what is social stratification?

Question 1

what is social stratification?

Answer 1

it describes the way that society is structured in a hierarchy of layers (most privileged form top layer and least favoured form bottom layer). This goes off of wealth, power & status.

Question 2

social inequality

Answer 2

refers to uneven distribution of:

• money & power
• life chances e.g. education, employment, health

social class, gender, ethnicity & age are all factors of inequality in uk.

Question 3

social class

Answer 3

in modern industrial societies e.g. Britain, social class = main form of stratification. Based upon economic factors (occupation, income).
said to be open and social mobility (movement up/down different classes is possible. Marxist's see social class as key division in society, whereas feminists see gender as key division.

Question 4

other forms of stratification?

Answer 4

• feudalism, medieval Europe (King, Nobility, Knights, Peasants)
• the Caste system, India (closed system where people are born into social position)
• Apartheid, South Africa - 1948-1994 (government policy of racial segregation, & ethnicity was used for stratification - black people were denied life chances that white people had, e.g. education)

Question 5

Davis & Moore - functionalist perspective of stratification

Answer 5

Davis & Moore - American sociologists (1945) argued that all societies are stratified and all have social inequality. Their view: stratification is necessary to the working of society as it fulfils certain vital needs - and the higher roles should be given to the most talented and able to fill out the needs.

Question 6

functionalist perspective on stratification?

Answer 6

Davis & Moore (1945) - American sociologists who argued that all societies are stratified and all have social inequality. In their view: stratification = necessary to working of society as it fulfils certain vital needs (society ensures most important positions are filled by most talented ->all societies must treat ppl differently in terms of their status ->so all societies must have some inequality built into them).

Question 7

criticisms of Davis & Moore

Answer 7

• many jobs that are vital to society have low pay (e.g. Nurses) or low status (e.g. Refuse Collectors)
• Marxist & Feminist approaches both see stratification as a system in which some groups in society (e.g. the Bourgeoisie or men) gain at the expense of others.

Question 8

marxist approach: social class

Answer 8

Karl Marx (1818-1883) identified 2 main classes in capitalist society: Bourgeoisie (ruling) & Proletariat (subject class) : determined by economic factors (ownership/non of means of production). Proletariat’s did not own any property & were forced to sell labour to Bourgeoisie -> workers experienced alienation as they lacked control over production. They had different interests - B aimed for increasing profits, P aimed for higher wages. Marx saw B as exploiting the P - lead to conflict - P’s will rebel = societal change. LINKED SOCIAL CLASS & POWER.

Question 9

criticisms of Marx

Answer 9

• social rev has not occurred in uk, partly as result of increased living standards & development of welfare state.
• Feminist’s argue Marx and Marxist’s focus on class at the expense of gender divisions in society, while others argue they neglect ethnicity.

Question 10

how is social class measured? - RG scale

Answer 10

Register General’s social class scale was uk’s official class scale (1911-1998) - distinguishes between manual (requiring physical effort - seen as working class) & non-manual occupations (require no physical effort - middle class).

Question 11

problems with Register General’s scale

Answer 11

• classifications based on occupation cannot accommodate jobless ppl (e.g. retired/unemployed). Jobless ppl were allocated to a class based on most recent occupation - but ppl who had never worked = difficult to place.
• occupational class scales tell us nothing about individual’s wealth - not clear where the wealthy upper class/ national lottery millionaires should be placed.

Question 12

how is social class measured? - NS-SEC

Answer 12

The National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification replaced RG scale as uk’s official classification. Based on occupation, but covers whole adult pop (including unemployed ppl). It groups together jobs that have similar:

• rewards from work
• employment status
• levels of authority

Question 13

what are life chances?

Answer 13

• > refer to ppl’s chances of achieving posi/negi outcomes as they go through life - affected by factors e.g:
• social class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, age, disability, religion.

Question 14

how have sociologists studied social class?

Answer 14

• the embourgeoisement thesis (in late 1950s, sociologists suggested that WC families were becoming MC in their norms & values as their income & living standards improved = affluence lead the traditional WC values of solidarity to disappear.

