Social Stratification and Inequality Quiz

Social Inequality

• Unequal distribution of resources, opportunities, and privileges among individuals or groups in a society.

Social Stratification

• A hierarchical system of ranking people based on factors like wealth, power, and status.

Equality of Condition

• The idea that everyone should have an equal starting point in life.

Meritocracy

• A system where advancement is based on individual talent, effort, and achievement.

Blaming the Victim vs. Blaming the System

• A debate over whether inequality results from individual choices or systemic issues.

Classism

• Discrimination or prejudice based on social class.

Closed vs. Open Systems of Stratification

• Closed Systems: Little or no social mobility (e.g., caste systems).
• Open Systems: Allow movement between social classes (e.g., class systems).

Caste System

• Fixed social hierarchy based on birth.

Class System

• Social mobility based on achievement and economic status.

Ascribed vs. Achieved Status

• Ascribed Status: Social position assigned at birth.
• Achieved Status: Social position earned through effort and skill.

Social Mobility

• The ability to move up or down the social hierarchy.

Stratification's Social Factors

• Factors influencing social stratification, including education, occupation, race, and gender.

Social Class in Canada

• Division of Canadian society into upper, middle, and lower classes.

Upper Class

• Wealthy and influential.

Middle Class

• Professionals and skilled workers.

Lower Class

• Low-income individuals and those in precarious jobs.

Social Inequality and Class Mobility in Canada

• Limited movement between social classes due to systemic barriers.

Standard of Living

• The level of wealth, comfort, and access to resources.

Absolute Poverty

• Inability to meet basic needs.

Relative Poverty

• Living below the standard of others in society.

Factors Influencing Social Inequality in Canada

• Include education, employment, race, gender, and government policies.

Functionalism (Davis-Moore)

• Suggests that stratification serves a purpose by rewarding the most important jobs.

Conflict Theory (Marx)

• Inequality arises from conflict between the ruling class and the working class.

Max Weber (Class, Status, Party)

• Inequality is based on economic position, social honor, and political power.

Feminist Theory

• Inequality disproportionately affects women through systems like patriarchy.

Double Shift

• Women working both paid jobs and unpaid domestic labor.

Symbolic Interactionism

• Examines how social symbols and interactions reinforce inequality.

Status Symbol

• Objects or behaviors that display social standing.

Veblen's Conspicuous Consumption

• Spending money to display wealth and status.

Global Stratification and Inequality

• Worldwide disparities in wealth, health, and access to resources due to globalization and historical factors.

Neoliberalism

• An economic and political philosophy advocating free markets, minimal government, deregulation, and privatization to promote economic growth and individual freedoms.

Globalization

• The process of increased interconnectedness and interdependence among countries through trade, communication, technology, and cultural exchange.

Empire

• A system of political and economic dominance where one nation controls others, often through colonization, military force, or economic exploitation.

Crime vs. Deviance

• Crime: Behavior that violates laws and is punishable by the state.
• Deviance: Behavior that violates social norms but may not be illegal.

Moral Entrepreneur

• Individuals or groups influencing societal norms by labeling certain behaviors as deviant.

Social Control

• Mechanisms society uses to regulate behavior and ensure conformity to norms and laws.

Donald Black's Four Types of Social Control

• Penal, compensatory, therapeutic, or conciliatory, depending on the response to deviance.

Michel Foucault's Social Control as Government and Discipline

• Power and control are maintained through institutions and practices that discipline individuals and regulate populations.

Social Control and Governance

• Use of laws, policies, and norms to manage behavior and maintain social order.

Disciplinary Social Control

• Techniques that shape individual behavior through surveillance and regulation.

Panopticon

• A prison design symbolizing constant surveillance to control behavior.

Normalization

• Establishing standards of behavior, making deviations seem abnormal.

Rational Choice Theory

• Idea that people commit crimes after weighing the costs and benefits of their actions.

Biological Perspectives

• Theories suggesting biological factors (genetics or brain structure) influence criminal behavior.

Cesare Lombroso and Born Criminals

• A theory that certain physical traits predict a predisposition to criminal behavior.

James Fallon and Environmental Factors

• Emphasizes how environmental influences, like childhood trauma, interact with biology to shape behavior.

Functionalist Theory (Strain Theory)

• Crime results from the strain caused by the gap between cultural goals and the means to achieve them.

Robert Merton: Strain Theory

• Crime results from the strain caused by the gap between cultural goals and the means to achieve them

Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin: Illegitimate Opportunity Theory

• Access to illegitimate means (like gangs) affects the likelihood of deviance.

Hirschi: Control Theory

• Strong social bonds reduce the likelihood of deviant behavior.

Conflict Theory

• Crime and deviance arise from power struggles between dominant and subordinate groups.

Crimes of Accommodation

• Crimes committed by oppressed groups as forms of resistance.

Power Elite

• Wealthy and powerful influence laws and norms to maintain dominance.

Crime and Social Class

• Different social classes experience and commit crime differently due to systemic inequalities.

Street Crime vs. White-Collar Crime

• Street Crime: Visible crimes (e.g., theft, violence).
• White-Collar Crime: Non-violent crimes by individuals in positions of power.

