5.1: Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

• Define social stratification and explain how it creates unequal access to resources and opportunities
• Identify the major social class categories in the United States
• Describe social mobility and identify its major forms
• Explain the concept of standard of living and how it varies across families
• Compare how Structural Functionalist, Conflict Theory, and Symbolic Interactionist perspectives explain social stratification
• Examine how social class shapes patterns of marriage, divorce, childbearing, and household composition
• Identify the major forms of capital and explain how each can shape social inequality