STRATIFICATION
AND INEQUALITY
Chapter 12
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
Definition – the hierarchal division of society according
to rank, cast, or class – in all societies people are
evaluated on the basis of some characteristic or set of
characteristics – (example?)
In every type of social stratification system those on top
are considered better than those on the bottom (better
can mean many things but it usually tied to something
that is valued in society)
COMMON ELEMENTS OF
STRATIFICATION
1. The systems tends to persist for a long time
2. The systems are resistant to change
3. Each system is bolstered by widely accepted
legitimizing rationales (support).
Legitimizing rationales are ways of knowing
(norms, values, beliefs) that support inequality
or the differences between strata as fair
CASTE SYSTEMS
A persons caste is determined at birth
(hereditary groups)
Based on ascribed characteristics
Generally determines a person’s prestige,
occupation, residences and social relationships
In a caste system no one is allowed to wed, eat
food cooked by, or drink from the cup of
anyone from a lower caste (it would defile or
contaminate the person from the higher caste)
CASTE SYSTEM OF INDIA
Its legitimating rationale is grounded in the Hindu
religion.
Beginning with transmigration (reincarnation) – people
are born into a caste based on their previous actions
and thoughts in a prior life
Karma – the inexorable application of the law of cause
and effect
If a person lives a good life – following the rules of the
religion – they will fulfill their caste based duties and
will inevitably be born into a higher caste in the next
life – or it can go the other way if the rules of the
religion are not followed
THE ESTATE SYSTEM
The first estate – made up of the aristocracy or nobility
The second estate – made up of the clergy
Originally lands were granted to individuals based on loyalty
and or distinguished military records
Then passed on through inheritance (ascribed)
Not ascribed but achieved (the highest ranking church men
and women)
The third estate – made up of the peasants or serfs
(commoners)
Tied legally to specific parcels of land - having
responsibilities to the land owner
ESTATE SYSTEMS
Feudal System (Robin Hood)
Rank is determined by birth
Contact between different estates is allowable
but generally only in the form of boss and
worker
Marriage between different estates is most often
forbidden by law
With the onset of industrialization the estate
system broke down
CLASS SYSTEM
Made possible by industrialization and
urbanization
Geographic mobility and industry provided
opportunity
In the class system, it is commonly thought that
the best people work their way to the highest
ranks
The true class system is suppose to turn on
achieved rather than ascribed characteristics
CLASS SYSTEM
continued
The belief that the best rise to the top justifies the classbased stratification system as fair and just.
In other words, “the position you reach in the class
system is the direct result of your own efforts, traits,
and abilities – not economic or social forces”
“Therefore the class system regards “inequality as
legitimate because, after all, people end up where they
deserve to be”
THEORIES OF INEQUALITY
Karl Marx
Means of production
Bourgeoisie and proletariat
Purely economic
Max Weber
Position on the market
Class, status and party
SLAVERY
Slavery can exist within any system of
stratification
The definition of slavery - “slaves are people
whose function is to serve others and who have
no political rights of their own – no right to own
property, to sign legal contracts, to legally marry
or maintain legal custody of their children” pg
207
SLAVERY
continue
Slavery is most often found in societies that are
heavily agrarian – as opposed to industrial why?
People become enslaved through capture in war
or kidnapping, inability to pay debts, sentenced
to slavery, or sold in to slavery by parents.
