SOCIAL

STRATIFICATION
 LEARNING OUTLINE

1. INTRODUCTION
• Definitions
• Origin
• Causes
• Characteristics
2. IMPACTS OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
3. FORMS OF STRATIFICATION
 LEARNING OUTLINE

5. POVERTY
6. SOURCES OF STRATIFICATION
• Structural-Functionalist Perspectives
• Social conflict Perspectives
• Multidimensional Perspectives
7. MAINTAINING STRATIFICATION
8. SOCIAL MOBILITY
 SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
Social stratification is a term used in the social
sciences to describe:
 the relative social position of persons

 in a given social group, category, geographical

region or other social unit.
 It derives from the Latin stratum (plural strata;
parallel, horizontal layers)
 referring to a given society’s categorization of its
people into rankings of socioeconomic tiers
 based on factors like wealth, income, social
status, occupation and power.
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
 According Raymond W. Murray:

“Social Stratification is horizontal

division of society into ‘higher’ and
‘lower’ social units.”
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
 According to Gilbert:

“Social Stratification is the division

of society into permanent groups or
categories linked with each other by
the relationship of superiority and
subordination.”
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
 According to Kurt B. Mayer:

“Social Stratification is, a system of

differentiation which includes social
positions whose occupants are treated
as superior, equal or inferior relative to
one another in socially important
respect.”
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
 According to Lundberg:

“A stratified society is one marked

by inequality, by difference among
people that are evaluated by them
as being ‘lower’ and ‘higher’.
 ORIGIN OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

 Hunting and Gathering Societies

 Horticultural, Pastoral, and Agricultural
Societies
 Division of Labor and Job Specialization

 Industrialized Societies

 The Improvement of Working Conditions

 Postindustrial Societies
 CAUSES OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

There are five basic points which gives clear idea

about the causes of social stratification:
1. Inequality
2. Conflict
3. Power
4. Wealth
5. Instability
 CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL
STRATIFICATION
Social stratification may have the following
characteristics:
1. Social stratification is universal

2. Stratification is social

3. It is ancient

4. It is in diverse forms

5. Social stratification is Consequential

IMPACTS OF STRATIFICATION ON OUR LIFE

It leads to inequality regarding…

o Health sector.

o Education.

o Bounds individual actions.

o Specification of social roles.

o Societal laws.

o Whom will live or die.

 HEALTH SECTOR
o Expensive health care facilities

o VIP culture

o Different treatment quality

o Discriminating attitude of care providers

o Unequal distribution of clean water and safe

environment in different zones of a city
 EDUCATION
o Different Education Systems

o Specific methods of teaching

o Out dated syllabus

o Language Conflicts

o Leads to job discriminations

 BOUNDS INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS

o Different Political Affiliation

o Limit our Opportunities to work

o Limit our Perceptive

o Stereotyping

o Labialization

o Stops one to ask question

 SPECIFICATION OF SOCIAL ROLES
o Mother bound to care for children

o Preferred specific professions like doctors, engineers and

bankers etc.

o Father bound to be bread earner

o Child are bound to respect their elders and parent

 SOCIETAL LAWS

o Punishment amplification
o Traffic rules
o Banks policies
o Discrimination in journalism
 WHOM WILL LIVE OR DIE
o At time of flood protection of major cities

o In case of shortage of any basic food item

o In a case of protest lower political class political agents

actually suffer

For example :
Sinking titanic
FORMS OF STRATIFICATION

1. The Slavery System

2. The Estate System

3. The Caste System

4. The Class System

 THE SLAVERY SYSTEM
“It is an extreme form of inequality in which some
individuals are owned by others as their property.”
L.T Hobhouse defined slave as a man whom law and
custom regard as the property of another. In extreme cases
he is wholly without rights. He is in lower condition as
compared with freemen. The slaves have no political rights
he does not choose his government, he does not attend the
public councils. Socially he is despised. He is compelled to
work.
 EXAMPLE:
 Societies of the ancient world based upon slavery (Greek
and Roman) and southern states of USA in the 18th and
19th centuries.

 According to H.J Nieboer the basis of slavery is always

economic because with it emerged a kind of aristocracy
which lived upon slave labour.
 THE ESTATE SYSTEM
“The estate system is synonymous with Feudalism”.

