Behavioral Sciences Chapter 12: Social Stratification Flashcards
Ascribed status
involuntary and derives from clearly identifiable characteristics, such as age, gender and skin color.
Achieved status
acquired through direct individual efforts
Social class
category of people with shared socioeconomic characteristics. The three main social classes are upper, middle and lower class. These groups also have similar lifestyles, job opportunities, attitudes and behaviors.
Power
the capacity to influence people through real or perceived rewards and punishments. It often depends on the unequal distribution of valued resources. Power differentials create social inequity.
Anomie
state of normlessness. Anomic conditions erode social solidarity by means of excessive individualism, social inequity and isolation.
social capital
the investment people make in their society in return for economic or collective rewards. Social networks, either situational or positional, are one of the most powerful forms of social capital and can be achieved through establishing strong and weak social ties.
Meritocracy
refers to a society in which advancement up the social ladder is based on intellectual talent and achievement.
Social mobility
allows one to acquire higher-level employment opportunities by achieving required credentials and experience. Social mobility can either occur in a positive upward direction or negative downward direction depending on if one is promoted or demoted in status.
Poverty
a socioeconomic condition - in the US, the poverty line is determined by the government’s calculation of the minimum income requirements for families to acquire minimum necessities of life.
Social reproduction
refers to the passing on of social inequality, especially poverty, from one generation to the next.
Absolute poverty
when people do not have enough resources to acquire basic life necessities, such as shelter, food clothing and water.
Relative poverty
when one is poor in comparison to a larger population
Social exclusion
a feeling of powerlessness when individuals feel alienated from society.
Spacial inequality
a form of social stratification across territories and their populations and can occur along residential, environmental and global lines.
Urban or rural?
- More diverse economic opp
- More ability for social mobility
- More low-income racial and ethnic minority neighborhoods
Urban
