Social stratification
a system by which society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy
a. There are four fundamental principles of stratification:
� Social stratification is a characteristic of society -- not just due to individual differences
� Social stratification persis
Patterned
if we know whether a person or group possesses or does not possess certain traits, then we will be able to predict with reasonable accuracy how this person or group is likely to fare in the social hierarchy
a. Social Hierarchy: A set of ranked statuses
Social Hierarchy
A set of ranked statuses
Social Inequality
Some types of people systematically experience advantages in society while other types of people are systematically disadvantaged in our society
a. Some members of our society are thought of as haves, and others are thought of as have-nots.
b. The determi
Life Chances
Opportunities that individuals do or do no have to engage in certain activities, and the opportunities that they do or do not have to accomplish certain goals simply because of where they are located in the social hierarchy (ex. Smart children born into w
Caste System
a fixed arrangement of strata from the most
caste system amounts to social stratification based on ascription to the least privileged, with a person's position determined unalterably
at birth.
b. The most extensive contemporary example of a caste system i
Class System
social stratification is based on individual achievement
a. People who can be considered peers in society because of their similar life chances, similar life circumstances, and similar opportunities, constitute a social class.
� In a class system social s
Class Systems
People who can be considered peers in society because of their similar life chances, similar life circumstances, and similar opportunities, constitute a social class.
� In a class system social standing is determined by factors over which people can exert
Status Inconsistency
the degree of consistency of a person's social standing across various dimensions of social inequality
Structural Social Mobility
a shift in social position of large numbers
of people due more to changes in society itself than individual efforts
(Ex. Computer Industry)
Ideology
cultural beliefs that directly or indirectly justify social stratification
- This is a complex set of beliefs, values, and norms, which rationalize and support the elite's power and privileges.
� The dominant or most important and valued ideas in history
Ideological Support For Inequality
An ideology or pattern of beliefs justifies social inequality in the Unites States, which legitimizes or justifies a particular societal arrangement.
Ideological Hegemony
Refers to the control over the production
of cultural symbols.
� One of Karl Marx's famous quotes is: "the ruling ideas of any epoch are the ideas of the ruling class because they control the mental means of production.
� Thus, the elite has many weapons
Legitimacy
This is the belief that existing social and political
institutions are the best one's for society.
Davis-Moore thesis
the assertion that social stratification is a
universal pattern because it has beneficial consequences for the operation of society
Meritocracy
a system of social stratification based on personal merit
Criticisms of Davis-Moore:
a. It is difficult to specify the functional importance of a given occupation
� Some are over/under rewarded (EX. Baseball player, entertainer vs. teacher, garbage collector)
b. Davis-Moore ignores how social stratification can prevent the development of
Marx
a. Marx saw classes as defined by people's relationship to the means of production
� Capitalists (bourgeoisie) are people who own factories and other productive business
� The proletariat are people who sell their productive labor to the capitalists
b. Cr
Capitalists (bourgeoisie)
people who own factories and other productive business
Proletariat
people who sell their productive labor to the capitalists
Three reasons suggested why Western Capitalism has not experienced a Marxist revolution
a. The capitalist class has fragmented and grown in size, giving more people a stake in the system
b. The proletariat has also changed
� Blue-collar occupations, lower prestige work involving mostly manual labor, have declined
� White-collar occupations,
Weber
three distinct dimensions of stratification: Class, status, and power
a. Max Weber argued that social standing consists (Of three parts or dimensions: class, which he regarded as determined mainly by economic standing or wealth; party, which was equivalen
Socioeconomic Status
Weber
a composite ranking based on various dimensions of social inequality -- education, occupation, income
� Socioeconomic status. Following Weber's lead, contemporary sociologists often use the broader concept of socioeconomic status to refer to a perso
Education
Education can lead to income attainment, but the
benefits are not equally shared by racial and ethnic minorities, or by women.
