introduction to social class essay

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Social Class – An Introduction to the Concept

What is social class? Outlining the Registrar General’s Scale, and the New British Class Survey.

Table of Contents

Last Updated on December 13, 2022 by Karl Thompson

Social Class refers to divisions in society based on economic and social status. People in the same social class typically share a similar level of wealth, educational achievement, type of job and income.

Social Class is one of the most important concepts within AS and A Level Sociology because of the relationship between social class background and life chances (or lack of them) and the debate over the extent to which social class background determines an individual’s life chances.

The concept of social class is certainly relevant today – according to the latest 2022 data from YouGov 68% of young people think that their life chances are ‘broadly determined’ by their parents socioeconomic backgrounds…

Many people in the United Kingdom have an idea of what social class is, but Sociologists define the concept in more precise terms.

Below I look at ‘common conceptions’ of social class before moving on to look at two ways of measuring social class – The Registrar General’s Social Class Scale and The New British Class Survey

Common Conceptions of Social Class

The classic formulation of social class in Britain is to see Britain as being divided into three classes: working, middle and upper class. Social Class, is however, open to change, and most agree that the last two decades have seen the emergence of an underclass, with little prospect of full time employment. These four terms are in common usage and we have to start somewhere, so here are some starting definitions which you should aim to move beyond.

According to the UK government’s 2021 Social Mobility Barometer 48% of respondents defined themselves as working class, 36% as middle class and 0% as upper class. 79% of people said they felt there was a large gap between social classes today.

This means that 84% of respondents were prepared to identify themselves with a particular social class background, which suggests that these broad ‘class divisions’ have meaning for people.

The disadvantages of common conceptions of social class is that they lack clarity – although most of us have heard of social class and have some idea of what it means to be a member of a social class, exactly what constitutes middle or working class, for example, is subjective and varies from person to person.

This is precisely why socologists have striven to develop more objective classifications of social class – and below I look at two of these – The registrar General’s Social Class Scale and the New British Class Survey

The Registrar General’s Social Class Scale (1911)

Sociologists use more nuanced categories of social class, than the common sense conceptions above. The way in which sociologists group people into social classes has changed considerably over time, mainly because of the changing occupational structure. To illustrate this just two examples are provided below.

For most of the 20 th Century social class was measured using the Registrar General’s Scale . When this was originally conceived in 1911 it was based on the alleged standing in the community of the different occupational groups.

Occupations were divided into the following:

Manual occupations – those that involve a fair amount of physical effort. These are also known as blue collar occupations and are seen as working class.
Non-manual occupations – those that involve more mental effort, such as professions and office work. These are also known as white collar occupations and are seen as middle class.

Strengths and Limitations of the Registrar General’s Social Class Scale

The problems with the above scale is that the occupational structure in the UK has moved on – there are many more unskilled non manual jobs – in call-centres for example, and there is no room for the long-term or intermittently unemployed in the above scale either.

However, even today the majority of occupations fit pretty unambiguously into one of the categories, and six categories broadly organised along educational achievement and income is very easy to manage if we wish to make comparisons, and if we stick to these six simple categories, there does appear to be a historical relationship between these social class groupings and life chances – especially where life expectancy is concerned.

The New British Class Survey

The New British Class Survey was an attempt to update the Registrar General’s Social Class Scale and make it more relevant to contemporary Britain.

The survey was conducted by the BBC in 2011, in conjunction with The London School of Economics, recently conducted an online survey of 161 000 people. The survey measured three aspects of social class – economic capital, cultural capital and social capital.

Economic Capital – Measured by a combination of household income, household savings and the value of house owned.

Cultural Capital – The level of engagement in ‘highbrow’ and ’emerging’ culture. The amount of ‘Highbrow’ culture people consumed was measured by scoring how engaged they were with classical music, attending stately homes and so on. How much ’emerging’ cultural capital people owned was measured by scoring engagement with video games, a preference for hip-hop etc.

Social Capital – Measured using the average status or importance of people’s social contacts and the number of occupations people said they knew.

According to this survey, there are now 7 new classes in the United Kingdom…..

Established Middle Class (25% of the population) Members of this class have high levels of all three capitals although not as high as the Elite. They are a gregarious and culturally engaged class.
Technical Middle Class (6%) – A new, small class with high economic capital but seem less culturally engaged. They have relatively few social contacts and so are less socially engaged.
New Affluent Workers (14%) – This class has medium levels of economic capital and higher levels of cultural and social capital. They are a young and active group.
Emergent Service Workers (15%) This new class has low economic capital but has high levels of ‘emerging’ cultural capital and high social capital. This group are young and often found in urban areas.
Traditional Working Class (19%) – This class scores low on all forms of the three capitals although they are not the poorest group. The average age of this class is older than the others.

Strengths and Limitations of the New British Class Survey

This seems to be a clear improvement on previous class scales – it seems to describe social class divisions as they actually are in the UK (you might say it’s a more valid measurement of social class) – and the inclusion of ‘lowest’ class – the precariat reflects the important fact that many people are in low-paid work are in poverty because of the precarious nature of their flexible and/ or part-time employment. It also includes more indicators (or aspects of class) and reflects the importance of property ownership which only typically comes with age.

However, because it includes more aspects of class and because it is more subjective, it is simply harder to ‘get your head around’ – the divisions aren’t as clear cut, and it’s more difficult to make comparisons – of which there are few available because this is such a new measurement. Still, these aren’t necessarily weaknesses if that’s the way social class really does manifest itself in reality in contemporary Britain.

Further Sources

Social Stratification – Wikipedia entry
The Registrar General’s Class Scale – includes problems with it

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2 thoughts on “Social Class – An Introduction to the Concept”

Fair point. All schemes have their limitations. Thanks for the comment and link!

‘Seems to be more valid’ is not a very strong argument in support for a scheme that has been widely criticised. e.g. Mills, Great British Class Fiasco… http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0038038513519880

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Introduction

Social class is an age old concept referring to a group of people with similar status, power, influence and wealth. Social class refers to the social stratification of the society based on social, economic and educational status. However, the definition of class is not uniform across the countries and societies. There exist different theories of social class division and its impact on us. The word 'class' derives from the Latin word “classis”. During census people were categorized into different “classis” based on their wealth in ancient Rome. Wealth is still the biggest factor in determining class strata. This essay will highlight different theories of social class and different social factors that differentiate social classes, subsequently touching upon the probable social challenges encountered by someone while moving from one social ladder to another.

Social Class: Theories

Social class models are based on economics, sociology and psychology. Historically the most popular model is the common stratum model that divides society into three simple hierarchy of upper class, middle class and lower or working class. According to this theory, society is divided into different classes based on mainly two factors, economic and social. Apart from the common stratum model, there exists a Marxian class theory proposed by Karl Marx. Marx believed that class is a combination of subjective and objective factors. Objectively, a class shares a common relationship in terms of output. Subjectively, members of a class believe that they share some common interests. This class perception is not only a common feeling of shared interest of one’s own class but it also indicates how the society should be. As per the class theory of Marx, two classes - bourgeoisie and proletariat constitute the major two strata of the social class. Bourgeoisies are the wealthy section of a society controlling power through money. Proletariats are laborers who depend on bourgeoisies to earn money by selling labor. Marx explained in his theory about how ultimately bourgeoisies would be eliminated from the society and all would turn equal. Marx envisions a classless society in which there will be no class, no state and no need for money and everything will be shared and the society will run based on needs and not based on profits. Max Weber was a 19th century German philosopher and sociologist who presented another class theory. Weber’s theory is known as ‘Three component theory of stratification’. According to Weber, society is not stratified on the basis of economic status alone; it is also dependent on status and power. In Weber’s definition class or economic position definitely creates social strata but it is not the only factor. Status is another factor creating divide in the society. For Example, poets or saints may not be rich but they enjoy very high status or social class in the society. Power is another factor dividing society into different classes. For example, a person working in FBI may not be affluent monetary wise but he has immense power giving him a higher status in the society.

Modern Day Class Strata

In modern day world, social class stratification is based on the common three stratum model. This model divides the society into three strata - the upper class, middle class and lower class. Upper class is composed of people who are born wealthy or who are wealthy through inheritance or both. In most of the countries the upper class is determined by wealth. For example, in underdeveloped countries and developing countries like India, China, Kenya, Egypt and others a financially wealthy person always belongs to the upper class. The same is applicable in most of the developed countries as well. However, in some countries only people born into high society or aristocratic bloodlines are deemed as members of the upper class. Those who have amassed wealth through business or commercial activity are viewed as nouveau riche (New Charter University). This is particularly apparent in Britain where the concept of royal family and royal blood decides the upper or royal class. The third kinds of people considered to be upper class are politicians. In most of the countries, politicians are vested with huge power which gives them a social status one notch above the rest. Middle Class is the most dynamic among all class definitions. The definition of this class category changes with changing society and changing time. The common definition is that middle class are those people working on behalf of the owners to control and manage the laborers and they also work in highly skilled areas. Middle class definition of US is very broad and includes people who in many other societies will be considered lower class. The middle class concept in developed societies is broadening as more and more labor intensive work is now being outsourced to developing countries with only high end works being retained in developed countries. Middle class population is educated and highly skilled and in most of the cases earns enough money to live a decent life with secure future. Depending on the annual income bracket ranging from $50,000 to $199,999, American middle class is segmented into upper and lower middle class with upper middle class potentially earning between the range of $150,000 to $199,000 and lower middle class earning within the range of $50,000 to $74,999 (New Charter University). Upper middle class people are usually graduates with professional degrees practicing professions like law, banking, corporate sector, finance, engineering and other occupations. Lower middle class people are also highly educated involved in white-collar professions of teaching, nursing and the like. Lower class also known as the working class are the people working in blue-collar low paying jobs in factories, construction sites, restaurants and clerical positions. They have little or no economic security as they always live in the fear of losing their jobs. They don't have adequate technological expertise like the middle class to work in better paying jobs.

Changing Social Class: Challenges

All of us are born into some social strata of the society and cultural setting. Based on the class we receive education, healthcare, community and religious influences. This brings in some common behavioral pattern inside us knowingly or unknowingly. Most of us are born and die in the same social class (AAAS). People born in lower class have every possibility that they will also die poor. People born in the upper or middle classes are most likely to die as same. Only an individual or a group of individuals can move up the social ladder through massive individual or social initiative. As we have seen in the previous section that the main difference between a lower class person and an upper class person is the special skill and knowledge. This can be achieved through better education. Lower class people cannot move into the middle class strata of the society because for better education often money is required which they do not have. This barrier can be minimized by making education more affordable to lower class. We have seen more people moving into middle class where the basic education is same for all and is affordable by all. The US is one of the great examples of a society which has decreased its lower class by making basic education available to all. Moving into upper class from middle class is not that easy. The main difference between a upper class and middle class person is money. The main three things determining the upper class are wealth, high born and power. Middle class people cannot be high born and hence in order to acquire the status of upper class they have to either attain power or money. Power can be achieved by getting into positions of importance like Member of Parliament or minister of local, state or central government. Money can be achieved by getting into business ventures. On the other hand, getting down to the bottom of the social ladder seems to be an easier process. Upper class people who are born amidst wealth and power may lose all of it if they maintain an extravagant lifestyle and make injudicious investments.

Social class is an old concept that determines the social stratification existing in a society on the basis of economic position, social status and educational qualification. There are different theories of social class like common stratum model, Marxian class theory and Weber's three component theory of stratification. In today's world social class stratification relies on the common three stratum model which divides society into three distinct sections - upper class, middle class and lower class. Usually, based on the social setting and the availability of resources for learning skill and education, people born into each specific class die the same as they were born into. But since the difference between a middle class and lower class is the difference in education and skill, if education can be made affordable to all then chances of lower class people going one notch up the social ladder to middle class position are higher, but the same is not true for people aspiring to reach the upper class position because then they have to earn enough money and power to earn high status. Compared to difficulty in social climb, it is lot easier for one to climb down the social strata. A rich person can turn poor if he does no work and wastes money making bad investments.

Works Cited

Marx's Theory of Social Class and Class Structure, 28 Sept. 1999. Web. 14 July 2013 <http://uregina.ca/~gingrich/s28f99.htm> Shortell, Prof. Timothy. Weber's Theory of Social Class, Department of Sociology, Brooklyn College, Web. 14 July 2013 <http://www.brooklynsoc.org/courses/43.1/weber.html> Social Class in the United States, New Charter University, Web. 14 July 2013 <https://new.edu/resources/social-class-in-the-united-states> Social Class, Social Change, and Poverty, AAAS. Web. 14 July 2013 <http://sciencenetlinks.com/lessons/social-class-social-change-and-poverty/> Lareau, Annette and Conley, Dalton. Social Class: How Does It Work?, Russell Sage Foundation (August 2008). Print. Argyle, Michael. The Psychology of Social Class, Routledge: 1 edition (January 27, 1994). Print. Weber's View of Stratification, Boundless. Web. 14 July 2013 <https://www.boundless.com/sociology/understanding-global-stratification-and-inequality/sociological-theories-and-global-inequality/weber-s-view-of-stratification/>

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Social Class in the United States

Learning objectives.

