Social Stratification

Social Stratification

                                                                     Introduction
Social stratification is the division of members of society based on their socio-economic status. In this case, the less economically members are grouped at the lowest part of the strata, and it follows that order up to the wealthiest and influential members of the society being at the top layer. The titles and function of the members of the community also depend on the social stratum that one occupies. In this paper, the research will focus on the adverse effects of social stratification in society.  The study will employ both quantitative and qualitative research methods to identify and demonstrate the harmful effects of social stratification in society. Social stratification causes classism in society. Due to the grouping of the members of the community based on socio-economic status, the groups in the higher strata develop contempt, stereotype, and prejudice for the members who are less empowered economically. The result of this is division in the society because of the socioeconomic differences.
    Discussion
Individuals within the society are fitted and categorized into each of these layers. The social grading of the individuals in the society in levels is based on factors like status, prestige, education, and power (Adams and Davey 234). Each layer in the society is known as social class, and it consists of a broad group of people with a relatively similar system of behaviour. They also have a set of values and way of distinguishing it from those of other classes. Karl Marx’s ideas provide a further understanding of social class. Based on the capitalist society, Karl Max views social class as a societal group whose members have a similar relationship to the methods of production. In this setting, two main classes emerge; the capitalist who owns the means of production and the proletariat or working-class whose hire the capitalist in return of wages. Karl max introduces another element of social class when he says that those who own the means of production control the economy of the society and hence controls the political power. However, there is no universally accepted method of identifying the social class of person or family in the view of diversity in the variables used to show the differences in the social class levels depending on the society in question. Nevertheless, the most commonly used but related factors in classifying the individuals into social classes are race, ethnicity, revenue, education and job status (Adams and Davey 250).