 Characteristics of Feudal Estate:

I. In the first place they were legally defined; each estate had a
status with legal rights and duties, privileges and
obligations.
II. Secondly the estates represented a broad division of labor
and were regarded as having definite functions. The nobility
were ordained to defend all, the clergy to pray for all and
the commons to provide food for all.
 THE ESTATE SYSTEM

III. Thirdly the feudal estates were political groups. An

assembly of estates possessed political power.

o Thus the three estates clergy, nobility and

commoners functioned like three political groups.
 THE CASTE SYSTEM
“ A person’s location in the social strata is ascribed by
birth rather than based on individual
accomplishments.”
The system is maintained through ,
• Endogamous Marriages:

Cultural rules requiring that

people marry only within their own group.
• Aparthied:
Laws that formalized strict racial
segregation.
 THE CASTE SYSTEM
This system of stratification is mostly prominent in India
and the Hindu religion.
1. The Brahmins (priests/teachers/healers) From the most
pure
2. The Kshatriyas (soldiers/warriors)
3. The Vaishyas (traders/merchants)
4. The Shudras (servants/labourers)
5. The Untouchables (social outcastes/impure) To the least
pure.
 THE CLASS SYSTEM
Industrial society gave rise to class based system of
stratification.
“It is based on a combination of ascribed and achieved
statuses.”
o Usually synonymous with socioeconomic status, which
is one's social position as determined by income, wealth,
occupational prestige, and educational attainment.
 THE COMMON THREE-STRATUM
MODEL
 The upper class is the social class composed of those who are
wealthy, well-born, or both. They usually wield the greatest political
power.
 The middle class is the most contested of the three categories,
consisting of the broad group of people in contemporary society who
fall socioeconomically between the lower class and upper class.
Middle class workers are sometimes called white-collar workers.
THE COMMON THREE-STRATUM
MODEL
 The lower or working class is sometimes separated into
those who are employed as wage or hourly workers, and
an underclass—those who are long-term unemployed
and/or homeless, especially those receiving welfare
from the state. Members of the working class are
sometimes called blue-collar workers.
 EXAMPLE
 The British aristocracy is an instance where wealth,
power, and prestige do not necessarily align — the
aristocracy is upper class and generally has
significant political influence, but members are not
necessarily wealthy.
 Poverty
Discussions of income inequality are often conducted in
concert with discussions of poverty.

But what is poverty, and

who is poor?

In a stratified system in which resources are unequally

distributed, those having the least are the“poor.”
 “Poverty threshold”
Poverty can be defined in absolute or relative terms.
“Those people living in families with an income below this poverty
threshold are considered “poor” by the government definition. These
thresholds vary by family size and composition. However, they are not
adjusted for variations in the cost of living across the nation.”
 A snapshot of these
poverty threshold
Share of Aggregate Income among Households, Selected

Years 1967–2003
Cont’d
 Cont’d
In 2003, the poverty
threshold for a family of four (consisting of two
adults and two children) was $18,660. By these
official definitions, 35.8 million Americans (or 12.5
percent) lived in poverty in 2003 (U.S. Census
Bureau 2004b).
Most people define poverty in non-numerical terms
based on their personal circumstances. They are
using a relative definition of poverty, measuring it
on the basis of whether their basic needs and wants
are met.
 Breyer and Hudson

• Research has documented a number of hidden costs of being

poor.
• The poor pay more for many items.
• Rent-to-own arrangements
• These rent-to-own stores may charge lower payments for items,
but they have longer contracts.
• They may also be able to avoid legal problems from charging
high interest rates by replacing them with other fees and charges.
 Heymann, Newman and Chin

• Costs are also more than financial. The poor face a bigger time
squeeze than the affluent.
• They face trade-offs in demands between work and family life.
• This dilemma includes time to monitor their children’s educational
needs (e.g., supervised study time)
• Income and poverty are unequally distributed by such factors as
race and sex.
• Not all groups have an equivalent chance of being poor.
 Poverty by race

• The median income for black and Hispanic households is lower

than the median income for white and Asian households.
• Racial and ethnic minorities are also disproportionately poor.
• The poverty rates for blacks and Hispanics is more than double
the rate for whites and Asians.
Unequal distribution between Gender
(Figart and Lapidus)
• Income and poverty are also unequally distributed between males and
females.
• In 2003, women in the United States earned 80 cents for every dollar
earned by men.
• That was a record earning ratio (BLS 2004a).
• Even women in high-status positions earn less than their male
counterparts
 Feminization of Poverty
• Recent decades have seen a feminization of poverty, an increase
in the proportion of the poor who are women.
• Increasing divorce rates and single-parent families headed by
women trying to care for children and support them on lower
incomes than men have contributed to this trend.
• These female-headed households are also disproportionately
poor, a situation that is compounded by race and ethnicity
SOURCES OF STRATIFICATION

Two of the major questions sociologists studying stratification

have tried to answer is why stratification exists and if it is
inevitable.
Sociologists working from the two major macro-theoretical
perspectives.
1. Structural-Functionalist Perspectives
2. Social-Conflict Perspectives
3. Multidimensional Perspectives
1. Structural-Functionalist Perspectives

