Social Stratification Review

What does a person's socioeconomic status tell sociologists about the individual?

Reputational method Subjective method Objective method

How have government programs to assist poor Americans changed in recent years?

Transfer Payments—redistribution of money among various segments of society; major programs include Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Subsidies—transfer goods and services rather than cash; include the Food Stamp program, housing, school lunches, and Medicaid

What are the 5 sociological classes recognized by most American sociologists?

Upper class Upper and Lower class Working class Working poor Under class

What are some similar type of nonprofit organization?

WHO, MSF, Peace Corps, UNICEF

DR's without Borders: Are they still active?

Yes

How has the caste system in India changed since the 1800s?

Improve life chance, become more modern

How can poverty affect the life chances of Americans?

Negative effect of health, length of life, housing and education

How do caste systems and class systems differ?

-Caste system: a system of social stratification in which resources and rewards are distributed on the basis of ascribed statuses Class system: a system of social stratification in which distribution of scarce resource and rewards is determined on the basis of achieved statuses

How do the functionalist and conflict explanations of stratification differ?

-Functionalist Theorists—view stratification as a necessary feature of the social structure and argue that the more important a role and the more skill needed to perform it, the higher the reward -Conflict Theorists—view stratification as a result of conflict over scarce and argue that groups who gain power then use that power to maintain their advantage

What is the poverty level and how is it calculated?

-The minimum annual income need by a family to survive as defined by the U.S Census Bureau -divide your income by the poverty guideline for your household size

Why do poor people have a higher incidence of illness and a shorter life expectancy than wealthier people?

Because they can't have health care, medication, or least the basis needs

What factors do you think should be used to measure social class? why?

Their education and income