Wealth
consists of consists of the total amount of money and valuable goods that a person or family controls
� It is more unequally distributed than income
� assets, such as real estate and jewels, and
� income consists of occupational wages or salaries and earn
Occupational Prestige
Occupation serves as a key source of social prestige since we commonly evaluate each other according to what we do
� Because there are so many specific occupations, sociologists often categorize occupations into a smaller number:
� White-Collar
� Professi
White-Collar
� Professional, manager, and administrator
� Technical
� Clerical
Blue-Collar
� Craft, precision production, and repair
� Operative
� Labor (excluding farm)
� Farm worker
Pink collar
a category that reflects the segregation of women into certain occupations, such as kindergarten teachers and secretaries.
Inequality in the United States
� US society is highly stratified, but many people underestimate the extent of structured inequality in US society
� Power is also unequally distributed
� Schooling
� Ancestry, race, and gender
1. Sociologists usually conceptualize American society as con
Three-class model
society is divided into a lower class, a
middle class, and an upper class
b. In the nine-class model, each of these classes is further divided into three subclasses: lower-lower, middle-lower, lower-middle, middle- middle, etc.
Objective method
ranks individuals into classes on the basis of
measures such as education, income, and occupational prestige
Reputational method
places people into various social classes on
the basis of reputation in the community class
Self- identification
people to place themselves in a social class.
The upper classes
These are elite families with great wealth who
dominate the economic system of the United States.
� Elite status is ascribed and many of this group's members are friends who have been socialized into a upper-class world.
� Ranking below the elite is the l
The middle classes
The upper third of the middle class forms the upper middle class, a group that consists mostly of professionals and others with well-paying, respected occupations.
� The upper-middle class collectively exerts power because its members participate in polit
The lower classes
The upper-lower class, also called the working class, consists of service personnel, semiskilled operatives, and other blue-collar workers who do not earn enough to accumulate substantial savings. These people are vulnerable to disruptions in their income
Upper-lower class
also called the working class, consists of
service personnel, semiskilled operatives, and other blue-collar workers who do not earn enough to accumulate substantial savings. These people are vulnerable to disruptions in their income.
Lower-lower class
made up of people who lack education and live in the most dilapidated sections of the community and in substandard housing.
Working poor
lower-lower-class people who have jobs
but who simply cannot earn an adequate income
Chronically poor
mostly unemployed or work only occasionally.
The difference class makes
a. Class and health
b. Class and values
c. Class and politics
d. Class, family, and gender
Myth versus reality
a. Four general conclusions
� Social mobility, at least among men, has been high
� The long-term trend in social mobility has been upward
� Within a single generation, social mobility is usually incremental, not dramatic
� The short-term trend has been st
Social Mobility
The movement of persons and groups within the
stratification system.
Steepness of the socioeconomic pyramid
there are not enough high status jobs to satisfy everyone.
Starting position on the socioeconomic ladder
some people begin closer to the top than others.
Structural mobility
the movement of entire categories of people due
to changes in society itself
Intragenerational social mobility
change in social position occurring during a person's lifetime
Intergenerational social mobility
upward or downward social mobility of children in relation to their parents
Determined by
Social stratification can be determined by a number of variables, each of which can cause someone to be advantaged or disadvantaged compared to others in society.
a. It is not necessarily the impact of any one variable in U.S. society that leads to strati
Waking up from the "American Dream
a. For many workers, earnings have stalled
b. Multiple job holding is up
c. More jobs offer little income
d. Young people are remaining at home
Relative poverty
people are poor only in comparison to others,
therefore there will always be some group at the bottom of the hierarchy.
� refers to the deprivation of some people in
relation to those who have more
Absolute poverty
the inability of people to maintain a certain
standard of living.
� a deprivation of resources that is life threatening
The truly disadvantaged
This group consists of people who live
predominantly in the inner city and who are trapped in a cycle of joblessness, deviance, crime, welfare dependency, and unstable family life.
a. William Wilson argues that poor economic conditions are the main
proble
Who are the poor?
1. Age
2. Race and Ethnicity
3. Gender and Family patterns
a. The feminization of poverty is the trend by which women represent an increasing proportion of the poor