Social Stratification and Inequality

Abstract

These chapters briefly explain the three factors of social class—property, power, and prestige; determined between wealth and income; define how property and income are delivered; and describe the democratic disguise, the power elite, and status inconsistency. The difference of Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class. Then the chapters summarize the results of social class for physical and mental health, family life, education, religion, politics, and the criminal justice system. Concisely, the three types of social mobility, and review gender issues in research on social mobility and why social mobility brings pain is contrasted. Chapter eight lastly explains the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is associated to geography, race ethnicity, education, feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; then determined why people are poor; and discussed deferred gratification and the Horatio Alger myth. In Chapter nine, we contrast the myth and reality of race, race and ethnicity, and minority and dominant groups; discuss ethnic work, and also contrast prejudice and discrimination and individual and institutional discrimination; discuss learning prejudice, internalizing dominant norms, and institutional discrimination. Near the end of the chapter it also contrast psychological and sociological theories of prejudice: include functionalism, conflict, and symbolic interactionism. Then explains genocide, population transfer, internal colonialism, segregation, assimilation, and multiculturalism. Lastly the chapter summarizes the major patterns that characterize European Americans, Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans, and then discusses immigration, affirmative action, and a multicultural society. Discrimination, Inequality, and Poverty

There are seven “Consequences of Social Class” covered by the author, i will concisely discuss four of these consequences in this paragraph. Education levels increase as one moves up the social class ladder. The change takes place not only in terms of the amount of education acquired, but also in terms of the kind of education, with the capitalist class avoiding public schools in favor of restricted private schools, where children are trained to take an authoritative role in society. Mental health is worse for the lower classes because of stresses combined with their class position. Those higher in the class system are more able to afford vacations, counselors, and psychiatrists; their class position gives them more authority over their lives which is essential to exceptional mental health. All aspects of religious adjustments follow class lines. Social classes tend to bundle around different denominations. Lower classes are attracted to impulsive worship services and louder music, like Baptists, while higher classes prefer more quiet worship services like those found in the Methodist religion. The lower a person’s social class, the more likely that person is to die at an earlier age than people in higher classes; this is typical at all ages. Social class forms our lifestyles, which affects our health. Also, since medical care is expensive, the higher classes receive better medical care, despite government aid to the poor; the result is a two-tiered system of medical care. Additionally, life is better for those in higher social classes. They have less problems and more resources to deal with the ones that those in lower classes have.

The choice is between focusing on individual explanations or on social structural explanations, while explaining poverty. Sociologists look into the factors as inequalities in education; the approach to learning job skills; racial, ethnic, age, and gender discrimination; and large-scale economic change to explain the patterns of poverty in society. The other explanation is individualistic, concentrating on the characteristics of individuals that are assumed to contribute to their