Course Code: SOC SCI 1

Course Description: SOCIAL SCIENCES & SAN JOSE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

PHILOSOPHY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Term: 1 Semester, School Year 2020-2021 Brgy. Datag, Malilipot, Albay

Lesson 14: Social Stratification

Learning Outcomes: At the end of the lesson, the student must be able to:

1. Apply the concept of social stratification to explain economic inequalities.

2. Analyze the bases of social stratification and develop a set of theoretical pathways that can be applied to
facilitate social mobility.
3. Discover the factors that drive and constrain social mobility.

Definition and Nature of Social Stratification

Refers to the ranking of individuals and groups in any given society. It is a basic component of social
organization. It is found in all human groups. It tends to be transmitted from one generation to another. The families
are ranked as a whole, so that their positions in the hierarchy are significant in delimiting the range of resources and
opportunities available to the members.

Social stratification may be viewed as a social structure, as a social process, or as a social problem. As a
social structure, it may be viewed as the differentiation of statuses and social roles into ranked orders. This is what
sometimes sociologists termed as “institutionalized inequality” As a social process, it may be viewed as the splitting
up of society into social categories that develop into social groups, cooperating, competing, and conflicting for the
status quo or social change.

Basic Concepts of Inequality

Basically, stratification theorists use inequality to refer to the situation in which the economic goods in a
society are distributed unevenly among different groups or categories of people.

The following concepts will help one understand the macro concept of social stratification:

1. Attributions – it assigns to people different attributes as a result of differences. People are treated
differently due to their presumed ethnic characteristics. Furthermore, meanings are associated with their
names.

2. Stereotype – develop because people generalize their observations into patterns that define a whole
category, but stereotypes do not accurately describe any one member of a social category. Stereotypes may
be harmful because they may lead to unfair treatment of people.

3. Self – fulfilling prophecies - As a consequence of our perceptions and attendant actions, the person may
begin to act as we expect him/her to act. Thus, assigning a stereotype to a person may result in a self –
fulfilling prophecy.

4. Social comparisons – Social scientists find that people need to compare themselves with others in order to
establish for themselves what kind of people they are. They described the comparison process through
which people learn how to be sociable, friendly, mean, or nasty they are when they are compared with other
people.

5. A fair world – Related to the key role of comparison in social life are beliefs about justice or the fair
distribution of rewards. We often find that people are more concerned about establishing equity (just
division of rewards) than equality (equal division of rewards).

6. Just – world hypothesis – According to this, people like to believe that there is justice, that people get what
they deserve. In some cases, the operation of the just – world hypothesis leads people to engage in what is
called “blaming the victim”. Rather than believing that anyone could be the victim of rape or that poor
people do not deserve to be poor, those who believe in a just world blame the people who are victims of
crime or inequality.
Therefore, social psychological research indicates that people make attributions about themselves
and others, compare themselves with others, form judgments about who is better and who is worse, and
develop beliefs that justify inequalities.

Social Stratification Systems

In modern parlance, social differentiation has been made distinct from social stratification.

Differentiation – refers to how things or people can be distinguished from one another. People may be differentiated
on the basis of the color of their skin, color of hair, and the like.

Stratification – refers to the ranking of things or people. In closed stratification, people cannot change their rankings.
In open stratification, people can change their rankings.
FINAL TERM
Course Code: SOC SCI 1
Course Description: SOCIAL SCIENCES & SAN JOSE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
PHILOSOPHY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Term: 1 Semester, School Year 2020-2021 Brgy. Datag, Malilipot, Albay

Dimensions of Stratification

1. Wealth and income. The income of any family depends on what its members earn and what they own. Two
families, for example, may have similar incomes, but one may come entirely from salaries while the other
may come chiefly from owning a farm, real estate, apartments, stocks, bonds, and others.

Wealth – is often inherited. It consists of the value of everything a person or group owns.

Income – refers to how much people get: it is the amount of money a person or group receives. Economists view
wages and salaries as a return on labor, and they view interest, dividends, and rent as a return of property.

2. Inequalities of power. Sociologists define power as the ability to control one’s own life (personal power)
and to control or influence the actions of others ( social power)
Power is exercised in both interpersonal and societal levels. At an interpersonal level, power operates in
direct face-to-face relationship such as those between husbands and wives, supervisors and subordinates,
teachers and students.

3. Inequalities of prestige. Prestige of individuals or groups may be defined as the social recognition that a
person or group receives from others. Prestige provides people with a sense of worth and respect, a feeling
that somehow they are accepted and valued by others.

In the Philippines, prestige is associated with the person’s position in the society, ownership of
luxurious houses, cars, and the kind of restaurants and department stores utilized. Likewise, the person’s
leisure activities as golf, pelota, and others give the person a large amount of prestige. Membership in
prestigious clubs and societies are also factors to be considered.

Methods of Determining Class Division

Sociologists and Anthropologists utilize three principal methods in studying class division.

