Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

sociology yr1 > social inequalities: social class (paper 2) > Flashcards

social inequalities: social class (paper 2) Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

stratification involves inequality, what is this distributed into?

A

w- wealth: possessions and your connections around you
i- income: how much money you earn
s- status: how people view you in society
p- power

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

life chances

A

people’s chance of achieving positive or negative outcomes. some people have restricted life chances because their ranking in society

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

examples of life chances (4)

A

divorce,housing,education,health

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

social class

A
  • a form of stratification important in british society
  • people sharing a similar economic position based on income
  • wisp
  • sociologists state that social classes also share similar norms, values, lifestyles, attitudes, belief systems and culture and tastes
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

economic dimension

A

can be measured by wealth, income and occupation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

political dimension

A

measured by status and power

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

cultural dimension

A

can be measured by lifestyles, values, beliefs, norms and level of education

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

blue-collar work

A

working class jobs eg. electrician, plumber

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

occupation

A

job or profession

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

non-manual work

A

using your brain eg. office

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

manual work

A

up on your feet eg. builder,bricklayer

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

white-collar work

A

middle class jobs eg. manager

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

white-collar work

A

middle class jobs eg. manager

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

poverty

A

the state of one who lacks an usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

necessities

A

things necessary to survive eg. food and water

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

income

A

how much money you earn

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

wealth

A

possessions you own

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

status

A

how high or low you are in society based on your wisp

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

status

A

how high or low you are in society based on your wisp

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

authority

A

the power or right to make decisions and orders

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

state benefits

A

provided for people in the uk for little to no income

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

skilled work

A

any worker who has training/a certificate in a certain job role

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

semi-skilled work

A

basic knowledge and training of a certain job role

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

un-skilled work

A

a job that doesn’t need any skills or work experience beforehand

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

upper class values: entrepreneurs (3)

A
  • very focused on work
  • work a source of pleasure/fun
  • only really attend social occasions for publicity or networking
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

upper class values: old aristocrats (4)

A
  • more interested in traditions + breeding
  • believe strongly in the hierarchy and society
  • society works best when organised into classes
  • respect to those in authority
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

middle-class characteristics (6)

A
  • more like than other social groups to own a home (mortgages)
  • more likely to live in the suburbs
  • encourage children to do well in school
  • dominate top streams in state schools and the university sector
  • believe in meritocracy
  • more willing in other social groups to defer gratification
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

embourgeoisement thesis

A

working-class families are becoming more middle-class with their norms and values as their incomes and standards of living improved

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

geographically mobile

A

moving locations for work or extended family

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

why do marxists believe the class identity is not declining? (4)

A
  • w/c still exploited as workers
  • some see through false class consciousness and join unions, unions are still important (Gramsci)
    -class inequalities dominate the structure of our society
    -class conflict and divisions
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

evidence on the significance of class (3)

A
  • marshall 1989
    -survey: 60% of sample thought as belonging to a particular class, 90% could place themselves
    -class identity is still important
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

post modernists: class identity is becoming weaker. why? (6)

A
  • changes in work
  • less manufacturing, more service sector
  • has lead to an increase in the m/c
  • better standard of living for most people
  • decline in trade unions and working mens club
  • w/c now such a small diluted group, no point of studying them
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

income

A

the flow of resources which individuals or households receive over a period of time

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

how do you measure income inequalities? (2)

A
  • the family resources survey: gov sponsored
  • the annual survey or hours and earnings: based on 1% sample of jobs taken
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

stats (3)

A
  • across all of uk, bring in nine billion
    -the richest 5% annual household income is 5 times greater than the poorest 20% of the uk population
    -households in the bottom 10% or the population have a wage and benefits of £9,500
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
36
Q

stats (3)

A
  • across all of uk, bring in nine billion
    -the richest 5% annual household income is 5 times greater than the poorest 20% of the uk population
    -households in the bottom 10% or the population have a wage and benefits of £9,500
37
Q

wealth

A

refers to the ownership of assets that are valued

38
Q

property wealth

A

houses, property, land

39
Q

physical wealth

A

cars, jewellery, paintings, antiques

40
Q

financial wealth

A

savings, investments, shares

41
Q

what are two problems with measuring wealth

A

-wealthy people are often careful with to conceal their wealth, to avoid taxation
-what should be counted as wealth is not straightforward

42
Q

does wealth inequality matter

A

‘sustains an already unequal society, wealth inequalities an inequality iceberg.’

