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social stratification Flashcards

1
Q

what is social stratification

A

the way society is structured into a hierarchy of unequal strata or layers

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2
Q

how is social hierarchy shaped

A

pyramid - most privileged at the top, least at the bottom

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3
Q

what is social inequality

A

the uneven distribution of resources (money) and opportunities (education)

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4
Q

what are the different forms of stratification

A
  • status
  • open / closed system
  • slavery
  • caste system
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5
Q

what is status stratification

A

ascribed - fixed at birth
achieved - earned based on merit

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6
Q

what is open/closed stratification

A

open - social mobility is possible
closed - social mobility isn’t possible

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7
Q

what is slavery stratification

A

one group claims right on another group and treats them as property

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8
Q

what is caste stratification

A

feudalism old class system - social class system today

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9
Q

what perspective was Davis and Moore

A

functionalist

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10
Q

what did Davis and Moore argue

A
  • societies need a way of placing individuals into the different roles or social positions that must be filled (role allocation)
  • most people cannot fulfil these roles as they are unmotivated to train for them, roles need to attract the right people - most desirable for the role
  • societies need some degree of inequality to survive - creates competition for people
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11
Q

what did Davis and Moore say about stratification

A

functionally necessary for society because it ensures the most talented people train and fill the most important jobs

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12
Q

criticisms of Davis and Moore

A
  • many jobs that are vital to society have relatively low pay or low status
  • assume society is meritocratic - critics disagree
  • marxists and feminists see stratification as a system in which some groups gain at the expense of others
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13
Q

what were the 2 classes Karl Marx identified in a capitalist society

A

bourgeoisie
proletariat

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14
Q

what did Karl Marx say about economic factors

A
  • this is how class membership is determined - ownership or non ownership of the means of production
  • wealthy bourgeoisie own the means of production, proletariat sell their labour to them in order to survive - proletariat experience alienation (lack of control) due to this
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15
Q

what are the 2 other classes

A

lumpenproletariat - dropouts/criminals of society
petty bourgeoisie - owners of small businesses

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16
Q

what do the bourgeoisie and proletariat both have

A

opposing views
bourgeoisie - ever increasing profits, exploit the proletariat - leads to class struggle
proletariat - higher wages

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17
Q

what is the ruling class ideology

A

ideas of competition and free market disguise the reality of exploitation - bourgeoisie are justified by this

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18
Q

what does ruling class ideology lead too

A

false class consciousness - proletariat are unaware of the true nature of social relationships under capitalism

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19
Q

what did Karl Marx argue

A

over time

the bourgeoisie would get richer and smaller and the petty bourgeoisie would be unable to compete, sink the proletariat.
proletariat would get bigger and increasingly poor, eventually they would rebel, leads to a revolution - resulting in classless society as means of production would become communally owned

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20
Q

what did Weber argue

A

classes are formed in the labour market, where one class of people hires labour and another class sells the labour, this process is crucial in explaining class

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21
Q

what did Weber argue class to be

A

a group of people who have similar life chances of being successful (education, health)

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22
Q

what did Weber label the 4 social classes to be

A

property owners
professionals
petty bourgeoisie
working class

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23
Q

how do these different classes work

A

all have different market situations or life chances in the labour market

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24
Q

what did Weber see class to be based on

A

distribution of economic resources such as wealth - similar to Marx

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25
Q

what were the non economic factors which Weber stressed

A

status - prestige attached to their lifestyle - may differ from their economic position
power - different amounts of power in each of the 4 classes

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26
Q

what is the main form of stratification in England today

A

socio-economic class

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27
Q

what is social class based on

A

economic factors (occupations)

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28
Q

what is occupations used for

A

measure class because it’s linked to level of pay, work conditions and status

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29
Q

subjective class

A

how people see themselves in class terms (working, middle, upper)

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30
Q

what are life chances

A

peoples chances of having positive or negative outcomes over their lifestyle in relation things such as their health, education or employment.
they are distributed unequally and shaped by inequalities.

