SOCIETY

UNDERSTANDING ITS FOUNDATIONS AND ITS

COMPLEXITIES

1. CULTURE

• Material• Non-Material

2. NORMS

The Social Behaviors we most commonly expect to

encounter

LEVELS OF NORMS

1) Morés2) Customs3) Folkways

NEGATIVE RESPONSES FOR FAILURE TO CONFORM TO

NORMS

•Sanctions•Stigma

SOCIETIES ARE DIVERSE

Encounters between diverse social groups lead to social

responses that may be positive or negative in their

impact

CULTURE SHOCK

Encountering Behavior so different from the norm it is

difficult to understand or accept

CULTURAL RELATIVISM

Analysis in which judgment emerges finding behavior that is acceptable in one

society may not be acceptable in others

ETHNOCENTRIC COMPARISON AND JUDGMENT

Comparing cultures using one’s own culture as the standard for comparison

BLAME ANALYSISA Product of Culture Shock, Relativism and Ethnocentric

Judgment

Blaming Those Who are Visible and Different

All of the Preceding are essential to understanding

the Development of Society, and understanding

processes ofSocialization

SOCIALIZATION

The process(es) of learning to be a member of society;

a social performer

THE SOCIALIZATION PROCESS

• Lifelong• Complex

• Product of Numerous and Diverse Variables

VARIABLES OF THE SOCIALIZATION PROCESS

1.INDIVIDUAL2.AGENCY

INDIVIDUAL

COMPONENTS OF SELF

• Gender• Age• Race

• Ethnicity• Unique Individual

Experience

AGENCY

Structural Forces with Authority and Power

•LAW ENFORCEMENT•FAMILY

•EDUCATION SYSTEM•LAW – GOVERNMENT / DMV•CORPORATE STRUCTURES

•MASS MEDIA•RELIGION

•HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

STRATIFICATION – DIVISION OF SOCIETY INTO MEASURABLE

LAYERS

•CLASS

•STATUS

STRATIFICATION AND CLASS

The Measurable Division of Society

Two Primary Questions to Address:

• Why does stratification occur?

• How does stratification occur?

SOCIO-HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

• Slavery

• Caste

• Estate System

• Social Class System

ECONOMICALLY BASEDSOCIAL CLASS

POSITION WITHIN THE SOCIAL CLASS SYSTEM IS:

• FLUID• ACHIEVED• ECONOMICALLY BASED• LARGE SCALE AND IMPERSONAL

THE REALITY OF SOCIAL CLASS

CLASS DIVISIONS ARE REAL, ARE POWERFUL IN THEIR SOCIAL IMPACT, AND ARE MEASURED BY:

1. INCOME2. PERSONAL WEALTH

DIVISION BY INCOME

INCOME CHANGE SINCE 1999:

1. WEALTHIEST 1% SAW INCOME RISE AVG. OF 9%

2. BOTTOM 20% SAW INCOME DECLINE 2.5%3. MIDDLE 20% SAW INCOME RISE 1.3%

DIVISION BY INCOME

INCOME GAP SINCE 1999:

1. TOP 20% EARNED 7x THAT OF POOREST 20%

2. WEALTHIEST EXPERIENCING INCOME GROWTH AT DOUBLE THAT OF THE MIDDLE CLASS

DIVISION BY INCOME

1. TOP 1% EARNED 21.2% OF INCOME (1/100 EARNED 1/5 OF INCOME)

2. TOP 10% EARNED 46.44% OF INCOME

3. BOTTOM 50% EARNED 12.83% OF INCOME

DIVISION OF WEALTH

• DATA TAKEN FROM FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD

• CONCENTRATION OF WEALTH AMONG A SMALL NUMBER OF FAMILIES

SOCIAL MOBILITY

1. VERTICAL MOVEMENT IS ANTICIPATED AND EXPECTED

2. INTRAGENERATIONAL3. INTERGENERATIONAL

• MOVEMENT IS BASED ON STRUCTURE AND EXCHANGE

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVESON SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

• Conflict Theory – Economically Based; Class System Dominates Based on Control Systems

• Functional Theory – Based on Social Imbalance, beginning with Industrialization

• Symbolic Interaction Theory – Based on and Perpetuated by Perceivable Differences; Weber introduces concept of Status as Mitigator of Power of Social Class