Inequality and stratification

Question 1

individualistic explanations

Answer 1

people in the US tend toward individualistic explanations for inequality rather than systematic ones

Question 2

fundamental attribution error

Answer 2

tendency to overestimate the effect of individual level factors and underestimate the effect of situational factors in explaining social behavior

Question 3

culture of poverty

Answer 3

people in poverty adopt cultural practices that differ from mainstream middle class society in order to survive in different economic circumstances. present upward mobility

Question 4

critiques of cultural explanations

Answer 4

blames the disadvantaged for their own predicament. focus on individuals behavior distracts from the systemic concerns that cause poverty

Question 5

official segregation

Answer 5

prevented people of color from buying homes in more desirable neighborhoods. jobs moved to suburbs, people couldnt follow them

Question 6

redlining

Answer 6

systematic denial of (or charging higher interest rates for) home loans to black applicants, regardless of their ability to pay. houses could not be maintained their value declined and neighborhoods become ghettoized

Question 7

sub prime mortgages

Answer 7

low quality bank loans with less favorable terms. disproportionately targeted to minority neighborhoods resulting in a disproportionate level of foreclosure

Question 8

institutionalized racism

Answer 8

systematic societal patterns that have consistently detrimental effects or impose oppressive burdens against groups on the basis of race or ethnicity

Question 9

privilege

Answer 9

unlearned advantages that result from ones social location regardless of individual attitudes and behaviors, privileged groups still benefit from the prejudiced attitudes and discriminatory actions of other individuals and institutions