Reference no: EM133191676

Assignment: Inequality Based on Wealth Instead of Income

Task

I. Define what Granovetter (1974) meant by the strength of weak ties. Give one example of how this might work in the real world of social networks.

II. What is social control? Distinguish between formal social sanctions and informal social sanctions. For what types of deviance are each sanction most effective, and why?

III. Immigration law makes it clear that entering the United States without the proper paperwork and permissions is a crime. In a few sentences, explain what the responses in the survey in Figure 2 suggest about how most people feel regarding both the criminal and deviant properties of illegal immigration.

IV. What is the difference between income and wealth? Why might certain sociologists prefer to measure inequality based on wealth instead of income?

V. Why is the middle class so difficult to define?

VI. What is "essentialism"? Explain how John Gray's book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus could be described as essentialist.

VII. The sociologist Robert Merton developed a diagram (seen below) for thinking about prejudice and discrimination. What is prejudice, and what is discrimination?

VIII. Discuss the no effect paradigm and suggest how Marlin and his brother could have had a better life using this theory.

IX. Propose a social policy that would give children born into poverty a better chance of escaping it in their adult lives. What issues would the policy need to address? What social institutions (e.g., work, family, government) would need to be changed?