Sociology final

discrimination

- a BEHAVIOR- a denial of opportunities based on some characteristics. -2 Types - --Individual - when people are racist/disadvantage a group as a result of their individual attitudes and choices --Institutional - when institutions and orgs have systems, rules, cultures that systematically disadvantage a category of people. May or mayn0t be intentional or Conscious, but affects peoples lives just the same. Harder to see, easier to deny, harder to change.

stratified on?

- resources - power - prestige

prejudice

-ATTITUDE or THOUGHTS about a group of people. Can result from stereotypes or oversimplified beliefs about a "typical person' in a category, can result from ethnocentrism -Racism is a form of prejudice -Sexism is a form of prejudice

white privilege

-Absence of discrimination in the treatment they receive -Notbeing disadvantaged when many others are disadvantaged is itself an advantage!

Race

-IT IS NOT THE BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT DEFINE RACIAL GROUPS BUT HOW THEY HAVE BEEN TREATED AS A RESULT OF THE BIOLOGICAL CHRACTERISTICS THAT DISTINGUISH THEM AS A SOCIAL GROUP. -Even though I'm saying race is just a social construction, I'm notsaying it is irrelevant. It is very relevant because the way we construct race has real consequences to people's lives.

Race vs. ethnicity

-Race is imposed (usually based on physical differences), hierarchical, exclusive, and unequal. -Ethnicity may be voluntary, self-defined, nonhierarchical, fluid, cultural. --A social category of people who share a common culture - things like common language, religion, customs, history - e.g. Jews, Irish Americans... Where there is some common sense of identity -BUT...An ethnic identity becomes racializedwhen it is subsumed under a forced label, racial marker, or "otherness." -Symbolic ethnicity is ethnicity that is individualistic in nature and without real social cost for the individual.

problems with studying family

-sentimental over family: our ideals and images , "Haven in a Heartless World" -sacredness of family privacy- images we see of other families and images we protect of our own family mot not be entirely accurate. Perceived as a 'separate' place -difficulty separating our own experiences from study- we are all close to this topic good and bad

how is America stratified today?

-socioeconomic status (SES) is the term we use (instead of 'class') to refers to an individual's position in a stratified social order -income gap between high income and low income individuals has increased dramatically over the last 30 years

meritocracy

-stratification is based on merit -position is based on ability and talent rather than on class privilege or wealth -a system in which such persons are rewarded and advanced -leadership by able and talented persons -we have belief system in our society that supports and justifies current system of who is on top and who is on bottom -called "Achievement Ideology" and is something we are taught and hear about from childhood -version we hear about is framed as pure and absolute

a family (a social group/ micro view)

-the Whitaker family -the Clark family -Look at interactions -power relations within -Roles sociologist can study at this level, different research questions bc looking at diff unit, rather than looking across society from big picture

organizations that define family and/ or control access to resources

-the media- plays a large role in showing us images of family -our own families and churches - gov.- federal, state, community, townships -insurance company -corpations who distribute benefits

What is family in US?

-there is no one single family form in the US.... there are some common stereotypes of what family should be. those stern types are not always grounded in reality

in the U.S

-there is the possibility of social mobility -not at all absolute -more people are likely to experience social reproduction that social mobility

social stratification by social class in the U.S.

-we are a society that likes to pretend that social class does not exist. its considered rude, looked down upon and generally uncommon to hear people mention class -most Americans like to think of themselves as 'middle class' they believe they are and most people are middle class. that there "are a few people at the top and few on the bottom" -people who call themselves middle class can have vastly different lives and resources -where there is discussion of issues relating to class, we use the term socioeconomic status (S.E.S) to refer to the concept, although that is still only considered acceptable in more academic or policy-related dicussions

S.E.S is complex interaction of...

