Social Stratification Flashcards
Social class
A category of people who share a similar socioeconomic position in society. (Can be identified by looking at the economic opportunities, job positions, lifestyles, attitudes, and behaviors of a given slice of society)
Social stratification
Focuses on social inequalities and studies the basic question of who gets what and why, which relates to one’s socioeconomic status (SES), which depends on ascribed or achieved status.
Power
The ability to affect other’s behavior through real or perceived rewards and punishments, and is based on the unequal distribution of valued resources. (Relationship between individuals, groups, and social institutions)
Anomie
A lack of social norms, or the breakdown of social bonds between an individual and society.
Strain theory
Focuses on how anomic conditions can lead to deviance. (Includes excessive individualism, social inequality, and isolation)
Social capital
The investments people make in their society in return for economic or collective rewards; the greater the investment, the higher the level of social integration and inclusion.
Social network
Main form of social capital with 2 types:
1) situational: socioeconomic advantage
2) positional: based on how connected one is within a network, and one’s centrality within that network.
Strong ties
Peer group and kinship contacts, which are quantitatively small but qualitatively powerful.
Weak ties
Social connections that are personally superficial, such as associates, but that are large in number and provide connections to a wide range of other individuals.
Five ethnicities model
White Black Asian Latino Native American
Social mobility
An economic and occupational structure that allows one to acquire higher-level employment opportunities given proper credentials and experience requirements.
Intragenerational mobility
Changes in social status that happen within a person’s lifetime.
Inter generational mobility
Changes that are from parents to children.
Meritocracy
Based on intellectual talent and achievement, and is a means for a person to advance up the social ladder.
Plutocracy
A rule by he upper classes instead of meritocracy.
Poverty
Low socioeconomic status and a lack of possessions or financial resources. Can be handed down from generation to generation and can be defined on its own terms or in comparison to the rest of the population.
Social reproduction
Social inequality being reproduced or passed on from one generation to the next.
Absolute level
Poverty is a socioeconomic condition in which people do not have enough money or resources to maintain a quality of living that includes basic life necessities such as shelter, food, clothing, and water.
Relative
In terms of poverty, one is poor in comparison to the larger population in which they live.
Poverty line
Is derived from the government’s calculation of the minimum income requirements for families to acquire the minimum necessities of life.
Social exclusion
Can arise from the sense of powerlessness when poor individuals feel alienated from society.
Spatial inequality
Social stratification across territories and their populations. Examining space helps to illuminate social inequalities b/c it attends to how geography influences social processes.
Incidence
Number of new cases of an illness per population at risk in a given amount of time. (New cases / population at risk / time)
Prevelance
Measure of the number of cases of an illness overall-whether new or chronic-per population in a given amount of time. (Total cases / total population / time)
Morbidity
The burden or degree of illness associated with a given disease.
Mortatility
Deaths caused by a given disease
Second sickness
An exacerbation of health outcomes caused by social injustice. Low income groups are more likely to have poorer health, be uninsured, and die younger than middle- or upper- class adults.
Medicare
Covers patients over the age of 65, those with end-stage renal disease, and those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Medicaid
Covers patients who are in significant financial need.
