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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.