-wealth -income -education -occupational prestige

two different ways of thinking about family

Family: social institution (capital F), structural system that helps society as a whole to work family- social group (but in each individual family, lowercase f)

one aspect of stratification has to do with resource

Resources: Wealth v. Income -income: money coming in from salaries and wages -wealth: total assets-car, home, savings, investment

race

a group of people who share a set of characteristics- typically, but not always, physical ones- and are said to share a common bloodline

social stratification

a system by which society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy

difference between ascribed and achieved

ascribed: position in a social group that one is born into or have no control over ex: gender, eye color, race, ethnicity achieved status: which a person earns based on their choices or their efforts

social mobility

changes in position within social hierarchy -soical mobility, movement between different positions within a system of social stratification in any given society, can be either horizontal or vertical and can take place on the individual or group level

2 competing values in american culture

familism (or commitment) -the commitment to family, putting family needs aide of personal needs individualism -seeking primarily personal happiness and goals

nuclear family

husband, wife and biological children in one household (today only 1/5 of American households are married couples with children compared to 2/5 in 1970) (adoptive children included) -today about 25% of kids live with single parent alone and another 4% live with a single parent with a cohabiting partner. 4% with no parent -fewer than 3/4 of families with children are included in nuclear definition, and many families are excluded bc they don't include children under 18

equality of opportunity

idea everyone has equal chance to achieve wealth, social prestige power because rules of game are same for everyone American Perception -inequality is acceptable so long as everyone has same opportunities for advancement and judged by same standards. cornerstone of civil rights movement in U.S. -how do we fare?

financial (or economic) capital

money, income, and wealth -for ex if you had it: -can allow you to like in a safe neighborhood -get good healthcare -go to private school/college/ pay tutors, etc.

ethnicity definition

one's ethnic quality or affiliation. it is voluntary, self-defined, nonhierarchal, fluid and multiple, and based on cultural differences, not physical ones per se

What is the most common notion of family

otherwise known as the traditional family or the modern family (tv) --breadwinner husband, homemaker wife and biological children -in 2012 only 7% of households fit this description -does this offer an inclusive-enough definition? -even viewing this ideal marginalizes others

class dismissed: how tv frames the working class (2005) hour video

project by Pepi Leistyna -tv provided comfortable home for middle class over 50 years -memorable characters, tv meant to entertain and not educate -blue-collar shows undeniably played a pivotal role in shaping our perceptions of working-class people but bc we see tv just entertainment -need to take image of working class seriously -lack conceptual framework -Barbara Ehrenreich (author, Nickel and Dimed) -class based on income, recognize another dimension too which depends on job, lifestyle, education -Pepi: separate but interconnected ways there's economic class (income), political class (power to influence the public and political process , cultural class (education, taste, lifestyle as cultural capital) -capitalism changed as working class as long as theres capitalism -Herman Gray: model class runs up against realities, female often immigrant -Michael Zweig (director): blue collar, white collar, pink collar, do their work, don't have authority, working class in majority class consciousness is not about statistics class consciousness is about whether you understand yourself as a social political economic actor that you actually have effect that what happens to u happens to other people in similar situation share common experience -black workers and other works of color tend to have the worst jobs, lower pay for same work, dangerous jobs, higher unemployment rates, its bc they way they are racially segmented -the Goldbergs is excellent example of the ethnic calm, urban America moves to suburbs, things you need to access American Dream -dining table move up social standards -as tv became more consolidated in late 50s and early 60, working class and immigrant families would disappear. -working class seems to disappear bc there was boom -McCarthy era achieve better living, Communists are a disruptive force in American industry and labor and that their constant undercover movements are meant to cause chaos -Af. Am and marginalized groups had to play by tv rules for inclusion, suggest for no redistribution for power and wealth -the Jeffersons best known example for deal with idea moving on up but deal with economic hardships at all, another example of moving on up as what black youth need are white people to come and step in with superior parenting skills, ex different strokes, Cosby is at moved up, already there -non-ethnic white people largely excluded from primetime or relegated to bit parts -small increase in representation in latino -latino is said to always follow in the american dream, George Lopez is perfect example -when queerness is put together w class in many ways underrepresented, first control body don't be excessive, ideal to families, acquire good life (should follow) those who don't follow is comic relief (Will and Grace) pretty much absent in primetime -women often work double shift, lower and working class jobs , bottom of economic class is women escpicslly of color, must women work bc they have to -revolution in family life, rise of single headed families by women but only one show to reflect women lives -parkers living in apartment, income is unclear, -most women work in deadens jobs, that we don't see on tv - women shows bad luck, ex Grace Under Fire: divorced, 2 kids, recovering alcoholic , ex husband. really about 1 women to not make same mistake -Roseann shows how badly working-class women need feminism, addresses issues in feminism -tv reproduces the deeply ingrained belief that workers inadequacies are to blame for lack of advancement -tv representations either perpetuate the idea that the cream always rises to top -flaws characteristics of working class: bad taste, lack of intelligence, reactionary politics, poor work ethics, dysfunction family values.

