Social Stratification:
Dimensions and Impact
Yesenia King Soc. 001
Lecture Outline
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Social Stratification
Dimensions of Stratification
Explanations of Stratification
Stratification in American Society
Consequences of Stratification
Social Mobility
Social Stratification
• System in which large groups of people are
divided into layers according to their relative
power, property, and prestige
• Exists within society
• Affects our life chances and orientations to
life based on our class
• Unequal and relatively permanent
• Class: based primarily on the possession of
money and material goods
Questions for Today
1. What are the major social classes in the U.S.?
2. For which class is inherited wealth most
important?
3. How are one’s education and occupation
related to one’s social class?
Dimensions of Stratification
The Economic Dimension
• Marx viewed economics as the foundation of social
classes.
• Social class is determined by one’s relationship to
the means of production.
– Bourgeoisie – the rulers; exploit
– Proletariat – those who are ruled; revolt
• Classless society
• Believed that all other social institutions
were based on the economic structure
Dimensions of Stratification
The Economic Dimension
• Weber identified several different social
classes based on the consequences of their
relationship to the economic institution.
• Wealth that consists of property (what we
own) and income (money we receive).
• Likelihood of achieving education,
housing, health, food, etc., based on
access to economic resources.
Economic Inequality in America
• “CEO Pay Jumped 11%” by Joann Lublin (WSJ)
• For the past 30 years income inequality has been
increasing.
• The U.S. is now the most economically unequal of
all major Western countries.
• In 2009, 43.6 million people were living in poverty
yet there were only 7 million millionaires and 800
billionaires.
• Between 1990 and 2005 CEO income increased
about 300% while workers income increased just
4.3%
Dimensions of Stratification
The Power Dimension
• Power is the ability to control others, even over
their objections.
• Expert knowledge, special skills, fame, and social
position
• Mills – “Power Elite”
– Big decision makers
in U.S. society
Dimensions of Stratification
The Prestige Dimension
• Prestige is the respect or regard people give to
various occupations and accomplishments.
• In US occupations are the primary source of prestige.
• Occupations with highest prestige:
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Pay more
Require more education
Entail more abstract thought
Offer greater autonomy
• Valuable = people must acknowledge it.
Explanations of Stratification
Functionalist Theory
• Stratification is inevitable
– Positions have to be filled and some positions are more
important than others
– More important positions need to be filled by more qualified
people = greater rewards
• Critical Thinking – Where does Functionalist theory fall
short?
– Are some positions really more important?
• Example: Entertainer vs. President; Electrician vs. Professor
– Barriers to fair competition due to lack of access.
• Example: Racial/Ethnic groups, women, the disabled etc.
– Meritocracy?
• Example: Best predictor of College entrance is family income not ability
– Stratification is dysfunctional, thus not functional.
Explanations of Stratification
Conflict Theory
• Stress that conflict, not function, is the basis of
social stratification
• Stratification exists because those with more power
and wealth are willing to exploit others with less.
• Critical Thinking – Where does conflict theory fall
short?
– Conflict theory is based on the class conflict described by
Marx
– Marx’s work not consistent with American system
Symbolic Interactionism and
Stratification
• Social stratification persists only as long as
its legitimacy is accepted.
• Symbols explain the existence of stratification
to the young and the reasons for people
being located in particular strata.
• Views of legitimacy are incorporated into an
individual’s self-concept as well.
Theoretical Perspectives: Social
Stratification
Stratification in American Society
U.S. Class Structure
-Gilbert and Kahl – Updated Weber’s
Model
– Capitalist Class
– The Upper Middle Class
– The Lower Middle Class
– The Working Class
– The Working Poor
– The Underclass
 The Homeless
Consequences of Stratification
Life Chances –probability of achieving the
positive things in life.
– Life Expectancy
– Health/Mental health; medical care
Life Style
– Family Life
– Divorce
– Child Rearing
– Politics
– Education
– Criminal Justice System
Social Mobility
• Movement up or down the social class ladder
• Difficult to do.
– Minorities have been denied the opportunity for
advancement
• Significantly impacted by intergenerational
assistance.
– Upper class children = assistance from parents;
less likely to move down
– Lower class children = less likely to move up
Social Mobility
• Social mobility – the movement of individuals or
groups within a stratification structure.
– Intragenerational mobility – social class
movement within the career of an individual.
– Intergenerational mobility – social class
movement from one generation to the next.
– Horizontal mobility – change from one
occupation to another at same status.
– Vertical mobility – occupational or social class
moves upward or downward.
Systems of Social Stratification Slavery
• Causes
• Conditions
– Temporary
– Not Necessarily Inheritable
– Not Necessarily Powerless and Poor
• Slavery in the New World
• Slavery Today
Caste Stratification System
• In a caste system
– there is no social mobility
– social status is inherited
– statuses are ascribed or assigned at birth.
• Example – India’s Religious Caste
• Example – South Africa – Apartheid
• Example – US – Jim Crow Laws
Global Inequality
• The United States has greater income
inequality than most developed countries.
• The gross domestic product (GDP) is a
good indicator of classifying a nation’s
economic category (high, upper-middle,
lower-middle, low).
How Do Elites Maintain
Stratification?
Soft Control vs. Force
• Controlling People’s Ideas
• Controlling Information
• Controlling Technology
Comparative Social
Stratification
• Social Stratification in Great Britain
• Social Stratification in Former Soviet
Union
Global Stratification: Three
Worlds (Old Model)
• First World - Industrialized Capitalist
Nations
• Second World - Communist Nations
• Third World - Nations that Don’t Fit in
First Two
Global Stratification: Three
Worlds
• Most Industrialized Nations
• Industrializing Nations
• Least Industrialized Nations
How Did World’s Nations Become
Stratified?
• Colonialism
• World System Theory
• Culture of Poverty
• Evaluating the Theories
Maintaining Global Stratification
• Neocolonialism
• Multinational Corporations
• Technology and Global Domination
– Race Outcome Predetermined
– Unintended Public Relations
Strains in the Global System
• Stream of Unanticipated Events
• Contradictions Rear Up
• Cracks in Global Banking