G674
These children have equal access to
education, but does this mean they will
enjoy similar lifestyles as adults?
What do these pictures indicate about the ways in which we think
about social class?
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Which of the following things might you use to
judge a person’s class?
Neighbourhood
Job
Pay
Education
Wealth
Accent
Clothes
Parental background
Use of leisure time
Political party support
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This is a synoptic unit.
You need to therefore be prepared to bring in
references to things you discussed at AS in
relation to class (as well as in the Crime
Unit)...
You need to re-familiarise yourself with the
work of people like Willis, Savage, Devine...
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What is it?
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What does it stand for?
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How many categories does it have?
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What system did it replace?
How would you categorise:
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Car Mechanic (employer)
Self-employed builder
Teacher
Solicitor
Headteacher
Waiter/waitress
What difficulties do you face
doing the above?
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Workers are no longer divided exclusively in
terms of manual and non-manual labour.
It introduces a category for unemployed
people (New Right theorists would call this
the underclass).
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In a big change from earlier scales, women
are no longer categorized by the occupation
of their husbands or fathers.
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Is social class just about occupation?
Doesn’t include people so rich they don’t
need to work.
Doesn’t take into account status differences:
Officially, a headteacher would be in the same
category as a teacher.
What evidence is there that
social class is a source of
inequality?
Discuss: What does the table
tell us about the relationship
between housing and class?
NS-SEC
Owned
outright %
Owned with
mortgage %
Rent from
social sector
%
Rent
privately %
1
14
77
2
6
2
20
65
1
14
3
14
68
6
12
4
17
59
13
11
5
26
54
7
13
6
17
38
30
16
7
16
43
27
14
8
12
2
73
13
Source: ONS; 2004
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Clear distinctions in ownership and rental in
the contemporary UK.
Patterns of home ownership reflect patterns
of income.
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How might where you live impact your social
capital?
How might it impact other areas of your life?
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Differences in annual income are significant;
based on occupation, but not reflecting on
amount of hours worked per week.
Group
Avg. Pay Avg.
(£)
Hours
worked
Managers & senior officials
42,164
39
Professional occupations
33,741
36.3
Technical occupations
27,627
38.5
Administrative/secretarial
17,560
37.5
Skilled trades
21,060
42.6
Sales/customer services
14,912
38.8
Process, plant, machinery work
19,113
44.8
Source: ONS; 2006
Mortality by social class gradient (using
Registrar General Scale)
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Death rate of Class 5 is twice that of class 1
Someone in class 1 lives on average 7 years
longer than someone in class 5
The risk of dying before the age of 5 is twice
as high for children born in class 5 than those
born in class 1
Long standing illness is around 50% higher
among class 5 than class 1
Since the early 1980s the health gap between
those at the top of the social scale and those
at the bottom has been rising
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Lower grade civil servants had higher rates of
death from all causes and specifically
coronary heart disease
When controlling for all factors (smoking
obesity, leisure time, height) lower grades
still had a risk factor of 2;1 compared to
highest grade
Concluded stress associated with lack of
control was a significant factor
Read for HWK:
http://www.abc.net.au/science/slab/stress/wh
ithall.htm
A Sociology Exam in which you have to
answer four essay questions in ninety
minutes, following a precise structure for
each question.
A Sociology Exam in which you answer four
unstructured essay questions from a choice
of twelve in up to four hours.
How does this relate to
the Whitehall Study?
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Do you agree that people of a lower social
class are likely to have less control over their
own work?
Do you agree that this leads to stress?
Are there any other factors that might mean
people from the lower social classes
experience more stress (and therefore more
ill health in general)?
Unemployment
and low pay
Poor
education
Inadequate
housing
multiple
disadvantage
Poor
environment
Poor health
High levels
of crime
“There is a strong socio-economic gradient to
almost all patterns of disease and ill-health.
The lower your socio-economic position, the
greater your risk of low birthweight,
infections, cancer, coronary heart disease,
respiratory disease, stroke, accidents,
nervous and mental illnesses.”
In 1992…
 60% of students from managerial/professional
backgrounds achieved 5+ GCSEs, compared to 16%
from unskilled/manual backgrounds,
In 2002…
 Figures rose to 77% from managerial/prof. and 32%
from unskilled/manual…
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Why types of capital can be gained in education
and how?
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Why do you think children from lower social class
backgrounds don’t do so well?
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What might happen if these figures were more
equal?
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How can doing well at school influence your
social status and/or social class position?
The Sutton Trust Study (2008)
 Class differences in attainment occur as a
result of early experiences in a child’s life.
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Students from poorer backgrounds who
make it onto A Level programmes usually
have an equal chance of gaining uni
placements with those from more affluent
backgrounds.
However, students who gain their A Levels
in private education are more likely to gain
places at more prestigious universities.
How might the type of school
a person attends influence
their social status and class
position?
How might it impact their life
chances?
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Come up with a strategy of five ways in which
Northampton College could do better in
improving the chances of students from
poorer backgrounds to succeed...
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Connor & Dewson (2001) found that only one
in five boys from working-class backgrounds
go on into higher education.
Savage & Egerton (1997) found that ability
does not wipe out class advantage. Only half
of the ‘high ability’ working-class boys in
their study made it into the service class (e.g.
not manual labour work).
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32% of MPs attended independent schools;
72% attended university; 43% went to a
prestigious university; 27% went to Oxbridge.
