CHAPTER 19: SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

• Nature of Social Stratification: All known societies are stratified;

however, stratification systems vary. Social Stratification tend to be transmitted from one generation to another. Social positions are also ranked rated within subgroups.

Meaning of Social Stratification• It is the hierarchical arrangement and establishment of social

categories that may be evolve into social groups together with statuses and their corresponding roles.

• It’s elements have varying ranks of superiority and inferiority.• It may be viewed as a social structure, as a social process, or as a

social problem.• As a social structure, it may be considered as the differentiation of

statuses and social roles into ranked orders or system of layered hierarchy of social relationships; in other words, “Institutionalized Inequality”.

• As a social process, it can be thought of as the division of society competing, and/or conflicting with one another for the status quo or social change.

• As a social problem, it involves bitter feelings of disconnect and of strong demands for equality or “social justice”.

Basic Components of Social Stratification:

• Social Class - refers to a stratum or category of persons who have similar socio-economic priviliges in a society.

• Social Status – is the social standing of a person or group within a social class or in the entire social stratification system.

Types of Social Classes

• A) Upper Class – consists of the elite families who are the most productive and successful in their respective areas like agriculture, industry, business or government.The Elite are of 2 types:

1) New Rich – are those who have within their lifetime amassed enough wealth to enable them to afford the lifestyle of traditional upper class.

2) Traditional Upper Class – is composed of the descendants of elite members.

• B) Middle Class – small business and industry owners and managers professional office workers, and farm owners with income that provide a comfortable lifestyle class belongs to this class.

• C) Lower Class – are the farm employees, unskilled and skilled artisans, service workers, and the unemployed, indigent families.

The Types of Social Stratification• Caste System – is a type of social stratification that is mainly

based on “inherited inequality.”• Class System - had existed during the Roman Empire but it

was only with the emergence of industrial society that this kind of stratification system spread around the world.

• Class Consciousness – is the awareness of one’s social class position as different from that of another.

• Social Distance – means reserve or restraint in the social relationships of member of different racial ethnic groups, social classes, or institutional roles.

• Class Conflict – is the struggle between social classes for more equitable distribution of wealth, power, and prestige.

• Social Mobility – refers to the movement of persons or groups in the social stratification system. It may be vertical or horizontal.

• Vertical Social Mobility – occurs when persons or groups move from one social position to another

• Horizontal Social Mobility – it take place when persons or groups shift from one social position to another with roles of varying importance within the same social class.

Factors Affecting Social Mobility:• The Degree to Which Children Succeed their Parents in their

Occupations - is an important indication of social mobility.• Education – is a basic factor in occupational mobility but the

quality of education depends to a considerable degree on parent’s socio economic status

• Geographical & Horizontal Mobility – generally go hand-in-hand and they maybe significant prerequisites to vertical mobility.

• High Fertility – it hinders upward mobility especially for the very poor.

• Vertical Mobility – it underlies the explosition of rising expectations calling for change in the social stratification system in developing countries all over the world.

• Social Institutions and Social Stratification: Social Institutions like family, school,

labor market, & government, exert the greatest influence upon the society’s stratification system. Along with other institutions like the church and recreational institutions, they help maintain the status quo just as they give the means for changing it.

Measurement of Social Stratification

Social class or social status has been measured in various ways. Sociologists have concentrated on variations of two basic techniques evolved by W. Lloyd Warner.

• The Evaluated Participation (EP) technique assumes that people

within the community are conscious of the ranking system that develops therein and are able to evaluate each other.

• The Index of Status Characteristics (I.S.C.) technique uses factors such as occupation, source of income, house type, and dwelling area.

They involve basic tools like self-classification, the use of criteria, and reputational tools.

• Social Stratification systems may be closed or open. Where status is ascribed and “inherited inequality” is established, the social stratification system is relatively closed; where status is achieved and social opportunities are equalized as much as possible to bring about greater social mobility, the social stratification system is comparatively open and is called CLASS SYSTEM.

• Social Stratification System in the Philippines-Has an indigenous foundation with selected Oriental and Occidental accessories. The Cultural Communities, The Christian Filipinos, Chinese, Americans, Indians, and Europeans have evolved in differentiated unity to compose its social stratification system.

According to Spanish chronicles, there were distinct social classes during the pre-Spanish period. They were:

• The datus or “chiefly class” who were the decision makers and had absolute powers over the followers.

• The maharlika or nobility class who accompanied the datus in the latter’s economic pursuits, raids, social and religious activities.

• The timagua or the “common class” who were characterized as the freemen.

• The aliping (ayueg) or the dependent class who were the servile debtors.

While social mobility was possible, intermarriage between the social classes was discouraged. Wealth and personal ability were the criteria for leadership.

Muslim society has three distinguishable social classes: the hereditary aristocracy, the freemen and the slaves. The distinctions are based mainly on the amount of property and the number of slaves owned, titles and fees received, differences in prestige, connections with influential political leaders, and personal qualities. Muslim society is a part-closed substratification system.

J.N Anderson (1962: 41-50) identified the social classes and statuses of rural communities in Luzon. Based principally on the type of access families have to land, the six status distinctions are:1. Medium landlords, small owners, owner-famers, and

owner-tenants.2. Small owners, owner-farmers, and owner-tenants.3. Tenants.4. Laborers, agricultural workers, underemployed and

unemployed.5. The regularly employed in nonagricultural occupations.6. Those who receive a small regular pension or have

accumulated capital work outside the Philippines.

In a Bikol community, people are classified into social class statuses as “big people” (dakung tao) or “little people’ (sadit na tao). In the majority of rural communities, the substratification systems are not very distinct and separate. The BARRIO people (tagabukid) are distinguished from town people (tagabayan) on the basis of resisdence. But they do not form distinct social classes.

A Filipino “middle class’ is recently emerged class and is very small. The Filipino lower class is made up of two subclasses:

• COSMOPOLITAN- is made up of the typical city dwellers, laborers, minor clerks, drivers, etc.

• PROVINCIANO-are recent migrants from the rural areas who are characteristically poor and as yet ill adjusted to city life.

• The Philippine Social Stratification System has features of the closed and the class stratification systems. It may be visualized as a predominantly two-class system, composed of a ver small upper class and a very large lower class with an emerging middle class and diverse underlying substratification systems in the rural and urban areas. All of these are being subjected to the influence of land ownership, transfer and tenure, ethnic background, family ancestry, friendship ties, education, occupation and international developments.