social inequalities studies

Parsons (class)

functionalist - social class stratification reflects a value consensus. Class inequalities act as an incentive to work hard. Social class inequality is seen as an acceptable feature of society

Durkheim (class)

functionalist - class inequality is a functional prerequisite - society will not survive without it. It exists in some form in all healthy societies. The functions performed by class inequality helps to reinforce consensus and stability. If inequality exists in society then it must be a good thing because it contributes to the healthy working of society

Davis and Moore (class)

functionalists - class inequality represents the inherently unequal value of different work, based on its value to society and on the degree of skill, training, and education requires. Class inequality ensures that the right people are allocated to the most important roles through motivating the best people with higher rewards. Some roles are more important and valuable than others because of their functional uniqueness (only a small number of people are able to carry out the job because of the degree of skill required). Differences in pay and status are functional and equality of outcome would not be functional

Marx (class)

marxist -


1. class inequality is maintained by the bourgeoisie exploiting the proletariat through keeping wages low and profits high. Whilst the proletariat create the wealth of the bourgeoisie, only a fraction of the surplus value (profit) they create is paid to them in wages. The interests of the bourgeoisie are to control the workers so that they can take as much profit as is possible and to stop the proletariat overthrowing capitalism. The interest of the proletariat is to overthrow the capitalist economic system and create a classless society.
2. the proletariat suffers from a false class consciousness, meaning they are unaware of the true nature of their exploitation. This prevents revolution from taking place. However, a worsening economic crisis will result in the working class realising its exploited state and becoming a class for itself. They will unite in a revolution. Communism would replace capitalism, where the means of production would be shared by the whole community. Everyone would be expected to contribute something to society and instead of wages, they would receive what they needed in terms of food, accommodation, health, care, etc. This would mean that social classes based on economic needs would disappear and communism would result in a classless society.

Marx and Engels (class)

marxists - capitalism goes through periods of slumps (economic recession) and peaks (economic prosperity). During the peaks everyone has to work but in a slump period workers are laid off. There are workers within the working class who form a reserve army of labour. These workers are essential to capitalism because they are easily hired and fired during the slumps and peaks. A consequence of this army of reserve army labour is that the wages of regular workers are kept low because they are unable to demand higher wages, because there is always someone poorer who is willing to work for less

Gramsci (class)

neo-marxist -


1. hegemonic values of capitalism maintain class inequality. The ruling class rarely use force to exert power because they rule through persuasion. Hegemony is the reason why the working class in western European countries have not risen up in revolution
2. the working class is able to resist the ideological control of capitalism and organise for social control. Dual consciousness = false class consciousness and class consciousness

Braverman (class)

neo-marxist - as the economy has become increasingly mechanised, the working class has lost its skills and, therefore, its power within the labour market. This process known as the deskilling of society gives the owners more power to hire and fire people, thus increasing their own wealth at the expense of the working class. The result of this process is proletarianization, whereby more and more workers who might formerly been regarded as middle class are reduced to the same class position as the working class or proletariat

Sklair (class)

neo-marxist - capitalism has been transformed due to globalisation. Increasingly, big businesses (such as Apple, or Google) operate in a global economy, often controlling assets spread across a number of countries. They are transnational corporations. The largest TNCs have annual sakes in excess of the gross national income of many of the poorer countries in the world. Nation states now find it difficult to control the activities of TNCs, giving them greater power than national governments. Those who control TNCs have become a global ruling class.

Weber (class)

Weberian -


1. class divisions and inequalities reflect different life chances in the job market (their market situation)

Market situation = the skills individuals take to the economic market place and the rewards they receive.

