Social stratification

1. Social stratification Fernando R. Pedrosa, Ph.D. Prof.-in-charge

2. Social Stratification • Meaning and Nature • Refers to the ranking of individuals and groups in any given society. • It is a basic component of social organization. • It is found in all human groups. • This is transmitted from one generation to another.

3. The families are ranked as a whole, so that their positions in the hierarchy are significant in delimiting the range of resources and opportunities available to the members. • It is also the hierarchical arrangement and establishment of social categories that may evolve into social groups as well as statuses and their corresponding roles.

4. Social stratification may be viewed as a: 1. Social structure 2. Social process 3. Social problem

5. Social structure - may be viewed as the differentiation of statuses and social roles into ranked orders. - this is sometimes termed by sociologists as “institutionalized inequality.”

6. Social Process - it may be viewed as the splitting up of society into social categories that develop into social groups cooperating, competing, conflicting – for the status quo or social change.

7. Social Problem - it involves bitter feelings of discontent and of strong demands for equality or “social justice.”

8. Basic Concepts of Inequality • Stratification theorists use inequality to refer to the situation in which the economic goods in a society are distributed unevenly among different groups or categories of people. They argue that economic inequality produces or leads to other forms of inequality in society, and that these patterns of inequality, in turn, lead to economic inequality.

9. Macro concept of Social Stratification • Attribution • Stereotype • Self-fulfilling prophecy • Social comparisons • A fair world • Just world

10. Social Stratification Systems • Differentiation - refers to how things or people can be distinguished from one another. - people may be differentiated on the basis of the colors of their skin, color of hair, and the like. Stratification - refers to the ranking of things or people.

11. Dimensions of Stratification • Wealth and income - the income of any family depends on what its members earn and what they own. - what people own is called “wealth, and is often inherited; this consists of the value of everything a person or group owns. - income refers to how much people get; it is the amount of money one person or group receives.

12. - economists view wages and salaries as a return on labor; interest, dividend, and rent as a return on property. - both income and wealth are distributed unevenly in our society, but to a different degree.

13. Inequalities of power - power is the ability to control one’s own life (personal power) and control or influence the actions of others (social power). - power is a fundamental and inherent element in all human interaction at every social level. - this can be used for constructive or selfish ends.

14. Inequalities of prestige - prestige of individuals and groups may be defined as the social recognition that a person or group receives from others. - it can be influenced in a number of ways. - it refers to the “esteem, respect, or approval that is granted by an individual or a collectivity for performance or qualities they consider above the average.

15. - prestige provides people with a sense of worth and respect, a feeling that somehow they are accepted and values by others.

16. Types of Stratification • Open system - also known as class system. - it has few impediments to social mobility. Close system - also known as caste system. - status is ascribed, and determined by people at birth and people are locked into their parents’ social position.

17. Typical of Class System • Upper class • Upper middle class • Lower middle class • Working class • Lower class

18. Upper class – have great wealth, often going back for many generations. 1) Old rich – ascribed status through inheritance. 2) Noveau rich – newly-acquired wealth. • Recognized by others by reputation and lifestyle. • Have high prestige, and often have an influence on the society’s basic economic and political structure.

19. Upper-middle class – made up of successful business and professional people and their families. - have college education, own property, and have money savings. - live in comfortable homes in more exclusive areas of a community.

20. Lower-middle class – usually high school or vocational education graduates with modest incomes; they are the lesser professionals, clerical and sales workers, and upper-level manual laborers. - emphasize respectability and security; - have savings, and are politically and economically conservative.

21. Working class – made up of factory workers and other blue-collar workers. - are people who keep the country’s machinery going. - are assembly –line workers, auto mechanics, and repair personnel. - live adequately but with little left over for luxuries. - many of them have not finished high school.

22. Lower class – are people at the bottom of the economic ladder. - have little education or occupational skills and are consequently either unemployed or underemployed. - have many problems, including broken homes, illegitimacy, criminal involvement, alcoholism, drug- pushing/addiction, gambling, etc. - have little knowledge of world events, are not involved with their communities. - due to a variety of personal and economic problems, they often have no way of improving their lot in life. - for them life is a matter of surviving from one day to the next.

23. Indicators of Social Mobility • Power • Prestige - esteem - honor 3. Wealth

24. Social Mobility This refers to the movement of an individual or a group within a stratification system that changes the individual’s or group’s status in society.

25. Types of Social Mobility • Upward mobility • Downward mobility • Horizontal mobility

26. Geographic Migration • Known to sociologists as physical mobility. • It is the movement of people from one geographical spot to another, and it is a phenomenon of increasing frequency in modern society.

