FSU SYG 2010 - Notes

Notes 02/12/14- Drinking higher in higher income bracket- Low-income individuals more susceptible to anti-drinking ads- Cigarette smoking has opposite trend as drinking- Substantially higher if you fall below poverty level- Marijuana usage is consistent throughout education and income bracketInequality: Poverty and WealthKey Terms- Social stratification: a ranking of people and the rewards they receive based on objective criteria, often including wealth, power, and/or prestige- Income: money received for work or through investments- Wealth: all of an individuals material possessions, including income, minus debtIncome Distribution- Richest 20% of Americans = 50% of total income- Poorest 20% = 3.4% of total incomeWealth- Remember: includes income and assets, minus debt- Top 1% of wealth holders in US have more wealth than bottom 90%- Inheritance issuesPower- Ability to carry out your will and impose it on others- Force: type of power that occurs when you make someone do something against his/her will (i.e., IRS; the Draft)- Persuasive power: using direct/indirect methods to get what you want (Army recruiter telling you if you join, you’ll get something out of it)Prestige- Level of esteem associated with one’s status and social standing- Non-monetary benefits (people tend to give you more respect with the more prestige you have)- Examples:- Physician: 86- Lawyer: 75- Colleg professor: 74- Accountant: 65- Police: 65- JournalistL 60- Housewife: 51- Househusband: 36- Bartender 25- CEO- PresidentSocial Class in the US- Upper Class - Elite- Small in number- Significant wealth- 1%- “Old money”- “New money”o Athletes, entertainerso Don’t inherit their wealtho Donald Trump, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates- Access to certain social circles- Upper Middle Class- High income (not very wealth, but do earn a respectable amount of money)- Well-educated- Not the “super wealthy”- $100,000 and own property; own their own vehicles- Have a professional career/high status job- 15%- Middle Class- Moderate incomes $40,000-$80,000- Lower earning white collar workers (i.e., teachers) to well paid blue collar workers- Overlap between salary employees- High school or college education - 34%- Working Class- High school diploma or less- Manual labor or clerical jobs- Limited advancement- 30%- Lower Class- In poverty- Disproportionately minorityo Black/Hispanic- Living “paycheck-paycheck”- About ½ of children in US living in poverty - Urban underclass- Neighborhoods with:o Poverty o Family disruptions Divorce Parent leaving/going to jailo Male employmento Lack of individuals in high status occupations- Lack of opportunities- Don’t have the means to get out of povertyDefinitions of Poverty- Transitional poverty - temporary state of poverty that occurs when someone goes without a job for a short period of time- Marginal poverty – state of poverty that occurs when a person lacks stable employment- Residual Poverty – chronic and multigenerational poverty- Absolute poverty – poverty so severe that one lacks resources to survive (NOT common in the U.S.)- Relative poverty – state of poverty that occurs when we compare ourselves to those around us- Government definition – Theoretical Approaches- Functionalism- Inequality is necessary for society to function smoothly- US as a meritocracy (those who get ahead in society do so according to their own merit)- We need to fill every position in society (we need doctors, but also cashiers)- Conflict theory- Everyone is competing for limited resources- Workers are exploited by owners- Those born into high social class can stay there- Symbolic interactionism- Meaning behind social problems- Blaming the victim (accusing those who suffer from a social problem for that problem)Effects of Social Class- Neighborhoods- Fewer teen pregnancies in wealthier neighborhoods- Wealthy neighborhoods = more resources- Lower class neighborhood:o Low birth rateo Decrease health- Health- Family - EducationSocial Mobility- The ability to change social classes- Horizontal (moving within the same status category) vs. vertical (moving from one social status to another) mobility- Intragenerational (when an individual changes social standing, esp. in the workforce) vs. intergenerational (changes that family members make from one social class to the next through generations) mobility- Structural mobility – when social changes affect a large number of people (i.e., the recession-left a lot of people without jobs/major social change) - Exchange mobility – concept suggesting that within the U.S., each social class contains a relatively fixed number of peopleEconomy and WorkNotes 02/19/14-Forms of Economy- Social Institutions – organization that provides a framework for individuals to communicate with the larger society (i.e., schools, military, religion, politics)- Economic systems (economies) – social institution that helps a society organize what it produces, distributes, and consumes, including goods and services- Two Main Types:o Capitalism – economic system in which individual or private corporations can own and operate the production of goods, make decisions about the price of goods, and distribute them as they deem appropriateo Three Big Points: Private ownership – your business; leads to profit motivation Profit motivation Free market – market is working without government controlo Socialism – economic system by which resources and means of production are owned collectively by the citizenso Democratic socialism? – what we usually see; type of economic system involving a blend of free market capitalism and government regulation of the economy- Convergence theory – tendency for capitalism and socialism to convergeGlobal Economy- Corporation: legal entity that has some objective, typically to make a profit for its owners- Can purchase property, acquire debt, and participate in legal contracts- Transnational corporation: operates in at least two countries and have the interests of its company at heart over of the interests of its native landWhat are demographic characteristics? - Characteristics of a population that can be expressed statistically - Example o Race o Religion o Education o Income o Sex o Age o Marital status o Sexual orientation o Whether or not you have children o Disability status- Nickel & Dimed: o Race-white (advantage)o Religion-atheist o Education-PhD (advantage)o Income-upper middle class o Sex-female