This document discusses social stratification and how societies rank people in hierarchies based on access to resources. It outlines four principles of social stratification: it is a characteristic of societies, not individuals; it persists over generations; it is universal but variable; and it involves inequality and beliefs used to justify the stratification. The document also discusses types of stratification systems like caste and class, and how people in the US are stratified based on income, prestige, wealth, education, and power, providing examples of the unequal distribution of income and wealth.

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2. Social Stratification, Social
Class, and Ethnicity

3. Social Stratification
A system by which a society ranks
categories of people in a hierarchy
based on their access to scarce
resources.

4. Four Basic Principles of
Social Stratification:
It is a characteristic of society, not
simply a reflection of individual
differences.
It persists over generations.
It is universal but variable.
It involves not just inequality but beliefs.

5. Cultural beliefs serve to
justify social stratification.
That is part of the
reason why it persists.

6. Types of Stratification Systems
Caste System-
social
stratification
based on
ascribed status.
India and South
Africa
Class System-
social
stratification
based on
achieved status.

7. Interpretations of Stratification
 Functionalist
Meritocracy
 Social Conflict (Marx)
 Max Weber
Wealth, Prestige, Power
Socioeconomic status- An individual’s
comparative status in a society based on
factors (education, income and occupation).

8. People in the US are stratified
based on the following:
Income
Prestige
Wealth
Education
Power

9. Income
 Wages or salaries from work and earnings from
investments.
 Distribution of Income in the US
–Top 5th
47%
–Next 5th
24%
–Third 5th
16%
–Fourth 5th
10%
–Bottom 5th
4%

10. Wealth
 Total value of money and other assets, minus
outstanding debts.
Distribution of Wealth in the US
–Top 5th
80%
–Next 5th
15%
–Third 5th
5%
–Fourth 5th
less than 1%
–Bottom 5th
less than 1%

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