Life chances = the opportunities people have for success and these chances are influenced by a person’s market situation
2. argued that there were further divisions within the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. He suggested that there are four main classes:

The propertied upper class = the wealthy owners big businesses

The property-less white-collar workers = have a better market situation than manual workers because of their skills and educational qualifications and therefore form a middle class

The petty bourgeoisie = owners of small businesses

The manual working class = have the poorest market situation as they possess neither wealth nor valuable educational qualifications that could be used to improve their market situation
3. people with a common status situation may form a stronger group identity. Status is linked to a person’s economic or class position, but it may also derive from other things such as their ethnicity, religion, or lifestyle. While social class may be relatively important for many people as a source of identity, individuals are usually very aware of their status situation and tend to identify with others of a similar status. People aim to protect their status from encroachment by others, this is known as social closure (e.g. the wealthy sending their children to particular schools such as Eton). This leads to self-recruitment, whereby members of particular social groups are more likely than others to fill positions of power and responsibility.

Barron and Norris (class)

neo-weberians - argued that there are two labour markets - the concept of dual labour market:

* the primary market = where the middle class and ruling class belong. Working conditions are good and pay scales are high. These types of jobs have a career structure and depend on qualifications
* the secondary market = where the working class, women, and minority ethnic groups belong. Pay and status is low and there is little job security

Giddens (class)

neo-weberian - middle class have recognised skills based on educational and professional qualifications that advantage them in the workforce, whereas working class can only sell their labour. As a consequence, they are vulnerable to technological change which means that working class skills are not valued and their job prospects are insecure

Rex and Tomlinson (class)

neo-weberians - the experiences of working class ethnic minorities were compounded by racism, resulting in low levels of both status and party power. Consequently, they argue a black, frustrated, and alienated underclass developed in many British cities

Dworkin and Delphy (class)

radical feminists - males and females occupy distinct classes: the oppressor and the oppressed. The patriarchal oppression is maintained by the threat and use of male violence. All men have the power to rape. As a consequence, women are warned to not walk alone at night whereas men have freedom of movement. The threat of male violence acts as a control on women’s behaviour. Many behaviours that distress women are not viewed as serious by the police, so abuse, intimidation, and sexist comments form a part of the daily experience of women. All women have a shared identity based upon their shared experiences of oppression, an identity that is oppositional to men’s

Bruegel (class)

marxist feminist - women benefit capitalism in two main ways:

* they provide unpaid domestic labour in the family. They reproduce the next generation of workers, socialise the next generation to accept capitalist values, and meet men’s emotional and psychological needs to make for a more efficient male workforce
* they are a source of cheap labour who are easily disposed of when no longer needed (the reserve army of labour)

Benston (class)

marxist feminist - women’s class position is linked to their husband’s. Their role in reproducing the next generation of workers and in socialising the next generation into accepting capitalism values, as well as in meeting their husband’s emotional needs functions to make male workers more efficient

Saunders (class)

new right -


1. it is right and just that everyone enjoys legal equality (being judged by the same laws and having the same legal rights). Supports the principle of equality of opportunity, whereby everyone has the same chances to compete for unequal rewards, however he rejects equality of outcomes. This would involve everyone being rewarded in the same way whether they deserved it or not. A degree of inequality is desirable and functional in order to motivate people to compete, as long as everyone has an equal opportunity to take part in the competition.
2. social class position is measured by an individual’s reliance on the state for support in order to consume material goods and services such as housing, health care, and education. This is known as consumption cleavage. Those on good incomes are significantly less dependent on the state than those in the working class an underclass who turn to the state for a wide range of benefits in order to consume goods and services. Long-term benefit dependency traps people into a dependency culture and into poverty.

Murray (class)

new right - the underclass are trapped at the bottom of society, transmitting its culture to future generations who also become trapped in this cycle of deprivation, leading to low educational attainment, unemployment, and crime. Government policies of providing welfare benefits for groups such as the unemployed and lone parent families are creating a dependency culture whereby poor people are given no motivation to better themselves as they are allowed to remain dependent on the state. He argued that there should be a reduction in welfare benefits and less government intervention to reduce poverty, arguing that this did more harm than good. Disadvantaged social groups need to be encouraged to stand on their own two feet rather than expecting the state to support them.

Pakulski and Waters (class)

postmodernists - people are now stratified by cultural rather than economic differences, which leads them to claim that status differences are more important than class differences. This is because class groups have been replaced by lifestyle groups (people group themselves together according to symbolic values) and whereas class groupings were measured by employment position, lifestyle groups are shaped by patterns of consumption.

