Understanding Social inequality

Social class

Patterns in attainment and social class• In 2005 76% of children from higher professional backgrounds achieved 5 or more A*-C,

compared to only 32% from routine worker backgrounds.• At advanced level 69% of children with parents in professional or intermediate jobs achieve either

As or A levels compared to 33% from unskilled backgrounds.• Gilchrist et al: identified an increase in rates of participation in higher education amongst all social

classes but the increase has been more marked amongst students from higher social class backgrounds. 64% of students from higher social class backgrounds achieve higher education qualifications compared to only 6% from unskilled backgrounds.

• Forsyth and Furlong (2003) found that the cost of higher education and the prospect of debt were putting off bright working-class students. Its concerning that bright working-class student wont apply to university and instead less able children from wealthier backgrounds will apply and succeed.

• Pierre Bourdieu suggests that children from lower socio-economic groups backgrounds may be disadvantaged in education because they lack the kind of culture that offers them a passport to succeed. Bourdieu claims that the culture of children from higher socio-economic backgrounds gives them an advantage which he refers to as cultural capital. He suggests that the education system is biased towards the culture of the dominant class. This gives an unfair advantage to children from the dominant class and disadvantages those from the working-class.

• Ball (1995) suggests that parents from higher social classes do indeed take advantage of cultural capital. They are better equipped to negotiate the system.

• Sullivan tested Bourdieu's theory and she concluded that cultural capital was one mechanism that higher class families use to ensure educational advantage for their children.

Patterns in health and social classMorbidity and morality:• The black report (1980): provides evidence of the clear relationship between social

class and morbidity. The gap between the higher and lower classes increased markedly. The aged group of 45-64 17% of professional men reported a limited longstanding illness compared to 48% of unskilled men. The same pattern occurs in woman, with 25% of professional and 45% of unskilled. This shows social class has a significant effect in health inequalities.

• Infant mortality rates fell substantially over the 20th centaury but differentials still exist by father’s socio-economic status, birth weight, marital status of parents and mother country of birth. The infant mortality rate is highest for babies with fathers in semi-routine and routines occupations.

• Bristol university: 15.5% of the population in Springburn, Glasgow a predominantly working-class area, suffer from chronic illnesses; whereas in mainly middle-class Wokingham in Berkshire the percentage is a mere 3.6%.

• 71% of deaths of people under 65 between 1992-1995 would not have occurred if people in all parts of Britain had the same health chances as those in the most prosperous areas, 10,000 lives would have been saved.

• Shaw et al (1999) claimed on the basis of her research, that social class inequalities in health are inextricably linked to material deprivation and poverty. Income inequalities can create a range of health-related problems associated with poor diet, unequal access to health care, poor housing and increased risk of disease.

Patterns in crime and social class• Glueck and Glueck, say close examination of the characteristics of prisoners during the first

half of the twentieth century indicated that a disproportionate percentage were poor, uneducated and unemployed. These statistics showed a general link between class and crime.

• In 2000 80% of offenders convicted or cautioned were male and 41% were under the age of 21.

• Walmsley et al (1992) found that a disproportionate number of the prisoner had formerly been employed in either unskilled or partly skilled work.

• Maguire confirmed this picture of the typical offender as male, young, often black, poor people who are poorly educated.

• Self report studies suggest a link between criminal activities and social-class. Burglary, robbery and car theft are linked to the long-term unemployed and those dependant on welfare.

White collar crime and corporate:• Sutherland claims crime is not necessarily a working-class phenomenon but the coast of

white collar crime was likely to be much greater then the cost of working-class crime.• Hughes and Langan (2001) suggest that white collar crimes are much less visible, and they

are sometimes called victimless crimes because there may be no individual victim as there would be in a robbery or a murder. This results in an inequality in perceptions of the typical criminal and in the likelihood of conviction for those committing white collar crimes.

• Croall (2001) claims that corporate crimes are potentially much more damaging to greater numbers of people than are street crimes and yet street crimes have a higher profile and are much more likely to result in convictions and imprisonment for the offender.

Gini coefficient in the UK

Inequality within the UK is rising in terms of wealth and poverty. Disposable income measuring inequality has Risen from 27 to 40 from 1980- 2008/9.

Poverty definition• Being poor• Having a low income• the state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount.

• Having less than 60% of the average median household income after deducting household cost, is considered as being in poverty. This being said 18% of the population is therefore considered to be in poverty. 60% of those in poverty are home OWNERS!.

