chapter eight: social class in the united states
TRANSCRIPT
Chapter Eight: Social Class in the
United States
Social Class in the United States2
Chapter OverviewChapter Overview What is Social Class?
Consequences of
Social Class
What is Social Class?
Consequences of
Social Class
Social Mobility
Poverty
Social Mobility
Poverty
Social Class in the United States
• Americans’ consciousness of class
• Understanding Social Stratification Class position and influence A form of inequality in which categories of people are systematically
ranked in a hierarchy based on access to scarce but valued resources.
• Social Differentiation How people are set apart for differential treatment as a result of their
statuses, roles, and other social characteristics. Sets the stage for social inequality
• People’s unequal access to wealth, power, and prestige.
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What is Social Class?What is Social Class?
Social Class in the United States
• Marx View on Social ClassGreat disparity between owners and workers
• Means of Production
• Weber’s View on Social ClassSocial class is not about ownership of the means of
production. Wide range of specialized skills the give people power,
prestige, or property.
• Today social class is defined along Weber’s Theory
What is Social Class?What is Social Class?
Social Class in the United States
What is Social Class?What is Social Class?A
large group of people who rank close to one another in: Wealth Power Prestige
•Determining Class Ranking
•Influences people’s life chances or opportunities
Social Class in the United States6
Components of Social ClassComponents of Social Class
WEALTH
Primary dimension of social class
The total value of everything someone owns. Property Income
•Difference between Wealth & IncomeHave much Wealth, but little incomeHave much Income, but little wealth
Social Class in the United States7
Social Class in the United States
Social Class in the United States
Power The ability of an individual or
group to attain goals, control events, and maintain influence over others—even against the face of resistance. Power elite
• Top corporate, political, and military leaders who make the nation’s major decisions.
• 1% families that own 33% of $31 trillion.
Class reproduction• Cultural capital
• Social capital
• Economic capital
Components of Social ClassComponents of Social Class
Social Class in the United States
Prestige The approval and respect an
individual receives from other members of society. Occupational prestige Jobs that have greater levels of prestige:
1. Generally pay more2. Entail more abstract thought3. Require more education4. Have greater autonomy
Displaying prestige Status Inconsistency
• People who have a mixture of high and low rankings in the three components of social class (wealth, power, and prestige).
Components of Social ClassComponents of Social Class
Social Class in the United States
Gilbert and Kahl
Capitalist Class The Upper Middle Class The Lower Middle Class The Working Class The Working Poor The Underclass
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Sociological Model of Social Sociological Model of Social ClassClass
Social Class in the United States12
Social Class in the United States
Family Life
Choice of Husband or Wife Divorce
Education
Religion
Mental Health
Physical Health
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Consequences of Social Consequences of Social ClassClass
Social Class in the United States
• Intragenerational Mobility- changes in an individual’s social ranking over the course of his or her lifetime
• Intergenerational Mobility - a change that occurs between generations – can be either upward or downward Upward social mobility Downward social mobility Findings Factors that influence status attainment
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Types of Types of Social MobilitySocial Mobility
Social Class in the United States
• Structural Mobility – a change in the social structure that causes a large number of people to move either up or down the social class ladder
• 20th century: three factors were important to occupational advancement and the vast expansion of the middle class1. Improved technology2. Low birthrates among those at
the top of the social hierarchy 3. Large-scale immigration
Types of Social MobilityTypes of Social Mobility
Social Class in the United States
Poverty line
Created in the 1960’s to determine who was poorPeople who have to spend 1/3 of their income to buy food.Unreliable: there is no real measurement to determine how many
people in the US are poor.By 2005, over 33 million Americans (12% of the population)
had incomes below the poverty line• Because of the high turnover, the percentage of people who experience
poverty each year is closer to 20%
The group least likely to live in poverty are the elderlyThe biggest subgroup living in poverty in the U.S. are children Feminization of Poverty – the association of poverty with women,
especially single parent households headed by women
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Social Class in the United States
Social Class in the United States
Most of the Nation’s poor live in rural areas (in the south)
42 % of the poor live in the inner cities
Social Class in the United States
EducationOnly 3 out of 100 people who graduate college are poor.
More than 1 out of 5 H.S drop outs are poor
Applies to all racial/ethnic groups
Social Class in the United States
•C
ulture of Poverty• Lifestyles and Values of the poor make them different from those
who are not poor.
•M
ost Poverty is Short-lived – people are constantly moving in and
out of poverty•N
umber of Poor Relatively Stable
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Dynamics of Dynamics of PovertyPoverty
Social Class in the United States
Social Class in the United States
Social Class in the United States
Two competing points of view:
1) Social Structure – the components of the social structure play a strong contributing factor in the poverty rate
2) Characteristics of Individuals – people are poor because of their own attitudes
Sociologists tend to focus on components in the social structure to explain poverty
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