Chapter 7
The invisibility of poverty
1. Residential segregation 2. Political disenfranchisement 3. Digital divide 4. Homelessness
The percentage of new mothers with a high school diploma or less.
34%
Is slavery now prohibited by every nation in the world?
Yes, as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Not only is it illegal, but it is considered immoral as well.
Where whites a numerical minority in South Africa?
Yes, however they held all the political, economic , and social power.
Are white-collar criminals able to afford the best legal representations and hence enjoy distinct advantages in the courtroom?
Yes, if white collar criminals are convicted , their sentences are likely to be lighter.
Do American play a role an indirect role in supporting slavery ?
Yes, we do buying purchasing and using products made with slavery labor.
Can slaves be bought and like any other commodity.
Yes.
Does slavery still exist?
Yes. domestic work, sex work, forced labor. -Forced labor on farms connected to international smuggling networks, energy/mineral; can be restricted by armed guards -Often times these people are paid but money is taken for expenses.
A researcher discovers that, in the labor market, blacks face discrimination compared to whites, but black men are much more likely to face discrimination than black women. What concept does this highlight?
Intersectionality
Why is India most closely associated with the caste system?
It is based in the (Hindu) religion.
The caste system is a reflection of what Hindus call what?
Karma( the complex moral law of cause and effect that governs the universe)
How much social mobility is there in the modern United States compared to fifty years ago?
Mobility is about the same in the United States now as it was fifty years ago.
Did America always have an open system?
No, during the the slavery period it kept AA from climbing the social ladder.
What is true about group rankings in the strata (levels)?
Some groups will be ranked higher in the social strata (levels), while others will fall into the lower ranks. The higher-level groups enjoy **more** access to the rewards and resources within that society, leaving lower-level groups with **less**.
A retail store cashier gets a job as a manager.
vertical social mobility
Is social class based on race , ethnicity, gender, or age ?
No, however there is often an overlap between class and other variables.
a social system with very little opportunity to move from one class to another
closed system i.e. India's caste system
Which social class category is comprised of people who live in poverty conditions and typically earn $15,000 or less per year?
underclassTrue statements about the federal poverty line.
a paramedic gets a job as a receptionist
vertical social mobility
Social stratification in one form or another is present in all societies.
True
A researcher discovers that, in the labor market, blacks face discrimination compared to whites, but black men are much more likely to face discrimination than black women. What concept does this highlight?
intersectionality
Who conducted the largest-ever studies of the experiences of college students with food and housing insecurity.
Sociologist Sara Goldrick-Rab and her colleagues at the Wisconsin HOPE Center.
The typical education of the upper class is what?
Some prestigious university degrees
Social reproduction
Transmission of social inequality from one generation to the next
Why does the ideology of equal opportunity resonate with most Americans?
We live in a bourgeois society, in which the maximization of profit is the primary business incentive.Americans tend to believe that unequal opportunities restrict meritocracy.
Apartheid
a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race and ethnicity. The term Apartheid mean **apartness**.
status inconsistency
ranking high on some dimensions of social class and low on others I.e. Mother teresa, Sam Walton. I have a high school education yet I'm a billionaire because of a company I started.
Slavery as an economic system was profitable to whom?
Slave Owners
Slavery
Slavery is the most extreme of social stratification, relegates people to the status of property, mainly for the purpose of providing labor for the slave owner.
The American dream
An American ideal of a happy, successful life, which often includes wealth, a house, a better life for one's children, and for some, the ability to grow up to be president.
Ironically, what was the case in South Africa?
Africans Americans visiting South Africa were given "honorary white" status and could move freely within the country.
Even though it's illegal to discriminate against people based on race what are Americans still allow?
Americans still allow discrimination based on criminal convictions; in other words, felons are denied many of the citizenship rights, including voting, in many states, even after they have been released from prison.
Whose most likely to feel threatened by the police?
As both the education and income decreased , respondents reported feeling more threatened by police. i.e. homeless
Which generation achieved upward intergenerational mobility ?
Baby Boomer They amassed more wealth during the course of their lives and consequently moved up the social class ladder.
intergenerational mobility
movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy from one generation to another i.e. Lori Loughlin
intragenerational mobility
movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy within the course of a personal career i.e. Bobby Brown
What did blacks in South Africa need in order work as "guest laborer" in white areas?
They needed a pass- usually in order to work as "guest laborers" in white areas.
Whites own what percentage of land in South Africa?
They own 72 percent of the individually held land in South Africa, despite promises to redistribute land to blacks.
