Answer to Question #193615 in Sociology for ELIZABETH ODURO

Question

Using conflict, functionalist and symbolic interactionist perspective, explain with suitable illustrations, the inevitability and universality of social stratification and deviance.

Answer 1

Social stratification is the grouping of individuals in the society based on their social-economic factors such asocial status, level of education, ethnicity, wealth, income, or power among others.  social stratification takes a different definition when it is examined from different sociology perspectives such as functionality, conflict theory, and symbolic interactions.

 Based on the  Davis and Moore 1945, functionalism argues that social stratification is inevitable and necessary to influence people to work hard and requiere knowledge, skills, and intelligence to fit in the most important occupations in society. For instance, a job of professional lawyer  is more important  and requires special skills and knowledge than that of security officer.

According to Karl Marx conflict perspective, social stratification results from unequal opportunities, discrimination, and prejudice against vulnerable groups such as the poor, women, and racism. Karl Marx emphasizes the concept that the ruling class shapes and even controls the ideas of the society to ensure that they maintain the existing order and weakens chances for the poor to challenge their opinions.  Therefore the social stratification is neither essential nor inevitable.

 Symbolic interaction implicates people's lifestyle, daily interaction, understandings, and conceptions of themselves (Thorstein Veblen 1899 to 1953. Moreover, symbolic interaction does not justify the existence of stratification, rather it validates how stratification affects people's lifestyles and their interaction with others.