Question | Answer |
social stratification | a way of ranking large groups of people into a hierarchy according to the relative power, property, and prestige (all societies are stratified) |
ideology | -beliefs that justify social arrangements
-all systems w/ stratification are upheld by ideologies |
caste | ascribed system of stratification in which a person's life long status is determined at birth |
class | -open system of stratification based up a person's wealth
-boundaries are fluid = social mobility is possible |
Weber's 3 components to social class | 1.property = wealth
2.prestige = social regard or reputation
3.power = ability of individuals or groups to achieve goals, control events, and maintain influence over others despite opposition |
Davis-Moore Thesis (Functionalist) | -Note that there are positions in society that need to be filled but argue that some positions are more essential than others
-argue that we offer property, power, and prestige proportionate to the skill requirements of postions |
Melvin Tumin (Functionalist Critique) | -stratification is disfunctional to many because it mostly affects the poor
-stangulation of talent over time = competition becomes less open over time
-functionalist view ignores the role of power in creating and maintaining stratification |
Conflict View on Social Stratification | -groups struggle over resources
-power is used to dominate other groups and limit access to resources
-groups with social power control the institutions of society |
Critique of Conflict View | 1.
2.Competition and unequal rewards may be necessary to motivate people |
legitimacy | generally held belief that a given political system is justified and valid
-over time ideologies gain legitimacy |
How do Elites Maintain Stratification | 1.ideology
2.legitimacy
3.through the exercise of power and control of institutions |
Social Class | a large group of people who work closely to one another in wealth, power, and prestige
-seperate people into different lifestyles
-provides people with different chances and different ways of viewing the world |
wealth | consists of property (things you own) and income (salary) minus debt |
prestige | associated with respect or regard attached to social positions (ranking is consistent across countries and over time)
-displayed through status symbols |
Prestige Scores | -Physicina: 86
-Supreme Court Judge: 85
-Attorney: 75
-College Professor: 74
-High School Teacher: 66
-Plumber: 45
-Barber: 36
-Bartender: 25 |
4 features of jobs with high occupational prestige | 1.pay more
2.more education
3.more abstract thought
4.greater autonomy |
% of All Wealth (2006) | -Richest 1% (33.4%)
-top 5% (57.5%)
-bottom 50%(2.5%) |
Class System | -upper class = 37% of the population
-middle class = 40% of the population
-working class = 30% of the population
-lower class = 27% of the population |
Consequences of Social Class | -family
-education (private v. public school)
-religion
-politics
-physical & mental health
-working conditions |
poverty line | the official measure of poverty
-est. by federal govn't
-poor spend 1/5 of income on food
-govn't figures out a low cost food budget and multiplies it by 3 |
What do activists argue? | only 15%-20% of income is spent on food and that this number should be multiplied by 5 or 6 which would increase the number of poor people and society does not like to acknowledge poverty |
Where is poverty higher? | rural areas |
% of Population living in Poverty | -12% of U.S. population
-24% of blacks live in poverty
-24% of Mexican Americans live in poverty
-11% of Cuban Americans |
% of Children Living in Poverty | -8% of Asian children
-28% of Latino
-35% of black |
Daniel Patrickk Moinahand | Argues that the increase in child poverty is due to the increase in births to unwed mothers |
Why are women more apt to be more poor than men? | 1.Sometimes due to divorce
2.Births to unwed mothers
3.Lower wages associated with jobs in which women are employed |
culture of poverty | the values and behaviors of the poor that make them different from other people |
Oscar Lewis-Culture of Poverty | -share certain values, attitudes, and beliefs that differ from the nonpoor
-more permissive in rearing their children
-more likely to seek immediate gratification instead of planning for the future
-most poverty is short, lasting one year or less |
Two Competing Theories for Why people are poor | 1.feautres of society deny some people access to education, jobs, and/or job skill training; large scale economic changes
2.Characteristics of individuals such as dropping out or early child rearing contribute to poverty |
race | a group with inherited physical characteristics that distinguish it from another group |