• The richest 10th of people have 30% of income in the UK.

Jock young

Relative deprivation: In relation to where you live, is dependant on how poverty stricken you are.

Hans Rosling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVimVzgtD6w

The culture of povertyPoverty:– Low motivation– Poor work habits– Cant postpone gratification

• Poverty is passed on, inherited, similarly to wealth. Bad habits are passed on through generation.

• Critics say the poor being poor does not reward the middle class work habits.

• Our culture is rewards and reinforces the ideas of the middle class. The working-class is ignored so habits do not change.

functionalismParsons: inequality is inevitable and managed by common values.Davis & Moore(1967): argue some tasks are more important and difficult. We offer more rewards so the best people can take them. Inherited wealth makes for a stable society. Those who inherit wealth have been taught how to make their wealth productive. Stratification exists in all societies, its inevitable, and functional. Different levels of ability are matched into appropriate roles.Tumin’s Critique: how can we label which jobs are important. (Janitor who clean an operating room). Some of the best people do not rise to the top and some at the top are not good enough.Saunders(1996)- says Britain is unequal. Doesn’t mean its unfair. It’s a meritocracy. Inequality is not inevitable but beneficial. It motivates people to work hard and develop, income is an incentive.Breen & goldthorpe (2000)- Saunders ignores ‘plight of the unemployed. There's a cycle that’s hard to get out of.

Structural theory• Structural theory emphasizes negative aspects of inequality: exploitation of

workers by owners, prejudice against working-class and poor people. Marx: all systems since hunter gatherers have produced a dominant class. Weber- class is determined by a persons potiion in the market placeLenski: the existence of an economic surplus leads to the question of how to distribute it.

Individualist• Common belief is that poverty and success depends on effort. People

attribute their successes to effort and their failures to luck.• When looking at others we put this in reverse and success of others is

luck and failure lack of effort.

Neo-Marxism• The middle class is not represented in Karl Marx's theories, and now

it is the biggest group in society.• Middle-classes share common values with the ruling classes.• There is now a ‘petty bourgeoisie’(celebrities)

Marxism• Human activity means there is need for roles to be fulfilled to satisfy

the need for material items. This engages humans for work for a living, and to develop.

• Marx claims that there are only 2 classes the workers and the capitalists.

• Marx claims that the ruling class control infrastructure, education and the media. These are the three main institutions ideologically controlling the workers.

• Marxs says that inequality is a product of interests and exploitation. Workers are therefore being controlled into a false state of consciousness, thinking inequality is fair.

Althusser: argues schools are ‘giant myth making machines’to ideologically control and train children of the two classes for adult life.

Postmodernism• Lifestyle choices are now based on more of a personal agent

not a person wealth.

Weberian• Class is essentially an economically based aspect of inequality.• Weber claims that a persons class is determined by there market situation.• He argues and agrees with Marx, saying a persons place in the market place

determines their opportunities for higher education, good housing and healthcare.

• Weber coined the term market situation to mean a persons job determined by their skills and the demand for those skills at any one time.

• Webber argues that class and social mobility is determined by the demand for a persons skills at one given time.

Approaches to poverty reduction

• Trickle down approach: leave, or put money in at the top: for example by reducing the capital gain tax (method favoured by the wealthy, republicans conservatives.)

• Percolate up approach: provide for needs of the poor directly. (generally favoured by the poor, democrats, liberals.)

study/ experiment examples of inequality

• A girl like me: Kenneth & Mamie Clark (1939-1940)– Children with dark skin prefer to play with the white doll, in

most cases they feel that it is the most attractive/ good, this is down to the media and the society the children are socialised within.

• Blue eyed Brown eyed exercise: Jane Elliot (1968)– Another example of inequality/ racism. – A teacher exclaims blue eyes are better, and children fought

over the idea that brown eyes were inferior. This is discrimination caused by socialisation.

Xenophobia: intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries, or people who are different, of inferior quality.

Social class and social inequality

How is society organised?– Society is organised monolithically. It has parts.

Society can be divided among:– interdependent institutions (functionalism-

dependant on a variety of people)– Gender (feminism)– Class (Marxism- conflict approach, see society as

comprising inequality and conflict among its elements.)

Systems of stratification• Ascription vs achievement: both are at work

in social stratification (meritocracy)• Caste: purely ascription based system (lower

and upper e.g. india.• Class: combination of ascription and

achievement (able to rise)• Meritocracy: purely achievement based

system.

