Download Social Mobility and Classes

SOCIAL MOBILITY AND CLASSES
In the United States and any stratified society…
STATUSES
• Status:
• A socially defined place in the social structure given a name/label. Used to group
people. Determine where people fit in society. A STATUS SET is a collection of
all the statuses that you have at a given time. Status sets include:
• Ascribed Status:
• Statuses given to individuals without regard for their abilities or efforts. No
choice.
• Example: Your heritage, age, gender, race, ethnicity.
• Achieved Status:
• Statues that are earned by individuals through their efforts and abilities.
• Example: College Graduate, Masters Degree (Master of Business
Administration, etc.), Coach, Teacher, Principal, CEO, CFO, Director, etc.
• Master Status:
• A status that dominates all other statuses. Defines who that person is largely.
• Example: What are you? Changes with time… 5 year old boy  students
(college)  occupation
ROLES
• Role:
• Set of expectations, rights and duties that are part of an
individual’s particular social position (status).
• You can have many roles that you occupy! Mother, Sister, Student,
Friend, Boy/Girlfriend, etc.
• The role tells you how you should behave…
• Example: Cross-country trip ( road trip by car), (by plane), (by
train), etc.
• Like status’ the collection of roles that you play in your life is called
your role set
SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION AND
INEQUALITY DEFINITIONS
• Social Differentiation:
• Process where people are set apart for differential treatment
because of their statuses, roles and other social
characteristics.
• Social Inequality:
• Conditions where people have unequal access to wealth,
power, and prestige in a society.
• Super wealthy vs. those in poverty, homeless.
SOCIAL MOBILITY DEFINITIONS
• Social Stratification:
• Form of inequality where categories (or groups) of people are
systematically ranked in a hierarchy on the basis of their access to
scarce but valued resources.
• These can look like there are impermeable boundaries to each
classification, but they are actually permeable as people can move
between the stratified classes.
• Social Mobility:
• Movement of people from one social position to another in a socially
stratified society. Movement can be either up or down the social class
system.
• Like in the United States’ class system where economic factors
play a role in the achieved status for ranking in society.
CAUTION– STRUGGLE AHEAD?
• Karl Marx thought that social classes and class structure lead to
class struggle and deviance in society.
• However, Deterrence Theory said that as long as punishments
(sanctions) were swift and severe crime would be prevented.
• Swift and severe while still adhering to the principles of the
American justice system (fair trial, impartial jury, due
process, presumption of innocence) can be difficult because
even convicted mass murders can sit for years in state jails
waiting on death row.
BOUNDARIES IN SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
SYSTEMS
• One of the best ways to differentiate between the types of stratification
systems is based on how open they are to mobility.
• Open
• Boundaries are less firm and social status is determined by
achievement, legal and ideological supports that give people
opportunities to change their social ranking.
• Closed
• Boundaries are relatively impermeable, statuses are ascribed and
law/custom/public attitudes all place severe limitations on the ability to
move classes.
SYSTEMS OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
• Slavery
• 2 distinct strata (category of people who are free and people who are legally property
of others).
• Castes
• Rank is hereditary and permanent, marriage between members of different castes is
strictly prohibited.
• Estates
• Hierarchy centered on the monopolization of power and ownership of land by a group
of religious political elites.
• Early on the ones on top were known as lords who had been victorious warriors who
were entitled to labor, goods and military service from the peasants. (Feudal Europe)
• Three levels- priesthood, nobility and commoners aka peasants, artisans, merchants,
traders, and townspeople.
• Extreme inequality.
• Social Classes
• Economic factors and achieved statuses are the principal means of
ranking.
• More open to social mobility than estate or caste systems.
• Boundaries are less clear than estate or caste systems.
• Generally have a small upper class that owns the bulk of the nation’s
assets also has a great deal of influence and power.
• Then there are “other classes”
MOVING BETWEEN SOCIAL CLASSES
(AMERICA)
• American Social Classes
1. Upper Class
• ~1% of population– earning > $500,000/year
2. Upper-Middle Class
• ~15% of population– earning more than $100,000/year
3. Lower-Middle Class
• ~33% of population– earning $30-75,000/year
4. Working Class
• ~30% of population– earning $16-30,000/year
5. Lower Class
• Earning $16,000 or less/year
• Movement between the classes is known as VERTICAL
MOBILITY: movement from one social class to another.
SOCIAL CLASS AND EDUCATION (USA)
• The upper class is more likely to attend college
• The working class is most affected by health concerns due to their
more dangerous working conditions.
• Middle class is being eroded the quickest today due to the widening
gap between the highest paid and debt taken on by many people living
beyond their means.
PROFESSIONS
• Profession:
• “Prestigious” work that is relatively high-paying and requires advanced
education. Something that you can relatively easily make a living doing.
• Types of workers in professions:
• Doctor/Professor/Office: White collar because they are in an office
characterized by non-manual labor.
• White Collar Crime: Includes a variety of crimes, but they all typically
involve crime committed through deceit and motivated by financial gain.
• Examples: Fraud (check, bank, credit card, counterfeiting),
Embezzlement, Extortion, Insider Trading, Bribery, Money
Laundering (making it “clean”)
• Blue Collar: Working Class
• Factory workers, wear uniforms, usually work in a trade,
characterized by manual labor.
DETERMINING SOCIAL CLASS RANKING
• Socioeconomic Status- a ranking that combines income, occupational prestige, level of
education, and neighborhood to assess a class ranking.
• If you had to sort yourself into a social class in the United States where would you put
yourself?
• Would your categories look like this?
• Super Rich, Very Poor, ‘Comfortable’
• Would you identify yourself as someone from the middle class?
• Would you base that on $$?
• Many think that money and wealth determines social class standing. There’s more…
• Wealth- someone, or their family’s total economic assets. Not just money. Money, yes,
but also stocks, real estate, trust accounts, yachts, and other goods/services.
• Power- ability to realize one’s will even against the opposition of others.
• Prestige- respect and admiration that people attach to various social positions in society.
• Power and Prestige are what many sociologists believe contributes to the determination
of someone’s social class.
POVERTY
• Relative Poverty- Lack of resources relative (or compared to) others and the
overall standards of society
• Lack of access to adequate healthcare, food, transportation, etc.
• Absolute Poverty- When people fall below a minimum subsistence level and
are unable to function as members of society.