What education do the upper-middle class tend to have?
This group tend to be well educated (with college or postgraduate degrees), and high skilled.
Meritocracy
a system in which rewards are distributed based on merit i.e. Oprah Winfrey
Absolute deprivation
an objective measure of poverty, defined by the inability to meet minimal standards for food, shelter, clothing, or health care
Place the professions in descending order of social prestige, from most to least prestigious, as measured by the National Opinion Research Center.
architect, veterinarian, firefighter, social worker, auto-body repair person
everyday class consciousness
awareness of one's own social status and that of others i.e. **Living room scale, what someone is wearing**
A registered nurse leaves nursing to become a high school teacher
horizontal social mobility
a social system with ample opportunities to move from one class to another
open system i.e. SES
cultural capital
the symbolic and interactional resources that people use to their advantage in various situations **children inherit their taste from their parents.** My father and mother are both from an upper middle class background I too desire to be in the same in the future.
includes individuals whose work doesn't make full use of their skills
underemployment
Workers in the lower-middle and lower class often find themselves engaged in this.
underemployment, precarious work
Culture of poverty
the assumption that the values and behaviors of the poor make them fundamentally different from other people, that these factors are largely responsible for their poverty, and that parents perpetuate poverty across generations by passing these characteristics to their children
residential segregation
the geographical separation of the poor from the rest of an area's population
Vertical social mobility
the movement between different class statuses, often called either upward mobility or downward mobility physician—> waiter (downward) waiter-> physician (upward)
horizontal mobility
the movement of an individual from one social position to another of the same rank i.e. Cashier -> Waiter
Disenfranchisement
the removal of the rights of citizenship through economic, political, or legal means
The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and has been since 2009. How much would the minimum wage need to be to constitute a living wage?
$11-$18 per hour
The American achievement ideology suggests that people who are not successful did not work hard enough.
Social stratification is maintained through beliefs that are widely shared by members of society.
Marx was concerned about which of the following?
-why excessive wealth can coexist w/ extreme poverty -why industrial capitalism produced huge profits for few ppl (bourgeoise)- who owned the means of production (proletariat)- who owned only their own labor
What were the different ways a person could become enslaved?
1.(Debt) 2.(Warfare **I.e. prisoner of war.**) 3.Criminal 4.Captured and kidnapped i.e. **African Slaves**.
Members of the upper class make more than what per year?
1.5 million per year (typical Household income is **$2 million**)
The average age for first marriage women with a high school diploma
25%
problematic categories
Because SES is based on a collection of complex variables (including income, wealth, and education, as well as power or prestige), it is difficult to say exactly where, for example , middle class ends and upper class begins. In addition, individuals may embody a variety of characteristics that make precise SES classification difficult. **i.e Someone may be highly educated , for example but make money cleaning house while working on her novel.**
What are the five categories of the caste system ?
Brahmins(scholars and priests) Kshatriyas (rulers and warriors) Vaishyas (merchants and traders) Shudras (farmers, artisans, and laborers) Untouchables (social outcasts)
Which system overtook feudalism?
Capitalism
Caste systems may be differentiated along what?
Caste systems may be differentiated along religious, economic, or political lines, as well as by skin color or other physical characteristics.
If there is a Caste System in America it operates through what?
Criminal justice system
French sociologist and postmodernist Pierre Bourdieu suggested that social reproduction, or the tendency of social classes remaining relatively stable as class status is passed down from one generation to the next, occurs in part through the acquisition of what?
Cultural Capital
Were slaves paid for their labor?
No, they were in fact forced to work under mental or physical threat.
New Money
Recently acquired wealth through own efforts
Maxine comes from a working-class background. Her father worked in construction his whole life and her mother was a stay-at-home mom who dropped out of high school but later got her GED. Maxine becomes interested in computer programming at a young age and spends many hours in the school library teaching herself. Maxine attends the state university on a scholarship. While there, she develops a valuable algorithm for identifying neurological diseases that makes her a multi-millionaire. She drops out of college to continue her work.Which term related to social class best describes the example of Maxine?
Status inconstancy
If researchers find that the Great Recession of 2008 led to large numbers of middle-class people experiencing downward mobility to the lower-middle class, it would be an example of what?
Structural Mobility
Based on the proportions of students struggling to meet these basic needs such as food and housing, which gender suffered more?
Students struggling to meet these basic needs such as food and housing were mostly women and students LGBTQ student compared to male and heterosexual students.
What is the **third** out of four basic principles of social stratification.
