Chapter 9 Social Stratification

Endogamy

is marriage within one's own social category

Power

is the ability to control the behavior of others, with or without their consent. Power can be based on force, the possession of a special skill or type of knowledge, a particular social status, personal characteristics, or custom and tradition.

Prestige

is the respect, honor, recognition, or courtesy an individual receives from other members of society.

Exogamy

marriage outside one's own social category

social stratification

sociologist call this division of society into categories, ranks, or classes.

Upper Class

Although the upper class makes up just 1% of the population, it controls a sizable proportion of the country's wealth. Generally, the upper class can be divided into two groups- "old money" and "new money."

Underclass

Families that have experienced unemployment and poverty over several generations are considered part of the underclass. Some members of the underclass do work, but usually only at undesirable, low paying jobs.

Working Class

Many members of the working class hold jobs that require manual labor. Factory workers, tradespeople, less skilled workers, and some service workers fall into this category.

Upper Middle Class

Members of the upper middle class are primarily high-income businesspeople and professionals. Most have a college education, and many have advanced degrees.

Working Poor

Members of the working poor work at the lowest- paying jobs. These jobs are often temporary or seasonal - such as housecleaning, migrant farmwork, and day laboring. Class: Underclass

Lower Middle Class

Most individuals in the lower middle class also hold white collar jobs- work that does not involve manual labor. Many of their jobs require less education and provide a lower income than jobs held by the upper middle class.

Wealth

an individual's wealth is made up of his or her assets the value of everything a person owns and income money earned through salaries, investment returns, or other capital gains

Intergenerational Mobility

refers to changes in social status between different generations within the same family.

Horizontal Mobility

refers to movement within a social class or stratum. When an individual moves from one job to another of equal social ranking, that individual experiences horizontal mobility.

Vertical Mobility

on the other hand, is the movement between social classes or strata. This type of mobility can be either upward or downward, depending on whether an individual moves to a higher or lower position in the stratification system.

Reputational Method

the first method, individuals in the community are asked to rank other community members based on what they know of their characters and lifestyles.

Social Mobility

the movement between or within social classes or strata is an important feature of the open class system.

Bourgeoisie

the owners of the means of production in a capitalist society

Subjective Method

the second technique used to rank individuals according to social class in which the individuals themselves are asked to determine their own social rank.

Objective Method

the third classification technique used to rank individuals according to social class in which sociologists define social class in terms of factors such as income, occupation, and education.

Social inequality

the unequal sharing of scarce resources and social rewards. Caste system- scarce resources and social rewards are distributed on the basis of ascribed statuses.

Proletariat

the workers who sell their labor in exchange for wages social class-as a grouping of people with similar levels of wealth, power, and prestige.

Socioeconomic Status

to make the ranking of people according to wealth, power, and prestige possible, sociologists often calculate people's socioeconomic status.

Downward Mobility

when you move down in the social system

Upward Mobility

when you move up in the social system