1. Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World
Chapter 6 Social Stratification

2. Learning Objectives
Explain the difference between open and closed societies
Define the several systems of stratification
Understand how Max Weber and Karl Marx differed in their view of class societies
Outline the assumptions of the functionalist explanation of stratification
Outline the assumptions of the conflict theory explanation of stratification
Understand how symbolic interactionism views stratification

3. Learning Objectives
Distinguish objective and subjective measures of social class
Outline the functionalist view of the American class structure
Outline the conflict view of the American class structure
Discuss whether the United States has much vertical social mobility
Understand trends in U.S. inequality
Explain the social distribution of U.S. poverty

4. Learning Objectives
Distinguish the structural and individual explanations of poverty
List the major effects of poverty
Describe the most important characteristics of wealthy nations, middle-income nations, and poor nations
Describe the arguments of modernization and dependency theories
List the major effects of global stratification
Summarize the sociological understanding of poverty
List any three policies or programs to reduce poverty suggested by the sociological understanding

5. Social Stratification
Social stratification: Rankings of people based on wealth and other resources a society values
Life chance: The degree to which people succeed in life in such areas as education, income, and health

6. Systems of Stratification
Stratification systems vary on their degree of vertical mobility
Vertical mobility: Movement up or down through a society’s stratification system
In closed societies, there is virtually no chance of moving up or down
In open societies, there is have more vertical mobility

7. Systems of Stratification
Several systems of stratification, from the most closed to the most open:
Slavery: The ownership of people
Estate system: A system of stratification characterized by control of land and common during feudalism
Caste system: A stratification system based on rigid placement at birth into unequal groups based on one’s parents’ status, with no chance of moving out of these groups
Class system: A system of stratification containing unequal groups but with a relatively high degree of social mobility

8. Systems of Stratification
Classless societies: Societies with no social stratification
Some Western European nations are not classless but still have much less economic inequality than class societies like the United States

9. Explaining Stratification
The assumptions of the functionalist explanation of stratification:
Some jobs are more important than other jobs
Some jobs require more skills and knowledge than other jobs
Relatively few people have the ability to acquire the skills and knowledge that are needed to do these important, highly skilled jobs
To induce the people with the skills and knowledge to do the important, highly skilled jobs, society must promise them higher incomes or other rewards

10. Explaining Stratification
Some sociologists pointed out serious problems in the functionalist theory of stratification:
It is difficult to compare the importance of many types of jobs
The functionalist explanation implies that the most important jobs are paid the most money and the least important jobs the least money, but many examples counter this view
The theory implies that people move up the economic ladder based on their abilities, skills, knowledge, and their merit - This view ignores the fact that much of our stratification stems from lack of equal opportunity
It does not justify the extremes of wealth and poverty found in the United States and other nations

11. Explaining Stratification
The conflict view
Assumption
Stratification stems from a fundamental conflict between the needs and interests of the powerful in society and those of the weak
The powerful take advantage of their position at the top of society to stay at the top, even if it means oppressing those at the bottom
They can heavily influence the law, the media, and other institutions in a way that maintains society’s class structure
In explaining stratification, conflict theory emphasizes ideology
Ideology: A set of beliefs that supports the status quo

12. Explaining Stratification
Symbolic interactionism
Tries to understand stratification by looking at people’s interaction and understandings in their daily lives
It examines the differences that stratification makes for people’s lifestyles and their interaction with other people

13. Social Class in the United States
Objective measure of social class - We classify people according to one or more criteria such as their occupation, education, and/or income
Subjective measure of social class - We ask people what class they think they are in
Most sociologists favor objective measures of social class when they study stratification in American society
Because, in case of subjective measure, some people say they are in a social class that differs from what objective criteria might indicate they are in

14. Social Class in the United States
The American class structure
The upper class
The middle class
The upper-middle class
The lower-middle class
The working class
The lower class

15. Social Class in the United States
Social mobility
Two types of vertical social mobility:
Intergenerational mobility: Vertical mobility from one generation to the next within the same family
Intragenerational mobility: Vertical mobility within a person’s own lifetime
A key vehicle for upward mobility is formal education

16. Social Class in the United States
Does U.S. have a lot of vertical mobility or just a little?
People can and do move up the socioeconomic ladder, but their movement is fairly limited
Hardly anyone starts at the bottom at the ladder and ends up at the top
Recent trends in the U.S. economy have made it more difficult to move up the ladder and even worsened some people’s status

