Sociological Explanations Of Social Status

According to Bynner and Joshi (1999) class differences have persisted since the late 1950’s. It can be seen that all studies carried out by various theorist came to the same conclusion that middle class pupils tend to do a lot better than working class in terms of educational achievement. Pupils from middle class backgrounds tend to pass more exams, stay on at school for longer and are five times more likely to go to university. This gap in achievement widens with age as right from nursery school to university, processes like labelling or the self fulfilling prophecy take

M1-Assess how the social context may influence the ability of health campaigns to change behaviour in relations to health

An elite is considered as the few in any organization or society who have power. (pg. 1)

The concept of social class has been around for ages and is still a part of today’s society. Social class is not only based on the individual’s wealth but also on their social standing such as; monarchs, priests, nobles, merchants, and peasant class. The peasant class was practically ignored, which means that the higher classes would only pay attention to each other. This can be the case in society today, there are some people who feel that their career makes them higher than a janitor. Even though humans have been around for centuries, social class is still a big issue.

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.

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: social class is normally linked to a person’s income and the sort of job they do. People may discriminate against other people because they are of a different social class to themselves.

British society is split into hierarchical categories with “higher” “middle” and “lower working” class. The British class structure is shaped like a pyramid cut into three

Class is important as it can determine various aspects that will have a significant impact and influence on how people’s lives are shaped. Feminists have argued for other things to be included such as social divisions to show how they intersect with class. Economic inequalities can have an impact on class as they can determine a person’s status, wealth, income and lifestyle. Class is important as social inequalities exists amongst the rich and poor. Important social factors include poverty, health and education. A person’s identity is just as important as their class. People may face discrimination due to their identity, whether that may be due to their gender, age, ethnicity or disability. Social mobility is where people are in a different social class now from which they were brought up in. However sociologists argue that class is less important in contemporary society today than it once used to be.

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).

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).

The definition of socioeconomic status; The social standing or class of an individual or group. It is often measured as a combination of education, income, and occupation. (American Psychological Association.) I’m going to compare and contrast the education, occupation, income and poverty during the 1900’s and compare that these things in today’s world. Some things were better back then and some things are better now. I will also be comparing the poverty rates from the 1900’s to the 2000’s.

Social class has a major influence over the success and experience of young people in education; evidence suggests social class affects educational achievement, treatment by teachers and whether a young person is accepted into higher education. “34.6 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) achieved five or more A*-C grades at GCSE or equivalent including English and mathematics GCSEs, compared to 62.0 per cent of all other pupils” (Attew, 2012). Pupils eligible for FSM are those whose families earn less than £16,000 a year (Shepherd, J. Sedghi, A. and Evans, L. 2012). Thus working-class young people are less likely to obtain good GCSE grades than middle-class and upper-class young people.

While class groups do not constitute communities, according to Weber, status groups normally are communities (108). Status is defined as the likelihood that life chances are determined by social honour, or, prestige. Status groups are linked by a common lifestyle, and the shared aspects of social life held to high importance to that status group. Wealth is not necessarily the primary cause of status, though

Social class is a hierarchal structure, whereby people within society are grouped and then classified, depending on their economic, social or educational status. British English is a type of English language, which is used in Great Britain. Within modern contemporary British English, it could be argued that social class plays a major part with how the language is today.