SOC 106 - Turner Exam 2

social stratification

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

social stratification key concepts

social class, social mobility, status, power, wealth, income

Structural Fuctionalism

how social stratification is necessary for society

conflict theory

emphazizing power struggles and inequality

class systems of social stratification

based on both social factors and individual achievement

Marxs class theory

bourgeoisie and proltariat

webers class theory

class, status, and power

Caste System

a religion-based system of stratification characterized by no social mobility

ex: arranged marriages

estate system

politically based system characterized by limited social mobility

ex: having laws that say you can only be apart of the political systems if you have land

status hierarchy system

the people who got there get there from their skill level (social prestiege)

ex: educational system freshman, sophmore, junior, senior

elite-mass dichotomy system

a system of stratification that has a governing elite, a few leaders who broadly hold power in society

horizontal mobility

moving within the same social stratum

vertical mobility

moving up or down in the social hierarchy

intergenerational mobility

between parents and children

intragenerational mobility

over the course of a lifetime

factors affecting mobility

- education and access to quality education

- occupational opportunities and economic conditions

- gender and race/ethnicity disparities

Meritocracy

a society whereby jobs and pay are allocated based on an individual's talent and achievements rather than social status.

Is society truly meritocratic

yes

Intersectionality

the acknowledgement that everyone has their own unique experiences of discrimination and oppression

How do race, gender, and class intersect in determining social status

enable actions in some instances and constrain them in others? On a personal scale rather than Matrix of dom/priv

difference between sex and gender

Sex is one's biological identity, either male or female. Gender is the socially learned expectations, identities and behaviors associated with a certain sex.

understanding gender as a social construct

society has made a framework of what male and female roles in and out of the home are suppose to be

agents of socialization

family, school, media, and peers

how each agent of socialization influences gender roles and expectations

creating and maintaining normative expectations for gender-specific behavior

gender identity

how you think about yourself

challanges faced by gender non conforming individuals

struggle in their relationships and they are at risk of losing their peer group (no longer are they one of the girls or one of the boys), struggle with fitting into their new peer groups and loved ones often have difficulty accepting the change in the relationship

workplace gender inequality

the degree of difference in earnings, hours worked, or status/prestige in the workplace based in gender. For example, males earn more than females for similar work, males work more hours than females on average, and males hold higher status positions more often. Females face more discrimination and workplace penalties than males on average.

theories of gender inequality

- functionalism

-conflict

- intersectionality/matrix of domination

Race

Identity with a group of people descended from a common ancestor.

racialization and its impacts on societies

a political process of ascribing ethnic or racial identities to a relationship, social practice, or group that did not identify itself as such for the purpose of domination and social exclusion.

race as a social phenomenon

1. A real social distinction

2. But fluid and changeable boundaries.

3. Differences in income,education, crime rates, etc. is not just a personal matter, but are pieces of a larger social picture

Social Cosequences of race

- Assimilation (ex:An African immigrant to Australia learns English as a second language and adopts the typical dress and habits of other Australians)

- Pluralism (ex: In India, religious communities do not blend and are identified as separate entities concerning their own values and beliefs.)

- Segregation (ex: divided populations)

- Conflict (ex: deaths and injuries, population displacement, the destruction of assets, and the disruption of social and economic systems)

Repsonses to domination

- withdrawal

-passing

- acceptance

- resistance

what is the future of race relations

reduce racial inequality

where racial inequality exists

health care, housing, education, criminal justice system, credit scores

equity inequality

captures the historical disadvantage of minority groups and the way those disadvantages accrue over time

Race as a myth

Race is a set of stories toorganize reality and make sense of the world Laws reinforced istinct categories Classifications change over time

Race Realities

In social life, race is real, with real consequences Requires processes of racialization realities

race

Externally imposed

Involuntary Based on physical differences

Hierarchical

Exclusive

unequal

ethnicity

Voluntary

Self-defined

Nonhierarchical

Fluid and multiple

Cultural

according to lawrence boo "the structural lichpin of american racial intequality is

residential segregation

When Nancy, a White American, sees an Arab man is a passenger on the same flight as her, she feels a brief pang of anxiety and concern that he may be part of a terrorist plot. She doesn't say or do anything about this, because she knows it would be unfair. Even though she is committed to treating everyone equally, she still harbors

b. prejudice

3 multiple choice options

in the modern United States, people see physical markers such as hair type or skin color and think of race. In acient times, physical makers were seen as linked to