Distinguish objective and subjective measures of social class.
Discuss whether the United States has much vertical social mobility.

Most sociologists define social class as a grouping based on similar social factors like wealth, income, education, and occupation. These factors affect how much power and prestige a person has. Social stratification reflects an unequal distribution of resources. In most cases, having more money means having more power or more opportunities. There is a surprising amount of disagreement among sociologists on the number of social classes in the United States and even on how to measure social class membership. We first look at the measurement issue and then discuss the number and types of classes sociologists have delineated.

Measuring Social Class

We can measure social class either objectively or subjectively . If we choose the objective method, we classify people according to one or more criteria, such as their occupation, education, and/or income. The researcher is the one who decides which social class people are in based on where they stand in regard to these variables. If we choose the subjective method, we ask people what class they think they are in. For example, the General Social Survey asks, “If you were asked to use one of four names for your social class, which would you say you belong in: the lower class, the working class, the middle class, or the upper class?” Figure 8.3 “Subjective Social Class Membership” depicts responses to this question. The trouble with such a subjective measure is that some people say they are in a social class that differs from what objective criteria might indicate they are in. This problem leads most sociologists to favor objective measures of social class when they study stratification in American society.

Figure 8.3 Subjective Social Class Membership

Subjective Social Class Membership: 45.7% Working, 43.4% Middle, 7.3% Lower, 3.6% Upper

Source: Data from General Social Survey, 2008.

Yet even here there is disagreement between functionalist theorists and conflict theorists on which objective measures to use. Functionalist sociologists rely on measures of socioeconomic status (SES) , such as education, income, and occupation, to determine someone’s social class. Sometimes one of these three variables is used by itself to measure social class, and sometimes two or all three of the variables are combined (in ways that need not concern us) to measure social class. When occupation is used, sociologists often rely on standard measures of occupational prestige. Since the late 1940s, national surveys have asked Americans to rate the prestige of dozens of occupations, and their ratings are averaged together to yield prestige scores for the occupations (Hodge, Siegel, & Rossi, 1964). Over the years these scores have been relatively stable. Here are some average prestige scores for various occupations: physician, 86; college professor, 74; elementary school teacher, 64; letter carrier, 47; garbage collector, 28; and janitor, 22.

Despite SES’s usefulness, conflict sociologists prefer different, though still objective, measures of social class that take into account ownership of the means of production and other dynamics of the workplace. These measures are closer to what Marx meant by the concept of class throughout his work, and they take into account the many types of occupations and workplace structures that he could not have envisioned when he was writing during the 19th century.

For example, corporations have many upper-level managers who do not own the means of production but still determine the activities of workers under them. They thus do not fit neatly into either of Marx’s two major classes, the bourgeoisie or the proletariat. Recognizing these problems, conflict sociologists delineate social class on the basis of several factors, including the ownership of the means of production, the degree of autonomy workers enjoy in their jobs, and whether they supervise other workers or are supervised themselves (Wright, 2000).

The American Class Structure

As should be evident, it is not easy to determine how many social classes exist in the United States. Over the decades, sociologists have outlined as many as six or seven social classes based on such things as, once again, education, occupation, and income, but also on lifestyle, the schools people’s children attend, a family’s reputation in the community, how “old” or “new” people’s wealth is, and so forth (Coleman & Rainwater, 1978; Warner & Lunt, 1941). For the sake of clarity, we will limit ourselves to the four social classes included in Figure 8.3 “Subjective Social Class Membership” : the upper class, the middle class, the working class, and the lower class. Although subcategories exist within some of these broad categories, they still capture the most important differences in the American class structure (Gilbert, 2011). The annual income categories listed for each class are admittedly somewhat arbitrary but are based on the percentage of households above or below a specific income level.

The Upper Class

The upper class is considered the top, and only the powerful elite get to see the view from there. In the United States, people with extreme wealth make up 1 percent of the population, and they own one-third of the country’s wealth (Beeghley 2008).

The upper class in the United States consists of about 1% of all households and possesses much wealth, power, and influence.

Steven Martin – Highland Park Mansion – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Money provides not just access to material goods, but also access to a lot of power. As corporate leaders, members of the upper class make decisions that affect the job status of millions of people. As media owners, they influence the collective identity of the nation. They run the major network television stations, radio broadcasts, newspapers, magazines, publishing houses, and sports franchises. As board members of the most influential colleges and universities, they influence cultural attitudes and values. As philanthropists, they establish foundations to support social causes they believe in. As campaign contributors, they sway politicians and fund campaigns, sometimes to protect their own economic interests.

U.S. society has historically distinguished between “old money” (inherited wealth passed from one generation to the next) and “new money” (wealth you have earned and built yourself). While both types may have equal net worth, they have traditionally held different social standings. People of old money, firmly situated in the upper class for generations, have held high prestige. Their families have socialized them to know the customs, norms, and expectations that come with wealth. Often, the very wealthy don’t work for wages. Some study business or become lawyers in order to manage the family fortune. Others, such as Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian, capitalize on being a rich socialite and transform that into celebrity status, flaunting a wealthy lifestyle.

However, new-money members of the upper class are not oriented to the customs and mores of the elite. They haven’t gone to the most exclusive schools. They have not established old-money social ties. People with new money might flaunt their wealth, buying sports cars and mansions, but they might still exhibit behaviors attributed to the middle and lower classes.

The Middle Class

Many people consider themselves middle class, but there are differing ideas about what that means. People with annual incomes of $150,000 call themselves middle class, as do people who annually earn $30,000. That helps explain why, in the United States, the middle class is broken into upper and lower subcategories. Upper-middle-class people tend to hold bachelor’s and postgraduate degrees. They’ve studied subjects such as business, management, law, or medicine. Lower-middle-class members hold bachelor’s degrees from four-year colleges or associate’s degrees from two-year community or technical colleges.

A house for someone in the upper-middle class

The upper-middle class in the United States consists of about 4.4% of all households, with incomes ranging from $150,000 to $199,000.

Alyson Hurt – Back Porch – CC BY-NC 2.0.

Comfort is a key concept to the middle class. Middle-class people work hard and live fairly comfortable lives. Upper-middle-class people tend to pursue careers that earn comfortable incomes. They provide their families with large homes and nice cars. They may go skiing or boating on vacation. Their children receive high-quality education and healthcare (Gilbert 2010).

In the lower middle class, people hold jobs supervised by members of the upper middle class. They fill technical, lower-level management or administrative support positions. Compared to lower-class work, lower-middle-class jobs carry more prestige and come with slightly higher paychecks. With these incomes, people can afford a decent, mainstream lifestyle, but they struggle to maintain it. They generally don’t have enough income to build significant savings. In addition, their grip on class status is more precarious than in the upper tiers of the class system. When budgets are tight, lower-middle-class people are often the ones to lose their jobs.

The Working Class

A not-so-nice house belonging to someone who is part of the blue-collar/less skilled clerical jobs.

The working class in the United States consists of about 25% of all households, whose members work in blue-collar jobs and less skilled clerical positions.

Lisa Risager – Ebeltoft – CC BY-SA 2.0.

Working-class households generally work in blue-collar jobs such as factory work, construction, restaurant serving, and less skilled clerical positions. People in the working class typically do not have 4-year college degrees, and some do not have high school degrees. Although most are not living in official poverty, their financial situation is very uncomfortable. A single large medical bill or expensive car repair would be almost impossible to pay without going into considerable debt. Working-class families are far less likely than their wealthier counterparts to own their own homes or to send their children to college. Many of them live at risk for unemployment as their companies downsize by laying off workers even in good times, and hundreds of thousands began to be laid off when the U.S. recession began in 2008.

The Lower Class

The lower class or poor in the United States constitute about 25% of all households. Many poor individuals lack high school degrees and are unemployed or employed only part time.

Chris Hunkeler – Trailer Homes – CC BY-SA 2.0.

Although lower class is a common term, many observers prefer a less-negative sounding term like the poor, which is used here. Just like the middle and upper classes, the lower class can be divided into subsets: the working class, the working poor, and the underclass. Compared to the lower middle class, lower-class people have less of an educational background and earn smaller incomes. They work jobs that require little prior skill or experience and often do routine tasks under close supervision.

The working poor have unskilled, low-paying employment. However, their jobs rarely offer benefits such as healthcare or retirement planning, and their positions are often seasonal or temporary. They work as sharecroppers, migrant farm workers, house cleaners, and day laborers. Some are high school dropouts. Some are illiterate, unable to read job ads.

How can people work full-time and still be poor? Even working full-time, millions of the working poor earn incomes too meager to support a family. Minimum wage varies from state to state, but in many states it is approaching $8.00 per hour (Department of Labor 2014). At that rate, working 40 hours a week earns $320. That comes to $16,640 a year, before tax and deductions. Even for a single person, the pay is low. A married couple with children will have a hard time covering expenses.

The underclass is the United States’ lowest tier. Members of the underclass live mainly in inner cities. Many are unemployed or underemployed. Those who do hold jobs typically perform menial tasks for little pay. Some of the underclass are homeless. For many, welfare systems provide a much-needed support through food assistance, medical care, housing, and the like.

We will discuss the poor further when we focus later in this chapter on inequality and poverty in the United States.

Social Mobility

Social mobility refers to the ability to change positions within a social stratification system. When people improve or diminish their economic status in a way that affects social class, they experience social mobility.

Individuals can experience upward or downward social mobility for a variety of reasons. Upward mobility refers to an increase—or upward shift—in social class. In the United States, people applaud the rags-to-riches achievements of celebrities like Oprah Winfrey or LeBron James. But the truth is that relative to the overall population, the number of people who rise from poverty to wealth is very small. Still, upward mobility is not only about becoming rich and famous. In the United States, people who earn a college degree, get a job promotion, or marry someone with a good income may move up socially. In contrast, downward mobility indicates a lowering of one’s social class. Some people move downward because of business setbacks, unemployment, or illness. Dropping out of school, losing a job, or getting a divorce may result in a loss of income or status and, therefore, downward social mobility.

Nazareth College – Commencement 2013 – CC BY 2.0.

A key vehicle for upward mobility is formal education. Regardless of the socioeconomic status of our parents, we are much more likely to end up in a high-paying job if we attain a college degree or, increasingly, a graduate or professional degree. Figure 8.4 “Education and Median Earnings of Year-Round, Full-Time Workers, 2007” vividly shows the difference that education makes for Americans’ median annual incomes. Notice, however, that for a given level of education, men’s incomes are greater than women’s. Figure 8.4 “Education and Median Earnings of Year-Round, Full-Time Workers, 2007” thus suggests that the payoff of education is higher for men than for women, and many studies support this conclusion (Green & Ferber, 2008). The reasons for this gender difference are complex and will be discussed further in Chapter 11 “Gender and Gender Inequality” . To the extent vertical social mobility exists in the United States, then, it is higher for men than for women and higher for whites than for people of color.

Figure 8.4 Education and Median Earnings of Year-Round, Full-Time Workers, 2007

Source: Data from U.S. Census Bureau. (2010). Statistical abstract of the United States: 2010 . Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab .

It is not uncommon for different generations of a family to belong to varying social classes. This is known as intergenerational mobility . For example, an upper-class executive may have parents who belonged to the middle class. In turn, those parents may have been raised in the lower class. Patterns of intergenerational mobility can reflect long-term societal changes.

Similarly, intragenerational mobility refers to changes in a person’s social mobility over the course of his or her lifetime. For example, the wealth and prestige experienced by one person may be quite different from that of his or her siblings.

Structural mobility happens when societal changes enable a whole group of people to move up or down the social class ladder. Structural mobility is attributable to changes in society as a whole, not individual changes. In the first half of the twentieth century, industrialization expanded the U.S. economy, raising the standard of living and leading to upward structural mobility. In today’s work economy, the recent recession and the outsourcing of jobs overseas have contributed to high unemployment rates. Many people have experienced economic setbacks, creating a wave of downward structural mobility.

When analyzing the trends and movements in social mobility, sociologists consider all modes of mobility. Scholars recognize that mobility is not as common or easy to achieve as many people think. In fact, some consider social mobility a myth. The American Dream does exist, but it is much more likely to remain only a dream unless we come from advantaged backgrounds. In fact, there is less vertical mobility in the United States than in other Western democracies. As a recent analysis summarized the evidence, “There is considerably more mobility in most of the other developed economies of Europe and Scandinavia than in the United States” (Mishel, Bernstein, & Shierholz, 2009, p. 108).

