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To what extent is class structure relevant to contemporary forms of identity? The term social stratification refers to the division of a society into layers (or strata) whose occupants have unequal access to social opportunities and rewards. People in the top strata enjoy privileges that are not available to other members of society; people in the bottom strata face obstacles that other members of society escape. In a stratified society, social inequality is institutionalized; that is, it is a part of the social structure and is passed from one generation to the next. Certain individuals and groups exercise more influence, command greater respect, and have greater access to goods and services than others do. To some degree, people accept inequality as the way things are.
In this context, status refers to a persons position in the system of stratification. A social class is a grouping of individuals who occupy similar statuses or positions in the social hierarchy, and therefore share similar political and economic interests. Social class is grounded in economics. But economics have consequences for life changes for how people live their lives, how healthy they are, and even how long they live. Most sociologists today agree that social class is multidimensional and that it includes such attributes as educational attainment, occupation, political influence, prestige, and celebrity, as well as economic position. These various measures of social status usually overlap.
People who are wealthy are usually those who went to college and work in prestigious occupations; people who are poor are likely to be high school dropouts who work in menial jobs, if they work at all. But this is not always the case. A poet or a minister may enjoy great prestige but have little personal wealth. Conversely, a drug dealer may be wealthy but has little social prestige. Status inconsistency appears when one marker of social standing is out of sync with the others for example, a Ph. D.
who drives a cab for a living, or a high school dropout who earns millions as a boxer. Further, some markers of social standing operate more or less independently of other factors. Children occupy a lower status than their elders, regardless of whether they are rich or poor. In some situations the fact that a person is a member of a minority group or a female overrides other indicators of social standing. Due to social stratification, the society is involuntarily divided into in-groups and out-groups. Mainly, these groups express the idea of we / us versus they / them .
The in-group is a group to which people feel that they belong; it commands their loyalty and respect. The out-group is, by contrast, a group one feels opposed to or in competition with. Ethnocentrism basically characterizes the behavior of in-group members. Ethnic groups are maintained by consciousness of kind and the assumption that people who share your ethnic background are likely to have similar values.
Language and culture establish ethnic boundaries. Not only do ones own kind speak ones own language, they speak it correctly. Food preferences, traditional music and art, dance, religion, occupational specialties, family names, and a shared myth of the groups origin and history can all be important in establishing ethnic identity. Americans consider promoting social equality one of the most important functions of education.
Nevertheless, countless studies have found that the higher a students social class, the more likely he or she is to do well in school and to continue his or her education. One of the most extensive studies of the relationship between socioeconomic status and academic achievement has been conducted by William Sewell and colleagues (Sewell, 1971; Sewell and Hauser, 1976, 1980). The data on the social origins, academic ability, school performance, and education careers of more than 10, 000 Wisconsin students over a period of twenty years was collected. Analysis of this data suggests that social class has strong effects on students achievements. For example, Sewell found that students from upper-class families are 2. 5 times as likely as students from lower-class families to go to college, 6 times as likely to graduate from college, and 9 times as likely to obtain a graduate or professional education. Whatever measure of socioeconomic status researchers use (family income, parents education, parents occupation) and whatever measure of academic achievement they employ (grades, test scores, course failures, dropout rates, college plans, actual years of schooling), the results are the same.
Children from lower-class homes do not do as well in school as those from upper-class homes. Class stratification is the most important defining feature of American society today. It is tempting to see class differences as simply the result of an economic stratification system that exists at a level above the individual. But while inequality is created and maintained by larger social institutions, it is often felt most forcefully and is reinforced most effectively in the chain of interactions that take place in our day-to-day lives. Marx contemplated social classes not as a relationship under the system of ranks and hierarchical positions, but as a system of social relationship.
According to his works, the capitalist class could not exist without the proletariat, and vice-versa. The relationship between classes, as described by Marx, bears contradictory and antagonistic character, thus having struggle, opposing interests, and a conflict associated with it. The structure and basis of a social class may be defined in objective terms, as groups with a common position with respect to property or the means of production. However, Marx may not be primarily interested in this definition of class. Rather, these classes have meaning in society and are historical actors only to the extent that they do act in their own interests, and in opposition to other classes. Unlike much other sociology, Marx's classes are defined by class conflict.
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Research essay sample on Members Of Society Academic Achievement
