Sociology 1025A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Social Inequality, Social Stratification, Social Mobility
Document Summary
Social stratification: socially sanctioned patterns (or classes) of social inequality that exist in society and that are based on distinguishable attributes such as race, age, gender, income, or occupation. Closed systems of stratification: little or no movement between social rankings. Caste system: a hierarchal system of stratification based on inherited social standing. Social class: shared membership in a group based on economic standing. Class system: a hierarchal system of stratification based on achieved and ascribed economic measures such as annual income or the possession of resources. Social mobility: movement that occurs within and between social classes in a stratification system. Vertical mobility: movement up or down the social ladder. Horizontal mobility: changes within the same social location (ex. moving from one job to another with similar income and level of authority) Intragenerational mobility: changes in social class that occur within a person"s lifetime. Intergenerational mobility: changes in the social class of children relative to their parents.