Privilege and Penalty

This chapter examines privileges and penalties associated with groups differentially positioned in hierarchies. A pivotal system, the social network, is defined, and formal and informal networks are contrasted. I review network patterns that contribute to inequality. I illustrate possibilities for prevailing in disputes with persons who have significantly greater power and privilege. I review intersectional conceptualizations and identify typical privileges. I report on precarity statistics documenting a workplace penalty in two countries. The life course theory of cumulative disadvantage/advantages is summarized. Metaphors are shared: the invisible knapsack, the status shield, the intergenerational race, and society as roadways. Precarity statistics document the hazardous travel experiences of poor, minority group Americans. I summarize Johnson&s;s explanation for privilege differences in hierarchical systems like the Catholic Church. Jane Addams showed deep sensitivity to privilege differences, and I outline her approach to checking one&s;s privilege. I identify directives for realizing possibilities for equitable, hospitable relationships. I provide an overview of the subprocess of labeling and illustrate it by reference to the degradation by formal organizations of welfare recipients and others. I provide an overview of stigmatizing, its conceptualization, its dimensions, its contribution to inequality, and its consequences. Cardinal Romero is our exemplary injustice profiler.