Cultural conflict theories• Sellin et al: look at culture as the stratifying principle.– Culture: beliefs, values etc.– Cultural conflict occurs through immigration, changes in

borders.– Dominant cultural groups ‘win’ in conflict by assimilating

the less powerful group or treating it as deviant (war).

Group conflict approaches• Weber: society consists of various interest groups that

vary in power. These interest groups are defigned by:– Financial situation (class)– Prestige– Political position

Social mobility• Moving through the class system

– You can be upwardly or downwardly mobile.

Terms: Closed society: feudal systemOpen society: work hard enough and you will succeed e.g.. American dream.Ascribed status: born into a careerAchieved status: achieved a careerAbsolute mobility: a measure of how much mobility a person has.Relative mobility: relative to others social mobility.Inter-generational mobility: social mobility between parents and their children.Intra-generational mobility: social mobility within our lifespan.Social closure: where certain roles or status is prevented.Meritocracy: status achieved by merit/ award.

Convectional wisdom of mobility, theories

• The closure thesis: argues the service class is largely self recruiting, reserving the privileged positions for its fellow upper classes and offspring. Goldthorpe found only a minority of the service class had been born into these careers so this class is only partly successful at guarding its privileges.

• The buffer zone thesis: argues these occupations cluster tightly together around the manual/ non manual zone acting as a ‘brake’, preventing long range mobility. Goldthorpe found newcomers to the service class are sometimes drawn from all the other classes. So long range mobility is not so unusual.

• The counterbalancing thesis: this argues that during war intergenerational mobility increases but intra generational mobility has declines. Goldthorpe found limited evidence of this, there were signs employers are increasingly relying on direct recruitment of highly qualified and educated individuals (rather than those working there way up). Goldthorpe found intergenerational mobility just as important as intergenerational mobility.

Glass (1952) social mobilityUntil the Oxford Studies, the famous study by Glass was the key reference for evidence of social mobility. The survey was done in 1949 when about 4,000 males were studied to see what happened to them (i.e. they were asked about class of origin, their first job, and their present job to see if any movement up or down had occurred).

How he defines class:1. Professional- high administrative2. Managerial- executive3. Inspectional –supervisory, non managerial4. Skilled manual- routine grades, non manual5. Semi-skilled manual- partly skilled6. Unskilled manual- completely unskilled

Findings:Glass found Britain was pretty "closed" with little mobility, and what there was limited in range, and mostly from manual occupations into a semi-manual "buffer zone". It turns out that Glass was actually pretty unlucky however - in 1949 he was still measuring the effects of the economic and political systems of the 1900's, one characterised by depression and slump.

The oxford/ Nuffield studies Goldthorpe & Lockwood (1972)

About 10,000 males were researched to test a number of social "theses" about social mobility. 10,000 men aged 20-64 were interviewed in England and wales.

How he defines class: Goldthorpe allocated the men into seven social classes, based on market situation. And into 3 clusters:1. Service class (highly privileged group)2. Intermediate3. Working (opposite end of the hierarchy, unprivileged)

Findings:Absolute mobility- found surprisingly high rates of absolute mobility and the main reason for this was the transformation of the occupational structure of post war Britain. There had been an enormous expansion in the number of service class and intermediate jobs and this had created more room at the top. So compared with previous generations, working class people now had a better chance of moving upwards. Relative mobility- Someone born into the middle class had a good chance of getting a middle class job but someone born into an unskilled manual family had a slimmer chance of becoming middle class. Goldthorpe argued that absolute mobility prospects had improved, he suggested there had been little change in relative mobility rates. The odds were still weighted in favour of those from the higher classes and so equality of opportunity had not been achieved. Britain was no more ‘fluid or open’ than it had been in the inter war period.

Registrar general’s scale (up to 2000)Figures based on employment of adult male In household:

• Class One ProfessionalAccountant, architect, chemist, doctor, clergyman, judge, lawyer, optician, solicitor…

• Class Two IntermediateFarmer, laboratory technician, M.P. nurse, police officer, teacher…..

