Social Stratification (12)

Social stratification

is based on socioeconomic status (SES).

Socioeconomic status (SES)

depends on ascribed status and achieved status.

Ascribed status

involuntary and derives from clearly identifiable characteristics, such as age, gender, and skin color.

Achieved status

acquired through direct, individual efforts.

Social class

a category of people with shared socioeconomic characteristics.
The three main types of this are upper, middle, and lower class. These groups also have similar lifestyles, job opportunities, attitudes, and behaviors.

Prestige

the respect and importance tied to specific occupations or associations.

Power

the capacity to influence people through real or perceived rewards and punishments. It often depends on the unequal distribution of valued resources.

Social inequality

Power differentials create this.

Anomie

a state of normlessness. These conditions erode social solidarity by means of excessive individualism, social inequality, and isolation.

Social capital

the investment people make in their society in return for economic or collective rewards. Social networks, either situational or positional, are one of the most powerful forms of this and can be achieved through establishing strong and weak social ties.

Meritocracy

refers to a society in which advancement up the social ladder is based on intellectual talent and achievement.

Social mobility

allows one to acquire higher-level employment opportunities by achieving required credentials and experience. This can either occur in a positive upward direction or a negative downward direction depending on whether one is promoted or demoted in status.

Poverty

a socioeconomic condition. In the United States, this line is determined by the government's calculation of the minimum income requirements for families to acquire the minimum necessities of life.

Social reproduction

refers to the passing on of social inequality, especially poverty, from one generation to the next.

Absolute poverty

when people do not have enough resources to acquire basic life necessities, such as shelter, food, clothing, and water.

Relative poverty

when one is poor in comparison to a larger population.

Social exclusion

a sense of powerlessness when individuals feel alienated from society.

Spatial inequality

a form of social stratification across territories and their populations, and can occur along residential, environmental, and global lines.

Urban areas

tend to have more diverse economic opportunities and more ability for social mobility than rural areas. These also tend to have more neighborhoods that are low-income and racially and ethnically underrepresented.

Higher-income suburbs

Formation of these is a common occurrence, and is due in part to the limited mobility of lower-income groups in urban centers.

Environmental injustice

refers to an uneven distribution of environmental hazards in communities. Lower-income neighborhoods may lack the social and political power to prevent the placement of environmental hazards in their neighborhoods.

Globalization

has led to further inequalities in space, food and water, energy, housing, and education as the production of goods shifts to cheaper and cheaper labor markets. This has led to significant economic hardship in industrializing nations.

Incidence

calculated as the number of new cases of a disease per population at risk in a given period of time: for example, new cases per 1000 at-risk people per year.

Prevalence

calculated as the number of cases of a disease per population in a given period of time: for example, cases per 1000 people per year.

Morbidity

the burden or degree of illness associated with a given disease.

Mortality

refers to deaths caused by a given disease.

Health

dependent on geographic, social, and economic factors.

Second sickness

refers to an exacerbation of health outcomes caused by social injustice.

Poverty

is associated with worse health outcomes, including decreased life expectancy, higher rates of life-shortening diseases, higher rates of suicide and homicide, and higher infant mortality rates.

Worst; middle; best

Certain racially and ethnically underrepresented groups have worse health profiles than others. African Americans have the ______ health profiles; White Americans, American Indians, and Hispanic Americans have health profiles in the ______; and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have the _______ health profiles.

Females; males

________ have better health profiles than ________, including higher life expectancy, lower rates of life-threatening illnesses, and higher rates of accessing and utilizing health resources.

Females

have higher rates of chronic diseases and higher morbidity rates.

Women

_________ tend to have better access to healthcare and utilize more healthcare resources.