By: group 5

Social stratification refers to the

ranking of individuals and groups in
any given society. It is a basic
component of social organization

The following concept will help one

understand the macro concept of
social stratification:
1. Attributions- It plays a very vital
role in social stratification. It assigns to
people attributes as a result of
differences.
2. Stereotype- In this process, one
assumes that persons who fall into a
particular category on the basis of
certain characteristics also have may
characteristics that we assume to
belong to that category.

3. Self-fulfilling prophecies- Once

we categorize people through
assigning a stereotype, our
perception of their behavior is filtered
through that stereotype.
4. Social comparisons- Social
scientists find that people need to
compare themselves with others in
order to establish for themselves
what kind of people they are.

Basically, stratification theorists use

inequality to refer to the situation in
which economic goods in a society
are distributed unevenly among
different groups or categories of
people.

5. A fair world- related to the key

role of comparison in social life are
beliefs about justice or the fair
distribution of rewards.
6. Just-world hypothesisAccording to this, people like to
believe that there is justice, that
people get what they deserve.

In modern parlance, social

differentiation has been made
distinct from social stratification.

A. Differentiation refers to how

things or people can be distinguished
from one another.

B. Stratification refers to the

ranking of things or people. It also
refers to separating people or objects
into categories.

Several indicators may be viewed as

dimensions of stratification:

1. Wealth and income. The income

of any family depends on what its
members earn and what they own.

2. Inequalities of power.
Sociologists define power as the
ability to control ones own life and to
control or influence the actions of
others.

3. Inequalities of prestige. The

third dimension of social stratification
is prestige. Prestige of individuals and
groups may be defined as the social
recognition that a person or group
receives from others.

Sociologists and anthropologists

utilize three principal methods in
studying class division.

1. the subjective method.

Researchers using this method simply
ask a random sample of the population
to name the class they belong to.

2. The reputational method. Using

this method, the researchers select a
small town and ask a number of
residents to assist them in their study.

3. The objective method. In this

method, the researchers divide
people into social class according to
their income, occupation, education,
and type of residence.

Sociologists who try to account for the unequal

distribution of wealth, power, and prestige in
human society lean toward either of the two
theories, the conflict and the fundamentalist
theories.

The conflict theory maintains that

stratification is the result of the struggle among
people for scarce rewards and that it persists in
society because the haves are determined
and equipped to preserve their advantage by
dominating and exploiting the have not's.
Conflict theorists consider stratification unjust
and unnecessary.

Karl marx was basically a materialist.

He believed that peoples lives are
centered on how they deal with the
material world.

The key issue is how wealth is

distributed among people. There are
at least four ways by which wealth
can be distributed.

1. To each according to need. In this kind of

system, the basic economic needs of all people are
satisfied.

2. To each according to want. Wealth is distributed

according to what people desire and request.

3. To each according to what is earned. People who

live according to this system become themselves
the source of their own wealth.

4.To each according to what can be taken-by using

whatever means. Under this system, everyone
ruthlessly attempts to acquire as much wealth as
possible without regard for the hardships that
might be brought on others because of these
actions.

There are certain points where Max

Weber agreed with Karl Marx namely
the following:

1. people are motivated by self-interest.

2. group conflict is a basic ingredient of
society.
3.Those who do not have property can
defend their interests less well than can
those who have property.
4. Economic institutions are of fundamental
importance in shaping the rest of society.
5. Those in power promote ideas and values
that help them maintain their dominance.
6. Only when exploitation becomes
extremely obvious will the powerless object.

The functionalist theory. Kingsley

Davis elaborated the idea that
stratification serves an important
function in society. He was joined by
Wilbert Moore.
There argument was the following:

According to Davis and Moore, societies

must motivate people to seek socially
important positions and to fill these positions
conscientiously by rewarding those who do
so with more of the things that contribute to
sustenance and comfort, humor and
diversion, self-respect and ego expansion.
In other words, societies have to entice
people into jobs that are essential and
difficult to fill by special rewards. Otherwise,
many essential tasks would not get done, it
is in this sense that social inequality is
viewed as both necessary and constructive.

Combining the two theories, Theodore D.

Kemper finds common ground for the conflict
and functional theorist in the following:
1. Both theories acknowledge that the
evaluation of the contributions of jobs to society
also determines unequal rewards.
2. The Marxist theory leans heavily on the
significance of power in the distribution of
resources, while the functionalists emphasize
the necessity of assigning some positions or
work higher status than others.
3. Both theories recognize that social power
plays a part in determining the unequal
distribution of rewards.

THE FUNCTIONALIST VIEW

1. Stratification is
universal, necessary,
and inevitable.
2. Social organization
shapes the stratification
system.
3. Stratification arises
from the societal need
for integration,
coordination, and
cohesion.

THE CONFLICT VIEW

1. Stratification may be
universal without being
necessary and
inevitable.
2. The stratification
system shapes social
organizations.
3. Stratification arises
from group conquest,
competition, and conflict.

