Charles Hurst Social Inequalities

577 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Explain social inequality

The first chapter of Social Inequality, Forms, Causes, and Consequences by Charles Hurst discusses the main concepts that are related to inequality. Race, gender, income and other factors play into inequality. A major question about inequality is if it is inevitable or can it be changed. The poverty gap is increasing in the United States. The United States is not seen as having different classes. Social class plays a more significant role in inequality then economic class does. The first episode of The Wire is dealing with the justice system and different races. The gang members are all African Americans who are selling drugs. One of the gang members is found not guilty of a murder because the gang had the witness change her statement. Social status is playing a role in the first episode. The film shows how different the two social statuses are compared to one another. The chapter one ideas connect to the film. …show more content…

Hurst describes social classes as, “different categories of people in which individuals in the same category happen to have similar levels of education, income, and occupational prestige” (Hurst 9). In the first episode you can see examples of different social classes. It shows the gang members as a lower class. Selling drugs is considered their jobs and their way of income. The detectives represent the upper class. They have higher paying jobs, more power and a better education. Hurst brought up a major question about inequality. When you think of the reasons behind inequality is it because it is inevitable or can it be changed. Hurt states, “if such inequality arises because of the conscious, intentional, and freely willed actions of individuals or the structures they create in society, then perhaps it can

Show More
Related

  • Poor People And Economic Injustice By Barbara Ehrenreich

    732 Words  | 2 Pages

    Economic inequality and injustice come in the same hand. Poor people are more likely to experience inequality and injustice. The negative assumptions of poor people are created by the media and politicians. Promoting economic justice by offering people living in poverty some form of social support. Barbara Ehrenreich found in her experiment the workforce for low-wage was difficult. Conley talks about the different types of social inequalities and how they have been unsuccessful.

    Read More

  • Economic Inequality - Taking Sides Article

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    Briefly state the main idea of this article: The main idea of this article is that economic inequality has steadily risen in the United States between the richest people and the poorest people. And this inequality affects the people in more ways than buying power; it also affects education, life expectancy, living conditions and possibly happiness. Another idea that he brought up was that the American government tends to give less help to the unemployed than other rich countries.

    Read More

  • Social Inequality in the United States

    692 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is a high degree of social inequality within the United States. Of most modern industrial countries, the United Stated has some of the richest and some of the poorest people to be found. That fact is very disturbing, however, explains why much of the inequality exists in the US. In the following essay I will explain to you about the inequality in our country and why it occurs, based on the theoretical perspectives of a functionalist, conflict theorist, and social interationist.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Confronting Inequality

    1832 Words  | 4 Pages

    Where would you consider yourself with your ranking in America 's social classes, are you upper class, middle class or even lower class? This is actually very important when it come to you receiving opportunities and in a sense special treatment. I’m referring to of course social inequality which is still very much alive in America and still affects a lot of families mostly in a negative way. This problem in America has grabbed the attention of two authors, Paul Krugman who wrote “Confronting Inequality” and Gary S. Becker and Kevin M. Murphy who wrote “The Upside of Income Inequality”. However, they both have different views on inequality Krugman believes that social inequality is only negative while on the other hand, Becker and Murphy believe Krugman believes that the only way to get into a good school is to be living in a higher economic area.

    Read More

  • Differences And Inequalities Persist Over Time

    691 Words  | 2 Pages

    This essay asks to discuss some of the ways in which differences and inequalities persist over time, suggesting that they are not static, continuing to be made and remade by the actions of people and society. With Inequality being defined as ‘‘The unequal distribution of valued social resources within society or between societies including money, housing, power, health and education”. whilst Differences is defined as “contrasts between groupings of people such as those based on gender, class, age, sexuality and race, including things people value and the variations between them including their physical, behavioural, attitudes and preferences”. (Blakeley and Staples, 2014 p 25). However, it is noted not all differences will lead to inequalities,

    Read More

  • Stereotyping: Its Impact on Society and Justice

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    Generally, class means where a person is ranked in society. If Brock Turner was poor and was a minority, his sentence would have been more severe and wouldn’t have been able to get off so easily. Same goes with the Central Park Five case where if the kids were in a higher class, the accused wouldn’t have been treated so harshly and trialed unfairly especially since they didn’t even the do the crime. Looking at the articles, “Teaching Literature at the County Jail” by Christina Boufis shows individuals who things because they had no control over situations and this might be due to their class. The women in jail in the “Teaching Literature at the County Jail” were in jail because of their backgrounds and their particular circumstances like class. In the article Christina Boufis says “Many were homeless before incarceration; few had support from parents, friends or partners. For Tanya and some of the others, Sula has become a talisman of security, something they can rely on in a constantly shifting world.” The girls here came from poor families making them from a lower class. Class is a huge a factor that show stereotyping in a criminal justice

    Read More

  • Wilkinson & Pickett's 'Spirit Level Book'

    1405 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rowlingson, K. ( 2011). Does inequality cause Health and Social Problems? Birmingham: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

    Read More

  • What are the Causes of Inequality?