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31
Q

who focuses on inequalities based on gender

A

feminists

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32
Q

what are inequalities based on gender argued

A
  • gender is a key division of society
  • women experience glass ceiling, which is where their is a ‘barrier’ to promotion
  • explanations to gender inequality are due to sex discrimination in the workplace
  • argue society is patriarchal and men have power
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33
Q

what are the inequalities based on ethnicity

A

many places have equal opportunity polices to support equality and diversity and awareness of institutional racism is increased

HOWEVER
some sociologists say little has changed in certain fields of employment - justified by racism and discrimination

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34
Q

what do Marxist says on inequalities based on race

A

racism and sexism is built into the capitalist society - some people of ethnicity were hired during the economic boom and fired during recessions when capitalism no longer needs them

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35
Q

what are the inequalities based on age

A

age is socially constructed and expectations surrounding age vary historically and culturally
e.g. change in views on child labour

36
Q

what is ageism

A

a situation where someone is treated differently and less favourably due to their age
e.g. people who are too old cannot learn new ways

young people and old people are more vulnerable to ageism - there are now regulations in place to limit it where possible

37
Q

how else can peoples life chances be influenced

A

disability - unable to complete job
sexuality - homophobic behaviours
religion - different views
beliefs - different views

38
Q

what is the embourgeoisement thesis

A

working class families were becoming more middle class in their norms and values, their affluence led them to adopt privatised lifestyles centred on home and family and have aspirations based on consumerisms

39
Q

who did the affluent worker study

A

Gold thorpe and Lockwood

40
Q

how did goldthorpe and lockwood conduct their study

A

through interviewing affluent workers and their wives from 3 companies in Luton about their attitudes to work, lifestyle, aspirations and political views

41
Q

what did goldthorpe find

A

he rejected the embourgeoisement theory but argued affluent workers may be part of a new working class that resembles the middle class in therms if their privatised, home centred lives

42
Q

facts about affluent workers

A
  • had instrumental views to paid work - work was a means to an end rather than to get satisfaction and friends
  • affluent workers support labour party
  • they had a sticking together motto rather than solidarity
43
Q

how did devine conduct her research

A

carried out interviews with 62 luton residents - men mainly worked in shop floor jobs at the car factory + some women

44
Q

what did devine revisit luton for

A

the explore how far working class people’s lifestyles were privatised

45
Q

what did devine do with her findings

A

compared it to her secondary data of goldthorpes study

46
Q

what did devine argue

A

working class lifestyles, norms and values had not changed as much as suggested by goldthorpe

47
Q

3 factors of devines work

A
  • her sample did not have purely privatised and home centred lifestyles and social relationships
  • interviewees we’re not purely instrumental or motivated by desire to improve living standards
  • aspirations and their social and political values were not individualistic - plenty evidence of solidarity
48
Q

what is social mobility

A

people moving up or down a societies strata, between social classes

49
Q

what is inter generational social mobility

A

movement between the generations of family and occurs when a child enters a different class from their parent s

50
Q

what are some routes to social mobility upwards

A
  • educational credentials
  • marriage
  • changes in occupation
51
Q

what are some barriers to social mobility upwards

A

discrimination - race, gender, ethnicity
lack of skills or educational credentials

52
Q

what does research show about social mobility in the uk

A

children from working class backgrounds have less chance of moving into professional occupations than children from professional backgrounds

53
Q

what is a decrease in mobility due to

A

changes in occupational structure

54
Q

when do sociologists know more about social mobility and why

A

the past more than now due to individuals outcome or destination cannot be known until they reach middle age as society is so unpredictable now compared to before

55
Q

what are the problems met with social mobility

A
  • some studies mainly focus on men rather than women
  • participants may not remember their employment histories and their parents
  • problems with when to start looking into a persons career to measure mobility
56
Q

wealth

A

the ownership of assets such as housing and land as well as saving and shares

57
Q

income

A

the flow of resources that individuals and households receive over a specific period of time

58
Q

absolute poverty

A

their income is insufficient to obtain the minimum needed to survive

59
Q

relative poverty

A

their income is well below average so they are poor compared to others in their society

60
Q

social exclusion

A

people are shut out from everyday activities and customs

61
Q

what does the definition of poverty by the state show

A

determines how far government accepts that poverty exists and the policies to address it

62
Q

subjective poverty

A

based on wether people see themselves as living in poverty

63
Q

environmental poverty

A

measures deprivation in terms of conditions such as housing or air pollution

64
Q

who discovered poverty in the UK

A

Townsend

65
Q

what did Townsend aim to discover

A

how many people were living in poverty in the UK

66
Q

what did Townsend develop

A

a deprivation index to measure relative deprivation based off of 12 items such as ‘household does not usually have a Sunday joint’

67
Q

what did Townsend find

A

almost 23% of the UK were in poverty, the proportion was much higher than that based off the state standard of poverty and the relative income standard of poverty