the myth of race

race can be defined as a group of people who are defined by ancestry and sometimes physical characteristics -I say its a myth because societally we believe and act as if being in these groups are innately different. Research shows that is NOT true. No more different than people with blue eyes are from people with brown eyes. We don't act as if that diff is relevantyet we act as if skin color difference are. It's a myth that they are -Considered a biologically determined category, it is actually asocially constructed category that uses some biological traits as its defining characteristics.

equality of outcome

system where everyone is afforded the same level of wealth, power, and prestige how do we fare?

structural social mobility

when large number of people move around hierarchy because of larger societal changes

Class Matters!

where you fall in social class can lead to -educational disparities -health disparities -discrimination

does it matter how people define family? does it matter if we have stereotypes?

yes -exisiting definitions affect what we view our choices ro be and who we support or do not support, what we encourage as a society -existing definitions determine who has access to resources- be they emotional, physical, financial -exisiting images tell us how we should behave and suggest us to how "good" or "bad" our family may be. we judge our own families by how well they live up to cultural standards that may or may not be reality

cultural capital

your knowledge of the culture you live in that allows you to navigate it successfully -ex -you speak and write English well in the U.S. -you have taste and knowledge of what to wear for interviews -you understand table manners to make good impressions

social capital

your relationships and network -ex -your dad gets you an internship at his company -your neighbor passes on your resume to HR at his company

human capital

your skills, education, and experience -ex of there would affect your SES -people who get a good education will usually do better socioeconomically -historically, when women take off time from work to care for kids, they accumulate less work experience and end up with lower earning potential than men

The Family (Social Institution/ Macro View)

-The primary group usually related by ancestry, marriage, or adoption that one aligns with and that serves the key purposes of being a cooperative economic unit, caring for off-spring and each other. The family is a collective committed to maintaining the group over time. -what does this look like in our society today? -why? who determines this? what are the implications of this particular form? -> today DIVERSITY is key word. -does this require we be in a household? -it serves society bc individual people need to survive and fulfill their purposes and roles and in order to survive and fulfill purposes. most often people need to be connected -efforts include economic undertakings, it is not popular, or desirable to think of economic unit -families aren't always the same, people are not combined together into units in same way -common for 2 generations -look at societal functions -look at different forms and the degree to which they are treated equally/unequally -look at variation across the social hierarchy or stratification system, are different -fulfill societal needs- --reproducing new members of society --socializing new members --regulation of sexual behavior --affection and companionship --economic support -economic peace has been constant

wealth inequality in America video

-actual distribution is skewed, top 1% has more -middles class view as poor -40% of Americans has nation's wealth

open system

-allow for much more social mobility -mobility upward and downward -social position to achieved, not ascribed

Achievement ideology- belief system, part of our culture

-belief that one reaches a socially perceived definition of success through hard work and education -'You' can be anything if you just work hard enough, "anyone can make it", bootstraps mentality -who is served by belief that this is the way U.S. works

