Stratification - Answers division of society where the divisions have unequal access to
opportunities/rewards; treat people based on characteristics
Four principles of stratification - Answers Is a characteristic of the society, is institutionalized, is universal
but variable, is an ideology
Marx and stratification - Answers Ruling class decides who is on the bottom
Weber, conflict theory, and stratification - Answers Classes, parties, status groups—dimensions for
stratification
Lenski, conflict theory, and stratification - Answers Those who control the surplus have the power
Davis and Moore, functionalism, and stratification - Answers Inequality motivates people to work; the
people on top are there for a reason, class-based stratification is a meritocracy
Tumin and Simpson, criticism of functionalism and stratification - Answers Every job is necessary, none
are more important than the other, so stratification has no point
Criticism of functionalism and stratification - Answers If people were in their positions for a reason, we
would have a meritocracy, and we don't
Social class - Answers Person's economic and social status in a system of social stratification
Three components of social class - Answers Wealth, power, prestige
Stratification of wealth in the U.S. - Answers Rich get richer, poor get poorer
Absolute poverty - Answers People lack the resources needed to survive
Relative poverty - Answers Measuring a particular situation against an average situation; no computer is
relative poverty
Feminization of poverty - Answers Single women have greater risk of being poor
Three/fourths of poor - Answers People that are too old, too young, too disabled to work
Deindustrialization and poverty - Answers Switch from factory to service-based jobs
Structural poverty - Answers People have the wrong skills for the new work that is available
Cons of being poor in the U.S. - Answers Disease, no health care, be arrested, less educated
Intersectionality - Answers Patricia Hill Collins; interconnections between race, class, gender, religion,
age as they apply to poverty
, Cultural explanation of poverty - Answers Blaming the victim; the values of the poor don't match the
values of success
Cultural of poverty - Answers Oscar Lewis; poverty is a vicious cycle
Structural explanation of poverty - Answers Poor people don't have as many opportunities to not be
poor
"The Uses of Poverty" by Gans - Answers Poor people are necessary for society
Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol - Answers East St. Louis schools
Race - Answers group of people who are different because of their skin and selected characteristics; is a
social construct
Why is race here? - Answers It was created to justify inequality and discriminations based on skin color
Racism - Answers Set of beliefs that use biology to justify inequalities between racial and ethnic groups
Ethnicity - Answers Group of people who are different because of their shared heritage
Minority group - Answers Group of people who are denied power and rights because of their
characteristics
4 characteristics of minority group - Answers Disadvantaged, held in low esteem, ascribed status, have
collective conscience due to mistreatment
Majority group - Answers Group that gained the upper hand and holds the power
Majority group agenda - Answers They want to keep their power
Majority group and advantage - Answers They see their loss of advantage as discrimination
Prejudice - Answers Rigid opinions of all members of a group
Stereotypes - Answers Overgeneralizations based on prejudice
Selective perception - Answers Prejudiced people only notice behaviors that support their stereotypes
Discrimination - Answers Unequal treatment of groups without considering merit, ability, or past
performance
Isms - Answers Describe particularly potent discrimination that occurs at an institutional level
Institutional racism - Answers Established ways of doing things that keep racial groups at a disadvantage
Red-lining - Answers Institutional racism; banks don't let certain geographic areas buy houses, and these
certain areas are populated by certain minorities