Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Socialstratification 170211122810
Socialstratification 170211122810
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
2. Stratification is social
3. It is ancient
4. It is in diverse forms
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
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
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:
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
Positional mobility
INTRAGENERATIONAL MOBILITY
Intragenerational mobility is movement that occurs
within the lifetime of an individual.
EXAMPLE
EXAMPLE