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social stratification

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the division of large numbers of people into layers according to their relative property, power, and presitge.

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slavery

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a form of socail startification in which some people own other people.

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bonded labor (indentured service)

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a contractual system in which someone sells his or her body (services) for a specified period of time in an arangement very close to slavery, except that it is voluntary

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ideology

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belifs about the way things ought to be that justify social arrangements

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caste system

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a form of social stratification in which peoples statueses are lifelong conditions determied by birth.

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endogamy

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the practice of marrying within ones own group

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apartheid

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the seperation of racial-ethnic groups as was practiced in south america

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estate stratification system

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the stratification system of mediviel Europe, consisting of three groups or estates: the nobility, clergy, and commoners

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class system

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a form of social stratification based primarily on the possession of money or material possessions

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social mobility

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movement up or down the social class labor

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means of production

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the tools, factories, land, and investment capital used to produce wealth

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bourgeoisie

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marx's term for capitalists, those who own the means of production

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proletariat

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marx's term for the exploited class, the mass of workers who do not own the means of production

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class consciousness

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Marx's term for awareness of a common identity based on one's position in the means of production

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false class consciousness

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Marx's term to refer to workers identifying with the interests of capitlists

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meritocracy

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a form of social stratification in which all positions are awarded on the basis of merit

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divine right of kings

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the idea that the kings authority comes from God; in an interesting gender bender, also applies to queens

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colonialism

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the process by which one nation takes over another nation, usually for the purpose of exploiting its labor and natural resources

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world system theory

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how economic and political connections developed and now tie the worlds countries together

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globalization of capitalism

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capitalism (investing to make profits within a rational system) becoming the globe's dominant economic system

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social class

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according to Weber, a large group of people who rank close to one another in property, power, and prestige; according to Marx, one of the two groups: capitalists who own the means of production or workers who sell their labor

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wealth

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the total value of everything someone owns, minus the debts

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income

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Earnings from work or investment

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power elite

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C. Wright Mills' term for the top people in U.S. corporations, military, and politics who make the nation's major decisions

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prestige

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respect or regard

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status consistent

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ranking high or low on all three dimensions of social class

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status inconsistency

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ranking high on some dimensions of social class and low on others; also called status discrepancy

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status

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Social position within the group, network, or organization.

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anomie

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Durkheim's term for a condition of society in which people become detached from the usual norms that guide their behavior

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contradictory class locations

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Erik Wright's term for a position in the class structure that generates contradictory interests

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underclass

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a group of people for whom poverty persists year after year and across generations

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intergenerational mobility

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the change that family members make in social class from one generation to the next

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upward soial mobility

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movement up the social class ladder

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downward social mobility

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movement down the social class ladder

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structural mobility

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movement up or down the social class ladder that is due to changes in the structure of society, not to individual efforts

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exchange mobility

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a large number of people moving up the social class ladder, while a large number move down; it is as though they have exchanged places, and the social class system shows little change

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poverty line

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the official measure of poverty; calculated to include incomes that are less than three times a low-cost food budget

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feminization of poverty

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a condition of U.S. poverty in which most poor families are headed by women

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culture of poverty

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the assumption that the values and behaviors of the poor make them fundamentally different from other people, that these factors are largely responsible for their poverty, and that parents perpetuate poverty across generations by passing these characteristics to their children

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deferred gratification

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going without something in the present in the hope of achieving greater gains in the future

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Horatio Alger myth

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the belief that due to limitless possibilities anyone can get ahead if he or she tries hard enough

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genocide

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Deliberate extermination of a racial or cultural group

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race

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A group of humans being distinguished by physical traits, blood types, genetic code patterns or genetically inherited characteristics.

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ethnicity

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Shared cultural heritage

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minority group

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people who are singled out for unequal treatment and who regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination

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dominant group

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the group with the most power, greatest privileges, and highest social status

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ethnic work

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activities designed to discover, enhance, maintain, or transmit an ethnic or racial identity

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discrimination

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Behavior targeted at individuals or groups and intended to hold them apart and treat them differently.

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racism

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Prejudice based on race

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prejudice

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A negative attitude toward an entire category of people, often an ethnic or racial minority.

