Educational Sociology – Week 4 / Task 4 Answer

Reflection on Social Stratification: Crash Course Sociology #21

Video on Social Stratification: Crash Course Sociology #21 highlights four basic principles of a
sociological understanding of stratification. It also discusses open and closed systems of stratification,
and finally explains examples of different kinds of stratification systems, including caste systems and
class systems.

The video explains that social stratification is about inequalities in a society and People who
deserve wealth, or success, or power is a matter of social stratification. It's a system by which society
categorizes people and ranks them in a hierarchy. Social status, prestige, occupation, poverty, are
affected by social stratification because it's universal but variable that vary from society to society which
shows how people are categorized and looks whether they are advantaged or disadvantaged in a
society. Stratification exist in every society it might not always be a matter of individual differences,
however, every individual differs from one another so we might assume that stratification is just a kind
of a natural outcome of those differences, but it's not. Therefore, social stratification effects people
independent of their personal choices or traits. For instance, children of wealthy families are more likely
to live longer and be healthier, to attend college, and to excel in school than children born into poverty.
Categorize and rank members of society, resulting in different life chances. However, the society allows
some degree of social mobility or changes in position within the social hierarchy. In United States people
moves between jobs that pay about the same and have about the same occupational prestige which is
due to horizontal mobility-changing positions. When a large number of people move around the
hierarchy because of large societal changes are called as structural social mobility that causes hits
thousands of people to lose their jobs. However, stratification does mean economic, social inequalities
and beliefs.

Sociologists classify stratification systems as being either closed or open. These systems,
social position is based on ascribed status, or the social position you inherit at birth. Therefore, these
position not only determined what jobs were acceptable, but it also strongly controlled its members'
everyday lives and life outcomes. Cast system variations in feudal Europe divides the society in three
divisions such as the nobility, the clergy, and the commoners. These caste systems describe as a main
principle of social stratification as race and therefore, a legally enforced separation between black
people and white people for decades. Black people citizenship, the ability to own land, and any say
whatsoever in the national government was taken. Justice and inequality on class-based system of
stratification suggests to believe that anyone who's not upwardly mobile deserves their poverty,
because the class system is supposed to be open. The US class system is still stratified along race and
gender lines because they have incredible power that impact on where you can end up. However, due to
some reasons individuals experience status inconsistency where a person's social position has both
positive and negative influences on their social status.

Socioeconomic status such as income, education, and occupational prestige which

sometimes causes inconsistence. For example, a professor who's very well educated but earns a low
income. There's an inconsistency among these difficult aspects of their social status. Therefore., low
income tends to decrease social status while at the same time, a high level of education and the societal

Ismail Shafeeu (S1902028) / Bachelor of Psychology / Villa College

 Educational Sociology – Week 4 / Task 4 Answer

Reflection on Social Stratification: Crash Course Sociology #21

respect for the occupation of college professor improves social status. If we need to study a society, one
of the things to look at is the way that it's stratified and whether, and how, social mobility occurs.

Ismail Shafeeu (S1902028) / Bachelor of Psychology / Villa College