Sociology Test 3 – social classes

india- caste system gods priests, academics kings, warriors merchant, landowners commoners, peasants outcasts, street sweepers US - open class - can interchange, those on the bottom dont always make t to the top, changing class isnt as easy as it seems upper class upper middle lower middle working class working poor underclass

absolute measures of poverty is the absence of enough money to secure life necessities relative measures of poverty compares the economic condition of those at the bottom of a society with that of other members of society

change within the same class - army captain to school teacher

moving upward and downward -janitor becoming a doctor

takes place over a generation -plumbers daughter becomes physician

movement between social classes

the war on poverty was the program of helping poor people help themselves. the criticism was that people will be dependent on government effecting social welfare negatively.

all of history has been a class struggle between powerful and powerless, capitalist can control the workers the powerful contend that income and wealth are based on ability, hard work, and individual effort. those who own the means of production are able to spread their ideas. false consciousness- adoption of the ideas of the dominant class by the less powerful conflict theorist would point to the unequal treatment experienced by the poorer residents of new orleans after katrina stratification

no social mobility, status is inherited not changed, assigned at birth, only allowed to marry within the caste south africa based on race before nelson mandella india based on occupation and hindu religion

a trend in us society in which women and children make up an increasing proportion of the poor

based on merit and individual effort, movement is allowed between classes. US says they are open class, but not truly

relationship between performance and pay pay levels increase with job performance

relationship between social class and the likelihood of punishment for a crime the chances for prosecution decrease as the level of social class increases

link between the social class and self-esteem. self esteem is higher among the upper class than the lower

a sense of identification with the goals and interests of the members of a particular social class

upper class - investors, heirs, chief executives - 2 million income, 1% upper middle - upper level managers, business owners- 120,000, 14% middle- semi-professionals, non-retail sales- 55,000, 30% working - low paid manual, clerical , craft- 35,000, 30% working poor - lowest paid manual, retail - 22,000 13% underclass - unemployed, part time jobs, disabilities/help from government 12,000 12%

\"if we made an income pyramid out of a child's blocks with each layer portraying $500 of income, the peak would be far higher than mt everest, but most people would be within a few feet of the ground. In 2004, the richest 20% of american household received over 50% of the nations income. the lowest 20% received less than 4%

minorities, people who live in female-headed households, children under the age of 18, elderly, people with disabilities

the amount of money received within given time period by an individual or group

refers to all the economic resources possessed by an individual or group

class that owns the means of production

class that labors without owning the means of production

social mobility is the movement between social classes. currently my family is in the middle class but it hasnt always been that way. the majority of the social mobility that my family has experienced was intergenerational, but my mom has also experienced horizontal mobility the way intergeneration mobility was experienced in my family starts with my great grandparents. my great grandfather was a factory worker, my great grandma worked in a bakery. my grandfather, their son, brought them from working class to lower middle class by getting a job as an office manager in a low key business. My uncle became upper middle class when he got a job at a well known software company in the sales and communications department. my mom became a middle class citizen when she worked as an accountant at an engineering company. she left to become an office manager at a family friend's plumbing company. this is an example of horizontal mobility. my brother experienced vertical mobility in a negative way. he went from a middle class family to the working poor class. he went to school for photography and when that didnt work out he became a bike messanger. many forms of social mobility have applied to my family. after schooling, i hopefully will become a nurse. this is an example of intergeneration mobility for me because my dad is a plumber on disability.

caste system

open-class system

vertical mobility

horizontal mobility

social mobility

feminization of poverty

prestige

income

wealth

proletariat

bourgeoisie

relative poverty

social stratification

poverty

social class

inter generational mobility