Social Stratification Report PDF

# Good Afternoon Everyone ## Module 9: Concept, Characteristics and Forms of Stratification Systems - MS. UMALAY - UCSP SHS: PLMAR ## Social Stratification It refers to what sociologists call it as "institutionalized inequality" of individual or "social injustice" due to social categories (Ariola,...

# Good Afternoon Everyone ## Module 9: Concept, Characteristics and Forms of Stratification Systems - MS. UMALAY - UCSP SHS: PLMAR ## Social Stratification It refers to what sociologists call it as "institutionalized inequality" of individual or "social injustice" due to social categories (Ariola, 2012). Social stratification refers to the ranking of people in a society. In closed stratification, people cannot change their ranks while those in open social stratification, people can change their ranks. In short social stratification is the separation of people into social categories and these categories are ranked as higher or lower. ## Social Stratification is Distinguished from Social Differentiation Social differentiation refers to how people can be distinguished from one another. People in a group may differ in skin color, hair color, race, mental and physical ability. ## Indicators of Social Stratification - **Status:** The individual's position in the social structure. It is also the higher or lower positions that come about through social stratifications are called statuses. Statuses are not the same. One may get different statuses in different ways. They can be ascribed or achieved. - **Ascribed statuses:** Are assigned or given by the society or group on the basis of some fixed category, without regard to a person's abilities or performance. These include gender, family background, race, and ethnic heritage. You did nothing to earn these statuses; you have no control over these characteristics and no opportunity or chance to choose your family, your sex, and your race. In the Philippines, the children of Ayala's and the Zobel's have ascribed statuses (Zulueta, 2006). - **Achieved statuses:** Are earned by the individual because of his or her talent, skills, occupation and perseverance. These include, degree or educational attainment, promotion, position, earned wealth and the like. For example, Nora Aunor has moved up in the social ladder because of her beautiful voice and singing talent. - **Prestige:** Refers to the evaluation of status. You have prestige according to your status. For example, being the president of the Supreme Student Government of your school, you have the prestige of a president whether or not you perform and carry out well the duties and responsibilities of SSG president (Baleña et.al., 2016). According to Max Weber, most societies would favor those with power, prestige, status, wealth or class. According to Weber's Component Theory on Social Stratification, these three would determine a person's standing in his/her community: 1. **Power** refers to the ability to influence other people. It is getting what they want despite the unwillingness of others to give in to their desires. 2. **Prestige** refers to the person's position in the society. This refers to having a certain status that enables someone to have resources or opportunities. 3. **Wealth** refers to the amount of resources that a person has (Arcinas, 2016). As mentioned by Ariola (2012) in his book, one may be viewed as belonging to the upper social strata or lower social strata depending on the following dimensions: 1. **Sources of Income:** There are different sources of income. These are the inherited wealth, earned wealth, profits, professional fees, salaries, wages, private relief, among others. Wealth is everything that is owned by a person. Inherited wealth is acquired since birth and without effort. 2. **Occupation:** What people do for a living determines, to a large extent, the social position of the person. Occupation may be classified into professionals, non-professionals (clerks, drivers, etc) proprietors of small business, skilled workers, semi skilled workers, and unskilled workers. Examination of the mentioned occupations indicates disparities in prestige, income and power. 3. **Education:** Educational attainment of a person may be categorized as masteral or doctoral degree holder, college graduate, high school graduate, elementary school drop-out, among others. Possession of the person of any of these educational backgrounds may characterize the person's status in the community. 4. **Types of house dwellings:** Dwellings can be categorized as permanent house (concrete and excellent in appearance), semi-permanent house (semi-concrete and very good in appearance and construction), temporary house (wood and fair in appearance and construction), and poorly constructed house (houses found in squatter areas, or those considered below-the-bridge houses). 5. **Location of residence:** Power, prestige and wealth are also attached to the location of residence. There is disparity of social status when one residence is located in Forbes Park, White Plains, squatter area, mountainous-rugged area, in subdivision and non-subdivision area. 6. **Kinship or family:** In the Philippines, when a person belongs to the Ayala's, Soriano's, Zobel's, Villar's, that person is regarded as belonging to the upper class (rich) status. Children of sultans and datus are highly regarded as rich. If a person is from a family whose house is situated in the squatter's area, that person is regarded as poor or belonging to lower class status. ## Types of Social Stratification and Their Characteristics ### A. Open System The class structure is an open system. It encourages people to strive and achieve something. People belonging to one social class have similar opportunities, similar lifestyles, attitudes, behavior and possibly similar socio-economic positions. #### Categories 1. **Upper Class:** The people in this class have great wealth and sources of income. They constitute the elite wealthy group in the society. They have high reputation in terms of power and prestige. They live in exclusive residential area, belong to exclusive private clubs, and may have strong political influence in the system of government. They own several cars and properties and their children may study in exclusive schools. 2. **Middle Class:** The people in this class may belong to the upper-middle class which is often made up of highly educated business and professional people with high incomes, such as doctors, lawyers, stockbrokers, and CEOs or to the lower-middle class often made up of people with lower incomes, such as managers, small business owners, teachers, and secretaries. Aside from generally command of high income, people belonging to the upper-middle class often have college education, live in comfortable homes, own properties, have some money savings, and active in community activities. People in the lower-middle class have not achieved the same lifestyle of the upper-middle class but somehow have modest income and live in simple life. 3. **Lower Class:** The lower class is typified by poverty, homelessness, and unemployment. The people in this class belong to the bottom of socio-economic ladder. They may be categorized into two: upper-lower class and lower-lower class. In the upper-lower class, people are considered as the working class or laborers. They have acquired little education, little time to be involved in civic and community activities. Some of them are underemployed, have many socio-economic problems, with little or no luxuries at all. The people in the lower-lower class are unemployed, or no source of income except by begging or dependent from private and government relief. Many of them live in squatter areas, under the bridge, in street corridors, or with no house at all. Many of them are liabilities of society because they may be involved in drug addiction and criminalities. ### B. Closed Systems Closed system accommodates little change in social position. They do not allow people to shift levels and do not permit social relationships between levels. #### Categories 1. **Caste System:** It is regarded as closed stratification system in which people can do little or nothing to change their social standing. Social contact is rigid and clearly defined. People are born and die in their caste. Contact between and among the caste is minimal and governed by a set of rules - especially those who belong to the lower degree, as this will tend to bring them down. We do not practice caste system in the Philippines. It existed for centuries in India and this includes the Brahmans who are associated with the priesthood, the Kahatryias (the warriors), the Vaishyus (the businessmen and traders), and the Shudrus (the servants). ## Social Stratification and Social Mobility Social mobility refers to the movement within the social structure, from one social position to another. It means a change in social status. All societies provide some opportunity for social mobility. But the societies differ from each other to extent in which individuals can move from one class or status level to another. Thus, people in society continue to move up down the status scale. This movement is called ‘social mobility’. For example, the poor people may become rich, the bank peon may become bank officers, farmers may become ministers, a petty businessman may become a big industrialist and so on. At the same time a big businessman may become a bankrupt and ruling class may be turned out of office and so on. 1. **Social Mobility:** Refers to the movement upward or downward among the social positions in any given social stratification. It may be upward (vertical) mobility and downward (horizontal) mobility. Vertical mobility refers to the movement of people of groups from one status to another. It involves change in class, occupation or power. For example, the movement of people from the poor class to the middle class. Horizontal mobility is a change in position without the change in status. It indicates a change in position, within the rage of the status. A change in status may come about through one's occupation, marrying into a certain family and others. For example, an engineer working in a factory may resign from his job and join another factory. 2. **Geographical Mobility:** Is otherwise known as physical mobility. It may be a voluntary movement of people from one geographical area to another due to change in residence, commuting from home to office, making business trips, and voluntary migration from one country to another. It may be also a forced migration which include forced relocation or residence, eviction, dispossession of unwanted people, and transportation of slaves. 3. **Role Mobility:** Is the individual's shifting from role to role. Every member of a society has roles to play. Different situations call for enactment of various roles. For example, the father is the bread earner of the family but may be a teacher in school, or the leader at home or a follower in the school or office. A daughter may be submissive at home but very active and active as a campus student leader. A teacher may have varied roles such as being a mother, a wife, a guidance counselor, a community leader and many more (Ariola, 2012). # Thank you everyone for listening.