Sociology Chapter 8

What are the 2 ways we can explain poverty?

1. Blame the poor - the poor are mostly responsible for their own poverty. In a study, they determined that poor people become trapped in a culture of poverty. This can trap people in a culture of poverty and destroys their ambition to improve their lives. This creates a cycle of poverty. 2. Blame the society - society is primarily responsible for poverty. There is not enough work available to support families. This is a form of blaming the victim, saying that the victims are responsible for their own suffering. Some say that the government needs to stop this by investing in people and their communities. This includes funding jobs, providing affordable childcare, etc.

What are Webbers 3 dimensions of inequality?

1. Economic inequality aka class position. This is a continuum ranging from high to low. 2. Status aka social prestige 3. Power Weber says that status consistency in modern societies is often quite low. -->Ex. An official may exercise great power yet have little wealth or prestige

Why have industrial workers not overthrown capitalism?

1. Fragmentation of capitalist class. Millions of stockholders, as oppose to single families, own most of the large companies. Since stock is widely held, more and more people therefore have a direct stake in the capitalist system 2. A higher standard of living. Used to be that most workers with in blue collar occupations (lower prestige jobs that involve manual labor). However, today, most workers are in white collar occupations (higher prestige jobs that involve mostly mental activity). Also the average income has risen, and the number of hours in the work week has decreased. Therefore, a worker today is much better off than the workers centuries ago. 3. More worker organizations. Workers today can form labor unions and other organizations that support them as workers. Labor disputes are settled without threatening the capitalist system 4. Greater legal protections. Laws make the workplace safe, and financial security. -->Many people believe however that Marx's views are still valid.

Explain homelessness - 3pts

1. Homeless people don't work, but some have part time jobs. However, all have poverty in common. 2. Some people blame the personal traits of the homeless such as substance abuse, and mental illness. 3. Sometimes people are homeless as a result of societal factors. This includes low wages, and lack of affordable housing.

What are the 3 classical systems of stratification?

1. India - castes. Values and attributes that determine your caste in India is birth. Social mobility in India is impossible, and therefore mobility is frozen. 2. Middle ages in futile societies - social positions here were known as estates. Values and attributes that determine your estate is land tenior (possession of land). One could change their estate, however this is not the norm. You could marry someone from another estate, however it didn't happen very frequently. Therefore here it was limited mobility. If you were a great warrior the king could demand that your estate was made greater. 3. United States - social positions here are known as classes. Values and attributes that determine your class is determined by, 1. income, 2.occupation, 3. education. Factors that affect these 3 determinations are race, sex, religion, ethnicity, family you're born into, etc.

What is Karl Marx's economic determinism?

1. Macro (general) - The economic institutions are the pivotal institutions around which everything evolves / flows within the society. Ex. In USA - Wall Street 2. In between - your position in work - either owner or worker has an effect on your position in the economic sector that it follows you home from work. Affects you and other peoples view on you and your place in this sector 3. Micro (personal) - Work is an extension of oneself. Process of identifying yourself through your work.

What are the 5 conclusions on social mobility?

1. Social mobility over the past century has been fairly high. Most men and women show mobility in relation to their parents 2. Within a single generation, social mobility is generally small. Few people go from rags to riches or lose a lot of money. Most social mobility will involve small movement within one class rather than large movement between classes. 3. The long-term trend in social mobility has been upward. 4. Since the 1970s, social mobility has been uneven. Incomes have been rising and falling. 5. The short-term trend in social mobility has been downward. The middle class has become smaller as wealth and income have declined. Keeping the same standard of living for these middle-class people has become harder to maintain.

What are the 4 principles of social stratification?

1. Social stratification is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences. --> children born into wealthy families are more likely to be healthy, do well in school, etc. Therefore, social stratification shapes each person's lives. 2. Social stratification carries on between generations. It is true that some people experience social mobility (a change in position in social hierarchy) and this can be upwards or downwards (vertical). Or people can move horizontally, meaning they switch one job for another at the same social level. However, most people's social standing remains the same throughout their lifetime. 3. Social stratification is universal but variable. This means that some societies contain more inequality than others 4. Social stratification involves not just inequality but beliefs as well. This means that there is inequality and also there is a certain justification as to why some people deserve to have more than others.