Baudrillard (class)

postmodernist - people no longer have a shared class identity of similar norms, values, an interests. Instead, people have become individualised and concerned with their personal interests. Our individual identities are a product of consumer culture, not class, and are fluid and therefore are fluid and changeable.

Bauman (class)

postmodernist - differences between people are based on differences in consumption. The ‘seduced’ are wealthy and active consumers and the ‘repressed’ are poor with limited consumption

Lyotard (class)

postmodernist - consumer society can leave people feeling unequal because they feel they lack things that others have. Inequality is a feeling or perception.

Beck (class)

postmodernist - social class is a zombie category. It has lost its meaning and significance in our postmodern world. The class conflict has also lost its significance, instead, new conflicts have emerged due to our risk society. Everyone is affected by the new risks posed by environmental pollution and nuclear energy, and so people’s awareness of their class interests have diminished, replaced by concerns about their personal interests. Groups act together because they have a concern about one issue and then break up when they achieve their goals or lose interest

Jameson (class)

postmodernist - the feeling of heightened risk has made people feel less confident about the future

Oakley (gender)

liberal feminist - gender role socialisation take root in the family through primary socialisation. This teaches children the expected norms and values for their gender through processes such as canalisation and verbal appellations

Freidan (gender)

liberal feminist - the unfair treatment of women has led to the implementation of unfair laws and practices in areas such as the workplace, the education system, and politics. Argues that society’s gendered norms should be challenged and that institutions should be reformed to make them more equal.

Johnson (gender)

radical feminist - violence is the result of patriarchal traditions within the family which view it as a man’s right to control ‘their’ woman. This terroristic control of women is not limited to violence, it also involves emotional abuse, economic subordination, threats, and social isolation as control tactics

Banyard (gender)

feminist - sexual harassment in schools leading the school girls to feel unsafe and so they would hide in the toilets during breaks or stop showing up to school

Jackson and Tinkler (gender)

feminists - the term ‘ladette’ was initially a source of female empowerment but became a tool of social control when turned into a moral panic

Atkinson (gender)

radical feminist - argued that feminism is the theory, lesbianism is the practice. Advocates political lesbianism as a choice that women can make to liberate themselves from and avoid the enemy (men)

Rich (gender)

radical feminist - patriarchal ideology enforces compulsory heterosexuality and political lesbianism sets women free from such patriarchal constraints

Benston (gender)

marxist feminist -


1. the wife feeds and cares for her husband (the worker) which is essential for the smooth running of capitalism. The fact that the woman’s husband must provide for his wife and children means that he is less likely to challenge the capitalist system. If women were paid for their domestic work, there would have to be a massive redistribution of wealth.
2. women socialise their children to be obedient and hard working. Boys are brainwashed to believe that their role is to become breadwinners and girls learn that their primary role is as housewives.

Feeley (gender)

marxist feminist - children are conditioned to accept their place in the capitalist hierarchy of power and control because the family teaches passivity, not rebellion

Bruegel (gender)

marxist feminist - because of women’s unpaid domestic labour, they are able to work outside the home as a reserve army of labour

Fawcett society (gender)

male colleagues are more likely to gain promotion and receive additional training opportunities. This is because women have to take on family and caring duties that are not assigned to men. As a result, women are locked into part time, unstable work and do not earn equal pay

Ansley (gender)

marxist feminist - women act as a safety valve and are ‘the takers of shit’ as husbands return home having been exploited at work and take their frustrations and anger out on their wives. They absorb their husbands’ legitimate anger and frustration at their own powerlessness and oppression

McRobbie and Garber (gender)

feminists (applied to marxist feminism) - female YCs socialise girls into the patriarchal values of a capitalist society. Female teenagers are trained to be consumers through bedroom culture where they engage in media and their associated commercial products and goods that were marketed towards them

Mirza (gender)

intersectional feminist - black women are invisible within society and within feminism. For example, the feminist analysis of the family ignores how the family is not a source of patriarchal control for many black women, but one of safety and support