If slavery persists in a society for more than two
generations – slavery will become hereditary –
(ascribed)
http://www.state.gov/j/tip/what/
OPEN VS. CLOSED
STRATIFICATION SYSTEMS
In closed systems there is no chance of social mobility
In open systems social mobility is allowed
Horizontal mobility – movement from one occupation to
another in the same stratum
Vertical mobility –movement up or down the stratification
system – upper to lower class or lower to upper class
Intergenerational refers to changes in social position by different
generations
Intra-generational refers to changes in social position within
one’s own life time - career mobility
INEQUALITY AND
ACHIEVEMENT
Chapter 13
“Nobody cares more about free enterprise
and competition and about the best man
winning than the man who inherited his
father’s store” C. Wright Mills (1959)
CLASS
People are reluctant to discuss class issues
It’s a sensitive subject
Many people do not think class is an issue today
Income is the amount of money that an individual or
family group receives in wages, salaries, investments,
and so on
Wealth is the total value of the assets owned by an
individual or family group, minus the amount of debt
they have
INEQUALITY
By 2004 the most affluent (wealthiest) 1% of
Americans owned 33% of the nation’s wealth. The top
5% of the population owned nearly 60% of the
nation’s wealth
Life chances (Wealth vs Income)
Go to page 217 The Matthew Effect - “Once wealth is
accumulated, opportunities to make more money
multiply, since accumulated wealth leads to incomeearning opportunities that are not open to those
without wealth”
EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY
PEOPLES LIFE CHANCES ARE AFFECTED BY
THEIR CLASS ORIGINS
Health – access to quality healthcare
Education – access to quality education – preschool – through
high school
Working Life – making less money and working less hours due
work opportunities
Crime and Justice – greater potential to be a victim of crime – to
be arrested and incarcerated
EXPLAINING INEQUALITY
(SOCIAL STRATIFICATION)
Cultural Explanations
– People in different social classes have different patterns of
values, beliefs, and behavioral norms, which they pass on to
their children
– The values, beliefs, and behavioral norms of lower classes are
not very compatible with success in society
– Culture of poverty
Structural Explanations
– Focuses on limited opportunities
– Consequences of poverty
THE FALLACY OF HARD WORK
Different starting points
Most people do not experience vertical social mobility
– Social factors (industrialization)
– Class differences (changes in birth rates and access to jobs)
– Immigration – lowest rung of the occupational ladder
Structural mobility – has little to do with the individuals
and more to do with changes in the social structure
– Future problems in employment as technology increase the
need for large pools of unskilled workers will decrease
INEQUALITY AND
ASCRIPTION
Chapter 14
“Nobody cares more about free enterprise
and competition and about the best man
winning than the man who inherited his
father’s store” C. Wright Mills (1959)
INEQUALITY AND ASCRIPTION
RACE, ETHNICITY, AND GENDER
Historically, the people of the world have not
questioned inequality they just accepted it as
“simply the way things were”.
In the modern world the ideology purports that
“all men are created equal” – may the best man
win – so to speak
INEQUALITY AND ASCRIPTION
RACE, CLASS AND GENDER
Go to table 14.1 (pg 238) education by race and
gender
Go to table 14.2 (pg 239) occupation by gender
(earning ratios)
Go to figure 14.2 (pg 240) denied mortgages by
race and ethnicity
Go to table 14.1 (pg 240) average earnings by
field and gender
Purchasing opportunities in the inner city
PREJUDICE
Is the negative and persistent judgment based on
scant or incorrect information about people in a
group. Prejudice involves beliefs and attitudes
Prejudice is an unjustifiable prejudgment
Prejudice is sustained by stereotypes – over
simplified generalized images about members of
a particular group.
How is prejudice learned?
DISCRIMINATION
Discrimination involves behavior
Discrimination is the unfavorable treatment of
people based on their membership in some ill
favored group
Can you be prejudice and not discriminate?
Can you discriminate and not be prejudice?
How is discriminatory behavior learned?
TYPES OF DISCRIMINATORY
BEHAVIORS
Verbal rejection
– Using derogatory nouns to refer to people in particular
groups – racist or sexist jokes etc
Avoidance
Active discrimination
– Exclude members of particular groups from education,
employment, housing, political or recreational opportunities
Physical attacks
– Using violence or the threat of violence (beatings, church
burnings)
Extermination
– Participating in lynchings, massacres, genocide
INDIVIDUAL VS. INSTITUTIONAL
DISCRIMINATION
Individual discrimination occurs when an individual
discriminates against another individual (or group)
– Apartment owner will not rent to someone because of race,
gender, ethnicity etc…
Institutional discrimination – involves a denial of
opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups
that results from the normal operation of society –
built into the usual operations of society
– Education
– Employment
THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF
MINORITY GROUPS
Race a slippery concept – not very useful to biologists
but is an important concept for sociologists
Because people’s assumptions about race have
tremendous consequences for individuals
Race is a socially constructed attribute that is tied to
beliefs about differences in the physical makeup of
different individuals
Ethnicity is different – it has to do with shared cultural
heritage –
– The concept of ethnicity has connotations of something
foreign or exotic -
THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF
GENDER
Biological vs sociological
Sex vs gender
Sex differences have to do with biological and
physical differences
Gender differences have to do with social
expectations as to how males and females ought
to act
Gender identity
You will complete Critical Annotations for each of the assigned chapters from the textbook.
