Standards of Equality: Ontological Equality
Everyone is "created" equal, or is inherently equal on the basis of shared humanity.
Standards of Equality: Equality of Opportunity
Inequality is acceptable so long as everyone has the same opportunities for advancement and is judged by the same standards.
Standards of Equality: Equality of Condition
Everyone should have an equal starting point from which to pursue his or her goals.
Standards of Equality: Equality of Outcome
Everyone in a society should end up with the same "rewards" regardless of starting point, opportunities, or contributions.
Social Stratification
-"the study of who gets what, and why"
-Systematic inequalities between groups of people that arise as intended or unintended consequences of social processes and relationships
-Inequalities are built into society, they are not simply a reflection of indi
Ehrenreich-"Nickel and Dimed
Lady worked in lower income job-working on minimum wage, she could barely pay her bills.
Gans-uses of the "underclass
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US distribution of wealth
-Wealth is more unevenly distributed than income.
Measures of inequality, contemporary wealthy, income inequality
-Richest 20% of US families own 85% of the country's wealth (top -5% own 62%, and top 1% own 34.6% of the nation's total wealth.)
-Portion of US stock owned by the wealthiest 10% of Americans is 90%.
-The bottom 20% owe more than they own.
Theories of Class Stratification/Social Inequality: Functionalist
-Social stratification keeps society operating, links greater rewards to more important social positions and benefits society as a whole.
-Social stratification matches talents and abilities to appropriate occupational positions.
-Social stratification mo
Theories of Class Stratification/Social Inequality: Conflict/Marxist
-Social stratification results from social conflict between social classes. Differences in resources serve the interests of some and harm the interests of others.
-Social stratification is useful only to some people.
-Social stratification results in much
Theories of Class Stratification/Social Inequality: Weberian
-Multidimensional perspective of Social Class:
-Class as "gradated" (vs. Marxist notion of class as "relational")
-wealth�income and wealth ownership
-status�prestige of one's social position
-power�influence
-Sociology has been largely influenced by Webe
What is non-material culture?
-Life worlds and Life styles
-Worldviews, perspectives, values, beliefs
-Tastes and preferences
-Status, prestige
-Gestures and speech patterns that signal class
-Consciousness/identity
What is material culture?
-Cars, clothes, shoes, bags, homes
-Examples from People Like Us?
What is culture capital?
the symbolic and interactional resources that people use to their advantage in various situations
Structure of social class in America: Upper Class?
Upper Class (wealth, power, prestige, social and cultural elite) (5%) Earning $300000
Structure of social class in America: Middle Class?
-Upper-middle (20%) (high income professionals, mid-level corporate managers, some small business or large farm owners, ec stability and savings) (120,000-200,000+)
-Middle and lower-middle (40%) (salaried or hourly wage, trained, lowered paid professiona
Structure of social class in America: Working Class?
Working Class (20%) (skilled and semiskilled, service workers, mechanics, food service, factory workers, sales; hourly wage) ($30,000-$48,000)
Structure of social class in America: Lower Class?
-upper-lower (unskilled laborers, working poor) ($10000-30,000)
-lower -socially and economically disadvantaged (underclass) (Under $10000)
Social Mobility: Factors Affecting Class Mobility
Structural factors:
-Changes in the economy spur upward and downward mobility
-Structure of job market
Demographic and Individual Factors:
-Education, Human Capital, Cultural Capital
-Gender & Race
-Social networks (social capital)
-Chance
-Talent, effort
Social Mobility: How much Mobility Occurs
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Social Mobility: Social Reproduction of Inequality
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American achievement ideology
-Ideology or set of beliefs that explains the distribution of wealth, social status, and political power as a result of individual effort and merit in an open system.
- a belief in meritocracy.
Assumes:
-There are abundant economic opportunities
-Individu
Definition of Poverty
-Absolute poverty: Not having enough money to afford the basic necessities of life
-Relative poverty: Not having enough money to meet the average standard of living.
Current Poverty Rate
-Poverty line: Poverty line $23, 550 (family of 4 in 2014)
minimum level of income fed. Gov. determines necessary for basic subsistence.
-47 million people in poverty in 2013, 15.1%
Working Class
-Substantial portion of poor are working.
Cultural distinctions of "deserving" (working) v. "non-deserving" (non-working) poor
-Full time at minimum wage does not reach poverty line.
