sociology social inequality

1. Social Inequality in sociology
iqbal hussain

2. Social inequality
Social inequality is the existence of unequal opportunities and
rewards for different social positions or statuses within a group
or society. Although the United States differs from most
European nations that have a titled nobility, the U.S. is still
highly stratified. Social inequality has several important
dimensions. Income is the earnings from work or investments,
while wealth is the total value of money and other assets minus
debts. Other important dimensions include power, occupational
prestige, schooling, ancestry, and race and ethnicity.

3. Social inequality results from a society organized by
hierarchies of class, race, and gender that broker access
to resources and rights in ways that make their
distribution unequal. It can maninfest in a variety of
ways, like income and wealth inequality, unequal access
to education and cultural resources, and differential
treatment by the police and judicial system, among
others.

4. There are two main ways to measure social inequality: inequality of
conditions, and inequality of opportunities. Inequality of conditions refers to
the unequal distribution of income, wealth, and material goods. Housing, for
example, is an inequality of conditions with the homeless and housing
projects sitting at the bottom of the hierarchy while those living in multi-
million dollar mansions sit at the top.
Inequality of opportunities refers to the unequal distribution of life chances
across individuals.
This is reflected in measures such as level of education, health status, and
treatment by the criminal justice system. For example, studies have shown
that college and university professors are more likely to ignore emails from
women and people of color than they are to ignore those from white men,
which privileges the educational outcomes of white men by channeling a
biased amount of mentoring and educational resources to them.

5. Causes of social inequality
There is little question that many people in the U.S.
are better off than most other people in the world.
That being said, poverty also impacts millions of
people in the U.S. Why do such social inequalities
exist? Let's examine the two prevailing
explanations of poverty:
• blaming the poor and
• blaming society.

6. Blame the poor
One approach to explain poverty is to blame the
poor - that the poor are responsible for their own
poverty. There is some evidence to support this
theory, because the main reason people are poor is
the lack of employment. According to this view,
society has plenty of opportunities for people to
realize the American dream, and people are poor
because they lack the motivation, skills, or
schooling to find work.

7. Blame the society
Another approach to explain poverty is to blame
society - that society is responsible for poverty.
While it is true that unemployment is a main
contributor to poverty, the reasons people don't
work are more in line with this approach. Loss of
jobs in the inner city is a major contributor to
poverty. There simply isn't enough work to support
families.

8. Effects of social inequality;
Social inequality affects nearly every dimension of
our lives. For example, did you know that children
from poor families are three times more likely to
die from disease, accidents, neglect, or violence
during the first year of life than those children born
to wealthy families? In addition, on average,
wealthy people live five years longer than those
less fortunate.

9. Politics also follows class lines. Because the wealthy benefit from the way
society is organized, their wealth tends to encourage them to be more
conservative on economic issues, but more liberal on social issues. The
opposite pattern seems to be true for people from poor backgrounds. They
tend to be more conservative on social issues, but more liberal on
economic issues, tending to favor government-sponsored social programs
that benefit them.
Finally, social class also impacts family life. Lower class families tend to be
larger than middle class families; lower class families tend to marry younger
and use less birth control. Another relevant pattern is that children from
lower class families tend to be raised to conform to conventional values and
respect authority. Children from middle and upper class families are taught
to express their individuality and imagination more freely.

10. Two Main Theories of Social Inequality
There are two main views of social inequality within sociology. One view aligns with the functionalist
theory and the other aligns with conflict theory.
Functionalist theorists believe that inequality is inevitable and desirable and plays an important function in
society. Important positions in society require more training and thus should receive more rewards.
Social inequality and social stratification, according to this view, lead to a meritocracy based on ability.
Conflict theorists, on the other hand, view inequality as resulting from groups with power dominating less
powerful groups. They believe that social inequality prevents and hinders societal progress as those in
power repress the powerless people in order to maintain the status quo. In today's world, this work of
domination is achieved primarily through the power of ideology--our thoughts, values, beliefs, world views,
norms, and expectations--through a process known as cultural hegemony.

11. How Sociologists Study Social Inequality
Sociologically, we can study social inequality as a social
problem that encompasses three dimensions: structural
conditions, ideological supports, and social reforms.
Structural conditions include things that can be
objectively measured and that contribute to social inequality.
Sociologists study how things like educational attainment,
wealth, poverty, occupations, and power lead to the social
inequality between individuals and groups of people.

12. Ideological supports include ideas and assumptions that
support the social inequality present in a society. Sociologists
examine how things such as formals laws, public policies, and
dominant values both lead to social inequality, and help
sustain it. For example, consider this discussion of the role
that words and the ideas attached to them play in this process.
Social reforms are things such as organized resistance, protest
groups, and social movements. Sociologists study how these social
reforms help shape or change social inequality that exists in a
society, as well as their origins, impact, and long-term affects.
Today, social media plays a large role in social reform campaigns,