Sociology

Exam 4

Absolute poverty

Deprivation so severe that it puts day-to-day survival in jeopardy.

Caste System

A system in which people are born into a social standing that they will retain their entire lives

Class

A group who shares a common social status based on factors like wealth, income, education, and occupation

Class System

Social standing based on social factors and individual accomplishments

Class Traits

The typical behaviors, customs, and norms that define each class (also called class markers)

Closed System

A system of stratification that accommodates little change in social position.

Conspicuous consumption

The act of buying and using products to make a statement about one’s social standing

Davis-Moore thesis

A thesis that argues some social stratification is a social necessity and is functional

Downward mobility

A lowering of one’s social class

Endogamous marriages

Unions of people within the same social category

Exogamous unions

Unions of spouses from different social categories

Global stratification

A comparison of the wealth, status, power, and economic stability of countries as a whole

Ideology

The cultural belief system that justifies a society’s system of stratification

Income

The money a person earns from work or investments

Intergenerational mobility

A difference in social class between different generations of a family

Intragenerational mobility

Changes in a person's social mobility over the course of their lifetime.

Meritocracy

An ideal system in which personal effort—or merit—determines social standing

Open system

A system of stratification, based on achievement, that allows some movement and interaction between layers and classes.

Primogeniture

A law stating that all property passes to the firstborn son

Relative poverty

Is not having the means to live the lifestyle of the average person in your country

Social Mobility

The ability to change positions within a social stratification system

Social stratification

A socioeconomic system that divides society’s members into categories ranking from high to low, based on things like wealth, power, and prestige. Also called inequality.

Socioeconomic status (SES)

An individual’s level of wealth, power, and prestige

Standard of living

The level of wealth available to acquire material goods and comforts to maintain a particular socioeconomic lifestyle

Status consistency

The consistency, or lack thereof, of an individual’s rank across social categories like wealth, power, and prestige

Structural mobility

A societal change that enables a whole group of people to move up or down the class ladder

Upward mobility

An increase—or upward shift—in social class

Wealth

The value of money and assets a person has from, for example, inheritance or salary.

Amalgamation

The process by which a minority group and a majority group combine to form a new group

Antiracist

A person who opposes racism and acts for racial justice

Assimilation

The process by which a minority individual or group takes on the characteristics of the dominant culture

Colorism

The belief that one type of skin tone is superior or inferior to another within a racial group

Culture of prejudice

The theory that prejudice is embedded in our culture

Discrimination

Prejudiced action against a group of people

Dominant Group

A group of people who have more power in a society than any of the subordinate groups

Ethnicity

Shared culture, which may include heritage, language, religion, and more

Expulsion

The act of a dominant group forcing a subordinate group to leave a certain area or even the country

Genocide

The deliberate annihilation of a targeted (usually subordinate) group

Intersection Theory

Theory that suggests we cannot separate the effects of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and other attributes

Minority Group

Any group of people who are singled out from the others for differential and unequal treatment

Model Minority

The stereotype applied to a minority group that is seen as reaching higher educational, professional, and socioeconomic levels without protest against the majority establishment

Pluralism

The ideal of the United States as a “salad bowl:” a mixture of different cultures where each culture retains its own identity and yet adds to the “flavor” of the whole

Prejudice

Biased thought based on flawed assumptions about a group of people

Racial Profiling

The use by law enforcement of race alone to determine whether to stop and detain someone

Racial Steering

The act of real estate agents directing prospective homeowners toward or away from certain neighborhoods based on their race

Racism

A set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices that are used to justify the belief that one racial category is somehow superior or inferior to others

Redlining

The practice of routinely refusing mortgages for households and business located in predominately minority communities

Scapegoat Theory

A theory that suggests that the dominant group will displace its unfocused aggression onto a subordinate group

Sedimentation of racial inequality

The intergenerational impact of de facto and de jure racism that limits the abilities of Black people to accumulate wealth

Segregation

The physical separation of two groups, particularly in residence, but also in workplace and social functions

Social construction of race

The school of thought that race is not biologically identifiable

Stereotypes

oversimplified ideas about groups of people

Subordinate Group

A group of people who have less power than the dominant group.

Systemic racism

Racism embedded in social institutions; also referred to as institutional racism and structural racism

White privilege

The societal privilege that benefits White people, or those perceived to be White, over non-White people in some societies, including the United States

Functionalism

A theory that views society as a system of interconnected parts that work together to maintain balance and stability

Interactionism

A sociological theory that focuses on the interactions between people in small-scale encounters to understand how society develops

Conflict Theory

A sociological theory that posits that society is made up of groups with competing interests and that social order is maintained by power and domination

Intersection Theory

The idea that multiple systems of oppression, such as racism, sexism, and heteropatriarchy, overlap and reinforce each other

Symbolic Interactionism

A sociological theory that focuses on how people give meaning to their experiences through social interactions.

Culture of prejudice

Prejudice against certain groups of people is so ingrained within a society's norms, values, and media that it becomes a part of everyday life, often passed down through generations, where negative stereotypes and biased attitudes are widely accepted without critical reflection.

Racial Microaggressions

Brief, everyday verbal, behavioral, or environmental slights, snubs, or insults that communicate negative racial slurs towards people of color

De Juro

The legal separation of people based on their race, religion, nationality, or other factors

De Facto

The separation of people into different areas based on factors such as preference or happenstance, rather than by law or policy.