• Class Three Skilled non-manualCashier, clerical worker, estate agent, sales rep. secretary, shop assistant, waiter……

• Class Three Skilled manualBaker, bus driver, bricklayer, carpenter, electrician, hairdresser, policeman, train driver…

• Class Four Semi-skilledAgricultural worker, barman, fisherman, hospital orderly, machine sewer, packer…

• Class Five Unskilled manualRoad sweeper, labourer, car park attendant, refuse collector, window cleaner

The underclassSaunders: the underclass; Multiple deprivation, socially marginalised, almost entirely dependant on the state and a culture of ‘resigned fatalism’.Man (1995):under classes; advocates 1. views the culture and behaviour of the underclass as a danger. 2. are sympathetic to the underclass’s ‘plight’. 3. those who reject the validity of the term.Lewis (1968): cultural poverty thesis; poverty persists because of behaviour and values. Poverty cannot be eradicated by giving money to the poor. Short-termism; underclass (apathy ‘don’t care’). Long-termism; thinking ahead. Pilkington(1992): discredited for ignoring structural thesis. Poverty grows/ persists despite increases in welfare.Murray: underclass is genetic, the underclass have high birth-rates outside of marriage, inadequate parenting, absent fathers and high crime rates. Argues the underclass needs to be weaned off dependency.Lister: danger is the concept of the underclass, its so imprecise. Rex & Tomlinson (1979): used relative deprivation of ethnic minorities in relation to employment, housing &education.

Theorists on the underclassStructuralists:Rex & Tomlinson: argues there is a material disadvantage of the ethnic minority groups. This occurs as a result of racism, or due to the fact ethnic minorities have the most poorly paid jobs. He argues the underclass are victims of the capitalist society. Class however is blurred between working-class and underclass because of British society benefits such as the NHS. Hall: argues its misleading to just view young homeless people as having typical cultural values because they face many structural constraints such as having poor backgrounds and lack of confidence. Underclass behaviour is a result of difficult circumstances.Pilkington: argues there is no evidence that ethnic minorities possess the cultural values of the underclass, some have a great deal of cultural capital.Wilson: thinks the government has failed to generate enough jobs for people, leading to social insolation in bad neighbourhoods, being jobless is a way of life, undermining the nuclear family and destroying the social fabric of poor people.

Culturalists: Marsland: argues that welfare benefits mean people do not need to look after themselves, so people choose to stay unemployed. He argues people should be encouraged by poverty to go to work.

Both:Dahrendorf: identified structural factors such as emplopyment and recession but adapts his structural explanation to take cultural factors into account. He argues that the longer that people remain in the underclass the more likely it is they will assimilate into its cultural values, becoming more dependant, loosing discipline.

‘Loyd Rants’

• He suggests meritocracy encourages stratification because even in a mixed up society social mobility occurs and reverts back to a class system/ stratified system.

• He argues that if welfare is given to everyone at a set amount, and nobody has to declare their income under a certain amount, however the taxation system still fund this benefit. He argues that if everyone is given a benefit some people will be encouraged to go work to add to there wage, and therefore gain skills and be socially mobile, getting out the ditch/ cycle of the underclass.

Bernstein • Bernstein made a significant contribution to the study of communication with his sociolinguistic

theory of language codes e.g. elaborated and restricted codes.• Bernstein’s theory shows how the language people use in everyday conversation both reflects and

shapes the assumptions of a certain social group. Furthermore, relationships established within the social group affect the way that group uses language, and the type of speech that is used.

• As an educator, he was interested in accounting for the relatively poor performance of working-class students in language-based subjects, when they were achieving scores as high as their middle-class counterparts on mathematical topics. In his theory, Bernstein asserts a direct relationship between societal class and language.

• The restricted code is suitable for insiders who share assumptions and understanding on the topic, whereas the elaborated code does not assume that the listener shares these assumptions or understandings, and thus elaborated code is more explicit, more thorough, and does not require the listener to read between the lines.

• Restricted: Within the restricted code, speakers draw on background knowledge and shared understanding. This type of code creates a sense of includedness, a feeling of belonging to a certain group. Restricted codes can be found among friends and families and other intimately knit groups.

• Elaborated: the elaborated code spells everything out, not because it is better, but because it is necessary so that everyone can understand it. It has to elaborate because the circumstances do not allow the speaker to condense.” The elaborated code works well in situations where there is no prior or shared understanding and knowledge, where more thorough explanation is required. If one is saying something new to someone they’ve never met before, they would most certainly communicate in elaborated code.

Ruqaiya Hasan: (Bernstein's study repeated, with variations)

• extended empirical examination of Bernstein's code theory. A 10 year project conducted at Macquarie University. He collected data from every day contexts of interaction between mothers and children from two socially separated locations. 1. families from higher autonomy professionals 2. lower autonomy professionals. Hasan found significant differences in the ways these families interacted, across social class lines there were major differences in how mothers and young children from working class vs middle class families framed questions and answers, commands and requests, and grounds and reasons in casual conversation in normal settings. And second, it showed that the usual mode of teachers’ talk with these children was if anything an exaggerated version of the typical middle-class ways of meaning.