Walby (gender)

intersectional feminist -


1. criticism of radical feminism - it views the patriarchy as universal and unchanging and also ignores the impact of class and ethnicity on gender
2. criticism of marxist feminism - focuses too much on capitalism and fails to explain women’s exploitation in non-capitalist societies
3. criticism of liberal feminism - does not consider the way that the structure of society affects gender relations

Faludi (gender)

post-feminist - there has been a backlash, driven by the media, against second wave feminism, blaming it for many of the problems that women were experiencing. The focus backlash claimed that the feminist fight for equality had been won and now that women have this equality, they have never been so miserable. She argues that women are not yet equal and this backlash encourages women to reject the gains and struggle for equality

Paglia (gender)

post-feminist - wants to save feminism from the feminists and criticises contemporary feminism for being anti-male and anti-sex. Feminists who campaign for ‘special protections’ for women are actually infantilising women. She also argues that the spaces and environments in which men dominate are not the result of men being oppressive, but because men compete whereas women expect special treatment

Parsons (gender)

functionalist - the separate gender roles are based on biological differences and they contribute to the running of society. It is natural that women should take care of the children that they give birth to and this leads to a division of labour between men and women. Women are more involved in domestic activities (expressive role) whilst men act as breadwinners (instrumental role)

Rastogi (gender)

functionalist - human capital theory which suggests that the wage gap and other employment related differences can be explained by the amount of human capital an individual develops through the knowledge and skills they have obtained, often through education and training. Men are work-oriented and committed to their jobs, whereas women choose to prioritise their roles as homemakers and caring for family over their careers. Gender inequalities in the workplace arise and are a legitimate outcome as women develop lower levels of human capital than men

Hakim (gender)

functionalist - women choose to prioritise their children and family and therefore are not as committed as men to paid work. Women are not the victims of unfair employment practices, they have preferences and make rational choices in terms of the type of work they do. E.g. they choose part-time work in order to manage childcare and housework.

Schlafly (gender)

new right -


1. the male breadwinner provides for the economic needs of the family and this means they will not need support from the state. Having a female housewife means that the male breadwinner is supported, and children will not suffer from maternal deprivation which could lead to problems later in life. Any changes in gender roles will lead to social problems, such as an increase in lone parent families headed by women who are unable to adequately perform all the functions of the family. Women should prioritise their children and families. Traditional gender roles in the family are cost efficient, a healthy environment, and children thrive on the constant attention from their mothers
2. marriage and motherhood are difficult but they give women an identity and complete fulfilment. She also believes that a women’s role is to support her husband and as a result, women find their family role more rewarding than paid work

Engels (gender)

marxist - women’s subordinate position is a result of the structure of the nuclear family within the capitalist system. The family is the one place where male workers can feel they have power and control, this helps them accept their oppression in wider society as they have no control over their work. The family serves capitalism in multiple ways:

* socialises children into the ruling class norms and values
* women’s domestic labour is unpaid
* women care for the male workers
* women produce the next generation of labour

Parkin (gender)

neo-weberian - women’s low status is reflected in both vertical and horizontal occupational segregation.

Vertical segregation = men dominate the highest-ranking jobs in both traditionally male and traditionally female occupations enabled by the ‘glass ceiling’

Horizontal segregation = women occupy the lower status occupations which are low paid

Women’s domestic role as housewives and mothers are not held in high esteem in society and carries little status or power

Barron and Norris (gender)

neo-weberians - men occupy the primary labour market, associated with secure and well paid jobs that have good promotion prospects, whilst women are in the secondary labour market, associated with low pay, poor security, and poor promotional aspects. This is because:

* some employers still hold stereotypical ideas and think that women can’t have primary sector roles
* women cannot give continuous service at work if they want to have a family - they have maternity leave
* there is weak legal and political framework supporting women - though acts such as the sex discrimination act and the equal pay act strive for equality, they are limited in terms of success

Weber (gender)

weberian - women tend to participate less in groups that exert pressure and power in society. This could be as a result of social closure, different socialisation, or women’s dual burden of labour leaving them with less time

Electoral Commision

found a ‘political activism gap’ by gender. It concluded that women are significantly less likely than men to participate in campaign oriented activities, such as contacting a politician, or being a member of a political party.

