social stratification

• absolute poverty

  when people have incomes that are insufficient to obtain the minimum needed to survive
• relative poverty


  when people cannot afford to meet the general standard of living of most other people in their society
• achieved status


  social positions that are earned on the basis of personal talents or merit
• ascribed status


  social positions that are fixed and birth and unchanging over time, including hereditary title linked to family background
• cycle of deprivation


  the idea that deprivation and poverty are passed on from parents to their children
• life chances


  an individual's chances of achieving positive or negative outcomes as they progress through life. life chances are related to health, education, housing, emplyment
• authority


  the exercise of power based on consent of agreement
• power


  the dominance and control of one individual or group over others
• embourgeoisement


  a hypothesis suggests that working-class families are becoming middle-class in their norms and values as their incomes and living standards improve
• poverty trap


  people can be trapped in poverty if an increase in income reduces the benefits they are entitled to.
• vertical social mobility


  movement up or down between the layers or strata of society
• inter-generational social mobility

  movement up or down between the layers as measured between generations of a family
• intra-generational social mobility

  movement of an individual over the course of their life up or down from one occupational classification to another
• affluence


  having a lot of money and material possesions
• social stratification


  the way that society is structured into hierarchical strata (layers) with the most privileged at the top and the least favoured at the bottom
• bureaucracy


  an organisation that operates as a hierarchy with a clear set of rules. Bureaucratic authority is based on a set of rules that operate within a bureaucracy
• relative income standard of poverty

  a measure of poverty based on how much income a household has compared to other households. households could be put in a rank order, and then you can identify 10% of the households with the lowest incomes
• class dealignment


  weakening of the links between social class and voting behaviour
• classless society


  a society in which there is no private ownership of property and so no clearly structured social classes
• environmental poverty


  a way of measuring deprivation in terms of conditions such as inadequate housing, a lack of a garden, inadequate outdoor play facilities and air pollution
• functionally important roles


  key positions in society that, for example, provide essential services and ensure society's survival over time
• instrumentalism


  an attitude or approach to something where it is a means to an end rather than an end in itself
• welfare state


  a system in which the state takes responsibility for protecting the health and welfare of its citizens and meeting their social needs. the state does this by providing services and benefits
• pluralism


  an approach which argues that a range of views, interests and opinions exist in society and no one group dominates the political process