While all societies stratify their members, different societies use different criteria for ranking them. For instance, the criterion in industrialized nations is material **wealth** (social class), but in hunter-gatherer societies, such as the Khoisan Bushmen of southern Africa, it is **gender**.
What four group were South Africans legally classified into?
White (English and Dutch heritage) Indian (India) Colored (mixed) Blacks
Did Indians in South Africa live a slightly more privileged lives than blacks.
Yes
Because people living in poverty are less likely to vote or participate in political life, we suggest they are politically __________ .
disenfranchised
Federal Poverty Line
federal index that defines "official" poverty in the United States based on household income; updated annually
What is the name of the stratification system that dominated Europe for centuries but was breaking down by the 1800s?
feudal system
What is the name of the stratification system that dominated Europe for centuries but was breaking down by the 1800s?
feudal system i.e Kings and nobles
prestige
high standing; respect earned by accomplishments; honored; esteemed
The working class or the lower middle class
social class consisting of mostly blue collar or service industry workers who are less likely to have a college degree; they constitute about 30 percent of the U.S. population This group typically have a high school education and generally work in manual labor. they typically have a low net worth and live in rental housing or in a modest home they have inherited or long save for.
Upper-middle class
social class consisting of mostly highly educated professionals and managers who have considerable financial stability; they constitute about **14 percent of the U.S. population**
A ________ approach suggests that social inequality is a necessary part of society. A ________ approach suggests that the poor and rich have different interests and may find themselves at odds as they attempt to secure and protect these interests. A ________ approach suggests that we develop everyday class consciousness as a way to distinguish the status of others.
structural functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism
just-world hypothesis
the belief that people get what they deserve in life and deserve what they get
In 2016, how many Americans lived below the poverty line?
41 million
The average age of first marriage for women with a graduate degree.
30%
relative deprivation
A perception by an individual that he or she is not doing well economically in comparison to others i.e. A retail cork who works part-time for minimum wage might be considered among the working poor compared with a neurosurgeon whose salary places them comfortably in the upper -middle class.
Digital divide
A worldwide gap giving advantage to those with access to technology
Gender is the most important characteristic of stratification in more traditional societies.
Different societies use different criteria for ranking their members.
Max Weber suggests that wealth, power, and prestige must all be attained to reach upper-class status and any individual aspect of social class cannot be converted into another.
False
What percentage of of the federal budget goes to Safety net programs?
Only 9% percent of the federal budget in 2017 ($357 billion ) was spent on safety net programs. Compared to that of Social Security 24% and Defense 15%.
What is the **fourth** out of four basic principles of social stratification.
Social stratification is maintained through** beliefs that are widely shared by members of society.** In the United States, it is still common to think that people are poor not only because of the existing class structure but also because they have somehow failed to **"pull themselves up by their bootstraps".**
Mark Zuckerburg is likely to pass down his wealth to his children.
Social stratification persists over generations.
What did the "Hungry and Homeless" survey focus on?
The survey focused on the ability- and inability- of students at two- and four year institutions to meet their basic needs for food and housing.
What's a subsequent of everyday class consciousness ?
The youths aspired to get out of their remote location in order to seek socioeconomic opportunities elsewhere tended to speak more standard English, while the youths without such aspirations spoke in more nonstandard, rural -identified ways (such as dropping the "g" in "-ing" words). These linguistic patterns suggest that who one wants to be, including one's socioeconomic aspirations, shapes one's interactional style.
How did they conduct the experiment?
They conducted the experiment by creating a "Hungry and Homeless" survey.
Structural Functionalism
a conceptual framework positing that each element of society serves a particular function to keep the entire system in equilibrium
Symbolic Interactionism
a micro-level theory in which shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions form the basic motivations behind people's actions
Often comprised of individuals in the upper-middle class.
creative class
includes writers and artists
creative class
Heterogamy
marriage between people with differing social characteristics
Homogamy
marriage between people with the same social characteristics Jay-z and Beyonce Black ppl meet.org
Structural Mobility
mobility that is inevitable from changes in the economy —> Recession, and Great Depression caused a surge in downward mobility
working poor
people who work but whose earnings are not enough to lift them above the poverty line constitute approximately 13 percent of the population. Most of these members are generally not well educated; most have not completed high school and experience lower levels of literacy than the other classes. i.e. seasonal jobs, temp jobs. the average income is roughly 25,000.
What percentage do the middle -class make up?
30%, they're income annually is 70,000?
minimum wage
a minimum price that an employer can pay a worker for an hour of labor
What percentage of University and Community College students suffer from homelessness?
