Chapter 8 - Social Stratification Flashcards
Social inequality
Unequal sharing of scarce resources and social rewards
Social stratification
Division of society into categories, ranks or classes
- can be divided according to ascribed or achieved statuses
Inequality in a closed system
Cannot move between classes
Inequality in an open system
Movement between strata is allowed
What are the two types of stratification systems
- caste system
- class system
Caste system
Resources and social rewards are distributed on the basis of ascribed statuses
- child’s caste is determined by the parents
- effort and talent may effect position in caste but not move you to a higher caste
Exogamy
Marriage outside one’s caste (is forbidden in caste system)
Endogamy
Marriage within one’s social class (is practiced in caste system)
Example: ancient India
Castes are divided into sub castes based on occupation
Brahmans- priests and scholars
Kshatriyas- rulers, nobles and soldiers
Vaisyas- merchants, bankers business people
Sudras- laborers and artisans
Harijans- unclean outcastes given undesirable jobs
India today
Adopted 1950
- Movement in caste is legal
- government assistance is given to lower caste members
- Harijans not discriminated against
Class system
Distribution of scarce resources and rewards is determined on the basis of achieved statuses
- Karl Marx - conflict theorist
- Max Weber - three factors of class
Karl Marx
Conflict theorist
- bourgeois - own means of production
- proletariat - people who sell their
Able in exchange for wages
Max Weber
Class consists of three factors
- property
- prestige
- power
Social class
Grouping of similar people with similar levels of wealth, power and prestige
Wealth
The assets and income
- held by small majority in the US
- distributed unequally: top 1% earned over 21% of the national income
Power
Ability to control the behavior of others, with or without consent
- force, possession of a skill or knowledge, social status, personal characteristics or custom/tradition
Prestige
Respect, honor, recognition or courtesy an individual receives from others
- occupation, education, family background, area of residence
- occupation most important in US
Socioeconomic status SES
Calculated rating that combines social factors with income
Old money
Families that have been wealthy across generations
- most of wealth was inherited
- accustomed to privileged life
Upper class
- old money
- new money
- typically comes with great power and influence
New money
Acquired wealth through their own efforts rather than inheritance
- less prestigious
- looked down upon by old money
Upper middle class
- high income business people and professionals
- have college education and most have an advanced degree
- membership based on income rather than assets
- career oriented
- politically and socially active
- – limited to community level
Lower middle class
- hold white collar jobs; don’t involve manual labor
- requires less education than upper middle
- have a comfortable life but work hard to keep what they have achieved
Working class
- Some jobs have manual labor; blue-collar jobs
- jobs carry less prestige even though they make as much, if not more, than lower middle
- blue and pink collar
- have few financial reserves
Blue-collar examples
Factory, tradespeople, service workers
Pink collar examples
Clerical, lower level sales
– traditionally women hold these positions
Working poor
- lowest paying jobs
- often temporary and seasonal
- – housecleaning, migrant farm work, day labor intensive
- rarely make a living wage
- may depend on government-support programs
- most are high school dropouts; lack education
- typically not involved politically
Underclass
- Have experienced unemployment and poverty over several generations
- usually have undesirable, low paying jobs
- income is usually public assistance
- only 50% of children make it to higher class
Functionalist theory
- Stratification is necessary in the social structure
- certain roles need preformed to maintain society
- – higher rewards for those roles
- – the more important the role and the more skill needed the higher the reward
Weakness of the functionalist theory
- Fails to consider that not everyone has equal access to resources
- assumes that positions that offer higher rewards are more important
Conflict theory
- competition over scarce resources leads to inequality
- Marxist theorist
- American theorists
Marxist theorist
Social stratification is result of class expectation - upper class exploits the lower class
American theorist
Mills, Horowitz, and Domhoff
- groups compete for scarce resources
- if a group grind power, it can shape public policy and opinion
Weakness in conflict theory
- fails to recognize that unequal rewards are based somewhat on talent, skill and desire
- “find the right person for the job”
Social advancement
Moving up through the ranks of the class system
What are most agreed upon classes?
Upper Upper middle Lower middle Working class Working poor Underclass
Technique 1 reputational method
- Individuals in a community are asked to rank others based on knowledge of them
- suitable only for small communities where everyone knows everyone
- findings can’t be used to make conclusions about other communities
Technique 2 subjective method
- individuals are asked to determine their own social rank
- most people don’t like to put themselves in upper or lower class
- if choices to pick from are expanded, it offers better representation
Technique 3 objective method
- define social class by income, occupation and education
- statistical basis makes it less biased
- problem: selection and measurement of social factors (what factors do you use?)
Classes in United States
Upper 1% Upper middle 14% Lower middle 30% Working class 30% Working poor 22% Underclass 3%
Social mobility
Movement between or within social classes
- rarely move up more than one class
Horizontal mobility
Movement within a social class
Vertical mobility
Movement between social classes
Intragenerational mobility
Changes in social position during one’s life
Intergenerational mobility
Status differences between generations in the same family
What can cause upward mobility?
- advances in technology (jobs available change)
- merchandising patterns (increase in credit industry, greater emphasis on insurance, increased real-estate transactions, growth personal services)
- increase in level of education (smaller number with no diploma, larger number going to college)
Causes of downward mobility
- personal factors (illness, divorce and retirement)
- changes in economy (technology changes demand for labor; workers become unemployed, economic recession)
What is poverty like in the United States
- 13% lives below poverty line (2010); 14.5% (2013)
Poverty
Standard of living that is below the minimum level considered adequate by society
Poverty level
Minimum annual income needed for a family to survive
- based on cost of providing an adequate diet
- adjusted every year
- modified for number of people in family
Modern poverty
- based on providing the necessities of food, clothing, housing and “a little bit more”
Variations in American poverty
- children have the largest percentage of poverty
- 33%
- level is twice as high for African American and Hispanic
- women - 57% of poor are women
- head about 1/2 of all poor families
- African American and Hispanic are more likely than Caucasian
Life chances
- likelihood that individuals have of sharing opportunities and benefits of society
- includes health, length of life, housing and education
- vary by social class; effects poor most
- higher health concerns for the poor
- have shorter life expectancies
- inadequate nutrition, less access to medical care, environment, limited educational opportunities
Patterns of behavior
- divorce rates are higher in low income parents
- more likely to be arrested, convicted and sent to prison
- more likely to commit crimes that police pursue aggressively
- violent crimes and crimes against property
Government responds to poverty
- 37 million still live in poverty (2010); 46.5 million (2012)
- increased SS benefits and introduction of Medicare
- helped decrease number of elderly in poverty
- social welfare programs
Transfer payments
Redistribute money within society by funneling a percentage of tax revenues to groups that need public assistance
- SSI and TANF
Government subsidies
Transfer of goods and services
- food stamps, housing, school lunches and medicaid
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (1996)
- turned some welfare programs over to states
- limited time they can receive payments