Key Takeaways

Several ways of measuring social class exist. Functionalist and conflict sociologists disagree on which objective criteria to use in measuring social class. Subjective measures of social class, which rely on people rating their own social class, may lack some validity.
Sociologists disagree on the number of social classes in the United States, but a common view is that the United States has four classes: upper, middle, working, and lower. Further variations exist within the upper and middle classes.
The United States has some vertical social mobility, but not as much as several nations in Western Europe.

Beeghley, Leonard. 2008. The Structure of Social Stratification in the United States . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Coleman, R. P., & Rainwater, L. (1978). Social standing in America . New York, NY: Basic Books.

Gilbert, D. (2011). The American class structure in an age of growing inequality (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Green, C. A., & Ferber, M. A. (2008). The long-term impact of labor market interruptions: How crucial is timing? Review of Social Economy, 66 , 351–379.

Hodge, R. W., Siegel, P., & Rossi, P. (1964). Occupational prestige in the United States, 1925–63. American Journal of Sociology, 70 , 286–302.

Mishel, L., Bernstein, J., & Shierholz, H. (2009). The state of working America 2008/2009 . Ithaca, NY: ILR Press [An imprint of Cornell University Press].

Warner, W. L., & Lunt, P. S. (1941). The social life of a modern community . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Wright, E. O. (2000). Class counts: Comparative studies in class analysis . New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Introduction to Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Social Class — Social Class and Its Significance

Social Class and Its Significance

Categories: Social Class

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Published: Jan 30, 2024

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Understanding social class, factors influencing social class status differences, consequences of social class status differences.

Lynch, R. J., & Haney, A. (2021). A Comparison of Social Class in America and Europe. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 52(1), 58-74.
Zhang, B., Miao, Q., & Wang, X. (2021). How Does Social Class Affect Consumer Behavior? Evidence from China. Journal of Business Research, 122, 429-443.
Sinclair, A. (2019). Health and social class inequalities. European Journal of Public Health, 29(Supplement_4), 7-8.

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Social Classes and Class Structure Essay

Introduction, relevance of marx ideas, bourgeoisie, the proletariat, alienation of proletariat, social stratification: marxist perspective.

According to Karl Marx, analyzing social classes and structures as well as variations in the structures are critical in understanding modern capitalism other social systems or even modes of production.

Marx and Engels argue that the communist in the manifesto ‘…the history of all hitherto existing in the society is the class struggles” (Marx and Engels 35).

Analyzing class distribution and struggles is relevant in establishing knowledge about capitalism. Social classes are divided into two main classes with distinct features one comprises the owners or possessors of property as well as the means of production.

This group performs the role of production. The other factor is concerned producers and controllers of the surpluses in relation to human social labor.

The economic factors in the modern world govern social relationships in capitalism than it did in ancient times. This paper therefore discusses stratification and conflicts that exist in society. It bases on the statements made by Marx in scholarly works.

Divisions in Capitalism

Earlier societies consisted of several sections or clusters that can be perceived to be classes. They were not classes parse but elites not specifically based on economic factors but also incorporated other things such as priesthood, knights or military elite.

In the modern society, other classes of people such as capital owners, petty bourgeoisie and peasants are incorporated in the production process.

In spite of Lumpen proletariat existing, they are not primarily in terms of the dynamics of capitalism or its expansion and development.

The bourgeoisie controls the means of production such as capital and labor. The capital exploit the workers by misusing their labor meaning that they produce much but are paid less.

They utilize the surplus value created from employment of labor to accumulate and expand their capital. Owning massive resources is not equivalent to possessing capital power and labor; it does not make an individual to be bourgeoisie.

To be a capitalist or member of bourgeoisie class entails the ownership of huge capital, active participation in capital accumulation, using capital to organize production, employ and exploit labor and finally make the capital self regulating by using the surplus value to continue the cycle of capital accumulation (Marx and Engels 48).

Bourgeoisies began in cities of medieval Europe. This was during the development of mercantilism, artisans and manufacturing. The main aim of economic survival for the people was increase wealth through trade and commerce.

The bourgeoisies needed much freedom in marketing activities and economic expansion activities. Capital ownership was achieved by labor employment (industrial capital) while for some it was acquired through trade (merchant capital).

Those who employed workers to create and expand capital succeeded in acquiring capital consequently leading the sector of bourgeoisie.

The workers only own their labor implying that they earn their living through their ability to work. They do not own any resources in form of capital meaning that they own nothing apart from their hands, bodies and minds/skills.

The Proletariat works hard to sustain their lives and provide basic needs to their relatives and other dependants. They have to seek employment if they are to continue coexisting in the society.

For an employee, working for a capitalist is not peaceful instead; the kind of relation that exists is exploitative in nature because the worker performs many activities with insufficient returns.

The exploitative relationship between the worker and the employer is cumulative meaning that it keeps on repeating itself. The capitalists accumulate wealth by underpaying the worker (Marx and Engels 50).

The workers produce goods and services that belong to the capitalist meaning that workers are also properties of capitalists. They produce goods that create surpluses to the bourgeoisie but they remain in poverty.

Exploitation occurs in every day’s production process, which ends up restricting workers from acquiring wealth and regenerates the best working environments for further exploitation (Marx and Engels 50).

The existing mode of production is arranged in such a way that the property owners continue enjoying better opportunities while workers continue occupying their current positions.

Capitalists accumulate the excesses obtained in the production process by workers. The intersection point between workers and capitalists is the production process. The capitalist who create struggles and intrigues hence causing tension in the society exploits the workers.

Although the workers are the direct producers of goods, they are slaves of the goods they produce. The produced good has more value than the worker does because they are offered maximum security and stored in safe places.

The workers produce goods that they do not consume, they produce for others. The increase in product value decreases the viability of the workers. The worker ends up being treated the same way goods are treated, treated as equals.

Workers are perpetually pushed to the periphery leading to alienation from the process of production. The way workers relate to the whole process of production leaves a lot to be desired because the relationship is unnatural and uncalled for.

The workers never find satisfaction because they satisfy the interests of other individuals (Capitalists). The worker views the whole process of production as forced labor because actually it is inhuman.

The worker ends up being alienated from the self because of the last two forms of alienation. The worker portrays two personalities; one is the feeling of belonging to capitalism because the worker is separated from real consciousness. In the other hand, workers perceive themselves as human beings ((Marx and Engels 54).

The last form of alienation that dissatisfied Marx is alienation from others implying that the worker is separated from other people. Workers cannot relate normally to others because individuals with separated self cannot interact in accordance to societal norms.

They view others as properties of capitalism. It is at this point that Marx noted with finally that only a revolution would salvage humankind from all these troubles.

Marx observed in his statements that capitalism brings about differentiations in society. The rich are at the top while the poor are at the bottom perishing in great poverty. In modern capitalistic societies, classes differentiate people.

According to Marx, the capitalistic culture is a divisive force not an integrating one. The existing social groups are differentiated in property meaning that some benefit more than others do.

The owners of the means of production who enjoy power, prestige and luxurious life occupy the higher positions. Social stratification basing on property is found in all human societies.

For societies to survive therefore role allocation is indispensable. Society attaches unequal rewards to social positions because people differ in ability and positions differ in terms of importance. Unfortunately, the important positions benefit the elite (Marx and Engels 56).

There is a heated debate on whether unequal rewards function to motivate talented individuals. Generally, social stratification basing on capital is a mechanism in which some exploit others.

The elite uses the institutions of the state to advance their interests, in fact Marx termed the state as the committee of dominant class. Those with highest rewards enjoy superior life chances such as access to high education, quality housing and special Medicare.

Those who occupy important positions erect barriers to recruitment of others into comfortable positions. They use capital power to restrict access to their positions by creating unnecessary demands to the position services.

The different rewards exist to propel hostility, suspicion and mistrust. It gives the low class the feeling of exclusion from larger society leading to formation of solidarity, which might cause tensions and more conflicts with threats of revolutions.

The statements made by Karl Marx serve to describe how people should liberate themselves. Liberation would be achieved through people’s consciousness.

People will arise up against the existing mode of production because of its social injustices. The mode hands a few the power of investment while the majority survive at the mercy of the owners of the means of production.

The state cannot liberate the masses because the capitalist to enhance self-interests uses it. Exploitation and alienation are the most pressing issues among the workers; they are the same things that disillusioned Marx to an extent of calling for a revolution to guarantee mass happiness.

Marx, Karl and Engels, Fredrick. The Communist Manifesto: introduction by Martin Malia , New York: Penguin group, 1998, pg. 35.

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Social Class and Alienation
Social Alienation
Marx’s and Engels’s Communist Manifesto
Karl Marx's Critique of Capitalism
"The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels
Marx, Wallerstein and Baudrillard
The Peculiarity of Class Stratification
Analysis of Marx's Alienation Theory
World History in The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
Karl Marx’s and Max Weber's Ideas
Theoretical Examination of Social Stratification
Emile Durkheim and His Philosophy
Civilization and Its Discontents
The Concept of Otherness
Social concepts

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Essay on social class (918 words).

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One of the important elements of social stratification is the ‘Class’. A social class is ‘a category or group of persons having a definite status in society which permanently determines their relations to other groups’. Social classes have been defined by various thinkers “in different manner. The notion of objectivity of class existence is the main contribution of Karl Marx. His emphasis is on the economic factors. Power, style of life and property determine the class status of individuals in the society.

Karl Marx defined the social classes by their relation to the means of production (ownership or non-ownership). In modern capitalist society there are two principal classes the capitalist and the proletariat.

Image Courtesy : borderzine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/philip-levine-utep-honors-class.jpg

Max Weber, like Marx, is another German thinker who has seen the importance of economic factor in the classification of a society. He has defined class as a group of persons having the same ‘life chances’ or social opportunities, as determined typically by economic conditions. He agreed with the fundamental tenet of Marx that control over property is a basic fact in the determination of the life chances of an individual or a class.

That is to say, the members of a particular class will have more or less chance of getting good things of life – things such as a high standard of living, leisure etc. Thus, Weber’s definition of class is broadly similar to that of Marx. To the economic dimension Weber added two other dimensions, prestige and power. He saw these factors as separate but interacting bases of social hierarchy.

His notions are that property creates classes, prestige creates status groups and power creates parties. Like Marx, Weber recognized the important role of property in giving rise to status group. However, he gave it less importance than Marx did. Weber had given emphasis on life-style in deciding status group. Weber says that status groups are formed on the basis of prestige and honour. He admits that difference in property can constitute the basis for differences in honour or prestige.

Many modern sociologists regard status as the basic criterion of social class. “A social class” as defined by Maclver and Page, “is any portion of a community marked off from the rest by social status”. According to this view, classes arise wherever social differentiations in terms of language, locality, faction or specialization are associated with a status hierarchy. These differentiations may give rise to significant class phenomena only when they develop common sentiments.

These sentiments imply feeling of equality among the members of one’s own class, a feeling of inferiority in relation to these above in the social hierarchy and a feeling of superiority to those below. What is most important in making class distinction is the sense of status which is sustained by economic, political or ecclestical power and by the distinctive modes of life and cultural expression corresponding to them. In this sense the status separates one class from the other. Thus, classes are status marked and group conscious strata.

It follows that the division of society into classes on the basis of status is unavoidable. But the primary determinant of status is unquestionably economic. In a class-ridden society, a man possessing wealth has resources through which he can exercise both economic and political power. Weber’s approach is, sociologically, more agreeable because he referred to the conditions which led to the different types of classes in a society. Social class are defacto groups and their basis is mainly economic. But they are more than economic groups.

Nature of Social Class :

1. the system is ubiquitous:.

Class system is a universal phenomenon. It is prevalent in all modern and complex social systems.

2. Class is an Economic Group:

Social classes are determined by their relation to means of production. A social class also includes wealth, property, income etc.

3. Class is also a Status Group:

Class is also related to status dimension. Status groups are composed of persons having the same life style and in joining similar social honour. Thus, status consciousness separates the individuals both physically and psychologically.

4. An Achieved Pattern:

In class system status is achieved, not ascribed. Class is open and elastic and mobility is possible. A man can, by his effort and initiative, change his class and thereby rise in social status.

5. Feeling of Class-consciousness:

Feeling of class consciousness is experienced among the members of a particular class. The members feel a sense of equality within their own class and a sense of superiority or inferiority in relation to the members of lower or higher classes.

6. Prestige Dimension:

The persons of a particular class develop status consciousness and this is reflected through the status symbols of different class groups. The status symbols of the upper classes are considered prestigious, whereas the status symbols of the middle classes are considered less prestigious.

7. Relatively Stable Group:

A class is a stable group. It is not temporary like a crowd or mob. Although social mobility in the class system is possible, class cannot be interpreted as transitory. Under certain extraordinary situations such as revolutions, movements etc. the class is subject to rapid transformation.

8. Varieties of Life-styles:

A particular social class is marked off from the other classes by its life-styles. Life-style include the mode of living such as, the dress pattern, the type of house, the leisure time activities, the mode of consumption, the exposure to media and the mode of communication etc.

