Study Guide for Exam 1 (SYG1000)



Study Guide for Exam 3

General Information:

Exam 3 will take place on 10-30.

The exam will cover lectures and required readings assigned after Exam 2.

Important terms, concepts, theorists, theories, ideas, and patterns by topic

Topic: Social Class

• -Social stratification

o the division of society into groups arranged in a social hierarchy

o Social inequality

▪ The unequal distribution of wealth, power, or prestige among members of a society

• -4 basic principles of stratification

o It shapes people’s life chances

o Persists over generations

o Universal but variable

o Maintained through cultural beliefs

• -Davis-Moore thesis

o an analysis that claims social stratification has beneficial consequences for the operation of society

• -Application of theoretical perspectives to social class

o Conflict theory

▪ Social inequality creates intergroup conflict

• Poor and rich groups have different interests

• The current economic system benefits the wealthy and exploits those in poverty

o Structural functionalism

▪ the greater the functional importance of an occupation, the more rewards a society attaches

▪ rewards create incentives for people to pursue such occupations

o Symbolic interactionism

▪ Social inequality contributes to people’s presentation of self

• Everyday class consciousness

o Awareness of one’s own social status and that of others

• Conspicuous consumption

o Purchasing goods not to survive but to flaunt one’s superior wealth and social standing

• Weberian Theory

o Wealth

▪ The measure of net worth that includes income, property and other assets

o Prestige

▪ The social honor people are given because of their membership in well-regarded social groups

o Power

▪ The ability to impose one’s will on others

• Status inconsistency

o A situation in which an individual has differing

o levels of status in terms of wealth, power, prestige, or other elements of socioeconomic status

• -Social mobility

o The movement of individuals or groups within hierarchical system of social classes

o Intergenerational mobility

▪ The movement between social classes that occurs from one generation to the next

o Intragenerational mobility

▪ The movement between social classes that occurs during the course of an individual’s life time

o Horizontal social mobility

▪ The movement of individuals or groups within a particular social class, most often a result if changing occupations

o Vertical social mobility

▪ The movement between different social class statuses, often called either upward mobility or downward mobility

▪ Structural mobility

• Changes in social status of large numbers of people as a result of structural changes in society

• -Relative deprivation

o A relative measure of poverty based on the standard of living in a particular society

• -Absolute poverty

o An objective measure of poverty defined by the inability to meet minimal standards for food shelter, clothing, or health care

• -Culture of poverty

o Entrenched attitudes that can develop among the poor communities and lead the poor to accept their fate rather than attempt to improve their lot

• -Structural view of poverty

o A position that holds society responsible for poverty, emphasizing the lack of job and educational opportunities

• -Key points made in the Rank (2011) article

o The United States has exceedingly high levels of impoverishment

o Between the ages of 20 and 75, nearly 60 percent of Americans will experience at least one year below the poverty line

o Rank promotes a focus on structural factors instead of individual failings

Topic: Race and Ethnicity

• -Race

o a socially defined category based on real or perceived biological differences between groups of people

• -Ethnicity

o A socially defined category based on common language, religion, nationality, history, or some other cultural factor

• -Thomas theorem

o The idea that if people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences

• -Minority group (and 5 characteristics)

o A social group that is systematically denied the same access to power and resources available to society’s dominant groups though they are not necessarily fewer in number than the dominant group

o 5 characteristics

▪ Unequal treatment

▪ Physical or cultural traits

▪ Ascribed status

▪ Solidarity

▪ In-group marriage

• -Racism

o Set of beliefs about the claimed superiority of one racial and ethnic group; used to justify inequality and often rooted in the assumption that differences among groups are genetics

• -Prejudice

o An idea about the characteristics of a group that is applied to all members of that group and is unlikely to change regardless of the evidence against it

• -Discrimination

o Unequal treatment of individuals based on their membership in a social group; usually motivated by prejudice

o Individual discrimination

▪ Discriminated carried out by one person against another

o institutional discrimination

▪ discrimination carried out systematically by institutions (political, economic, educational, and others) that affect all members of a group who come into contact with it

• -Merton’s typology for discrimination

o all-weather liberal

o reluctant liberal

o timid bigot

o all-weather bigot

• -Racialization of the state

o The implementation of government and private-sector policies that discriminated against minorities and provided white people with numerous advantages

• -Privilege

o Unearned advantage accorded to members of dominant social groups

• -Color-blind racism

o An ideology that removed race as an explanation for any form of unequal treatment

o Race consciousness

▪ An ideology that acknowledges race as a powerful social construct that shapes our experiences

• -Cultural appropriation

o The adoption of cultural elements belonging to an oppressed group by members of the dominant group, without permission and often for the dominant groups gain.

• -Application of theoretical perspectives to racial inequality

o Structural functionalism

▪ Racial and ethnic differences are a necessary part of society

▪ A society that practices discrimination fails to use all the resources of their individuals

o Conflict theory

▪ Racial and ethnic differences create in group conflict

▪ Minority and majority groups have different interests and may find themselves at odds as they attempt to secure and protect their interests

▪ Double consciousness

• A term for the divided identity experienced by black people in the US

o Symbolic interactionism

▪ Race and ethnicity are part of people’s identity as displayed thru our presentation of self

▪ Microaggressions

• Everyday uses of ordinary language that may send denigrating messages to members of a certain social group

• -W.E.B. Du Bois’ theory on the false consciousness of working class white people

• -Critical race theory

o A perspective that examines the way racism is built into and reproduced through institutions that organize everyday life

o 5 tenets

▪ Race is a social construction

▪ Ordinariness of racism

▪ Interest convergence

▪ Intersectionality

▪ Voice of color thesis

• -Life chances

o The opportunities offered by a person’s economic position

• -Differences in life expectancies by race/ethnicity/sex

Topic: Gender and Sexuality

-Sex

-Gender

-Gender identity

-Cisgender

-Transgender

-Gender expression

-Gender nonconforming

-Essentialists

-Constructionists

-Sexual orientation or identity

-Gender role socialization

-Patriarchy

-Sexism

-Homophobia

-Heterosexism

-Transphobia

-Cisgenderism

-Application of theoretical perspectives to gender inequality

-Queer theory

-Second shift

-Feminization of poverty

-Feminism (3 waves)

-Men’s rights movement

-Pro-feminist men’s movement

-Key points made by Raskoff (2017)

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