In modern society, the criteria for social stratification are. Stratification criteria

social stratification is the main theme of sociology. It describes how the strata of society are divided according to their way of life, according to the level of income, according to whether they have any privileges or not. Sociologists "borrowed" this term from geologists. There it indicates how the layers of the Earth are located in a vertical section. Sociologists, too, like the structure of the Earth, arranged strata - social strata - vertically. The criteria in a simplified version are limited to one scale - the level of income. The bottom rung is the poor, the middle is the wealthy, and the top is the richest. Each stratum includes people whose income, prestige, power and education are approximately the same.

There are the following criteria of social stratification, according to which the population is divided into strata: power, education, income and prestige. They are located vertically on the coordinate axis and are inextricably linked with each other. Also, all the listed criteria of social stratification have their own distinctive dimension.

Income is the amount of money that a family or individual receives for a specific time period. This amount of money can be received in the form of a pension, salary, allowance, fee, alimony, interest on profits. Income is measured in national currency or in dollars.

When incomes exceed living expenses, they gradually accumulate and turn into wealth. As a rule, it remains to the heirs. The difference between income and inheritance is that only working people receive it, while non-working people can also receive inheritance. Accumulated movable or immovable property is the main sign of the upper class. The rich may not work, while the lower and middle classes, on the contrary, will not be able to live without a salary. Uneven and wealth and causes economic inequality in society.

The next criterion of social stratification is education. It is measured by years spent studying at school and university.

The third criterion is power. Whether a person has it can be judged by the number of people to whom the decision made by him applies. The essence of power lies in the ability to impose your will on others, without taking into account their desire. And whether it will be carried out is already the second question. For example, the president's decision applies to several million people, and the decision of the director of a small school - to several hundred. IN modern society power is protected by tradition and law. Many social benefits and privileges are available to her.

People with power (economic, political, religious) constitute the elite of society. It determines the policy within the state, its relations with other countries in such a way that it is beneficial to it. Other classes do not have this capability.

These criteria of social stratification have quite tangible units of measurement: people, years, dollars. But prestige is subjective. It depends on what profession or enjoy respect in society. If the country does not conduct research on this topic by special methods, then the prestige of the position is determined approximately.

The criteria of social stratification in a complex determine a person, that is, his social position. And the status, in turn, determines belonging to a closed society or to an open one. In the first case, the transition from stratum to stratum is impossible. This includes castes and estates. In an open society, moving up the social ladder (whether up or down) is not prohibited. Classes belong to this system. These are the historically established types of social stratification.

Social stratification makes it possible to represent society not as a chaotic heap of social statuses, but as a complex but clear structure of status positions that are in certain dependencies.

To assign statuses to one or another level of the hierarchy, appropriate grounds or criteria must be defined.

Criteria of social stratification - indicators to determine the position of individuals and community groups on a hierarchical scale of social statuses.

The question of the foundations of social stratification in the history of sociological thought was solved ambiguously. So, K. Marx believed that these should be economic indicators, which, in his opinion, determine the state of all other relations in society. Fact a person's possession of property and the level of his income he considered as the basis of social stratification. Marx came to the conclusion that the history of all societies, with the exception of the primitive and the future communist, is the history of classes and class struggle, as a result of which society rises to a higher stage of development. Slaves and slave-owners, feudal lords and peasants, workers and bourgeoisie are irreconcilable in their social position.

M. Weber believed that Marx simplified the picture of stratification, and an accurate picture of inequality can be obtained using multidimensional criteria: along with economic situation needs to be considered prestige of a profession or occupation, and measure of power possessed by an individual or his social group. Unlike Marx, he associated the concept of class only with capitalist society, where the market is the most important regulator of relations. In the market, people occupy different positions, i.e. are in a different class situation. Property and lack of property are the basic categories of all class situations. The totality of people who are in the same class situation constitutes, according to Weber, a social class. Those who do not own property and can offer only services on the market are divided according to the types of services. Property owners can be differentiated according to what they own.

This approach was developed by P. Sorokin, who also believed that the position of an individual in the social space can be more accurately described not by a single, but by several indicators: economic (income), political (power, prestige) and professional (status).

In the XX century. many other models of stratification have been created. Thus, the American sociologist B. Barber proposed a whole range of features for the stratification of society: the prestige of the profession; power and might; income and wealth; education; religious or ritual purity; the position of relatives; ethnicity.

The creators of the theory of post-industrial society, the French sociologist L. Touraine and the American D. Bell, believe that in modern society social differentiation occurs not in relation to property, prestige, power, ethnicity, but in terms of access to information. The dominant position is occupied by people who own strategic and new information, as well as the means of controlling it.

In modern sociological science, the following indicators act as the basis of social stratification: income, power, education, prestige. The first three indicators have specific units of measurement: income is measured in money, power - in the number of people to whom it applies, education - in the number of years of study and the status of an educational institution. Prestige is determined based on a survey public opinion and self-esteem of individuals.

These indicators determine the overall socio-economic status, i.e. the position of the individual (social group) in society.

