12. Social Stratification (9%)

Social Stratification

Social Class

Focuses on social inequalities and studies the basic question of who gets what and why

Related to one’s socioeconomic status

Ascribed Status

Social Class - Ascribed vs. Achieved Status

Status derived from clearly identifiable characteristics, such as gender

An aspect of social stratification

Achieved Status

Social Class - Ascribed vs. Achieved Status

Status acquired via individual efforts

An aspect of social stratification

Socioeconomic Gradient (in health and development)

Social Class

The proportional improvement in healthcare as one moves up in socioeconomic status

Prestige

Social Class

The amount of positive regard society has for a given person or idea.

Power

Social Class

The ability to affect others' behavior through real or perceived rewards and punishments

Based on the unequal distribution of valued resources

Defines the relationship between individuals, groups, and social institutions

Class Consciousness

Social Class

The organization of the working class around shared goals and recognition of a need for collective political action

By working together as one unit, the proletariat could revolt and take control of the political and economic system, laying the groundwork for a socialist state

False Consciousness

Social Class

A misperception of one's actual position within society.

Proletariats failed to see how bad their conditions were.

The one major barrier to class consciousness.

Anomie

Social Class

A lack of social norms, or the breakdown of social bonds between an individual and society

Further accelerates social inequality

These types of conditions include excessive individualism, social inequality, and isolation

Strain Theory

Social Class

Theory focusing on how anomic conditions (excessive individualism, social inequality, and isolation) can lead to deviance.

Social Capital

Social Class

The investments people make in their society in return for economic or collective rewards

The benefits one receives from group association

The greater the investment, the higher the level of social integration

One of the main forms is the social network

Social Integration

Social Class

The movement of new or underrepresented populations into a larger culture while maintaining their ethnic identities

Cultural Capital

Social Class

Benefits that one receives from knowledge, abilities, and skills.

The non-financial assets like knowledge, skills, education, and cultural tastes that people acquire, which grant them social status, advantages, and mobility, often reflecting dominant societal norms.

Strong Ties

Social Class - Strong vs. Weak Ties

Social connections that are quantitatively small but qualitatively powerful

EX: peer group and kinship contacts.

Weak Ties

Social Class - Strong vs. Weak Ties

Social connections that are personally superficial, but that are large in number and provide connection to a wide range of other individuals.

EX: associates

Social Mobility (aka Structural Mobility)

Social Class

The ability of a person to move up or down from one class to another

Typically the result of an economic and occupational structure that allows one to acquire higher-level employment opportunities given proper credentials and experience requirements

Intragenerational Mobility

Social Class - Intragenerational vs. Intergenerational Mobility

Changes in social status that occur within a person's lifetime.

Intergenerational Mobility

Social Class - Intragenerational vs. Intergenerational Mobility

Changes in social status from one generation to the next.

Meritocracy

Social Class

A social structure where success, power, and rewards are earned solely through individual talent, effort, and achievement, not inherited status or luck

Serves as a principle for fair opportunity but often criticized as an ideal challenged by structural inequalities

In which intellectual talent and achievement are means for a person to advance up the social ladder.

Plutocracy

Social Class

A social structure describing a rule by the upper classes.

The defining feature is that wealth equals power, allowing the rich to dictate societal direction.

The wealthy influence politics through campaign donations, media control, and lobbying, effectively buying access and favorable policies.

It subverts the "one person, one vote" principle, making citizens feel powerless and leading to less social mobility and more economic disparity.

Policies often benefit the wealthy few, rather than the common good, fostering resentment and anxiety among the masses.

Vertical Mobility (can be upwards or downwards)

Social Class - Vertical vs. Horizontal Mobility

Movement from one social class to another

Horizontal Mobility

Social Class - Vertical vs. Horizontal Mobility

A change in occupation or lifestyle that remains within the same social class.

Social Reproduction

Social Class

The idea that social inequality (especially poverty, but also inherited wealth) can be reproduced and passed on from one generation to the next

Some consider this to be a cycle-of-poverty explanation for social inequality

Structural Poverty

Social Class

Defines poverty as a systemic issue, not an individual failing, stemming from societal structures like biased economic systems, discriminatory policies, and unequal resource distribution that trap people in deprivation by limiting access to jobs, education, and mobility, creating a cycle difficult to escape.

Based on the concept of "holes" in the structure of a society rather than poverty due to the actions of the individual

Argues that the same individuals do not by necessity occupy these “holes” from year to year, but the percentage of a society that falls under the poverty line stays relatively constant due to their existence

Absolute Poverty

Social Class - Absolute vs. Relative Poverty

In which a person is so poor that they cannot even afford their own basic needs.

Relative Poverty

Social Class - Absolute vs. Relative Poverty

In which one is poor in comparison to the larger population in which they live.

Social Exclusion

Social Class

Being blocked from or rejected by a social group, disrupting the fundamental human need to belong and leading to painful feelings, isolation, and threats to self-esteem, control, and meaning, manifesting as either direct rejection or subtle ostracism (being ignored).

Can arise from a sense of powerlessness when poor individuals feel segregated and isolated from society.

Spatial Inequality

Social Class

The uneven distribution of resources, opportunities, and services (like healthcare, good schools, green spaces, jobs) across different geographic areas, creating disparities in living quality, well-being, and life chances based on location, significantly impacting mental health, social hierarchy, and community development.

Focuses on social stratification across territories and their populations.

Suburbanization

Social Class

The migration pattern of middle-class persons to suburbs.

Urban Decay

Social Class - Urban Decay vs. Urban Renewal

When a previously functional portion of a city deteriorates and becomes decrepit over time.

Urban Renewal

Social Class - Urban Decay vs. Urban Renewal

When city land is reclaimed and renovated for public or private use.

Often fueled by gentrification.

Gentrification

Social Class

When poor areas are reclaimed and renovated for public or private use.

World System Theory

Social Class

Theory categorizing countries and emphasizes the inequalities of the division of labor at the global level

Includes core, peripheral, and semi-peripheral nations

Core Nations

Social Class - Core vs. Peripheral vs. Semi-Peripheral Nations

Nations within the world system theory that focus on higher skills and higher paying productions, while exploiting peripheral nations for their lower-skilled productions.

Semi-Peripheral Nations

Social Class - Core vs. Peripheral vs. Semi-Peripheral Nations

Nations within the world system theory that lie midway between core nations and peripheral nations

They work toward becoming core nations, while having many characteristics of peripheral nations

Peripheral Nations

Social Class - Core vs. Peripheral vs. Semi-Peripheral Nations

Nations within the world system theory that are less economically developed with weak governments and institutions

Exploited by core nations

Incidence

Epidemiology & Disparities - Incidence vs. Prevalence

The number of new cases of an illness per population at risk in a given amount of time

DOES NOT include individuals who already have this illness

Prevalence

Epidemiology & Disparities - Incidence vs. Prevalence

The total number of cases of an illness overall — whether new or chronic — per population in a given amount of time

Morbidity

Epidemiology & Disparities - Morbidity vs. Mortality

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

Mortality

Epidemiology & Disparities - Morbidity vs. Mortality

The number of deaths caused by a given disease.

Second Sickness

Epidemiology & Disparities

Exacerbation of health outcomes caused by social injustice.

Medicare

Epidemiology & Disparities - Medicare vs. Medicaid

Covers patients over the age of 65, those with end-stage renal disease, and those with ALS

Medicaid

Epidemiology & Disparities - Medicare vs. Medicaid

Covers patients who are in significant financial need.