AQA A-Level Sociology: Stratification and Differentiation (copy)

What two types of social solidarity did Durkheim suggest

Mechanical and Organic

What is organic solidarity

Based on the interconnectedness and reliance upon each other post-industrial revolution

What is mechanical solidarity

The type of solidarity found during pre-industrial society, which promotes individualisation.

• Maintains social solidarity because people respect the rich

Who suggested value consensus

Parsons

What does Parson suggest regarding the value consensus

We all have a different level of commitment to it, for example, those who are rewarded by it have a stronger belief

What does Parson believe about stratification

It is inevitable

What do David and Moore believe regarding stratification

It is not only inevitable but also beneficial; not everyone has the skills/qualifications needed for every career so inequality is needed

What do Davis and Moore refer to inequality as

A universal necessity

Why do Davis and Moore think inequality is good for role fulfilment

Because more functionally important jobs have higher rewards, generating more ambition and competition, ensuring important roles are fulfilled

Who speaks about role allocation

Davis and Moore

What does Tumin say in regard to role allocation

That gender and income of a persons family are more important than ability

How do Oxford, Cambridge and private schools undermine the existence of meritocracy

Because although Oxford and Cambridge educate 1% of the population, their students go on to occupy the majority of top jobs

What are snowy peaks

The idea that white men are at the top of society

What is the glass-ceiling

A feminist concept which acts as a boundary for women in social mobility

What does Marx view stratification as

A two class system, based on a persons relation to the means of production; proletariat or bourgeoisie

What is Marx’ suggestion of class polarisation

The idea that the proletariat will overthrow the capitalist ruiling class, creating an equal, communist society

What is the superstructure

Anything outside of the means of production, eg, family, media, religion, school, etc

What is the superstructure responsible for

Reinforcing the ruling class ideology

What was Marx’ classification criticised for

Being reductionalist and deterministic- too simplistic, no divisor within the classes

What is Althussers suggestion of ISA

Ideological state apparatus- the state brainwashed us to submit the ruiling classes ideology, via the hidden curriculum etc

What does Marcuse suggest

There has been a bedazzlement of the w/c, distracting them from their exploitation and towards “false-needs”

What does Friedman suggest

That the rich and famous are the modern day opium (highly addictive drug)

What does Marcus believe false-needs create

A false class consciousness, where the w/c believer their position is just and the ruiling class got their position via hard work

What did Wright do?

Develop/expand on Marx’ class system m suggestion a multi-dimensional 12-class scale

What is Wrights model based on?

The relationship to the means of production AND authority; eg, suggestion of the “petty bourgeoisie”

What does Saunders satirically criticise Marxist for

Marxism is true because it’s the truth; implying that it’s the only right option and your wrong if u think otherwise

What is the Registrar Generals Social Class (RGSC)

consists of 5 categories, assuming that society is a ranked hierarchy graded according to skill

What are issues with the RGSC

• renders women invisible by assuming their social class is their husbands

• Ignores the underclass/those who don’t work

• Unreflective of post-industrial society

Who modified Hope-Goldthorpe’s schema based model

Erikson and Goldthorpe

What are Erikson and Goldthorpe’s revision of social class

• service relationships: senior employees render a service to employers for benefits

• Intermediate relationships: employees who combine both service and labour contracts

• Labour contracts: mainly the w/c who are closely supervised and get low wages

What is the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC) consist of

8 categories which are based on factors such as job security, autonomy, promotion prospects, etc.

replaced the RGSC in 2001 to better reflect industrial society

What does the NS-SEC deliberately leave out

Reference to skill, due to them being inconsistent with an employment relations approach

What was Savage et al.’s social class survey?

The Great British Social Class Survey

What did the Great British Social Class Survey find?

There were 7 social classes, ranging from the elite to precariat

What did the Great British Social Class Survey investigate?

