Social problems exam 1 – Flashcards
121 test answers
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The functionalist perspective would attribute social problems to the unequal distribution of resources in society
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F
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Conflict theorists focus on inequalities in society
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T
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Labeling theory and the social construction of reality are value conflict perspectives
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F
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The type of research method used depends on the nature of the study in question
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T
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It is logical to conclude that one has to be in a position of power in order to discriminate
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T
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According to C. Wright Mills, in order to understand a phenomenon in question in its entirety, it is important to bridge the mico-macro aspects of society
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T
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In high income nations such as the US, most people have similar life chances
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F
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Karl Marx believed that inequality and poverty were inevitable by-products of the exploitation of workers by capitalists
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T
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Income is the economic gain derived from wages, salaries, income transfers, or ownership of property
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T
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Today, more than 1.4 billion people live in absolute poverty
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T
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The US poverty line is primarily based on a low-cost food budget for a family
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T
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The amount of low income housing has increased significantly in recent years due to programs such as Habitat for Humaity and federal housing initiatives
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F
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Countries with relatively low income levels, high rates of absolute poverty, low life expectancy, and high infant mortality rates are low income nations
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T
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The feminization of poverty refers to the trend whereby women are disproportionately representative
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T
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Class systems contribute to social stratification
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T
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Which of the following statement most accurately describes class inequality in the US?
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Despite the american Dream, The Us remains highly stratified
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Which of the following statements most accurately describes class inequality in the United States?
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Despite the American Dream, the U.S. remains highly stratified.
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The vast majority of poor people in the United States are
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women and children.
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Most researchers argue that the most frequent cause of homelessness is
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Poverty and jobloss
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The practice used by people who view a social problem as emanating from within the individual exhibiting the problem is known as
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Blaming the victim
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Oscar Lewis's idea that some poor people develop a separate and self-perpetuating system of attitudes and behaviors that keeps them trapped in poverty is known as
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The culture of poverty hypothsis
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Which of the following initiatives created farm subsidies, minimum wage standards, and the Social Security system?
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Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930s
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Which one of the following is most likely to fall into poverty?
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single female-headed families
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Which of the following perspectives asserts that poverty-related problems can be reduced by strengthening our major social institutions?
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Functionalist perspective
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Conflict theorists would suggest that
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The problem of poverty can only be solved by reducing inequality
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The decrease in take-home pay of workers since the 1980s is also known as
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wage squeeze
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James is a high school graduate and semiskilled laborer who is going back to school to attain his associate's degree. James is trying to improve his
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Human capital
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Discrimination deals with one's actions, while prejudice deals with one's attitude.
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T
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Race is biological, while ethnicity is cultural.
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T
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According to the text, government racial and ethnic classifications have been used exclusively for the purpose of gathering data for the U.S. census.
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F
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Subordinate groups need not necessarily be a numerical minority
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T
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Mortgage lenders who are more likely to grant bank loans to whites than to people of color are engaging in institutional discrimination.
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T
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Actions or practices of dominant group members that have a harmful impact on members of subordinate groups are referred to as
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Discrimination
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Which of the following groups is an example of an ethnic group?
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Italian Americans
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Teaching school children that their own school and country are the best is an example
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Ethnocentrism
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Racism in the United States is sometimes referred to as
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White racism
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A mindset characterized by excessive conformity, submissiveness to authority, intolerance
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Authoritarian personality
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Which theorists explain racial and ethnic inequality in terms of economic stratification and access to power?
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Conflict theorists
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According to the gendered racism perspective
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Women of color have been uniquely affected by the interactive effect of racism and sexism
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The first Asians to arrive in the United States in sizable numbers were from
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China
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The "Jim Crow" laws designed to enforce the physical and social separation of African Americans from whites in all areas of public life after 1863 were examples of
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De jure segregation
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The largest subordinate racial-ethnic group in the U.S. is
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Hispanic Americans
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Which of the following would assert that discriminated-against individuals and groups are at least partly responsible for their own subordination because of decisions they make along
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Functionalist theorists
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Which of the following would view families, schools, and churches as being key institutions that should encourage minority acceptance of dominant U.S. cultural patterns?