Question 15

the Affluent Worker Study

Answer 15

Goldthorpe & colleagues carried out study to test thesis in early 1960s. Based in Luton… the researchers used structured interviews to question affluent workers from 3 companies & their wives about their attitudes to work, aspirations/ views. -> based on his findings, Goldthorpe rejected the embourgeoisement thesis - but argued affluent workers might be part of an emerging ‘new’ WC. They were similar to MC due to views - e.g. wanted to improve their own pay rather than change society to benefit everyone.

Question 16

what is social mobility?

Answer 16

->refers to ppl’s movement up/down a society’s strata. In uk, its movement between social classes.

types:

• intra-generational mobility (movement between classes over lifetime as result)
• inter-generational mobility (movement between generations of a family - occurs when child enters different class from parents)

routes to mobility include:

• educational achievements
• marriage
• inheritance / huge lottery win
• changes in occupational structure

Question 17

problems in measuring social mobility

Answer 17

• some studies of inter-generational mobility focus on males only, so tell us nothing about women’s mobility experiences.
• studies that ask ppt’s to remember their employment histories are likely to be based on unreliable data.

Question 18

does class still matter?

Answer 18

in past, WC ppl tended to vote Labour and MC tended to vote conservative (known as class-alignment) but now not so much (class dealignment). 
views show class divisions are now less clear cut than the 1950s -> young ppl's experiences are increasingly similar regardless of class backgrounds & class identity has declined.

Question 19

what inequalities are based on gender?

Answer 19

following the Equal Pay Act (1970), employers must pay M&F the same salary when doing same work & the Sex Discrimination Act (1975) made it unlawful to treat someone less favourably due to their sex.
-> Feminist approach explores links between gender, life chances & inequality. Gender inequalities still remain in labour (e.g. fire fighting is male dominated) and when all sexes work in same occu, tend to be at different levels (women lower, men higher up). -> women on average, still earn less than men (gender pay gap) and women are expected to care for child.

Question 20

explanations for persistence of gender inequalities at work:

Answer 20

• sex discrimination in workplace: despite legislation, some women continue to be treated less favourably than men SIMPLY as they are women.
• women’s triple shift: Dunscombe & Marsden (1995) found that women work paid employment, domestic labour (housework/childcare) & emotion work (making children/partners feel good).
• childcare provision: critics argue uk has expensive childcare provision for the under 5s. May act as a barrier, preventing women from working full time.

Question 21

what inequalities are based on ethnicity?

Answer 21

• unemployment = important indicator of inequality-> can be linked to social problems e.g. poverty, or ill health.
• Li and colleagues (2008) found that black Caribbean men had much worse employment chances than white peers.

Question 22

explanations for persistence of inequality at work:

Answer 22

• discrimination in labour: prejudice still persists and equality laws = difficult to enforce so life chances for some ethnic groups are negatively affected.
• minority ethnic groups & the underclass: New Right approaches suggest that some ppl from minority ethnic groups form part of an underclass. Charles Murray (1984) argued-> welfare system led to development of underclass (hardcore of unemployed young ppl who had no interest in finding jobs & working hard) -> associated in USA w/ African-American & Hispanic ppl.
• Marxist approaches: see racism (& sexism) as built into the workings of capitalism.

Question 23

how is older age linked to inequality?

Answer 23

• young ppl and older people may be compared to negative stereotypes based on their age. (e.g. ppl in their 50s or 60s may find it hard to get job due to employers holding stereotypes about them learning new skills)
  -> the Equality Act 2010 protects ppl from age discrimination in employment.
• the social position of older ppl varies between groups. many experience poverty, many have a high position in society (e.g. many MPs, judges, etc are in their 60s, 70s, 80s).
  the life chances of an elderly, WC, black woman may be much worse than a newly retired, MC, white man.

Question 24

other factors affecting life chances

Answer 24

• disability-> ppl experience disablism within the workplace… at risk of poverty due to extra costs and disadvantaged position in labour.
• hate crime-> linked to negative stereotyping of some social groups. Victims can be seen as scapegoats - therefore inequality generates resentment.

Question 25

how are wealth & income distributed in uk?

Answer 25

wealth & income = influence life chances.
wealth is distributed more unevenly than income. in the uk, we can identify number of ppl who are the ‘super rich’, comprising:
- those who own wealth in form of shares in industry
- upper-class landowners who inherited wealth
distribution of income:
-> unevenly distributed between households in uk. one way of redistributing income is through:
-taxes and benefits.

Question 26

what is poverty?