68
Q

criticisms of Townsend

A
  • question some off the items in townsend’s index and how they are selected
  • if the index is inadequate, then the statistics are also questioned
69
Q

groups at risk of poverty - ethnicity and poverty

A
  • people in UK households headed by someone from a minority ethnic group are at risk of living in low-income households
  • minority ethnic groups are often disadvantaged in terms of unemployment and pay and quality of jobs
  • includes racism and discrimination
70
Q

groups at risk of poverty - gender and poverty

A
  • women are more at risk than men
  • women have a longer life expectancy yet are less likely to have a occupational pension
  • women are more likely to be head lone parent families than men
  • gender pay gap : relatively poor paid
  • women are more likely to be in part time employment
71
Q

groups at risk of poverty - child poverty

A
  • children are more vulnerable to poverty if they live in families with 4 or more children
  • poverty are more likely to have negative life chances on children (life expectancy, health, etc)
72
Q

culture of poverty and cycle of deprivation

A

people from the poorest part of society are socialised within a sub-culture of poverty - they develop a immediate gratification and see no point in planning ahead - however, these values discourage them from staying in school and saving money and in turn escaping poverty.

poverty involves both material and cultural deprivation - it consists from one generation to the next, which locks families into a cycle of deprivation

  • CRITICISMS: tells you how poverty happens between generations but fails to show why poverty forms in the first place
73
Q

MURRAY - NEW RIGHTS study focus

A

examines US governments and social policies since the late 1960s that aimed to reduce poverty, he focuses on the impact of these policies on the behaviour of members of the underclass

policies actually produced poverty and encouraged people to become more dependent on welfare benefits
he says the underclass is growing and poses as a threat to societies well-being because it’s members are responsible for increase in crime rates and are a burden to taxpayers.

74
Q

the underclass in the UK

A

argues the underclass is growing rapidly, he focuses in behaviour of the ‘undeserving poor’ and examined 3 measures of the underclass:
1. rising crime rates
2. increase in illegitimate births
3. drop out from the labour force among working age men

75
Q

criticisms of the new rights

A

rejects idea of the an underclass with different attitudes actually exists

underclass are used as a scapegoat from problems in society

76
Q

functionalism and poverty

A

poverty performs positive functions for some groups in society and helps ensure that dirty and dangerous work gets done cheaply
CRITICISMS: functionalism defends poverty rather than explains it

77
Q

marxism and poverty

A

poverty is inevitable based off the class based divisions in capitalist society - capitalism generates extreme wealth for the bourgeoise and poverty in the proletariat - poverty serves the needs of the bourgeoisie and the fear of poverty keeps wages down and profits up

78
Q

feminism and poverty

A

women face greater risk of poverty than men, possible reason are: gender pay gap and inequality in the division of caring responsibilities, women are more likely to outlive their parents

79
Q

what has globalisation done to poverty

A
  • globalisation has increased inequality in the UK
80
Q

Webber’s view on power and authority

A

individuals or groups exercise power when they get what they want despite any opposition, power is based on coercion or authority.

81
Q

what is coercion

A

the use of threat or use of force including physical violence - people obey as they feel they have no choice and they are forced against their will

82
Q

what is authority

A

exercised over people when they are willingly agreeing to obey an individual or group because they see it as the right thing to do, force is unnecessary because people consent to power being exercised over them

83
Q

what are the 3 times of authority were identified by Weber

A
  • traditional authority - custom and tradition (monarchy)
  • rational legal authority - accepting a set of laws or rules
  • charismatic authority - obey a leader who they believe has extraordinary personal qualities that inspire them
84
Q

Marxist perspective on power

A
  • power is closely linked to social class relationships and the bourgeoisies power is based on their ownership of the means of production and use their power to exploit the proletariat
  • political power = economic power so the bourgeoise by their economic power also holds political power
85
Q

feminists on power

A
  • gender inequality is the most important source of division in society
  • society is patriarchal
  • women are underrepresented among holders of political power, decision makers and judiciary in Britain
86
Q

Walby on patriarchy - 6 patriarchal structures

A
  1. Paid employment - women typically earn less than men and are excluded by better types of work
  2. The household - husbands and partners exploit women by benefitting from their unpaid labour at home
  3. Culture - culture differences between masculinity and femininity
  4. Sexuality - double standard is an aspect of male dominance, women - slags and men - admired
  5. Male violence against women - male violence effects womens actions and is a form of power over them
  6. The state - state polices are biased towards patriarchal interests and there has been little effort to improve womens positions in the public sphere
87
Q

everyday power relationships

A

power is exercised in relationships between people in everyday settings such as homes, workplaces and classrooms due to people enter into peoples behaviours or when others try to control them
power relationships operate when there are inequalities in power between individuals and groups which operate between children and parents, students and teachers, public and police

sociology (6 decks)

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