THE FUNCTIONALIST VIEW

4. Stratification
facilitates the optimal
functioning of society
and the individual.
5. Stratification is an
expression of commonly
shared social values.
6. Power is usually
legitimately distributed
in society.

THE CONFLICT VIEW

4. Stratification impedes
the optimal functioning
of society and the
individual.
5. Stratification is an
expression of the values
of powerful groups.
6. Power is usually
illegitimately distributed
in society.

THE FUNCTIONALIST VIEW

7. Tasks and rewards are

equitably allocated.
8. The economic
dimension is subordinate
to other dimensions of
society.
9. stratification systems
generally change
through evolutionary
processes.

THE CONFLICT VIEW

7. Tasks and rewards are

inequitably allocated.
8. The economic
dimension is paramount
in society.
9. Stratification systems
often change through
revolutionary process.

There are two distinct types of

stratification system open and closed.
1. Open system- This is also known as
class system. It has few impediments to
social mobility.
2. Closed system- also known as caste
system. It has ascribed characteristics
determine social position, and
individuals opportunities are limited
accordingly.

Some social scientists attempted to

study social stratification in various
countries. A rough ranking arrangement
on the following order merged.
1. People who have made it.
2. People who are doing very well.
3. People who have achieved the middleclass dream.
4. People who have a comfortable life.
5. People who are just getting by.
6. People who are having a difficult time.
7. People who are poor.

1. The upper class. Members of the

upper class have great wealth, often
going back for many generations.
2. The upper-middle class. It is made up
of successful business and professional
people and their families.
3. The lower-middle class. It shares
many characteristics with the uppermiddle class style but they have not
been able to achieve the same lifestyle
because of economic or educational
shortcomings.

4. The working class. It is made up of

factory workers and other blue-collar
workers. These are people who keep the
countrys machinery going.
5. the lower class. These are people at
the bottom of the economic ladder. They
have little in the way of education or
occupational skills and are consequently
either unemployed or underemployed.

1. Prestige consists of the approval and

respect an individual or group receives
from other members of society
The two kinds of prestige:
A. Esteem-consists of the appreciation
and respect a person wins in his or her
daily interpersonal relationships.
B. Honor- it is much more difficult for
people to achieve.
2. Wealth is referred as the economic
indicator. It is the total economic assets
of the individual or a family.

It is the movement of an individual or a

group within a stratification system that
changes the individuals or groups status
in society.
The amount of mobility in a society
depends on two things:
1. The rules governing how people gain or
keep their positions may make mobility
difficult or easy.
2. Whatever the rules, mobility can be
influenced by structural changes in society.

Social mobility, therefore, refers to the

movement upward or downward among the
social positions in any given stratification
system.

From this, two types of mobility may be

inferred-upward and horizontal mobility.
1. Upward mobility-refers to the movement of
individuals or groups from lower to higher
status in social stratification system. It is also
called vertical mobility.
2. Horizontal mobility- it is the movement that
involves a change in status with no
corresponding change in social class.

1. The policy and practice of immigration into a total

society and into a local community will greatly affect
the possibilities of upward mobility.
2. Differential fertility of the social classes is also an
important conditioning factor of mobility. It is always
said that there is always room at the top, and this is
probably true of occupational status in an expanding
economy.
3. The presence or absence of individual competition
as a value in the culture significantly affects mobility.
If competition is valued, there must be goals for
which the successful competitor can strive.

4. The availability of opportunities to

prepare ones self for the competitive
process is a secondary factor. If
education is universal obtainable, it may
act as a short cut to upward mobility in
the sense that an individual can prepare
himself for the business and professional
roles that carry high prestige.

5. the patterns of equality and inequality

in a society have much to do with the
chances of social mobility, for instance,
religion, sex, ethnic plurality, etc. may
serve as deterrents to social mobility.

1. The disappointments and frustrations

of downward mobility are cushioned
somewhat by the traditional
conservatism of the middle class. This is
especially true in societies where the
middle class is largely felt.

2. Resentment over loss of status may

nevr completely disappear from the
individual but is modified by the fact
that he needs to have little contact with
his former associates of higher status.

3. The rationalization of downward

mobility can help sooth the ego. One
may feel, for example, that there has
been retrenchment in the system and
that the company has to lay off
people.

4. Another compensation for the

person who has suffered downward
mobility is that there is no significant
status visibility.

5. Consolation may be derived from

the belief that ones children may
regain the social status that one has
himself lost. In the Philippines, there
is the practice of the parent
recommending his child to the
company to get employed there upon
his formers retirement, with the
hope that someday, such child will
occupy a high status/position in the
company.

