SOAN Final Exam

Privilege

Certain social advantages, benefits, or degrees of prestige and respect that an individual has by virtue of belonging to certain social identity groups

Forms of privilege

Race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, ability, age

Dominant group

Groups who hold a position of power and don't necessarily make up a majority of population

Minority groups

Differ from other groups in some characteristics and are subject to less power, fewer privileges, widely-believed prejudicial views, and discrimination

Prejudice

Attitudes or prejudgments about a group

Discrimination

Differential treatment and harmful actions against minority group members

Stereotypes

When prejudiced individuals use distorted, oversimplified, or exaggerated ideas to categorize a group of people and attribute personal qualities to them

Equality

Everyone receiving the exact same resources or treatment

Equity

Distributing resources or treatment based on the needs of the recipients

Justice

The fair treatment and equitable status of all individuals and social groups within a state or society

Inequality

The uneven distribution of valued resources, rewards, or social positionings for different groups within society

Social Categorization

The process by which people categorize themselves and others into differentiated groups

Class Inequality

The unequal distribution of resources, opportunities, and power among different social classes

Socioeconomic Status

An indicator of a person's economic positioning - combination of financial income, level of education, and occupation

Stratification

Social categorization of people into different groups based on things like wealth, education, income, race, gender, etc

Income

Money received from work or investment (wages, rent)

Wealth

The worth of a person based on their financial holdings minus debt (stocks, art)

Wealth Inequality

The unequal distribution of wealth across a group of people

Economic Mobility

The ability of an individual or family to improve or lower their economic status - upward/downward

Poverty

An economic state where a family or individual does not have enough money or resources to meet their basic needs

Jeffrey Bezos' Wealth

Way disproportionate to the working America - stretched on and on and on

Sociopoly/Stratified Monopoly

Wasn't here this day - people were put into different socioeconomic status and played monopoly - really heard to own parts of the board if you were poor, you almost preferred to be in jail at that point

Gender Inequality

Unequal treatment and opportunities experienced by individuals based on their gender

Sex

The biological term referring to ascribed genetic, anatomical, and hormonal differences between males and females

Intersex

Not fitting the binary definition of male or female autonomy either internally, externally, or both

Gender

Society's notions of masculinity and femininity

Gender as a Social Construct

Meanings constructed by society with being male or female

Third Genders (and more)

Many cultures (historically and contemporarily) identify the presence of a third gender

Gender Binary

The idea that gender exists on two fixed points, rather than a spectrum

Gender Identity

Innermost concept of self as man, woman, a blend of both or neither - can be different from sex assigned at birth

Gender Expression

External appearance of one's gender identity - usually through behavior, clothes, haircuts, voices

The Wage Gap

For every dollar a white man makes a: White woman makes 84 cents, Asain Americans make 99 cents, Black women make 69 cents, Native Hawaiian make 65 cents, Native Women make 59 cents, latinas make 57 cents

Domestic Division of Labor

How domestic duties are divided among domestic partners

"Second Shift"

Women do the equivalent of a second job throughout the week by coming home and performing domestic tasks

Patriarchy

Institutionalized sexism, the systemic dominance of men in society privileging male authority over other genders

Racial Inequality

Unequal treatment and opportunities experienced by individuals based on their race

Race

A concept that identifies a group as "different" usually on the basis of ancestry or certain physical characteristics

History of the Word Caucasian

Every country has a different definition, but typically means "person from the Caucasus region" - in Northern Turkey, Russia, etc. Became synonymous with white people because of Hitler and people loving the "pure white skin" of people from that region

Ethnicity

An identity based on collective memories of a shared history and distinctive culture

Race as a Social Construct

Everyone is a descendant from Africa! We all have similar DNA, but we put different meanings to the darker or lighter pigment in our skin

Race in the Census

Used to be 3 categories of race, to 5, and now the most recent has 63 categories - social construct!

Human Migration

All humans migrated from Africa

Racism

A society's production of unjust outcomes for some racial or ethnic groups - not merely prejudicial or discriminatory behavior but a state of disadvantage within social structures

Colorblindness

Tends to invalidate people's pride in their culture, history, and heritage- equates one's color with something negative that shouldn't be discussed

Institutionalized Racism

Widespread and enduring practices that persistently disadvantage some racial groups while advantaging others

Redlining

A process by which banks draw lines on a map and refuse to lend money to purchase or improve property within the boundaries - lead to POC not getting land that was up to date and quality - still continues

"The House We Live In" Documentary

Talks about the history of citizenship (who got to have it, who didn't), federal housing policies institutionalizing segregation and wealth disparities/property value disparities, comparison of racial disparities when similar income and wealth are compared

Intersectionality

Intersecting identity statues interact in ways that uniquely create different forms of oppression and privilege

Kimberle Crenshaw

Legal Scholar studying race & feminism, coined the term "intersectionality"

Origins of Intersectionality

Emerged from Crenshaw's work in the late 1980s, particularly focusing on how Black women face unique challenges that traditional feminist and anti-racist movements often overlook.

"The Urgency of Intersectionality" TED Talk

Crossroads example - the place wasn't hiring black women but they were hiring white woman and black men, so there was no issue! Wrong. Need to recognize where this happens in society because black woman are often targeted for violent crimes - say her name!

"So You Want to Talk About Race"

Call to use the term "check your privilege" in a way to incite change, not as a way to put people down about having privilege. It's a reality check for everyone to recognize the ways that they are privilege and can stand up for other groups who are not

Deviance

Behaviors and beliefs that violate social norms

Social Construction of Deviance

Determined by what breaks social norms - changes from place to place and over time we decide the norm

Ranking Deviance

What activities were more deviant (ex murder) to less deviant (sociology class) - every person had a different ranking

Betty White's Off Their Rockers

Shows older people doing things that we wouldn't expect them to do since we see them as sweet, innocent, immobile. They would overshare about inappropriate sex things, swear, run their vehicles into things, etc.

Deviance as a spectrum

Takes place on a gradient where there is a degree of deviant-ness (more vs less facial piercings)

Positive Deviance

Over-conforming to social expectations Ex: teachers pet

Negative Deviance

Underconforming to social expectations Ex: not doing group work

Formal Deviance

Reinforced by formal structures

Informal deviance

Not reinforced by formal structures

Crime

Deviance that breaks the law, punishable by an authority through formal sanctions, socially constructed

Types of Crime

Violent/predatory, victimless, cyber, property, organized, hate

Strain Theory

Deviance is caused by tension between widely valued goals and people's ability to attain them

Social Disorganization Theory

Crime is more common in dysfunctional neighborhoods (more poverty, racial/ethnic heterogeneity)

Crime Rates and Trends

Crime rate really ISN'T increasing against popular belief, crime rate went way down, incarceration rate when way up

Criminal Justice System

Part of "government and law" social instituaiotion, form of social control, North America's chosen method for approaching crime, 3 MAIN ELEMENTS: law enforcement, courts, and corrections

Strengths of criminal justice system

Organized and nationally shared approach to resolving crime, procedural and methodological processes, goal of "justice for all"

Critiques of criminal justice system

Does not act as a deterrent for future crime, does not rehabilitate offenders, retroactive approach to crime management

History of criminal legal system

Racist, typically arrests Black people ?