The Nature of Social Class
Social Class in India: Class Typology and Class Consciousness

Social Class

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The Oxford Handbook of Social Class in Counseling

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1 Introduction to Social Class and Classism in Counseling Psychology

William Ming Liu, Department of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations, University of Iowa.

Published: 01 May 2013
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Psychologists and counselors have difficulty conceptualizing social class and classism as individual and psychological constructs. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the concepts and constructs discussed throughout this book. The author begins with an description of economic privilege as a concept tied to other privileges such as White and Christian, but with distinct features pertinent to understanding classism and inequality. One distinct advantage from economic privilege, as the author describes, is the protection of cultural and environmental consequences. The author also describes the most recent revision to the Social Class Worldview Model (SCWM) and describes how it may be applied to working with clients. Elaborating further on features within the SCWM, the author also presents a model of Social Class and Classism Consciousness (SCCC) which may be used to describe the ways in which people see themselves as social-class individuals. Finally, the chapter concludes with a description of classism-based trauma. Classism-based trauma is a single significant or repeated exposure to trauma which may cause people to alter their lives. The concepts and constructs presented in this chapter are frameworks that may be used to guide clinicians and researchers in further understanding social class and classism in people's lives and to allow scholarship to develop which may explore and investigate these important dimensions.

The recent recession in the United States would seem to be an appropriate opportunity to engage in a national discussion about economic inequality, joblessness, and greed. The increasing wealth disparities and social structuring of resources against the poor and middle class are likely to create generations of inequality wherein the affluent and poor alike will see their social class conditions be transmitted intergenerationally ( Hacker & Jacobs, 2008 ; Sharkey, 2012 ). Yet there is no substantial discussion but instead the labeling of such discourses as “class warfare” ( Cooper, 2011 ). The absence of such a national discourse, even if all the conditions seem ideal, parallels a disciplinary silence on such significant concerns as well. Psychologists are in an important position to engage and facilitate such dialogues, especially with clients and within our scholarship, but at present, our discipline has taken a fragmentary approach to understanding such a ubiquitous concern.

When I began my own scholarship in the area of social class and classism, I started with a thorough review of the extant research at the time. I was surprised to find scant research on social class, socioeconomic status, and classism. I found that electronic data bases, when searched, tended to overreport the number of studies and theories focusing on social class. On closer investigation, I found that scholars were receiving credit for addressing social class and classism even though most of the mentions of social class and classism were parenthetical. That is, authors would, at some point in an article or chapter state something to the effect of, “and future research should consider important intersections of culture (e.g., race, social class).” In the mid-1990s, there did not appear to be any theories or cohesive research on social class and classism.

Social class and classism in psychology, and especially in psychological practice, are confusing and difficult concepts to understand and apply ( Liu, 2011 ). “Social class,” “socioeconomic status,” and “classism” are among the over 400 terms that were found in a review of counseling psychology literature around 2004 ( Liu et al., 2004 ). Certainly by now, just in terminology alone, there is likely no reduction in the ways in which applied psychologists refer to social class. I suspect that part of the reason there is so much difficulty in applied psychology is related to the ways in which people make sense of social class and classism in their lives. As a cultural construct, there must be a parallel recognition of how social class is conceptualized by the individual along with how social class is enacted in relationships with others. The consideration of these self and other components is unique to applied psychologists and other mental health providers because these are fundamental to psychotherapeutic and counseling work with clients ( Gelso, 2011 ; Wampold, 2010 ).

For psychologists it is important to use theory to guide research and clinical work. Overwhelmingly though, most research on social class in psychology has lacked the use of a theory. Theory guides hypotheses, analyses, and the understanding of results; theory also provides a framework for clinicians to understand the varied ways in which people might make meaning of their social class selves, social class relationships, and social class environment. Psychology, like many other disciplines, sometimes lacked theories on social class ( Liberatos, Link, & Kelsey, 1988 ; Oakes & Rossi, 2003 ). Instead, the focus has largely been on the identification of indicators that could constitute a preconceived social stratum (e.g., upper class, middle class). The primary focus seemed to be on identifying and populating, for instance, the constituency of a middle-class group. In essence, psychologists had incorporated the disciplinary practice from sociology and had not developed a psychological approach to social class and classism.

Psychological approaches to social class and classism, especially in applied psychology, should ask and address those questions that are unique to how individuals interact with one another. Certainly these questions concern the individual’s sense of him or herself as a social class person and how he or she constructs social class. In my own theorizing, I have two complementary theories that address these questions: the social class worldview model (SCWM) ( Liu, 2011 ) and the social class and classism consciousness model (SCCC) ( Liu, 2011 , 2012 ). But we should also be addressing the concerns that impact and fuel how the social class and economic world operates around us. What is the role of greed, for instance, in a person’s self-conceptualization with respect to social class? Which part of the drive toward affluence and maintenance of wealth is psychologically healthy and/or deleterious? And what is the psychological composition of economic privilege and what role does it play in relationships ( Liu, 2011 ; Liu, Pickett, & Ivey, 2007 )? The psychological approach to these questions and other questions is the foundation of our discipline and practice around social class and classism.

More recently my attention has been directed toward a form of classism-based trauma from which a person continues to experience the lingering effects and/or transforms his/her life to seek or avoid future situations that may cause him/her classism trauma ( Liu, 2011 ). Two stories in the media illustrate this classism-based trauma. First, a story reported on MSNBC.com (Omer & Shin, 2012) describes a poem a woman posted on Facebook that generated apologies from her former classmates. She starts the poem with “that little girl who came to school with the clothes she wore the day before / instead of asking why … you picked on her / the little girl who had to walk to school while others rode the bus / instead of asking why … you picked on her.” Her posting about being bullied in part due to her poor clothing is an excellent example of how this extreme form of classism has life-long effects. The second story comes from Dwayne Johnson, or the Rock (The Rock, 2012). He describes the “traumatic experience that inspired him to spend every waking hour in the gym.” That traumatic experience was when he was 14 years old and his family was evicted from their apartment. He mentions briefly the despair in his mother’s face. Again, this example from Dwayne Johnson is another form of classism that is traumatic and carries with it lifelong consequences. To understand the effects of classism-based traumas, psychologists need to shift from objective indicators of social class and classism and redirect attention to the subjective experiences of classism. Later, I expand on classism-based traumas.

Unlike sociology, psychology focuses on the individual and his/her connection to the social world ( Liu & Ali, 2005 ). Sociology is mostly concerned with the macro effects and tangentially how these broader variables may impact the individual ( Liu, 2011 ; Liu et al., 2004 ). My parallel argument for studies of other cultural constructs is that psychologists do not specifically study race, for example, but rather examine race via identity, acculturation, and the impact of racism. Thus, theories of racial identity, acculturation stress, and conflict provide psychologists with an opportunity to understand how race is meaningful in a person’s life. Similarly, rather than study gender, psychologists may examine gender role congruence or conformity to masculine norms. For social class and classism, the wholesale importation of another discipline’s paradigm into psychology has largely left psychologists with confusion about what social class is and how it is meaningful for the individual. As I have postulated elsewhere ( Liu, 2011 ), the extrapolation of demographic indices such as income, education, and occupation has given psychologists, practitioners, and researchers the semblance of control and organization over a construct but no theory or framework from which to use that tool. This is like having a steering wheel but no car attached to the wheel. Without a theory of social class and classism, information about a person’s income, education, or occupation is virtually meaningless.

This is not to say that income, education, and occupation are immaterial to the psychological construction of social class and classism. Instead, it is important to know that individuals may potentially value and perceive income, education, and occupation differently depending on their milieu. In a university town, certainly income is important, but social status and class are often tied to educational level as well as occupational title (i.e., professor). Additionally, income, education, and occupation confer different material conditions and resources on the individual and so, again, these variables are distinctly important but valued differently. Income, for example, affords an individual material resources, but the materials one values depend on the situation or context, or as I have termed it, one’s economic culture (EC). In a university town, a valued social class material object may be a new laptop, whereas in southern California, a valued social class material object may be a new car. Extant literature and my own literature reviews and research tend to support the importance of a subjective and phenomenological approach to understanding social class and classism. Related to this subjective approach is the importance of a cohesive theory that ties together social class and classism. My own social class worldview model (SCWM) is one example of a theory around social class and classism.

Readers should note too that it is my strong belief that social class theories need to address the dual components of social class and classism. For me, social class cannot exist apart from classism—these are coconstructs, and one cannot be explained without the other. In the case of race and racism it would seem unfathomable to discuss the construction of race or the meaning of race for an individual without implicating the importance of racism. Here, the same implications persist, and so theories of social class must implicate the role of classism.

The purpose of this edited book on social class and classism in counseling psychology is to provide readers with a compendium on social class within the field of applied psychology and counseling. I specifically focus on applied psychology and counseling since the need for continued clinical work and research is great given our work with clients across the lifespan as well as differing social class contexts. As a multicultural competency, clinical and counseling expertise on how to best adapt interventions to various economic communities is paramount. Moreover, for skilled counselors, it is equally imperative that skills be developed to elicit the ways in which clients describe the reasons for their own illnesses. The combination of these two approaches was found most effective in meta-analyses of culturally focused treatments ( Benish, Quintana, & Wampold, 2011 ). I first discuss some aspects related to economic privilege and its connection to classism in applied psychology. Second, I highlight the social class worldview model theory because some authors either allude to it or describe it in brief. Moreover, I explicate the theory around the social class and classism consciousness model ( Liu, 2012 ) and its relationship to the SCWM. Finally, I end this introduction with an in-depth description of classism-based traumas as a new theoretical approach to understanding an extreme form of classism experiences and provide related counseling implications.

Economic Privilege

Many of the chapters, many of the authors, and many of the studies within this book focus on people in poverty and the effects of inequality and economic decline. There are a great number of multiculturally minded and social justice–focused authors, counselors, and researchers who are working to understand inequality and affect change. Authors in this book directly implicate or allude to the benefits of privilege, especially social class and economic privilege. Increased access to resources, power, and prestige are all effects of privilege. Laminating economic privilege to other forms of privilege such as Whiteness and being a man can only accentuate the accrual and defense of resources, power, and prestige.

Privilege has been constituted as invisible benefits given to people based solely on identity aspects that the individual had no part in developing, creating, or nurturing—for example, being White ( McIntosh, 1995 ) or being Christian ( Schlosser, 2003 ). The benefits of privilege are largely invisible and outside the control of the individual. For instance, being White, male, and affluent may likely decrease one’s chances of being pulled over by police for drug interdiction searches. White privilege may be expressed as the “benefit of the doubt” in that, if a White person were to act wrongfully, he/she may be afforded some opportunities for other explanations for the wrongful behavior rather than being labeled a bad person ( Dovidio & Gaertner, 2005 ).

One primary benefit of economic privilege is the protection from consequences. Economic privilege protects individuals in three ways. First, economic privilege protects the person from environmental and contextual consequences such as living in toxic or violent environments. Second, economic privilege protects individuals from the consequences of their behaviors and attitudes. An example is that economic privilege not only gives people the benefit of the doubt when it comes to poor behaviors, but economic privilege also protects them from law enforcement. Finally, economic privilege protects individuals from assaults on their cultural identity. For instance, there is virtually no meaningful identity assault on a person who is White, wealthy, and male. And, related to privileged protection number two, each White wealthy man is evaluated independently such that one White wealthy man’s poor behavior does not necessarily create a group stereotype or declination in power for all White wealthy men.

Economic privilege, similar to any other privilege (e.g., Whiteness), is linked to systems of power, oppression, and marginalization. Pure privilege works invisibly, is unconscious and automatic, and is considered “normative” by society. Discussions about the creation of extreme wealth in our society do not seem to be meaningful to people when weighted by facts and figures about tax policy. However, the mention of extreme wealth as a “natural” outcome of merit and hard work fits neatly into the normative (normal) upward mobility narrative of our society. Privilege works to facilitate unequal systems and processes for the benefit of a few and to the detriment of many. Privilege is normalized and legalized and legislated. Gay marriage, for instance, appears to some to be an affront to the privileged, “normal” history of heterosexual marriage (even though the history of heterosexual marriage is far from the nostalgic and romantic hue it is often given by its proponents).

What is unique about economic privilege is that people can have access to a semblance of it. That is, economic privilege allows people to participate in its functioning. A person may work diligently and become wealthy, for instance, and economic privilege is thus afforded to that person. Yet the wealthy White businessman who came from poverty is never fully accepted because he is “nouveau riche” or is from “new money” rather than from “old money.” The wealthy Black businessman still cannot catch a taxi because his race liability outstrips his economic privilege. Participating in economic privilege means continuing traditional oppressive and marginalizing systems.

Starting an introductory discussion about social class and classism with economic privilege allows us to consider the ways in which individuals make sense of the social class environment and how the individual potentially conceptualizes him/herself as a social classed person. Economic privilege is certainly tied to one’s income, education, and occupation, but this relationship is moderated by other forms of identity privilege and is limited by marginalized identities. This complication and tension between identities provides some impetus for our understanding of social class and classism as intrapsychic, subjective, and phenomenological experiences within an economic structure and system.