Geographical migration is known to

sociologists as physical mobility. It is the
movement of people from one geographical
spot to another, and it is a phenomenon of
increasing frequency in modern society.
Physical mobility includes forced relocation of
large groups of people, eviction, and
dispossession of unwanted people, voluntary
permanent migration from one country, as
well as local residential changes. Physical
mobility also includes the so-called fluidity
exemplified by people commuting from home
to office or factory, making business trips, and
taking vacations.

Generally, there are two type of peoples

migration. They are voluntary and forced.
1. Voluntary migration- This refers to the
voluntary movement of people from one
geographical area to another which is
determined by numerous factors. This is a
free movement,
2. Forced migration- It takes several forms
such as the expulsion of unwanted people,
the herding of people into reservation
areas and concentration camps, the
transportation of enslaved individuals and
groups.

Geographical mobility always implies

movement over a physical distance
and is often from one country to
another. Internal mobility, or the
movement within the territorial
boundaries of a nation may also
occur.

There are numerous to explain why

people move from one country to
another.
1. Economic factor- This refers to the
desire of people to seek better food
supplies, workers looking for better
living.
2. Political reason- Some people move
to other areas to escape from political
oppression and racial discrimination.

3. Religious liberty- Other groups of

migrants move to other places or areas to
enjoy religious liberty in response to existing
religious persecutions in their country.

4. Educational opportunities- People migrate

in order to avail themselves of the
educational opportunities prevailing in other
areas due to the presence of colleges and
universities in other places.

5. Natural calamities- the occurrence of

various calamities, be they natural or
manmade, may also lead people to migrate.

The migration of people from one

place to another has various effects
upon both the migrants themselves
and the groups and structures into
which they move. The most common
results are the following:

1. Diffusion of cultures.- This means

contact and communication between
peoples who had been culturally and
geographically isolated.
2. Biological mixture- Ethnic strains
become more entangled. In most
cases, this mixture can hardly be
traced in just few generations.

3. Urbanization of the culture- This is

the major effect of the internal
migration in large modern societies.
Urban ways of thinking and acting,
urban social relations and structures,
and increasing secondary
associations reach more and more of
the population as people crowd into
the cities.

The social personality is defined as

the sum of all the social roles an
individual enacts. Since the individual
is the social person in action, and
since people usually perform only
one function at a time, there is
necessarily a shifting from role to
role. This is that is called role
mobility.

1. Every person enacts multiple roles,

even while he remains a total,
integrated personality. His participation
in different groups and in different
situations calls for enactment of various
roles.
2. there is normal successive
assumption of new roles. During the
course of lifelong socialization the
individual person develops gradually
from role to role. As he is introduce to
different groups, he learns varied roles.

3. Occupational mobility causes

shifting of roles. This role mobility
takes new forms: upward mobility by
promotion from job to job, as well as
downward mobility by demotion,
within an economic structure.
Occupational mobility is also
horizontal, the shifting from one kind
of job to another.

1. Hard work- many people believe

that hard work is a very important
factor causing social mobility. This is
true to society adopting the open
system of stratification.
2. Social structure- In some
instances, social structure factors
may also affect social mobility.

3. Societal values and norms- the values

and norms of the society may also serve
to cause mobility. There are instances
when the value people place in education
and other factors can lead individuals to
move to much higher social strata.
4. level of education- in almost every
society, the peoples level of education is
a factor that causes social mobility,
Through ones obtaining higher
education, one can climb the social and
economic ladder.

5. Marriage- Ones marriage with

someone who belongs to a much
higher social stratum can cause him
to move to a higher social stratum.
6. Luck- Filipinos in general believe
strongly in luck or swerte. To them,
this is one way through which an
individual may move up to a much
higher social stratum.

Higher social status is the result of

personal achievement. There are as
many channels of social mobility as there
are social roles the person enacts. In this
sense, the competence of an individual is
tested in the social groupings in which
the individual participates. Since each
person has a key role, this is usually the
one in which he does the most to
achieve status, but all the groups and
roles are possible avenues of mobility.

The amount and kind of education a

person has constitute one of the most
important criteria of social status and
this is basically in agreement with the
facts of social mobility. In almost all
societies, educational requirements are
rising. However, from the point of social
mobility there is a difference of
educational effect upon this who
received education and those who
dispense education

1. those who receive higher education

may also use it as a stepping stone to
higher social status.
2. those who teach are affected
differently, for they actually achieve
their social status within the educational
groupings.
Within the framework of the educational
groupings the individual educator may
aspire academic rank, to a much higher
position.

Success in life is always attached to

upward social mobility. The high
value placed upon activity, success,
and quantity will enable one to
understand why success is related to
social mobility.

1. the emphasis upon activity is seen

in all the major groups or our society.
It is strikingly apparent in the
educational system, especially in the
high schools and colleges, where
there is a tremendous amount of
extracurricular activity.

2. the value of performance does not

stand alone but must be somehow
related to success. Many cases of
successful people illustrate the
importance of doing work to the
fullest.

THE END