Lyotard (gender)

postmodernist - social categories such as gender are no longer relevant as there is no longer a consensus on the roles of men and women. Instead, we construct our identities through what we consume. These consumer products are advertised via the media and have become the main source through which we now construct our identities. Consumerism leads to feelings of inequality for both males and females if they are unable to consume the things they want

Cheal (gender)

postmodernist - gender inequality offered by metanarratives such as marxism are outdated. For example, he suggests that the focus on the inequalities faced by women in nuclear families where they occupy the role of a homemaker is not reflective of the changes that have taken place within families. In contemporary society, there are increasing numbers of female breadwinners and dual earner families so it becomes difficult to base the inequalities simply on the earnings of the male

Butler (gender)

postmodernist - both biological sex and gender are socially constructed. Sex is a social construction because it does not exist beyond the social meanings we use to understand it - it is what it is because we define it as such. For example, describing a baby as a girl or as a boy makes the infant into a girl or boy and we then engage with the infant as if male and females are objective features of the world. The physical body does not exist outside of its cultural or social meanings

Patterson (ethnicity)

functionalist - the arrival of immigrants disrupted the value consensus in Britain, causing a culture clash between the immigrants and the host community. These clashes were the result of what she saw as the understandable fears and anxieties on the part of the host community. The hosts were not racist, they were just unsure about how to act towards newcomers. There are three causes of ethnic inequality:

* the host culture’s fear of the cultural difference of the immigrant ‘strangers’ and the social change they would bring to society
* the host culture’s resentment of having to compete with immigrants for scarce resources such as jobs and housing
* the failure of immigrants to assimilate (to integrate into the host culture)

Davis and Moore (ethnicity)

functionalists - inequality acts as an incentive to work. This implies that those who fail to achieve the highest positions are lacking in some way. Meritocracy provides opportunities for social mobility through hard work. Ethnic inequalities should be seen within the context of this differential system of rewards and as a result of the meritocratic process

Johal (ethnicity)

criticisms of functionalism - ignores how minority ethnic groups have adapted to the norms and values of society as well as retaining aspects of their own culture (e.g. Brasian youth culture)

Cox (ethnicity)

marxist - capitalism created early racism because of its need to systematically exploit labour power. Early capitalism went hand in hand with colonialism. As European nations colonised areas, they were able to exploit the work force in these areas and they justified their actions through racism, by claiming that white Europeans were superior to other races. White people developed capitalism and therefore it was they who first developed racism. If capitalism had not developed then the world may never have experienced racial prejudice

Castles and Kosack (ethnicity)

marxists - most immigrants were concentrated in low-skilled and low-paid manual jobs that were mainly carried out in poor working class conditions. Many were also unemployed. This treatment of immigrants derived from the need in capitalist societies for a reserve army of labour. It was necessary to have a surplus of labour power in order to keep wage costs down. After WW2, Europe turned to immigrant labour to provide a necessary cheap pool of workers who could be profitably exploited. This led to the working class being divided into 2 groups, with the indigenous white population becoming the top layer of the WC and the immigrant workers becoming a distinctive grouping at the bottom. This divide and rule tactic was beneficial to the ruling class as it meant that the working class became too divided to unite and overthrow the capitalist system

Miles (ethnicity)

marxist - the class position of ethnic minorities is complicated by the fact that they are treated by white society as culturally and socially different. As a result, ethnic minority groups become members of the racialised class fractions. These are reinforced when white working class stress the importance of their ethnicity and nationality through prejudice and discrimination, and then ethnic minorities react to such racism by stressing their own ethnicity even more by observing their cultural and religious traditions overtly. Racism means that many white middle class professionals may not accept the fact that middle class ethnic minorities have the same status as them. Even if ethnic minorities do not experience social class inequality, they are not immune to experiencing status inequality

Hall (ethnicity)

neo-marxist - moral panic of black criminality to distract from the capitalist slump

