Forms of Social Stratification (AQA GCSE Sociology): Revision Note

Social stratification & inequality

• Social stratification describes the way society is structured into a hierarchy of unequal strata or layers

  • A social hierarchy is shaped like a pyramid and each layer is more powerful than the one below it

  • The most privileged group in society forms the top layer and the least privileged form the bottom layer

• Social inequality refers to the uneven distribution of

  • resources such as money and power

  • opportunities (or life chances) related to things like education or employment

• Studies of inequality explore

  • the nature and extent of inequality

  • why some people get more resources and opportunities than others

  • how resources and opportunities are unequal between individuals and groups based on their social class, gender, ethnicity and age

• Stratification involves inequality between groups in the distribution of resources such as wealth, income, status and power

  • The group at the top of the hierarchy has much more wealth, income, status or power than the one at the bottom

• In the UK today, social class is seen as the main form of stratification

  • Social class is based on economic factors such as occupation and income

Different forms of social stratification

• Stratification systems differ depending on whether a person's status is ascribed or achieved

  • Ascribed status: social position is fixed at birth and is unchanging over time, such as being born into the royal family

  • Achieved status: social position is earned based on personal talent or merit, such as getting all 9s in your GCSEs, which is based on ability and effort

• Stratification systems also differ according to how open and closed they are, i.e., how easily social mobility can occur

  • Open system: An individual's position is achieved and social mobility can occur, e.g., between social classes

  • Closed system: An individual's position is ascribed and social mobility is less likely to occur, e.g., the caste system in India

Slavery

• Slavery existed as a form of stratification by race in Ancient Greece, Rome and the southern states of America in the 19th century

• Under slavery, white slave owners claimed the right to own black slaves and treated them as property (or chattel)

• An individual's social position was ascribed at birth, so children born to slaves were automatically slaves too; the system was closed

• The racial stratification of Americans continued through segregation laws, which were abolished in 1964 in America due to the Civil Rights Movement

Feudalism

• The feudal system operated in medieval Europe as a form of stratification

• There were four layers in society called estates

• Everybody in the community pledged loyalty to the king, whose power was regarded as God-given

• An individual's position in society was ascribed and there was little or no chance of moving up to the next estate; the system was closed

• It was unthinkable for people from different estates or social classes to get married

The caste system in traditional India

• The caste system in India is another form of stratification linked to the Hindu religion

• An individual's social position is ascribed at birth, as people are born into a particular caste; the system is closed

• Each caste was traditionally associated with particular occupations

• Inequality between different groups was justified as stemming from religious beliefs

Apartheid

• Apartheid in South Africa (1948–1994) was based on a government policy of racial segregation

• Ethnicity was used as the basis for stratification

• A person's social position was ascribed at birth so the system was closed as there was little scope for social mobility

• Because apartheid existed in every sphere of society, a person's access to jobs, housing, healthcare, and education was segregated based on their race