SOC-101 Ch. 7 Social Class: The Structure of Inequality

Systems of Stratification: Caste System

•A caste system is a form of social stratification in which status is determined by one's family history and background and cannot be changed.

Poverty: Absolute and Relative Deprivation

•Absolute deprivation is an objective measure of poverty that is defined by the inability to meet minimal standards for food, shelter, clothing, or health care. •Relative deprivation is a relational measure of poverty based on the standards of living. •People are considered poor if their standard of living is less than that of other members of society.

Systems of Stratification: Examples of Caste Systems

•Apartheid is the term for the system of segregation of racial and ethnic groups that was legal in South Africa between 1948 and 1991. •Michelle Alexander argues that there is what is similar to a caste system in the criminal justice system of the United States.

Social Classes in the United States: Upper and Upper-Middle Classes

•The upper class: •consists of the wealthiest people in a class system •possesses most of the wealth of the country •makes up 1% of the U.S. population •The upper-middle class: •includes professionals and managers •makes up about 14% of the U.S. population

Social Classes in the United States: Working Poor and Underclass

•The working poor: •members likely work manual and service jobs and seasonal employment •makes up about 13% of the U.S. population •The underclass: •members likely employed part-time or unemployed •makes up about 12% of the U.S. population

Theories of Social Class: Weberian Theory

•Max Weber offered a similar model that also included cultural factors. •He argued that class status was made of three components: •Wealth (or privilege) •Power •Prestige

Socioeconomic Status and Life Chances

•Belonging to a certain social class has profound consequences for individuals in all areas of life including family, health, education, work and income, and criminal justice. •Important factors for life chances: •FAMILY •HEALTH •EDUCATION •WORK AND INCOME •CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Social Mobility: Horizontal and Vertical

•Horizontal social mobility is the occupational movement of individuals or groups within a social class. •Vertical social mobility is the movement between social classes and, depending on the direction, is often called either upward mobility or downward mobility.

Poverty

•In the United States, the federal poverty line (an absolute measure of annual income) is frequently used to determine who should be categorized as poor. •The poverty threshold in 2017 for a family of four was $24,600 •Most people living in poverty are not unemployed. This fact is evident in the term "working poor."

Social Mobility: Intergenerational and Intragenerational

•Intergenerational mobility is the movement between social classes that occurs from one generation to the next. •Intragenerational mobility is the movement between social classes that occurs over the course of an individual's lifetime.

Theories of Social Class: Conflict Theory

•Karl Marx believed that there were two main social classes in capitalist societies: •Capitalists (or bourgeoisie) who owned the means of production •Workers (or proletariat) who sold their labor for wages •He believed that the classes would remain divided and social inequality would grow.

Theories of Social Class: Postmodernism and Social Reproduction

•More recently, Pierre Bourdieu attempted to explain social reproduction. •Social reproduction: the tendency for social-class status to be passed down from one generation to the next •According to Bourdieu, this happens because each generation acquires cultural capital (tastes, habits, expectations, skills, knowledge, etc.), which helps us to gain advantages in society. •This cultural capital either helps or hinders us as we become adults.

Systems of Stratification: Slavery

•Slavery is the most extreme form of social stratification and is based on the legal ownership of people. •A lot of folks think that slavery is over- it's illegal everywhere on the planet yet is still occurring.

Systems of Stratification: Social Class

•Social class: a system of stratification based on access to resources such as wealth, property, power, and prestige. •Sociologists often refer to social class as socioeconomic status (or SES). •Intersectionality: a concept that identifies how different categories of inequality (e.g., class, race, and gender) intersect

Social Mobility: Closed and Open Systems

•Social mobility is the movement of individuals or groups within the hierarchical system of social classes. •A closed system is one in which there is very little opportunity to move from one class to another. •An open system is one with ample opportunity to move from one class to another.

Social Stratification and Social Inequality

•Social stratification is the division of society into groups arranged in a social hierarchy. •Every society has some form of stratification, but societies stratify people according to a variety of criteria (such as race, class, and gender). •Social inequality is the unequal distribution of wealth, power, or prestige among members of a society.

Social Mobility: Structural

•Structural mobility refers to changes in the social status of large numbers of people due to structural changes in society.

Theories of Social Class: Structural Functionalism

•Suggests that the system of stratification that has emerged is functional to society in many ways: •Certain roles are more important for the functioning of society, and these roles may be more difficult to fill, so more incentive is needed. •Greater rewards are necessary for work that requires more training or skill.

Theories of Social Class: Symbolic Interaction Theory

•Symbolic interactionists examine the way we use status differences to categorize ourselves and others. •As Erving Goffman pointed out, our clothing, speech, gestures, possessions, friends, and activities provide information about our socioeconomic status.

Inequality and the Ideology of the American Dream

•The American Dream: •is the ideology that anyone can achieve material success if he or she works hard enough •explains and justifies economic inequality in our social system •has been criticized for legitimizing stratification by implying that everyone has the same opportunity to get ahead

Poverty: Culture of Poverty and Invisibility of Poverty

•The culture of poverty refers to learned attitudes that can develop among poor communities and lead the poor to accept their fate rather than attempt to improve their situation. •Invisibility of Poverty: Residential segregation, political disenfranchisement, and the use of law enforcement to control the homeless can make poverty invisible to many Americans.

Social Classes in the United States: Middle and Working Classes

•The middle class: •includes "white-collar" workers •has a broad range of incomes •makes up about 30% of the U.S. population •The working (lower-middle) class: •includes "blue-collar" or service industry workers •members less likely to have college degrees •makes up about 30% of the U.S. population