Chapter 3: Discrimination

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key sociological terms, legal milestones, and systemic patterns of discrimination outlined in Chapter 3.

Discrimination

The denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups because of prejudice or other arbitrary reasons.

Relative Deprivation

The conscious experience of a negative discrepancy between legitimate expectations and present actualities, evaluated relative to another group's standard.

Absolute Deprivation

A standard of deprivation based on a fixed, minimum level of subsistence, often determined by the government.

Hate Crimes

Ordinary crimes elevated to higher legal status when offenders choose a victim because of a characteristic such as race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or disability, with evidence that hatred prompted the offense.

Institutional Discrimination

The denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups that results from the normal operations of a society.

Income

Salaries, wages, and other financial compensation received over a specific period of time.

Wealth

An inclusive measure encompassing all of a person's material assets, including land, stocks, and other property, minus total liabilities.

Redlining

The pattern of discrimination against people trying to buy homes in minority and racially changing neighborhoods, historically marked by lenders refusing to provide mortgages in designated areas.

Sharing Economy

Online economic transactions that connect buyers and sellers in direct peer-to-peer contact without transferring the ownership of goods or services.

Environmental Justice

Efforts to ensure that hazardous substances are controlled so that all communities receive protection regardless of race or socioeconomic circumstance.

Affirmative Action

The positive effort to recruit subordinate-group members, including women, for jobs, promotions, and educational opportunities.

Reverse Discrimination

The charge that government actions cause better-qualified White men to be bypassed in hiring, promotions, or admissions in favor of women and people of color.

Glass Ceiling

The invisible barrier that blocks the promotion of qualified workers to top-level positions because of gender or minority-group membership.

Glass Walls

Organizational barriers that prevent women and minority men from moving laterally into core business operations (such as sales or production) that serve as paths to executive roles.

Glass Escalator

The career advantage experienced by White men entering occupations traditionally dominated by women, enabling them to rise more rapidly to senior positions.