The Social Class Worldview Model

The context of economic cultures.

Although many individuals imagine themselves to be “middle class,” the reality is there is no unitary “middle-class” culture or identity. Middle-classhood is multiple and varied, and the expression of middle-classhood depends on one’s environment and those around the individual. A car is an important material symbol of social class in a city such as Los Angeles but may not be as important among “middle-class” people in New York City, where some individuals may go their whole lives not knowing how to drive a car. In New York City though, status may be conferred to those who live a particular lifestyle or live in a certain part of the city. Social class context drives how status is achieved and valued.

Therefore, the SCWM is premised first on the foundation of economic cultures. Each economic culture has its own specific values, beliefs, and expectations, which help the individual understand what personal resources are important and valued as a means to maintain one’s social class. The individual’s local economic culture exists within a larger economic culture (EC), for example, a country’s economic system. These cultures are interdependent. As an example, in the United States, the larger EC from 2007 onward experienced a contraction of resources (available credit) and went into a deep economic recession. The larger EC impacted local ECs, which, depending on context, expressed the recession differently. Communities that were Black, older, and less educated felt the brunt of the recession most deeply and severely, and consequently, by 2012 were still not able to return to prerecession levels of employment and pay ( Austin, 2012 ).

In the local EC, individuals are expected to maintain certain types of capital necessary for maintaining their social class standing. As I mention later, failure to maintain these types of capital is met with forms of classism from others. Conceptually, I posit that individuals must maintain three forms of capital: human, social, and cultural (See Figure 1.1 ). Human capital is defined as the capabilities and physical characteristics with which a person is born and which the person may develop and enhance throughout a lifetime. Enlargement of these forms of capital is limited by physical limitation and access to resources. Body size, muscularity or leanness, and attractiveness are examples of human capital. Social capital is defined as social networks and interpersonal connections. People may use this form of capital to gain access to jobs that are not advertised, for example. Finally, cultural capital is defined as the aesthetics an individual develops that reflect one’s social class group. For one group it may be art in a particular gallery that is valued, while for another group, aesthetics may be expressed as an ability to differentiate different forms of camouflage needed for hunting.

The Worldview

Theoretically, the worldview is a collection of lenses through which capital demands and expectations are understood by the individual. There are two influences that shape the worldview: socialization messages and social class consciousness. Socialization messages are forms of communication from friends, peers, and family and may come across through statements, such as “work hard to succeed,” or through behaviors, such as ignoring the panhandling homeless person. The person internalizes these messages (explicit and implicit) and these messages become lenses through which the individual may see him/herself as well as others.

Along with these socialization messages, the person develops his/her own social class consciousness. This social class consciousness, which will be explicated later, is how the individual sees him/herself as a social classed person and how he/she understands the functioning of social class and classism. While the worldview focuses on interpreting capital demands on the individual, social class consciousness is focused on how the individual sees and understands him/herself in that social class system.

The Social Class Worldview Model—Revised. EC = Economic Culture; C = Cultural Capital; S = Social Capital; H = Human Capital; SM = Socialization Messages; SCCC = Social Class and Classism Consciousness; MAT = Material Possessions; BEH = Social Class Behaviors; LSTYL = Social Class Lifestyle; UP = Upward Classism; LAT = Lateral Classism; DOWN = Downward Classism; and INTCLS = Internalized Classism.

(From Liu, 2012 )

The worldview (See Figure 1.1 ) comprises three apertures: attitudes toward materialism, social class behaviors, and lifestyle considerations. Materialism focuses on the ways in which relationships are evaluated via possessions and valued objects. Social class behaviors are about social class congruent behaviors such as etiquette, accents, and language. Lifestyle considerations concern the ways in which a person spends his/her time. I refer to these three constructs as apertures since, given a particular EC and capital demands, the individual may see social class primarily through one dominant lens. The other lenses are also operational but in smaller diameters. The larger the aperture, the more important that lens is through which the person evaluates relationships and experiences classism. For example, if a particular EC placed demands on the person to develop social capital (relationships), and the primary way these relationships are developed is via materialism, then the individual is likely to evaluate and seek relationships through material objects and possessions. Classism is also expressed and experienced via what a person has or does not have. Classism from others is also likely to be experienced as marginalization because of material deficiencies.

Classism is the manner in which marginalization, ostracism, and oppression occur within the social class worldview model. First, classism functions like the aperture framework in that there are dominant and auxiliary ways in which classism is expressed and experienced. There are three main forms of classism within my theory: upward, downward, and lateral. Upward classism is marginalization directed to those who are perceived to be in a higher social class than the perceiver. Expressions of upward classism may be labeling someone a snob or elitist. Downward classism is marginalization directed to those who are perceived to be in a lower social class than the perceiver. Expressions of downward classism may be labeling someone as lazy or deserving of poor treatment. Lateral classism is marginalization directed to those perceived to be in a similar social class to the perceiver. Lateral classism may be expressed as “keeping up with the Joneses because the Joneses keep reminding you.” Another form of classism I hypothesize is not interrelational but intrapsychic.

I refer to multiple forms of classism because interpersonally, individuals are both aggressors and targets of classism. Being aggressor and target also means that there may be two forms of classism at work. Downward classism may be the experience an individual has when perceived by another person to be in a lower social-class position. Yet, the same individual may refer to the aggressor as a snob and elitist in a form of upward classism. It is imperative here that I also recognize these forms of classisms are from interpersonal interactions and are experienced by the individual as demeaning and marginalizing. In no way am I equating these interpersonal forms of classism to the ways structural and institutional classism functions to oppress and marginalize people. Feeling hurt and injured by another person (interpersonal) is not the same as taking away a person’s money and food (institutional and structural).

Another intrapsychic classism is internalized classism, which manifests as feelings of anxiety, depression, anger, and frustration from not being able to maintain one’s social class status. These feelings may lead to self-destructive behaviors for some; for others, these feelings may lead to a complete shift in social class status. For example, a person loses a job, and may not be able to maintain a particular luxury lifestyle. The feelings may be enough that the individual decides that the lifestyle is impossible to continue and shifts downward to a lower social class level and seeks out a new EC and acculturates to new capital demands as a result.

These classisms work with the social class worldview to create homeostasis for the person (social class constancy) when all the components are working well. Similarly, disequilibrium results when one is unable to maintain a perceived social class standing and social class constancy is threatened. The individual may reorganize the worldview and/or classism actions as a means to manage burgeoning feelings of internalized classism (anxiety). In some situations, the person rediscovers homeostasis, while in other situations if disequilibrium persists, the individual might consider changing the self-perceived social class position.

Social Class and Classism Consciousness

Alongside social class socialization messages, which a person receives from friends, family, and peers, the manner in which a person understands him/herself to be a social classed person is the other important feature in the social class worldview. The SCWM does not indicate how the individual conceptualizes him/herself as a social classed person, only how he/she operates and responds to capital demands from the EC. I would venture to speculate, as an example, that people may create a system that is homeostatic yet have no conceptualization of themselves as social classed persons or of how social class functions around them. Therefore, my development of the social class and classism consciousness (SCCC) model was to understand the individual’s social class awareness and consciousness.

Social class and classism consciousness refers to a person’s sense of being in a social class system and to how the person sees the world and others. The SCCC model has three broad levels: no social class consciousness, social class self-consciousness, and social class consciousness (See Table 1.1 ). There are also ten statuses within the three levels (See Table 1.2 ): unawareness, status position saliency, questioning, exploration and justification, despair, the world is just, intellectualized anger and frustration, reinvestment, engagement, and equilibration. At the first level, no social class consciousness , a person is largely unaware of social class in his/her life. The individual is not necessarily void of any class consciousness but has not developed any understanding of how social class operates in his/her life. The way in which the person may try to understand social class and classism comes mostly from introjects of scripts and schemas from media, family, and friends. I mean “introjects” to be unfiltered and wholesale adoption

of perspectives from others; the person has not fully considered these scripts and schemas and tends to parrot social class discourse from those around him or her. At the second level, social class self-consciousness , the individual is evolving a self-consciousness about social class and classism. “Self-consciousness” here is used intentionally to reflect a hypersensitivity to oneself as a social classed person, and the burgeoning awareness of social class contexts. While the individual is sensitive, he/she still lacks a complex understanding of power, privilege, and inequality. Simply stated, the individual knows something is occurring economically but does not know or understand what it is or how it is happening.

At the third level of the SCCC, social class consciousness , the individual attends to exploring social class inwardly and focusing on self with others. The person is interested in how he/she impacts the social class world. The person explores avenues by which exploration is coupled with actions and behaviors that are meaningful expressions of how social class, classism, and inequality are understood. The SCCC is posited in a hierarchical order, such that there is potential movement from less sophistication and cognitive maturity to more complexity. People also go through all the statuses. Over time, an individual develops a preferred status from which to understand social class and classism, as well as him/herself as a social classed person.

The implication of this particular theory is related to the subjective approach to social class and classism which I advocate. Regardless of one’s objectively defined social class standing (poverty to affluence), clinicians and scholars should recognize that social class consciousness varies. Being poor, for example, does not necessarily mean one sees him/herself as a social classed person anymore than being affluent. Another consideration is that the process by which consciousness develops is not linear but rather a struggle for the individual between his/her intellect, emotions, history, and relationships.

Classism-Based Traumas

Classism-based traumas have similarities to chronic racism and sexism ( Bryant-Davis & Ocampo, 2005 ). All these forms of oppression and marginalization are founded on biased and inaccurate histories, codified by unequal laws, perpetuated through institutional legacies, and naturalized within a national culture. Racism, like other isms, is not just an individual-level problem, but a problem rooted in sociopolitical (e.g., the unequal distribution of power), sociohistorical (e.g., biased and inaccurate histories of peoples), and sociostructural (e.g., legal, education, and economic systems) forces that marginalize and oppress individuals ( Jones, 2010 ; Liu & Ali, 2005 ). With respect to classism, it is cause and consequence to economic inequality and serves to justify the economic status quo of a few “haves” and many “have-nots” ( Jost, Banaji, & Nosek, 2004 ).

Source: From Liu (2011 , 2012 ).

While there are significant similarities among all the isms, classism is sometimes difficult to identify both for the counselor and the client. The reason for this difficulty is that an individual’s social class is not typically a phenotype like race or sex and so the acts of classism may not necessarily target an overt identity like someone’s race, ethnicity, gender, or ability. And so, while the individual may have felt marginalized or is able to recall some feelings of alienation and discrimination, the client may have difficulty “pin-pointing” the specific reason why he or she was targeted. Thus, the counselor is expected to have some skill and awareness that will allow the client to better understand and frame these experiences of classism.

Classism is not a unique form of oppression or marginalization but instead, classism is intimately tied to other “isms.” There is a deleterious interaction of race, gender, and social class such that poor women and racial ethnic minorities are often at the lower end of health gradients ( Adler, Boyce, Chesney, Folkman, & Syme, 1993 ) and other indicators of health, educational and occupational achievement, and success. Additionally, classism, while it is often most traumatic for those who are poor and in lower-social-class situations ( Smith, 2008 ), may also affect individuals across the economic spectrum. Thus, the construct of classism trauma is relevant even for those in affluent and privileged settings ( Liu et al., 2007 ).

Throughout this manuscript, we refer to the classism-based traumas and not specifically “classism trauma.” The intent is to describe the meaningful impact of classism-based experiences but not to allude to or diminish the significance of “trauma” as a diagnostic category. Traumas, as most psychologists understand, are often related to some unexpected and violent event such as an accident, explosion, or loss of life. The diagnostic characteristics of trauma may be characterized as “the experience and psychological impact of events that are life-threatening or include a danger of injury so severe that the person is horrified, feels helpless, and experiences a psychophysiological alarm response during and shortly following the experience” ( Schauer, Neuner, & Elbert, 2005 , p. 5). In our current place in history, traumas are often related to battlefield and war-based experiences, and, as such, trauma is a singularly important diagnostic classification that is often used to describe acute or post-traumatic experiences ( American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000 ; Cigrang, Peterson, & Schobitz, 2005 ).

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as defined by the DSM-IV-TR is “ the development of characteristic symptoms following exposure to an extreme traumatic stressor(s) involving direct personal experience of an event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury, or other threat to one’s physical integrity; or witnessing an event that involves death, injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of another person; or learning about unexpected or violent death, serious harm, or threat of death or injury experienced by a family member or other close associate” ( APA, 2000 , p. 463). For the current DSM-IV-TR , assessment for PTSD usually means that the person has a response to an event that involves fear, helplessness, or horror; that there is a persistent avoidance of the stimuli associated with the trauma and/or a numbing of general responsiveness; and persistent symptoms of arousal ( APA, 2000 ). Additionally, other mood disorders associated with PTSD (comorbid) are generalized anxiety and depression ( Otter & Currie, 2004 ).

