Social Mobility Systems

Aboriginal Incarceration in Canada

• In 2010–2011, the aboriginal incarceration rate was 10 times higher than for the non-aboriginal population.
• In 2013, aboriginal people made up 23.2% of the federal penitentiary population, up from 17% in 2001.
• Aboriginal inmates are routinely classified as higher risk and higher need, released later in their sentence, overrepresented in segregation and maximum security populations, and more likely to return to prison on parole revocation.
• The high rate of incarceration for aboriginal peoples has been linked to systemic discrimination, cultural prejudice, economic and social disadvantage, substance abuse, and trauma.
• The statistical profile of aboriginal youth in Saskatchewan is grim, with high numbers of dropouts, domestic abuse victims, drug dependencies, and child poverty backgrounds.
• Aboriginal gang members interviewed were willing to seize opportunities, take risks, and apply themselves to their vocations, but faced challenges due to their upbringing and lack of opportunities.
• Canada is supposed to be an "open" society with no formal boundaries, but there are disparities in life chances between Aboriginal youth and others.
• Social stratification is the unequal distribution of valued resources, rewards, and positions in a society, which is based on social differentiation such as class, occupation, gender, or race.
• Social stratification is an institutionalized system of social inequality that solidifies into a system determining who gets what, when, and why.
• Society's resources are distributed unevenly throughout the layers of social stratification, with the top layer representing those with more resources.
• Social stratification dates back to 5000 years ago and has evolved from nomadic tribes with equal power to more pronounced differences in the industrial and post-industrial ages.
• Social standing is described by closed and open systems, with the former having strict boundaries between social positions and the latter having more flexible boundaries.

Test your knowledge of social mobility systems and their characteristics, including closed and open systems, social mobility, and ascribed and achieved status.