Culture, Demographics, Inequality Flashcards
absolute poverty
- inability to secure the basic necessities of life
relative poverty
- inability to meet the average standard of living defined by a given society.
socioeconomic status defined by
- prestige - reputation or standing in society
- power - ability to enforce one’s will on others
- property - possessions, income, and other wealth.
residential segregation
- the physical separation of groups into different areas/neighborhoods along the lines of race, ethnicity, SES, etc
environmental injustice
- suggests that certain groups of low SES and minorities tend to live in areas where environmental hazards and toxins are disproportionately high.
availability of healthcare
- the presence of resources across the US
- whether or not the resources exist for someone who needs them
accessibility of healthcare
- the ability to obtain existing resources across the US
caste system
- lower social mobility
- less dependent on effort
- social status defined by birth
- India, slavery, Royalty
class system
- some degree of social mobility
- social status determined by birth and individual merit
- US
meritocracy
- higher social mobility
- more dependent on effort
- social status based on individual merit
bourgeoisie
- own means of production
proletariat
- work for the owners
class consciousness
- awareness of membership in a social class
false consciousness
- do not recognize the state of relations of class.
intergenerational mobility
- compares social mobility between parents and children in a family
intragenerational mobility
- compares social mobility between members of the same generation.
cultural capital
- non-financial characteristics evaluated by society
- includes education, intelligence,
physical capital
- money, property, land, other physical assets
social capital
- who you know, social networks.
horizontal mobility
- involves a change in occupation or role without a change in the social hierarchy
vertical mobility
- involves moving up or down in social stratification
buffering hypothesis
- social support serves as a protective layer creating psychological distance between a person and stressful events
direct effects hypothesis
- social support provides better health and wellness benefits
- healthier people are better able to manage stress
when does gender identity develop
- around ages 3-6
race
- usually results from genetic ancestry
ethnicity
- based on shared cultural traditions
prejudice
- preconceived, usually unfavorable, judgements toward people based on their group membership.
- belief but not behavior
discrimination
- biased treatment of an individual based on group membership
institutional discrimination
- when a social structure engages in discriminatory practices against an individual or group.
personal identity
- all of the personal attributes that you consider integral to the description of who you are
social identity
- all the socially defined attributes defining who you are including age, race, gender, religion, occupation, etc
status
- a socially defined position or role within a society
master status
- role or position that dominates
- tends to determine general “place” in society
ascribed status
- one assigned to you by society regardless of effort
achieved status
- one that is earned.
- opposite of ascribed status
role
- a socially defined expectation about how you will behave based on your status
role conflict
- occurs when two or more statuses are held by an individual and there is conflict between the expectations for each status
role strain
- occurs when you face conflicting expectations for a single role
role exit
- when you transition from one role to another
network
- a web of social relationships, including those in which a person is directly linked to others as well as those in which people are indirectly connected through others
organization
- a large group of people with a common purpose
- more complex, impersonal, and hierarchically structured than networks
utilitarian
- members motivated by some incentive or reward
- students at university
normative
- members motivated by a common cause or belief
- volunteer organization
coercive
- members have been forced to join
- prisoners
bureaucracy
- a system for managing public services that includes decision-making by non-elected officials, the implementation of rules and laws, and a system of set procedures meant to simplify the complex functioning of organizations.
characteristics of ideal bureaucracy
- hierarchical structure
- division of labor
- written rules and expectations
- officials hired and promoted based on technical competence/expertise
- neutrality/impersonality
iron law of oligarchy
- all forms of organizations, regardless of how democratic they may be at the start, will eventually and inevitably develop oligarchic tendencies, thus making true democracy practically and theoretically impossible, especially in large groups and complex organizations
McDonaldization
- when principles of the fast food industry dominate other sectors of American society
