SOC 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Meritocracy

• School: Ball State University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 100
• Professor: holtzman

Document Summary

Poverty: inability to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. Poverty line: the amount of yearly income a family requires to meet its basic needs. Based on 3 times the cost of the minimum food supply in the 1960s. In 2017, the poverty line for a family of 4 = ,600. In 2014, 47. 7 million people were of cially living in poverty = 14. 8% of the population. Belief in the idea of meritocracy leads people to assume others are poor because they don"t work hard, they are lazy, they are dumb, etc. Perpetuates poverty via inheritance, inability for that income and wealth to be easily redistributed to others in the population, etc. Stereotypes: overgeneralized beliefs that a certain trait, behavior, or attitude characterizes all members of an identi able group. Prejudice: negative attitudes toward members of a certain group. Discrimination: unfair treatment of people based on their membership in a certain group.