Chapter 9: Social Stratification

Almost every society in the course of human history has separated its members on the basis of certain characteristics. There is a division of society into categories, ranks, and classes. That is what will be discussed below.

That division of society is called social stratification. Divisions based on such individual characteristics, abilities, and behaviors lead to social inequality, the unequal sharing of scarce resources and social rewards. In a caste system, scarce resources and social rewards are distributed on the basis of ascribed statuses. Exogamy is the marriage outside one's own social category. Endogamy is the marriage within one's own social category. In a class system the distribution of scarce resources and rewards is determined on the basis of achieved statuses. According to the followers of Marx, the owners of the means of production in a capitalist society are called the bourgeoisie. The workers who sell their labor in exchange for wages are called the proletariat. Social class is defined as a grouping of people with similar levels of wealth, power, and prestige. An individual's wealth is made up of his or her assets and income. Power is the ability to control the behavior of others, with or without their consent. Prestige is the respect, honor, recognition, or courtesy an individual receives from other members of society. The socioeconomic status is a rating that combines social factors with the economic factor of income. Functionalists view stratification as a necessary feature of the social structure. Their explanation assumes that certain roles in society must be performed if the system is to be maintained. Conflict theorists see competition over scarce resources as the cause of social inequality. Conflict theorists that follow Marx say that stratification comes from class exploitation. Some sociologists try to blend the two theories together to make a general synthesis.

In the reputational method, individuals in the community are asked to rank the community members based on what they know of their characters and lifestyles. The subjective method, individuals are asked to determine their own social rank. The objective method, is when sociologists define social class by income, occupation, and education. There are social classes everywhere, even in the United States. In the USA, you have the upper class, the upper middle class, the lower middle class, the working class, the working poor, and the underclass. Social mobility is the movement between or within social classes of strata, it is also an important feature of the open class system. Horizontal mobility refers to the movement within a social class or stratum. Vertical mobility is the movement between social classes or strata. Intergenerational mobility is a status differences between generations in the same family, it is a special form of vertical mobility. Individual effort often plays a major role in a person's movement up the social-class ladder. Downward mobility can result from such personal factors as illness, divorce, widowhood, and retirement or from changes in the economy.

Poverty is seen as a standard of living that is below the minimum level considered adequate by society. In the United States, the minimum income is called the poverty level. In the USA, the age group with the highest percentage of poverty is children. The sex with the highest percentage is women. The race and ethnicity with the highest percentage are the African Americans and the Hispanics. Life chances is the likelihood that individuals have of sharing in the opportunities and benefits of society. Life expectancy refers to the average number of years a person born in a particular year can expect to live. Certain behaviors also vary depending on social class. Divorce rates are higher among low-income families than among other segments of the population. How the USA government responds to poverty, varies just a little. Most of the time the government will create programs to help out the poor, like the Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). The government uses transfer payments to redistribute money among various segments of society.

As you can see social stratification is used in a similar way to deviance, it divides people. This is not always good, however, for people will be considered more or less depending on their social class or position. Poverty is a huge problem worldwide that many different countries are trying to solve today.