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contact theory

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the idea that prejudice and negative stereotypes decrease and racial-ethnic relations improve when people from different racial backgrounds , who are of equal status, interact frequently

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individual disrimination

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person-to person or face to face discrimination; the negative treatment of people by other individuals

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institutional discrimination

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negative treatment of a minority group that is built into a society's institutions; also called systemic discrimination

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Scapegoat

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an individual or group unfairly blamed for someone else's troubles

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Authoritarian personality

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Theodor Adorno's term for people who are prejudiced and rank high on scales of conformity, intolerance, insecurity, respect for authority, and submissiveness to superiors

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Split labor market

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workers split along racial-ethnic, gender, age, or any other lines; this split is exploited by owners to weaken the bargaining power of workers

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reserve labor force

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The unemployed; unemployed workers are thought of as being "in reserve" - capitalists take them "out of reserve" (put them back to work) during times of high production and put them back "in reserve" (lay them off) when they are no longer needed

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selective perception

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seeing certain features of an object or situation, but remaining blind to others

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compartmentalize

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to separate acts from feelings or attitudes

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population transfer

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the forced transfer of a minority group

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ethnic cleansing

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the elimination of an unwanted ethnic group or groups from a society, as by genocide or forced emigration.

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internal colonialism

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the policy of exploiting minority groups for economic gain

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segregation

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Separation of people based on racial, ethnic, or other differences

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assimilation

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A policy in which a nation forces or encourages a subject people to adopt its institutions and customs.

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multiculturlism

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a policy that permits or encourages ethnic differences

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WASP

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White Anglo Saxon Protestant

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White ethnics

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white immigrants to the United States whose cultures differ from WASP culture

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rising expectations

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the sense that better conditions are soon to follow, which, if unfulfilled, increase frustration.

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pan-indianism

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an attempt to develop an identity that goes beyond the tribe by emphasizing the common elements that run through Native American Cultures.

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What single factor controlled one's social class, according to Karl Marx?

answer

people's relationship to the means of production

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Why did a caste-like system exist in America following the Civil War, especially in the South?

answer

Until 1954 many states operated separate school systems for blacks and whites. To keep races from "mixing" it was illegal in (until 1950) Mississippi for a white and black to sit together on the same seat of a car. No ban on blacks and whites being in the same car, so whites could employ blacks to be their chauffeurs.

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According to Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore, how are highly qualified people motivated to enter high-pressure positions?

answer

the positions offer greater rewards- more prestige, pay and benefits

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According to Gerhard Lenski, what was the key to the development of stratification and class differences?

answer

surplus

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While multinational corporations exploit cheap labor, they also create positive consequences (latent functions). What unanticipated positive consequence did your author identify is the result of multinational corporations?

answer

Multinational corporations bring jobs and money to Least Industrialized Nations that otherwise would not provide them. Typically the pay that they receive, while not up to par with U.S. standards, is more than they would receive elsewhere. This creates opportunities for them to develop skills, acquire technology, and accumulate a capital base.

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Discuss how colonialism, world system theory and the "culture" of poverty explain how the world's nations became stratified.

answer

Colonialism stresses that the countries that industrialized first got the jump on the rest of the world. Through military might, the more powerful industrializing nations politically annexed the weaker nations of Africa and Asia making them economic colonies. The people these economic colonies were exploited and their resources depleted. In world system theory, developed by Immanuel Wallerstein, a world division of labor was established that most benefitted the cores nations (the industrialized nations) with less and less benefit to other nations (semi-periphery, periphery, and external area nations) as their relationship to the core nations diminished. In the culture of poverty theory, advanced by John Kenneth Galbraith, poverty is a way of life for nations as it is for people that is passed from one generation to the next. In the culture of poverty explanation poverty is linked to tradition, religion, and a

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Define social class. What are the three components Weber identified as being the key elements of determining one's social class?

answer

property. power, and prestige

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What is meant by the term "status inconsistency"? What consequences have been linked to being status inconsistent?

answer

While most persons hold positions of similar wealth, prestige and power, sometimes a person might be ranked very high or low on one dimension in comparison to the others. The result is described as status inconsistency. Because of the frustrations of status inconsistency that people experience, they tend to be politically radical. Sudden wealth can also cause anomie, or a sense of normlessness, for those from the lower classes that win a large cash lottery. Another consequence leaves status inconsistent men twice as likely to have a heart attack as status consistent, while status inconsistent women do not have more heart attacks. Logged

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What are the four features that jobs with a high prestige all share?