Conservative MPs more likely to have
attended private schooling (59%)
From your AS, your could refer to:
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Medhurst’s research usingThe Royle Family
(1999)
Stereotyping/negative portrayals of the
working-classes (e.g. Shameless, Jeremy
Kyle).
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What studies/evidence did we look at in the
previous unit that might suggest Social Class
inequalities in relation to Crime & Deviance?
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The statistics here – and in your text books,
workbooks etc. – are out of date.
It’s still okay to quote them (preferably noting
their date), but you should aim to gain up to date
statistics and contemporary examples to use
alongside them in the exam.
It is an expectation that you demonstrate some
awareness of contemporary issues and how they
relate to your studies – examples of different
types of inequality in the UK are in the news
every single day...
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In small groups, research news and campaign
sites to find at least three examples of social
class inequality in the contemporary UK...
...You will present your findings to the class.
Social Class Explanations &
Inequalities
Inequality is necessary,
inevitable and functional.
Discuss (Pairs):
Functionalists like Durkheim and Parsons
believe that inequality is functional.
In what ways could inequality possibly help a
society to function?
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Unequal distribution is justified because
it is beneficial to society: Some jobs are
functionally more important than others
and some people more able.
The most important jobs in society are
the most highly rewarded.
This will motivate people to compete to
achieve them.
Society is a Meritocracy.
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In pairs, decide on the ten most functional
jobs for society. Justify your answers.
Ext: - Identify what you think are the five ‘least’ functional jobs.
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Do the rates of pay for these jobs reflect how
functional they are?
If they don’t, then it may suggest:
a) Davis and Moore are wrong – and
functionalists are wrong: inequality is not
functional or...
b) Our society is not working properly
Within all complex societies,
social inequality and
difference are inevitable and
help maintain social order
and prevent anomie
(Durkheim)
Social systems must be
hierarchical, in order to keep
order and maintain a healthy
society (Parsons)
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Tumin (1963) questions what is meant by
‘functionally important jobs’.
Marxists accuse them of ignoring divisions
and conflict between classes.
People don’t necessarily need extra rewards
to go through the self-fulfilling process of
training.
Stratification can de-motivate rather than
motivate many people.
Everyone in society has a role to fulfil. Different
financial rewards for different roles encourage
everyone to fulfil their potential.
Is this a good or bad thing?
750-1000 Words
Discuss: Based on your
learning so far at A Level, how
do you think the Marxists
would view inequality?
How should
wealth be
divided
between
social classes?
If the total UK
wealth was
represented by
100 coins, how
should we divide
them between five
social class
groups?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOJ93tA
bPP0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj2LA8r
EqQ4
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The bourgeoisie exploit the working class through the
system of wage labour.
Capitalists pay workers less than the value of what they
produce in order that they make a profit (surplus value).
The working class get poorer and the ruling class get
richer. Inequality grows.
Ownership of the means of production gives people the
power to determine their own salaries as well as those
of their workers.
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The capitalist system, which relies on social
inequality, is legitimised by the state.
The state controls our thoughts through the
Ideological State Apparatus (ISA) e.g. media,
religion, education. (Althusser; 1977)
This creates a false class
consciousness.
“Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose
but your chains.”
“The ruling ideas of every age have been the ideas of
its ruling class.”
“Religion is the opium of the masses.”
“Philosophers seek to explain the world, the point is
to change it.”
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Focus on explaining the growth of the middle
classes, and on the different types of capital:
Social, Economic and Cultural.
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What are examples of the three types of
capital?
Who has access to them?
In what ways do they advantage some social
groups over others?
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Exploitation of workers by rulers is part of society’s
natural development. Capitalism is a necessary
step on the way to communism.
A full class consciousness will develop as a result
of exploitation, oppression and ideological control.
The middle-class will disappear as society becomes
more polarised. As middle-class jobs become more
de-skilled, most will fall into the proletariat
(Braverman; 1974)
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The living standards of the working class in
many capitalist countries has improved rather
than worsened.
Communist societies that exist today still
produces inequality (although not to the same
extent as capitalism).
Marx does not explain the big differences in
income of groups of workers e.g. doctors and
unskilled workers.
Burnham argues that it is an outdated view of
the capitalist economy.
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Referred to as the
“ghost of Marx”.
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Property and capital are important
dimensions of social privilege, but there are
other crucial factors…
Social inequality is the product of class
(economic position), status (social standing
within community) and party (power and
politics).
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1.
2.
3.
4.
Would the following four people occupy high
or low class, status and party positions?
Black female MP
White, working class plumber who helps run
local boy’s football team
35 year old ‘Euromillions’ winner (worth
£35m)
Elderly man on state pension
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A social class is determined by a person’s
market situation and work situation.
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Market situation = income related
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Work situation = conditions of service (e.g.
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hours worked, perks, status of employment)
There is a lot of social mobility, preventing
rigid classes from forming
Pairs: Explain as
many as you can!
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The relationship between Class, income and
occupation is not always as clear as others
have said:
The price of labour, as with any other
commodity, depends on supply and demand.
If a skill is in short supply and high demand,
you can charge a high price for it.
Feminism & Postmodernism
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Social class inequalities and differences are
related to gender inequalities and differences
– you cannot treat them separately.
Note: Marxist
Feminists would
have more to say
here…we’ll cover
them later in the
unit…
Pakulski & Waters (1996)
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Social class is dead
Globalisation means that there are not class
divisions; only status divisions.
People can now buy the image they want to
portray, and do not see themselves in terms
of social class.
Outline and Evaluate the Marxist view on Social
Class Inequality [40]