Perspective that in-equality serves a social function, sociologists

working in the structural-functionalist tradition have examined how
stratification contributes to the operation of society as a whole.
Kingsley Davis, profiled below, and Wilbert Moore (1945) offered an
early and controversial, but still influential, functionalist analysis of
stratification.
Structural-Functionalist Perspectives
 Davis and Moore

• They argue that some form of stratification is universal across all

societies. To operate smoothly, societies face a “motivational
problem” in ensuring that the best, most qualified people fill the most
important roles in society.
• By offering the greatest rewards to people who fill the most important
positions, Stratification is an “unconsciously evolved device by which
societies insure that the important positions are conscientiously filled
by the most qualified persons”
 Critics
This perspective has been widely criticized (Tumin 1953, 1985).
Critics have charged that the Davis-Moore thesis implies that
individual attributes determine how people are located in society, and
that the most talented earn their positions through their hard work
and merits.
This idea disregards the impact of social factors such as
discrimination that are outside of individual control.
It does not give appropriate attention to the tensions and
divisiveness that can arise as a result of inequality.
 Example

For example, hard feeling may result among those who work hard
yet are treated unfairly or feel they are not properly rewarded for
their efforts.
 Herbert Gans
Sociologist Herbert Gans (2001), analyzed the functions of poverty.
• He described 13 functions the poor play in society.
• The poor ensure that society’s “dirty work” gets done, their
existence creates jobs that serve the poor
• (e.g., social-service workers, shelter providers), and the poor buy
goods others do not want (e.g., day-old bread, used clothing and
vehicles).
• The poor also absorb the costs of social change
 Cont’d
Gans says that his analysis does not mean that poverty must, or should,
Exist
• He argues that a “functional analysis must conclude that poverty
persists not only because it fulfills a number of positive functions
but also because many of the functional alternatives to poverty
would be quite dysfunctional for the affluent members of society”
• He also uses his analysis to show that functionalism, accused by
critics of being inherently conservative, can be used in more liberal
and radical analyses.
STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM:

Emile Durkheim:
(1858-1917)

STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM:
“This perspective views society as a
complex system of interrelated parts that
work together to maintain stability.”
According to this perspective:
 Social system’s parts are interdependent.

 System has a normal healthy state of

equilibrium.
 When disturbed parts reorganize them.
FUNCTIOALISM ACCORDING
TO STRATIFICATION:

Kingsley Davis & Wilbert Moore:

“Stratification is an unconsciously evolved

device by which societies ensure that the
important positions are filled
conscientiously by the most qualified
persons.’’
CRITICISM:
 This idea disregards the impacts of social
factors such as discrimination that are
outside one’s control
 Disregards those who inherit wealth and
positions.
 Disregard ability of those who have
higher status.
 Most highly rewarded positions do not
always fill the most important roles in
society.
 It does not account for disparity between
poor and rich.
FUNCTIONS OF POVERTY:
 Dirtywork
 Create jobs

 Buy goods others don’t want

 Guarantee status of wealthy ones

 Absorb costs of social change

‘’Functionalanalysis must conclude That
poverty persists not because it fulfills a
number of positive functions but because
many of the functional alternatives to
poverty would be quite dysfunctional for for
other affluent members of society’’
SOCIAL CONFLICT
PERSECTIVE:
 Focuses on tensions in societies.
CAUSES:
 Limited resources
 Conflict between groups
ACCORDING TO
STRATIFICATION:
 Karl Marx:
SOCIAL CLASSES:
‘’Positions based on the unequal locations
of people within economic groups’’
 BOURGEOISIE / HAVES:

‘’ who own factories, industrial machinery

and banks’’
 PROLETRAIT/ HAVE NOTS:
‘’ The factory workers who actually work to
produce these products’’
 CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS:

‘’A recognition of themselves as a social

class with interests opposed to the
bourgeoisie’’
CRITICISM:
 Did not predict the rise of middle class
 Inequality persists and increases.
MULTIDIMENSIONAL PERSPECTIVE
 Max Weber developed a more complex view of
social stratification than Marx’s view of
economically based classes.
 Weber developed three interrelated dimensions of
stratification:
1. Class

2. Status

3. Power
MAINTAINING STRATIFICATION
Stratification is influenced by ascribed statuses such
as race, ethnic background, gender and age. We are
born with these statuses and despite our personal
efforts and achievements, they impact our lifestyle
and life chances. Prejudices and Discrimination
based on these ascribed statuses serve to justify and
maintain systems of stratification.
“Prejudice is a preconceived and irrational attitude
toward people based on their group membership.”
It is inflexible and not based on direct evidence or
contact. Prejudices can take the form of positive or
negative attitudes toward a group, but the term often
used with a negative connotation.
EUGENE HARTLEY
 Express the reaction to various minorities groups
 Prejudice against actual racial and ethnic groups