c. geography

3 multiple choice options

Dobby and Mark are arguing about the nature of social inequality. Mark thinks inequality exists because it helps society run smoothly by, for example, creating incentives for people to take on critically important jobs. Dobby completely disagrees and argues instead that society is shaped by dominant groups who coerce the rest of society to go along with the unequal system they create and from which they benefit. Dobby is arguing from the perspective of

c. conflict theory

3 multiple choice options

In 1942, 120,000 Japanese Americans were sent by federal order to internment camps. Afterward, all Asian Americans (regardless of their country of origin and/or U.S. citizenship status) went from being a relatively unnoticed group to being singled out for discrimination. This is known as:

a. racialization

3 multiple choice options

Ayla is a city council member trying to make her city more egalitarian. She has been focusing on ensuring all babies and children have adequate nutrition because she believes in the importance of everyone having an equal starting point in life. She is concerned with equality of

b. condition

3 multiple choice options

ralph is an African American college student who has benifited from affirmative action. Frank another student, critizes him saying "youlll sail through college because of affimative action." frank misunderstood what affimative action is, Ralph is benefiting from equality of ____, but frank mispercieves it as equality of ____.

c. condition; outcome

3 multiple choice options

the average economic gap between white families and non-white families is only partly about income differences. This gap is also explained by an asset gap known as

c. equity inequality

3 multiple choice options

denise father was a weathy and succesful buisness owner. However though her father was smart, hardworking, and patient, Denise is the opposite her lack of intellegence, laziness, and need for instant gratification led her to make many poor decisions, including squandering her inheritance which resulted in her living in poverty for most of her life. Denise experiences support the idea of

a. meritocracy

3 multiple choice options

Institutional Racism

Institutions and Social Dynamics that may seem race neutral but actually disadvantage minority groups

3 Key Beliefs of Racist Thinking

1. Humans are divided into distinct bloodlines and/or physical types

2. these bloodlines or physical traits are linked to distict cultures, behaviors, personalities, and intellectual abilities.

3. Certain groups are superior to others

Prejudice

thoughts and feelings about an ethnic or racial group, which lead to preconceived notions and judgments (often negative) about the group

Discrimination

harmful or negative acts (not mere thoughts) against people deemed inferior on the basis of their racial category, without regard to their individual merit

color-blind racism

the view that racial inequality is perpetuated by a supposedly color-blind stance that ends up reinforcing historical and contemporary inequities, disparate impact, and institutional bias by "ignoring" them in favor of a technically neutral approach

gender expression

how you demonstrate your gender through the ways you act, dress, behave, and interact

Biological Sex

organs, hormones, chromosomes

sexual orientation

physical, spiritual, emotional, attraction

essentialist

arguments explain social phenomena in terms of natural, biological, or evolutionary inevitabilities

sociologists

think of the nature-behavior relationship as a two-way street

gender establishes

patterns of expectations for people, orders our daily lives and is one of the fundamental building blocks of society

gender socialization begins

at birth

sexism

occurs when a person's sex or gender is the basis for judgment, discrimination, and hatred against him or her

sexual harrassment

an illegal form of discrimination, involving everything from inappropriate jokes on the job to outright sexual assault to sexual "barter" - all intended to make women feel uncomfortable and unwelcome, particularly on the job

Functionalism: Parsons Sex Role Theory

men and women preform their sex roles as breadwinners and wives/mothers because the nuclear family is the ideal arrangement in modern societies for fulfilling the function of reproducing workers

Approach to gender: assumes gender differences exist to fulfill necessary societal functions

Conflict Theories: Focus on power

• Patriarchal capitalists benefit through systems that subordinate women.

• Gender inequality is about power inequalities - gender differences emerge from there.

• The root of all social relations, including relations of production, stemmed from unequal gender relations.

Intersectionality

the idea that it is critical to understand the interplay between social identities such as race, class, gender, ability status, and sexual orientation, even though many social systems and institutions (such as the law) try to treat each category on its own

sexual asymmetry

introducing power and social status

sexual scripts

determine the appropriate and inappropriate ways of acting, thinking, and feeling in regard to all things gender and sexuality

Principles of Social Stratification

1. Property of Society not individuals

2. reproduced generation to generation

3. found in every society but varies

4. both quantitiaive inequality and qualitative beliefs about social status are impacted