Sociology Final Chapters 8-11

Two reasons that define the classes in the U.S. as difficult

1. The relatively low level of status consistency. 2. Social position may change during a persons lifetime.

BONUS LIST THE FOUR TRENDS IN THE AMERICAN DREAM

1st- Many workers earnings have stalled 2nd-More jobs offer little income 3rd- recent reccession brought economic decline 4th- many young people are remaining at home

What are the 4 Principles involved with Social Stratification?

1st- Social Stratification is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences. 2nd- Social Stratification carries over from generation to generation. 3rd- Social Stratification is universal but variable. 4th- Social Stratification involves not just inequality but beliefs as well.

What are the 5 general conclusions about social mobility

1st- social mobility has been high over last century 2nd- Within a single generation social mobility is usually small 3rd- Long term trend has been upward( 1950- 2011) 4th- Since 70's social mobility has been uneven. 5th- Short term trend has been downward( maintaining certain lifestyle is difficult)

Ethnicity

A shared cultural heritage

Structural Social Mobility

A shift in the social position of large numbers of people due to society itself. (Example: House market crash, many people get let go)

BONUS!!!!!! LIST THE THREE TRIBES AND IDENTIFY HOW THEIR GENDER ROLES COMPARED TO THE US STANDARDS

ARAPESCH- BOTH SEXES WERE FEMININE BY US GENDER ROLES MUNGDUGUMOR- BOTH SEXES WERE MASCULINE TCHAMBULI- REVERSED/OPPOSITES OF THE US GENDER ROLES

What are the two types of poverty?

Absolute and Relative

Who are the poor?

Age: Children and young adults Race and Ethnicity: #1 Blacks #2 Hispanics The poverty gap between whites and minorities has changed little since 1975. People of color have rates of poverty among children. Gender and family patterns: Women and Female headed households. Residence Patterns: #1 central cities #2 rural areas

Minority

Any category of people distinguished by a physical or cultural difference that a society sets apart and subordinates

Power

Authority

What are the two explanations for poverty found in the text?

Blame the Poor and Blame Society

Weber

Had a multidimensional view of stratification and inequality. He said that stratification was a Socio- economis status (SES): composite ranking based on various dimensions of social inequality; where accesses to social rewards(wealth, power, and prestige) intersect.

Kuznet's Curve

His curve shows that GREATER TECHNOLOGICAL SOPHISTICATION GENERALLY IS ACCOMPANIED BY MORE PRONOUNCED SOCIAL STRATIFICATION. this trend reaches a peak in industrial societies

Why do people make so much of race?

Racial categories allow societies to rank people in hierarchy claiming that one category is inherently better than another, although no sound scientific evidence supports such beliefs.

Inter- generational social mobility

Social Mobility between/ among; social mobility of multiple generations( child to parent to grandparents)

Intra- generational social mobility

Social Mobility within; social mobility in one persons lifetime.

Blame Society

Society is primarily responsible poverty due to unequal distribution of wealth and lack of good jobs.

APPROACHING HALF THE US POPULATION IS EITHER POOR OR LOW INCOME. LIVING WITH INCOME THAT IS AT OR LESS THAN TWICE THE POVERTY LEVEL. THIS SUGGEST THAT SOCIETY MORE THAN THE INDIVIDUAL TRAITS IS THE MAIN CAUSE OF POVERTY.

THIS IS TRUE FOUND ON PAGE 269

Gender and social stratification

The U.S., along with most other nations see women working for income as the rule and not as an exception to the rule

Sex

The biological difference in males and females

Status Consistency

The degree of uniformity in a persons social standing across various dimensions of social inequality.

Blame the Poor

The poor are responsible for their own poverty; a culture of poverty exists that traps the poor.

The Poverty Line

The poverty line is a measure of relative poverty The poverty line is about 3x what the government estimates people will spend on food The income of an average poor family is only 59% of the poverty line

Sociology

The systematic study of human behavior

Feminization of Poverty

The trend of women making up an increasing proportion of the poor.

