social stratification

1. Social Stratification By Dr. John Brenner Southwest Virginia Community College

3. Social Stratification This is the social process where individuals, groups and places are categorized and ranked on a scale of social worth Effects your life chances the potential social advantages and disadvantages a person receives Chances to live the first year of life, to be healthy, and live a life free of crime with educational opportunities

4. Social Stratification Place�a geographical region with formal or informal boundaries Includes countries, provinces, states, cities, towns, villages, neighborhoods, and streets In Sweden 3.44 of every 1,000 babies die before age one In Angola 200 of every 1,000 babies die before age one

5. Social Stratification Per capita income is the average income for every man, woman, and child living in a country Low-income countries per capita income is $775 or less High-income countries per capita income is $9,266 or more per year

6. Social Stratification Consumers in high-income countries account for 86% of the total private consumption Poorest 20% of the world only account for 1.3% of consumption Clearly there are large disparities in income and consumption depending on the place where you are born

7. Social Stratification Comparing the richest 10% to the poorest 10% of the population in a country USA richest 10% has 30.5% of all the income USA poorest 10% earn 1.8% Nambia richest 10% earns 129 more than poorest 10% Honduras richest earns 92 times the poorest USA has the greatest gap between the richest and the poorest Valued goods are unequally distributed in all countries

8. Social Categories Every society places people into categories and ranks them Ascribed characteristics�things we are born with�sex, skin color, race, ethnicity Achieved characteristics�earned through personal choice, effort, or ability Consider�26.9 million people under 18 in the USA live in poverty 59.5 million youths under 14 are malnourished How does this factor effect life chances

9. Social Categories Status value�refers to how individuals are treated in a society Some individuals are treated as worth more than others Compensations values of victims of 9/11 shows *People were valued from $250,000 to $7.1 million *Least valued were single, childless 65 and over *Most valued were married persons 30 and younger with children

10. Social Categories Sociologists are concerned with the classification scheme used by societies Each society has a scheme that states that some characteristics are more important others Abilities�athletic or intellectual Social traits�criminal record or aggression Cultural practices�dress, appearance, language Some people believe the traits are genetic not social

11. Social Systems Caste system��closed� system because people have no control over their position Class system��open� because people are ranked due to merit, talent, ability and past performance Characteristics of the two Rigidity of the system�can people change positions Value of ascribed and achieved status Restrictions placed on people in each system

12. Social Systems Caste�comes from India where prior to World War II there were 4 basic categories with many sub-categories People had to keep a physical distance from each other People were ranked over characteristics they had no control over Lower castes were seen as innately inferior Higher castes felt superior It was a situation that was absolute and never doubted Social restrictions were severe

13. Social Systems Caste system was also seen in the South African system Apartheid�system of laws that placed every one in the country into a racial category and each had an identity card Categories were Black, colored, Indian, or white Determined where you could play, travel, learn, work, eat, sleep or be buried Apartheid�means apartness 14% of the whites dominated 86% of non-whites

14. Social Systems Class systems�this system that people rise and fall in the system based on their own abilities, talents, and past performances Inequality is not systematic People can rise up or down during their own lifetimes Focus on education, income and standard of living

15. Social Systems Social mobility�movement for one class to another Vertical�a change in class status (up or down) Upward mobility�a gain in rank Downward mobility�loss in rank Intragenerational�up or down in your lifetime Intergenerational�change in rank compared with one or more generations

16. Social Systems Class systems are difficult to determine where a person is in a society A person may have designer clothes and a fashionable car but work in a low income job People in the world living in absolute poverty has declined The number of billionaires in the world has increased People can change class position through marriage, graduation, inheritance, or job performances

17. Social Systems In the United States Our Constitution states we are all created equally 85% of Americans believe we have a true class system meaning you can be what you want to be Inequality does exist The lowest income groups in our society: 13.8% white h households 27.4 black households 19.2% Hispanic households 12.1% of Asian households

18. Social Systems In a real class society the differences would be equal Please note in the percentages that the greatest number of people in our society are white so they have the greatest numbers in the lowest group Occupations are separated by gender, race and ethnicity A person�s ascribed characteristics may overshadow competence Society may favor males over females in our families and in society as a whole

19. Theories of Stratification Functionalist Theory by Davis and Moore Social inequality and unequal distribution ensures the most functionally important occupations are filled by the best qualified Looks at the degree to which the occupation is functionally important to society Those occupations that require more talented are more rewarded

20. Theories of Stratification They note that the system can be weakened when Capable individuals are overlooked Elite groups control the avenues of training Parents influence and wealth determine status Societies must adjust to get people into the needed occupations Societies have to do this to compete with other societies and maintain survivalibility

21. Theories of Stratification Critique of functionalism Inequality may be necessary but at what price Functionalist say some jobs require special skills NBA athlete earns $4.1 million because he can generate income for owners, advertisers and media giants First year teachers make $30.496 a year Does this mean society does not care about it�s children like it does special athletes?