9 percent of university students and 12 percent of community college students were homeless in the last year.
Studies have shown that what percentage of inmates on death row could not afford to hire a lawyer when they were tried.
90%
White collars workers
A description characterizing lower-level professional and management workers and some highly skilled laborers in technical jobs.
underclass
A group in society prevented from participating in the material benefits of a more developed society because of a variety of social and economic characteristics. this group is the poorest group and typically earn 15,000 or less per year. they make up 12% of the population
A homeless man sets up on a street corner every day to scrape together whatever he can but often goes hungry and cannot find a place to stay when the local homeless shelter is at capacity.An underclass family lives paycheck to paycheck and often runs out of money near the end of the week and must seek additional assistance from food banks and churches.
Absolute Deprivation
Weberian Theory
Max Weber - Power to impose ones will on others through wealth, power, and prestige. (social honor is granted to people). Weber suggested that power should be considered as part of the equation when measuring a person's class standing.
Members may be grouped according to their what?
Members may be grouped according to their gender ,race ,class ,age ,or other characteristics depending on whatever criteria are important to that society.
social mobility
Movement of individuals or groups from one position in a society's stratification system to another
Is the social class system just as rigid as the caste system?
No, although children tend to inherit the social class of their parents, during the course of a lifetime they can move up or down levels in the strata.
When was slavery first practiced?
Slavery has been practiced since the earliest times (the Bible features stories of the Israelites as slaves in Egypt) and has continued in South America , Europe, and the United States.
What is the most extreme of social stratification?
Slavery is the most extreme of social stratification.
Systems of Stratification
Slavery, caste, social class.
what is an example of wealth not always being source of prestige?
The distinction between "new" and "old" money.
What is the issue with the idea that college is supposed to enhance your future career choices and increase your earning power?
The issue with the notion that " college is supposed to enhance your future career choices and increase your earning power", is that they are awarded in the future not in the now.
True statements about the federal poverty line.
The percentage of people living below the federal poverty line has never dipped below 10%.The federal poverty line is an absolute measure.
Regardless of age, race, or gender, people with more education are more likely to have health insurance.
True
Most individuals from which social class category generally depend on income from salaried work but often are financially stable?
Upper-middle class
Have some colleges made an effort to help students in need.
Yes, Many colleges and universities have begun trying to help in various ways, such as stocking and staffing on-campus food pantries for students.
simplicity movement
a loosely knit movement that opposes consumerism and encourages people to work less, earn less, and spend less, in accordance with nonmaterialistic values
Includes contract labor, temporary work, or part-time work
precarious work
Which of the following terms have been used to describe the racial hierarchy in Brazil?
racial democracy, polite racism
What is the practice of banks and mortgage lenders identifying high-risk areas (usually low-income or minority neighborhoods) and either refusing mortgages to applicants from those neighborhoods or offering loans at prohibitively high rates?
redlining
Systems of Stratification around the world?
**Brazil**: Intermarriage has eliminated clearly defined racial groups, but skin color still largely defines an individual's place in society in this country. **Brazil**:Slaves were imported to this country through the mid-1800s. **Iran**:Religion is a primary factor for maintaining social and economic positions in this country. **Iran**:This country was transformed from a constitutional monarchy to a theocracy in 1979. **Sweden**:A great number of social services are provided by the government in this country. **Sweden**:The top tax rate in this country is 60 percent.
socioeconomic status
Status in society based on level of education, income, and occupational prestige.
What is an example of social inequality in the United States?
We find several different systems of stratification operating in the United States, where it is not hard to demonstrate that being wealthy , white ,heterosexuals , or male typically confers a higher status (and all that goes with it) on a person than does being poor, nonwhite, queer , or female.
What percentage of University and Community College students suffer from housing insecurity?
36 percent of university students and 51 percent of community college students were housing insecure , meaning they had difficulty paying rent or utilities or faced other housing-related challenges.
What is the estimated number of people trapped in modern-day slavery?
40,000,000
Caste System
A social structure in which classes are determined by heredity.
Most members of the middle-class have what education?
Most members have a high school education and a two or four year college degree.
Do we experience lives just as "middle-class",or "working-class",or "upper-class" people?
No, but as women and men; blacks ,whites, Latinos, and Asians; college or highschool graduates; Christians, Jews, or Muslims.
Intersectionality
Overlapping of social categories such as race, class, gender as they apply to a given individual or group. Creates interdependent systems of discrimination/disadvantage.
Identify each trait as being characteristic of either the proletariat or the bourgeoisie in Marx's economic theory.
