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SOC Exam 3 (Chapter 10 RACE (fixed) and ETHNICITY (variability) (Race (A…

- - - - To functionalists: the social environment can be deliberately arranged to generate either positive or negative feelings about people. Prejudice is functional in that it creates in-group solidarity and out group antagonism, but dysfunctional because it destroys human relationships.
      - To conflict theorists: the ruling class systematically pits groups against groups; by splitting workers along racial ethnic lines they benefit, because solidarity among the workers is weakened.
      - To symbolic interactionists: (labeling/micro) the labels we learn color our perceptions, leading to selective perception--we see certain things and are blind to others. Racial and ethnic labels are especially powerful because they are shorthand for emotionally laden stereotypes.
        Symbolic interactionists stress that we learn racist attitudes and prejudices in interactions with others, or the absence of interaction (stereotypes.)
- - - - Property and income are distributed disproportionately.
        
        10% of the U.S. owns 70% of the wealth, and the wealthiest 1% of Americans own 1/3 of all assets in the U.S.
        
        The top 20% of U.S. residents acquire 47% of the income, the bottom 20% receives 4.2 %
        
        Reflects growing inequalities
    - - SES: derived from certain factors; income, occupational prestige is the perceived, subjective rank assigned to an occupation, and education.
      - The US Class System
        
        Capitalist Class (1%): is composed of investors, heirs, and a few executives; it is derived into "old money " and "new money"
        
        The upper-middle class: (15%) is composed of professionals and upper managers, almost all of which have attended college or university and frequently have post grad degrees. (most shaped by education)
        
        The lower-middle class: (35%) is composed of lower managers, crafts people and foremen. They have at least a high school education.
        
        The working class: (30%) is composed of factory workers and low-paid white collar workers. Most have high school education.
        
        The working poor: (16%) is composed of relatively unskilled blue-collar and white-collar workers, and those with temp and seasonal jobs. Probably didn't do well in school.
        
        The "underclass": (5%) is concentrated in the inner cities and has little connection with the job market. Welfare is their main support.
        
        Homeless: so far down the class structure that their position must be considered even lower than the underclass.
  - - - Caste System: where status is assigned based on ascribed status (fixed, at birth)
      - Class System: is a system based on ascribed and achieved statuses.
      - Estate: is a system in which a small elite group (owners of property and power) has total control over resources. Feudal system
  - - - contradictory class locations: some people as simultaneously members of more than one class
      - 4 Classes:
        
        capitalists (owners of large enterprises)
        
        Petty (petite or small numbers) bourgeoisie (owners of small businesses)
        
        Managers (employees who have authority over them)
        
        Service workers (low wage employment)
  - - - The majority of working class individuals are no longer white male industrial laborers but female, and/or immigrant, service and retail workers.
      - Many workers internalize stigma, no sense of class consciousness.
      - Rather than recognize the problems caused by structural changes in the economy, workers are depicted on TV as irresponsible and incompetent, and this is the source of social problems.
        Individualization of structural downturn.
      - Majority of poor in the US are white, images of poor white people are rare in the media. Poor and working class whites are usually depicted as outcasts or misfits, and are used for amusement, with labels like "hillbilly" or "redneck"
  - - - The U.S. government classifies the poverty line as being families whose incomes are less than 3x a low-cost food budget (fixed amount). (threshold->easy to define if you're above or below the line, if you fall under you can get assistance)
      - The official measure is grossly inadequate since it inflates the amount of money that is spent on food. It is also the same across the country, even though the cost of living is higher in some states than others. (does not take into account rent or transportation).
      - Any modification of this measure instantly adds or subtracts millions of people, and thus has significant consequences. (arbitrary determination, doesn't matter if you have 4 jobs, just has to do with income)
      - Certain social groups are disproportionately represented among the poor population.
    - - The poor tend to be clustered in the South, pattern that has existed for about 100 years. Right to work: easier to fire people. Rate of pay is significantly lower.
      - The poverty rate for rural poor is higher than the national average. (tends to be invisible) While the urban poor is visible (which is bad).
      - While they show the same racial and ethnic characteristics as the nation as a whole, they are less likely to be on welfare or to be single parents, are less skilled and educated, and find that only lower-paying jobs are available to them. (less visible, more isolate) (idiosyncratic)
    - - Racial minorities are much more likely to be poor:
        10% whites, 21% latinos, 24% African Americans live in poverty.
        BUT... in whole numbers the majority of poor in the US is comprised of whites.
    - - The gender of the person who heads a family is another major predictor of whether or not a family is poor
      - Most poor families are headed by women.
      - The major cause: (feminization of poverty) divorce, births to unwed mothers, and lower wages paid to women-> availability of employment, housing education.
    - - Although the % of poor people over the age 65 is practically the same as their overall %, elderly hispanic americans and african americans are almost 3x more likely to be poor than elderly white americans (wealth).
      - The elderly are less likely than the general population to be poor. OVERALL
      - CHILDREN ARE MORE LIKELY TO LIVE IN POVERTY THAN ARE ADULTS OR THE ELDERLY
      - This holds true regardless of race, but poverty is much greater among minority children.
      - Demographics of homeless-> children and families
        Homelessness in the US is on the rise
        Deaths among homeless are highest in 2 decades