43
Q

stats for wealth

A

-richest 10th earn 45% of wealth
-bottom 50% of population owned less than 5% of wealth in 2021 (Joseph round tree foundation)
-the lowest 10% have zero wealth, more debt (wealth and stats survey)

44
Q

social mobility

A

the movement of individuals up and down the social scale

45
Q

long range mobility

A

working class going to the top

46
Q

short range mobility

A

from w/c to upper m/c

47
Q

why study social mobility? (3)

A
  • important to people because they want to feel that they can improve their lives
  • shows the links between peoples past and future opportunities
  • levels of social mobility are a good indicator of life chances for an individual
48
Q

open structures

A

making it easier to move up and down the social classes, there are few obstacles to those with talents, a true meritocracy

49
Q

closed structures

A

little movement from one class to another, your status is ascribed

50
Q

intergenerational

A

the change of an individual’s social class from that of their family

51
Q

intragenerational

A

movement within or between social classes and occupations

52
Q

problems with trying to measure social mobility (2)

A

-measuring social class on just occupation and income, inherited wealth
- what is the cut off age for intergenerational mobility?

53
Q

absolute mobility

A

total mobility that takes place in society

54
Q

relative mobility

A

the comparative of those from various class backgrounds of reaching particular positions in the social structure

55
Q

evidence of social mobility (5)

A

-goldthorpe Oxford mobility study
-published 1980
-largest study on social mobility (10,000 men)
- compared 3 classes: working class, immediate class (wc upper), service class (m/c)
-looked at the odds of mobility

56
Q

findings of goldthorpe study

A

life had improved for everyone since ww2-considerable upward mobility and less downward mobility

57
Q

why was there more upward mobility (2)

A
  • education system has improved
  • economic structure changed, less w/c jobs and more m/c jobs
58
Q

1:2:4 rule of relative hope (3)

A
  • what are the chances of me being in the service class
  • a boy starting off in the service class had 4x the chance of staying there
  • relative mobility was rare, based on the social class in which you started
59
Q

savage and egerton 1997 (3)

A
  • included women, longitudinal study
  • the chances of escaping the w/c did not increase, with 55% of men staying in that class
  • chances of w/c men rising to the service class increased for 16% to 26%
60
Q

social mobility commission

A

‘there are encouraging signs for the future of social mobility’

61
Q

material deprivation: harker (2006)

A

believes there is a link between material poverty and educational achievement

62
Q

harker (2006) what negative effects did she distinguish (3)

A

-less space to play, impairing cognitive development and leading to higher rates of depression and aggressive behaviour
-increased bullying in school due to clothing or not having ‘cool’ resources
-higher rates of stress and mental illness in children and in parents who are therefore less supportive

63
Q

social class and educational achievement: pierre bourdieu (2)

A
  • the middle classes have a culture which celebrates and expects good education
  • the middle class have a cultural capital
64
Q

old boys network

A

contacts and connections that will help with a Childs future eg. work experience and apprenticeships

65
Q

helicopter parents

A

parents who hover over you and have excessive interest in their Childs life

66
Q

snowplough parents

A

parenting style that seeks to remove all obstacles from a Childs path so they don’t experience pain, discomfort or failure

67
Q

basil bernstein: m/c and w/c language (5)

A
  • w/c students suffered from a ‘language deficit’ and this way of talking is harming their education
  • poor quality language led to poorer quality of thought and he supported this by showing that w/c students did worse on IQ tests
  • he discovered that m/c and w/c students had different ‘speech codes’
  • restricted code: typically used by the w/c. limited vocab and is based on the use of short, grammatically simple sentences. it is context-bound, meaning the speaker assumes that the listener shares the same set of experiences
  • elaborated code: typically used by the m/c. wider vocab and is based on the use of longer, more complex sentences. it is context-free, the speaker does not assume that the listener shares the sane experiences
68
Q

in what ways do w/c subcultures differ to m/c subcultures? (3)