1993 American Association of Physical Anthropologists | Called for the abolishment of race as a scientifically meaningful way to classify human beings because physical characteristics do not determine our behaviors, beliefs, or values |
How do we use race and ethnicity? | We use race and ethnicity to determine ingroups and outgroups |
ethnicity | how people identify with one another on the basis of common ancestry and culture |
ethnic work | How people construct their ethnicity (i.e. dress) |
minority groups | a group of people who may be subject to unequal and unfair treatment because of physical, cultural or other differences |
dominant group | any physically or culturally distinctive group that has the most economic and political power, the greatest privelages, and the higher social status |
How can a group become a minority group? | 1.The expansion of political boundaries (i.e. China taking over Tibet)
2.Through migration (voluntarily or forced) |
discrimination | unfair treatment directed against someone |
individual discrimination | negative treatment of one person by another |
institutional discrimination | discrimination woven into society (d'jour) |
defacto | discrimination that occurs in practice but is not legal |
prejudice | a neagtive prejudging; an irrational negative feeling on belief about a group based on presumed characteristics of that group |
Prejudice Classifications | 1.unprejudiced, nondiscriminators
2.unprejudiced, discriminators
3.prejudiced, nondiscriminators
4.prejudiced, discriminators |
racism | the belief that one racial group is superior to another |
frustration and scapegoats (Dollard) | prejudice is the result of economic frustration, and scapegoats become targets of blame |
The Authoritatiran Personality (Adorne) | Highly prejudiced people are insecure, conformist, submissive to superiors, have a deep respect for authority, bullying to inferiors, and they are disturbed by ambiguity in religious or sexual matters |
genocide | systematic annihilation of a race or ethnic group
-victims are typically labeled the targeted group as less than fully human facilitates genocide (i.e.Rwanda, Sudan, Holocaust) |
population transfer | causing a minority group to relocate |
indirect transfer | dominant groups makes things so miserable for the minority, the minority has to leave |
direct transfer | when a minority group is forcibly relocated (i.e. Trail of Tears) |
segregation | formal seperation of racial or ethnic groups
-1954 Brown v Board of Education = segregated schools were uncostitutional
-1967 Loving v Virginia = determined that laws prohibiting interracial marriage was unconstitutional |
assimilation | process by which a minority group is absorbed into the mainstream |
forced assimilation | when a minority group is prohibited from using its own language, religion, or culture |
permissive assimilation | when minority groups adopt the dominant culture |
multiculturalism | permits and encourages racial and ethnic variation
-groups maintain seperate identities, yet fully participate
-also referred to as "pluralism"
-Switzerland |
Naturalization Act 1790 | declared that only white immigrants could apply for citizenship |
WASPs | white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestants |
White Ethnics | white who are not Anglo-Saxon Protestant (i.e. Irish, Italian) |
Latinos | -largest minority group in U.S.
-69% live in TX, CA, FL, NY
-at odds with the African American population 1. economic competition 2.political representation
-1/2 are unable to speak English w/o difficulty
-12% of lations have graduated from college (2 |
African Americans | -have made remarkable gains since the Civil Rights Movement but still lag in politics, economics, and education
-18% of blacks have graduated from college (2007) |
William Wilson | -black sociologist at Harvard who wrote a book in the 1980s "The Declining Significance of Race" argues that social class has become more important in determining the life changes of blacks in the U.S. |
underclass | intercity residents who are largely socially and economically isolated from the larger society |
Why do Asian Americans have a higher income than any other racial group? | 1.48% of Asian American graduate from college
2.Strong families w/ close family ties
3.Assimilation into the mainstream (most likely to live in integrated neightborhoods + 2/5 of Asian Americans marry outside their race)
- |
What percent of whites graduate from college? | 29% |
Asian Americans | -56% of Asian Americans live in the west while 21% of the general population lives in the west
-children are more likely to be raised in a two parent family |
Native Americans | -2 million today
-the "invisible" minority
-between 1/3 and 1/2 live in CA, AZ, OK
-54% live on reservations
-fare worse than any other group in the U.S.