We also understand that traumas may occur as a result of prolonged exposure to a stressor such as abuse and violence (e.g., child or sexual abuse) ( Anda et al., 2006 ; Andersen et al. 2008 ; Carpenter et al., 2009 ; Neigh, Gillespie, & Nemeroff, 2009 ). In these ways, abuse and violence are forms of interpersonal violations and traumas, and many of the clients who have histories of abuse and violence may be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Therefore, racism ( Bryant-Davis & Ocampo, 2005 ) and other isms such as classism may serve as triggers and variables by which chronic stress, violence, and abuse are channeled toward an individual, thereby setting the framework for classism-based traumas. The use of “trauma” as a term to describe significant and meaningful experiences with classism does imply some overlap of how “trauma” has been defined with respect to post-traumatic stress, for example. The classism-based traumas do imply feelings of extreme helplessness and fear, and the individual is likely to feel particularly vulnerable under threat and to be looking for avenues to avoid the situation or stimuli associated with the trauma. Additionally, the experiences of traumatic classisms (the term used hereafter) may be direct or vicarious, but the outcome is similar regardless of how the experience occurs. Thus, the operational definition for classism-based traumas is: An acute and/or chronic situation wherein the individual experiences personal threat to his/her social status and position; at the time of the experience, he or she is unable to escape from the threat or modify the situation; the outcome is that the individual feels helpless and vigilant to other possible classism-based threats.

The classism-based traumas are related to significant single or repeated exposures to messages as well as reminders of one’s “deviancy.” Depending on the individual, this exposure to classism may be a single comment or remark (i.e., you look dirty), demeaning or disapproving glance, or familial-based experience (e.g., a family refused entry to an establishment). The notion of classism-based traumas is not just about bullying or teasing (as a child, adolescent, or adult). Certainly bullying and teasing may be involved, but classism-based traumas are likely to have long-lasting effects in which people configure their lives in such a way as to cope with these primary experiences. There are also features of classism-based traumas that an individual may experience that are not specifically related to any one person’s actions (e.g., the death of a significant person). Thus, bullying and teasing do not accurately encompass the variability of how classism-based traumas are experienced or expressed.

Classism-based traumas may not necessarily be determined from outward appearances and there may be no negative physical sign that a person has experienced a classism-based trauma. Rather the individual who appears to be surrounded by material possessions or to be wealthy may have a history of classism trauma and the current circumstances are a coping style. That is, one way to overcompensate for classism-based traumatizing experiences is to focus on material objects or money as a maladaptive response. The belief may be that surrounding oneself with certain material objects or money will protect one from further denigration. The problem is that the individual eventually limits him/herself to a restricted range of coping styles, and the failure, or even the threat of failure may lead to fear, anxiety, and depression.

Classism, Social Rejection, and Impaired Relationships

But how might classism be a form of trauma? Classism is a form of social exclusion and rejection and it affects different levels of a person’s life. Some of the effects are visible. For instance, at the macro and societal levels, classism is cause and consequence of economic inequality and serves to concretize the caste-like social class groups. Gated properties and security patrolled streets are visible reminders to those who cannot afford to live in these communities that aside from their labor, their presence is unwelcomed. Another potential outcome of inequality and a poor economy is an increase in poor health behaviors such as consuming more “junk” food. An economic analysis suggests that losing one’s job or the threat of losing one’s job (i.e., a state’s rate of unemployment) is related to decreased consumption of fruits and vegetables (a 1% increase in unemployment is related to a 2–8% reduction in fruit and vegetable consumption) ( Dave & Kelly, 2010 ). From a health perspective, experiencing classism traumas and living in an environment of constant vigilance and stress results in reduced efficiency of one’s body and the increased hormones related to stress response ( Gunnar & Quevedo, 2007 ). Over time, the increased biological stress response is related to weight gain ( Kuo et al., 2007 ). From a psychological perspective, social exclusion (losing one’s job) is related to poor self-regulation (e.g., eating more cookies) and a disinclination toward making healthier choices ( Baumeister, DeWall, & Ciarocco, 2005 ). It seems that people who are socially rejected or fear social rejection tend to make poor short-term choices (e.g., eating unhealthy food) and minimize long-term consequences (i.e., getting overweight).

But there are invisible effects, on the interpersonal and subjective level, such that classism is likely experienced as a form or threat of social exclusion and rejection. Classism may happen because one is perceived to be too materialistic (i.e., shallow) ( Van Boven, Campbell, & Gilovich, 2010 ) or buying the wrong things (i.e., ridicule) ( Wooten, 2006 ). The importance of understanding classism is related to the intrapersonal (intrapsychic) effects and the effect classism has on relationships. Classism may be a single event, but much like other forms of isms and exclusion, there are reverberations throughout the person’s life. As such, the classism-based traumas are unlikely isolated to the individual but transmitted to relationships and perhaps to other generations.

With regard to social rejection, the experimental research has clearly demonstrated deleterious outcomes. To start, social rejection typically leads to self-defeating and unhealthy behaviors (e.g., longer periods of procrastination) ( Twenge, Catanese, & Baumeister, 2002 ). Even among those who may regard themselves as intelligent, social rejection decreases logical thinking and performance on complex cognitive tasks ( Baumeister, Twenge, & Nuss, 2002 ; DeWall & Baumeister, 2006 ). Additionally, the experience of social exclusion leads to momentary physical numbing, emotional numbing, and even less empathy for others ( DeWall & Baumeister, 2006 ). Essentially, threats to belonging to a group, whether physical or social, activate similar neural networks designed to regulate pain ( Eisenberger, Lieberman, & Williams, 2003 ).

Over time it may be possible that people who experience repeated social rejections become highly sensitized to rejection cues, demonstrate increased startle response, and at times may even preprotect themselves (i.e., aggress first) and reject others or see rejection cues (i.e., hypervigilance) even when there are none present ( Romero-Canyas, Downey, Berenson, Ayduk, & Kang, 2010 ). Seeing hostility in others, even in neutral situations, is a common outcome of repeated social rejections, and unfortunately acting hostile toward others is the other typical outcome of social rejection ( DeWall, Twenge, Gitter, & Baumeister, 2009 ; Twenge, Baumeister, Tice, & Stucke, 2001 ). In some ways, these preprotective behaviors and attitudes are not necessarily wrong, since for some people who may experience repeated forms of classism and exclusion, it allows the person to respond more adequately to assaults rather than having each new rejection be a novel experience. As one researcher terms it, “If you can’t join them, beat them” ( Twenge et al., 2001 , p. 1058). The rejection-sensitive person then may be hostile and aggressive toward others as a means to protect him/herself from rejection, decrease prosocial behaviors and empathy ( Twenge, Baumeister, DeWall, Ciarocco, & Bartels, 2007 ), and protect whatever social connections they have from other assaults or injuries ( Romero-Canyas et al., 2010 ).

One interesting outcome from the social rejection research is the complexity of responses by people who are socially rejected. Hostility is a common reaction to rejection, but research also suggests that ingratiation is another outcome. In situations where a participant was primed to think of him/herself as socially rejected, the individual may express a strategy to gain acceptance again (i.e., ingratiating behavior) ( Romero-Canyas et al., 2010 ). In their research, Romer-Canyas and colleagues found that if people believed there was an opportunity to improve one’s standing with respect to the rejecter, then the individual would likely engage in a strategy of ingratiating behaviors; this did not represent an internal change (i.e., believing the rejecter was a good person), but rather the person employed behaviors to improve his/her standing. Ingratiating behaviors and attitudes are an important finding for classism theory since it suggests that people who may be rejected sometimes express a strategy to regain favor and remain in the group.

Overall, it seems that there is research to support the basic premises of classism laid out by Liu (2011) . People do want social connection—they are vulnerable but needy—and they protect themselves against vulnerability and exploitation ( Maner, DeWall, Baumeister, & Schaller, 2007 ). People are not singular in their response to classism, but can exhibit paradoxical behavior such as ingratiation toward those who rejected them. Moreover, it seems that for others who have experienced classism “beating them” ( Twenge et al., 2001 ) is a way to potentially perpetuate classism. As Twenge and colleagues discovered, those who were rejected tended not to direct their hostility toward the rejecter but toward partners. In other words, hostility was not necessarily a form of retaliation toward the rejecter but a worldview formed from rejection that was used against others.

Classism-Based Traumas and Pain

For the most part, classism and classism-based traumas may be conceptualized as forms of social pain ( Zhou & Gao, 2008 ). Thus, there is a possible physiological memory attached to rejection and classism. It seems that research has found relationships between social distress, physical pain, and the symbolic power of money to help the individual cope with these noxious experiences ( Zhou, Vohs, & Baumeister, 2009 ). Zhou and Gao (2008) based their series of studies on the notion that physical pain and social exclusion are experienced in psychologically similar ways (cognitive, physical, and attitudinal). They state, “social pain, monetary-loss pain, and physical pain [are regarded] as overlapping pain systems” ( Zhou & Gao, 2008 , p. 127) and thus the person may feel social exclusion and rejection in the same ways as physical pain ( MacDonald & Leary, 2005 ). In situations where people feel marginalized, fear losing social support, or experience personal distancing, individuals may act in ways to retain or preserve relationships ( Zhou et al., 2009 ). The simple reason why people are motivated as such is because social support, it seems, provides an important ameliorating role in “buffering” the impact of pain perceptions ( Zhou & Gao, 2008 ) and so people are highly motivated to maintain social support.

In experimental studies, it appears that the experience of social exclusion tended to increase an individual’s tendency to spend money ( Baumeister, DeWall, Mead, & Vohs, 2008 ). One way to explain these results is that the individual may have problems with self-regulation and impulse control ( Baumeister et al., 2005 ; Rose, 2007 ), but another way to understand it may be that spending money may be a way to increase the individual’s appeal and attractiveness to others ( Baumeister et al., 2005 ). Zhou et al. (2009) also found similar results where people who experienced social and physical pain increased the interest of the individual toward money. Interestingly, in these experimental conditions, physically handling money by counting it seemed to decrease perceptions of physical pain. Conversely, if the participants considered the money they had already spent, they tended to become more vulnerable to experiences of social exclusion and physical pain ( Zhou et al., 2009 ). The authors from these studies speculate that money becomes a physical representation of safety but also the pursuit of money “may be the motivation to deny the feelings of insecurity” ( Zhou & Gao, 2008 , p. 131).

The paradoxical result of pursuing and thinking about money is that the individual tends to eschew social interactions that may actually be helpful to him or her. Vohs, Mead, and Goode (2006) found that when participants were primed to think about money, the participants tended to be more socially insensitive, offered less help to others, tended to prefer working and playing on their own, and preferred physical distance from others. Recent research also suggests that when these experiences of social rejection occur, especially in the context when the person perceives that it is unfair, the individual is likely to feel more entitled to act in ways to avoid further personal injury and to find positive outcomes for him or herself (entitlement) ( Zitek, Jordan, Monin, & Leach, 2010 ). The outcome of these “unfair” wrongs and feelings of entitlement is often selfish behavior ( Zitek et al., 2010 ). In experimental settings, selfishness is demonstrated through not helping others, decreased likelihood of inconveniencing oneself for the sake of others, engaging in more selfish behaviors such as leaving trash around or taking a pen, and a tendency to ask for more money in compensation.

Thus, the research seems to suggest that one possible outcome of experiences of classism is that people may turn to money as a means to cope with the perceived loss of social support. Additionally, the research suggests that people may feel entitled to act in selfish ways and to reduce prosocial behavior, especially in situations where they believe the interpersonal wrong they experienced was completely unjustified. One might imagine that classism-based traumas may take the form for instance, of losing one’s job, and the result of this experience and situation is an individual who is socially withdrawn, focused on money and other resources, and is unlikely to engage others in social activities.

Counseling Implications of Classism-Based Traumas

Considering the entire expanse of economic situations helps psychologist better understand how social class and classism-based traumas are understood, experienced, and expressed ( Liu, 2011 ). For instance, although the objective situation for many wealthy and affluent tends to suggest that they have better access to mental health care, and are more likely to have overall better mental health ( Bogard, 2005 ; Luthar, 2003 ), psychologists should not assume these individuals are free from mental health problems ( Luthar & Latendresse, 2005 ) or experiences with classism-based traumas. Research among affluent and wealthy adolescents has shown that growing up in affluence and wealth brings with it certain problems that may be unique to their situation. Levine (2006) finds in her research among the affluent adolescents that they experience pressures and expectations toward perfectionism by peers and parents. These adolescents often do not receive critical and negative feedback from teachers and so they are ill-equipped for these sorts of comments. Failure to meet these expectations may be forms of classism-based traumas. Parents in these affluent contexts focus on the child and adolescents’ seeming outstandingness and push their children toward competition and achievement ( Luthar, Shoum, & Brown, 2006 ; Pittman, 1985 ). Among these parents, the belief is that isolating these children promotes self-sufficiency. As a consequence, for many of these adolescents, their sense of worth is predicated on their performance ( Luthar, 2003 ; Luthar & Sexton, 2005 ) and they often turn to their peers for normalization and comfort ( Luthar & Becker, 2002 ). Consequently, one problem that arises from these relationships is substance use and abuse ( Luthar, 2003 ; Luthar & Sexton, 2005 ). In fact, in one study, Luthar and D’Avanzo (1999) found that suburban and affluent youth had higher scores on psychological maladjustment and substance use (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana) than urban (poor) youth.