Proletariat: - want to see wages go up- earn money by selling their labor Bourgeoisie: - control the assets used for production- earn money by taking a share of profits- want to see wages go down
Who occupied the lowest rank in America during the slavery period?
Slaves, they had no rights common to free members of the same societies in which they lived.
During the course of a lifetime, individuals can move up or down levels in the strata.
Social Class
Barack Obama was able to become president of the United States even though African Americans are generally lower status than whites in the United States.
Social stratification is a characteristic of society.
What is the **second** out of four basic principles of social stratification.
Social stratification persists over generations. i.e.**In Great Britain , a child inherits not only physical characteristics such as race but also on other indicators of class standing , such as regional accent. .It is because of this principle of stratification that wealthy families remain wealthy from one generation to the next.
As a result of the the annual income of the upper middle class they are most likely to feel what?
They are most likely to feel some financial stability. they usually own their homes, and may especially value activities like travel and higher education.
South Africa remains a country with one of the most what?
Unequal distributions of income in the world.
Were blacks forcibly removed from almost 80 percent of the country and relocated to independent "homelands" similar to the Indian reservations in the United States.
Yes these group were **geographically and socially separated **from one another.
According to this belief is membership in a particular caste seen as a well-deserved reward or punishment for virtuous or sinful behavior?
Yes, according to the Hindu religion it is seen as a well-deserved reward or punishment for virtuous or sinful behavior.
Are inequalities on campus real ?
Yes, inequalities on campus are real , and they reflect the inequalities of the larger society as well.
This is a system primarily based on economics.
slavery, social class
Social stratification
the division of society into groups arranged in a social hierarchy
Social inequality
the unequal distribution of wealth, power, or prestige among members of a society.
When was Apartheid abolished?
1991, due to sanctions, world wide shame, civil unrest and resistance.
What percentage of University and Community College students suffer from food insecurity.
36 percent of university students and 42 percent of community college students were food insecure in the 30 days preceding the 2017 survey. Nearly one in three community college students and one in four university students indicated that they skipped meals or reduced the size of their meals because they didn't have enough money.
Middle class
A socialized mainly comprised of white collar workers with a broad range of education and incomes.
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.
What event in South Africa would compare to a caste system ?
Apartheid (1948-1991)
The typical household income of someone who is upper-middle class is what?
Around 150,000 per year.
When were castes abolished?
In 1949 by India's constitution however, there is still searching discrimination among the Indian population.
Upper class
In a society stratified by social class, a group of people who have high income and prestige and who own vast amounts of property and other forms of wealth, such as owners of large corporations, top financiers, rich celebrities and politicians, and members of prestigious families **Elon Musk, Cardi b** **Comprised of 1 % of the population.**
True statements about the wealth gap in the US.
In the United States, the share of the country's wealth belonging to the top 0.1 percent of households jumped from 7 percent in 1978 to 22 percent in 2012.The super-rich are super-consumers.
What is the **first** out of four basic principles of social stratification.
It is a characteristic of a society, rather than a reflection of individuals differences. **i.e. If we say that in Japan men rank higher in the social hierarchy than than women, this doesn't mean that a particular woman, such as actress/ singer Ryoko Hirosue, couldn't attain a higher status than a particular man;** it means only that in Japan as a whole, men rank higher.**
Is America and the Western world not exempt from these same shocking practices either, where people are held as agricultural, domestic, and sex slaves.
No, over 8,500 cases of slavery in the United States in 2017 alone; more than 70 percent of the cases involved sexual slavery, and more than 30 percent occurred in just three states (California, Texas, and Florida).
Since the Caste system creates a highly stratified society is there a chance of a person changing their within the hierarchy , no matter what they may achieve individually?
No,there is little or no chance of a person changing their position within the hierarchy.
What do statistics show about students living situations while in college.
Statistics show that almost half of students struggle to find a stable living situations, and almost as many experience what is called food insecurity: limited or uncertain access to the food they need to survive while in school.
Is the cliché of the "broke college student" accurate?
Yes, it is. Students make many sacrifices in order to attend school, and among those sacrifices may be their own immediate financial security.
Does basic insecurity affect students academic outcomes?
Yes, students who struggle with food and housing issues have worse grades and lower graduation rates.
Are Black men subject to legalized discrimination in employment, housing,education,public benefits, and jury service, just as their grandparents were?
Yes, they are discriminated based on criminal laws.
Do members within a caste system have to marry within their own group, and is their caste ranking passed to their children?
Yes, they have to marry within their own group, and their ranking is passed to their children.