Watch 30 to 60 minutes of a production from current media that illustrates examples of social stratification and inequalities, such as a sitcom, drama, movie, or documentary. Examples include producti

SOC/100 v8

Reading Guide: Deviance, Social Stratification, and Inequality

This reading guide covers Chapters 7, 9, 11, and 12 in your textbook:

Griffiths, H., Keirns, N., Strayer, E., Cody-Rydzewski, S., Scaramuzzo, G., Sadler, T., Vyain, S., Bry, J., & Jones, F. (2015). Introduction to sociology (2nd ed.). OpenStax College, Rice University.

Review these notes to assist with your assignment this week.

Deviance: behavior that does not conform with cultural norms or social standards

• Deviance depends on a person’s culture and subculture; deviant actions may not be considered deviant in a different place or time.

• For example, actions such as smoking indoors, playing loud music, or being nude in public can be considered deviant or not, depending on when and where they happen.

Informal sanctions: forms of punishment for mild violations of social norms

• Examples of mild violations: cutting in line, eating with your fingers at a nice restaurant, texting during a film in a movie theater

• Examples of informal sanctions: nasty looks, rude comments, isolation from social groups

Formal sanctions: forms of punishment for serious violations of social norms that are written laws

• Examples of serious violations: murder, rape, theft, speeding

• Examples of sanctions: fines, jail time, criminal record

• Functionalist perspective

  • A functional society needs deviance to reaffirm current social norms and to set boundaries for social control and morality.

• Conflict theorist perspective

  • Deviance and crime are caused by social and economic factors created by a wealthy elite class of people in power who maintain the status quo in society, decide what is deviant, and determine who gets criminalized for deviant behavior.

• Symbolic interactionist perspective

  • Deviance is behavior that is learned from social interactions with other people, either as a response to others’ reactions or by modeling their deviance.

Social stratification: society’s way of categorizing people by socioeconomic status, ranked by tiers based on factors that reflect an unequal distribution of resources

• Sociologists recognize that social stratification is a society-wide system that makes inequalities apparent.

Class system: a way of describing the level of someone’s social standing based on their individual accomplishments and social factors

• Examples of class systems in the U.S.: lower, middle, and higher income

• Primary characteristics of each class serve as social boundaries between them.

• Socioeconomic status (SES) in a class system determines individuals’ life outcomes.

Wealth: the value of assets owned by a household

• Wealth enhances one’s life chances by creating opportunities and desired stature, command over labor and businesses, and the ability to pass along status to children.

• Wealth is less equally distributed and more concentrated than income; wealth begets wealth and is more stable across generations from parents

• Functionalist perspective

• Different social classes exist because they serve a purpose needed in society.

• Social roles that are more important for the functioning of society receive greater rewards. For example, doctors are part of a higher-class status than janitors based on their importance, due to society’s need for them.

• Conflict theorist perspective

• Inequality is systematically created and maintained by those with control over resources.

• Advantages are based on characteristics such as class, race or ethnicity, or age.

• Symbolic interactionist perspective

• Social standing is affected at a micro-level in everyday interactions with people who typically share the same social group.

• People often show symbols of their social status through preferences in style or appearance.

Race: a socially defined category based on perceived physical differences between groups of people

• Social construction of race: the belief that race is not biologically identifiable; race is a social construct because racial categories change over time

Ethnicity: a socially defined category based on a group’s shared cultural factors, such as language, religion, nationality, or history

Minority group: any group of people singled out from the rest of society to be treated differently or unequally

Stereotype: an over-generalized belief about a group of people who share a characteristic

Racism: a set of beliefs and practices about the superiority of one racial or ethnic group over another

Prejudice: a biased thought process based on flawed assumptions about a group of people

Discrimination: actions taken against individuals to treat them unequally because of their race or ethnic group; usually motivated by prejudice

Privilege: benefits or advantages that some people enjoy because they are part of a dominant group that receives preferential treatment over others

• Functionalist perspective

  • Racial and ethnic differences exist because they serve an important function in society; racial inequality can strengthen bonds between in-group members through pushing away out-group members.

• Conflict theorist perspective

  • Conflict between racial and ethnic inequalities arises when the dominant group perceives a threat from a minority group to their power and control over scarce resources.

• Symbolic interactionist perspective

  • Everyday interactions between members of the dominant group reinforce their assumptions about the racial or ethnic identities that symbolize minority groups.

Sex: biologically determined physiological differences between males and females

Gender: a person’s internal perception of their gender as determined by role differences in our society and culture

• Gender differences are a product of socialization and other forms of social control.

• Traditional masculine vs. feminine gender role stereotypes are reinforced agents of socialization.

Sexism: the prejudiced belief that one sex is superior to another

• Functionalist perspective

  • Gender roles function to regulate sexual behavior and ensure cohesion in a marriage and stability in a family.

  • Changes in gender roles undermine social institutions and are therefore dysfunctional to society.

• Conflict theorist perspective

  • Socially dominant groups actively work to promote their views of sexuality and can deny social and economic advantages to subordinate groups, causing conflict between groups over resources.

• Symbolic interactionist perspective

  • Gender roles are learned social behaviors that are reinforced through symbols of “femininity” or “masculinity” that society shares.

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