1. Subjective method. Researchers using this method ask a random sample of the population to name the class
they belong to. If the researcher receives an accurate information, he/she can develop a clear picture of the
class structure of the community he/she is studying.

2. Reputational method. Using this method, the researchers select a small town and ask a number of residents
to assist them in their study. The residents are usually “old timers” who know just about everyone in town
by reputation. The “old timers” are then asked to identify the social classes that exist in the community.

3. Objective method. In this method, the researchers divide people into social classes according to their
income, occupation, education, and type of residence. This method is especially useful in studying large
population.

Theories of Social Stratification

Sociologists who try to account for the unequal distribution of wealth, power and prestige in human society
learn toward either of the two theories, the conflict and the functionalist theory.

Karl Marx, who was an advocate of the conflict theory, believed that all history has been the story of class
conflict over material privilege and power. Marx saw the nation or state as an instrument of oppression, religion
as a method of diverting and controlling the masses, and the family as a device of keeping wealth and education
in the hands of a few.

Marx was basically a materialist. He believed that people’s lives are centered on how they deal with the
material world. The key issue is how wealth is distributed among the people. There are at least four ways by which
wealth can be distributed.

1. To each according to need. In this kind of system, the basic economic needs of all people are satisfied.
These needs include food, housing, medical care and education. Extravagant material possessions are
not basic needs; thus, they have no place in this system.

2. To each according to want. Wealth is distributed according to what people desire and request.
Material possessions beyond the basic needs are now included.

3. To each according to what is earned. People who live according to this system become themselves
the source of their own wealth. If they earn a great deal of money, they can lavish extravagant
possessions upon themselves. If they earn a little, they must do without.

FINAL TERM
Course Code: SOC SCI 1
Course Description: SOCIAL SCIENCES & SAN JOSE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
PHILOSOPHY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Term: 1 Semester, School Year 2020-2021 Brgy. Datag, Malilipot, Albay

4. To each according to what can be taken – by using whatever means. Under this system, everyone
ruthlessly attempts to acquire as much wealth as possible without regard for the hardships that might be
brought on others because of these actions. Those who are best at exploiting others become wealthy and
powerful, and the others become the exploited and poor.

Davis elaborated the functionalist theory which holds the idea that stratification serves an important
function in society. He was joined by Wilbert Moore. Their argument was the following: if all the positions that have
to be filled in a society were equally important and everyone was equally capable of doing their jobs, there would be
no need for stratification. But this is not the case. Some tasks are clearly more necessary than others, and some
require a great deal more talent and training.

Two distinct types of stratification system:

1. Open system. This is also known as the class system. It has few impediments to social mobility. Positions
are awarded on the bases of merit and rank that are tied to individual achievements. Status is said to be
achieved depending on what the individual accomplishes and what he/she can do by his/her efforts. Family
origins, creed, color, race, sex and other ascribed characteristics do not matter. Anyone with talents and
ambition can advance.

2. Closed system. This is also known as the caste system. Status is ascribed and determined at birth and people
are locked into their parents’ social position. In the caste system, ascribed characteristics determine social
position, and individuals’ opportunities are limited accordingly. The caste system is a rigid form of social
stratification based on ascribed characteristics such as skin color or heredity.

The following have been described by Fichter as typical of the class system.

1. The upper class. Members of the upper class have great wealth, often going back for many generations.
They recognize one another and are recognized by others by reputation and lifestyle. Members of this class
often have an influence on the society’s basic economic and political structure. The upper class usually
isolates itself from the rest of the society by residential segregation, private clubs, and private schools.

2. The upper-middle class. The upper-middle class is made up of successful business and professional people
and their families. These people often have a college education, own property, and have money savings.
They live in comfortable homes in the more exclusive areas of a community, are active in civic groups, and
carefully plan for the future.

3. The lower – middle class. The lower middle class shares many characteristics with the upper-middle class
but they have not been able to achieve the same lifestyle because of economic or educational shortcomings.
Usually high school or vocational education graduates with modest incomes, they are the lesser
professionals, clerical and sales workers, and upper-level manual laborers.

4. The working class. The working class is made up of factory workers and other blue-collar workers. These
are people who keep the country’s machinery going. They are assembly-line workers, auto mechanics, and
repair personnel. They live adequately but with little left-over for luxuries. Although they have little time to
be involved in civic organizations, they are very much involved with their extended families. Many of them
have not finished high school.

5. The lower class. These are people at the bottom of the economic ladder. They have little of education or
occupational skills, and are consequently either unemployed or underemployed. Lower-class families often
have many problems, including broken homes, illegitimacy, criminal involvement, and alcoholism.
Members of the lower class have little knowledge of world events, and are not involved with their
communities, and do not usually identify with other poor people. For them, life is a matter of surviving from
one day to the next.