Power, influence

and choice!

Power: the ability to achieve a desired outcome, sometimes, referred to as power to. The exercise of control by one person over

another or as power over.

• Marx: power is with the owners of production. They have control over the workers. All structures are instruments of the dominant ruling class.

• Webber: power and influence do not belong exclusively to the owners of production. Those with marketable skills gain power and prestige.

W.G. Runciman: according to Runciman those with power fall into 3 categories:

– Ownership: someone owning the power of production or industry they have power. (Alan Sugar, Bill Gates)

– Control: those with the right to control or direct the production or service. (trade unions, managers)

– Marketability: those with the abilities and skills. (celebrities, media)

The three faces of power

• Decision making: notion of physical or mechanical power, being forced against our will.

• Agenda setting: in reality no human being is entirely independent minded. Thoughts are structured and shaped by social experiences (by family, peers, school, work, the media, and politics.) (Marcuse: persuasive manipulation of needs)

• Thought control: the ability to set political agendas.

Marx and Webbers ideal 3 types of authority.

• Traditional authority: authority is based upon respect. Its legitimate because it has always existed and was accepted by earlier generations. This type of authority is found amongst small groups or tribes (patriarchalism and gerontocracy)

• Charismatic authority: the power of an individuals personality. Come across personally direct and charismatic. Politicians try to come across in this way.

• Legal- rational authority: the dominant mode of organisation within modern industrial societies. Dominance. The existence of power, authority is gained by the power the person has to change things.

ethnicity

• An ethnic group is a social category of people who share a common culture, such as a common language, a common religion, or common norms, customs, practices, and history.

• Race is a socially constructed category. A race is a group that is treated as distinct in society based on certain characteristics.

• A minority group is any distinct group in society that shares common group characteristics and is forced to occupy low status in society because of prejudice and discrimination.

Definitions

• Whilst 58% of Indian boys achieve 5 A*-C grades at GCSE only 32% of African Caribbean boys do so.

• Chinese backgrounds do evidently better than all other ethnic groups with 78% of girls gaining 5 A*-C Grades and 71% of boys doing so.

• Gillborn and Mirza: found whilst attainment has improved in all ethnic groups, white pupils have improved the most, widening the attainment gap between minority groups.

Patterns

• Herrnstein and Murray: differences in intelligence do emerge and are real, they are the result of years of economic disadvantage not innate differences in IQ also results are cultural differences, language differences, or cultural deprivation.

• Studies of labelling and more recently, school exclusions of disruptive pupils have led some sociologists to argue that schools are ‘institutionally racist’. This is a complex concept, but the implication is that while individual teachers may not intentionally act in a racist way, the effects of their beliefs and the way they treat students can have racist consequences.

Ethnicity & Attainment

This bar graph shows attainment, by ethnicity. This particular graph shows the percentage of students achieving 5+ GCSE passes in one year. The national average is 51% of students passing 5 or more GCSE’s. The Chinese minority group shows to be overachieving on 73%, overachieving 22% and the black Caribbean minority group are underachieving on 30 %, this is anunderachievement of 21%. On the other hand white students are dead on national average. (2003)

This shows the average tariff score of a variety of ethnic groups. Similarly to GCSE passes, Chinese achieve the highest at an average traffic score of 209, compared to the lowest achievers on 129 being black Africans. UK whites achieve on average 171tarrif points, again close to national average. (2004/5)

• Gillborn (1990): boys of African-Caribbean origin are often thought of as disruptive and unruly, difficult to control.

• He suggests African Caribbean pupils (boys in particular) are more likely to be given a detention, and sent out of lessons.

• Sewell (1996): claims that teachers have stereotyped ideas about black boys and are more likely to interpret their behaviour negatively.

• Wright (1992): argues teachers do in fact demonstrate overt racism (behaviour that demonstrates the belief that one race is superior to another). She argues that teachers pay less attention on Asian student because of expectations.

• Connolly (1998): came to very similar conclusions based on classroom research, found teachers expect poor behaviour from black boys ad were more likely to discipline them for what they perceived to be bad behaviour

• Gillborn and Youdell (2000): argue teacher racism is a major factor explaining the low attainment of black pupils.

Overall writers suggest that negative labelling of pupils can have a negative effect on their achievements.

