Sociology homework need it in 3 hours

Maquita Conner

October 16, 2015

Sociology 101

Exam # 2 Study Guide

A recap of two types of statuses: achieved and ascribed

· Achieved status-a social position that a person attains largely through his or her own efforts.

· Ascribed status-a social position assigned to a person by society without regard for the person’s unique talents and characteristics.

Stratification

· Can be based on race, class, gender, or sexuality

Why do we have stratification? Functionalists maintain that a differential system of rewards and punishments is necessary for the efficient operation of society.

· According to Conflict Theorists competition for scarce resources results in significant political, economic, and social inequality.

Dominant Ideology-describes a set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests.

Know the differences between income and wealth

· Income-refers to salaries and wages

· Wealth-is an inclusive term encompassing all a person’s material assets, including land, stocks and other types of property.

Max Weber proposed that the working class must develop class consciousness True or False

Poverty

The percent of people in the United States living below the poverty line

A) 55

B) 31

C) 15

D) 5

Why are women experiencing higher rates of poverty? Conflict theorist trace higher rates of poverty among women to three distinct factors: the difficulty in finding affordable childcare, sexual harassment, and sex discrimination in the labor market.

Which of the following sociological perspectives believe that class is closely related to people’s life chances?

A) Functionalist

B) Feminist

C) Conflict

D) Symbolic Interactionist

Explanations for poverty

· Poverty can’t only be explained by a low minimum wage

· There’s the American dream “pull yourself up by your boot straps”

· Problem with the American dream-everyone is not given an equal playing field. Class, position, ascribed status, and race are factors that more or less determine your chances of success or lack there of

Social Mobility

· Social mobility refers to the movement of individuals or groups from one position in a society’s stratification system to another.

Which are NOT types of social mobility?

A) Intergenerational mobility

B) Horizontal mobility

C) Vertical mobility

D) Intragenerational mobility

E) All are types of social mobility

More descriptions of poverty

· Unequal distribution of wealth and income

· Between 1973-2000, the top 5% of American families saw their share of income go up almost 30% while the bottom 40% saw their share drop 17%

· The way our system is set up is not an accident

What happened to trickle down? Reagan said if taxes were cut at the top, the wealth will trickle down. THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN; No real trickle down

Education

· Education plays a critical role in social mobility

A person born into a poor family but who graduates from college has a one in five chance of entering the top fifth of all income earners as an adult True or False

· Conflict theorists argue that low-wage workers are vulnerable to wage theft

· Wage theft- deliberate withholding of wages workers have earned.

Minority, Racial, and Ethnic Groups

Differences between racial groups and ethnic groups

· Racial group describes a group set apart from others because of physical differences

· White African American, Asian are three racial groups in the United States

· Ethnic group is set apart from others primarily because of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns. In the United States the ethnic groups are Puerto Ricans, Jews, and Polish Americans

What do we know about minority groups?

A) Members of a minority group experience equal treatment

B) Membership in a minority group is voluntary

C) Subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power

D) All of the above statements are true

More facts about race and ethnicity

· Race and Ethnicity are ascribed statuses

· Race is a social construction

· Social construction of race is the process by which people come to define a group as a race based in part on physical characteristics

Which scholar predicted that “the color line” would become the foremost problem of the 20th century?

A) W.E.B. DuBois

B) Karl Marx

C) Max Weber

D) Howard Winant

Sociologist continue to feel that the distinction between racial groups and ethnic groups is socially significant.

Know/define prejudice and racism and the difference between the two

· Prejudice is a negative attitude toward an entire category of people, often an ethnic or racial minority.

· Prejudice tends to perpetuate false definitions of individuals and groups

· Racism is the belief that one race is supreme and all others are innately inferior.

· Has prejudice and discriminatory attitudes gone away? NO. They’re just not expressed as freely as they once were.

Understand color-blind racism

Color-blind racism is Whites saying racism doesn’t still exist; that in fact if you work hard you will. Look at Asians they’re the model minority if they made it so can Black and Latinos if they work hard. If they don’t make it, it’s because they are lazy.

· Whites say this yet remain prejudice against “welfare mothers” and “immigrants”

· Prejudice attitudes should not be equated with discriminatory behavior. Both are generally related, however they are not identical. Either condition can be present without the other.

Glass ceiling refers to an invisible barrier that blocks the promotion of a qualified individual in a work environment because of the individual’s gender, race, or ethnicity True or False

Define White Privilege

· White privilege is rights or immunities granted to people as a particular benefit or favor simply because they are White.

Institutional Discrimination

· Refers to the denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups that results from the normal operations of society.

What has been implemented to deal with institutional discrimination? Affirmative action programs. These programs are resented by people, because people argue that advancing one group merely shifts the discrimination to another group.

Example of Affirmative action: By giving priority to African Americans in admissions, schools may overlook more qualified White candidates.

TRUE/FALSE-Various individuals and groups actually benefit from racial and ethnic discrimination in terms of money, status, and influence True or False

Multiple Choice-Which sociological perspective views race from the macro level?

A) Functionalist

B) Feminist

C) Conflict

D) None of the above

E) A AND C

Exploitation theory (or Marxist class theory)

· Explain the basis of racial subordination in the United States

· Karl Marx viewed exploitation of the lower class as a basic part of the capitalist economic system

Labeling Perspective

Example of racial profiling: Assumption that people who fit a certain description are likely to be engaged in illegal activities.

Which group is considered the model minority?

A) Asian

B) Latino

C) African American

D) Whites

E) None of the above

Which group of Asians are successful?

· Indians

· Japanese

· Chinese

· South Koreans

Race and Ethnicity in the United States

· The largest minorities in the United States are African Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans

· Largest ethnic groups are Latinos, Jews, and various White ethnic groups