Which of the following terms refers to respect, recognition, or regard attached to social positions?

SOC 201 Week 3 - Lecture

Introduction

Welcome to week three of SOC 201, Introduction to Sociology. This week we will be learning about the purpose and importance of social stratification.  In that process we will come to understand the social classes in America and the inequality across societies.  In addition, we will review the concerns and challenges regarding gender and sexuality and identify the concerns regarding sexuality and human development.  Then we will relate to the needs and challenges of race and ethnicity and focus on the sociological explanations of racial-ethnic inequality.  Finally, we review how government and politics affects our social system and distinguish between government, power and authority and the different types of political systems.  We will identify the statistics that show who votes, who doesn’t and attempt to determine why.

Social Stratification                                               

Social stratification is the hierarchical ranking of people in a society who have different access to valued resources, such as property, prestige, power, and status.  All societies are stratified, but some more than others.  An open stratification system is based on individual achievement and allows movement up or down. In a closed stratification system, movement from one social position to another is limited by ascribed statuses such as one’s sex, skin color, and family background.  Closed stratification systems are considerably more fixed than open ones, but no stratification system is completely open or completely closed.

Dimensions of Stratification

Within a social stratification system there is a social class which is a category of people who have a similar standing or rank in a society based on wealth, education, power, prestige, and other valued resources.  Income is a critical factor of stratification, but it’s not the only one.  Instead, sociologists use a multidimensional approach that includes wealth, prestige and power.

Wealth:  Wealth is the money and other economic assets that a person or family owns, including property and income.  Property comes in many forms, such as buildings, land, stocks and bonds, retirement savings, and personal possessions such as furniture, jewelry, and works of art.  Income is money a person receives regularly usually in the form of wages or a salary but also as rents, interest on savings accounts, dividends on stock, royalties, or the proceeds from a business.

Prestige:  A second dimension of social stratification is prestige, which is respect, recognition, or regard attached to social positions.  Prestige is based on many criteria, including wealth, family background, fame, leadership, power, occupation, and accomplishments.  For example, every college convocation acknowledges students who graduate cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude.  We typically evaluate others according to the kind of work they do. 

Power:  A third important dimension of social stratification is power, the ability of individuals or groups to achieve goals, control events, and main influence over others despite opposition.  In every society, power is based on social class, but there are other sources of power.  Another source of power is being charismatic or eloquent or having other traits that inspire large groups of people.  Power is also tied to particular occupations like a police officer or judge for example.

What Affects Social Mobility?                               

According to many sociologists, vertical social mobility doesn’t always reflect people’s talents, intelligence, or hard work.  Instead, much social mobility depends on structural, demographic, and individual factors.

Structural Factors:  Macro-level variables, over which we have little or no control as individuals, affect social mobility in many ways.  First, changes in the economy spur upward or downward mobility.  During an economic boom, the number of jobs increases, and many people, including those on public assistance, have an opportunity to move up.  Second, the number of available positions in particular occupations changes over time.

Demographic Factors:  Demographic factors, which are usually interrelated, also affect social mobility.  Three of the most important are education, gender, and race and ethnicity.  Education is a critical factor in social mobility.  Especially when the economy is slumping, people with college and graduate degrees fare better than those with a high-school education or less.  Those who don’t graduate from high school often face long and frequent bouts of unemployment, must get by with temporary employment, and may move down the socioeconomic ladder.

Individual Factors:  Because family background is a critical factor in social stratification, the best way to be upwardly mobile is to choose the right parents.  For example, only 7 of the 44 U.S. presidents came from the lower-middle class or below.  Abraham Lincoln, although born in a log cabin, had a father who was one of the wealthiest people in his community.  And about a third of the students with low grades at Ivy League universities wouldn’t be there if their parents weren’t celebrities, well-known politicians, or others who donated at least $25 million to the school.  Parents tend to socialize their children to assume an expected class position.

Contemporary Gender Stratification and Inequality           

Sexism is widespread due to gender stratification, people’s unequal access to wealth, power, status, prestige, opportunity, and other valued resources because of their sex.  We will look briefly at gender inequality in the family, education, workplace, and politics.

Gender and Family Life:  Americans have more choices today, but is family life less gendered than in the past?  There is probably not as much as we think.  If Americans were free to do either, half of women and 68 percent of men would prefer to work outside the home rather than stay home to take care of their house and family.  Few adults have this either-or choice, however.  Instead, nearly three out of four married mothers are in the labor force, compared with two out of four in 1970.

Gender and Education:  Many teachers and schools send gendered messages to children that follow them from preschool to college.  When children enter kindergarten, they perform similarly on both reading and mathematics tests.  By the third grade, however, boys, on average, outperform girls in math and science, whereas girls outperform boys in reading.  These gaps increase throughout high school.

Gender and Politics:  In 1872, Victoria Chaflin Woodhull of the Equal Rights Party was the first female presidential candidate.  Since then, 36 women have sought the nation’s highest office.  Unlike a number of other countries (including Great Britain, Germany, India, Israel, Pakistan, Argentina, Chile, and Philippines), the United States has never had a woman serving as president or even vice-president.  In the U.S. Congress, 83 percent of the members are men.

Racial and Ethnic Diversity in America                    

Some people in America enjoy more opportunities than others simply because of the color of their skin.  The situation has improved during the last 50 years or so, but not as much as most people think.  Many people stereotype the United States as a single-language and single-culture society.  In fact, it’s the most multicultural country in the world, a magnet that draws people from hundreds of nations and that is home to millions of Americans who are bilingual or multilingual. 

