sociology

1. Stratification

2. What Is Stratification?
● Stratification refers to systematic inequalities
between groups of people that arise as intended
or unintended consequences of social processes
and relationships.
2

3. What is the meaning of the word
“class”

5. What class are you in?
https://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/uCe7iwUAs8mCPmb

6. The United States has some vertical social mobility, but
not as much as several nations in Western Europe.

7. Functionalist sociologists rely on measures
of socioeconomic status (SES), such as education, income,
and occupation, to determine someone’s social class.
Source: Data from General Social Survey, 2008.

8. ● Conflict sociologists prefer different,
though still objective, measures of social
class that take into account ownership of the
means of production and other dynamics of
the workplace.

9. What are different ways status can
be measured?
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/national/20050515_CLASS_GRAPHIC/

10. People Like Us - At the Bottom
Tammy’s Story
Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqs4_Zs2GvI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqs4_Zs2GvI

11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU5MtVM_zFs&list=PLD202884902BBB1A8

12. Do we really want equality?
https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_how_equal_do_we_want_the_world_to_be_you_d_be_surprised?language=en

13. Where you live matters.https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/01/upshot/maps-neighborhoods-shape-child-poverty.html

14. Does It Matter By Race?

15. How About Life Expectancy?https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/interactives/whereyouliveaffectshowlongyoulive.html

16. Infant Mortality

17. Social Stratification
● A relatively fixed, hierarchical arrangement in
society by which groups have different access
to resources, power, and perceived social
worth.
● In a sports organization:
◦ Owners control the resources of the teams.
◦ Players earn high salaries, yet do not control
the team resources.
◦ Sponsors provide the resources.
◦ Fans provide revenue.

18. Diverse Sources of
Stratification
● Race, class, and gender are overlapping
systems of stratification.
● Class position is manifested differently,
depending on race and gender.
● Example: A Black middle-class man who is
stopped by police when driving through a
White middle-class neighborhood may feel
his racial status is his most outstanding
characteristic, but his race, class, and gender
always influence his life chances.

19. Forms of Stratification
19
The estate system is
a politically based
system of
stratification
characterized by
limited social
mobility.
The caste system is
a system of
stratification based
on hereditary
notions of religious
and theological
purity and generally
offers no prospects
for social mobility.
The class system is
an economically
based system of
stratification with
somewhat loose
social mobility based
on roles in the
production process
rather than individual
characteristics.

20. Social Mobility
● The estate tax in the United States is related to
the issue of stratification because it goes to the
heart of questions about how to promote
business growth, how wealth should be
distributed, how to encourage meritocracy, and
how to build a more equitable society.
20

21. Functional and Conflict Theories of
Stratification
Inequality
Functionalism
Motivates people to fill
positions that are needed
for the survival of the whole.
Conflict Theory
Results when those with the
most resources exploit
others.

22. Functional and Conflict Theories of
Stratification
Class Structure
Functionalism
Differentiation is essential
for a cohesive society.
Conflict Theory
Different groups struggle
over resources and
compete for social
advantage.

23. Functional and Conflict Theories of
Stratification
Life chances
Functionalism
Those who work hardest
and succeed have greater
life chances.
Conflict Theory
The most vital jobs in
society are usually the least
rewarded.

24. How Is America Stratified Today?
● The income gap between
high-income and low-
income individuals has
increased dramatically
over the last 30 years.
● One out of two people
are living in or heading to
poverty in the United
States
24

25. Social Stratification
● Why Is There Inequality?
● The Class Structure of the United
States
● Diverse Sources of Stratification
● Poverty

26. Inequality in the United States
● Nearly 1 in 6 children in the U.S.
live poverty:
◦ 30% of African American
children
◦ 29% of Hispanic children
◦ 12% of Asian American
children
◦ 9.4% of White non-Hispanic
children

27. Inequality in the United States
● 15% of the U.S. population has no health
insurance.
● The average cost of a day’s stay in the
hospital is $1, 217—two weeks’ pay for
the average worker

28. Inequality in the United States
● 1% of the U.S. population controls 38% of the
total wealth in the nation.
● The bottom 20% owe more than they own.
● CEOs of major companies earn an average of
$13.1 million dollars per year.
● Workers earning the minimum wage make
$10,712 per year, if they work 40 hours a week
for 52 weeks per year and hold only one job.

29. The Laddered Model of Stratification

30. The Double Diamond Model of Stratification

31. Median Income by Race and Household
Status

32. Wealth and Income
● Wealth is the monetary value of
everything one owns, minus debt.
◦ It is calculated by adding all financial assets
and subtracting all debts.
● Income is the amount of money brought
into a household from various sources
during a given period.

33. Distribution of Wealth and Income
● The wealthiest 1% own 38% of all net
worth; the bottom 80% control only
17%.
● The top 1% also owns almost half of all
stock; the bottom 80% own only 4% of
total stock holdings.

34. The Tax Burden: For Whom?

35. Poverty Among the Old and Young

36. Defining Social Mobility
● Social mobility is a person’s movement over
time from one class to another.
● Social mobility can be up or down, although
the American dream emphasizes upward
movement.
● Mobility can also be either intergenerational,
occurring between generations; or
intragenerational, occurring within a
generation.

37. Table 7.1 Relative Social Prestige of
Selected U.S. Occupations
You May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

38. Social Mobility
● Mobility is a collective effort that involves kin
and sometimes community.
● Upward Mobility
◦ People who are upwardly mobile are often
expected to distance themselves from their
origins.
● Downward Mobility
◦ As income distribution is becoming more
skewed toward the top, many in the middle
class are experiencing mobility downward.

39. Globalization and Sweatshops
Supporting the Brands You Love:
Two Viewshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2sW2wt3nLU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a_D-azUogg

40. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1pXg3OqH_g

41. Who are the Poor?
● In 2002, there were 34.6 million poor
people in the U.S.
● The poor:
◦ 31% of Native Americans
◦ 24% of African Americans
◦ 22% of Hispanics
◦ 10% of Asians and Pacific Islanders
◦ 10% of Whites
U.S. Poverty Rate Climbed To 15.1 Percent in
2011, Total Number Hit All-Time Record Total
Population - 312,000,000 – 47,000,00 in poverty

42. How do we compare to the world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpKbO6O3O3M

43. The lines at the local food bank.

44. Who are the Homeless?
● A 2001 survey of 27 cities found that the
homeless population is:
◦ 50% African American
◦ 35% White
◦ 12% Hispanic
◦ 2% Native American
◦ 1% Asian

45. Who are the Homeless?
● Battered women
● Elderly
● Disabled
● Mentally Ill (20-25%)
● Veterans
● AIDS victims

46. What do you think are the Reasons
for Homelessness?
● Unemployment and/or eviction
● Reductions in federal support for
affordable housing
● Eroding work opportunities
● Inadequate housing for low-income
people

47. What do you think are the Reasons
for Homelessness
● Reductions in public assistance
● Inadequate health care
● Domestic violence
● Addiction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E
-naXAOUslM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC
x3AfSlc-w&feature=related

48. Explanations of Poverty
● Culture of poverty - poverty is a way of
life that is transferred from generation
to generation.
● Structural causes of poverty - poverty is
caused by economic and social
transformations taking place in the U.S.

49. Arguments Against
“The Culture of Poverty”
● Fewer than 5% of the poor are
chronically poor.
● 41% of the able-bodied poor work.
● The pattern of “welfare cycling” is
promoted by wages too low to support
a family.