Annotations will be due each Friday by 11:59 PM via the Blackboard submission link for the
assigned reading for the week.
Forming your own opinions and coming up with new ideas in response to your reading are very
important parts of the reading process, but you need to learn how to produce these reactions. As you
read, plan to record your notes on a separate piece of paper.
Instructions: First, create two columns. Then, as you read, write the author’s main ideas on the left
and your reactions to those ideas on the right side of the page. Be prepared to explain the connection
between your notes and the material you’ve read.
Please note the following with regard to the completion and submission of the critical
annotation assignments:
1. Each week's annotations are to be submitted in ONE typed document with the
chapters individually labeled and annotated and entries numbered. Please note, pictures
of hand written annotations or screen shots are NOT acceptable.
2. Please review the example provided for the required format. No other format, unless
specifically approved by me, will be accepted and will result in the loss of points.
3. While there is no minimum number of annotations required, your work should reflect
the content of the chapter.
4. There a link provided for each week's annotations, please be sure to submit the correct
annotations through the correct link.
5. Grammar is not specifically evaluated; however, if it is so poor that it impedes my
ability to understand what you have written, it will impact your score. Please remember
your task, in all written assignments, is to clearly articulate the relative facts and/or your
thoughts as they relate to the subject at hand.
Example
Author’s Main Ideas
A Student’s Reactions
White drove 200 miles to this bookstore.
That’s a long way to drive to a bookstore.
The bookstore was in Micanopy.
I found out Micanopy is in Florida.
The bookstore smelled like old books.
That’s a distinctive smell that anyone can recognize.
Books were stacked everywhere.
I can tell the character of the bookstore and the bookstore
owner from this detail.
A wisteria plant was crawling around the
This living plant is a nice contrast to the nonliving books
in bookstore.
the bookstore.
Author’s Ideas
Student’s Response
1. What is considered deviant across
society varies across societies?
1. Deviant isn’t always against the law.
Different norms and defying them is
different for certain people.
2. Cesare Lombroso- thought that
deviants were, if effect, biological
failures.
2. How could it be biological? Anyone can
make a choice to be defiant. Sometimes
not on purpose.
3. William Sheldon- Believe that a
person’s body shapes played a role in
criminality.
3. I believe that in the prison system there is
every type of body shape for a criminal.
How does body shape justify you as a
criminal?
4. Emile Durkheim was one of the first
researchers to look for the cause of
deviance in terms of social rather than
individual factors.
4. The people around us have a large impact
on a person’s choice to commit suicide as
most the time is usually something that
happened in society.
5. Egoism occurs when people are not
well integrated into society.
5.
6. Anomie is a situation in which people
do not experience the constraint of
social norms.
6. Being thrown into a place where you’re
not familiar with the social norms.
7. Merton realized that anomie was not
about to go away- anomie is built into
the structure of modern society.
7. Every time we travel we are show the
anomie in society. We have to adjust even
if we don’t know the norms.
8. Adaptations of anomieConformity
Innovation
Ritualism
Retreatism
Rebellion
8. Which one you act when put in a new
social structure. Forms of acceptance.
9. Sociologists have noticed the one
generally learns to be deviant through a
kind of socialization.
10. Learning to do it, learning to perceive it
and learning to enjoy it.
10. Three separate social process.
11. Labeling theorist takes note of the fact
that being judged and label deviant has
significant consequences for people’s
behavior.
9.
An outcast? A person being secluded and
not being apart or experiencing the social
norms?
Normally one wouldn’t do something
unless they are exposed to it otherwise
how would they know?
11. If you’re going to be called a certain title
and that’s what people see in you then
why not what they already assume of you
do.
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