What is the middle class and the sublevels within this?

40-45% of the US population. This class has a large influence on our culture. This contains far more racial and ethnic diversity than the upper class. --> Upper middles - $121-217K / year. They live in comfortable houses and own several nice cars. Children from these families graduate college and get graduate degrees -->Average middles - they work at less prestigious white collar jobs, or highly skilled blue collar jobs. Income falls between $51-121K.

What is intragenerational social mobility?

A change in social positions occurring during a persons lifetime.

What is absolute poverty?

A lack of resources that is life threatening.

What is Max Webbers ideas on class, status and power?

Agreed with Marx but viewed Marx's 2 class model as too simple. He said that social stratification involves 3 dimensions of inequality.

What does the social conflict theory say about stratification?

Argues that stratification benefits some, and disadvantages others. --> Karl Marx class conflict - social stratification is rooted in people's relationship to the means of production. People either own productive properties, or sell their labor to others. Karl Marx also says that people occupy the same destiny as their class.

What is the effect of age on poverty?

Better retirement programs offered today by private employers and the government allowed the poverty rate for people over 65 to fall by 30%. Now the burden of poverty mostly falls on children and young adults.

What is the effect of race and ethnicity on poverty?

Blacks are 3x as likely to become poor than whites. People of color have higher rates of child poverty.

What is conspicuous consumption?

Buying and using products because of the "statement" they make about social position. --> Not using a water fountain and buying a bottle of water allows people to know you have the extra money to spend.

What are capitalists and proletarians?

Capitalists - people who own and operate factories and other businesses in the pursuit of profits Proletarians - people who sell their labor for wages.

What is horizontal social mobility?

Changing jobs at the same class level

How does class affect health?

Children born into poor families are 2x as likely to die from disease, neglect or accidents during their first years of life. Richer people live longer because they eat more nutritious foods, live in safer and less stressful environments and receive better medical care.

What is the need for the revolt according to Marx?

Class consciousness - this is the awarness that my own individual allienation is shared or common to my fellow workers. Without this class consciousness there is no resolution of this self allienation.

What is crystallization?

Crystallization - this means sharp lines of demarkations and difference between social positions. This would mean that you're at the same place for income and occupation and education. But it's not really like this. We measure the degree of crystallization in society by the degree to which people who occupy one position on one rank system also occupy the same or similar positions on the other rank systems is the degree to which the society is crystallized. Fairly crystallized = when people on one position in a rank system rank mostly similarly in other ranks. The caste system in India is therefore highly crystallized. It's very highly defined where you are for the caste system

What is ideology?

Cultural beliefs that justify particular social arrangements, including patterns of inequality. -->Ex. The idea that the rich are smart and poor are lazy - this ideologizes that inequality is fair

What does Marx say about ideology?

Culture and institutions combine to support society's elite, and this is why established hierarchy's last a lifetime.

What is status consistency?

Degree of uniformity in a person's social standing across various dimensions of social inequality. --> Caste systems have very low social mobility and therefore have high status consistency. --> Greater the social mobility, the lower the status consistency. This means it is harder to define a persons social position.

What can divorce cause for social position?

Divorce can cause social position to go down. This is due to financial burden.

What is upward social mobility?

Earning a college degree, landing a higher-paying job, or marrying someone who earns a good income contributes to this upward social movement.

What is income?

Earning from work or investments. The richest families receives almost 50% of all incomes, and the bottom 20% receive only about 3.8%

What does equality say?

Equality also says that even if a person performs a job poorly, they should be rewarded as much as someone who were to perform the job well. Therefore, in this system people will not try their best.

What does ethnicity effect?

Ethnicity also effects social ranking. People of English ancestry have enjoyed most of the wealth and power in the US.

What does Plato say about ideology?

Every culture considers some inequality fair

What is downward social movement?

Happens when you drop out of school, lose a job, or become divorced

Who was Lloyd Warner?

