Chapter 7

Question 1

social stratification

Answer 1

the existence of structured inequalities between groups in society, in terms of their access to material or symbolic rewards. While all societies involve some forms of stratification, only with the development of state-based systems did wide differences in wealth and power arise. The most distinctive form of stratification is modern societies is class divisions.

Question 2

slavery

Answer 2

a forme of social stratification in which some people are owned by others as their property.

Question 3

caste system

Answer 3

a social system in which one’s social status is given for life.

Question 4

caste society

Answer 4

a society in which different social levels are closed, so that all individuals must remain at the social level of their birth throughout life.

Question 5

endogamy

Answer 5

the forbidding of marriage or sexual relations outside one’s social group.

Question 6

class

Answer 6

Although it is one of the most frequently used concepts in sociology, there is no clear agreement about how the term should be defined. Most sociologists use the term to refer to socioeconomic variations between groups of individuals that create variations in their materials prosperity and power.

Question 7

life chances

Answer 7

a term introduced by Max Weber to signify a person’s opportunities for achieving economic prosperity

Question 8

means of productions

Answer 8

the means whereby the production of material goods is carried on in society, including not just technology but the social relations between producers.

Question 9

capitalists

Answer 9

people who own companies, land, or stocks (shares) and use these to generate economic returns.

Question 10

surplus value

Answer 10

In Marxist theory, the value of a worker’s labor power left over when an employer has repaid the cost of hiring the worker.

Question 11

status

Answer 11

The social honor or prestige that a particular group is accorded by other members of a society. Status groups normally display distinct styles of life–patterns of behavior that the members of a group follow. Status privilege may be positive or negative. Pariah status groups are regarded with distain or treated as outcasts by the majority of the population.

Question 12

pariah groups

Answer 12

groups who suffer from negative status discrimination–they are looked down on by most other members of society. The Jews, for example, have been a pariah group throughout much of European history.

Question 13

income

Answer 13

payment, usually derived from wages, salaries, or investments

Question 14

wealth

Answer 14

money and material possessions held by an individual or group.

Question 15

upper class

Answer 15

a social class broadly composed of the more affluent members of society; especially those who have inherited wealth, own businesses, or hold large numbers of stocks.

Question 16

middle class

Answer 16

a social class composed broadly of those working in white-collar and lower managerial occupations.

Question 17

working class

Answer 17

a social class broadly composed of people working in blue-collar, or manual, occupations.

Question 18

lower class

Answer 18

a social class composed of those who work part time or not at all and whose household income is typically low.

Question 19

underclass

Answer 19

a class of individuals situated at the bottom of the class system, often composed of people from either minority.

Question 20

social mobility

Answer 20

movement of individuals or groups between different social positions.

Question 21

intragenerational mobility

Answer 21

movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy within the course of a personal career.

Question 22

intergenerational mobility

Answer 22

movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy from one generation to anther.

Question 23

downward mobility

Answer 23

social mobility in which individuals’ wealth, income, or status is lower than what they or their parents once had.

Question 24

short-range downward mobility

Answer 24

social mobility that occurs when an individual moves from one position in the class structure to another of nearly equal status.

Question 25

absolute poverty

Answer 25

the minimal requirements necessary to sustain a healthy existence

Question 26

relative poverty

Answer 26

poverty defined according to teh living standards of the majority in any given society.

Question 27

poverty line

Answer 27

an official government measure to define those living in poverty in the US.

Question 28

working poor

Answer 28

people who work, but where earnings are not enough to lift them above the poverty line.

Question 29

feminization of poverty

Answer 29

an increase in the proportion of the poor who are female

Question 30

social security

Answer 30

a government program that provides economic assistance to persons faced with unemployment, disability, or old age.

Question 31

medicare

Answer 31

a program under the U.S. Social Security Administration that reimburses hospitals and physicians for medical care provided to qualifying people over sixty-five years old.

Question 32

culture of poverty

Answer 32

the thesis, popularized by Oscar Lewis, that poverty is not a result of individual inadequacies but is instead the outcome of a larger social and cultureal atomosphere into which sucessive generations of children are socialized. The culture of poverty refers to the values, beliefs, lifestyles, habits and traditions that are common among people living under conditions of material deprivation.

Question 33

dependency culture

Answer 33

a term popularized by Charles Murray to describe individuals who rely on state welfare provision rather than entering the labor market. The dependency culture is seen as the outcome of the “paternalistic” welfare state that undermines individual ambition and people’s capacity for self-help.

Question 34

social exclusion

Answer 34

the outcome of multiple deprivations that prevent individuals or groups from participation fully the in the economic, social, and political life of the society in which they live.

Question 35

homeless

Answer 35

people who have no place to sleep and either stay in free shelters or sleep in public places not meant for habitation.