Social Stratification

INTRODUCTION AND CONCEPTS

INTRODUCTION
• What are the determinants of poverty and wealth?
• Is poverty a constant state?
• Is mobility possible?
• Are there different cultural characteristics associated with the
different social classes?
• Why is this so?
• The ability to answer these sets us on the way to understanding the
ideas behind the concept of social stratification
Definitions
• Social Stratification- patterned structured institutionalized social
inequality (Haralambos and Holborn, 2004). Rothman (1993) also
added the idea that there are also ideologies present which support
this inequality.
• Egalitarian society- one in which all members are equal; no one is rich
or poor
• Social inequality- unequal distribution of wealth, power, prestige,
opportunities and influence
Concepts- Sex and Gender
• Sex is a biological concept that categorises us as either male or female. It is an ascribed
characteristic
• Gender is a societal construct.
• Socialisation for gender roles begins even before birth- clothes purchased, room décor chosen etc.
• The child’s treatment is based on their sex; girls are seen as more fragile than boys while boys are
seen as tougher. Basow (1992) claims that parents attend to a crying girl baby than to a crying boy
• Toy choices are also made on the basis of gender
• Household roles are assigned on the basis of gender as well
• Some sociologists argue that by the age of 4 some gender roles are irreversible
• In adulthood men are stereotyped as being strong, dominant and rational who should not show
emotion
• Women are seen as weaker, nurturing, dependent and emotional
• Feminists argue that almost all societies are stratified by gender with
males being given dominant, high social statuses and females are
assigned lower, inferior status (Firestone)
• Stoller (1968) argues that gender relations are culturally based and it
is social beliefs about males and females that determine their
treatment
Race and Ethnicity
• Race
- A race is a human population believed to be distinct in some way from other
humans, based on real or imagined physical differences
- These are rooted in the idea of biological classification of humans according to
features such as skin and eye colour, hair texture or facial characteristics
- This concept is more complicated in the Caribbean because of the dimension of
‘colour’
- Colour is subjective because of the varying shades of colour among the whites,
browns and blacks
- Caribbean people subscribe to the idea of ‘pigmentocracy’ which refers to
perception based on how light or dark someone’s skin is
• Ethnicity-
- Refers to social traits shared by a population. It includes nationality, tribe, region,
religion, language and culture
- There is a focus on the group’s connection to a perceived shared past and culture
- The Caribbean society has become increasingly plural
- There are some characteristics that contribute to the complexity of ethnicity:
1. Exogamy and endogamy
2. Religious affiliation
3. Differentiation in identity- some groups choose to be identified by their
heritage and some by country
Status
• Refers to one’s social position
• An individual occupies several statuses based on the social setting in which they
function
• They can be categorized as occupation, gender, nationality etc
• May also be culturally ranked e.g. a doctor is more highly regarded than a teacher
• There are 2 different types: ascribed (individual has no control over their status- sex,
parents) and achieved (controlled by the individual- marriage, education, employment)
• Carries more weight than class: ‘A butu in a Benz is still a butu’ Nettleford (2013)
• Role expectancy- the way in which an individual of a particular status was expected to
act
• Role conflict- when an individual occupies several statuses, one will supersede others
Social Class
• Ideas about social class are associated with Karl Marx
• He argued that classes resulted from differences in income and wealth which led
to one small dominant group exploiting the labour of the larger property less
group
• Social class is measured in 3 ways:
1. Objective measures: tangible criteria involving wealth, power and prestige.
Indicators used are occupation, educational level, number of dependents etc.
2. Subjective measure: uses perception, asks respondents what they perceive
their social class to be
3. Reputational measures: done by asking individuals their view on what class
others belong to based on reputations