Social Stratification Flashcards
Define social stratification.
the way society is structured in a hierarchy of strata (layers) that are unequally ranked one above the other.
Define social inequality.
access to, share of resources and opportunities. Sources include class, gender, ethnicity and age.
What is one example of inequality?
wealth.
social class inequality.
occupation.
Define social mobility.
can move up and down throughout the strata.
What is ascribed status?
social positions are fixed at birth and do not change over time.
What is achieved status?
social positions are earned on the basis of personal talents or merit.
What is an open society?
social mobility is possible.
What is a closed society?
social mobility is not possible.
What do functionalists think about stratification?
It is functional for society because it ensures the most talented people fill the most important jobs.
Inequality is also functional as it spurs people to work harder.
Who are Davis and Moore?
All societies need some way of placing individuals into different social positions or roles that must be filled.
Some of these positions are functionally more important for society than others. Eg provide essential services services and ensure society’s survival over time.
These functionally important roles are difficult to fill and require people with exceptional talent, skills and abilities. Only a minority have the natural talents. They must undertake lengthy and costly training which involves making sacrifices.
Davis and Moore say that these positions must rank highly on the social scale. They must have high salary and status to attract the right people.
Therefore, they believe that social inequality means that the most important jobs are filled by the most talented.
What are some criticisms of Davis and Moore?
myth of meritocracy
they ignore privilidge
functionally important roles don’t always get paid the most.
How does Marx view class?
Identified two main classes: the bourgeoisie (the ruling class) and the proletariat (the subject class). Membership of these classes was determined by economic factors - that is, by ownership and non-ownership of the means of production.
The workers experienced alienation under capitalism because they lacked control over production and over the products of their labour.
Other classes included the lumpenproletariats (drop outs and criminals) and the petty bourgeoisie (owners of small businesses).
Differing interests between the classes lead to a class struggle and conflict.
Marx highlighted the link between social class and power. The bourgeoisie also held political power.
What is the ruling class ideology?
The bourgeoisie’s position was justified by the ruling class ideology. E.g. values and ideas about freedom such as the free market serve to disguise exploitation and oppression. The ruling class ideology lead to false class consciousness The proletariat, for example, were not aware of the true nature of social relationships under capitalism.
What are some criticisms of Marx?
there has not been a social revolution
development of a large middle class and opportunities for social mobility challenge the Marxist approaches to the class structure.
feminists argue that Marxists focus on class at the expense of gender divisions in societies, while others argue that they neglect ethnicity.
Define elite.
A group of people that has the most power in a society based on its wealth or privilidge.
Define oligarchy.
A small group of powerful individuals who control an organisation or a country usually to further their own interests.
What was Weber’s view on class?
Argued that classes were formed in the marketplaces such as the labour market. In the labour market, one class hired labour and another class sold their labour. Weber saw the processes of hiring labour and the rewards (or life chances) that arose from this as crucial in explaining class.
Weber argued that a class is a group of people who have similar access to life chances; that is, chances of being successful in life and opportunities in education, health and so on. He identified four main social classes:
property owners
the petty bourgeoisie (e.g. shop keepers)
professionals
the working class.
These different class situations reflected different market situations or different life chances in the labour market.
Like Marx, he saw class as based on the distribution of economic resources such as wealth. However, he also stressed the importance of non-economic factors such as status (prestige) and power (political influence) in determining life chances and in shaping patterns of stratification.
Weber distinguished between class and status. He saw class and status as two separate aspects of stratification. In his view, a persons status may differ from their class. Eg Lord and Lady’s have status but may have no money.
How can occupation be determined?
unskilled and skilled.
manual and non-manual.
What is The Registrar General’s social class scale?
Uses occupation to define class.
I professional occupations eg solicitors or surgeons
II managerial + technical eg nurses
III (non-manual) skilled non-manual occupations eg receptionists
III (manual) skilled manual occupations eg hairdressers.
IV part skilled postal delivery workers.
V unskilled occupations eg labourers and cleaners.
What are the advantages of using occupation to measure social class?
information is easy to get hold of
good guide to skill, qualifications and income
occupation influences power and status
wc occupations are mainly manual, physical work.
What are the disadvantages of using occupation to measure social class?
doesn't accomodate jobless people eg unemployed or retired occupation doesn't tell you about wealth or property. eg lottery winner up until the 1970s a family's social class would be categorised based on the man's occupation. the same job title may hide significant differences in social class.
What is The National Statistics Socio-Economic Classifications (NS-SEC)?
Another scale which determines social class by occupation. It covers the whole of the adult population, including the unemployed. Includes three other categories, 'students', 'occupations not stated or inadequatly described' and 'not classifiable for other reasons' under 'not classified'.
