SOCIAL CLASS EVIDENCE

Question 1

Workplace

Answer 1

• Mac an Ghaill – States that deindustrialisation has lead to a ‘Crisis of masculinity’ amongst working class males – They face unemployment.
• The Joseph Rowntree Foundation - “Around 18% of workers in the bottom fifth of hourly pay rates say they would like to work more hours, but they are not available. Lack of affordable, flexible childcare and the cost and availability of transport often restrict the hours they can work.”
• The Equality Trust - “0.1% of the ‘top earners’ in the UK hold an average income of £1,000,970 in comparison to an average salary of £12,969 held by 90% of the UK…”
• Scott – The social closure exercised by the upper class ensures they have the highest concentration of wealth. E.g. intermarriage, high culture and the old boy network.

Question 2

Education

Answer 2

-Bourdieu - Education system is biased towards the culture of the dominant classes and it devalues the knowledge and skills of the working class through the ‘hidden curriculum’. Furthermore, he argues that the main function of education is social reproduction and education discriminates against the working class because they lack the cultural capital to succeed.

-Willis – Working class ‘lads’ were fatalistic about their manual labour futures - They were negatively labelled by teachers as a result and did not work hard as they did not see the value of education in relation to their future in unskilled work.
Willis – Working class males see their futures as working in basic manual labour jobs like their fathers therefore they do not aspire for more - This means that they create anti-school subcultures and are negatively labelled by teachers.

-Jackson – Working class ladettes are generally working class and adopt anti-school attitudes – They adopt an assertive femininity around smoking and arguing with teachers - As a result they were negatlively labelled by their teachers.

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Question 3

media

Answer 3

• Milliband (Marxist) - States that the media is the new “opium of the people” in that it distracts us as the working class masses from real social issues faced in a capitalist society. Miliband states that in a capitalist society inequality is inevitable, justifiable and effective for the ruling class to control the masses - The media is just another way we are controlled.
• Helsper points out that the government plans to make public services ‘digital by default’ meaning that these individuals will be unable to access them. They also found out that children from poorer homes are becoming victims of a “digital divide” because their parents lack the skills to help them use the internet as effectively as their middle-class counterparts, says research. Children from better-off backgrounds not only had greater access to the world wide web at home but were more likely to exploit its array of resources.
• Cornford and Robins - Surveillance used by companies to influence individual decisions and target them as consumers (including personal data). It is used to target the working class and passes on ‘ruling class ideologies’ which benefit the upper class.

Question 4

crime

Answer 4

• Graham and Bowling - Middle class children are just as likely to be involved in crime but state it’s a case of ‘who you know’ which helps people get out of trouble.
• Walmsley et al - 41% of prisoners are from the lowest social classes. But only 19% of the overall population.
• Harding – Working class youths in London face deprivation and turn to crime for income – Harding calls this a ‘Street Casino’ as they turn to crime and gamble with their lives – street capital is gained through committing deviance/criminal activities.