The impact on minorities due to inequality
Introduction
During the course of this class I have learned about social problems within the society in which we live and around the world. It is disturbing to learn that poverty, social inequality, race and cultural discrimination, gender stratification, environmental damage, population growth, and urbanization are among the social problems and controversial issues that still exist in the United States.
What is Social Stratification
Social stratification is defined as a system by which society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. For example, There are fundamental principles of stratification: slavery, caste, and class. The class system which is characterized by its social mobility social stratification is a characteristic of society not because of individual differences, but because social stratification persists over generations.
Each of these groups is stratified into its own class; the group of people ranked most closely to them in property, power, and prestige. A person’s position in the stratification system affects everything about their life, from what they think and expect in life to how they see the world, as well as what opportunities they will have access to. Although, your status is still assigned at birth, but you have the chance at upward social mobility based on material possessions that you acquire, or things that you achieve. Or you may be on the other end of the spectrum and experience downward social
It could also be influenced by race, social group, and geography. In modern Western countries, the social stratifications results in three social classes, the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class. Each class can be subdivided into more classes within the class. Categorizing people into classes is a common phenomenon in all societies and cultures. Determining the social class an individual fits in is derived from social inequality among individuals. Generally, the more complex the society is, the more social stratification
Social stratification also ties in with social location because depending on one’s social location one is thrown into, their class system is assigned, “…any society will consist of levels that relate to each other in terms of superordination and subordination, be it in power, privilege or prestige” (78). This is a system of ranking, and one’s position is usually determined though economic criteria. One’s level may change however; “…a class society is one in which there is typically a high degree of social mobility” (79). A persons class position will determine their life experiences based on their opportunities available, Max Weber explain that “ones class position yields certain probabilities or life chances…” (79). Role theory explains how one’s actions and identity is socially bestowed and sustained. A role is defined as “a typified response to a typified
Individuals within a society are grouped into certain rankings that is based on their wealth, income, race and education known as the social stratification. Sociologist use this to determine the social standings of individuals within a society. Social stratification can also appear in much smaller groups. These groups such as the work place, schools, and businesses can “take the form of a distribution of power and authority down the ranks”. (Cole, 2017) The Caste system is also another form of stratification that one does not get a choice in. They are born into it and regardless of their talents will hold positions that are given to them their whole life. Social mobility is the ability for individuals to move about their social standings.
People consider that social stratification in the United States contains social classes such as upper class, middle class, and lower class. People who are categorizing in upper class not only have power and control over their own lives but also their social status gives them
In Chapter 10 of Newman and the article “Making Class Invisible” by Gregory Mantsios both work to explain class structures and the effects of stratification. Newman defines stratification as the ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal rewards and life chances in society (p. 281). While Newman expresses how social forces and institutions influence social class, Mantsios explains in his article how mass media perpetuates class stratification.
Social class describes the different "layers" that exist in society. These "layers," or classes in society, are a division that civilization has been running on ever since the beginning of mankind. In most modern societies, our system of social class division is one of opportunity. We experience a good deal of social mobility, where people through generations or in their own lifetime can move up or down the social scale. By examining the many different perceptions of social class along with S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, it is illustrated that social class has an impact on people while they are growing up, and will usually deny them from rising above adversity.
Economic stratification is the different rankings in social class are separated in different economic ways. These differences can vary from clothing, cars, perfumes, cigarette brands, etc. There are many ways you can tell what a person stratification is just by the way they look or the things they have. Usually these ranking go from lower class to middle class then the upper class. Each of these classes have very different ways of living and what they do to maintain a certain status.
The concept of stratification is the division of classes like bourgeoisies and proletariats. Bourgeoisies shouldn’t ever use force because it is never a good idea in a democratic society. It is inefficient because it will make people unite and protest. It will remove people in the office of power. The elites will use stratification to maintain their status.
Davis-Moore Theory of Social Stratification is a functionalist concept. Their theory is that stratification arises due to unconscious social needs to place the ablest persons in the most important positions, and then motivate them to perform their job (Grandjean, 1975). Davis and Moore believe stratification systems
A society is made up of different classifications of people, and the way they are classified is based on the resources they own. What sociologists call this is social stratification. According to the book, society ranks individuals into socioeconomic stratums based on their income, wealth, education, and race. Individuals are put into a specific social class that describes the way they live. The way social stratification divides and categories people vary from each society. Social stratification also implies that resources are often unevenly distributed. In which case results in a class system. In the United States there are three class distinctions: upper, middle, and lower class. There are additional subcategories that pertain to each class. For example the middle class can be divided into the upper middle class and the lower middle class. The difference between the two is that people who belong in the upper middle class tend to have more comfortable incomes, while the lower middle class has a harder time maintaining their decent lifestyle. Furthermore, the
Sociology looks at stratification in society as a way to measure a person place within an economical class. Disparity within the norms of wealth and income is an important part of the stratification process because of the effects that is has on a person's behavior. There is no better predictor of an individual person's behavior than that of their class position. An individual's class position is solely based on their economical level within society. People of a less economical level are subject to hardship as opposed to those of a higher economical position where their lives are better built and protected through wealth. A person's social class will tell you more about a person's behavior and attitude than any other single piece of information.
Even without being consciously aware of it, the use of some sort of scale when interacting with others is quintessential. This is because it represents a basic need of defining the self through the means of the others; knowing one’s place in society, as well as the positions of fellow individuals, ensures an orderly functioning of said system. For the sake of this essay, the definition of social stratification as a society’s categorization of its people into rankings of socioeconomic tiers based on factors like wealth, income, race, education, and power (Pearce, 2015), will be used.
Class, race, and gender play a significant role in organizing society as a whole, and they are all forms of stratification that promote group inequalities in society due to an unequal distribution of social resources and opportunities. These groups are socially defined and treated differently and unequally in the larger society.
Social stratification can be viewed in one of three ways, first is structural- functional which is based on a society which is rewarded for their efforts and accomplishments. This theory believes that inequality boost economy, pushing people to work harder. Next we have social conflict which looks at society as being divided based on resources and ownership. This theory looks at unequal rewards as creating inequality and placing a divide in society. Weber looked at this in terms of socioeconomic status ranking people based on their inequalities. Last is symbolic-interaction a micro level view of society which looks at ones interactions in everyday life. This looks at the things we purchase, what we wear and the
First, social stratification is a system in which a society ranks categories of people and a hierarchy. To be honest, if I was going to put it in simplest terms for the cooler individuals in the crowd it is the way a society groups People based off their social class, and does not have to pretend the money. Economic specialization is when a nation or individual concentrates its productive efforts are producing a limited variety of good. Sometimes the nation has to produce other goods and rely on trade. Therefore, this is basically asking how to decide to get the things they need,