Sociology

What is the relationship between the American Dream and the social class system by which the United States is stratified?

Is that it legitimizes inequality by reinforcing the idea that everyone has the same chance to get ahead.

Apartheid is a specific example of what system of social stratification?

caste system

What is a society called if social mobility is highly restricted by formal or informal rules like those of a caste system?

closed system

List the different systems of stratification:

slavery, caste, social class

What term describes the unequal distribution of wealth, or prestige among members of a society?

social inequality

Basic principles of social stratification:

- It is a characteristic of a society rather than a reflection of individual differences. - It persists over generations. - Different societies use different criteria for ranking their members. - It is maintained through beliefs that are widely shared by members of a society.

Describe the process of social mobility in a caste system

Little or no chance of changing one's position.

Greg J. Duncan and the effect of parental income on academic achievement of children:

Parental income was strongly correlated with academic achievement, especially in low-income families.

What term describes the division of society into groups arranged in a social hierarchy?

social stratification

Which social class category is compromised of people who live in poverty conditions and typically earn $15,000 or less per year?

underclass

The criteria used by a social class system to stratify its members include...

wealth, property, power and prestige

Karl Marx's conviction that social inequality would grow:

"The modern laborer...instead of rising with the process of industry, sinks deeper and deeper below the conditions of existence of his own class. He becomes a pauper, and pauperism develops more rapidly than population and wealth."

Be able to distinguish between the class systems in the United States.

- Upper -Upper-Middle - Middle - Working (lower-middle) - Working poor - Underclass

Describe socioeconomic status and life chances.

According to Max Weber, life chances are positively correlated with one's socioeconomic status. Socioeconomic status is the social standing or class of an individual or group. It is often measured as a combination of education, income and occupation. Life chances is a social science theory of the opportunities each individual has to improve their quality of life.

Recent research by the Pew Research Center on attitudes bout the government's responsibility to help those in poverty revealed that...

Americans are largely divided on this issue, with those favoring government aid for those in poverty decreasing.

What so sociologists call it when an individual changes their career but remains within the same social class?

Horizontal social mobility

Explain the system of stratification that currently exists in the United States in 2 or 3 sentences.

The US has a social class system of stratification: - ranked by wealth, property, power and prestige Divided into upper, middle and lower classes - People inherit the class of their parents, but it's an open system and can move up or down levels during the course of a lifetime

What is the estimated number of people trapped in modern-day slavery?

US: 8,500 Worldwide: 40M

What is it an example of when the children of working-class parents manage to attend and get a job in a professional field?

intergenerational mobility

The upper class makes up just 1 percent of the total U.S population, but its total net worth is greater than that of ............ percent of the rest of the population.

90

Studies show that people from higher socioeconomic backgrounds tend to live longer and report feeling healthier than people from lower classes. What are some explanations for this phenomenon?

People at the bottom of the social class ladder are least likely to get adequate nutrition, shelter, clothing, and health care, and thus more likely to become ill. - less likely to afford medical care, doctor visits, and prescriptions. - often wait until a medical condition becomes chronic before getting treatment - Wealthier people are more likely to have the time and money for gym memberships compared to their more disadvantaged counterparts, who are too often preoccupied with the daily struggle of paying the bills.