Exam 4 Flashcards
What is Social Inequality?
inequality in the distribution of power, resources, or other “things” between people, groups, or societies
What is Social Stratification
a condition in which the inequality in society is structured into social layers that are difficult to permeate
What are the systems of stratification?
Slavery, castes, estates
Define Slavery
Most extreme form of legalized social inequality;
enslaved individuals are owned by other people
Define Castes
hereditary system of rank, usually religious dictated, that tend to be fixed and immobile
Define Estate System
Feudalism; required peasants to work land leased to them by nobles in exchange for military protection
How do you measure inequality?
Gini Coefficient
Define Gini Coefficient
a number on a scale of 0-100 that represents the inequality in the distribution of X.
Interpretable as the % of X to be redistributed to make X equally distributed
Define poverty
economic “diet” times three (for cost of living)
What is the Poverty line
$10K for an individual, $20K for a family of 4
How many people live below poverty?
1 in 9
Define Absolute Poverty
Minimum level of subsistence that no family should live below
Define Relative Poverty
floating standard by which people at the bottom of a society are judged as being disadvantaged in comparison to the nation as a whole
Define Social Mobility
Movement of individuals or groups from one position in a society’s stratification system to another
What is an open stratification system
position of each individual influenced by the person’s achieved position
What is a closed stratification system
allows little or no possibility of moving up
How are racial groups set apart?
by obvious physical differences
How are ethnic groups set apart?
due to national origins or cultural differences
How is a minority group set apart?
less power/smaller numbers
Why is race insignificant by biology?
We are all 99.9% the same genetic material
What is the social construction of race?
Process whereby people define a group as “race” on physical features despite the fact that there is little biological basis
How is ethnicity as a category taken?
sometimes ambiguous, but less problematic than race
What does culture include?
foods, festivities, religious background, etc.
Define Stereotype
unreliable generalization of people of a group
Define Prejudice
Negative attitude toward an entire category of people
Define Ethnocentricism
Tendency to assume that one’s culture and way of life are superior
Define racism
Belief that one race is supreme and all others are innately inferior
Define Glass ceiling
Invisible barrier blocking promotion of qualified individuals in work environment because gender, race, or ethnicity
Define Sex
the biological characteristics that distinguish male and female
Define Gender
the social and cultural characteristics that distinguish men and women
Which is more fluid, gender or sex?
Gender
Define Gender roles?
expectations regarding proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of men and women
Gender role socialization of boys must be?
Masculine Aggressive Tough Daring Dominant
Gender role socialization of girls must be
Feminine Soft Emotional Sweet Submissive
What is the status of women world wide
o Women’s subordination is institutionally sanctioned
o Women remain in second-class positions in most of the world
o Women are exploited for labor in many developing countries
How are women in the work force doing?
o Women entering job market find options restricted in important ways
o Women underrepresented in occupations historically defined as “men’s jobs”
To a man’s $1, how much does a woman make?
$.75
What is the “second shift”
double burden that working women face—work outside the home followed by child care and
housework—and which few men share equitably
House work in 1960
Women- 35 hrs
Men- 5 hrs
House work in 2006
Women-20 hrs
Men- 10 hrs
Explaining stratification by gender: functionalist perspective
gender differentiation contributes to social stability
Define Expressiveness
concern for maintenance of harmony and internal emotional affairs of family
Define Instrumentality
emphasis on tasks, a focus on more distant goals, and concern for external relationship between one’s family and other social institutions
Explaining stratification by gender: conflict
gender differences are a result of subjugation of women by men
Explaining stratification by gender: Feminist
women’s subjugation coincided with the rise of private property during industrialization
oppression of women is inevitable in all male-dominated societies
in US, male dominance goes far beyond economic sphere
Explaining stratification by gender: Interactionists
study micro level of everyday behavior
Men are more likely to…
Change topics of conversation
Ignore topics chosen by women
Minimize ideas of women
Interrupt women
What is power?
the ability to exercise your will over someone else
What does Lukes argue about power?
Power is also the ability to make up rules or even shape someone’s wants
Force (aka…)
coercion
Influence (aka…)
persuasion
What are the sources of power in a political situation?
Force and Influence
What are Weber’s types of authorities?
Traditional, Legal-Rational, and Charismatic authorities
Define Traditional Authority
legitimate power is obtained by custom and accepted practice
Define Legal-Rational Authority
Power is made by legitimate law
Define Charismatic Authority
power is made legitimate by leader’s exceptional personal appeal.
What are the power elite models?
Mill’s model and Domhoff’s model
What is Mill’s Model?
A small ruling elite of military, industrial, and government leaders. Power rested in the hands of the few in and out of government, the power elite.
What is Domhoff’s Model?
stresses roles played by elites of corporate community and leaders of policy-formation organizations such as the chamber of commerce
What is the Pluralist Model?
Many conflicting groups within the community have access to government, and no single group is dominant. A variety of groups play a role in decision making
What are Cialdini’s principles of persuasion?
Reciprocation, Consistence, Scarcity, Authority, Social Proof, and Liking.
What is reciprocation?
the giving of candy to make the other person want to give you a good review
what is consistence?
The want to stay consistent with what you have done before over time
what is scarcity?
the fear that something will go away and is limited so one would act immediately
what is authority (in regards to cialdini’s principles of persuasion) ?
forcing someone to do something through your influence
what is social proof?
saying that something has happened before by people just like you so therefore it will happen again by you
what is liking?
the more you like someone, the more likely you are to be persuaded by them.
What are the hate groups in America?
KKK, Racist Skinhead, Black Separatist, Neo-Nazi, Identity, Neo-Confederate, and other.
Current wealth inequality in the US
87