-Structural problems: Deindustrialization, Deskilling, Service economy,
Psychology of Poverty
-resort to crime, feel isolated
Recent trends in minimum wage and housing costs
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Sociological Perspective of Family
The family performs several essential functions for society. It socializes children, it provides emotional and practical support for its members, it helps regulate sexual activity and sexual reproduction, and it provides its members with a social identity
Myth" of Nuclear Family
-Only 7% of American families fit this definition now.
Social Functions of family
-Economic production, provision
-Reproduction�bearing and socializing children, and feeding/housing/clothing/rejuvenating adults & workers & citizens
-Communities of care�physical and emotional
-Recreation, leisure
-Social and sexual lives/control
How Americans' define the family (Constructing the Family Survey)
Took a photo survey asking them what type of family they had->that families aren't what people think they are.
Stephanie Coontz-why marrying for love is a "radical idea
Marrying for love is a new found thing.
Carol Stack-patterns of African American family
describe the kinship networks through which family members exchange the essential goods, services, and cash that allow them to survive in a community characterized by chronic unemployment and irregular employment.
Hochschild-"the second shift"; gendered divisions of household labor and childcare
Mothers end up having to work to support the family
Major changes in patterns of family formation over the last century and social explanations
-Single parents
-Same-sex couples
-Blended families
-Couples without kids
-Extended families
-Cohabiting (non-married) couples
Major trends in marriage and divorce
-U.S. divorce rate is high
-Divorce rates increased since 19th c, declined since 80s
-Approx. 40% of marriages end in divorce.
-High remarriage (� men and 2/3 women remarry)
-Divorce more likely for:
-Those who marry young
-Those with low income or financ
Major trends in childbirth
-Average number of people per household has declined.
-Couples have fewer kids (4 in 1900, 2 today) and have them later.
-More single and child-free women, and more socially acceptable.
-Elderly more likely to live alone, especially women.
(In 1900 9% of
Patterns of cohabitation & non-marital childbearing
-Cohabiting has increased among all age groups, but especially among young adults.
-More common among economically disadvantaged, but increasing in all groups.
-Nonmarital childbearing increased substantially, esp. women in 20s
-More than � of children bo
Sociological function of education
-Teach general academic skills, such as reading, writing, and arithmetic.
-Teach specific skills needed for the workplace.
-Increases Human Capital-- the knowledge and skills that make someone more productive and bankable.
-Schools socialize students
-Tra
Hidden Curriculum
-Implicit messages or cultural values taught in school that are not the subject matter of the overt curriculum
-Examples: competition, what communities and types of work are valued, goal orientation, productivity
Functionality Perspective on Role of Education System
-supply & demand-->As industrialization took hold throughout the twentieth century, jobs became more technical and required a more educated workforce. By attaining more education, students were simply responding to employer demand.
Conflict Perspective on Role of Education System
As education expanded, members of the elite-and those who wanted to move into the elite-had to obtain more and more education to set themselves apart from others.
Reason for achievement gap
-Tracking: dividing students into different classes according to ability (high or low) or future plans (vocational, general, academic).
How Class Advantage Impacts Achievement
-Money can buy advantages: tutoring, test prep courses, private schools or better public school districts
-Summer gains: enrichment programs lead to cumulative gains.
-Cultural capital: cultural know-how and resources learned in families, greater parental
Social Implications of "Tracking
-Tracking can block later opportunities for those on lower tracks
-Track placement affects teacher expectations, kids' self-esteem, kids' achievement (labeling and self-fulfilling prophecy
Unequal access to higher education
-90% of incoming freshman in Tier 1 (146 most selective) colleges come from families in the top half of U.S. annual income distribution.
-Only 9% of students in Tier 1 colleges were from the bottom half of the income distribution.
Granfield Article, "Making it by Faking It"-class stigma, hidden injuries of class, identity ambivalence
-class stigma: the class difference that is attached to people that has a negative connotation
-hidden injuries of class: experience psychological stress with fitting in w/middle class society, changed career path to fit upper middle class profile, identi
Trends in crime rate since early 1990s
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Focault's theory of punishment in modern societies (dungeion v. panopticon)
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Social Costs of Mass Incarceration
-lots of money, effects minorities, difficult to get out
Political Costs of Mass Incarceration
can't vote
Economic Costs of Mass Incarceration
Hard to get good paying jobs
Patterns of Racial Disproportionality in the Criminal Justice System
More black people, because of discrimination.