Define life chances
refers to people’s chances of achieving positive or negative outcomes as they progress through life. They relate to health, life expectancy and education.
What are life chances effected by?
Life chances are effected by inequalities in wealth, income, power and status. They are not distributed equally.
What are some factors effecting life chance inequality?
life expectancy at birth morbidity income and wealth housing infant mortality educational outcomes poverty employment prospects.
Define affluent
having lots of money and material possessions.
Define instrumentalism.
an attitude or apprach to something (like paid work) where it is a means to an end (e.g.the wages give a comfortable lifestyle) rather than an end to itself (job satisfaction).
extrinsic v intrinsic.
Define privatised nuclear family.
a nuclear family that is cut off from the extended family. The lifestyle tends to focus on the home.
What is the embourgeoisie thesis?
the wc are becoming more middle class in their norms and values as their income and standards of living are improved. Their aspirations were based on consumerism. This means that their affluence has led them to adopt privatised lifestyles (all about buying). The wc values of solidarity and community has disappeared.
What did Goldthorpe find?
Looked at affluent manual workers, including their wives. Rejected the embourgeoisie thesis. Instead, he identified an emerging 'new' working class. This new class is similar to the middle class in terms of their privatised, home centred lifestyles. They wanted to improve their own pay rather than change society for the benefit of others. (instrumental collectivism). The working class stuck together as a means to an end (to get more money). Community was important for money.
What did Devine find?
Revisited Goldthorpe’s research. She found that there was little clear evidence that the wc moving was motivated by wanting toimprove their living standards. Many were forced to move to escaoe unemployment.
They weren’t purely instrumental in their motives for geographical mobility.
She found little change in wc lifestyles, norms and values.
Define social mobility.
people’s ability to move up or down a society’s strata.
Define intra generational social mobility.
the movement of an individual between social classes over their lifetime as a result, for example, of a promotion.
Define inter generational social mobility.
the movement between the generations of a family and occurs when a child enters a different social class from his or her parents.
What did Goldthorpe find about social mobility?
mobility study showed that although wc children could, and did, end up in middle class jobs they were much less likely to do so.
What did Crompton find about social mobility?
social mobility is in decline due to the change in occupational structure. Skilled manual jobs have declined and the growth in professional and manual jobs has slowed down.
What did Scott find about class?
argues that education does not matter very much when determining educational success and imporvements in income. Overall, it seems that class structures are self-reproducing. So the chances of a person rising or falling in the social hierarchy depends on their background far more than their individual educational achievment. The influence of class is weaker than in the past, but it still remains the strongest influence.
What is the social mobility commission?
candidates suitability was assessed by their ‘polish’ ei confidence, dress, accent, behaviour.
What are some problems in measuring social mobility?
some studies of inter generational mobility focus on males only, so are not representative.
during longitudinal studies a young person might only be in a temporary job.
participants memory - studies that ask participants to recall employment histories are likely to be based on unreliable data.
What are the arguments for the importance of class?
economic changes such as recessions have made people more aware of class. social mobility - people care about what class they are in, and what class they are moving into to. A large majority of the top jobs are taken by privileged classes. Evidence suggests life chances are still affected by your class position. Polish
What arguments are there for the decline in the importance of class?
stereotypes are no longer as strong eg not all upper class people live in stately homes. post modernist factors such as gender, ethnicity and sexuality are now how people are more likely to identify themselves, not class. wc population has shrunk due to changes in occupational structure. there is greater freedom in lifestyle choices. People can make decisions without the restrictions of their social class. Class dealignment - people are no longer voting according to their class eg upper class vote for labour. Functionalists believe that Britain is a meritocracy and so ability and motivation matter most. Class is a social construct.
Define canalisation.
The way that parents channel their children’s interests according to ‘what is appropriate’ for their gender.
Define sexism.
Discrimination on the basis of sex.
Define prejudice.
A prejudgement in favour of, or against a person, group or issue. Prejudice involves opinions and beliefs, rather than actions.
Define discrimination.
Less favorable or unfair treatment based, for example, on an individual’s gender, ethnicity or age.
What is the 1970 equal pay act?
employers must pay men and women the same salary when they are doing the same work or work of equal value.
What is the 1975 sex discrimination act?
made it unlawful to discriminate or treat someone less favourably because of their sex.
Define glass ceiling.
an invisible barrier to promotion faced by some groups, including women.
What did Holmes say about gender?
Argues that society is still organised in ways that tend to benefit men more than women.
Society is controlled mainly by men, who have considerable power within politics and the workplace.
Women are under-represented in politics.
What is the crisis of masculinity?
underachievement of boys compared to girls in schools.
the decline of paid work in manufacturing and heavy industries.
women’s increased participation in paid employment.