17. Economic Inequality and Poverty in the United States
Economic inequality - The extent of the economic difference between the rich and the poor
When the gap between the richer and the poorer is large - Much economic inequality exists
When the gap between the richer and the poorer is small - Relatively little economic inequality exists
The United States has a very large degree of economic inequality
The degree of inequality is the largest in the industrialized world

18. Economic Inequality and Poverty in the United States
Economic inequality in the United States has increased during the last two decades
The loss of manufacturing jobs and changes in taxation and income distribution policies since the early 1980s have favored the rich and hurt the economic standing of the middle class and the poor
After adjusting for inflation, the post-tax income of the nation’s wealthiest families grew by a much greater amount than that for the poorest families from 1979 to 2005

19. Economic Inequality and Poverty in the United States
To measure poverty, a poverty line is needed
Poverty line: The government’s measure of official poverty, based on the cost of a minimal diet for a family multiplied by three
To understand the extent of poverty, consider episodic poverty
Episodic poverty: As defined by the Census Bureau, being poor for at least two consecutive months in some time period

20. Economic Inequality and Poverty in the United States
Explaining poverty
Functional theory of stratification/ individual explanation
The poor have personal problems and deficiencies that are responsible for their poverty
The poor are thought to be biologically inferior (Past view)
The poor lack the ambition and motivation to work hard and to achieve (Present view)
Culture of poverty - The poor generally have beliefs and values that differ from those of the nonpoor and that doom them to continued poverty

21. Economic Inequality and Poverty in the United States
Conflict theory of stratification/ structural explanation
U.S. poverty stems from problems in American society that lead to lack of equal opportunity, these problems include:
Racial, ethnic, gender, and age discrimination
Lack of good schooling and adequate health care
Structural changes in the American economic system

22. Economic Inequality and Poverty in the United States
Effects of poverty
The poor are at greater risk for family and health problems
Poor children often go to run-down schools with inadequate facilities where they receive inadequate schooling
The poor are more likely to be homeless and live in dilapidated housing and unable to buy their own homes

23. Global Stratification
Wealthy nations
The most industrialized nations
They comprise about one-fifth of the world’s population, they hold about four-fifths of the world’s entire wealth
They are the leading nations in finance and information technology
People in wealthy nations are more educated and more healthy, and they enjoy longer lives
They use up more than their fair share of the world’s natural resources
Their high level of industrialization causes them to pollute and contribute to climate change

24. Global Stratification
Middle-income nations
They are less industrialized than wealthy nations but more industrialized than poor nations
There is much variation in income and wealth within the middle-income category
Divided into upper-middle-income nations and lower-middle-income nations

25. Global Stratification
Poor nations
The least industrialized and most agricultural of all the world’s countries
People in live a desperate existence in the most miserable conditions possible
People suffer from AIDS and other deadly diseases, live on the edge of starvation, and lack indoor plumbing, electricity, and other modern conveniences

26. Global Stratification
Explaining global stratification
Modernization theory: The view that global stratification results from a failure of poor nations to have the beliefs, values, and practices necessary for industrialization and rapid economic growth
Dependency theory: The view that global stratification results from colonialization and exploitation of the poorest nations by the richest ones

27. Global Stratification
Effects of global stratification
People in the poorest nations live in the worst conditions
AIDS, malaria, starvation, and other deadly diseases are common
Many children die before reaching adolescence
Many adults die before reaching the middle age
Many people are illiterate
Rates of infant mortality are shockingly high

28. Reducing U.S. Poverty: What Sociology Suggests
A sociological understanding of poverty emphasizes its structural basis
Poverty is rooted in social and economic problems of the larger society rather than in the lack of will power, laziness, or other moral failings of poor individuals themselves
To reduce poverty:
Adopt a national “full employment” policy for the poor involving federally-funded job training and public works programs
Increase federal aid for the working poor, including earned income credits and child care subsidies for those with children

29. Reducing U.S. Poverty: What Sociology Suggests
Establish well-funded early-childhood intervention programs, including home visitation by trained professionals, for poor families
Improve the schools that poor children attend and the schooling they receive and expand early childhood education programs for poor children
Provide better nutrition and health services for poor families with young children
Strengthen efforts to reduce teenage pregnancies