C O N C E P T,

CHARACTERISTI
CS AND FORMS
OF
S T R AT I F I C AT I O N
SYSTEMS
CONCEPT
OF SOCIAL
S T R AT I F I C AT I O
N
 The idea of rich and the poor may be too familiar
to everyone. It can be seen in Pinoy teleseryes or
Korean dramas that you watched back then, and
it can be seen in reality just like in the society
where you are belong.
 The categorizing of individuals or group of people
based on factors such as power, wealth and
prestige, this is called Social Classes and the
layering of these social classes from higher to
lower class is called Social Stratification.
Social stratification is
defined as the hierarchical
arrangement and
establishment of social
categories that may evolve
into social groups together
 UPPER CLASS
This class in the society is described by the
sociologists as elite individuals or group of
people that are most prolific and successful in
their respective areas. These people may be
stockholders and investors in very huge well-
known companies from different industries here
and abroad. In the second activity earlier, Henry
Sy, Sr. and Lucio Tan, Sr. are both considered
elite who belong to the upper class of social
 MIDDLE CLASS
Dividing the upper class and lower class is the Middle
Class. Middle class are mostly professional individuals or
groups of people like lawyers, doctors, managers, owners
of small businesses in the locality, and executives who
work in the corporate world, etc. They are able to meet
both their needs and wants without even worrying about
their finances because of the job and salary they have.
They live in spacious houses and situated in best suburbs.
Their income can afford them a UPPER CLASS MIDDLE
CLASS LOWER CLASS 11 comfortable lifestyle. They value
education the most since education to them is the most
 LOWER CLASS
The lowest part of the pyramid of social classes is
where the Lower Class situated. These are the
skilled and unskilled artisan, farm employees,
underemployed, and indigent families. Because of
the given status in life, these people lack revenue
or income and educational training or background.
Without the proper education, some of them are
jobless or have difficulty to find a job in order to
make ends meet. They also lack support network
 CHARACTERISTICS OF
S T R AT I F I C AT I O N S Y S T E M S
Imagine two extremely wealthy people. One
of them inherited their money, acquiring it
through the luck that comes with being born
to parents or owners of immense amounts
of property and wealth, while the other
person worked for what he/she had. That
person started at the bottom, and through
years of hard work and strategic dealing in
life was able to build a business empire of
1. Universal but variable. Social stratification is
what we are talking about when we talk about
social inequality and social mobility. Society
categorizes people and ranks them in a hierarchy.
Everything, from social status, prestige, to the
kind of job one holds, or to the chances of living in
poverty, is affected by social stratification.
Stratification is universal but variable because
it shows up in every society in the world, but how
exactly it looks like, how it divides and categorizes
people, and what the advantages or
disadvantages are that come with that division - 12
2. Not a matter of individual
differences. People are obviously
different from each other, so we
might assume that stratification is
just a kind of natural outcome of
differences, but in reality, it is not. We
know we can see the effects of social
stratification on people regardless of
their personal choices or traits. 13
3. Persists across generations.
Stratification serves to categorize and
rank members of society across
generations, resulting in different life
chances. Yet generally, society allows
some degree of social mobility, or
changes in the position within the social
hierarchy. People sometimes move
upward or downward in social class,
which is the basic concept of social 14
4. A social beliefs. A society’s cultural
beliefs tell us how to categorize people,
and they define inequalities of a
stratification system as being normal, or
even fair. If people don’t believe that the
system is right, it won’t last. Beliefs are
what make systems of social stratification
work and it is through these beliefs about
social stratification that inform what it
means to deserve wealth, success, or 15
F O R M S O F S T R AT I F I C AT I O N
SYSTEMS
 C LO S E S Y S T E M O F
S T R AT I F I C AT I O N
India’s Caste System is probably one of the
best-known forms of close system of stratification.
While it is a social system of decreasing
importance, it still holds in parts of rural India, and
has a strong legacy across the country. The
traditional caste system contains four large
17
18
 C LO S E S Y S T E M O F
S T R AT I F I C AT I O N
The system required endogamy - marriage within your own
caste category. In everyday life, the caste system determines
whom one could interact with, and how, with systems of social
control, contact between lower and higher castes is restricted.
This whole system is based on a set of strong cultural and
religious beliefs that living within your own category is a moral
and spiritual duty - the reason why gods are on the top of the
pyramid because caste system is governed by religious beliefs of
19
 OPEN SYSTEM OF
S T R AT I F I C AT I O N
Class System is one of the best examples of open
system of stratification and is not based solely on
ascribed status at birth alone. Instead, it combines
ascribed status and personal achievement or achieved
status in a way that allows some social mobility. Statuses
are not the same. We get different statuses in different
ways and chances. 20
 OPEN SYSTEM OF
S T R AT I F I C AT I O N
Some are ascribed statuses, which are assigned or given by
the society or group based on some fixed category, without
regard to a person’s abilities or performance. Examples of
ascribed status are sex, family background, race, and ethnic
heritage or wealth. A person did nothing to earn these
statuses, nor has control over these characteristics and had no
opportunity or chance to choose family, sex, and race. On the
other hand, achieved statuses are earned by the individual. 21
The main difference between caste and class
systems is that class systems are open, and social
mobility is not legally restricted to certain people. It
is possible that through hard work and perseverance,
a citizen can move up the social hierarchy, and
achieve a higher-class standing. Instead of ancestry,
lineage, or race being the key to social division, the
Philippine system of stratification has elements of
meritocracy: a system in which social mobility is
based on personal merit and individual talents. Every
Filipino’s dream is that anyone, no matter how poor,
can “pull himself/herself up” and become upwardly
class mobile through hard work and perseverance. 22
 S O C I A L S T R AT I F I C AT I O N I N
S O C I O LO G I C A L P E R S P E C T I V E S
1. FUNCTIONALISM
At the beginning, we may think of social
stratification as merely only creating social
inequality among groups of people. In some
aspects of social life, it is true. But social
inequality brought by social stratification base
from wealth, prestige, and power of social groups,
is indeed functional in the society according to
Functionalist Theory. 24
1. FUNCTIONALISM
Every social class has its purpose or role to play a part in the
society. We can’t expect the owner of a certain business empire
to do a construction works; but instead, he will hire someone to
do it for himself. The upper class, although they are getting
richer because they have the capacity to exploit natural and
man-made resources simply because they have the money. Their
role in the society could create job opportunities for other social
classes below them. In fact, there are jobs not requiring a college
degree. In this sense, those who are not able to finish their
studies can still 14 be hired. Those with college degree can be
employed with a higher paid salary and good position in a 25
T H E O RY
This sociological perspective is the
opposite of the latter. Karl Marx
viewed social stratification as
creation of inequality between the
rich and the poor, or the powerful
versus the powerless.
26
3. SYMBOLIC
INTERACTIONISM
Symbolic interactionism view social stratification
on a micro level where individuals affect others
whom they have interacted because of their social
class status. In most societies, people can only
interact only to those with the same social class
status. For an instance, it is rare for a royal prince
or princess to marry a commoner because the
commoner don’t have the same class status as to
royal prince or princess. But now, there are royal 27
THAN
K YOU

28