Differential Association Theory

• Deviance is learned through interactions with others.

Labeling Theory

• Deviance results from societal labeling rather than the act itself.

Primary and Secondary Deviance

• Primary Deviance: Initial rule-breaking behavior.
• Secondary Deviance: Deviance resulting from societal reactions.

Master Status

• A deviant label that defines a person.

Perception of Female Criminals

• Female criminals are often judged through gendered stereotypes.

Chivalry Hypothesis

• Suggests women are treated more leniently by the justice system.

Victim, Mad, Bad

• Frameworks used to interpret women's deviance.

Secondary Victimization

• Further harm experienced by victims due to social or institutional responses.

Twin Myths of Rape

• Misconceptions about women falsely accusing men of rape and that women invite assault.

Rule of Law

• Everyone is subject to the same legal standards.

Crime, Risk, and Regulation in Canada

• Legal frameworks addressing crime.

Moral Panic

• Public fear over an issue threatening societal norms.

Fear-Gender Paradox

• Women fear crime more but are less likely to be victims.

Moral Regulation

• Efforts to control immoral or deviant behaviors.

Classical Approach to Theorizing Law

• Law as a tool to maintain social order, reflecting shared norms.

Consensus View

• Law reflects shared norms and values.

Conflict View

• Powerful groups shape laws to maintain control.

Interactionist View

• How laws are socially constructed through interactions.

Critical Legal Studies

• Laws as tools of oppression aiding powerful groups.

Protectionist Rhetoric

• Legal justifications protecting certain groups while maintaining inequalities.

Feminist Legal Studies

• Analyzes how laws support gender inequalities.

Critical Race Theory

• Examining how laws perpetuate racial inequalities.

Power Relationships and Access to Social Resources

• Inequalities are maintained by dominant groups exploiting subordinate groups.

Dominant Group Oppressing Subordinate Group

• A process where dominant groups use power to control and exploit others.

Randall Collins

• Sociologist emphasizing conflict within households and power struggles.

Gender and Subordination of Women in the Family

• Patriarchal structures subordinate women within families.

Children, Ageism, and Lack of Social Power

• Children and older adults can face discrimination and limited agency.

Social Reproduction

• Activities ensuring the population's ongoing survival, mainly including caregiving and domestic work.

Family Structure and Social Inequality

• Family systems maintain inequality through gender roles and power imbalances.

Domestic vs. Public Sphere

• Division where men occupy dominant public roles while women are relegated to private or domestic roles.

Bifurcated Consciousness

• Divide between women’s lived experiences and the institutional, male-dominated world.

Exchange Theory

• Relationships are seen as transactions maximizing benefits and minimizing costs.

Symbolic Interactionism

• Focusses on how family members create and share meanings through daily interactions; family as a social construct; focus on roles of each member.

Family Units

• Social constructs defined by shared roles & meanings.

Role Strain

• Stress due to inadequate resources fulfilling social/familial roles.

Post-Structuralist Approach

• Explores how power operates through language, norms, and social practices shaping behavior through the socially accepted norms.

Normalizing Discourse

• Defines socially acceptable behaviors and limits deviations through societal norms and expectations.

State Intervention

• Government policies regulating family life and societal behaviour.

Daytime TV and Talk Shows

• Media that reinforces or challenges family norms and societal expectations.

Parenting Magazines

• Publications shaping and normalizing parenting practices and family values.

Queer Theory

• Challenges heteronormative assumptions and explores diverse sexual orientations and family forms.

Heteronormativity

• Belief that heterosexuality is the natural and normal sexual orientation.

Deficit Model, Overload Model, Cultural Tension Model, Conflict-of-Interest Model, Anomie Model

• Diverse models for analyzing family conflicts.

Head-Complement Model, Junior Partner/Senior Partner Model, Equal Partners Model

• Three models of power distribution in relationships.

Global Gender Inequality & Family Lives

• Global disparities influencing how gender roles are shaped within families.

Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), Intimate Femicide, Elder Abuse

• Types of abuse and violence, including physical, emotional, sexual, neglect.

Shaken Baby Syndrome

• A medical condition caused by violently shaking an infant, with damage to the brain possibly leading to death.

Factors in Divorce

• Communication breakdown, infidelity, stress

Divorce Act of 1968, 1986, 1997

• Important milestones for divorce laws in Canada, initially through fault-based systems and later through no-fault grounds.

Children of Divorce and Remarriage

• Issues faced during transitions, influencing family dynamics.

Gender

• Social and cultural distinctions related to femininity, masculinity, and other identities.

Sex

• Physical and physiological differences between male, female, and intersex individuals.

Sexuality

• Individual's sexual orientation, preferences, and identity.

Gender Identity

• Person's internal sense of being along the spectrum of masculine/feminine.

Cisgender

• Individuals whose gender identity aligns with their sex assigned at birth.

Transgender

• Individuals whose gender identity does not align with their sex assigned at birth.

Gender Queer

• Individuals who reject conventional gender norms and may identify as neither, both, or a mix of genders.

Gender Role

• Societal expectations for behaviors and traits.

