Sociology Final Exam Chapter 8

Video 1:

Central Appalachia There are many stereotypes but these kids have aspirations and give hope Shawn Grin Lives in a truck because his family fights, alcohol, drug abuse, steals Many people living within two trailers Calf Creek, Kentucky: sisters Mother: hooked on drugs, moved in with family, barely afford food after food stamps Angel: lost her teeth Hooked on pain pills Part of a epidemic with drug use Puts her girls through school, walks 8 miles to get her GED Angel's mother: rock of the family

Which of these systems allows for the most social mobility?

Class

Indian Caste System:

Class example of a caste system Outlawed in 1949 Social distinctions persist Which caste system is composed of educated priests and scholars? Brahmins Brahmins: educated priests and scholars Kshatriyas: kings and warriors Vaishyas: merchants and farmers Shudras: peasants and laborers, craftspeople Dalits: poor, untouchables, menial and unpleasant jobs

The behaviors, customs, and norms associated with a class are known as:

Class traits

Endogamous marriages:

Marrying a partner from the same background

Examples of siblings taking on different lifestyles:

Michael worked and lived close to home Lisa married a foreigner, moved away, and is very educated Both siblings are influenced by the social position of their parents

In the United States, most people define themselves as:

Middle class

Occupational prestige means that jobs are:

Not equally valued

Systems of stratification:

Open system: based on achievement, allow movement and interaction between layers and classes Closed system: accommodate little change in social position, do not allow people to shift levels and do not permit social relations between levels Caste system: people are born into their social standing and will remain there their whole lives, ex. Hindu caste tradition: work and money according to their caste.

Video 3:

Owner of the coalmine: wanted to show the people he's embedded by his million-dollar home Shawn Grin: first person in his family to graduate from high school Gets a scholarship from a college to play football Tries to break away from this stereotype Teammates: twice his size Trouble with keeping up with school Can't pay for college Erica: house burns down and they had to move out=fresh start Jeremy: loan=bought his first house Angel: achieved her GED, possibly get a job and new teeth, mother: still prays for her family

What factor makes caste systems closed?

People cannot change their social standings.

False consciousness:

People have been tricked into thinking they can't have an impact

Meritocracy system:

Personal effort, or merit, determines social standing

Human Trafficking: most common purpose?

Prostitution

Which graphic concept best illustrates the concept of social stratification?

Pyramid

Social stratification is a system that:

Ranks society members into categories

Social Mobility:

Refers to the ability to change positions within a social stratification system Upward mobility: increase in social class Downward Mobility: a lowering in one's social class Intergenerational mobility: a difference in social class that is between members of the same generation Structural mobility: societal changes enable a whole group of people to move up or down the social class ladder

Prestige:

Respect, recognition, or regard Based on wealth, family background, fame, occupation, and leadership Prestigious occupations: require more formal education, pay more, involve mental activity, offer autonomy, and are seen as more socially important What position has the greatest prestige? Police officer or college professor

The basic premise of the Davis-Moore thesis is that the unequal distribution of rewards in social stratification:

Serves a purpose in society.

Class traits (also called class markers):

Typical behaviors, customs, and norms that define each class. Indicate level of exposure a person has to a wide range of cultures. Indicate the amount of resources a person has to spend on leisure activities.

Exogamous marriages:

Unions of spouses from different social categories

Middle class:

Upper and lower subcategories; live comfortable lifestyles

Upper class:

Wealth and power

Lower class:

Working class, the working poor, and the under class

Which statement illustrates low status consistency?

A college dropout launches an online company that earns millions in its first year.

Structural mobility occurs when:

A large group moves up or down the class ladder due to societal changes.

Primogeniture:

A law stating that all property would be inherited to the first born son.

Income:

A person's wages or investment dividends.

Class:

A set of people who share similar status with regard to factors like wealth, income, education, and occupation

Social stratification:

A society's categorization of its people into rankings of socioeconomic tiers based on factors like wealth, income, race, education, and power.

Class systems:

Based on both social factors and individual achievement

Conspicuous consumption:

Buying certain products to make a social statement about status.

What factor makes class systems open?

They allow for movement between the classes.

Conflict theorists view capitalists as those who:

Get rich while workers stay poor.

When Karl Marx said workers experience alienation, he meant that workers:

Do not feel connected to their work.

Based on meritocracy, a physician's assistant would:

Earn a pay raise for doing excellent work.

Functionalists:

Examine the purpose of high salaries.

Functionalism:

Examines how society's parts operate Different aspects of society exist because they serve a needed purpose.

Symbolic Interactionism:

Examines stratification from a micro level perspective, explain how people's social standing affects their everyday interaction.

Which person best illustrates opportunities for upward social mobility in the United States?

First generation college student

Which statement represents stratification from the perspective of symbolic interactionism?

After work, Pat, a janitor, feels more comfortable eating in a truck stop than a French restaurant.

Which of the following scenarios is an example of intergenerational mobility?

An executive belongs to a different class than her parents.

Glass Ceiling:

An invisible barrier that limits women's upward mobility in their job/occupation.

Davis-Moore thesis:

Argued that the greater the functional importance of a societal role, the greater must be the reward. Social stratification represents the inherently unequal value of different work. The degree of skill required for a job determines that job's importance.

Video 2:

Coal companies are sucking money out of the mountains Average income in the mountains: less than a new car Availability of government resources Oxytocin: the drug to sell Erica Flout: mom has gotten 5 DUIs 11 years old and helping her mom fight addiction Rehab, strong mother and daughter bond Mother does drugs because of pain and misery Mud Creek Clinic: Dr. Chantal from India Dr. Edwin Smith: converted truck into a dental office Mountain Dew=anti depressant, decays teeth Mountain men: sell drugs, miners, Wal-Mart, fast food Mines: major employer Jeremy: wanted to be an engineer, became a minor because his girlfriend got pregnant Get their energy from soda, salt Heart of the mine: Best part of the job is good insurance, and good money Worst part: dangerous Hope that their kids do anything but coal mining

Global stratification:

Compares the wealth, economic stability, status, and power of countries across the world. Highlights worldwide patterns of social inequality. Income, purchasing power, and wealth used to calculate global stratification Rank countries according to their relative economic status, gross national product (GNP) Divided into more developed and less developed Measured according to GDP: a country's average national wealth per person GNI PPP: helps figure out standard of living

Unlike Davis-Moore, Melvin Tumin believed that, because of social stratification, some qualified people were _________ higher-level job positions.

Denied the opportunity to obtain

Conflict theorists:

Study the exorbitant salaries as an unfair distribution of money. Deeply critical of social stratification, benefits only some of society.

Power:

The ability of individuals to achieve goals, control events, and maintain influence over others despite opposition Based on tradition... Power elite: a small group of white men who make the important decisions in U.S. society (C. Wright Mills) Status Inconsistency: high prestige, low power Which position has the greatest income? College professor

The GNI PPP figure represents:

The average annual income of a country's citizens.

Status consistency:

The consistency, or lack thereof, of an individual's rank based on factors like income, education, and occupation. Ex. Possibility to drop out of high school and become a millionaire Ex. Prince William marrying Kate who is a commoner

Life Chances:

The extent to which people have positive experiences and can secure good things in life Food, housing, good health, education Life chances are a consequence of social stratification

Standard of living:

The level of wealth available to a certain socioeconomic class in order to acquire the material necessities and comforts to maintain its lifestyle. Based on income, employment, class, poverty rates, and affordability of housing.

Wealth:

The net value of money and assets a person has.