50 years of racism- why silence isn't the answer video (ted talk)

-by James white, Sr. (coach, mentor, trainer) - Af. Am. 18 year old in Air Force (mountain home Air Force base), air police squader -goal find apartment to bring family -finding apartment be easy to find bc those who owned knew they would get their money - 4-5 bedroom available with first called -got no responses from other people from the list -went back to base Major McDow, and he said "we can't make people rent to folks that they don't want to rent to", maybe should let family stay home bc gets 30 day leave -went to personal and he said airmen is leaving and house a trailer, buy his -bought the trailer, but management said no can't keep the slot -went to different trailer parks and still rejected -comments mentioned " cant rent to you bc we already have a negro family in the trailer park, if I let you in the other tenants would move out" - small trailer park at end of town, no road, no laundry facility. -4 years later, to move to Goose Bay, Labrador. _another challenge to move to PA -his mom came out to help the drive across country, got tired and looked for motels, rejected at first motel, found nice place.. rejected in different states. -53 years later, 9 grandchildren, 2 great -ferguson, news commentators, in last 3 months 8 unarmed Af Am males killed by white police, homeowners -grandsons called, everything is dangerous, they don't challenge -only thing to do is to take energy and ideas to challenge that might be racist, educate, unveil racism, everything in power to eradicate racism -appeal to Americans elevate level to coeval awareness and consciousness and all come together and speak out against any kind of sanity to kill unarmed people regardless to race -only way through collective, we are not going to accept that kind of behavior anymore

family us changing drastically in short time: 20-30 years,,,, 2 generationals household where common, idea of joining family perdoment form in history

-demographics on how people form families demonstrate that families are changing -families have always evolve and changed -debate-family changing/ family declining

closed system

-extremely rigid -allow for little social mobility -social position is based on ascribed states

resources -> referred to as 'capital', which have different types of capital

-financial capital -human capital -social capital -cultural capital

research shows discrimination exists TODAY

-in housing, hiring, promotion, application of rights, experience in the criminal justice system, sale prices of cars/mortgages.... -This is not a thing of the past. It is real. It is happening now in ways that really impact people's lives and life chances

chnages

-incrase in single-parent families (2-parents 69%) --highernlevels of divorce --out of wedlock childbirth (2009=41%) 0increase in single person household -longer intergenerational relationships with parents -more need for elder care -few children(siblings)-(1.86 kids in families with kids) -age at marriage raising -gay and lesbian households -womens labor force participation-especially child bearing age --changes in economy towards types of jobs --declining real wages

extended family

-kin networks that extended outside or beyond the nuclear family -the term multigenerational household refers to family households consisting of 3 + generations -2012-MG household,ds 5% of households overall, but differences by race and hispanic origins -MH households- 3% w a white, non-hispanic householder, 6% w an asian reference person and 8% w a black or hispanic reference person

example of typologies of social class

-looking at education, income, and profession

Achievement Ideology leads to

-people on top believing they deserve their status and believing people below them deserve that status -it justifies not helping people who are struggling based on very generalized idea "they could help themselves and pull themselves up if they wanted to. This is America where anyone can make it" =people on bottom/ even those who work hard, can feel confused and disillusioned by why they aren't doing better. Isn't this America, anyone can move up? -this confusion can cause people to look for and other excuses-like blaming minorities and immigrants for messing up the system even if it has no basis in reality

why look at family from a sociological viewpoint?

-questions the obvious -seeks patterns and regularities -useful for interpreting and understanding existing behaviors -presents a new way of living life

social reproduction

-reproduction of social inequality across generation -likelihood that one will remain in social class into which they were born as a result of the types of opportunities/ disadvantages that are/ aren't available to them due to social location of family of origin

minority group

Any group regardless of size that is singled out in society for unfair treatment and generally occupies lower status in the society. Needn't be the numeric minority