CHAPTER 7: SOCIAL CLASS AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION



CHAPTER 7: SOCIAL CLASS AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Explain what sociologists mean by stratification.

2. Differentiate between caste, class and estate, give their definitions and give an example of each of these concepts.

3. Explain Weber’s concept of life chances and discuss how it relates to social class.

4. Describe the system of social class as it is found in the United States, including how it is affected by social mobility.

5. Define the three indicators used to determine socioeconomic class. Differentiate between income and wealth and discuss the distributions of each within the US social stratification structure.

6. Discuss the conflict perspective of social class. Include Karl Marx’s position on social class, and discuss in what ways his predictions have occurred and have not occurred in the U.S.

7. Explain what is meant by the underclass.

8. Discuss the interactive effects of social class and race in the U.S.

9. Explain how gender and age are related to social class in the U.S.

10. Define the term social mobility; list the different types of mobility. Discuss mobility in the U.S. being sure to include both realities and what might be considered myth.

11. Differentiate between class consciousness and false class consciousness.

12. Explain how Karl Marx and Max Weber each defined social class. Discuss how Weber’s position differs from Marx’; incorporate class, status and party into this discussion.

13. Distinguish between functionalist and conflict theory’s perspectives on inequality and assess the strengths and weaknesses of each position.

14. Explain how the government measures poverty. Describe the poor and the dimensions of poverty in the U.S.; include a discussion of the feminization of poverty and homelessness.

15. Discuss how the culture of poverty approach explains poverty; include criticism of this approach in your discussion. How do other sociological explanations of poverty differ?

16. Explain the reasoning behind reform of the U.S. welfare system. Evaluate the reforms. What is TANF; what are its strengths and weaknesses as a system of providing governmental support to the poor?

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