Functionalist Theories Of Statification Flashcards
What is Durkheims view on soctiey?
Society is more than the people in it - things that happen in society affects our opinions and actions
Social features are social facts, things that exist in society, eg music and fashion
🌱 people come and go but these stay constant = society is more important that people
How is social cohesion maintained?
Theough shared rituals and activities
Watching the same tv = shared consensus
Major sporting events unit society eg. The Olympics
What is social inequality?
A condition in which members of society have different amounts of wealth, prestige or power
What is stratification
Structured ranking of groups that give unequal economic reward and power in society
What is an ascribed status ?
The social position given to people without regard to their characteristics
Usually given at birth
What is an achieved status?
Social position given to a person largely through his/her own effort
What is parsons view on stratification
The order of society is based on the valued consensus
👀 if values are set people are ranked in terms of their actions
👀 more successful = high rewards
> > stratification is inevitable, as there is a need for valued consensus
What is an Marxist view of Parsons arguemnt
Stratification causes disagreement between people - any apparent valued consensus is ruling class ideology, to make the working class accept unequal rewards
What is Davis and Moores view on stratification
Believe it is a system that allocated people into jobs & status = it is universal and necessary 😶 functional necessity
🌷 society needs to fill the top jobs with the most talented and hard working = if everybody was paid the same their would be no incentive to work hard
🌷 people that put the most time and effort in get the best pay & working condition = high reward is motivation
General evaluation of Davis and Moores view
✔️ it is attractive to those who have positions of power and wealth
❌ kendall et al - they ignore structural inequality eg. Social facts like racial discrimination, inadequate school funding
How does Tumin criticise Davis and moore
- They assume higher positions are most important, working class jobs are just as important
- Differences in pay is due to power differences, not importance
- Motivation?? Stratification could discourage those at the bottom as those at the top could creat barriers to block opportunity
- Stratification is not integrative, it causes hostility, suspicion and distress
Do functionalist have a positive or negative view of class inequality and why?
Positive ; it motivates people of all social classes to aspire and enjoy higher rewards
What does functionalist strongly believe about?
Meritocracy; their is an equal opportunity for talented individuals to rise from any social class
Higher social classes should be highly rewarded; as they are there through merit
Their in an open social mobility = the talented will rise
1st lot or evaluation of functionalist views on social class and meritocracy
❌ bowles and Gintis - meritocracy is a myth, as it hides the continued failure of working class to attain qualifications ❌ those at the bottom of society are held back by structural constrains eg poverty ✔️ Goldthrope - there is a long range of mobility ✔️ rise in women success provide evidence that it is the ability that counts ❌ elite self recruitment - it is who you know = attain ruling class
2st lot or evaluation of functionalist views on social class and meritocracy
❌ statistics show rhat middle class get more benefits than the working class, for example;
1. Harrow, top school, costs £28,000. The national minimum wage is £20,000
2. They follow the correspondence principle eg wearing business suits to school
3. Use the elaborate code = sophisticated language
4. Sugarman, working class value immediate gratification = less likely to succeed
Middle class value delayed gratification = success
How has functionalist influenced new right views
The view that the lower class are held back by their cultural differences eg laziness
Is adopted by the new right
What does charles murray say?
The underclass have different cultural values than the rest of society
They embraces an alternative subculture with deviant values
What does peter saunders say with an influence of postmodernism?
Sees society as divided less in ways of class but in terms of consumption; SELF RESTRATIFICATION as occured;
- people seeking a way to satisfy their consumption needs
- People that rely on the government
What social policys have been made in light of this?
- bedroom tax and new controls on job allowance, reduce the underclass
1 trickle down theory - cutting taxes for the rich so they have more money to boost the economy = better
Evaluation of new right views
❌ the media shows that their is “undeserved” higher wages given, eg. Top bankers who are to blame for the 2008 economic crash
❌ highest wages are given to footballers & celebrities - are these the most important jobs
❌ breen and Goldthrope - sauders ignores how the poor and unemployed find themselves trapped in a cycle of deprivation and lack of opportunity
What does feminist say about functionalist views
Women face factors such as the glass ceiling effect
This goes against meritocracy
What does marxist say about functionalist views
Their view is nothing more than ruling class ideology and false class consciousness
How is Brooklen Beckham an contemporary example?
He has got an Ascribed Status, shows middle class do naturally have no opportunity to succed
- got an internship at burrbury, which was open to the public
2,500 people applied
How is UCL social cleansing a contemporary example?
If you do not have the money to afford to live in london you cannot go
Working class have material deprivation = less chance of success
Douglas
In the last 40 years 7 different classes have emerged, give 2 examples
- Precariat - bottom if society
2. Elite - highest 6%
What has happened in the past 40 years in classes?
People who were in the working class jumped, as their is two new classes below them
People who were in the middle class find themselves worse iff in the spectrum
Elitism is very exclusive
🌱 society and its class system is much more complex
What us Spencer’s view on society?
Organic anology
Everybody works together for the common good - like body parts
We cannot survive alone, we need the other parts of society to support us