Research in the classroom

This bar graph shows employment by ethnicity group, excluding students. It shows that in all cases men have higher employment rates than woman. The highest employment rate is in china, with men just over 80% in 2001, and woman just under 80% in 2001. The lowest employment rate however in this graph it shows that Bangladeshi has the lowest employment rates. Woman being only just over 20% and men roughly 70%, but perhaps this is more down to norms and values of the culture as it is common for woman to have a traditional domestic life.

Employment

• Home office statistics reveal that black groups are overrepresented in every stage of the criminal justice system.– Black ethnic groups make up 1.8% of the population and 8% of arrests, and 12% of the prison

population. • White ethnic groups are underrepresented.

– Being less likely to be arrested, cautioned or imprisoned. • Holdaway: suggest police officers had stereotypical views on the criminality of youths from

African-Caribbean backgrounds, these views result in much higher numbers of black youths being stopped and searched. African-Caribbeans are 6 times more likely than whites to be stopped and searched. Holdaway suggests that there is a canteen culture (stereotypical ideas) within the police.

• Example: following the Stephan Lawrence murder in 1993 police handling was investigated, concluding that police practices and procedures demonstrated institutional racism.

• Bowling and Philips (2002): suggest black people are more likely to be criminalised than whites. Mainly because they are socially excluded, this leads to more blacks playing significant roles in crime. They argue that blacks are also more likely to feel victimised.

Crime

• The health survey for England (2002) found smoking rates among Bangladeshi men are twice as high as in the general population. Smoking rates are also higher amongst the Irish and Black Caribbean. – It also found much higher rates of diseases including heart disease amongst

these groups. – Bangladeshi and Irish men have higher heart attack rates. – Higher rates of stroke are found in Black Caribbean, Bangladeshi and Indian men. – Bangladeshi and Pakistani men and woman have higher rates of disability.– In 2005 infant mortality rates were twice the figure in Pakistani and Caribbean

groups than white British. – Asian and blacks ethnic groups accounted for over 11% of live births and 17% of

infant deaths.– Half of Infant deaths in the Pakistani group were due to abnormalities compared

with only a quarter of deaths in the white British group.

Health

FunctionalistsSheila Patterson (1965) existing disadvantage will gradually ‘melt away’. Immigrants become accepted and assimilated.

MarxistCapitalism encourages ethnic division and disadvantage. Ethnic groups staying within working class as cheap labour

New rightMurray: subcultures of some ethnic groups cause disadvantage.

weberiansJohn Rex: ethnic minorities are themselves structurally distinct from the rest of the working-class in that they occupy the position of ‘underclass’ becoming alienated from the rest of the working-class.

gender

HistoricallyHunter gathering societies:• Survival• Co-operation• Male hunting• Woman care for children, gather food

and process it.• Little differentiation• Roles not valued differentlyAgricultural societies:• Job speculation • Private property• Money economy• Paid workers= statuses• Woman and men work together• Men participated in public life• Woman and children were seen as

property

Industrialisation:• Separated men and woman’s work• Lengthened childhood dependency• Increased cost of children• Raised standard of living, and

aspirations• Shifted economic production away

from family• Family formation became personal

choiceThe modern woman:• Works inside the home• Brought out the best in her husband • Pure and spiritual• Submissive to man• domestic

1940’s- 1950’s:• Ww2, woman entered the

labour force.• Post war there was an

economic boom- in early marriage.

• There was a baby boom- renewed emphasis on marriage and children.

• There was typically a breadwinner and a homemaker.

1960’s- 1970’s• Birth rate plunged• Contraception (the pill)• Changing opportunities

for woman• Marriage increased by 4-5 a

year later• Young independence• Divorce doubled• Cohabitation 70’s• Wives and mother worked

outside home.

Reserve army of labour:• Marxism: workers are exploited• Capitalist societies swing between booms and recessions.Veronica Beechey (1986): woman are ideally placed to be a reserve army.• Men initiate up to 96% of all interruptions in cross-sex conversations.• Men are likely to change the topic of conversation and they minimise the

contributions of female ideas. The oppressed majority (woman)• Sexism: ideology that one sex is superior. Male prejudice and discrimination.• Institutional discrimination: denial of opportunities and equal rights to

individuals or groups. • Woman suffer both!

Sexual harassment!• Behaviour occurs when work benefits are made contingent on sexual favours or

pornographic material creates a hostile environment.Minority woman: double jeporady:• Woman also experience differential treatment because of their race and

ethnicity.• This can also become triple jeopardy if the woman is also disabled, old are ill.

