sociology exam 2 - final

What is a chronic illness?

a long-term disease/condition tied to health that can last months, years, or even the rest of someone’s life

What is biological disruption?

occurs when a person’s everyday routines and social relationships are interrupted by a chronic illness

acute illness

come on suddenly and usually last for short periods of time, but can still be severe and life threatening

What is the Sick Role? How is it fulfilled? Who developed it? Which perspective is it connected to?

• the theory that assumes when many people are sick, it disrupts how society functions and makes it harder for things to run smoother

• you fulfill the sick role by taking steps to start feeling better

• developed by Talcott Parsons

• Structural functionalist perspective

What is medicalization?

the process by which conditions become seen as medical conditions where it used to be seen as bad behavior

What is pharmaceuticalization?

when behavioral and bodily conditions become objects of pharmacological treatment (using drugs to manage behaviors that used to be handled without medication)

What are the pros and cons of medicalization?

• pros: empathy and access to treatments

• cons: overlooking other causes and ignoring social context

Describe the case study about medicalization/pharmaceuticalization and hair loss.

• hair loss in your 30’s is now treated like a medical issue

• propecia is the medication now prescribed

What are social determinants of health?

• the everyday conditions around us that shape how healthy we are

• remind us that health isn’t just about our personal choices, but also about opportunities and barriers people experience every day

• (ex. where someone lives)

What is food insecurity? Which states have the highest rates? What has been done to address this?

• not having consistent access to healthy, nutritious food

• skipping meals/eating less

• southern states have the highest rates

• Biden administration temporarily expanded SNAP

What is the Fundamental Cause Theory? who developed it?

• says a person’s socioeconomic status is the most important factor in explaining why some groups are healthier than others

• developed by Bruce Link and Jo Phelan

• people with more resources are often better able to stay healthy

food desert

an area with fewer healthy and affordable food options nearby that causes stress and anxiety for residents

What are mental illnesses? How common are they?

• health conditions that shape how we think, feel, and act

• can show up as emotions, thinking, and behaviors

• about 20% of people in the US live with some type of mental health condition

What are the top three most common mental health illnesses in the US?

• anxiety - 19%

• depression - 15%

• PTSD - 4%

Why are people with lower socioeconomic status more likely to experience mental health disorders?

they are more likely to deal with constant, everyday stress

What is ethnicity?

a group of people who share the same cultural heritage, such as language, religious traditions, or where their earlier relatives came from

What is the problem with grouping different ethnicities into one racial category (ex. Japanese American and Chinese American are both Asian)

overlooks each group’s unique culture and assumes everyone has the same experiences

What is race? Does someone’s racial identity always align with how others view them?

• the idea that people are separated into specific groups based on their physical traits

• NO

multiracial Americans…

individuals who have parents from two or more different racial backgrounds

Hispanic Americans

• people in US who have ties to Spanish-speaking countries

• classified on US census, but is an umbrella term for the ethnicities within it

• often treated as a single racial group based on physical appearance

What did the Human Genome Project find?

• studied DNA from people around the world

• humans are 99% genetically identical to each other

• small amount of variation found mostly within the same racial groups, not between racial groups

Describe race

• not a biological fact

• a concept people created to group individuals based on appearance

• used to justify systems of colonization

• has changed definition over time, proving how it’s socially constructed

What is the One-Drop Rule? How did it affect Susie Guillory Phipps in 1977 Louisiana?

• stated that any person with on black ancestor was considered black, regardless of appearance

• she had a black ancestor, so she couldn’t change her birth certificate to say she was white, even though she identified that way

• sued the state to be able to change it and lost

What is prejudice?

irrational feelings towards a group based on their race/ethnicity

(FEELING/ATTITUDE)

stereotypes are…?

broad ASSUMPTIONS we make about certain groups of people

what is discrimination?

an ACTION/unfair treatment of people based on their race/ethnicity

institutional discrimination

when institutions have policies/practices that treat some groups more fairly than others (ex. college admissions requiring test scores benefits white/rich overwhemingly)

How is redlining related to racial/ethnic inequality in housing?

limits financial services to neighborhoods based on racial/ethnic composition

What was the Fair Housing Act of 1968?

made it illegal for landlords, property owners, or financial institutions to discriminate on the basis of race, nationality, sex, religion, disability, familial status, etc.

What is one way that housing discrimination is often less obvious today?

• racial and ethnic minorities denied loans more often

• banks have steered them to mortgages/loans with higher rates

Describe 2017 Philadelphia vs. Wells Fargo.

• state claimed the bank discriminated vs. Black and Hispanic homebuyers

• so those groups often paid more for similar loans

• resolution: W.F. paid $10 million to the city, and the money was used to support programs for low- and middle-income residents

What does racial/ethnic inequality in the economy look like?

