Chapter 7, Stratification

Structures of Inequality Inequality in the United States Explanations of Inequality

Chapter 7, Stratification

The Determinants of Social Class Position Variations on a Theme: The Rich, the Middle

Class, the Working Class, and the Poor The Future of Inequality: Public Policy in the

United States

Types of Stratification Structures

Caste systems - dramatically represented in India. Mates, occupations, and social place are determined by one’s caste.

Class systems permit social mobility through the attainment of achieved rather than ascribed statuses.

 Marx

Two classes: Bourgeoisie control wealth. Proletariat are used by them as a labor supply.

Weber

Class is a relationship to the means of production.

Status is related to lifestyle. Power is the ability to compel other people’s

behavior.

 Measuring Social Class

Self-identification asks people to report their social class. Most people identify themselves as middle class.

Socioeconomic status, or SES, is determined by looking at measures of education, occupation, and income.

Economic Inequality

Especially pronounced in the United States. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The richer 20% currently hold 84% of all

wealth.

Structural-functional Explanation of Inequality

Rewards are distributed based on:

1. The social importance of the task.

2. The pleasantness of the task.

3. The scarcity of the talent and ability necessary to perform the task.

Conflict Explanation of Inequality

Statuses and scarce resources are distributed on the basis of class struggle.

Social inequality is rooted in the private ownership of the means of production.

Modern conflict theory considers non-economic factors.

Synthesis of Conflict and Structural-functional Theory

Leonard Beeghley:

1. Power is the main determinant of the distribution of scarce resources.

2. Distribution is socially structured.

3. Individual qualities, like achievement motivation and intelligence can alter the relationships of power.

The Rich, the Middle Class, the Working Class, and the Poor

Upper class - (5% of the population) make more than $130,000 per year.

Middle class - hold relatively stable jobs and have access to benefits.

Working class - values and lifestyles are dissimilar to the middle class, but income levels may be higher.

Distinctions of Working Class

Education is not valued as an end in itself. Lower job security and less access to benefits

like health insurance. Leisure is valued above work, since work is

seldom pleasant. Traditional gender roles are more often

accepted and adhered to.

Who Are the Poor?

Homeless - former mental patients, drug-abusers, and alcoholics, 25% are women with children.

Disadvantaged, unemployed, unemployable, and caught in lives of misery.