StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Describe a form of Soial Stratification other than the class system found in the United States - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Social stratification refers to the uneven allocation of power, influence, prestige, privileges, opportunities and material rewards among groups and individuals. There are two ways in which stratification can occur, the first one being where individuals are assigned to societal…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER94.6% of users find it useful
Describe a form of Soial Stratification other than the class system found in the United States
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Describe a form of Soial Stratification other than the class system found in the United States"

Introduction Social stratification refers to the uneven allocation of power, influence, prestige, privileges, opportunities and material rewards among groups and individuals. There are two ways in which stratification can occur, the first one being where individuals are assigned to societal roles using an ascribed status as the basis for the assignment. An ascribed status is an easily identifiable characteristic over which one has no control for instance, skin color, gender, family name, or age.

Under this are the estate and caste stratification systems. Secondly, individuals are assigned to societal roles using their achieved status as the basis for the assignment. This is referred to as the class system (Tischler, 198). Like any other society, the United States of America is stratified. This paper delves into the racial caste system of stratification in America.Highlands.edu records that when slavery came to an end in America, a racial caste system arose. Even in early 20th century, all whites were deemed to belong to a higher caste compared to all African Americans and the South maintained separate accommodations for the races.

Native Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, African Americans and White European Americans are the major racial groups in the US. Whites whose ancestors came from European countries constitute the dominant group. Latinos, despite being the largest racial group in the US, are badly off on all well-being indicators compared with Asian American and non-Hispanic whites. The country of origin is significant and Cuban Americans score much higher on well-being indicators. Puerto-Rican Americans score the lowest.

African Americans, even with numerous protests by civil rights movements, also face a legacy of racial discrimination even today. Evidently, as Highlands.edu highlights, despite gains made by some African Americans, some of them, especially the poorly educated, still lag behind in education, politics and economics. Other minority groups that have suffered racial discrimination in the US are Native Americans who have the highest poverty, suicide, alcoholism and unemployment rates and almost half of whom live in rural areas; and Asian Americans.

Jones and Barnes note that the coloreds are more likely to face incarceration, unemployment, poverty and lack of insurance compared to whites. In the year 2007, the rate of poverty was 8.2%, 24.5%, 10.2% and 21.5% for non-Hispanic whites, blacks, Asians and Hispanics respectively. The rate of unemployment was 4.1%, 8.3%, 3.2%, 5.6%, for non-Hispanic whites, blacks, Asians Hispanics or Latinos respectively while the uninsured rate was 10.4%, 19.5%, 16.8%, and 32.1% for non-Hispanic whites, blacks, Asians, and Hispanics respectively.

Records from the Bureau of Justice Statistics indicate that at the end of the year 2007, 33%, of the incarcerated males were non-Hispanic white males; 39%, were black males, and 20% were Hispanic. These numbers have definitely aggravated in America’s present economic crisis (3). Conclusion Apparently, despite the development of civil rights movements and Civil Rights Acts that challenge existing racial segregation patterns, a glaring proof of racial caste stratification system is still prevalent in the US.

The nation needs to unite in fighting against this form of stratification and instead pride itself in multi-racialism. Works CitedHighlands.edu. Ch 7 Global Stratification. 2007. Web. Jones, Trina and Barnes, Mario L. America Is Not Yet Post-Racial. 2009. Web.Tischler, Henry L. Introduction to Sociology. Stamford, Connecticut: Cengage Learning. 2010. Print.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Describe a form of Soial Stratification other than the class system Essay”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/sociology/1585833-describe-a-form-of-soial-stratification-other-than-the-class-system-found-in-the-united-states
(Describe a Form of Soial Stratification Other Than the Class System Essay)
https://studentshare.org/sociology/1585833-describe-a-form-of-soial-stratification-other-than-the-class-system-found-in-the-united-states.
“Describe a Form of Soial Stratification Other Than the Class System Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/sociology/1585833-describe-a-form-of-soial-stratification-other-than-the-class-system-found-in-the-united-states.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Describe a form of Soial Stratification other than the class system found in the United States

Sociology - Ethnicity Issues

The Asians in UK and the Africans in the united states have been a source of stereotyping for much of the crimes in the society.... Firstly, that forms where biological characteristics (such as skin color) are a determining characteristic of an individual's position in a stratification system.... In these societies, then there can be no legal obstacle to the promotion of racial and social mobility, racist, however contributes to the congregation of the various ethnic groups in the lowest positions in the stratification system....
4 Pages (1000 words) Research Paper

Enlightenment as Mass Deception

Acting as if they were one huge extended family, people across the united states and around the world began to come to each other's aid.... Within minutes we came to feel much less safe and much less secure than when we had awakened that morning. … Even before these barbaric acts of terrorism, markets and consumers were jittery.... No wonder that more people than ever before are asking, "How do I lead during times of chaos and uncertainty" Through the grief and anguish of all the tragedies, something truly amazing emerged....
9 Pages (2250 words) Book Report/Review

Theories of Political Powers

Main Articles to the Constitution: united states: article I- is a description of the congress and outlines the powers of the legislature and their limits.... The state of Nature is basically described as the situation when there is no any form of governance in existence, and this has been used in social theory to give explanation for political authority.... The starting point of the explanation has always been the state when no form of any governance exists (Thomas & Dale 2009)....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Racial Classification in the US

From the 1950s into the 1990s, fewer Europeans sought to settle in the united states, and the makeup of immigrants shifted toward those from Asia and Latin America.... Large numbers of Filipinos settled in the united states after World War II, and larger numbers of Cambodians, Laotians, and Vietnamese came during and after the Vietnam War.... n order to consider ethnic stratification in the united states fully, it is first necessary to interrogate the terms ethnicity and race, as the terms are often (incorrectly) used as synonyms for one another....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Then and Now: Social Classes in the UK

The most known and studied social stratification is in India, wherein the Caste system is still very much prevalent.... There were slavery in ancient societies like Greece and the more recent slavery of the African-Americans in America, feudalism in Medieval Europe, the Caste system in India, the nobility in Genoa and Poland, the estates in Imperial Russia, and the elitist social classes in England.... … This paper aims to show the social class differences that pervades British society then and now....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Final Exam in Principles of Sociology

Stratification makes it difficult for many asthma patients to receive timely health care and many low income class people find it almost impossible to afford effective treatments for the disease.... The pollution and changes in the environment turn the… lives of asthma patients miserable: certain "triggers"-like changes in air temperature, dust mites, or smoke, among a host of other things-the lining of those airways produces extra mucus, causing them to constrict, which in turn can lead to coughing, wheezing, and difficulty The lungs of the asthma patients shrink considerably, and when they breathe they feel like ‘breathing through a straw'....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Post-World War 2 Britain Bound by a Rigid Class System

Germany, then under Adolf Hitler, sought to conquer Europe; their – Pure Aryan race Ideal – taking them on a conquest and expansionist journey that… class stratification, which was in favor of the elite Bourgeoisie class; this against the Proletariat class (that composed of the majority worker population), was often a means to their maintenance of the status It is against this backdrop, that major conflicts and wars have been fought, most of the time with disastrous outcomes....
12 Pages (3000 words) Coursework

Social Stratification

hellip; The author states that American society has a shameful legacy of slavery and is a country stratified by race, gender and class.... In the paper “Social stratification” the author focuses on social stratification, which is a feature of the American condition.... Social stratification refers to a social structure in which certain groups (such as racial, ethnic or religious groups) are organized in a hierarchical nature....
6 Pages (1500 words) Assignment
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us