SOCIAL

STRATIFICATION
LECTURE 01
APPLIED SOCIOLOGY
BS PSYCHOLOGY
SEMESTER-II
MUHAMMAD ALAM
 INTRODUCTION
• Social stratification refers to the ranking of
members of a society in groups on the basis of
their status.
• This ranking may be on the basis of occupation,
power, economic resources, prestige, caste,
education.
• It is structured inequality between groups.

• Inequality leads to social stratification when people are ranked hierarchically according
to their possession of attributes such as income, wealth, power, age, gender and
status.
APPROACHES / DETERMINANTS OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

a)Power – The degree to which a person can control

other people. More power more respect in society.

b) Economic resources – The level of income from all

resources is an important indicator of one’s place in
society.
– Economic resources in rural and urban areas.

c) Prestige – The degree of respect, favorable regard

or importance accorded to an individual by members
of society
DETERMINANTS OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

• d) Occupation – High class professionals include big

businessmen, industrialists, landlords and high class
government and semi-government officials.
•
e) Caste – It is permanent, having its status ascribed
as birth. Some castes are believed to be higher in
status while others as low.
•
f) Education – The standard of education also
determines a social class.
PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

1. Social Stratification is a trait of society, not simply a

reflection of individual differences.
2. Social Stratification carries over from generation to
generation.
3. Social Stratification is Universal but Variable.
4. Social Stratification involves not just inequality but
beliefs as well.
CASTE AND CLASS SYSTEMS
• Sociologists distinguish between
– closed systems, which allow for little change in social position,
and
– open systems, which permit much more social mobility.
– Closed systems are called caste systems, and
– more open systems are called class systems.
 THE CASTE SYSTEM
• A caste system is social stratification based on ascription, or birth.
• Caste is a rigid social system in which a social hierarchy is
maintained generation after generation.
• It allows little mobility out of the position to which a person is born.
• A pure caste system is closed because birth alone determines a
person’s entire future, allowing little or no social mobility based on
individual effort.
• People live out their lives in the rigid categories assigned to them,
without the possibility of change for the better or worse.
THE CASTE SYSTEM
• An Illustration: India Many of the world’s societies, most of them agrarian, are caste systems.
• In India,much of the population still lives in traditional villages where the caste system
continues to be part of everyday life.
• From birth, a caste system determines the direction of a person’s life. First, with the exception
of farming, which is open to everyone, families in each caste perform one type of work, as
priests, soldiers, barbers, leather workers, street sweepers, and so on.
• Second, a caste system demands that people marry others of the same ranking.(endogamous
marriage) (endo- stems from the Greek word for “within”).
• Third, caste guides everyday life by keeping people in the company of “their own kind.”Norms
reinforce this practice by teaching, for example, that a “purer” person of a higher caste is
“polluted” by contact with someone of lower standing.
• Fourth, caste systems rest on powerful cultural beliefs. Indian culture is built on the Hindu
tradition that doing the caste’s life work and accepting an arranged marriage are moral duties.
CLASS SYSTEM,
• class system, social stratification based on both birth and
individual achievement.
• Karl Marx
– Class is a group of people with similar level of wealth,
influence and status.
• S.M.Shahid
– Social Class is a segment of society who’s members
enjoy common standard of living* and life style.
• Class systems are more open than caste systems, so people who gain
schooling and skills may experience social mobility.
 Classification of Classes
Poor: lacking money or material possessions

Working Class: the part of society made up of people who work for
hourly wages, not salaries, especially manual or industrial laborers

Middle Class: the section of society between the poor and the wealthy,
including business and professional people and skilled workers

Elite: a small group of people within a larger group who have

more power, social standing, wealth, or talent than the rest of
the group
 SOCIAL CLASSES IN PAKISTAN

• 1. Upper social class:

i. They have high level of income and belong to be
most high paying profession.
ii. They live in most cleanest place of the country
iii. Their size is 2% of the total society
They include:
a. Top management of the company
b. Big businessmen
c. High status leadership
 SOCIAL CLASSES IN PAKISTAN

• 2. Middle social class:

i. Social mobility is found highest in this class.
ii. They live comfortably than poor class, but are
financially lower than upper class.
iii. They all are employees.
iv. Their norms are likely to be similar to that of poor
class due to recent switching to middle class.
v. This class is the best example of DEFERRED
GRATIFICATION PATTERN.
vi. Their population is 28% out of the total population.
 SOCIAL CLASSES IN PAKISTAN

• 3. Working social class:

i. Social mobility is the lowest in them.
ii. Rate of deviance is high in them.
iii. They are most likely to be drug/narcotics addicted.
iv. They lack long term planning.
v. They are either unemployed, or get employment for
short term basis.
vii. Their size is 70% out total population of Pakistan.
MERITOCRACY

• The concept of meritocracy refers to social stratification based on

personal merit.
• Because industrial societies need to develop a broad range of
abilities beyond farming, stratification is based not just on the
accident of birth but also on merit (from a Latin word meaning
“earned”), which includes a person’s knowledge, abilities, and
effort.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CLASS SYSTEM
1. Status is Achieved not Ascribed
2. Class system is universal
3. Class is Open Group
4. Class is Economic Group(wealth income, property)
5. Class Consciousness*: awareness of social class differences
6. Feelings: Equality, Inferiority, Superiority
 TYPE OF SOCIAL STATUS

• 1. Ascribed Status - The social class position

allocated to an individual by society as a result of
factors over which the individual has no control.
2. Achieved Status - The social class position which
an individual acquires as a result of his/her own
activities.