22. Theories of Stratification Comparable worth says that each person should receive the same compensation for the same job Male nurses are paid more than female nurses Why should child care workers get $314 a week and auto mechanic get $588 a week? CEO of Wal-Mart received $11.5 million in 2002 while the average worker gets $7.22 an hour Functionalists should be questioned about a system that assists all of society

23. Theories of Stratification Herbert Gans said that poverty has at least 15 functions for a society, like Taking the unskilled and dangerous jobs that are menial and low paying Cheap labor runs our society as about 5.3 million undocumented workers live here to do low pay jobs Many poor women work for the wealthy as nannies and housekeepers Poor agree to be guinea pigs for new drugs Jobs for social workers, border guards, police to take care of the poor Purchase cheap and out of date good

24. Colonialism and Neocolonialism Colonialism is the process where the European (and later others) forced local populations to cultivate crops and extract raw materials Industrial revolution increased the demands to remote parts of the world By 1914 84% of the world was affected by colonization By then estimated 500 million people lived in colonies

25. Colonialism and Neocolonialism Colonialism defined Domination by a foreign power that uses it�s military to impose political, economic and cultural institutions on native populations Dominating their resources, labor and markets Democratic Republic of Congo was a colony that became independent in 1960 but only had 17 people with a college degree Neocolonialism�being a producer of primary products for processing in the west�this includes about 90.4% of the African continent

26. World Systems Theory This Wallerstein�s modern theory of capitalism�a theory that is 500 years old and evolving�6 responses to change 1. lowering production by hiring low wage people 2. getting raw materials at lowest price 3. creating new products 4. improving existing products 5. expanding the world boundaries with new markets 6. offering higher wages or credit to get new customers

27. World Systems Theory Three types of economies Core�wealthiest and most diversified�makes decisions about what others will do�an economy that effects all others Peripheral�rely on a few commodities like coffee, peanuts, tobacco or a mineral�low paying jobs and when they have a good crop the price goes down--Vietnam Semiperipheral�moderate wealth and economies but depend on the above for cheap labor�six Persian Gulf countries with workers from other countries

28. Analysis of Social Class Sociologists use the term class to refer to a person�s overall standing in a society and stratification system Karl Marx�he was concerned with class struggle between the three classes; wage laborers, capitalists and landlords class conflict between the classes propels society from one class to another He categorized people on their sources of income

29. Analysis of Social Class Reality of class is very complex but has useful ideas Marx makes us aware of the percentage of people who are unemployed and living in poverty Marx makes us aware of the sources of income and how people maintain a social class: inheritance, credit, capital gains, rent etc Marx makes us look at the conditions that lead to revolt, for example in South Africa it was losing UN status, sanctions and the end of the Cold War Thus we see the complexities of social class

30. Analysis of Social Class Weber agreed economics effected social class but also includes one�s marketable abilities, access to consumer goods, control and ability to invest Negatively privileged�unskilled, no property, dependent on seasonal work, at the bottom Positively privileged�can purchase goods, socially advantageous education, high positions, live on income from property and investments, at the top of the social ladder

31. Analysis of Social Class Status group: people who are held together by a lifestyle which would include education, family background, occupation and a way of living that is distinct Political Parties: planned acquisition of power to influence social action groups: National Organization of Women, AFL-CIO, United Auto Workers, Kurdistan Workers Party, All mean parties created for a purpose

32. Analysis of Social Class Weber viewed social class like steps on a ladder with the top classes being the positively privileged for example: 7.7 million people in the world are high net worth individuals�this is 1 tenth of 1 percent of the world�s population Negatively privileged�poverty in the USA is from 12.8 to 15.5% in a year with people moving in and out of it UN says that 1.2 billion people live on less than $1 dollar a day and 1.8 billion on 1-2 dollars a day

33. Analysis of Social Class Changes in the economic structure has effected people in the USA Restructuring of the economy from manufacturing to service and information-based economy Women entered the labor market making changes since the 1970s Exodus of jobs from the cities to the suburbs Transfer of low-skilled jobs overseas All this has created an urban underclass who are people in the inner city left out of the mainstream society and jobless

34. Analysis of Social Class The ghetto poor are the most visible and publicized underclass in USA Other information about the underclass 50% of the poor are white 2.6 million rural children are underclass 48 of the 50 US counties with the highest rate of poverty rate are rural More than 2/3rd (70%) of the less visible poor are white Declining farming, mining, and timber industries and transfer of manufacturing to overseas have left these people out of the mainstream

35. Analysis of Social Class To live below poverty means that a family of four will earn less than $18,810 a year This definition means that 35.9 million Americans live below the poverty level Most Americans believe that a family of four would need about $40,000 a year Social class has many facets that need constant exploration