27. Types of Geographical Migration • Voluntary migration • Forced migration

28. Reasons for Voluntary Migration • Economic factor • Political reason • Religious liberty • Educational opportunities • Natural calamities

29. Effects of Migration • Diffusion of cultures • Biological mixture • Urbanization of the culture

30. Role Mobility • Shifting from role to role called role mobility • Factors affecting social mobility: 1. Hard work 2. Social structure 3. Societal values and norms 4. Level of education 5. Marriage 6. Luck

31. Mobility and Social Personality • Higher social status is the result of personal achievement. • Since each person has a key role, this is usually the one in which he/she does the most to achieve status, but all the groups and roles are possible avenues of mobility. • For example, a woman may move upward, by marriage, into a higher class or by competence in her profession; a man may rise into higher social status through his political or educational career.

32. But, in many instances, striving for higher status is often accompanied by certain strains and frustrations. This is so because in some societies, it is not always true that mobility and efficiency are rewarded with higher prestige. - Another source of frustration occurs when the individual does not simply have the competence to achieve higher status even though he may have a desire and drive for it and social pressure for upward mobility may be very strong. The demands may be very strong and the expectations of group life are often too much for the individual.

33. For Fichter, “the attempt to achieve higher status in competitive groups sometimes results in an unbalanced social personality.” This occurs when the key role, the main instrument of higher prestige in any individual, is emphasized at the expense of the other social roles. • It must be noted that downward social mobility also carried its own social and personal costs. People who are left behind in the competitive struggle for social status, or who slip to lower class, suffer strains, frustrations, and disappointments. If this happens in adulthood, the person finds adaptation and readjustment to his new position very difficult.

34. Education and Social Mobility • The amount of education a person has, constitute one of the most important criteria of social status, and this is basically in agreement with the facts of social mobility. In almost all societies, educational attainments are rising. • Those who receive higher education may also use it as a stepping stone to higher social status.

35. Social Mobility and Success • Success in life is always attached to upward social mobility. • The high value placed upon activity, success, and quantity will enable one to understand why success is related to social mobility.

36. RACE, ETHNICITY, and GENDER

37. Race • Meaning and nature - is a socially constructed category composed of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of society consider important.

38. Race likewise refers to physical characteristics transmitted at birth to a group of people. • This is manifested in the shape of the head and face, the shape and color of the eyes, the shape of the nose, lips, and ears, the texture and color of hair, the skin color, height, blood type and other characteristics.

39. Ethnicity • This refers to a group of people with common cultural background. • The theory of the “definition of the situation” in ethnic group relations implies that, what is important is not the physical characteristics that identify a group but how such relationship determine the feeling of belonging to each other.

40. Racial distinctions become meaningful because we attach meaning to them, and the consequences vary from prejudice and discrimination to slavery and genocide.

41. Some people believe that racial differences are real and important, and behave accordingly, therefore, those differences become real and important.

42. Gender • This refers to either the masculinity or femininity of the individual. • This pertains more to the psycho-social-cultural distinction/differences between the male and the female. • Sex is the biological distinction between a male and a female.

43. Problems in Race and Ethnic Relations • Prejudice • Discrimination Causes of Prejudice • Stereotyping • Ethnocentrism • Scapegoating • Authoritarian personality

44. Minority Group • Refers to groups subordinated in terms of power and privilege to the majority of dominant group. • In many countries, being superior in number does not guarantee a group control over its destiny and assure it of majority status. (pls. refer to Palispis, 184)

45. Types of Minority Groups • Racial groups - refer to those minorities, and corresponding majorities who are classified according to obvious physical differences. The obvious physical differences may refer to hair color, color of the skin, shape of earlobe, etc.

46. Ethnic Groups - these are minority groups who are designated by their ethnicity based on cultural differences such as language, attitudes toward marriage and parenting, food habits, and other. - these groups are set apart from others because of their national origin or distinctive cultural patterns.

47. Religious Groups - refer to association with a religion other than the dominant faith. In this, religion is meant to include a sacred literature and ritual, institutional and cultist practices, and essential beliefs and philosophy.

48. - In connection with this, the following terms have to be understood: • Ecclesia – dominant church/religion in a society. • Sect – a breakaway group from the ecclesia, ex. Protestantism of Martin Luther, Aglipayanism of Gregorio Aglipay, Anglicanism of King Henry VIII, etc. (n.b. the breaking away is known as “schism”) • Denomination – once the sect grows in number it eventually becomes a denomination; this refers to a religious group that tends to limit its membership to a particular class, ethnic group, or religious group, or at least to have its leadership position dominated by members of such a group.

49. Cult – a religious group that usually introduces totally new religious ideas and principles. - usually have charismatic leaders who expect a total commitment from the cult members, who are usually motivated by an intense sense of mission. - members must give up individual autonomy and decision-making.

50. 5. Occult – also known as magic and faith healing. - although majority of the country has been Christianized, there are still people, even in the urban areas, who depend on the occult as a means of obtaining inner peace or solving personal problems. - is derived from the Latin word “occultus” which means mysterious things and practices related to supernatural forces beyond the five senses. - included under this are practices and beliefs in astrology, magic, witchcraft, numerology, crystal ball gazing, spiritism and fortune telling.