Our Changing Immigration Mosaic                        

Since the turn of the twentieth century there has been a significant shift in immigrants’ country of origin and skills.  In 1900, almost 85 percent of immigrants came from Europe and with predominately low-level skills; now immigrants come primarily from Asia (mainly China and the Philippines) and Latin America (mainly Mexico), and have varied skills and educational levels.  The United States admits more than 1 million immigrants every year---more than any other nation.  About 62 percent of undocumented immigrants are from Mexico, 15 percent are from Central Latin America, 7 percent are from Asia, and 16 percent are from other countries.

Government                                                 

Government is a formal organization that has the authority to make and enforce laws.  Governments can maintain order, provide social services, regulate the economy, and establish educational systems.  Besides maintaining armed forces to discourage attacks by other countries, governments also try to protect their citizens from internal assaults that range from individual crimes to organized paramilitary groups.  Most governments are huge bureaucracies.  The U.S. government, for example, consists of executive, legislative, and judicial branches, with numerous departments in the executive branch alone.  Among other powers, the president proposes laws, the congress writes laws, and the judicial system interprets laws and legitimates their enforcement.

Politics, Power, and Authority                                

Whether based on persuasion or coercion, power---especially political power---is about controlling others.  Because people may revolt against sheer force, many governments depend on authority to establish order, shape people’s attitudes, and control their behavior.  Authority is the legitimate use of power, and has three characteristics.  First, people consent to authority because they believe that their obedience is for the greater good.  Second, people see the authority as legitimate.  Third, people accept authority because it is institutionalized in organizations such as police departments.

Types of Political Systems                                       

There are a variety of political systems that exist around the world.  In some countries their political system has been overthrown and replaced by another political system.  The three major types of political systems that exist around the world are democracies (as in the United States), totalitarianism and dictatorships ( as in China), and authoritarianism and monarchies (as in the Middle East).

Democracy:  A democracy is a political system in which, ideally, citizens have control over the state and its actions.  Democracies are based on several principles such as individuals are the best judges of their own interests and participate in government decisions.  Citizens select leaders who are responsive to the wishes of the majority of the people.  The right to vote is universal, and elections are free, fair, secret, and occur frequently.

Totalitarianism and Dictatorships:  At the opposite end of the continuum from democracy is totalitarianism, a political system in which the government controls every aspect of people’s lives.  Totalitarianism includes a pervasive ideology that legitimizes state control and instructs people how to act in their public and private lives.  There is a single political party controlled by one person, a dictator who is a supreme leader who stays in office indefinitely.

Authoritarianism and Monarchies:  Most nations have some version of democracy or totalitarianism.  However, a number of countries are characterized by authoritarianism, a political system in which the state controls the lives of citizens but permits some degree of individual freedom.   In the Middle East, for example, the ruler of Qatar has absolute power and discourages public criticism of his policies, but he has implemented a constitution that specifies that two-thirds of the officeholders must be elected rather than appointed and has supported numerous progressive reforms, such as women’s active participation in politics.

A formal organization is a complex and structured secondary group that has been deliberately created to achieve specific goals in an efficient manner.  We depend on a variety of formal organizations to provide goods and services in a stable and predictable way, including companies that supply clean water for brushing our teeth, numerous food producers who stock our favorite breakfast items, and garment industries and retailers that produce and sell the clothes we wear.                                  

Summary

Social stratification is the hierarchical ranking of people in a society who have different access to valued resources, such as property, prestige, power, and status.  A good indicator of social class is socioeconomic status, an overall ranking of a person’s position in the class hierarchy based on income, education, and occupation.  Our social class position, more than any other single variable, affects just about all aspects of our lives.  Max Weber referred to the consequences of social stratification as life chance, the extent to which people have positive experiences and can secure the good things in life (such as food, housing, education, and good health) because they have economic resources.  Most Americans believe in social mobility, a person’s ability to move up or down the class hierarchy.  Many people use the terms sex and gender interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings.  The terms are related, but sex is a biological designation, whereas gender and gender roles are social creations.  The United States is the most multicultural country in the world, a magnet that draws people from hundreds of nations and that is home to millions of Americans who are bilingual or multilingual.  Government is often affected by a civic society, the non-government group of citizens that includes community-based organizations, the media, lobbyists, and voters.  If a government seems unjust, a country’s civic society can exert considerable power by replacing elected officials or rebelling against appointed leaders.

View the following video to review a simple explanation of social stratification.  Then view a very short video on political systems.

Social Stratification

http://youtu.be/uqF-1hQ3z-g

What are political systems?

http://youtu.be/Hu1-JPLYTA8

References

Benokraitis, Nijole V. (2012). SOC. (2nd ed.), Mason, OH: South-Western, Cengage Learning.

Schaefer, Richard T. (2013). Sociology: A Brief Introduction (10th ed.), New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Wildhagen, Tina. (2014). Unequal returns to academic credentials as a hidden dimension of race and class inequality in American college enrollments, Journal of Research in Social Stratification and Mobility.  

Reynolds, Jeremy. (2014). Perceptions of meritocracy in the land of opportunity, Journal of Research in Social Stratification and Mobility.   

What concept refers to a social position?

In which social stratification system are people's positions based on both birth and achievement?

Which of the following statements best describes social stratification?

What is recognition respect and admiration attached to social positions?