 Prejudicial attitudes against fictitious groups

Common and damaging forms of prejudice are found
in the “isms” that exist throughout society. For
example racism, sexism, ageism. All of these
“isms” take the form of a belief that one group is
naturally inferior or superior, that justifying unequal
treatment of the group on the basis of their assumed
characteristics.
 In racism, that belief is based on racial or ethnic
group membership.
 Sexism is the belief that one sex is naturally inferior
or superior, thereby justifying unequal treatment.
Feminist sociologists focus on sexism.
 Ageism takes the form of prejudice against the
elderly.
Other “isms” include ableism (prejudice against the
disabled) and heterosexism (prejudice toward
homosexuals).
These “isms” reinforce and are reinforced by,
another common and potentially destructive form of
prejudice that is stereotypes. Stereotypes are beliefs
that generalize certain exaggerated traits to an entire
category of people.
DISCRIMINATION
Discrimination, unequal treatment of people based
on their group membership, also perpetuates
stratification.
Prejudice is an attitude; discrimination is a behavior.
Although the two may, and often do, occur together,
they can also exist separately.
INSTITUTIONAL DISCRIMINATION
“When discrimination becomes part of the operation
of social institution.”
It perpetuates stratification patterns by systematically
disadvantaging certain groups.
According to Joe Feagin and Melvin Sikes, racism is
still alive and well, although less overt than in the
past. However institutional racism is rampant.
These ascribed factors require a multidimensional
approach to stratification . They can have multiple,
interrelated effects. Stratification also applies to many
more social factors than race, ethnicity, gender and
age. We are also ranked to varying degrees by other
factors such as religious affiliation and sexual
preference.
Some sociologists are also starting to explore
stratification and oppression regarding animals, just
as they have long studied the impact of stratification
and oppression of the poor, women and minorities.
Sociologists added another “isms” to the sociological
vocabulary with the term speciesism, (a belief in the
superiority of humans over other species of animals).
They cite examples such as food industries that rely
on animals bred and raised under poor conditions,
experimentation on animals, and the use of animals
in circuses and rodeos.
SOCIAL MOBILITY
 SOCIAL MOBILITY
 Social mobility is the movement of individuals, families,
households or other categories of people within or
between social strata in a society.
 It is a change in social status relative to others social
location within a given society.
 HORIZONTAL MOBILITY
 If mobility involves a change in position, especially in
occupation, but no change in social class, it is called
“horizontal mobility”.

 EXAMPLE
A person who moves from a managerial position in
one company to a similar position in another.
 VERTICAL MOBILITY
If, however, the move involves a change in social
class, it is called “vertical mobility” and involves
either “upward mobility” or “downward mobility”.
EXAMPLE
 An industrial worker who becomes a wealthy
businessman moves upward in the class system, a
landed aristocrat who loses everything in a
revolution moves downward in the system.
 TYPES OF MOBILITY
Mobility can be examined by how much time it takes to
occur:
 Intragenerational mobility
 Intergenerational mobility

Mobility can also be examined by the factors behind

the change:
 Structural mobility

 Positional mobility
 INTRAGENERATIONAL MOBILITY
 Intragenerational mobility is movement that occurs
within the lifetime of an individual.
 EXAMPLE

When a child rises above the class of his or her parents. An

employee that starts in the mail room and becomes
corporate vice president.
 INTERGENERATIONAL MOBILITY
 Intergenerational mobility is the movement that occurs
from generation to generation.

 EXAMPLE

When individual changes class because of business

success. The mail-rom clerk’s son becomes the corporate
officer.
 STRUCTURAL MOBILITY
 Mobility that occurs as a result of changes in the occupational
structure of a society is structural mobility.
 EXAMPLE
The dot-com businesses that arose with the growth of the
internet provided new, often high paying employment
opportunities during the late 1990s. When the dot-com bust
came at the end of the decade the occupational structure once
again changed , and many workers lost their jobs.
 POSITIONAL MOBILITY
 Positional mobility is movement that occurs due to
individual effort.

 EXAMPLE

Hard work, winning the lottery.

 FACTORS THAT LIMIT
MOBILITY
 RACISM:
Racism is a factor that has a huge,
limiting impact on mobility and achievement.
 CLASS :

Class is a more important factor that race in

limiting social mobility.
 Poor job training

 Little opportunity to obtain education