Social Stratification: The Consequences Of Social Stratification In Society

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Stratification is a term that is used to describe structured social and systemic inequalities among groups of people that result in unforeseen consequences of social processes (Conley 240). Social stratification is used in societies to explain inequalities of resources and goods, which are unequally disturbed among members of society. Members in society are ranked according to their status in America we use a class system, when in people are organized in low, middle, high and upper classes. Individuals in the lower class have limited access to the resources in society, in contrast the upper class control most of the resources. Social stratification is functional in society. The theory of Ferguson and Millar’s stated that the motivation for This meant their social mobility is horizontal because they did not move vertical up or down the social ladder. There are several facts that influence this lack of mobility, such as government, family, education and economy. Annette Lareau’s work on parenting research is a good study to illustrate how home environment leads to social reproduction. Lareau discovered through her research that children of working class parents became working class adults because unlike the middle class they did not have “cultured capital.” Cultured capital is the “symbolic and interactional resources that people use to the advantage in various situations” (Conley 521). This meant that children of middle class parents were likely to question authority and feel capable to interact in school. The government also contributes to social reproduction by its policies and practices. Education practices perpetuated social reproduction. Students in lower income areas are given out of date school books also they are required to maintain a strict schedule. In contrast students in affluent neighborhoods have better access to new school material and some even have mediation. From personal experience, my freshman year at Luther Burbank H.S. I was in “advance classes”; however, when I went to Franklin H.S in Elk Grove the “advanced classes” were regular classes. Even though, I though I was ahead of students, I was actually average. Another contributor to social reproduction is the economy. The economy with outsourcing jobs to other countries and trade agreements maintains social

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