Cognitive development theory• Kohlberg: Emphasizes child's participation in understanding

gender and associated behaviours.– Stage 1: gender labelling (age3)

• Able to learn there own sex and judge others, however don’t understand gender is fixed.

– Stage 2: gender stability (age 3-5)• Realise gender is a fixed trait. (mommy or daddy)

– Stage 3: gender consistency (age 6/7)• External feats. Such as a bloke in a dress may confuse the child.

• Huston (1983): in infancy, both sexes are marked preferences for male or female toys.

Criticisms• Bem: criticizes his mythology. Says all that is being assessed is a

child's understanding of social hues. • Martin and Halverson: suggests children adopt a ‘pretend’

mode, there answers do not reflect what they really think.

Social learning theory• Genders/ sexes behave in different ways because there parents treat them

differently.• Observational learning and reinforcement of gender, and force it amongst

children.• SLT suggests gender consistency occurs earlier within boys because male role

models are typically more powerful.Research evidence:• Baby X: research by Smith and Loyd (1978) adults were asked to interact with

infants dress in unisex clothing of either blue or pink. The suits were all mixed and not gender specific. It was shown that the adults interacted with the infants based on what they were wearing , according to the gender they believed the child was. This indicates that a baby's perceived gender is part of the baby's social environment because people treat the child according to perceptions of gender. This causes gender to become a determining factor in development of the child's gender role identity

• Sroufe et al (1993) observed children around the age of 10-11 and found those children who did not behave in a gender specific way were likely to be least popular.

Socio-biological theory

• Mead (1935) both parents bear a child. Mothers there daughters, fathers there sons. Motherhood is however biological and fatherhood is a social intervention.

Feminism• There are 3 grouped explanations for gender stratification:

– Liberal: suggest that once genuine equal rights have been established accidents of birth like sex will become more irrelevant in society. Liberal feminism has been concerned with changing laws and reforms, liberal shave also narrowed the pay gab between the genders. Liberal feminists are all for anti-discrimination.

– Radical: argue that the power within society resides in men. Men are the ruling class and woman are repressed. Sexual oppression is seen as the most fundamental form of inequality, with class and ethnicity being irrelevant/ secondary. Radical feminists call on woman to unite globally against male power. They believe that gender inequality can be both cultural and biological.• Sherry B Ortner (1974): because woman give birth they are seen as closer to nature than

men.• Shulamith Flrestone (1970): gender inequalities are the direct result of biology e.g.

pregnancy =disadvantage of biology, and inequality.

– Marxist: argue there are 2 sources of gender inequality; capitalism and patriarchy. Woman are exploited by men in capitalist society socially and economically.• Engels: the emergence of capitalism has resulted in the worlds historical defeat of the

female sex. The bourgeoisie families pass down there wealth to the eldest son typically. Oppressed woman are a cheap back up labour force.

Gender inequality within the family• Legal and general (2000): discovered full-time working mothers spent 56 hours per

week on housework and childcare, compared to full-time working men spending 31 hours.

• Duncombe and Marsden suggest that woman bear the brunt of domestic and emotion work in families, meaning that woman spend a considerable amount of time soothing the emotions of both heir children and partners (Dual burden). Woman also in modern day experience ‘Triple Shift’ of paid work, domestic labouring and also emotion workd.

Dual Burden: the responsibilities of both paid work and domestic work.Triple shift: the claim that woman go to work, do domestic labour and look after the families emotions.

• Dryden: claims that woman continue to have the major responsibility for housework and child care and in the same vein Speakman and Marchington suggest that men feign ignorance or incompetency when using household machinery as a way of getting out of household tasks.

• A functionalist explanation of gender: A nuclear family is necessary for socialisation of children and the stability of adults. The female role is expressive which portrays the security and warmth that family needs and the role also helps her husband cope with the stress of being a breadwinner.

Decision making within the family• Edgell suggests that middle-class wives were likely to defer to

their husbands in decision making such as moving house or buying a new car.

• Jan Pahl’s suggests that in money management, even in situations where it might appear that the woman controls finances, her decisions are almost always beneficial to the man

Violence in families• Sclater(2000) suggests that violence and inequalities in power

can be demonstrated through, threats, verbal abuse and psychological intimidation as well as the more obvious physical violence such as punching and kicking.

• Stanko (2000) says that of all reported violent acts, one third are committed by men on their female partners. She claims that one incident of domestic violence against woman is reported to police every minute.