    2446 Words  | 5 Pages

    Nevertheless, as income inequality as well as gender inequality are the two outstanding types of inequality equippe...

    Read More

  • Social Class

    785 Words  | 2 Pages

    Social class has existed in our society since its foundation. Working class, middle class, upper middle class, or upper class, whatever your standing, social class can affect your place in society. Social class can be defined by where you live, who you talk to, where you get an education, even by the clothes you wear. These may not be definite determinants of social class, but categorization of people becomes easier when looking at these factors. In previous papers, I have claimed that social class is a result of capitalism. Though, I still believe this to be true, there are many factors that can affect social class and vice versa. Theorists have looked at different aspects of how these can affect social class. In my paper I am going to explore capitalism, stratification, racism, segregation, and education and their relationship with social class and how this can cause social conflict; I will have a primary focus of how Weber, DuBois, and Marx views this relationship.

    Read More

  • Negative Essay On Inequality In America

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    Inequality as previously mentioned is a subject that gets debated when brought up and in any debate there is two sides. In class we have discussed both side of the story of inequality, and it has give me a better perspectives of income inequality. When discussion income inequality, we brought up the concept of the economic pie in which states that the economic pie is a reference to the way income gets distributed among the lower, middle, and higher class of America. So the concept of the economic pie states that the rich is getting richer, so they are

    Read More

  • Defining Health: A Study of Social Inequalities

    1892 Words  | 4 Pages

    Social inequality is the disparity and unequal distribution between different groups in a society. Inequalities can be detrimental to health as a result of lack of income, resources or opportunities (bbc.co.uk, 2017). The effects can harm the physical, mental and social well-being of individuals and also cause illness and disease.

    Read More

  • Gender Differences Between Crime And Gender

    430 Words  | 1 Pages

    Crime and Class, The poorer you are, the more likely you are to be arrested for a crime. However, this may be better explained by the fact that the crimes of the poor are more visible and they are more likely to fit the criminal profile than by the fact of economic need. In addition, the poorer you are, the more likely you are to be a victim of crime. (Kimmel & Aronson,

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Social Class In The Film

    1233 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stratification across the states has created a divide between classes. It has allowed the upper class to solely remain with the upper class, while the working class only associates with the working class. It has caused people to only feel comfortable within their own class. Stratification has allowed people to see others as those to be feared or as those to be ignored. It has also created an unspoken boundary that says it is wrong to associate with another class. In the film, it was evident how the people only felt comfortable to associate with those who were like them. Even more than that, though, it revealed how it was not expected for the classes to intertwine. The system of stratification has created a vicious system that ranks people based on the amount of money they have, instead of valuing people as

    Read More

  • Crime and Social Inequality

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    Crime and criminalization are dependent on social inequality Social inequality there are four major forms of inequality, class gender race and age, all of which influence crime. In looking at social classes and relationship to crime, studies have shown that citizens of the lower class are more likely to commit crimes of property and violence than upper-class citizens: who generally commit political and economic crimes. In 2007 the National Crime Victimization Survey showed that families with an income of $15000 or less had a greater chance of being victimized; recalling that lower classes commit a majority of those crimes. We can conclude that crime generally happens within classes.

    Read More

  • Racial And Racial Inequality

    925 Words  | 2 Pages

    A social inequality that I would say I’m concerned with would be, racial and ethnic inequality. Racial or ethnic inequality is often established based on characteristics such as skin color and other physical characteristics, or a person’s place of origin or culture. Another meaning of racial inequality would be the advantages and disadvantages that affect different races within the United States. Race has become a socially constructed category capable of restricting or enabling social status. Racial inequality can lead to diminished opportunities, which can also lead to cycles of poverty and political problems.

    Read More

More about Charles Hurst Social Inequalities

Open Document