Sociology Ch #1 & #10

Anomie

A bewildering sense of not belonging that can be created because our society is huge, dominating, threatening and oppresive.

Status inconsistency

A mixture of high and low ranks (power, prestige, & property). People who rank high on one dimension of social class but lower on others want people to judge them based off of their highest status whereas people trying to maximize their own positions judge others based off their lowest rankings. People who are status inconsistent are likely to confront frustrating situations (janitor and tenet story) which can effect their health, they are also linked to being more politically radical

Six classes according to Gilbert & Kahl?

At the top is the capitalist class. In descending order are the upper middle class, the lower middle class, the working class, the working poor, and the underclass.

Karl Marx

Believed in conflict theory

Max Weber's variables for social class

Believed social class has three components: property (ownership is not the only significant aspect of property. people can control aspects of production without owning them), power (prestige can be turned into power), and prestige (often derived from power and property).

Power elite

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

The THREE Theoretical Perspectives of Sociology and The Pursuit of Happyness

Conflict theory: Capitalists are seen roaming the streets of California with no care in the world. As Chris and his son were standing outside the shelter to have a place to rest, what we would consider being wealthy people drove by laughing in a convertible past the hundreds of people lined up. As Chris works every day for no pay through his internship for a top company similar to Wall Street Symbolic interactionism: To his clients and employers, Chris is a man building himself up for success. He does not show people he is struggling financially. The interactions with the people around him are completely different from the way he acts around his wife and son who knew the way that he was truly living. Even his neighborhood friends know that Chris is struggling with money, he even begged one for fourteen dollars that was supposed to be paid to him months ago. Functionalism: As a man, Chris is expected by his wife to have everything figured out. In society's eyes he is supposed to be the breadwinner for the family, so when he falls short he is ridiculed by his wife.

Anomie (Define)

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

List and describe at least THREE ways social class affects peoples' experiences in life; how has it impacted your life?

Education Crime Health

Gilbert & Kahl's variables for social class

Education, power, prestige, property

Occupational prestige in the U.S.

Globally, the occupations that bring greater prestige are those that pay more, require more education and abstract thought, and offer greater independence

Feminization of poverty

Households headed by only a mother are most likely to be poor. The reason for this is because women average only 72% of what men earn.

Most important factor in determining social prestige?

Occupation

Prestige

Respect or regard

Marx & social class

Social class depends on one factor, people's relationship to the means of production (the tools, factories, land, and investment capital used to produce wealth). There are two classes of people, said Marx: the bourgeoisie (capitalists), those who own the means of production, and the workers, those who work for the owners. In short, people's relationship to the means of production determines their social class.

Power

The ability to carry out one's will, even over the resistance of others

Relationship between births to single mothers and education

The less education a single woman has, the more likely she is to bear children. People with lower education earn less, so this means that the single women who can least afford children are the most likely to give birth

Sociology

The scientific study of society and human behavior

Who are the poor in America; according to race? age?

There are many more poor whites than poor people of any other racial ethnic group. Children

Conflict theorists

View society as an arena of inequality that generates both conflict and change

Symbolic interactionists

View society as the product of everyday interactions among individuals, the interactions are dependent on the symbols we attach ourselves to (boyfriend-girlfriend, teacher-student)

Functionalists

Views society as a complex system whose parts work together to help our society operate and promote solidarity and stability

Wealth

When you add up the value of someone's property and subtract that person's debts, you have what sociologists call wealth

Feminization of poverty (Define)

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

Conflict theory

a theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of groups that are competing for scarce resources

Functional Analysis

a theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of various parts) each with a function that, when fulfilled, contributes to society'S equilibrium; also known as- functionalism and structural functionalism

Symbolic interactionism

a theoretical perspective in which society is viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop their views of the world, and communicate with one another

Social Class

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

Income distribution in the U.S.

growing inequality earnings, top 1% of wealth owns more than the 90% bottom

Income

money received, usually from a job, business, or assets

Downward social mobility

movement down the social class ladder

Upward social mobility

movement up the social class ladder

Status inconsistency (Define)

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

Status consistency

ranking high or low on all three dimensions of social class

Horatio Alger Myth

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

Manifest function

the intended beneficial consequences of people's actions

Poverty line

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

Wealth (Define)

the total value of everything someone owns, minus the debts

Sociological perspective

understanding human behavior by placing it within its broader social context

Latent function

unintended beneficial consequences of people's actions