Social Classes

There is much debate about the issue of social class in the United States. There are arguments about whether social classes are distinctly separate or fluid, dependent upon one’s community or society as a whole, and if they are subjective or objective (Hughes and Jenkins). However, despite the debate surrounding social classes, it is still important to try to define them and analyze their effects, as they are such an important part of our identity and our opportunities in society. Although our society has tried to appear as though we have no classes, and it is becoming harder to tell what class someone is in by material goods, classes do still exist today (Scott and Leonhardt). The trend has been to divide the U.S. into four major

Socio-economic class or socio-economic status (SES) may refer to mixture of various factors such as poverty, occupation and environment. It is a way of measuring the standard and quality of life of individuals and families in society using social and economic factors that affect health and wellbeing ( Giddens and Sutton, 2013). Cockerham (2007 p75) argues: ‘Social class or socioeconomic status (SES) is the strongest predictor of health, disease causation and longevity in medical sociology.’ Research in the 1990s, (Drever and Whitehead, 1997) found out that people in higher SES are generally healthier, and live longer than those in lower SES.

Social class helps to deter the reasons for individual’s health and ill health. Social classes also help with understanding health and ill health, this is done through the basis of individuals lifestyle class, for example the lower class who work in the worst

Society is set up into a hierarchical triangle that essentially determines social class. A social class is any person or group of people with the same educational, social or economical status. Social class can be broken down into many different categories such as race, age, gender, economic status, educational status and many more. Social class can be measured in many different ways such as financial status, family values, appearance, and demeanor. In America there are six main economical social classes which are the: Very poor, Poor, Working class, Middle class, Upper middle class, and the ruling class.

An inequality in society, economy, wealth distribution, and political corruption and the influence in cooperation of government led to

Sociologists propose that the similar correlation between major health disparities and indicators of socio-economic status can be explained by the concept of class. Class is a social concept created by describing the unequal distribution of wealth, power and resources. The concept proposes that it is a hierarchal system that classifies people into lower, middle and upper class, however these terms can be used interchangeably with others such as working and elite classes. The disparities in health, mentioned above, and indicators of class include measures such as mortality, morbidity and disability rates.

In this course, we have learned about different social classes and how they developed over time. In fact, the idea of social classes has been around before what we know it as to today. The concept has not changed. The “higher” classes usually have land, money, and jewels. The “lower” classes are broke, servants, and no valuable possessions. Prior to this course, I only knew of the upper class, middle class, and lower class. In today’s society, the separation between classes is not as bad as it use to be. School is an example of this. I grew up in Cobb County, Smyrna- Vinings area and I went to school with people who parents are CEOs of companies, successful entrepreneurs or even music artist. I would consider my family middle class but we did have students who were also lower class families. Some higher-class families enroll their children in private school. Private schools charges tuition whereas public schools are free of cost. The upbringing up children can determine their social status in schools. In this essay, I will discuss “cliques” and their differences in high schools.

The five social or economic classes in America are based on the large disparity of income gaps in the American class system. The naming of the different class systems may have different names depending on the author, but the American social class system has a wide income gap between the richest to the poorest in the nation. According to the article, “Who We Are” written by Emily Barone, the income gap is wider than ever before in America. “The income gap is wider than ever. Climbing out of poverty is increasingly difficult.”

Social Class is a division of a society based on social and economic status. In today’s society there are three main social groups in America: upper, middle, and lower class; these rankings are contributed by mass amounts of factors, but one of the main factors that people cannot control is their race and ethnicity. Race and ethnicity, likewise as gender, can also play a part in a variety of other concerns such as, education level, income, and where you reside.

Social class is defined as 'people having the same social or economic status' (Wordnet). In contemporary American society, social class is based on the amount of money and property you have and also prestige. Prestige is given to a person through the line of work or the family that they come from. For example, upper-upper class member Jennifer Lopez reeks of prestige not only because she has millions of dollars in her bank account, but she has very expensive luxuries, cars, and houses.

Social class refers to the system of stratification of the different groups of people in a society. These different forms of classification are, in most instances, based on gender ethnicity and age. Social class makes everyone’s lives extremely different. For example: How long one can expect to live. In a wide range of ways, from success, to one’s health class, social class influences people’s lives (Grusky,2003).

In this paper I will contrast how Marx and Weber understood the undergirding social dynamics of capitalist society. Whereas Marx look at social classes and class struggle, Weber focuses on different spheres of status, class situation, and power group (being associations of people that tried to influence social actions). Durkheim, a structural functionalist, argued everything in society exist for a purpose, and that society is bounded together by ideas and social unity, what he calls: social solidarity. Weber focused on rationality and bureaucracy, he believed they were key elements of modern society and saw as central to their functioning the way in which people felt in their living situation. Marx, with a very different approach, looked at how capitalist came into being with a dominant class owning the means of productions, and a working class being compelled to selling its labor. Each of these school of thoughts have been picked up by sociologists in later era and form their own branches. With each focusing on different aspects of society, we can look at the tension between these schools of thought. As diverse as the theories are, there are still shared aspects but with different understandings/ arguments. For this paper, I 've chosen the concepts of social classes and class struggles from Marxian, and ideas on status and class situation in Weber, and also explain my own particular view on how these help us understand modern society.

As long as it has been in existence, society has always been fractured into social classes, the very rich and the very poor. I see within our society the chasm growing by the year. The proletariat, boxed into cramped houses, while the bourgeoisie reside in mansions that jut up towards the sky touching the clouds. The rich, who control mostly everything in todays age, capitalize on those less fortunate than themselves and bask in the ignorance of the lower class. It is painful for myself to see the common worker, the average person, being taken advantage of and not even knowing his rights against such things.

This essay will be discussing the extent to which social class and poverty affects health and illness. Firstly, what is social class? Each person’s perception of social class can be different; is social class defined by a person’s accent, the area they live in, or something as simple as their income? Project Britain describes social class as “The grouping of people by occupations and lifestyle”. (Cress, 2014). To find social class Sociologists group people according to common factors, they compare people and various criteria can be conveniently used to place people in social groups or classes. Next we ask the question what determines a person’s health, the NHS defines health as “Physical and mental, it is the absence of disease”. (NHS 2017).

Knowing what social class on is in at a young age is very important because it can either help or hinder one’s future. Social class has many different categories one can fit in. I personally put myself in the working middle class for a few different reasons like my mother’s education level, the different potions she has held in different over the years, and the schooling that she has put me through over the years.