A
  • w/c have a lower value on education, less value in continuing school beyond the minimum leaving age
  • lower value on achieving higher occupational status: they emphasise stability, security and immediate benefits, reject risks and investments
  • believe there is less opportunity for personal advancement, whats the point?
69
Q

barry sugarman: differences of m/c and w/c (2)

A

-reason why w/c differ from m/c was from parents jobs: m/c have secure jobs offering prospects for continuous individual advancement, encouraging ambition
- w/c jobs have few promotion prospects, less income for investment and were less secure

70
Q

parental intertest in education

A

w/c value education less, less ambition, less encouraging and less interested

71
Q

pre school socialisation

A

less likely to read to them, buy educational toys, less likely to go on trips, less likely to trac them to read, write or count before starting school

72
Q

child rearing practices

A

less emphasis on educational achievement, more on physical expect or demand less. don’t encourage improvement or reward success

73
Q

john benyon: 1985, peer labelling (2)

A

-looked at how boys in secondary school labelled themselves
- children were very aware and accepting of the label given by peers

74
Q

howard becker 1997: labelling in school (3)

A
  • interviews teachers from chicago and found they had an image of the ideal pupil
  • was highly motivated, intelligent and well behaved
  • w/c boys frequently labelled with ‘discipline problems’, ‘unmotivated’ and ‘unlikely to succeed.’
75
Q

dume and gazeley 2008 and class labelling (2)

A
  • argued that schools persistently produce w/c under achievement due to the labels and assumptions by teachers
  • interviewed 9 English state schools, teachers ‘normalised’ the underachievement of w/c children, seemed unbothered
76
Q

streaming

A

a group of children taught together thought to be of similar ability for a given age, across all lessons

77
Q

banding

A

broader version of streaming, eg. 5 in group a, 5 in group b, 5 in group c

78
Q

setting

A

ability set only in one individual lesson eg. maths and/or english

79
Q

gillborn and youdell (2001): setting and streaming (3)

A
  • found that teachers are less likely to see w/c pupils as having ability
  • these pupils are likely to be placed in lower streams and entered for lower tier gcses
  • educational triage: means ‘sorting’. normally used to describe the process on battle fields or in major disasters. 1. walking wounded (ignore, will survive) 2. those who will die anyway (ignored, no hope) 3. those with a chance of survival (recognised)
80
Q

polarisation

A

pupils respond to streaming by moving towards one or two opposite ‘poles’ or extremes

81
Q

pro-school subculture

A

pupils in top stream accepted value system in school. they have: worked hard, well behaved, they were praised and respected by their teachers. full of the middle-class, filled with encouragement

82
Q

anti-school subculture

A

pupils in bottom stream rejected school rules, values turned upside down, pupils refused to do homework, truanted, smoked and gained prestige for giving cheek to their teachers. w/c group solidarity

83
Q
A
84
Q

inequality’s in the workplace: financial rewards

A

compared to senior staff, more routine workers not only earn less but are less likely to enjoy other perks such as occupational pensions and longer paid holidays

85
Q

inequalities in the workplace: job security

A

manual workers and other routine workers are much more likely to face job losses and unemployment than skilled workers

86
Q

inequalities in the workplace: job satisfaction

A

more skilled workers may achieve higher levels of job satisfaction because they exercise a wider range of skills and can make decisions in their jobs. routine jobs are likely to be more repetitive and lack scope to make decisions or be creative about how the job is done

87
Q

inequalities in the workplace: opportunities for advancement

A

i’m professional and managerial jobs, there is often a career ladder so employees tend to receive training and development, so they can move up positions in the workplace for higher pay. in manual jobs, workers often stay at the same level through their career

88
Q

inequalities in the workplace: power and control

A

more senior staff in workplaces often have more control eg. they may be able to set their own working hours and make decisions about what they do at their jobs. more lower paid workers are more closely supervised and may have to follow set routines and instructions

89
Q

inequalities in the workplace: status

A

differences of status reflect differences of income, for example, there may be different uniforms or work dress, canteens and rest facilities for different grades of workers

sociology yr1 (3 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions