Social Stratification

 Meaning:

•Differentiation is the key note of human society.

•Society rest on the principle of difference.

•In every society there is social differentiation of the population by  age, sex, occupation, and personal characteristics.

• There is difference between men and women,  children and old men, rulers and ruled, rich and poor etc.

• According to Talcott  Parsons  Possession ( ownership),  qualities and performance are the major cause of differentiation.

•No two individuals are exactly alike.

•All societies arrange their members  in terms of superiority, inferiority, and equality.

•The vertical scale of evaluation, this place of people  in strata , or  layers, is called stratification. Those in the top  stratum  have more power, privilege, and prestige than those below.

•Stratification is simply a  process of interaction  of differentiation where by some people come  rank

higher than others . 

• Definitions:

• The process by which individual and groups  are ranked  in a more  or less  enduring hierarchy of status is known as stratification (Ogburn and Nimkoff).

•Social stratification  is the division of society  into permanent groups  of categories liked with each other  by the relationship of  superiority and subordination( Gisbert).

•A stratified society is one marked by  inequality, by differences among people  that are evaluated  by them as being  lower and higher (Lundberg)

  Nature or Characteristics or features

1.It is social:  it does not represent  biologically caused inequalities.

2. It is ancient:  Stratification system is quite old.

3.It is universal: it is  a world wide phenomenon.

4. It is  in diverse form:  It has never been uniform  in all the societies.

5. It is consequential: specially there  are two kinds of consequences i) life chances : refer to  infant

mortality,  longevity, physical and mental illness etc. ii) life styles:   refer to   residential areas, one’s 

education, means of recreation etc.

● 1.Class System of Stratification:

• In sociological meaning, social class is the social structural position groups hold relative to the

economic, social, political, and cultural resources of society.

•Class stratification is a form of social stratification in which a society tends to divide into separate classes  whose members have different access to resources and power. An economic and cultural gap usually exists between different classes. People are usually born into their class, though social mobility allows for some individuals to attain a higher-level class or fall to a lower-level one.

v •According to Ogburn  and Nimkoff a social class is  one or two or more broad groups  of individuals  who are ranked by members of the  community in socially superior and inferior positions.

• Max Weber  held that  classes are  aggregates  of individual who have the  same opportunities  of acquiring goods, the same exhibited standard  of living

• Each particular social class  has its own particular  social behavior,  its standards and occupation• 

 Features of Class Stratification

1.A system of hierarchy of status.

2.A system of social ranking based primarily on economic position.

3.      A system marked by unequal distribution of wealth and power.

4.A system in which status is achieved by one’s own efforts rather than ascribed, assigned or inherited.

5.A system having some degree of permanency of the class structure.

6.A system based on stratum (class) consciousness and solidarity.

7.A system having distinctive mode of life (lifestyle) and cultural expressions of each class.

8.A system based on the recognition of superiority and inferiority in relation to those who stand or below in the social hierarchy.

9.     A system in which boundaries between classes are fluid and are less precisely defined.

10.  A system in which social classes act as sub-cultures—each social class is a system of behaviour, a set of values and a way of life.