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Functionalist theorists
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Which of the following emphasize that solutions to the problem of inequality will be found only through government programs that specifically attack racial inequality and actively reduce patterns of discrimination?
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Conflict theorists
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Which of the following purport that prejudice and discrimination are learned and
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Symbolic interactionist theorists
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Conflict perspectives on racial and ethnic inequality are based on the assumption
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Economic stratification and unequal access to power place minority group members at a distince disadvantage as compared to dominant group members
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The U.S. has been compared to a salad bowl, one dish made up of individual ingredients, in order to explain a contemporary society where different cultures blend yet still retain their essential uniqueness. Which of the following processes does this comparison define?
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Ethnic pluralism
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Functionalists, conflict theorists, and symbolic interactionists would all agree that
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The US population is becoming increasingly diverse at a rapid rate
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The study of human society and social interactions
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Sociology
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Individuals sharing geographic area and culture
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Society
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Knowledge, values, customs, material objects passed to person to person
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Culture
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Social condition/pattern of behavior that harms some or all people in a society, causes public concern and action for change
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Social problem
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Connect private problems to public issues shift focus to a larger social context
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Sociological imagination
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Logically related statements that attempt to describe, explain, or predict social events *viewing society as a sociological perspective
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Theory
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Macrolevel, parts that work together to maintain stability, results from dysfunctional acts and institutions solution: strengthen social institutions
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Funtionalist perspective
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Macrolevel, characterized by conflict and inequality, lack of agreement on values. Focuses on race, gender, class Solution: reform political and economic institutions to change inequality
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Conflict perspective
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Micolevel, society is the sum of interactions between groups and individuals. Social problems are based on the behavior people learn from others. Based on subjective problems Solution: change societal values which encourage violence
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Symbolic interactionist perspective
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Used to collect data about society
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Research methods
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uses numbers
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Quantitative
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Uses words
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Qualitative
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Observe in a natural setting
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Field research
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Ask series of questions (most frequently used), target small group that are representatives of a larger group
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Survey
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USe already existing data, has no contact examples: records, census bureau data Content analysis-examination of documents ex tv programming, lyrics to songs
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Secondary analysis
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Small relations
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Micro level
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Occurring at societal levels
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Macro level
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Highly industrialized economy, high income ex. canada, Japan and US
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High income nations
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Agrarian-- to industrial economy ex. Columbia, guatemala and peru
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Middle income nations
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Agrarian economy ex. Africa
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Low income nations
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Gap between rich and poor is increasing Life indicators: health, life expectancy and sanitation
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Global disperity
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Having access to important resources ex. food, shelter, healthcare, sanitation 1.4 billion absolute poverty
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Life chances
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Hierarchy of social groups, some groups control more resources US Stratification has changed Gap: have and have nots increasing Life chances for poor is decreasing
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Social stratification
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Undiminsional approach, class position determined by relationship to means of production in capitalist society
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Karl Marx
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Multidiminsional approach Wealth, power and prestige
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Max Weber
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value of assets
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Wealth
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achivement
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Power
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Respect and esteem from others
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Prestige
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Class criteria, ownership of means of production, purchase of labor, control of labor and sale of labor
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Erik Wright
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Value of economic assets, unevenly distributed, poorest 20% have no wealth, min less wealth
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Wealth
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Economic gain from salaries and wages big gap between high and low, medium income of blacks lower than whites
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Income
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Wealthy, most powerful ex. investors and heirs
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Upper class
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Control production in society
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Upper-middle class
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White collar, middle management
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Middle class
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Semiskilled and nonmanual positions ex. daycare workers and cashiers
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Working class
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Work full time ex. unskilled, low paid positions
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Working poor
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20% of US population, negative net worth (owe more than they make)
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Chronically poor
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% below poverty line 14.3 in 2009 Market basket- food budget x 3
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Poverty rate
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Who is Poor?