-highest poverty rates, unemployment, suicide, and alcoholism
-14% graduate from college |
First minority-majority state | California, 17 million nonwhites and 16 million whites |
When did the United Nationa ban slavery? | 1948 |
What is chattel slavery? | People are bought and sold as commodities, sometimes multiple times. Often abducted from their homes, inherited, or given as gifts. |
In what parts of the world does chattel slavery exist today? | Middle East, Africa, Asia, and The Balkans |
What groups were/are the top and the bottom of the Indian caste system, and what jobs were associated with each of these levels? | -top: Brahmins (priest, scholars)
-Kshatiyas(Kings and warriors)
-vaishyas(merchants and farmers)
-shudras(peasants, laborers, craftspeople)
-Dalits = "untouchables" (cleaning streets) |
When did India outlaw the caste system? | 1949 |
How do people identify castes today? | Through their surnames and socialize with and marry within their own castes |
The richest 20% own what percent of all stock? | 90% of all stock |
What is meant by nouveau riche? | new money |
What is conspicuous consumption? | lavish spending on goods and services to display one's social status and to enhance one's prestige |
Are upper-middle class members more or less likely to work 50 or more hours per week? | more |
Who is more likely to watch television as their primary recreational activity-middle or working class? | working class |
What is absolute poverty? | not having enough money to afford the most basic necessities of life |
What is relative poverty? | not having enough money to maintain an average standard of living |
Why are most people poor? | 1.individual characteristics
2.structural characteristics |
As more businesses relocated to the suburbs how does this affect poor minorities (especially those concentrated in inner city areas)? | Are unlikely to hear about employment possibilities or to have the transportation to get to even low-skill jobs |
What is horizontal mobility? | moving from one position to another at the same class level |
Why are low-income countries under developed according to dependency theory? | Because they are pawns that high-income countries exploit and dominate |
What is vertical mobility? | moving up or down the class hierarchy |
What is intragenerational mobility? | moving up or down the class hierarchy over a lifetime |
What is intergenerational mobility? | Moving up or down the class hierarchy relative to the position of one's parents |
What is corporate welfare? | an array of direct subsidies, tax breaks, and assistance that the government has created for business |
About 93% of those in extreme poverty live in what three groups? | East Asia, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa |
Why are low-income countries poor according to modernization theory? | Because of traditional attitudes about technology and institutions. They adhere to traditional customs that isolate them from competing in a global economy |
In a study comparing people with white-and black-sounding names, people with white-sounding names received how many calls for interviews? | 50% more calls |
By 2025, what percent of the U.S. population is projected to be white-down from this percent in 1950 | -58%
-86% |
All human beings carry what percent of the same genetic material? | 99.9% |
The current proportion of foreign-born U.S. residents is lower/higher than in 1900 | lower
-11% to 15% in 1990 |
In 2006, how many unauthorized, illegal immigrants were in the U.S.? | 12 million |
How many people have been victims of genocide during the 20th century? | 63 million |
What does the contact hypothesis state? | The diea that the more people get to know members of a minority group personally, the less likely they are to be prejudiced against that groups |
Know in order the 5 largest ethnicities of European descent in the U.S. | 1.German
2.Irish
3.English
4.Italian
5.Polish |
Word wide, what countries have larger Latino population than the U.S.? | only Mexico and Colombia |
What group has the largest median income of all U.S. racial-ethnic groups? | Asian Americans |
What group has higher educational levels than any other racial-ethnic group in the U.S.? | Asian Americans |
What american Indian tribes have more than 100,000 members? | Cherokee, Navajo, Chippewa, and Sioux |
When did American Indians get the right to vote? | 1924 |
Arab Americans are more likely than the average U.S. resident to have a college degree | more |
What is Tiger Woods ethnic makeup? | 1/8 - caucasian
1/4 - black
1/8 - American Indian
1/4 - Thai
1/2 - Chinese |
What states has the largest proportion of people who identify themselves as more than one race? | Hawaii |
In 1958 only ___ % of Americans approved of marriage between blacks and whites. By 2007, ____ % approved such unions | -1958: 4%
-2007: 77% |
High Income Countries | -occupy about 35% of the world's land
-3/4 of the population live in/near cities
-GNI per capita $36,608
-U.S., Australia, Western Europe, Canada, Japan |
Middle Income Countries | -1/2 world's population
-3.1 billion people: 48% of the world's population
-19% of the world's income |
Low-Income Countries | -25% of the people live in cities
-2.4 billion people: 40% of the world's population
-3% of the world's income |