He wrote the first classical work on social class and startification in the United States. Name of the book was "Yankee City". This was a fictitious name for a sleepy town in MA. He was interested in identifying the social classes in this town. Methodology for studying social class: 1. Subjective approach - tell people you're conducting a study on social class and ask them what social class they think they're in. 2. Reputational approach - go to someone and ask them if they know certain people and ask them what social class they think that other people are in. **Note: This may only work for people who live in a small town, like where this study was done. 3. Objective approach - find out whats important to contribute to social class in that area. Idea of this approach is that you're the sociologist conducting the research, and you're collecting information about how much money people have, market value of their home. Finding out information and creating the social class system based on the gathering of that objective information. Warner used a combination of 2 approaches - objective and reputational. He found 6 classes in this city. Upper upper, lower upper, upper middle, lower middle, upper lower, and lower lower.

How does class affect politics?

Higher income people lean towards republican politics. Lower income people favor the democrats. Well off people are also involved in politics. Less well-off people tend to opt out of politics.

What does Karl Marx say about the history of the world?

History of the world is a continuous power struggle between the have and have nots (the owners and the workers, the bourgeoise, and the proletariat) fighting over the ownership of the means of production - aka who controls the economy. The owners want to consolidate and protect their ownership at the expense of their workers. The workers want a "piece of the pie"

What is the working class?

Income between $29-51K / year. They're vulnerable to financial problems caused by unemployment or illness.

What is the income for black people between generations?

Income of black people hardly changes between the generations.

What is the lower class?

Low income makes their lives insecure and difficult.

Explain the effect of marriage on social standing

Marriage has an important effect on social standing. People who get married and stay married will accumulate twice as much wealth as people who remain single or get divorced. This could be due to double incomes, etc. People in marriages also work harder and save more money because they're working for others counting on them.

What does Marx predict will happen as we move into the industrial revolution?

Marx says that as we move into the industrial revolution, the capitalist economy, the tension between the workers and owners will only get worse. The workers will rise up against the owners and capitalism will implode. --> Marx felt that the workers would feel so allienated that they would rise up and revolt. They would feel so seperated and feeling so powerless and would feel like they had no control over their destiny.

What is the effect of gender and family on poverty?

More women are poorer than men. This is due to women who head households are at a higher risk of poverty. *Feminization of poverty* - the trend of women making up an increasing proportion of the poor. There is an increasing trend of this due to increased women heading households.

What is the trend of urban and rural living on poverty?

Most poverty is found in central cities.

What is the most important factor for social standing?

Nothing effects social standing as much as birth into a particular family, which has a strong bearing on future schooling, occupation and income. Inherited poverty shapes the future of many.

How does class affect values and attitudes?

Old rich value ancestry since this is the source of their wealth. --> Social class has a great effect on a person's self-concept. People with higher social standings experience more confidence in their everyday interactions.

What were Warner's findings?

One may guess that the people in the upper upper class had more money than the people in the lower lower class, but sometimes in certain situations people have less objective wealth that are in a higher social class because of the situtation they're in based on things handed down from generation to generation. He made a distinction between the old rich and the new rich. This means money made in ones own lifetime as opposed to money being handed down between generations. This arostocracy (tradition) of money being handed down, was the case in this study.

What are the new homeless?

People thrown out of work because of plant closings, women who take their children and leave home to escape domestic violence, people unable to keep up with increase rent or mortgage costs.

What is stratification at a micro-level?

People usually interact only with others of the same social standing. This is because social stratification makes people live with others like themselves. People with difference social standings tend to keep their distance from one another.

What is esteem and prestige?

Prestige refers to the reputation or esteem associated with one's position in society. An individual's prestige is closely tied to their social class - the higher the prestige of an individual (through their occupation or, sometimes, their family name), the higher their social class.

What is race closely linked to?

Race is closely linked to social position. White people have higher overall occupational standing than blacks and they also receive more schooling. This could be due to more black single parent homes.

What is the caste system?

