1.

Socioeconomic status
a. “Social standing” (pg. 121) or from the glossary “status determined by class,
status or prestige, and power”
b. The textbook explains how a doctor earns a large salary, is highly regarded, and is
able to exert their political influence over others whereas a drug dealer may earn
lots of money and have power but have little prestige.
c. The socioeconomic status is basically different categories of wealth based on your
social class, your perception by others, and your power.
d. An interesting example of socioeconomic status is teachers. They have a lot of
power over students but typically not over others, they are typically highly
regarded, but they don’t make that much money. Most people agree they should
make more money, but there hasn’t been much change. The socioeconomic status
is based more on prestige rather than income.

2. Culture of Poverty Thesis

a. “Describes the beliefs, attitudes, and values that characterize those living in
poverty and distinguish them from more productive members of society” (pg
126).
b. In lower class societies, less people go to college, so you might see school as
pointless and drop out of high school/college if you are a part of the lower class
circles.
c. The Culture of Poverty thesis explains why sometimes social class is dependent
on your environment or the people around you. Your support system and
socialization is based around people in your social class which might affect your
worth ethic/personality, your opinions towards certain careers or education, and
your connections.
d. One of my best friends has grown up in the lower class whereas I am in the upper
middle class. I’ve noticed that without connections to business owners, people
working within higher level education, etc., she had a harder time finding a high
school and summer job. Maybe people saw her as lazy or uneducated because she
has not had as many opportunities as I’ve had through my parents.

3. Structural Mobility
a. “Movement between social classes in a society” (pg 127). Upward mobility is
when someone climbs the economic ladder whereas downward mobility is when
their class position falls.
b. Someone might start out as a member of a working-class family, earn a college
education, and secure a place in the middle class.
c. Structural mobility is essentially when someone moves from one social class to
another based on their own efforts (like education, certain jobs, etc.)
d. My dad grew up in the working class of society. He was the first person in his
entire extended family to attend college, and he was able to work himself up
towards the upper middle class. Now, he owns five successful hospice agencies.

4. Social Class Reproduction

 a. “Members of the upper class ensure that their children maintain their status”
through various activities or strategies (pg 123).
b. Children with upper class families might go to exclusive private schools,
participate in certain leisure activities, and go on expensive vacations so that they
are socializing only with children like themselves. Upper class could also live in
residential enclaves and be members of clubs with invitation-only admission
policies.
c. Social class reproduction is when people in the upper class try to pass down their
status to their children through various activities or socialization techniques.
d. In my life, I was a competitive dancer and spent a lot of time surrounded by other
upper middle class kids. I was socializing and becoming friends with them rather
than kids in lower socioeconomic classes, which might affect my status now and
in my future.

5. Social Stratification
a. “The way valuable goods and desired intangibles (like social status and prestige)
are distributed in society” (pg 121)
b. Some examples of social stratification systems from the textbook are slavery,
estate systems (like in France), caste systems, and class-based systems (like
present-day United States).
c. Social stratification is the way a country, city, or group of people in general
distribute their wealth, power, and social norms.
d. In elementary school, my group of friends and I determined our social
stratification based on the amount of silly bands you had. My mom wouldn’t let
me buy a lot of silly bands whereas my best friend had thousands of silly bands.
She was seen as the decision maker, the coolest, and the person everybody wanted
to be friends with. She got to pick the recess games and talk to everybody whereas
other kids did not.

6. Intergenerational Mobility
a. “Change in social class from one generation to the next” (pg 127).
b. A person from a poor family who graduates from college and gains employment
as an accountant and a middle-class salary has experienced intergenerational
mobility.
c. Intergenerational mobility essentially is the changes with social class per
generation. Someone’s parents have a higher or lower socioeconomic status than
them.
d. Relating back to the example of my dad, he moved out of the working class while
his parents and siblings stayed in it. He grew up in a poor family, but was able to
move out of it through college and employment. His siblings, however, continue
to have minimum wage jobs like school bus drivers, construction workers, and a
Walmart cashier.

7. Wealth
a. “The worth of your assets minus your debts” (pg 116)
 b. Some examples from the textbook are savings accounts, houses, cars, and
investment portfolios holding stocks and bonds
c. Wealth is how much money you would have if you factored in all of your
possessions with your bank account and cash. These possessions could include
houses, cars, valuable items, properties, etc.
d. In my life, my wealth is mostly just the amount of money in my bank account.
However, my parents’ wealth would include our house, all five cars (their cars,
my car, and my siblings’ cars), our cabin, and the stocks my dad has.

8. What is most interesting or useful about Figure 7.2 or 7.3?

Figure 7.3 explains how the wealth gap is increasing and the middle class is disappearing
in the United States. I find that very interesting because I’ve never really understood how
the middle class could disappear. This table helps me understand that more people in the
United States are entering the upper class. It makes me wonder how this will affect our
economy, quality of life, etc.

9. What is most interesting or useful about Table 7.1 or Figure 7.5?

Figure 7.5 explains how Democrats and Republicans view wealth and the mobility
between social classes. More republicans think that richer Americans have worked harder
in life while most democrats think they have more advantages in life. It is interesting to
understand how different people in the United States view wealth. As someone who has
seen their parents get out of the working class and into the upper middle class, I might
have different views on wealth than an outsider or some of my peers.