division of labor, explicit rules and procedures, and impersonality in personnel matters.
Capitalism
An economic system characterized by private ownership of the means of production, from which personal profits can be derived through market competition and without government intervention.
Category
A number of people who may never have met one another but share a similar characteristic, such as education level, age, race, or gender.
Cast system
A system of social inequality in which people’s status is permanently determined at birth based on their parents’ ascribed characteristics.
Class conflict
Karl Marx’s term for the struggle between the capitalist class and the working class.
Class system
A type of stratification based on the ownership and control of resources and on the type of work that people do.
Credentialism
A process of social selection in which class advantage and social status are linked to the procession of academic qualifications.
Conflict perspectives
The sociological approach that views groups in society as engaged in a continuous power struggle for control of scarce resources.
Corporations
Organizations that have legal powers.
Discrimination
Actions or practices of dominant-group members that have a harmful effect on members of a subordinate group.
Families
Relationships in which people live together with commitment, form an economic unit and cafe for any young, and consider their identity to be significantly attached to the group.
Education
The social institution responsible for the systematic transmission of knowledge, skills, and cultural values within a formally organized structure.
Feminism
The belief that all people-both women and men-are equal and that they should be valued equally and have equal rights.
Feminization of poverty
The trend in which women are disproportionately represented among individuals living in poverty.
Health
A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being.
Health care
Any activity intended to improve health.
Income
The economic gain derived from wages, salaries, income transfers, and ownership of property.
Intergenerational mobility
The social movement experienced by family members from one generation to the next.
Job deskilling
A reduction in the proficiency needed to perform a specific job that leads to a corresponding reduction in the wages for that job.
Intragenerational mobility
The social movement of individuals within their own lifetime.
Life chances
Max Weber’s term for the extent to which individuals have access to important societal resources such as food, clothing, shelter, education, and health care.
Marriage
A legally recognized and/or socially approved arrangement between two or more individuals that carries certain rights and obligations and usually involves sexually activity.
Meritocracy
A hierarchy in which all positions are rewarded based on people’s ability and credentials.
Medicalization
The process whereby nonmedical problems become defined and treated as illnesses or disorders.
Occupations
Categories of jobs that involve similar activities at different work sites.
Occupational (white-collar) crime
Illegal activities committed by people in the course of their employment or financial affairs.
Official poverty line
The income standard that is based on what the federal government considers to be the minimum amount of money required for living at a subsistence level.
Pink-collar occupations
Relatively low-paying, nonmanual, semiskilled positions primarily held by women.
Power
The ability of people or groups to achieve their goals despite opposition from others.
Prestige
The respect or regard with which a person or status position is given by others.
Relative poverty
A level of economic deprivation that exists when people may be able to afford basic necessities but are still unable to maintain an average standard of living.
Slavery
An extreme form of stratification in which some people are owned or controlled by others for the purpose of economic or sexual exploitation.
Social group
A group that consists of two or more people who interact frequently and share a common identity and a feeling of interdependence.
Social interaction
The process by which people act toward or respond to other people; the foundation for all relationships and groups in society.
Social mobility
The movement of individuals or groups from one level in a stratification system to another.
Social movement
An organized group that acts consciously to promote or resist change through collective action.
Social stratification
The hierarchical arrangement of large social groups base on their control over basic resources.
Socioeconomic status (SES)
A combined measure that attempts to classify individuals, families, or households in terms of factors such as income, occupation, and education to determine class location.
Status
A socially defined position in a group or society characterized by certain expectations, rights, and duties.
Symbol
Anything that meaningfully represents something else.
Symbolic internationalist perspectives
The sociological approach that views society as the sum of the interactions of individuals and groups.
Unemployment rate
The percentage of unemployed persons in the labor force actively seeking jobs.