Thus, across the economic spectrum, mental health conflicts and problems exist as a result of the context. For psychologists one of the important considerations in working with clients is to better understand and conceptualize the perspective people may have about their present situations and personal history. Of specific interest is the possibility of some classism-based traumas that may have helped to change the individual’s worldview and started them toward behaviors that may be unhelpful, maladaptive, or deleterious to their mental state and well-being.

Psychologists are well positioned to understand and explore a person’s experiences with classism-based trauma. Training to be multiculturally competent means that many psychologists are exposed to cultural considerations such as race, racism, gender, and sexism, to name a few. When exploring these experiences, psychologists may uncover a person’s significant history of racism (overt and micro), and/or sexism, homophobia, ageism, and classism and begin to tie these experiences to current maladaptions and challenges in life. It may not be too uncommon to find a client with these experiences who considers the event(s) pivotal. Given the events, situations, or experiences, the counselor may discover that the client has since acted in ways to accommodate, avoid, or protect him or herself from further incidences.

Using this framework, classism-based trauma may also have a similar impact on the client’s life. From a career perspective, for example, a person reporting dissatisfaction about a job or career choice may potentially be revealing a significant classism experience that became pivotal in future educational and job choices. The person’s interests become shaped and value systems changed in order to better accommodate future career prospects. Still nagging are those unmet needs and interests but the individual may feel “locked-into” a job because they have now established a new lifestyle baseline that they must finance. An expensive car, large home, or other expenses may now compel the individual to continue in a career in which they are unhappy but financially obligated. They may be, at best, ambivalent about their situation since they may meet the specific threshold of avoiding further classism assaults, but they may not be fulfilled in their job choice and occupation.

The counseling psychologist’s work is not only to uncover these previous classism experiences and traumas, but to help the client understand better how these may be connected to their present dissatisfaction or ambivalence. In these counseling relationships, the psychologists should have good referral resources to financial advisors. Psychologists may come to serve as a nexus for referrals not only to psychiatric assistance but also to other life considerations such as the client’s financial health.

In other counseling contexts, it may be useful for the counselor to better understand the client’s material value orientations. Clients who primarily discuss their material possessions or orient their lives around the pursuit of material possessions may be expressing some level of dissatisfaction with their present situation ( Liu, 2011 ). Exploring the client’s previous experiences of classism may reveal some traumatic incident wherein the person found some comfort through material possessions. The client may also be encumbered by a debt cycle wherein he or she is constantly accruing debt (e.g., credit card debt) as a means to finance his or her material interests. These financial pressures are unavoidable though, and it is quite certain that these financial problems are only exacerbating their internal angst.

Classism-based trauma may also happen vicariously. That is, rather than being the specific target, the individual may be part of a group, family, or an onlooker. For example, the child or adolescent who is part of a family gathering or outing to a restaurant may be refused service or given poor service because of the family’s social class. The individual experiencing this classism recognizes that there is differential treatment and attributes it their poor appearance, clothing, or other social class “markers” (i.e., stereotyped social class distinguishing characteristic). The client may recall being a part of the group or family, and while he or she was not a specific target of the classism, the classism was experienced collectively. Moreover, it is possible that the client may have been an onlooker to a traumatic classist event, and again, while the client was not the direct target or recipient of the classism, the client still remembers and recalls it as a meaningful personal event.

Finally, classism-based trauma may also occur as a result of a significant personal loss or gain. Grieving the loss of a loved one may also trigger memories and other recollections that, in and of themselves, may represent a form of classism-based trauma. The client may relate collaboratively built dreams between the lost loved one and him or her about a particular future lifestyle such as plans for vacations, trips, homes, or cars. The death of a loved significant person may impel the client toward apathy because of the loss. On the other hand, the loss of the loved one may be related to the client changing their life to only secure material possessions and other concretized representations of his or her relationship.

For instance, when I worked with a client experiencing significant sadness at the loss of her mother, in exploring the feelings of loss, the client related an experience when she was a child and they were driving around expensive neighborhoods with her mother. The client, her mother, and her younger brother drove around these neighborhoods looking at expensive houses and talked about one day living in these homes. The client, who was a graduate student in business, was about to enter a high-paying job, and her sadness was in part related to knowing that her mother would never enjoy the advent of this different lifestyle. In counseling, she had not made that connection between her present sadness and these “house-hunting” memories. The insight was an important part of helping her better understand her grief and her relationship with her mother ( Liu, 2011 ).

The other possibility is a result of a significant gain that may mean changes in lifestyle as well as relationships with significant persons, family, friends, and peers. Imagine the person who suddenly gains wealth from an inheritance, financial success, or even a lottery. These windfall gains would seem to be related to happiness. Yet anecdotal reports from newspapers and magazines, as well as some empirical evidence from psychological literature seem to suggest the opposite ( Gardner & Oswald, 2007 ). Not everyone fares poorly and there seems to be some evidence to suggest that small and medium sized lottery winners generally do well ( Gardner & Oswald, 2007 ). But for those who experience a significant economic windfall, there may be changes in their life that they did not and could not anticipate. The changes and other challenges may be overwhelming and may also be recalled as a form of classism-based trauma. The classism in this situation is related to the demands and expectations from individuals across multiple economic cultures and the disequilibrium that comes from trying to satisfy the entire array of people. At the time of receiving the windfall, we could imagine, the notion of classism is not apparent. Perhaps in retrospect the interpersonal conflicts and intrapersonal dissonance resulting from the windfall may not be regarded as positively.

I present a framework to understand classism-based traumas as an example of how social class and classism experiences must be understood from a psychological perspective, and that there are deep emotional and psychological wounds that result from classism. Psychologists are in clinical and research positions to investigate this phenomenon. Additionally, understanding the impact of classism-based traumas is an important self-exploration for psychologists. As part of our multicultural competencies framework, recognizing one’s own traumas and how these experiences leverage into our work with clients is a pertinent self-awareness. Comprehending this trauma’s impact in our own lives helps us understand how we create our own worldviews and what may compel clients to create their worldviews.

Introducing readers to a conceptual and theoretical construct that is not well understood by psychologists is daunting. I recognize many psychologists and readers of this introduction and this book will bring to the research and concepts their own understanding and experiences of social class and classism. Shifting the language and schemas away from only using social class categories (i.e., middle class) to understand social class and classism as psychologists represents another hurdle. These conceptual and theoretical tensions are appropriate for such a burgeoning area as social class and classism in counseling psychology. People should be bringing their own experiences and reflecting on how these theories, the research presented in this book, and the current scholarship captures their worldview and lived experiences.

I would encourage readers as they read the chapters to consider other psychological constructs and theories and how these approaches may enliven our present understanding of social class and classism. Later in this book, I also discuss future directions with respect to research and theories, and clinical applications. By no means am I suggesting, in the presentation of the SCWM, SCCC, and the classism-based traumas, that these are the only theories to understand social class in psychology. I offer these as theoretically meaningful for my work and hope that the material presented in this book stimulates scholarship and discussions that leads to future theory development and applications.

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Social Class and Education, Essay Example

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Introduction

Education inequality is a reality in the contemporary scenario. This is despite the developments and infrastructure advancements, which have been realized in the progress of the society. In the U.S., the scenario is not different with social classes influencing the access to education. Governments and other stakeholders are sentient on this actuality. This is evident with the presidential candidates in the U.S. tasked with explaining their positions concerning this reality. The media, including newspapers and other excerpts explored the position of the two candidates, the incumbent Obama and Romney since they represented different social classes. Judging from this scenario, it is evident that social classes are influential in policy creation and consequently the society’s welfare (Biddle, 2001). When considering the aforementioned information, it is apparent educational inequalities are brought about by the differences in classes. This is mainly because the individuals from the higher and middle-income classes are economically empowered to access the education infrastructure to the highest levels. This actuality influences the future generations of these classes, whereby it is easier for the privileged to maintain their status while the lower social classes find it difficult to enjoy similar opportunities. This can be attributed to the fact that the contemporary job market requires skilled individuals. This skill is provided by education hence limiting the lower social classes from progressing in the society. In order for the lower classes to be empowered, it is essential that education is accessible for the demographic. This will effectively break the cycle, which condemns the lower social classes to the same quality of life by empowering them to access education as their privileged peers (Kincheloe and Steinberg, 2007). Despite education being cited to be a fundamental right, the lower economic classes, as compared to the privileged classes in the society, do not equitably access education.

In the society, it is apparent that the distribution of resources is inequitable across population. This actuality results in the segmentation of the society according to their access to resources. In all societies, there are low, middle and high-income earners. These classes have been a characteristic of the society since the historical times. Despite this, in the historic times, prevalence of these classes was due to possession of physical resources including land and livestock among others. The advent of education provided a new avenue for the society to create opportunities for themselves. This led to the rise of the middle class since physical resources were not the only avenue of wealth creation. The progress realized in the society, including mechanization and globalization have augmented the need for skilled individuals in the contemporary job market. This means that individuals require skills in order to be proficient in different sectors. For an individual to acquire the necessary skills and expertise required for employment, it is crucial to acquire a quality education to the highest level possible. This requirement has made it necessary for individuals to pursue knowledge to the highest possible level. With this consideration, the pursuit for education is not as straightforward as presented since socioeconomic factors are prominent in influencing its access. Education is an investment, and it requires resources. This means that education attracts costs, which have to be incurred by the society. This actuality locks out the lower economic classes since they do not have adequate resources to facilitate for their access to this fundamental requirement in the contemporary scenario.

As aforementioned, skills are essential for an individual to carve out opportunities in the competitive society. This is achievable through access of education. University and college education are considered the adequate levels for an individual to acquire the required skills for the contemporary job market. The college and university level education attract high tuition fees than the preceding education levels. The government and other stakeholders have tried to be proactive in addressing this limitation through numerous grants, scholarships and loans. Despite the availability of these solutions, they are not sufficient to cater for this socioeconomic class since the resources provided for this purpose are limited. This means that the financial burden of education is confined to individuals and their families (Min-zan Lu, 2012). This is a challenge because it is arduous for them to raise or even access the required resources for a quality education. This means that the individuals from the low economic classes are confined to limited progress since they cannot access the skills offered by educational institutions due to lack of resources. This class is also confined to the state apparatus provided for education services including community colleges, institutions, which cannot match the quality and resources, provided in the prestigious institutions. This results in individuals from the lower classes accessing insufficient education, which makes them less competitive in the job market. Their lack of resources impedes them to access the required standards of higher education hence compromises the opportunities that are available for them in the job market.

When considering the correlation between socioeconomic classes and education, it is apparent that lack of resources impedes access to quality education. When analyzing the situation, another correlation becomes overt. It is evident in the aforementioned information the social classes influence the access of education. Despite this, it is also valid to argue that education creates the low social classes. This is because the contemporary society is over reliant on education, as the marker for qualification for opportunities in the job market (Andersen and Taylor, 2011). This overreliance has resulted in the opportunities present in the society to be confined to the social classes, which access adequate resources. When individuals are unable to access education, their job opportunities are limited significantly. This results in the individuals having to be contented with jobs, which require unskilled labor. This means that they will be subjected to lower pay as compared to the educated demographic. The individuals have to work longer hours or even hold multiple jobs in order to satisfy their economic requirements (Reay, David and Ball, 2005). Most of the unskilled jobs do not attract benefits including health insurance among others. This means that they have to put additional efforts in order to access the benefits, which are provided for the educated class. If education is accessible to all, then the lower classes would be able to obtain jobs which are better paying and have the aforementioned benefits.

This actuality percolates into their lifestyle since they will have to live by the resources, which they can access, in this case, limited resources. This results in the uneducated individuals to have limited access to the resources and amenities in the society. This influences negatively the quality of their lives in the long term. Individuals from the lower classes are unable to access efficient services due to the social status. These services include health insurance among other benefits. They also live in neighborhoods, which are characterized by detrimental living conditions and vices including drugs and crime. All these detrimental effects are side effects of the inequity in the access of education in the society. This means that education needs to be made accessible to address the social problems, which affect the low social classes.

When considering the aforementioned premises, it is evident that education has been engrained into the contemporary society. Education influences an individual’s access to resources and consequently their social class. This means that the correlation between education and social class is inevitable. In order for the society to address the inequalities present in the education sector between the classes, it is imperative that all the stakeholders are proactive in ensuring that this is a reality. The government and the private sector alike have to reevaluate the structures and policies involved in the sector. For instance, education should be made affordable for the lower classes of society. It is evident from the policies of the incumbent U.S. president that the lower social classes are the responsibility of the state.