• Black and Hispanic individuals are more likely to experience unemployment than white Americans

• bias shows up in workplace (hiring, pay, promotion, etc.) before someone even enters the door

• Black and Latino individuals tend to earn less than White at every level of education

What racial group in the US has the highest median household income in 2022?

Asian American

white students are more likely to be enrolled in AP classes than ____ ____ students; this group is also more likely to be suspended than white students

American Indian

Describe implicit bias around intelligence in classrooms.

Teachers tend to assume a student’s academic potential based on their race

What racial and ethnic group tends to report the lowest high school graduation rates?

American Indian

police often more likely to pull over, search, ticket, and arrest ___ drivers than white drivers

black

true or false:

black and white people just as likely to sell/use drugs

TRUE

black people are more likely to receive ___ deals that result in ____

plea, incarceration

black adults more likely than members of other races to be removed from ___

jury

black and Hispanic people are overrepresented in ____ compared to their percentage of US population

US prisons

What struggles do previously incarcerated people face?

discrimination in employment, housing, can’t vote in some states, etc.

What are the consequences of the overrepresentation of black and Latino individuals in prison?

• black and Latino parents often not present in the home

• median income of previously incarcerated individual: $10,090

Define gender

social concept that we learn and create through interactions with others

• the roles, behaviors, expectations society teaches us about masculinity, femininity, and identities beyond the categories

What is SEX?

biological traits, such as chromosomes, external genitalia, or reproductive organs

What does cisgender mean?

someone’s gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth

What is intersex?

people born with biological traits (genitalia, chromosomes, etc.) that don’t fit within biological categories of male and female

What does it mean to be transgender?

when someone identifies as a different gender than what they were called when they were born

Describe the Structural Functionalist Perspective on Gender. What is a critique of this perspective?

• gender context: suggests that men and women are naturally different, and these differences shape the gender roles they’re expected to take on

• gender roles

• overlooks inequality

Describe the Conflict Perspective of gender.

• gender context: looks at how different groups don’t have equal access to power and opportunities

What is the Symbolic Interactionist Perspective on Gender. What is a critique of this perspective?

• gender context: examines how we learn gender expectations through everyday interactions with other

• gender isn’t just an identity; it’s something we do through daily life through how we talk, act, and present ourselves

• critique: some argue that we should focus on undoing gender/focus more on people as individuals instead of expecting them to act a certain way because of gender

when we think about gender, we should consider how we’re _____ to it, how it shows up in everyday _____, and how ideas about gender can lead to _____ ______ in institutions

socialized, interactions, unfair treatment

Describe the Gender as a Social Structure Theory.

• founded by Barbara Risman

• highlights that we shouldn’t focus on just one theory or way of thinking about gender

____ ____ is the process of learning about out gender and the expectations that come with it

gender socialization

What do people mean when they say gender socialization starts from birth?

• when parents find out gender of baby, they buy gendered clothes, toys, etc.

• making choices for unborn child based on gender norms

• these gendered patterns continue after birth in how parents interact with their children

How does children’s media contribute to gender socialization?

• images and messages that connect certain behaviors to specific genders

• shows how people are supposed to act based on their gender

• ads show men as tough and strong while women are shown as caring or concerned with looks

how does hidden curriculum play a role in learning gender?

gender lessons are in the messages we pick up from school without being formally taught

Define HETEROsexual?

attraction to the opposite sex

Define HOMOsexual/gay/lesbian?

attraction to the same sex

Define BIsexuality?

attraction to males and females

What ASexuality?

experiencing little to no sexual attraction

What LGBTQIA+?

• refers to people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, asexual, etc.

• all other people who aren’t heterosexual/straight

What are gender roles? What happens if we don’t follow them?

• expectations society has for how people of different genders should behave

• could be teased, judged, excluded by others

Define queer

term for people aren’t heterosexual or cisgender

Queer entertainers and shows that highlight LBTQIA+ stories can help build _____ and help people feel more comfortable expressing their ____ ____

empathy, LGBTQIA+ identity

What statistics illustrates how attitudes towards same-sex marriage have changed over time?

• 2004: 31% of people approved

• 2024: 67% of people approved

What is sexuality?

our emotional or physical attraction to others

What is gender segregation in the workplace? What are the consequences of this?

• the practice of labelling certain careers as for either men or women

• can shape what careers people are accepting/avoiding

Describe CEO desparity?

even though women earn more college and advanced degrees, less women than men tend to be CEOs

why do we so often see women in lower-paying careers?

gender socialization and gender bias can steer women away from higher-paying jobs

What is the gender wage gap?