Theoretical explanations for racial disproportionality in the criminal justice system
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Recidivism
the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after he/she has either experienced negative consequences of that behavior
Reasons for "Resolving Door" Effect
revolving door" is a movement of personnel between roles as legislators and regulators and the industries affected by the legislation and regulation.
Michelle Alexander's Main Argument in "The New Jim Crow
Mass incarceration today functions in a similar manner to the Jim Crow Laws of a hundred years ago.
Alexander's 7 "parallels" between old and new Jim Crow
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Definition of social change
The transformation of social interactions, institutions, stratification systems and culture of a society over time.
Major forces causing social transformation
1.) Economy: the expansion of industrial capitalism
2.) Technology: the impact of science and technology
3.) Politics: development of modern, centralized, rationalized nation-states
4.) Culture: the emergence of modern ideas such as freedom, equality, dem
Levels of social change and examples
'
Definition of collective action: Crowd vs. Mass
-Action that takes place in groups and diverges from the social norms of the situation
-Crowd Collective Action= group of people physically come together to make an action.
-Mass Collection Action= a large number of people (not physically) from all over c
4 Theories of Collective Action and Examples: Convergence
-theory of collective action stating that collective action stating that collective action happens when people with similar ideas and tendencies gather in the same place.
-Ex: Riots that sometimes follow an English soccer match.
-problem: doesn't explain
4 Theories of Collective Action and Examples: Contagion
-theory of collective action claiming that collective action arises because of people's tendency to conform to the behavior of others with whom they are in close contact
-At a rock concert, as a particular song starts playing, some people begin to jump up
4 Theories of Collective Action and Examples: Emergent Norm
-theory of collective action emphasizing the influence of keynoters in promoting particular norms
-Ex: If you have to evacuate an airplane using the emergency exits, one of your fellow passengers might start directing people out of the plane. Even though
4 Theories of Collective Action and Examples: Value Added
-Value-added theory establishes six conditions that are required for a movement to coalesce and achieve a successful outcome:
(1) there must be a social strain present that existing power holders are unable or unwilling to alleviate.
(2) folks must be abl
Definition of social movement
Collective behavior that is purposeful, organized, and institutionalized but not ritualized.
4 Types of Social Movements & Examples: Alternative Social Movements
-Social movements that seek the most limited societal change & often targets a narrow group of people
-they are usually issue oriented, focusing on a singular concern and seeking to change individuals' behaviors in relation to that issue.
-Ex: Mother's Ag
4 Types of Social Movements & Examples: Redemptive Social Movements
-Social movements that target specific groups but advocate for more radical change in behavior.
-Ex: Covenant House-after you have run away from home and lived on the streets addicted to drugs, you're joining a redemptive social movement. Covenant House a
4 Types of Social Movements & Examples: Reformative Social Movements
-social movements that advocate for limited social change across an entire society.
-Ex: Critical Mass-advocates for more bicycle-friendly commuting in Portland, Oregon; San Francisco and hundreds of other global locations.
4 Types of Social Movements & Examples: Revolutionary Social Movements
-social movements that advocate the radical reorganization of society.
-Ex: United Democratic Front (UDF) march in South Africa. The UDF sought to overthrow the apartheid regime that governed South Africa until 1994.
3 Theories of Social Movements & Examples: Resource Mobilization
What kinds of resources are important for the success of social movements? Why?
-money
-people's time & skills
-communications technology
-materials, property and equipment
-access to mass media
-motivated people
-social connections or social capital
-org
3 Theories of Social Movements & Examples: Framing Theory
-To be successful a social movement must present the social problem in a way that will: resonate with and garner support from the public, promote an understanding of the problem, its cause, and the appropriate solution, motivate people to act collectively
3 Theories of Social Movements & Examples: Political Opportunities Theory
-When political opportunities are open or expanding, chance of success are increased
-Organizational Strength: the more organized a group, the more likely its members will form a movement and the more it is to be likely to succeed.
-Shared Cognitions: sha
Individuality & Social Circles
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Levels & Patterns of American Civic Engagement
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Major distinctions between pre-modern, modern, and postmodern societies
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Theories for Decline in Activism
-sense of overwhelm, frustration or apathy
-lack of clear path toward change
-lack of critical mass
-proximity to injustice makes involvement emotionally challenging
-the role of social institutions in maintaining systems of oppression
Sociology's Core Questions:
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