1. SOCIOLOGY Inequality in Britain (2)

2. Social Class  Class – a way of grouping people based on their job and status. There are three; working class, middle class and upper class.  First brought out in 19 th century and describes the big differences between rich and poor.  Other attempts to define class was the 1001, 8 point scale. Problem is that families social class should not be based on where they work.  Sociologist use these indicators when deciding social class;  Economic indicator – wealth, income and job.  Political indicator – status and power.  Cultural indicator – lifestyle, values, beliefs, norms, education, accent, social circle.  Elites – group in society which is very powerful and wealthy e.g. Richard Branson.  Privilege - Some groups in society enjoy special advantages over other people. E.g. people from public schools.  Marxists say member of the elite tend to look after each other, especially when it comes to employment and this is called the old boys network.  Being certain classes affects a person’s life chances;  Health – Middle class tend to lead healthier lives.  Happiness – richer people are happier than those with lower incomes.  Raw life experiences – like unemployment.  Unemployment rates are really high.  Suicide.  Advantage is education.

3. Age  There is not a universal agreement on bands or the age ranges they cover.  In different societies the ways people are treated because of their age is different.  For example, some places children are expected to work, but not in Britain.  In the past children were treated as small adults.  Shows that age is socially constructed (thought of in different ways at different times and in different societies.  Old age is also socially constructed as in some societies old people have a lot of status in prestige but in others they are not.  Ageism – having prejudiced ideas about different groups. Based on exaggerated, oversimplified ideas which are stereotypes.  Young people tend to be seen as scapegoats and folk devils.  Old people seen to be disabled.  Being a certain age affects life chances;  Young males most likely to be victims of crime.  A lot of young people suffer health disorders e.g. depression, anxiety.  Older people fear crime but do not experience it that much.  Older people are better represented in politics and therefore can use this to get what they need.  Health care provision e.g. breat cancer screening.  Representation in media of old and young people can lead to stereotypes.

4. Gender and Sexuality  Women – a hundred years ago they were expected to be married and take care of husband and kids. They were not allowed to vote.  In the 1970s the feminist movement gained speed and argued that women should have more rights and should be equal. Led to the Sex Discrimination 1975 and Equal Pay Act 1970.  Now feminist still think there needs to be progress made and equality is not here yet. Examples of this is;  The glass ceiling  The double burden  The triple shift  Caring role  No power in politics.  Genderquake – the difference between girls in the 70s to the 90s. Their values had changed dramatically and now they valued better stuff.  Girls have also become more assertive, adventurous and more open to sex.  Ladette – young women who behave like lads, this includes drinking beer, going to parties, flirting and having fun.  However, media tries to undermine all this with images of beautiful women and young girls worry about the weight and appearance as a result.

5. Gender and Sexuality  Men – in the past seen as the breadwinner, leader and strong person of the family. Not expected to show emotions.  Now men’s roles and identities have changed since the 1960s;  New man emerged  Househusbands  Crisis of masculinity  New lad.  Homosexuality – in the past it was a crime and homosexual faced humiliation and discrimination.  Laws have been put into place to increase rights of homosexuals. E.g. The Marriage of Same- sex couples Act of 2013.  Even though law has changed a lot of peoples attitudes haven't.  Homophobia – they have a fear of, or hostility towards homosexuals and results in prejudice and discrimination.

6. Ethnicity  Race – refers to biological factors like skin colour and eye colour.  Ethnicity – refers to cultural factors like language, clothing and food.  Sociologists are more interested in ethnicity than race.  Racism – when people are prejudiced and discriminated towards because of their ethnic group. Causes are;  Distrust  Grown up in an area where racism is the norm.  Racism gets worse when the society has problems. E.g. ethnic minorities tend to get blamed for unemployment and crime. This is scapegoating.  It is not just individuals that are racist, groups like the police can be too.  Macpherson report accused police of institutional racism meaning they were full of racial stereotypes and racist thinking. E.g. Rodney King.  Health – ethnic minorities tend to have the worst health than the rest of the people. But there is big differences between different ethnic groups. Also ethnic minorities might have worst health because they are working class.  Employment – ethnic minorities earn less than white people. Some ethnic minorities are less likely to be in full time employment especially Bangladeshi and Blacks.  Ethnic Penalty – problems faced by minority groups with wages, employment and promotion.  There are exceptions to all this e.g. Indian doctors.  Poverty – some ethnic groups more likely to experience poverty. E.g. Bangladeshi and Pakistani are most likely and Chinese are least likely.

7. Disability  Disability – not being able to do everyday tasks due to a physical or mental impairment. E.g. dressing yourself.  Disability can be blindness, mental health problems and learning disabilities.  Attitudes – have changed over time. More people have an understanding but still some people lack it. There are assumptions made about disabled people like;  They all have the same problem.  They lack intelligence.  The media portrays negative images of disabled people. E.g. villains.  Job discrimination is also an issue.  There are two ways of thinking about disability;  Medical Model – sees disability as an illness or something bad, they are suffering and need to be helped and have worse life chances so they need society’s help.  Social Model – just another kind of difference like being male or female. Its just part of your identity and it is society that need to change to accommodate these differences. E.g. ramps. Tend to have worse life chances because of society and it is not a bad thing. Some disabled people find it hard to fit into society.