Gender inequality in education• In 2006 78% of girls obtained level 5 or above in english at keystage 3 compared to 64%

of boys.• At GCSE the pattern is very simular with 53% of boys gaining 5 GCSE grades A*-C

compared to 63% of girls.• At A level performance is improving with females gaining 2 or more a-level passes rising

20% to 45% and boys rising 18% to 35%. However with both genders improving the gender can ahs increased.

• Females also outperform boy in all subject areas.• Female participation in taking their a levels has increased more rapidly than boys in 1970

33% of students in higher education were female by 2007 57% were females.Stanworth(1983) suggests teachers held stereotypical views of what their female students might do in the future with even the most able of students being expected to be a personal assistant of someone important. Stanworth claimed that classroom interaction disadvantaged girls. Becky Francis (2000) suggests that boys dominate in the classroom and in curriculum content. 8/10 classes boys were noiser than girls and dominated teachers attention.Mistos and Browne suggest that the attention that boys receive from teachers is often negative attention and this can disadvantage and demotivate them. They argue teachers are less strict with boys and allow them more leeway on deadlines. Boys may be experiencing an identity crisis and the feminisation of the workplace offers little motivation for them to achive.

Gender inequality in work and payVertical segregation: the tendency for men and woman to be employed at different levels of power and pay.• Woman tend to be decidedly underrepresented at the higher levels of occupation, and it has been

suggested that this is due to the ‘glass ceiling’(implying that woman experience an invisible barrier beyond which it is difficult for them to progress.)

• 45% of Britain's workforce are woman. However only 9% of top company directors are woman, 6% of high court judges and 29% of head teachers are woman even though 90% of teachers are female.

horizontal segregation: men and woman being located in different sorts of occupation.• The 2001 Labour Force Survey: 90% of nurses are woman, 88% of hairdressers and 86% of primary

and nursery teachers are woman. Only 8% of security guards are woman. 71% of IT technicians are men and 63% of solicitors and judges are men.

Differences in pay:• woman on average earn 40% less than men. This could be because they work in different sectors, it

could be because of ‘the glass ceiling’ barrier or because woman are more likely to have part-time work to have breaks to care for children. Woman tend to work in the public sector which is one the whole less well paid than the private sector.

Feminisation of the workforce:• In contemporary society more woman are now economically active because of increased

opportunities in traditional female occupations, and a decrease in traditional male occupations. • Beynon (2002) suggests that the decline of industry in Britain has been vary damaging for

working0class men whose skills have become redundant.• More than 8 in 10 part-time employees are woman.

Statistics (work/ pay)

• There are twice as many men than woman in higher managerial and professional occupations.

• There are more woman in lower managerial and professional occupations than men.

• There are visible differences in the life chances and life courses of mean and woman.

• Stanko(1988) (Marxist/ Feminist): woman are sexually harassed and find themselves unable to complain or take further action because of the dominant position of men in the workplace.

Sociological views upon inequality

• All sociologists agree that society is a stratification system based on a hierarchy or property, power and prestige. Structuring social inequality. All sociologists also agree that inequality is about who gets what, how and why?

• All sociologists do not agree historically about the status of social inequality.– Some argue its natural and inevitable (functionalists) – Others argue it is exploitive, a contest for success, false

consciousness. http://www.yorku.ca/lfoster/2010-11/HRES3890/lectures/THE_STUDY_OF_SOCIAL_INEQUALITY.htm

Case Study: KibbutzKibbutz is a type of society with no stratification!• Men and woman are equal• It’s a farming community where both men and woman can

participate in any job, and work together.• The society cannot be maintain is responsibility is not shared.• There are strong beliefs of shared responsibility.• Anyone can join the community.• nobody owns positions, cars, TV’s and toilets are communal.• Children are brought up together in children centres, where

parents can see there children for a certain amount of hours a day.

• However children are adopting capitalist ideals and families are refusing to put there children in these centres.

disability

Disability Medical model:• Physical impairment• Dependant and weak• Can be solved or treated medically• Blames the person for there disabilitySocial model:• Society needs to be fixed• Attitudes, stereotypes, access and rites.Oliver (1990) personal tragedy • Coming to terms with the problem• It should be seen as a social problem• A disability is only a disability when economic and social factors make it

Capitalism and disability

Vic Finklestein (1980) disabled people were not segregated before industrialisation. They preformed functional tasks e.g. begging, farming. With new technology however they are no longer needed. Without work they become a burden/ segragated. Tom Shakespeare (1994) all societies are negative towards impairment.