Social Stratification and Class Essay - 1531 Words

Today in the United States, we read in the newspapers constantly about the state of classes in our country. For instance, it is often said at tax time that the Federal budget is balanced on the backs of the middle class. To people in the lower class, the promise is held that in a capitalist society, by working hard you can lift yourself out of the lower income bracket to join the middle class. Entrepreneurs who can find a need and fill it can make it into the upper class. The point is that this kind of thinking, a product of social stratification theory, is ingrained upon our minds. As a society, we accept it as a fact that we live in a multi-tiered class system, and that this is the way it should be because it is†¦show more content†¦An example of a social stratification model can be made of the Feudal System, with a dominant nobility (betters). Barons were at the upper strata, higher than the knights, who were at a lower strata. The subjected masses (lessers) were s erfs and peasants; undoubtedly some were more clever and successful than others who occupied a lower strata. Another model would be the current United States, where the social strata starts with the upper-upper class, the upper class, the upper-middle class, and so on down to the poor, or lower-lower class. In highly detailed social stratification models, trends and analyses are very complex. An excellent example of this is The Process of Stratification: Trends and Analyses by Robert Hauser and David Featherman. The many pages of tables and detailed analysis are exceedingly difficult to comprehend, which makes them difficult to use. A model of social stratification is a snapshot in time which details the society as it exists at that time. In The Persistence of Social Inequality in America, John Dalphin states that social stratification suggests that a society has divisions, cleavages, or splits within it. More specifically, it means that a society is divided into hierarchically arranged levels of families (and,Show MoreRelatedClass Stratification And Social Stratification1485 Words   |  6 Pages ‘Class stratification is no longer relevant in explaining equality in the U.K. today.’ A. Class stratification runs on 3 main points: Power (legal ability, capacity or authority granted on a person/persons), Prestige (a reputation or influence arising from success) and Privilege (a special right or immunity) with these being the root of social stratification it’s easy to see why inequality in universal with the bourgeoisie (the elite 2% of the world) controlling the proletariat (working class societyRead MoreSocial Stratification And Social Class1205 Words   |  5 Pagesbased on their wealth, income, race and education known as the social stratification. Sociologist use this to determine the social standings of individuals within a society. Social stratification can also appear in much smaller groups. These groups such as the work place, schools, and businesses can â€Å"take the form of a distribution of power and authority down the ranks†. (Cole, 2017) The Caste system is also another form of stratification that one does not get a choice in. They are born into it andRead MoreSocial Stratification And Social Class1468 Words   |  6 Pageswe cannot understand the social world, we are more likely to be overwhelmed by it. In America society is stratified into social classes by which society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy, upper, middle and lower class. Social stratification is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences but achievement based. 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