Gilroy (ethnicity)

neo-marxist - institutional racism within the police

Weber (ethnicity)

Weberian - white british people are more likely to have a superior market and work situation compared to ethnic minorities, which equates to white british people having superior life chances compared to ethnic minorities → this is supported by the race report statistics, which show that the unemployment rates for ethnic minorities is 12.9%, whereas for white people is is 6.3%

Barron and Norris (ethnicity)

neo-weberians - ethnic minorities tend to be concentrated in the secondary labour market, because many employers subscribe to racist beliefs and practise discrimination against them, either by not employing them or by denying them responsibility and promotion

Parkin (ethnicity)

minority ethnic groups are a negatively privileged group and more powerful groups use exclusions to stop them from accessing their privileges → EHRC found that black people typically get paid 14.3% less than their white peers

Rex and Tomlinson (ethnicity)

neo-weberians - the material disadvantages experienced by ethnic minorities were so great that it actually cut them off from the white working class population. Ethnic minorities formed a separate underclass beneath the white working class where they experienced disadvantage with regard to the labour market. This underclass was created by black people who felt marginalised, alienated, and frustrated. Furthermore, their experience of status inequality was further compounded by them feeling as if they had been socially excluded from the standard of living that most members of society took for granted. In a capitalist society, the underclass are the ultimate victims and ethnic minorities are heavily concentrated within the underclass

Abbott (ethnicity)

black feminist - feminism is ethnocentric and only concentrates on the experiences of white middle class women. It has tried to marginalise the voices of black women by expecting them to only write about the black woman’s experience rather than contributing to feminism as a whole

Mirza (ethnicity)

black feminist - black feminism challenges the distorted assumptions of black women made by white feminists, such as seeing black women as passive victims. Black feminists have struggled in the fight against domestic violence, tried to overcome sexism and racism in school, developed alternative family forms in which women have autonomy, and challenged the activities of police and immigration authorities

Brewer (ethnicity)

black feminist - black women suffer from disadvantages because they are black, because they are women, and because they are working class, but their problems are more than the sum of these parts as each inequality reinforces multiple other inequalities.

Saunders (ethnicity)

new right - the economic inequality faced by ethnic minorities are the result of cultural differences rather than discrimination and racism. He argues that migrants have failed to adapt to British culture and have instead developed cultural attitudes that lead to poverty. Once minority ethnic groups are in positions of poverty, they accept this and do not attempt to improve their positions and so become trapped by their own attitudes

Murray (ethnicity)

new right - African families are more likely to be lone-parents, meaning that African boys aren’t being socialised into their roles as breadwinners

Sewell (ethnicity)

new right - African families are more likely to be lone-parents, fathers are typically better at disciplining their son so without that discipline they will be more vulnerable and may join anti school subcultures

Modood (ethnicity)

criticism of new right - many migrant cultures are very dissimilar, and so lumping together everyone who identifies as an ethnic minority overlooks the rich variety of cultures people have

Parsons (age)

functionalist - age inequalities are a product of the right of passage that marks the change from one social status (childhood) to another (adulthood). During this transition stage, young people learn to leave the security of the family and become an independent person, particularly in terms of employment, whereby young people develop skills needed in adult life. For example, the lower pay levels associated with young people simply reflect that young people are still transitioning into adulthood

Eisenstadt (age)

functionalist - age inequalities are a product of youth being in a period of limbo during which they feel the stresses and anxieties associated with growing up. This can also lead to anomie. Youth provides a safe outlet for them to test the boundaries of society to help them make sense of the world around them and is a normal part of growing up. Higher rates of youth criminality reflect this natural processA

A. Cohen (age)

functionalist - delinquency as a means of gaining status (status frustration)

Merton (age)

functionalist - young people experiencing the strain between accepting society’s goals but not being able to achieve them through legitimate means

Cummings and Henry (age)

functionalists - during the ageing process, a person’s abilities naturally deteriorate and so society relieves them of their responsibilities and roles. Disengagement refers to the gradual process of withdrawing from society (aka retirement), with older generations passing on their social roles to younger people. So, any inequalities in the workplace are reflective of this natural and inevitable disengagement.