Social Mobility is affected by social characteristics( social class, income level, wealth, power, schooling, race, ethnicity, etc) True or False

True

Social class affects all aspects of our lives, especially opportunities/ life chances. True or False

True

Social mobility is affected more by the changes in society itself, rather than changes in individuals. True or False

True

Stratification persists because it is backed up by ideology. true or false

True

Inequality in the U.S

U.S. society is highly stratified. U.S. society has more income inequality than most other industrial societies. Wealth is more unequally distributed (stratified) than income. INEQUALITY VARIES BY SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS (social class, income level, wealth, power, schooling, occupation, ancestry, race, ethnicity, gender, marital status and many others)

Housework: Woman's second shift

WOMEN AVERAGE 15.7% HOURS A WEEK OF HOUSEWORK, COMPARED TO 9.0 HOURS A WEEK FOR MEN. MEN DO SUPPORT THE IDEA OF WOMEN ENTERING THE WORK FORCE , BUT MANY MAN DONT WANT TO TAKE ON THE SAME AMOUNT OF HOUSEWORK AS THE WOMAN.

Social Inequality

When social rewards are unequal.( does not matter who what or why)

Social Mobility

a change in position within the social hierarchy.( Example Jay-Z)

Matriarchy

a form of social organization where females have authority to dominate males

patriarchy

a form of social organization where males have authority to dominate females

Prejudice

a rigid and unfair generalization about an entire category of people

stereotype

a simplified description applied to every person in some category

Social Stratisfication

a system by which a society ranks a category of people in hierarchy. ( social inequality is what society is built off of; entire categories of people's access to social rewards is affected by they fall in the social structure)

List the three main reasons that account for most of the difference in earnings between women and men

a. type of work b. Family responsibility c. Discrimination against women

What did Marx believe determined a person's class?

a.He believed that there would always be conflict over limited resources especially economics. b. He believed that revolution was the only mode for social change; then everyone would share equally.

Minority

any category of people distinguished by physical or cultural difference that a society sets apart or subordinates.

Gender Roles

attitudes and activities that a society links to each sex. traditional gender roles in the US define the sexes as polar opposites, AND LIMITED OPPORTUNITIES FOR BOTH SEXES Gender roles affect life chances/ opportunities Parents treat male and female children different from birth. Peers reinforce gender roles and differences. Curricula in schools further reinforce a cultures gender roles Mass media, especially T.V., reinforce a cultures gender roles

Conspicuous consumption

buying and using products because of the "statement" they make about social position. (ex. Michael Kors, Proactiv, etc)

What are Marx's 2 classes?

capitalists (bourgeoisie) and proletarians

Absolute poverty

lack of resources that is life threatening( no shelter , clothes, etc)

relative poverty

lack of resources; deprivation of some people to

Social Structure

regularly occurring patterns of behavior

Ideology

sets of cultural beliefs that justify particular social arrangements.( sets boundaries, justify arrangement/ stratification)

Caste System

social stratification based on ascription or birth.

Social Class/ Class Systems

social stratification based on both birth and personal achievement.

Racism

the belief that one racial category is innately inferior or superior to another.

Sexism

the belief that one sex is innately superior to the other

Alienation

the experience of isolation and misery resulting from powerlessness.

Gender

the personal traits or social positions that members of a society attach to being female or male

Feminism

the support for social equality between women and men

Gender stratification

the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and privilege (prestige) among men and women.

Wealth

total value of money and other assets, minus outstanding debt.(ex. stocks, bonds, real estate, etc)

Biologically, men and women differ only in limited ways, but culture defines the two sexes in dramatically different ways. True or False

true

Gender is created by society not biology True or False

true

Gender varies across cultures and culture is the key to gender distinctions True or False

true

Patriarchy is not inevitable True or False

true

Race came into being as a social category when 19th century True or False

true

Sex and Gender are not synonymous True or False

true

Sexism affects both sexes True or False

true

The greater the jobs income and prestige the more likely that job will be held by a man True or False

true

The majority of married couples in the U.S. depend on 2 incomes True or False

true

The median income for workers showed that for every dollar earned by a man a woman earned 77 cents True or False

true

The social differences between the sexes do not reflect biological differences True or False

true

Women continue to enter a narrow range of occupations(Administrative support and service work) true or false

true

race is a socially constructed concept True or False

true

Discrimination

unequal treatment of various categories of people

Prestige

wealth that we accord(given to a status or position)

What are the 3 types of social rewards?

wealth, power, and prestige

Do most sociologists use Weber's ideas on social class/stratification? yes or no

yes