SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

Social stratification is

concerned with the way in which a structure of layers, or strata, emerges within society. These layers

are known as Social class.

upper class

middle class

lower class

the registrar general’s classification class I professional/managerial, including lawyers, architects and doctors class Ii lower professional/managerial, including pilots, police officers and school teachers

class Iii skilled non-manual occupations, including clerical workers and shop assistants skilled manual occupations, including bus drivers and electricians

class iv partially skilled occupations, including postman and farm workers class v unskilled occupations, including labourers on building sites and office cleaners

functionalist theory of

stratification

TalcotT parsons argued that

people’s social status is

determined by their social positions.

Some societies define

membership by birth or

lineage, and person’s status

reflects his or her kinship, gender, and age roles.

Parsons argues that this is the case in

many tribal societies. In these societies,

older males have generally higher status.

In modern societies membership is no longer directly

determined by birth.

membership depends far more

on person’s public roles.

The most important public roles for defining membership

are work roles, which are

organised into occupations.

occupations differ in terms of skill,

income, and authority they involve.

parsons argued that they are

ranked and evaluated according to

how these relate to communal values.

strengths

Draws attention to the

interdependence of groups in

complex society.

Provides an explanation for

inequality.

Suggest that individuals can

clim up the hierarchy.

Emphasises the importance of hard work and education.

weaknesses

Is often criticised for

exaggerating amount of

consensus in contemporary societies.

No more than an acceptance of capitalist system.

Hard work and education does not always create a fair society.

marxist theory of

stratification

marx saw ownership and non–

ownership of property as key

factor in the social divisions that

gave rise to class relations.

bourgeoisie or the ruling class

who owns the means of production.

proletariat who are the class of

non-owners.

The class that owns the means of

production in a society, marx argued, has the greatest amount of

power and is able to oppress and

exploit the class of non-owners.

class relations are driven by conflict between these two main

classes, as the struggle to control society.

The growth of wealth at the one

end of the stratification system

is matched by the growth of

poverty at the other end.

strengths

Draws attention to importance of

conflict as the force that

drives the society forward.

It is a good theory to explain

social change.

It draws attention to the

exploitation of the

proletariat by the

bourgeoisie.

Emphasises the importance

of economic ownership.

It is good at explaining the

workings of capitalism.

weaknesses

class relations are more complex

than marx’s two-class model.

It is too economically

deterministic.

privileges the role of

proletariat.

max weber’s theory of

stratification

weber claimed that a person’s

social class status is

determined by their property and market position.

According to Weber Market position is more important the

ownership.

individuals identify more with

those who follow similar

lifestyles, rather than those

who share similar economic positions.

economic power, according to

weber, is a casual component

of person’s life chances.

life chances are the type of

education, health, diet, housing and working conditions a

person may experience during their lifetime.

status of a person also

determines their social class.

strengths

Identifies divisions other than

class.

Highlights the importance of consumption as well as

production.

Individual consciousness is

seen as important.

Identifies how middle class came into existence.

weaknesses

Underestimates importance of social class divisions in

society.

Assumes there is status consciousness without having to

adequately demonstrate it.

Is unclear about the

relationship between class and status.

social mobility

social mobility is defined as

the ability to move up the

hierarchy.

embourgeoisement meaning

the adoption of the norms and values of the bourgeoisie.

Proletarianisation meaning

as more work becomes

deskilled workers become

Proletarat.

vertical mobility describes

movement between strata both

up and down the

stratification system.

intra-generational mobility is mobility that

describes movement of individual

over his or her lifetime.

inter-generational mobility refers to movement

between generations.

horizontal mobility is a

geographical term used to describe movement around the country that results in change to

person’s social class.

case studies on social mobility

the oxford mobility study by goldthorpe et al. (1972, 1980 and 1986) Goldthorpe et al. studied men aged

between 20 and 64 years old. Women

were not included.

the oxford mobility study by goldthorpe et al. (1972, 1980 and 1986) They found that two-thirds of the sons of

unskilled or semi-skilled workers were in

manual occupations. Approximately

thirty percent of professionals were from

working class background.

the oxford mobility study by goldthorpe et al. (1972, 1980 and 1986) downward mobility appeared to be

declining, but more from working class backgrounds were unemployed.

the essex study by marshall et al. (1988)

Marshall et al. looked at both male and

female rate of mobility. The findings

were based on the class of the parent or

carer of person participating in the study

and compared to the participant's class.

the essex study by marshall et al. (1988)

The study found high rates of upward mobility. For men the results were

similar to those found in the Oxford

studies. For women there was evidence of

both upward and downward mobility.

the essex study by marshall et al. (1988) The conclusions of this study were that expansion of white-collar jobs, after the

de-industralisation, explained the high rates of upward mobility.

social closure

social closure involves

exclusion of some people from

membership of a status group.

In the caste system social

closure is achieved through

prohibitions which prevent

members of a caste from

marrying outside their caste.

In hindu caste system individual is born

into a particular caste and remains in that caste for the rest of their live.

In the uk some occupations exclude others from practicing

their proffesion.

case studies on social closure

willmott and young (1970) They conducted a study in London area

and found that 83 percent of managing

directors were sons of professionals and managers.

stanworth and giddiness (1971) They found that out of 460 company chairmen studied, only 1 percent had

manual working background. 66 percent

came from the upper class.

borthwick et al. (1991) They studies the educational background of

conservative mps in the general elections. The

found that over half had graduated from top private schools and just under half had

graduated from oxford or cambridge university.

Next workshop is on 21 February. nab on Social Stratification.

Tutorial on crime and deviance.