Some of the recommendations the government might consider concerning the issue of education and social classes is by subsidizing the sector further to ensure that education is conceivable for the lower classes. The government might also improve the existing institutions serving the lower classes including community college to match the education quality provided in other prestigious institutions. This will enable the student from the lower income bracket families to acquire a competitive education hence match up the qualifications of other students. The private sector may also be encouraged to be accommodative of this demographic through the provision of programs tailored for these students. This will make certain that education is easily accessible to poor individuals hence facilitate future progress for the demographic.

Education is a fundamental right for individuals in the contemporary society. This means that it is imperative that governments ensure that the sector is not discriminative to social classes. This is essential since it will empower individuals from the lower classes to access the opportunities presented in the contemporary scenario. This means that the disruption of the cyclic effect of poverty among the lower classes will be possible since individuals can access the resources present in the society. If education is available for all classes, then individuals will have the required skills to attain financial independence. The society should make certain that education is accessible in order to facilitate equitable distribution of resources in the society, hence empower individuals from the lower classes.

Education is an integral requirement in the contemporary scenario. This means that individuals have to attain education in order to access the resources available in the society. This has been necessitated by the progress witnessed by the society whereby various skills are required. These skills are provided by the education offered by various institutions. Despite this, individuals from the lower classes are impeded from accessing education since they do not have the sufficient resources. This means that the relevant stakeholders should make education accessible in order to ensure that the individuals in the society can access the available resources augmenting their lives. This is essential because it will facilitate the individuals from the low classes to acquire more resources consequently enhancing their lives than the current situation.

Andersen, M. L., & Taylor, H. F. (2011). Sociology: The essentials . Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Biddle, B. J. (2001). Social class, poverty, and education: Policy and practice . New York [u.a.: Routledge Falmer.

Kincheloe, J. L., & Steinberg, S. R. (2007). Cutting class: Socioeconomic status and education . Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Pubs.

Min-zan Lu. (2012). From silence to words: writing as struggle.college English, vol 49, No 4. Pp 437-448.

Reay, D., David, M. E., & Ball, S. (2005). Degrees of choice: Class, race, gender in higher education . Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books.

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Introduction

Chapter outline.

It was a school day, and Inayah woke up at 5:15 a.m, checked her phone, and began a few chores. Her aunt had gone to work, but had left a pile of vegetables for be cut for dinner. After taking care of that, Inayah gathered and organized the laundry, then woke up her younger cousin and sister. She led them in prayers, gave them breakfast, and dressed for school. Inayah was running late, so she didn’t have time to record a full video. Instead she took a few pictures and posted a good-morning clip, updated her status on another platform, and went to check on the younger girls.

Twenty minutes later, Inayah was fixing her sister’s uniform and calling to her cousin to hurry along. She loaded them up with their school bags and one sack of laundry each. The three girls walked the two kilometers to the bus station, dropping the laundry at the cleaner on the way. The ride to school took about thirty minutes.

Inayah had grown up about sixty kilometers away, where her parents still lived. She usually saw them on weekends. She had previously attended a boarding school, but those had become dangerous due to kidnappings or other trouble. Inayah’s new school was not quite as good as the old one, but she was still learning. She did particularly well in math and economics.

After school and the bus ride back, Inayah sent her sister and her cousin to the house while she stayed in town with some friends. The girls sat at the picnic tables near the basketball courts, where groups of other teenagers and some adults usually came to play. She didn’t talk to any of the boys there, but she had met several of them at her uncle’s store. The girls recorded a few videos together, started on their homework, and after about an hour, headed home to help with dinner.

How does Inayah’s day compare with yours? How does it compare to the days of teenagers you know? Inayah interacts with her family and friends based on individual relationships and personalities, but societal norms and acceptable behaviors shape those interactions. Someone from outside of her community might feel that her society’s expectations are too challenging, while others may feel they are too lenient. But Inayah may disagree with both perspectives. She might have taken those societal expectations as her own.

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Essay On Social Issues

500 words essay on social issues.

Social Issues is an undesirable state which opposes society or a certain part of society. It refers to an unwanted situation that frequently results in problems and continues to harm society . Social issues can cause a lot of problems that can be beyond the control of just one person. Through an essay on social issues, we will learn why they are harmful and what types of social issues we face.

Drawbacks of Social Issues

Social issues have a lot of drawbacks that harms our society. They are situations that have an adverse and damaging result on our society. They arise when the public leaves nature or society from an ideal situation.

If you look closely, you will realize that almost all types of social issues have common origins. In the sense that they all are interconnected somehow. Meaning to say, if one solves the other one is also most likely to resolve.

Social issues have a massive lousy effect on our society and ultimately, it affects all of us. In order to solve some social issues, we need a common approach. No society is free from social issues, almost every one of them has some social issue or the other.

For instance, in India, you will find a lot of social issues which the country is facing. It ranges from the caste system to child labour and gender inequality to religious conflicts. Thus, we are going through a critical time where we all must come together to free our society from undesirable social evils.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Major Social Issues

There are a lot of social issues we are facing right now, some more prominent than the others. First of all, poverty is a worldwide issue. It gives birth to a lot of other social issues which we must try to get away with at the earliest.

Further, countries like India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and more are facing the issue of the caste system since times unknown. It results in a lot of caste violence and inequality which takes the lives of many on a daily basis.

Moreover, child labour is another major social issue that damages the lives of young children. Similarly, illiteracy also ruins the lives of many by destroying their chances of a bright future.

In developing countries mostly, child marriage still exists and is responsible for ruining many lives. Similarly, dowry is a very serious and common social issue that almost all classes of people partake in.

Another prominent social issue is gender inequality which takes away many opportunities from deserving people. Domestic violence especially against women is a serious social issue we must all fight against.

Other social issues include starvation, child sex abuse, religious conflicts, child trafficking, terrorism , overpopulation, untouchability, communalism and many more. It is high time we end these social issues.

Conclusion of the Essay on Social Issues

A society can successfully end social issues if they become adamant. These social issues act as a barrier to the progress of society. Thus, we must all come together to fight against them and put them to an end for the greater good.

FAQ on Essay on Social Issues

Question 1: What is the meaning of social problem?

Answer 1: A social problem refers to any condition or behaviour which has a negative impact on a large number of people. It is normally recognized as a condition or behaviour that needs to be addressed.

Question 2: What are the effects of social issues?

Answer 2: Social issues affect our society adversely. Most importantly, it disturbs the harmony of society and gives rise to hostility and suspicion. Moreover, it creates large-scale social dissatisfaction, suffering and misery.

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6 Common Leadership Styles — and How to Decide Which to Use When

Rebecca Knight

Being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances call for different approaches.

Research suggests that the most effective leaders adapt their style to different circumstances — be it a change in setting, a shift in organizational dynamics, or a turn in the business cycle. But what if you feel like you’re not equipped to take on a new and different leadership style — let alone more than one? In this article, the author outlines the six leadership styles Daniel Goleman first introduced in his 2000 HBR article, “Leadership That Gets Results,” and explains when to use each one. The good news is that personality is not destiny. Even if you’re naturally introverted or you tend to be driven by data and analysis rather than emotion, you can still learn how to adapt different leadership styles to organize, motivate, and direct your team.

Much has been written about common leadership styles and how to identify the right style for you, whether it’s transactional or transformational, bureaucratic or laissez-faire. But according to Daniel Goleman, a psychologist best known for his work on emotional intelligence, “Being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances may call for different approaches.”

RK Rebecca Knight is a journalist who writes about all things related to the changing nature of careers and the workplace. Her essays and reported stories have been featured in The Boston Globe, Business Insider, The New York Times, BBC, and The Christian Science Monitor. She was shortlisted as a Reuters Institute Fellow at Oxford University in 2023. Earlier in her career, she spent a decade as an editor and reporter at the Financial Times in New York, London, and Boston.

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Marx, Karl and Engels, Fredrick. The Communist Manifesto: introduction by Martin Malia, New York: Penguin group, 1998, pg. 35. This essay, "Social Classes and Class Structure" is published exclusively on IvyPanda's free essay examples database. You can use it for research and reference purposes to write your own paper.
9.1 What Is Social Stratification?
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ADVERTISEMENTS: Read this comprehensive essay on Social Class ! One of the important elements of social stratification is the 'Class'. A social class is 'a category or group of persons having a definite status in society which permanently determines their relations to other groups'. Social classes have been defined by various thinkers "in different manner. […]
1.1 What Is Sociology?
Our mission is to improve educational access and learning for everyone. OpenStax is part of Rice University, which is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit. Give today and help us reach more students. Help. OpenStax. This free textbook is an OpenStax resource written to increase student access to high-quality, peer-reviewed learning materials.
Introduction to Social Class and Classism in Counseling Psychology
Second, I highlight the social class worldview model theory because some authors either allude to it or describe it in brief. Moreover, I explicate the theory around the social class and classism consciousness model and its relationship to the SCWM. Finally, I end this introduction with an in-depth description of classism-based traumas as a new ...
Social Class and Education, Essay Example
This means that the correlation between education and social class is inevitable. In order for the society to address the inequalities present in the education sector between the classes, it is imperative that all the stakeholders are proactive in ensuring that this is a reality. The government and the private sector alike have to reevaluate ...
Social Class in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby
Social class is a critical theme in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald as it focuses on life during the 1920s in the Roaring Twenties era.The author sets up the novel into distinct social classes - upper class, middle-class and lower class to Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, the author F. Scott Fitzgerald makes a connection between the setting presented in the novel and ...
SOC-102 Social Stratification Analysis
Stratification Essay Part One In Sociology, there are several different types of stratification systems—which are essentially systems that divide people socially, often by economic status. Three of these systems include estate systems, caste systems, and class systems. In an estate system, one smaller, highly ranking group holds the power and control over society and its resources.
Social classes in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
Essay topics on Introduction to literature (ENG 10 ) Explain what is the theme of social class in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice"? Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" is a classic novel that explores the social dynamics of the 19th century English society.
Ch. 4 Introduction
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How to Write an Essay Introduction
Step 1: Hook your reader. Step 2: Give background information. Step 3: Present your thesis statement. Step 4: Map your essay's structure. Step 5: Check and revise. More examples of essay introductions. Other interesting articles. Frequently asked questions about the essay introduction.
Essay On Social Issues for Students and Children
500 Words Essay On Social Issues. Social Issues is an undesirable state which opposes society or a certain part of society. It refers to an unwanted situation that frequently results in problems and continues to harm society.Social issues can cause a lot of problems that can be beyond the control of just one person.
Social Class Essay: An Inspector Calls
The Inspector is used as a figure of morality; he is there to make the family realise that they have an easy life resting upon the hard and difficult work of the lower class. As JB Priestley was a socialist and a founder of the Socialist Commonwealth Party, he wanted to see the collapse of the class system. The Inspector tries to make the other ...
The Victorian Era
"The sea is calm tonight," observes the somber speaker of Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" (1867), listening to "the grating roar / Of pebbles" at the shore, "The eternal note of sadness" over the waters. In Arnold's mid-19th-century Britain, another metaphorical sea, "The Sea of Faith," was ebbing irretrievably: "But now I only hear / Its melancholy, long, withdrawing ...
6 Common Leadership Styles
Summary. Research suggests that the most effective leaders adapt their style to different circumstances — be it a change in setting, a shift in organizational dynamics, or a turn in the business ...

Social Class – An Introduction to the Concept

Common Conceptions of Social Class

The Registrar General’s Social Class Scale (1911)

Strengths and Limitations of the Registrar General’s Social Class Scale

The New British Class Survey

Strengths and Limitations of the New British Class Survey

Related Posts – Mostly on ‘why class matters’

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Social Classes Essay Example

Introduction

Social Class: Theories

Modern Day Class Strata

Changing Social Class: Challenges

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Social Class in the United States

Measuring Social Class

The American Class Structure

The Upper Class

The Middle Class

The Working Class

The Lower Class

Social Mobility

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Social Class and Its Significance

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Nature of Social Class :

2. Class is an Economic Group:

3. Class is also a Status Group:

4. An Achieved Pattern:

5. Feeling of Class-consciousness:

6. Prestige Dimension:

7. Relatively Stable Group:

8. Varieties of Life-styles:

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1 Introduction to Social Class and Classism in Counseling Psychology

Economic Privilege

The Social Class Worldview Model

The Worldview

Social Class and Classism Consciousness

Classism-Based Traumas

Classism, Social Rejection, and Impaired Relationships

Classism-Based Traumas and Pain

Counseling Implications of Classism-Based Traumas

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Social Class and Education, Essay Example

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Essay On Social Issues

Drawbacks of Social Issues

Major Social Issues

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6 Common Leadership Styles — and How to Decide Which to Use When

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