People’s income, savings, house, values, cultural interest, the status of who they know, etc (who and what they know)

What did Runciman measure social class on

• ownership over the means of production

• Control in the workplace

• Marketability of skills

Who does Runciman exclude for the bourgeoisie

The famous as their position does not affect the means of production

What issue does Giddens have with defining class

Social class has been evacuated due to individual choice

What does individual choice create

A burden of superficial identity, whereby people constantly reconstruct themselves making them inherently fragile

What issue does Southerton have with defining social class

class can be identified through behavioural cues, eg, everyday practices, leisure, etc (example of the person in front of u at tesco)

What three identifications of the working class does Southerton identify

• different dress code

• Downtrodden image

• Overweight syndrome

What issue does Arber have with defining social class

There is a price of being female, which is exacerbated post retirement due to the cost of caring bourne by women

What issue does Wilkinson have with defining social class

The existence of the genderquake has caused more women to be in the workplace and education, therefore traditional measures are unsuitable due to their focus on the males occupation

What evidence of the genderquake is there?

• 24% of under 25’s - women earns more (22% same)

• Even when women earn less, their economic contribution is still valuable

What issue does Gilbert and Kahl have with defining class

Class location is fluids and positions can be achieved and obtained, however social class in the US is interrelated with factors such as gender, sexuality, race, etc;

• The underclass mainly consists of ethnic minorities, female-headed households, etc

What are the four disability models

• Eugenics

• Charity

• Social

• Medical

What is the eugenics model

• based on the “science” of improving life through selective breeding

• Fed into Nazi ideology, viewing disabled people as an unfair burden

What does Shakespeare argue in regards to the Eugenics

They are still very much alive, and Argus that pre-natal screenings for down syndrome are the modern day form of sterilisation as 90% of positive screenings end in termination

What is the charity model

• Views disabled people as victims of hereditary/circumstance deserving of pity and support

What does the charity model push

Charitable organisations are mainly run by able-bodied people which don’t give disabled people a voice; charity’s founded by disabled people tend to push for ‘rights, not charity”

What does Swain argue

Charitable advertising promotes fear, pity and guilt and has stereotyped disabled people as dependant and tragic while failing to provide any solutions

• charities are the issue themselves

What is the medical model

the idea that disability is an impairment and requires constant care form medical professionals

what do Shakespeare and Watson argue in regard to the medical model

That there is no qualitative difference between medial and able-bodied people

What is a strength of the medical model

• people with disabilities sometimes rely on medicines to stay alive,

• medical intervention can improve life equality (eg: prosthetic limbs)

What is the social model

The disadvantaged position of disabled people is a product of society and there is a conflict of power between disabled and able bodied people

• social factors cause people to become disabled

What are the life chances regarding disability and work

• make up 50% of those unemployed

• Overrepresented in low skilled, low paid jobs

• Underrepresented in managerial/professional jobs

What does Hyde argue is regards to disabled people and work

They are a reserve army of labour

How might disabled people have an advantage at work

Employment quotas

What is the issue regarding life chances and special schools

• They are expensive and under resourced

• They isolate disabled children and remove their ability to make friends

• They experience a narrower curriculum and have lower expectations

How do Giddens and Sutton see the upper class as having an advantage

• the top 1% are said to all know of each other and mix socially in exclusive events, which gains them connections to money and elite resources

What did Oxfam find in regards to social class life chances and the distribution of income

• Between 1993 and 2011, the incomes of the top 0.1% grew by 101%, equating to £24,000 a year

• The bottom 90% of people’s income grew by 27%, or an average of £147 per year

What is the link between social class life chances and the distribution of wealth

• the bottom half of households earned less than 10% of total wealth, compared to 40% from the top 10%

• The richest FAMILY in the UK earned more than the poorest 10% (6.3 million people)

What is the link between social class life chances and education

• children from lower social classes are 2x more likely to moot be in education, training or work

• Bourdieu: cultural and economic capital give m/c an advantage

• Selection by mortgage

What is the link between social class life chances and life expectancy

• 1 in 5 manual workers die before resting the retirement age of 65- compared to 7% of professionals

• W/c die sooner (14 years after retirement) compared to 18 years for professionals

What does Dorlign argue in regards to social class and life expectancy

• The living standards for the rich have improved significantly more

• The more time spent in poverty = the shorter your life expectancy