Answer 26

2 types:

• absolute poverty (income is insufficient to obtain minimum they need to survive)
• relative poverty (cannot afford to meet general standard of living of most other ppl in their society)

PETER TOWNSEND - defining pov
“poverty is defined as those people whose resources are so seriously below those commanded by the average individual or family…” etc

Question 27

sociologist measuring poverty (Peter Townsend)

Answer 27

PETER TOWNSEND
-> (1979) made deprivation index to measure relative deprivation. He calculated that almost 23% of pop were in poverty. The types of ppl at risk of poverty were- elderly ppl who had worked in unskilled manual jobs and children in families of young, unskilled manual workers or in one-parent families.

Question 28

criticisms of Townsend’s deprivation index

Answer 28

• critics questioned some of the items in the index, e.g. a cooked breakfast/ Sunday joint. not eating meat regularly could be due to vegetarianism / religion.

Question 29

which social groups are more likely to experience poverty?

Answer 29

• minority ethnic groups (e.g. someone of a Pakistani heritage)
• women
• children in families with: 4 or more children, lone parent, no paid workers

Question 30

the culture of poverty (1960s, O. Lewis)

Answer 30

individuals living in poverty developed way of life & set values to cope w, their position, following these values:

• ppl can do little to change their situation, so may as well accept it
• live for today, do not worry about tomorrow
• no point in planning for the future

this persisted throughout generations - as shown in cycle of deprivation (product of S. Rowntree’s research).

Question 31

criticisms of culture of poverty:

Answer 31

• it does not explain what actually causes poverty.

- it blames those in poverty for their situation, ignoring structural factors (e.g. unemployment levels)

Question 32

functionalism & poverty

Answer 32

Davis & Moore’s explanation on stratification suggests that social inequality is necessary. Other functionalist accounts focus on positive functions of poverty for some groups in industrial society (e.g. poverty = useful as it helps to make sure that dirty, dangerous work gets done cheaply; without poor ppl, no one would do these undesirable jobs. -> poverty - creates jobs for ppl who deal w/ the poor (e.g. social workers).

Question 33

marxism & poverty

Answer 33

• > argues poverty results from class-based inequalities. Capitalism as an economic system generates extreme wealth for the bourgeoisie (owners of means of production) - also produces poverty among proletariat… it is inevitable that some will be poor under Capitalism. -> poverty serves interests of the bourgeoisie.
• marxist’s argue that inequality = not inevitable. Only way to remove poverty is to have a revolutionary change in society.

Question 34

feminism & poverty

Answer 34

women face a greater risk of poverty than men.
the 2 groups at greatest risk are lone mothers and older women living alone (Millar, 1997).
-> possible reason: gender pay gap & inequality in division of caring responsibilities.
- feminist’s argue that female poverty may be well hidden in some couple households (e.g. women may be poor, man may be quite well-off).

Question 35

the New Right Approach

Answer 35

New Right explanations of poverty = similar to the culture of poverty and cycle of deprivation as they focus on individual’s behaviour.

• stress importance of traditional values & self-reliance.
• they want a reduced role for the state, especially its welfare provision (too generous, creates ‘welfare dependency’)
• they argue that family members should provide for each other and look after elderly/sick relatives.
• welfare dependency and the ‘underclass’ are key ideas within this approach.

Question 36

criticisms of New Right Approach

Answer 36

• critics argue that sociologists should focus on the structure of society when explaining poverty -> should also focus more on the ‘overclass’ (rich & powerful groups in society)

Question 37

the culture of dependency (Charles Murray)

Answer 37

• sees ‘underclass’ having developed at base of the class system.
• its members have typically been brought up in single parent female-headed households where they have become work-shy & choose not to take employment even when avaliable.

this lifestyle is passed through generations.

argued to be caused by over-generous welfare state.

other approaches say that poverty/inequality has increased by globalisation.

Question 38

what is the welfare state?

Answer 38

• > system in which state takes responsibility for protecting health & welfare of it’s citizens (safety net).
• a service provided by welfare state = the National Health Service.
• they provide benefits to those in need.

Question 39

criticisms of welfare state:

Answer 39

• critics of means testing argue it may trap people in poverty -> e.g. an employed person receiving means tested benefit could get wage rise but be no better off, or even WORSE off, if they now earn too much to qualify for benefits. = (poverty trap) -> may discourage people from saving.