Hegemonic Masculinity

• Dominant, socially accepted form of masculinity reinforcing male dominance.

Emphasized Femininity

• Idealized femininity emphasizing subordination to men and compliance with traditional gender roles.

Gender and Socialization:

• Family, education, peer groups, media influencing gender roles.

Pink Collar vs. Blue Collar Occupations

• Pink collar careers often female dominated, blue collar often male dominated.

Gender Gap

• Reasons for differences in pay and employment including gender discrimination in hiring/pay, gendered job concentration, undervaluation of pink collar jobs, unequal domestic labor.

Stratification

• System where socioeconomic groups face unequal access to resources.

Structural Functionalism

• Gender roles are necessary for the stability of society. Men fulfil public roles while women fulfil private roles; this is a function of the need for social stability.

Talcott Parsons

• Husband as breadwinner, wife as homemaker, for societal functioning--a traditional family dynamics perspective.

Conflict Theory (Gender)

• Focuses on power dynamics and how dominant groups exploit and oppress subordinate ones.

Feminist Theory on Gender

• Highlights systemic gender inequalities and divisions between women's lived experiences and male-dominated institutions.

Symbolic Interactionism (Gender)

• Gender is socially constructed and performed through interactions.

Post-Structuralist Theories (Gender)

• Gender and sexuality are fluid constructs shaped by discourse and societal norms, they are not static.

Sexual Identity

• Personal perception as a sexual being based on various factors.

Kinsey's Scale

• Spectrum of sexual orientation ranging from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual.

Sexual Double Standard

• Permissive norms for men's sexuality but restrictive norms for women's.

Rape Culture

• Framework where societal factors create contexts that enable and normalize sexual violence.

Commodification of Sexuality

• Treating sexual expression as a marketable commodity.

Michel Foucault

• Explored sexuality as a form of social control through knowledge and surveillance.

Heteronormative

• Belief that heterosexuality is the only normal sexual orientation.

Cis-Normative

• Assumption that binary gender identities are the only norm.

Sexual Scripts

• Socially learned norms and behaviour regarding sexuality.

Coming Out Process

• Stages of self-discovery and social acceptance, common for LGBTQ+ individuals.

Queer Theory

• Examines binary understanding of gender and sexuality; emphasizes diversity and fluidity.

Gender Performativity

• Repetitive enactment of behaviors and roles creating the illusion of a fixed gender identity.

Discourse of Sexuality

• Examines how meanings around sexuality are constructed and normalised within the context of society.

Gender, Ethnicity, Race, Sexuality, Sex

• Interacting concepts to understand diverse individuals (and intersections between those).

Race vs. Ethnicity

• Distinction between physical traits (race) and shared cultural traits (ethnicity).

Racialization

• Process marking groups for unequal treatment based on perceived physical differences.

Miscegenation

• Blending of different race-based groups.

Minority/Majority Groups

• Minority groups are socially disadvantaged, lack social power, and have characteristics distinct from the majority group.

Stereotypes/Prejudice

• Oversimplified beliefs about groups; negative, long-lasting attitudes towards groups (prejudice).

Discrimination

• Actions denying or granting advantages to a group based on characteristics.

Racism

• Beliefs or practices justifying the superiority of one race over another.

Individual Discrimination

• One person's discriminatory actions based on group membership.

Institutional Discrimination

• Policies or practices intentionally disadvantaging a group (direct) or unintentionally disadvantaging a group due to systemic criteria (indirect).

White Privilege

• Unearned advantages for individuals in the dominant racial group.

Democratic Racism

• System advocating for equality but perpetuating oppression for minority groups.

Institutional Racism

• Discriminatory practices embedded in societal policies.

Settler Society (Canadian Context)

• Society founded through colonization displacing indigenous peoples as a key characteristic.

Stages of Colonialism

• Stages of colonization: mutual relations/dependence, economic reliance on colonizers, creation of reserves, political resistance and mobilization

Black Canadians

• Contributions through abolitionist movements, Underground Railroad, faced segregation/marginalization

Asian Canadians

• Faced discrimination (e.g., Chinese Head Tax, Japanese internment camps)

Genocide, Expulsion, Segregation, Assimilation, Integration, Multiculturalism

• Forms of intergroup relations and diversity management.

Hybridity

• Creation of new cultural forms via blending of racial and ethnic practices.

Social Psychology

• Examines prejudice and stereotypes, including scapegoat theory and authoritarian personality theory.

Functionalism

• Views racial hierarchies as serving initial social/economic functions—but may result in dysfunction.

Critical Race Theory

• Explores intersectionalities (race, gender, class, sexuality) and how colonial histories shape modern inequalities.

Intersectionality Theory

• Examines how overlapping social categories create unique experiences of oppression.

Symbolic Interactionism

• Examines social construction of race & prejudice through interactions.

Herbert Blumer's Four Feelings

• Feelings prevalent around racial groups: Superiority, difference of minorities, claims to privilege, and minority groups as threats to the privilege of the dominant group.

Test your knowledge on social inequality and stratification concepts with this quiz. Explore terms such as meritocracy, classism, and the differences between closed and open systems of stratification. Engage with critical ideas about this important sociological topic.