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They pay more, they require more education, they involve more abstract thought, they offer greater autonomy (independence)

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Why does sudden wealth, such as that experienced by winning a multimillion-dollar lottery jackpot, create anomie?

answer

It creates status inconsistency for the recipient, usually due to now being among the wealthy but lacking the level of education or heritage of wealth that usually accompanies it. In addition, one's social network will still be composed of the non-wealthy who will be envious, jealous, and looking for assistance from the fortunate lotto winner.

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Why do members of the capitalist class have a narrower field of "eligibles" as marriage partners than any other social class?

answer

There is a concern for preserving the "family line" and for maintaining the family's wealth or increasing it through marriage.

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How is social class related to the potential to be involved in the criminal justice system as either a defendant or victim?

answer

The higher one's social class, the less likely one will be either a convicted criminal offender or a victim of crime. Upper-class people commit many acts that victimize others, but are often tried in administrative courts when the offense involves white-collar crime. The ability to afford private counsel when accused of a heinous crime also greatly increases one's potential to be found not guilty.

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What are the three basic types of social mobility?

answer

Structural mobility is a type of forced vertical mobility that results from a change in the distribution of statuses in a society. It occurs when the demands of a particular occupation reach its max and more people are needed to help fill the positions. Exchange mobility is that which is not structural. The key word "exchange" means trade-off. This means instead of positions reaching the max and more people are needed, positions are dropped and someone else must step up to fill the position. When ascriptive status is in play, there is not much exchange mobility occurring.

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What are the three greatest predictors of poverty in America?

answer

Race-Ethnicity, education, and the feminization of poverty.

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Explain the difference between prejudice and discrimination. Is it possible to be prejudiced but not to discriminate? Or, to discriminate without being prejudiced?

answer

Prejudice and discrimination are common throughout the world. In Mexico, Mexicans of Hispanic descent discriminate against Mexicans of Native American descent; in Israel, Ashkenazi Jews, primarily of European descent, discriminate against Sephardic Jews, from the Middle East; in China, the Han and the Uighurs discriminate against each other. In some places, the elderly discriminate against the young; in others, the young discriminate against the elderly. And all around the world, men discriminate against women. Discrimination is an action—unfair treatment directed against someone. Discrimination can be based on many characteristics: age, sex, height, weight, skin color, clothing, speech, income, education, marital status, sexual orientation, disease, disability, religion, and politics. When the basis of discrimination is someone's perception of race, it is known as racism. Discrimination is often the result of an attitude called prejudice—a prejudging of some sort, usually in a negative way. There is also positive prejudice, which exaggerates the virtues of a group, as when people think that some group is superior to others. Yes, it is possible to be prejudiced but not discriminate, to discriminate without being prejudiced.

question

what was miss rivers lodge?

answer

A health care experiment at Tuskegee University

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How does prejudice qualify as being functional for society?

answer

It creates in-group solidarity, which increases the strength, pride, and abilities of the members of that group.

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What is pluralism?

answer

is a term used when smaller groups within a larger society maintain their unique cultural identities, and their values and practices are accepted by the wider culture provided they are consistent with the laws and values of the wider society.

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What does Peggy McIntosh mean when she discusses her "invisible knapsack"?

answer

McIntosh described white privilege as "an invisible weightless knapsack of assurances, tools, maps, guides, codebooks, passports, visas, clothes, compass, emergency gear, and blank checks"

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Why are Native Americans called the "invisible minority"?

answer

They are having trouble trying to establish an identity in society, and they receive very little help from the government and charities. Also, they are trying to hold on to the Traditions passed down to them from their forefathers, but they also want to live in the present. Its like they're in between two different worlds.

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Briefly explain how race is both a reality and a myth.

answer

In the sense that different groups inherit distinctive physical traits, race is a reality. There is no agreement regarding what constitutes a particular race, however, or even how many races there are. In the sense of one race being superior to another and of there being pure races, race is a myth. the idea of race is a powerful shaping basic relationship among people.

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Distinguish the difference between "race" and "ethnicity," and give an example of each.

answer

Race refers to inherited biological characteristics; ethnicity to cultural ones. Members of ethnic groups identify with one another on the basis of common ancestry and cultural heritage.

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based on the marxist orientation of conflict sociologist, how many distinct social classes exist?

answer

two

question

which of the following statements is most accurate with respect to determining social prestige in modern society

answer

one's occupational title

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what is the relationship between one's social class and one's chances of being a victim of a crime

answer

inverse

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numerically, what is the race of the majority of the poor in the U.S.

answer

white

question

____ are most likely segment of thr population in the us to experience poverty today

answer

children

sociology chapters 7,8,9 – Flashcards

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