These factors are among the five major present issues in societal stratification. Someone’s race is a prompt excuse for subjecting persons to different qualities of handling, attitudes, provision, access, justice, penalty and support (Doob 101). Recent increases in racial hatred are linked to skin colour, with the black skins receiving the wickedest treatment in all social aspects, even from fresh and illegal migrants. The current attention is being placed in the media toward a minority of people who are becoming violent and loud with absolute racial slurs. Spiritual attacks are driving more focus to skin colour, faith, and appearance, with wrong assumptions and qualities being given to the darkest skinned persons (Esping 121). As a result, from biased criminal punishing to law enforcement cruelty and even denial of health care, skin colour is the most severe aspect of current social stratification.
Ethnic conflict, including religious strife, is a source of serious alarm with post 911 and other assaults on Western civilization and religious conviction as the ignition sources. What is being overlooked are the continuous intrusions and attacks that Western nations make on the persons of the world, whether they are in Italian rain forests or victims of constant wars that are secretly funded and led by the world’s superpowers. A large percentage of the world is tired of the Eurocentric Western evolution, but they decline to acknowledge that invasive and destructive conflicts are not deeds of regret (Kerbo 3). Due to this, the determined, unbalanced and persistent guerrilla warrior, battling the gradually irrational and unstable behemoths of well-armed world management is becoming the main threat to humankind in world history.
Income has never been so reallocated in world history. In less than 11 years, middle classes all over the developed world have been in chaos, if not under shocking levels of devastation. Labour privileges and protections are being demolished. Utter theft and deceitful relocation of the United States treasury has happened with no sign of efforts to recover enough of it to take back the nation and the economy to any state of order. Customer protections were eviscerated, leaving many people the victims of fraud, dishonesty and unacceptable taking of funds, possessions, and jobs. A minimal number of government systems or evolutions have lasted for long under such massive redistributions of prosperity (Esping 123). Because revenue has been reallocated, either through the greed of corporate stakeholders or through excessively bad wastage at institutions, education systems are in danger of being a waste of time. How the same persons who make extremely rich revenues can fail to educate American pupils so that they are modest in the world is a sign of more institutions that are out of control to the level of incompetence. Though there are several who are highly skilled in working their way through university, the current difficulties are an indication that only the monetary, racial, revenue, ethnic and social elites are to be joining the college in the United States in the future. Job-status is not severe in the United States these days. Unlike the principal employer, the United States government and army, commercial America may have lost its mind. After putting in place Economic Growth Corporations throughout the US that was just mechanisms for giving up the farm to acquire corporations of setting up in a community, those very corporations stayed for a while, subcontracted jobs, typically to India, brought in migrant workers, mostly from India. They ultimately bailed out when the next Economic Growth Corporation offered even more taxpayer sustained goodies. Due to this, union depiction became useless; employees were abused, many lost the contracts that were assured to the taxpayers. The stockholders redistributed essential company revenue to themselves (Esping 125). President Ronald Regan brought “Crack for Weapons. ” It presented a scourge on his nation that has made most people rich, either from drug trading or from the conspiracy between governments, courts and the private prison businesses. The courts generated their system of law to benefit from drug addiction.
The income comes either from prison work or from the taxpayer who incurs the costs of the private prisons. In turn, three generations of Americans are now trapped in a system, not as offenders, but as “product” and as captive labour. Addicts will not have entire working lives, so either prison, crime life or parole will be their stable working status. The long term jobless who can toil are doing their best in temporary works and underground economies of scale (Jost and Chardly 318). These people do an exchange, trade, drugs, prostitution, floor covering, bookkeeping or anything it takes to generate some income.
The most frightening release of data about plans for the American employee came when some associates of Congress branded them as lazy idlers. It was said that they need to have their salary cut off so that they can be forced into absence, poor or abusive working situations. The lack of work, the appearance of hundreds of applicants at sites where some jobs are marketed and the incapability of the same congressional group to produce any paying jobs (Rothman 43). This shows that there are illogicality and uncertainty in government that will only deteriorate after the mid-term elections.
According to Esping (125), the jobless, most of whom were smart working, skilled and enthusiastic workers are now the new underclass. This is irrespective of their race, culture, educational level or previous revenue. They were once the middle class and no country, administration or society will survive with such a reallocation of wealth, the widespread introduction of drugs to civilization under Presidential and unlawful decree and emotional uncertainty and corruption among the country’s lawmakers.
Social re-stratification, therefore, is reaching massive, damaging and destabilizing levels in all of the developed nations. Inhabitants who have done everything about the job in the right ways are discovering that things are going wrong (Kerbo 3).  They are searching for someone, some group or some political units to punish. By doing so, they make the nation ripe for a takeover by captivating and misleading politicians who have even more wrong. They also damage the harmful programs funded by those bodies which are only concerned in their improvement, not in the spirit of the people or the public confidence.
Consequently, sociologists often group occupations with similar overall levels of desirability to establish a hierarchy of classes. There are three types of classifications: a) Upper, middle and lower classes, b) Working, middle and lower classes, c) Blue (manual) and white (non-manual) classes.
The nature of the social classes is such that the high classes are those occupations with the highest salaries, best working conditions. The high levels are also the best chances of promotion or more exceptional opportunity for personal initiative. Moreover, education influences occupation in that, the better the education, the better occupation one is likely to join. The social class individual belongs to accords them a certain social status or standing in society. Social status is closely related to social class and refers to the amount of respect, or honour one is accorded in the society (Jost and Chardly 318). Social status may either be achieved or ascribed. Individuals acquire ascribed status as a result of belonging to or being born into a specific social class. No personal efforts are used to gain this status. Achieved status, from the other hand, is acquired by individuals as a result of their hard work and their own struggles.
Social stratification is the crucial reason for a relational set of disparities in economic, social, radical and philosophical dimensions. It is a scheme whereby persons rank and assess each other.  Based on such an assessment, one is compensated with more wealth, power, and respect. Social stratification leads to social inequality and many difficulties as it is an unfair system with the domination of authority and prosperity in a specific class. It influences life opportunities, lifestyles, and status. According to Jost and Chardly (318), it generates emotional stress and despair for persons from the lower social status as they have imbalanced access to prosperity, authority, and state. It creates an enormous gulf between persons in terms of their pays and a range of measures linked with social status, education, fitness, and mental well-being. It is clearly perceived that inequality confuses society. These are the barriers in the way to progress and growth of the nation.
Adverse Effects of Social Stratification in Society
Has encourages hard work
Social stratification has made persons of upper strata to work harder and to maintain their status. American society appreciates the attainments and efficiency of people and puts stress on hard work and productive activity within the economy (Rothman 41). Thus a prosperous business administrative who has attained the rank through his sweat gets motivated to keep on working hard and uphold his status in society. His behaviour inspires other people to do the same. Social Stratification offers inspiration for diverse positions, mainly those who have higher ranks and prizes.
Has helped in the process of pursuit of different professions
Society wants both physical and non-physical workers. Some occupations are not good-looking to the trained persons because they are socialized to seek for specific jobs. The socialization, standards, and approaches of the persons act as reasons behind the quest for different occupations. The persons belonging to various positions come forward to join different professions.
Social Stratification has motivated persons to attain a position.
Various social positions provide different chances and pay. Those positions which are advanced also provide better conditions. Persons continuously try to get superior rank in society. In the lack of stratification, persons cannot be anticipated to get encouraged for having certain positions.
Has helped in value and ability recognition
According to Kerbo (1), different positions need different talents, aptitudes, and capabilities from the people who occupy them. It would be baseless to present equality among these positions because an individual with more capacity or intelligence has to be offered higher status to a person who has a lesser ability.
All Positions are not the same and hence require stratification.             All positions cannot be considered as equal since some of them need more qualifications, skills, and training. On the other hand, some positions do not need any training at all. Therefore, we cannot offer equal rank to a doctor and a manual labourer (Jost and Chardly 321). If done, no one would want to bother to go through a costly and lengthy engineering degree and exercise. In case society needs persons to undergo such training, it needs to offer specific grants and inducements in the form of advanced statuses.
Social Stratification is a source of much-wanted incentives in society.            According to Rothman (39), social stratification provides a system of earning some inducements. If we give advanced status to a person, we can anticipate him to perform his task with more dedication and sincerity.
Social Stratification has brought competition in society.            Competition is a useful need for society as a society without competition cannot develop. Lack of competition constantly makes persons lethargic and stationary. The factor of competition places life among people and makes them toil hard for attaining higher positions. Social stratification creates a situation of competition and motivates persons for improvement and development.
 It has ensured circulation among Elites.              Social Stratification implies the emergence of numerous social classes of persons. Some groups acquire the status of being the best groups. Persons try to get entry into the best groups, which means advanced positions in society (Kerbo 1). To some degree, there is in the presence of the process of transmission of elites. This inspires the rise of social competition. In the process, more well-organized people come out in society, and they rise to the top ranks in due course of time.
It has integrated people of all social classes.             Social stratification is valuable because it integrates numerous groups of society. Members of each group identify the roles and needs of members of other groups.