Social Stratification

What Social Stratification covers

Social Stratification is examined in Paper 2, The sociology of crime and deviance and social stratification. It covers functionalist theory of stratification, Marx, Weber and socio-economic class, factors affecting life chances, poverty as a social issue, forms of power and authority and power relationships.

The 6 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Functionalist theory of stratificationSlavery, caste, feudalism and class, ascribed and achieved status, social mobility and meritocracy, Davis and Moore's theory, and the criticisms from Tumin, Marxists and feminists.Open →
• Marx, Weber and socio-economic classSocio-economic and subjective class, the NS-SEC, Marx on the means of production, ideology and class struggle, Weber's market situation, status and party, and proletarianisation.Open →
• Factors affecting life chancesHow class, gender, ethnicity, age, disability, sexuality and religion affect life chances, income and wealth, and Devine's Affluent Workers Revisited and embourgeoisement.Open →
• Poverty as a social issueAbsolute, relative and subjective poverty, Townsend's relative deprivation, the culture of poverty, Murray and the underclass, the welfare state, and the four perspectives on poverty.Open →
• Forms of power and authorityPower, authority and coercion, Weber's traditional, charismatic and rational-legal authority, bureaucracy, pluralism and elite theory, liberal democracy, and parties and pressure groups.Open →
• Power relationshipsPower at work and trade unions, class dealignment, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, age, disability and religion, and Walby's six structures of private and public patriarchy.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Social Stratification further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Absolute poverty vs Relative poverty

  Absolute poverty: lacking the basic necessities needed to survive. Relative poverty: having much less than the normal living standard of one's society.

• Ascribed status vs Achieved status

  Ascribed status: a social position fixed at birth. Achieved status: a social position earned through effort or talent.

• Income vs Wealth

  Income: money received over a period, such as wages or benefits. Wealth: the value of assets owned, such as property and savings.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is social stratification?

   Model answer

   Social stratification is the division of society into layers, or strata, that are unequal in wealth, power and status. Social class is the main form of stratification in the UK.

2. 2

   Name four systems of stratification.

   Model answer

   Slavery, caste, feudalism and social class are four systems of stratification. Slavery is the most extreme, as enslaved people are owned as property by others.

3. 3

   What is a caste system?

   Model answer

   A caste system is a closed system of stratification based on birth, traditionally linked to Hinduism in India. A person cannot move between castes, and marriage is expected within the caste.

4. 4

   How was stratification organised under feudalism?

   Model answer

   Feudalism was the medieval system in which power came from owning land. The monarch and the aristocracy held the land, and peasants worked it in return for protection. The aristocracy is a noble class whose titles and estates are inherited.

5. 5

   What is the difference between ascribed and achieved status?

   Model answer

   Ascribed status is fixed at birth, such as being born into a royal family. Achieved status is earned through effort or talent, such as qualifying as a doctor.

6. 6

   How does social mobility show whether a stratification system is open or closed?

   Model answer

   Social mobility is movement up or down between strata. An open system such as class allows mobility, while a closed system such as caste does not. Intergenerational mobility compares a person's position with that of their parents.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Social Stratification revision questions

What does Social Stratification cover in AQA GCSE Sociology?

6 subtopics: functionalist theory of stratification, marx, weber and socio-economic class, factors affecting life chances, poverty as a social issue, forms of power and authority and power relationships. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Social Stratification organised?

By the AQA 8192 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.