Sociology Matters Ch. 5 & 6

Front 1

Absolute Poverty

Back 1

A standard of poverty based on a minimum level of subsistence that no family should be expected to live below

Front 2

Affirmative Action

Back 2

Positive efforts to recruit members of subordinate groups or women for jobs, promotions, and educational opportunities

Front 3

Bourgeoisie

Back 3

Karl Marx's term for the capitalist class, or the owners of the means of production

Front 4

Capitalism

Back 4

An economic system in which the means of production are held largely in private hands, and the main incentive for economic activity is the accumulation of profits

Front 5

Caste

Back 5

A hereditary system of rank, usually religiously dictated, that tends to be fixed and immobile

Front 6

Class Consciousness

Back 6

In Karl Marx's view, a subjective awareness of common vested interests and the need for collective political action to bring about social change

Front 7

Class System

Back 7

A social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence social mobility

Front 8

Closed System

Back 8

A social system in which there is little or no possibility of individual mobility

Front 9

Contact Hypothesis

Back 9

An interactionist perspective that states that interracial contact between people of equal status engaged in a cooperative task will reduce prejudice

Front 10

Discrimination

Back 10

The denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups based on some type of arbitrary bias

Front 11

Estate System

Back 11

A system of stratification under which peasants were required to work land leased to them by nobles in exchange for military protection and other services. Also known as feudalism

Front 12

Esteem

Back 12

The reputation that a specific person has earned within an occupation

Front 13

Ethnic Group

Back 13

A group that is set apart from others primarily because of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns

Front 14

Ethnocetrism

Back 14

The tendency to assume that one's own culture and way of life represents the norm or are superior to all others

Front 15

Exploitation Theory

Back 15

A Marxist theory that views racial subordination in the United States as a manifestation of the class system inherent in capitalism

Front 16

Expressiveness

Back 16

A concern for the maintenance of harmony and the internal emotional affairs of the family

Front 17

False Consciousness

Back 17

A term used by Karl Marx to describe an attitude held by members of a class that does not accurately reflect its objective position

Front 18

Feminization of Poverty

Back 18

A trend in which women constitute an increasing proportion of the poor people of the United States

Front 19

Gender Role

Back 19

Expectations regarding the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males or females

Front 20

Glass Ceiling

Back 20

An invisible barrier that blocks the promotion of a qualified individual in a work environment because of the individuals gender, race, or ethnicity

Front 21

Hate Crime

Back 21

A criminal offense committed because of the offenders bias against a race, religion, ethnic group, national origin, or sexual orientation

Front 22

Income

Back 22

Salaries and wages

Front 23

Institutional Discrimination

Back 23

The denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups that results from the normal operations of a society

Front 24

Instrumentality

Back 24

An emphasis on tasks, a focus on more distant goals, and a concern for the external relationship between one's family and other social institutions

Front 25

Integrational Mobility

Back 25

Changes in the social position of children relative to their parents

Front 26

Life Chances

Back 26

Max Webers term for people's opportunities to provide themselves with material goods, positive living conditions, and favorable life experiences

Front 27

Multinational Corporation

Back 27

A commercial organization that is headquartered in one country but does business throughout the world

Front 28

Open System

Back 28

A social system in which the position of each individual is influenced by his or her achieved status

Front 29

Power

Back 29

The ability to exercise one's will over others

Front 30

Prejudice

Back 30

A negative attitude toward an entire category of people, often an ethnic or racial group

Front 31

Prestige

Back 31

The respect and admiration that an occupation holds in a society

Front 32

Proletariat

Back 32

Karl Marx's term for the working class in a capitalist society

Front 33

Racial Formation

Back 33

A sociohistorical process in which racial categories are created, inhibited transformed, and destroyed

Front 34

Racial Group

Back 34

A group that is set apart from others because of obvious physical differences

Front 35

Racial Profiling

Back 35

Any arbitrary action initiated by an authority based on race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than on a person's behavior

Front 36

Racism

Back 36

The belief that one race is supreme and all others are innately inferior

Front 37

Relative Poverty

Back 37

A floating standard of deprivation by which people at the bottom of a society, whatever their lifestyles, are judged to be disadvantaged in comparison with the nation as a whole

Front 38

Sexism

Back 38

The ideology that one sex is superior to the other

Front 39

Slavery

Back 39

A system of enforced servitude in which some people are illegally owned by other people

Front 40

Social Inequality

Back 40

A condition in which members of a society enjoy different amounts of wealth prestige, or power

Front 41

Social Mobility

Back 41

The movement of individuals or groups from one position in a society's stratification system to another

Front 42

Socioeconomic Status (SES)

Back 42

A measure of social class that is based on income, education, and occupation

Front 43

Stereotype

Back 43

An unreliable generalization about all members of a group that does not recognize individual differences within the group

Front 44

Stratification

Back 44

The structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal economic rewards and power in a society

Front 45

Symbolic Ethnicity

Back 45

An emphasis on such concerns as ethnic food or political issues rather than on deeper ties to one's ethnic heritage

Front 46

Vertical Mobility

Back 46

The movement of a person from one social position to another of a different rank

Front 47

Wealth

Back 47

An inclusive term encompassing all a person's material assets, including land, stocks, and other property

Front 48

World Systems Analysis

Back 48

The global economy as an interdependent system of economically and politically unequal nations