Social stratification based on ascription or birth. Birth alone determines a person's entire future. There is little to no social mobility on the effort of the individual. --> Ex. In India, there are 4 major castes. From birth, a person's caste determines their life. It will also demand that people marry others in the same ranking as them. This keeps people in the company of their own kind. These caste systems rest on powerful cultural beliefs. Here it is built on Hindu tradition.

What is the class system?

Social stratification based on both birth and individual achievement. People who gain schooling and skills can experience social mobility. Due to this, class distinctions can become blurred, and blood relatives can have different social standings.

What is meritocracy?

Social stratification based on personal merit. This includes a person's knowledge, abilities, and effort. To increase meritocracy, industrial societies will expand equality of opportunity and teach people to expect unequal rewards based on individual performance. -->Caste systems define merit in terms of people who show loyalty to the system. They dutifully perform the job that comes with their social position, and they waste their talents or potentials.

What does poverty cause for social stratification?

Social stratification creates haves and have nots.

What is the Davis-Moore thesis?

Social stratification has beneficial consequences for the operation of a society. We see this due to the fact that some form of social stratification exists in every society.

What is apartheid?

South Africa used to practice apartheid. This is the policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race. This is no longer legal.

What is relative poverty?

The lack of resources of some people in relation to those who have more

What happens as the functional importance of a position becomes greater?

The more rewards that a society attaches to it, therefore people work harder and longer to maintain this. *This theory rewards important work therefore promotes productivity. Therefore, unequal rewards benefit society as a whole.* Davis and Moore say that any society can be egalitarian, but only to the extent that people are willing to let anyone perform any job.

What is wealth?

The total value of money and other assets, minus outstanding debts. This is distributed even more unequally than income.

What are the working poor?

These are people who work about 50 weeks a year and yet cannot escape poverty.

What is the upper class, and the sub levels within this?

These are the owners of the means of production. These people spend a lot of time managing their own wealth. The more a family's income exceeds $217K / year, the stronger their class is of being upper classs --> Upper uppers - this includes less than 1% of US population. Membership is almost always a result of birth. They live in exclusive neighborhoods, and their children typically attend private schools, and then higher prestige colleges and universities. -->Lower-uppers - These people are working rich. They get their money mostly by earning it, rather than by inheritance.

What is social stratification?

This is a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy.

What is socioeconomic status?

This refers to a composite ranking based on various dimensions of social inequality.

What does the Davis-Moore thesis explain?

This thesis explains the reason why stratification exists. It explains that *positions that are viewed as crucial in society must offer enough rewards to draw talented people away from less important work.*

Explain revolutions in the USA

Unions were created that represent the workers Ex. Triangle shirt waist factory fire - after this happened, many unions started advocated for safety of these factory workers.

What is intergenerational social mobility?

Upward or downward social mobility of children in relation to their parents. This is important because it reveals long-term changes in society that affects everyone.

What is our main critique on Marx's theories?

We dont just have 2 social classes, so we don't have class consciousness so therefore no revolution really can occur. Everyone in life feels like they're doing okay because they're doing better than the class below them. Marx theory is based on the 2 social classes. Main critique of this theory is that Marx failed to predict the emergence of the middle, upper middle, lower middle, as well as the different classes within the upper and lower classes.

Explain the process of social mobility for women

Women have also had less change in upward social mobility since women hold positions that offer fewer opportunity for advancements. --> Over time, earning gaps between men and women have been narrowing

What is occupational prestige?

Work is important for someone to gain social prestige. We give greater respect to those who do what we consider to be more important work and less to others with more modest jobs. These people generally generate a higher income. Less prestigious work has a lower income and requires less schooling. --> High prestige occupations go to the privileged categories of people.

How does class affect family and gender?

Working class families encourage kids to conform to conventional norms and respect authority figures. These parents set boundaries for their children and provide clear directives that are to be obeyed. Higher income families are more flexible with their kids, and reason with them rather than tell them what to do. --> Privilege in families also leads to privileged children. Family life reproduces class structure in every generation. --> Class shapes relationships. Working class couples have egalitarian views in the home.