Social Mobility – is the movement of an individual or a group within a stratification system that changes the
individual’s or group’s status in society. It focuses on people’s movement within stratification systems.

Types of Social Mobility

Social mobility therefore refers to the upward or downward movement among the social positions in any
given stratification system.

From this, two types of mobility may be inferred: upward and horizontal mobility.

1. Upward mobility. This refers to the movement of individuals or groups from lower to higher status in a
social stratification system. In an open system, upward mobility or success is a right that belongs to
everyone. In some instances, the movement may also be downward, resulting in a change in social status.
FINAL TERM
Course Code: SOC SCI 1
Course Description: SOCIAL SCIENCES & SAN JOSE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
PHILOSOPHY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Term: 1 Semester, School Year 2020-2021 Brgy. Datag, Malilipot, Albay

2. Horizontal mobility. Mobility may come about because of changing one’s occupation, marrying into a
certain family, and others. Movement that involves a change in status with no corresponding change in
social class is known as horizontal mobility.
Geographical Migration – is known to sociologists as physical mobility. It is the movement of people from one
geographical spot to another, and it is a phenomenon of increasing frequency in modern society.

Physical mobility - includes forced relocation of large groups of people, eviction, and dispossession of unwanted
people, voluntary permanent migration from one country to another or from one region to another within the same
country, as well as local residential changes.

- also includes the so –called fluidity exemplified by people commuting from home to office
or factory, making business trips and taking vacations.

Types of Geographical Migration

1. Voluntary migration. This refers to the voluntary movement of people from one geographical area to the
other which is determined by numerous factors. This is a free movement.

2. Forced migration. This takes several forms such as the expulsion of unwanted people, the herding of
people into reservation areas and concentration camps, or transportation of enslaved individuals and groups.

REASONS FOR VOLUNTARY MIGRATION

There are numerous reasons to explain why people move from one country to another.

1. Economic factor. This refers to the desire of people to seek better food supplies, or to look for better living.
The decreasing need for agricultural workers tends to push people out of rural areas; on the other hand, the
increasing industrialization pulls them toward large population centers. In short, migration to other countries
is usually motivated by a desire for greener pasture.

2. Political reason. Some people move to other areas to escape from political oppression and racial
discrimination. On the other hand, it may also be true to people who seek political asylum in other countries.

3. Religious liberty. Other groups of migrants move to other places or areas to enjoy religious liberty in
response to existing religious persecutions in their country.

4. Educational opportunities. In some instances, people migrate in order to avail of the educational
opportunities prevailing in other areas due to the presence of colleges and universities in other places. The
presence of prestigious schools in the area is also a source of attraction among the youth.

5. Natural calamities. The occurrence of various natural and man – made calamities may also lead people to
migrate. The presence of floods, denudation, volcanic eruption, and earthquakes in one place may also force
people to move to other geographical areas.

FACTORS AFFECTING SOCIAL MOBILITY

1. Hard work. Many people believe that hard work is a very important factor causing social mobility. Many
success stories in the Philippines and in other parts of the world picture hard working poor people rising to
become multi – millionaires.

2. Social structure. In some instances, social structure factor may also affect social mobility. In fact, it may
serve as an enhancing or a deterring factor. During the period of economic expansion, the number of
professional and technical jobs increases. In times of need for a particular skill, even people from the lower
class but with such skills may rise to the social ladder.

3. Societal values and norms. The values and norms of the society may also serve to cause social mobility.
There are instances when people place value in education and other factors can lead individuals to move to
much higher social strata.

4. Level of education. In almost every society, people’s level of education is a factor that causes social
mobility. Through one’s obtaining higher education, he/she can climb the social and economic ladder.

5. Marriage. One’s marriage with someone who belongs to a much higher social stratum can cause him/her to
move to a higher social stratum. This situation is mostly typified in Filipino movies when a girl marries a
rich man. Not only the girl climbs the social ladder, so does her family.

FINAL TERM
Course Code: SOC SCI 1
Course Description: SOCIAL SCIENCES & SAN JOSE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
PHILOSOPHY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Term: 1 Semester, School Year 2020-2021 Brgy. Datag, Malilipot, Albay

6. Luck. Filipinos, in general, strongly believe in luck or swerte. To them, this is one way through which an
individual may move up to a much higher social stratum. This is one reason why games of luck, raffles, and
lottery tickets are very popular in the country.

Activity 13:

1. In the Philippines, what are the sources of prestige? Does inequality of prestige really exist? Why?

2. Discuss the factors affecting social mobility. How do Filipino cultural values affect social mobility?

3. How does education affect social mobility? Why?

Activity 14.

1. Find a person whom you consider a success story that is, starting from a poor family but prospering into a
successful, prestigious person now.

2. Get to know him/her well and write his/her story. You can present your output either through WRITING or
VIDEO recording while having the interview. Just choose one.

3. Derive the meaning, causes, and effects of poverty through this person’s life.

FINAL TERM