Phillipson (age)

marxist - young people form a part of the reserve army labour, experiencing high rates of unemployment. They are offered short term, low, skill work with no prospects for promotion or training

Hall (age)

neo-marxist - the labelling of black youth as muggers stigmatises black young men as folk devils and diverts attention from the realities of capitalism

Gilroy (age)

neo-marxist - crimes committed by black youth are a form of political resistance to the racism that is embedded within capitalist society

CCCS - Jefferson (age)

neo-marxist - teddy boys developed as a response to the economic conditions and low status of working class youth in the 50s

CCCS - Cohen and Clarke (age)

neo-marxists - skinheads created to resist changes to working class identity and community

Willis (age)

marxist - schools prepare working class boys for educational failure

Townsend and Phillipson (age)

marxist - capitalism needs to continually renew its workforce to ensure greater profit. It does this by using young workers who may be more productive and so the elderly become institutionally marginalised through the system of retirement. They are forced to make way for a younger and more productive workforce. This leads to institutionalised dependency whereby the elderly becomes dependent on society which lowers their status and social position, making them vulnerable to poverty

Weber (age)

weberian - old age is a negative status and so the social statues of the elderly is low. This is because they are no longer economically productive and can no longer gain status through their market position and life chances. As a result, they do not have high incomes and have reduced access to wealth and to party.

Davidson and Rossal (age)

neo-weberians - the isolation of the elderly in care homes leads to higher rates of loneliness compared with those still living in the community

Stratham (age)

elderly people who continue to interact with the wider community and family are at lower risk of social isolation

Victor (age)

interactionist - the media labels the elderly as ‘useless, lonely, dependent, and unable to learn’. Negative labelling and stigmatisation of the elderly by the media and other agents of social control could be said to create a self-fulfilling prophecy. If the elderly are labelled in this way, then perhaps those stereotypes become a reality.

Landis (age)

interactionist - the media creates a one-dimensional image of the elderly leading to invisibility

S. Cohen (age)

interactionist - moral panic about youth

Chambliss (age)

interactionist - negative labelling of wc youth by teachers and police

Gillborn and Youdell (age)

interactionists - negative labelling of black youth

Crenshaw (age)

feminist - ageism against women is embedded into patriarchal society, with women experiencing higher levels of poverty in later life because they have prioritised their caring role which leads to economic dependence on men. This puts them in a vulnerable economic position in terms of unemployment and poverty because women are likely to live longer than men

Itzin (age)

feminist - as women grow older their status devalues as they are no longer reproductive so they fight the signs of ageing through cosmeticisation which is a pressure that men do not face. In a patriarchal society, women’s status devalues after childbearing age and so older women have a lower status

Wolf (age)

feminist - older women try to retain their sexual attractiveness so as to remain younger looking in order to be treated as the equals of men. The media acts as an agency of patriarchal control through the pressures it places on women to look attractive. Cosmeticisation pressures older women to try and look as young as possible, with the media advertising everything from cosmetic surgery to anti-ageing face creams. The media, therefore, acts as an agency of patriarchal ideological control. This is evidence of inequality because olfer men do not face these same pressures as their status is not derived from reproduction or physical attractiveness

McRobbie (age)

feminist - girls experience greater levels of parental social control

Banyard (age)

feminist - girls experience sexual harassment in schools

Batchellor (age)

feminist - girls are vulnerable to sexual exploitation in gangs

Blaikie (age)

postmodernist - products and services are now marketed towards older people because it is recognised that they have high levels of disposable income. Consumer culture is responsible for changing age-related stereotypes. There has been public recognition of people who are post-retirement and who still have wealth as a result of high incomes and property investments made when they were young. There is a market for media and consumer products that encourage older people to enjoy life

Carrigan and Szmigin (age)

postmodernists - the ‘grey pound’ has led to an increase in positive images of ageing with retirement now seen as a positive lifestyle choice filled with active leisure based persuits

Lackzo and Phillipson (age)

postmodernists - old age inequality is the result of those older people who are unable to consume