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2/3 women and households headed by women
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Women experience poverty at far higher rates than men
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Feminization of poverty
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Consequences of poverty
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limited access to healthcare inadequate nutrition--> med probs hard to find cheap housing Reduced edu programs
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Assistance programs for housing, health, education and income
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Welfare state
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Explanations of poverty
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Individual- laziness, human capital, blaming the victim Cultural- cultural deficiency, culture of poverty, cultural capital Structural- economy puts people in poverty
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Solutions to poverty: Functionalist Conflict Symbolic interactionist
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Functionalist- strengthen social institutions Conflict- reduce gender, race and class inequality Symbolic interactionist- reduce stigma, change how we view society
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Differs because of a gene
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Race
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Category singled out as inferior or superior determined by physical characteristics (skin, hair, eye shape)
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Racial group
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Distinguished culturally
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Ethnic group
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Advantaged, superior resources and rights, be determined by: race, ethnicity, gender, sex orientation ex. White skin privilege
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Dominant
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Disadvantaged, unequal treatment, prejudice or discrimination
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Subordinate
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Beliefs and practices which justify unequal treatment of racial and ethnic groups White racism is present in US and denies people of color opportunities
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Racism
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Negative attitudes toward a group- based on faulty generalizations, stems from ethnocentrism (one's group is superior), influenced by stereotypes
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Prejudice
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one's group is better
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Ethnocentrism
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Over generalizations about all members of a group
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Stereotypes
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Individual- 1 on 1 by dominant to subordinate Institutional- day to day practices of institutions impact on subordinate
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Discrimination
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Sociological Perspectives on race
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Social psychological perspective: Frustration-aggression hypothesis- individuals who are unable to achieve a set goal become frustrated Authoritarian Personality- tendency to be more prejudice
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Symbolic Interactionist
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Racial Socialization: -Process of social interaction containing messages about one's racial/ethnic group - can be direct via contact with parents, peers, teachers, others - also indiectly through media
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Functionalist
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Focus on social order and stability as being important Assimilation- process where subordinate group members become absorbed in dominant culture, seen by functionlists as stabilizing Anglo-conformity model
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Functionalist continued
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Ethnic pluralism- diverse racial and ethnic groups coexist, maintain separate identities and cultures Segregation- separation of people, based on class, gender, religion ect
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Conflict
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Class perspectives: African Americans were enslaved;were the cheapest workers Contemporary theory- split-labor market theory: US divided into 2 sectors
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Conflict continued
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Gendered Racism- interaction of gender and race resulting in exploitation of woman of color Internal colonialism- members of a racial/ethnic group are placed under control of the dominant group
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Conflict continued
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Theory of racial formation: Gov has large role in defining racial and ethnic relations Policies and actions placing one group sin a subordinate position Immigration and naturalization laws- influence relations between racial and ethnic groups
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Pop of 15 mill when columbus arrived in 1492 White eros conquered and colonized the Native Americans (genocide) 1830- Indian Removal Act passed
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Native Americans
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First brought to North America as slaves in 1619 Slavery established in 1863 South-De jure segregation North-De facto segregation Civil rights Acts of 1964 and 1965 ended de jure segregation
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African Americans
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Puerto Rico became a US possession in 1917; citizens allowed migration to US Refugees immigrated to US from Cua to flee from Fidel Castro Mexicans have immigrated to the US as agricultural workers
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Latinos (Hispanic Americans)
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Came to America in 1850-1880 Japanese immigrants forced into internment camps during WWII Many immigrants have come recently form other parts
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Asian and Pacific Americans
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Functionalist solutions to inequality
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Restructure social institutions
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Conflict solutions to inequality
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Struggle and Political Action
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Interactionist solutions to inequality
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Teach cultural diversity to unlearn prejudice and discrimination
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