CHAPTER 9 Social Stratification

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CHAPTER 9Social Stratification

• Section 1 Systems of Stratification
• Section 2 The American Class System
• Section 3 Poverty

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Objectives
Section 1 Systems of Stratification

• Identify the characteristics of caste systems and
  class systems.
• Contrast the major theories of social
  stratification.

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Characteristics of Caste and Class Systems
Section 1 Systems of Stratification

• social stratification division of society into
  categories, ranks, or classes
• can be based on either achieved or ascribed
  status
• can be open or closed
• social inequality the unequal sharing of scarce
  resources and social rewards

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Characteristics of Caste and Class Systems
Section 1 Systems of Stratification

• Caste System
• Closed and lifelong
• Immobility and inherited status
• Based on specific occupations
• Ascribed status
• exogamy, endogamy

• Class System
• Open and mobile
• Reward is determined by achieved status
• Property, prestige, and power are important
  (Weber)
• bourgeoisie, proletariat

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Dimensions of Social Stratification
Section 1 Systems of Stratification

• social class grouping of people with similar
  levels of wealth, power, and prestige
• wealth made up of assets (value of everything
  one owns) and income (money earned through
  salaries, investments, or capital gains
• in the U.S. the richest 1 of the population
  controls more than 1/3 of the wealth
• chart page 208

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Dimensions of Social Stratification
Section 1 Systems of Stratification

• power the ability to control the behavior of
  others, with or without their consent
• based on force, possession of special skills,
  knowledge, social status, personal
  characteristics, custom/tradition
• prestige respect, honor, recognition, or
  courtesy an individual receives from other
  members of society
• based on income, occupation , education, family,
  residences, possessions, club memberships
• chart page 209
• socioeconomic status SES, rating that combines
  social factors such as educational level,
  occupational prestige, residence, income, used to
  determine an individuals relative position in
  the stratification system

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Major Theories of Social Stratification
Section 1 Systems of Stratification

• Functionalist Theorists view stratification as
  a necessary feature of the social structure and
  argue that the more important a role and the more
  skill needed to perform it, the higher the
  reward, without varying rewards may jobs would
  not be filled and society could not function
• fails to recognize not everyone has equal access
  to resources, ignores the talented in lower
  classes that because of stratification may not be
  able to contribute to society, cannot explain why
  rewards sometimes do not reflect the social value
  of a role

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Section 1 Systems of Stratification
Major Theories of Social Stratification

• Conflict Theorists view stratification as a
  result of conflict over scarce resources and
  argue that groups gain power then use that power
  to maintain it, based on Marx
• fails to recognize that unequal rewards are based
  on differences in talent, skill, and desire

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Objectives
Section 2 The American Class System

• Identify the characteristics of the American
  class system.
• Explain how different motivations and cultural
  values influence the American class system.

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The American Class System
Section 2 The American Class System

• open system
• law forbids discrimination based on ascribed
  characteristics such as race or gender
• in theory, all have equal access to resources
• rate of social mobility is not equal for all
  segments of society

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Determining Social Class
Section 2 The American Class System

• reputational method individuals are asked to
  rank other community members based on what they
  know of their character and lifestyle
• subjective method individuals are asked to
  determine their own social rank
• objective method sociologists define social
  class by income, occupation, and education

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Social Classes in the United States
Section 2 The American Class System

• 1 upper class
• 14 upper-middle class
• 30 lower-middle class
• 30 working class
• 22 working poor
• 3 underclass
• major difference in classes is income, lifestyle,
  beliefs
• chart page 214

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The American Class System
Section 2 The American Class System

• Upper Class attend prestigious universities
  owners of large businesses, investors, heirs to
  family fortunes, top business executives 1
  percent of population
• Upper Middle Class attend college or
  university, business executives, professionals
  14 percent of population
• Lower Middle Class high school, some college
  lower-level managers skilled craftworkers,
  supervisors 30 percent of population

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The American Class System
Section 2 The American Class System

• Working Class high school education factory
  workers, clerical workers, lower level
  salespeople, some craft-workers 30 percent of
  population
• Working Poor some high school laborers,
  service workers 22 percent of population
• Underclass some high school undesirable,
  low-paying jobs, unemployed, on welfare 3
  percent of population

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Social Mobility
Section 2 The American Class System

• social mobility the movement between or within
  social classes or strata
• horizontal mobility movement within a social
  class
• vertical mobility movement between social
  classes, upward or downward
• intergenerational mobility status differences
  between generations in the same family (parents
  social class vs. their own current class)
• structural factors that affect upward mobility
  include advances in technology, changes in
  merchandising patterns, and increase in education

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Motivations and Cultural Values Influence the
American Class System
Section 2 The American Class System

• Values influence Americans to try to do better
  financially than their parents and to help their
  children do the same
• Most Americans remain in the same social class as
  their parents

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Objectives
Section 3 Poverty

• Identify the groups of Americans that are
  affected by poverty.
• Describe the steps that have been taken by the
  federal government to lessen the effects of
  poverty.

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Defining Poverty
Section 3 Poverty

• More than 31 million people (11 of the
  population) live below the poverty level.
• poverty a standard of living that is below the
  minimum level considered adequate by society, a
  relative measure
• poverty level defined by the U.S. Bureau of
  Census, the minimum annual income needed by a
  family to survive

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Defining Poverty
Section 3 Poverty

• Poverty Level
• determined by calculating the cost of providing
  an adequate diet, based on the U.S. Dept. of
  Agricultures minimum nutritional standards
• this number is then multiplied by three (research
  has indicated that poor people spend 1/3 of their
  income on food)
• adjusted each year to reflect the cost of living
• usually stated for a family of 4
• chart page 221
• reconsiderations based on changes in spending
  habits since the 1960s

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Groups Affected By Poverty
Section 3 Poverty

• Age children are the largest group (37) three
  times more African American and Hispanic children
  are poor than whites
• Gender women are the largest segment (57)
  female-headed households account for about half
  of all poor families
• Race and Ethnicity African Americans and
  Hispanics are far more likely than white
  Americans to be poor

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The Effects of Poverty
Section 3 Poverty

• Poor and wealthy members of society differ in the
  range of their life chances and behavior
  patterns.
• life chances the likelihood that individuals
  have of sharing in the opportunities and benefits
  of society
• health, life expectancy, housing, education
• the lower the social class, the less opportunity
  to share in the benefit of society
• life expectancy the average number of years a
  person born in a particular year can expect to
  live
• inadequate nutrition and less access to medial
  care

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The Effects of Poverty
Section 3 Poverty

• patterns of behavior
• higher divorce rate
• committing crime
• people living in poverty are more likely to
  commit crimes that police pursue more
  aggressively
• victims of crime

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Government Responses To Poverty
Section 3 Poverty

• Government attempts to reduce inequality through
  various social-welfare programs using two
  approaches
• Transfer Payments redistribution of money among
  various segments of society taking a percentage
  of the money collected through taxes and
  funneling it to groups that need public
  assistance (poor, unemployed, elderly, disabled
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) provides
  income support for people age 65 and older, the
  blind, and disabled with children
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
  cash payments to families with children

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Government Responses To Poverty
Section 3 Poverty

• Subsidies - transfer goods and services rather
  than cash
• Food Stamp Program people receive coupons or
  cards that can be used to buy food
• housing, school lunches
• Medicaid health insurance program for the poor
• Medicare government-sponsored health insurance
  program for people 65 and older