• the differences in how much men and women are paid

• men tend to earn more than women even when they work in similar fields

What did the 2012 study about job applications and gendered hiring find?

• only difference between two applications were “Jen” and “John”

• John was seen as more qualified even though similar backgrounds

What is occupational segregation? Why does this occur?

• men and women end up in different areas of the same position

• partially due to gender roles

What is the glass ceiling? Why is it called “glass?”

• the unofficial barrier women and minorities face when trying to move to higher-level positions within an organization

• because you can’t easily see the barriers and they aren’t discussed

• the barriers are very real and often linked to gender stereotypes

What is maternal bias?

• invisible challenges mothers face because of assumptions about motherhood

• after having kids, women may be seen as less focused or committed to their jobs, which can lead to fewer promotions and lower pay

What is workplace sexual harassment?

• verbal/physical harassment of a sexual nature that creates a hostile work environment or affects someone’s job opportunities

• Me Too movement by Tarana Burke: introduced to raise awareness about the sexual harassment and abuse of women

What is economic in equality?

an unequal distribution of economic resources

What are the ways that sociologists measure inequality in terms of money?

-income

-wealth

The money people receive in exchange for services or investments. Can also be gotten through paychecks, stock returns, social security benefits, etc.

income

The total value of what you own (assets) minus what you owe (debt), or the things you own that have financial value is called ____

wealth

INCOME inequality occurs when…

people in a society earn different amounts of money, and some people consistently earn more than others

WEALTH inequality occurs when…

some people have more assets (savings, investments, etc) than others

Structural Functionalist Perspective:

What does this perspective say about income? What are the critiques of this perspective’s view?

• positions most important to a smoothing functioning of society should receive the greatest rewards in terms of income and prestige - this is a meritocracy

• assumes that everyone has the same opportunities to succeed and move up in life

What is a meritocracy?

a system where people move up in society based on their talent and effort and are rewarded (usually through pay) for their contributions to society

Conflict Theoretical Perspective:

What would this perspective say about income inequality? Major thinkers?

• Rewards in society are based on social class, not simply on talent or hard work

• Max Weber: a person’s class position isn’t just about owning wealth or property; it’s also shaped by their socioeconomic status

• Karl Marx and Max Weber

What is socioeconomic status?

a person’s social and economic position in society often based on factors (income, education, occupation, etc.)

What is social stratification?

the way valuable goods and non-valuable rewards are spread across people in society

What is social class, and what are the three main social classes?

• social class: differences between groups based on income, occupation, and education

• upper, middle, lower/working

Social Classes:

Describe the upper class.

• people who have the highest levels of education, wealth, income, and social status

• luxury vacations, participating in expensive hobbies

Social Classes:

What is social class reproduction?

when parents pass along advantages, resources, and opportunities that help their children stay in the same social class

Social Classes:

Describe the middle class.

• described as the center of a country’s economic prestige and power

• seen as backbone of our economy because many workers and consumers fall into this group

• has been getting smaller recently because of income inequality

• people with the highest incomes are earning much more money, while many middle-class families are not seeing their incomes grow as much

Social classes:

Describe the working class.

• people involved in jobs that have physical work or helping customers

Social classes:

Describe the lower class.

• typically consists of people with very low incomes who struggle to meet basic needs (housing, food, etc.)

Cultural Poverty Theory:

What is it?

• suggests the people who grow up in poverty may develop certain attitudes, expectations, and behaviors that make it harder to move out of poverty

• coined by Oscar Lewis

Cultural Poverty Theory:

What do supporters of this theory say? What would critics say?

• moving out of poverty just requires changing attitudes and working harder

• critiques:

  • it can place the blame on individuals for being poor by suggesting that people stay poor because of their mindset

  • can overlook and downplay factors that contribute to poverty

What is mobility? What are the different types? How is it related to generations?

• movement between social classes within a society

• upward, downward, structural

• intergenerational mobility: someone ends up in a different social class than their parents

What is structural mobility?

when changes in society’s institutions lead to upward or downward mobility for whole groups of people

What are some things contributing to economic inequality currently?

(1. college and healthcare are very expensive

2. technological changes with workers being replaced by robots/machines/AI)

List some consequences of inequality.

(1. housing: US facing high/rising housing costs - fewer public housing options - kids in high income communities - are more likely to earn higher income as adults

2. life expectancy: Children who grow up in higher-income neighborhoods are more likely to live longer, healthier lives

3. education: Students in higher-income communities tend to go to schools with more AP classes and extracurricular programs, and they graduate from college at higher rates

4. global inequality: Around the world, countries have very different levels of income - People in high-income countries (like the U.S. and Canada) usually earn more than people in low-income countries (like Haiti and Liberia))