Let us consider in more detail the bases of stratification.

Income is the economic characteristic of the position of the individual. It is expressed as the amount of cash receipts for a certain period of time. Sources of income can be different income - salary, scholarships, pensions, allowances, fees, cash bonuses, bank charges on deposits. Members of the middle and lower classes tend to spend their income on sustenance. But if the amount of income is significant, it can be accumulated and transferred into expensive movable and immovable property (car, yacht, helicopter, securities, precious items, paintings, rare items), which will make up wealth. The main asset of the upper class is not income, but wealth. It allows a person not to work for the sake of a salary, it can be inherited. If the life situation changes and a person loses high incomes, he will have to turn wealth back into money. Therefore, high income does not always mean great wealth, and vice versa.

The uneven distribution of income and wealth in society means economic inequality. Poor and rich people have different life chances. Having a lot of money empowers a person, allows him to eat better, take care of his health, live in more comfortable conditions, pay for education in a prestigious educational institution, etc.

Power- is the ability of individuals or groups to impose their will on others, regardless of their desire. Power is measured by the number of people who are subject to this influence. The power of the head of the department extends to several people, the chief engineer of the enterprise - to several hundred people, the minister - to several thousand, and the President of Russia - to all its citizens. His status has the highest rank in social stratification. Power in modern society is fixed by law and tradition, surrounded by privileges and wide access to social benefits. Power allows you to control key resources. To master them means to gain dominion over people. People who have power or enjoy recognition, authority for their economic, political, spiritual activities, constitute the elite of society, its highest social stratum.

Education- the basis of general cultural and professional training in modern society, one of the characteristics of the achieved status. As society develops, knowledge becomes more specialized and deep, so modern man spends much more time on education than even a few hundred years ago. On average, it takes 20 years to train a specialist (for example, an engineer) in modern society, given that before entering a university, he must receive a secondary education. The level of education is determined not only by the number of years of study, but also by the rank educational institutions who confirmed in the manner prescribed by law (with a diploma or certificate) that an individual has received education: high school, college, university.

Prestige- the respect with which public opinion relates to a particular profession, position, occupation or individual for his personal qualities. The formation of the professional and job structure of society is an important function of social institutions. The nomenclature of professions eloquently testifies to the nature of society (agrarian, industrial, informational) and the stage of its development. It is changeable, just as the prestige of various professions is changeable.

For example, in medieval society, the profession of a priest was perhaps the most prestigious, which cannot be said about modern society. In the 30s. of the last century, millions of boys dreamed of becoming pilots. Everyone had the names of V.P. on their lips. Chkalova, M.V. Vodopyanova, N.P. Kamanina. In the postwar years, and especially after the development of scientific and technological revolution in the middle of the 20th century. the prestige of the engineering profession has grown in society, and computerization of the 90s. updated the professions of computer specialists and programmers.

The most prestigious at all times were considered professions associated with access to valuable this society resources - money, scarce goods, power or knowledge, information. A person, as a rule, seeks to emphasize his own high prestige with appropriate status symbols: clothes, accessories, an expensive car brand, awards.

In sociological science, there is such a thing as a ladder of professional prestige. This is a scheme that reflects the degree of public respect that goes to a particular profession. The basis for its construction is the study of public opinion. Such polls are especially popular in the USA. An example of a scale built by American researchers based on a generalization of the results of public opinion polls conducted in 1949-1982 is shown in Table. 6. (The highest score awarded to the profession is 100, the lowest is 1.)

Scale of professional prestige

Table 6

Social stratification makes it possible to represent society not as a chaotic heap of social statuses, but as a complex but clear structure of status positions that are in certain dependencies.

To assign statuses to one or another level of the hierarchy, appropriate grounds or criteria must be defined.

Criteria of social stratification - indicators that allow you to determine the position of individuals and social groups on a hierarchical scale of social status.

The question of the foundations of social stratification in the history of sociological thought was solved ambiguously. So, K. Marx believed that these should be economic indicators, which, in his opinion, determine the state of all other relations in society. Fact a person's possession of property and the level of his income he considered as the basis of social stratification. Marx came to the conclusion that the history of all societies, with the exception of the primitive and the future communist, is the history of classes and class struggle, as a result of which society rises to a higher stage of development. Slaves and slave-owners, feudal lords and peasants, workers and bourgeoisie are irreconcilable in their social position.

M. Weber believed that Marx simplified the picture of stratification, and an accurate picture of inequality can be obtained using multidimensional criteria: along with economic situation needs to be considered prestige of a profession or occupation, and measure of power possessed by an individual or his social group. Unlike Marx, he associated the concept of class only with capitalist society, where the market is the most important regulator of relations. In the market, people occupy different positions, i.e., they are in a different “class situation”. Property and lack of property are the basic categories of all class situations. The totality of people who are in the same class situation constitutes, according to Weber, a social class. Those who do not own property and can offer only services on the market are divided according to the types of services. Property owners can be differentiated according to what they own.

This approach was developed by P. Sorokin, who also believed that the position of an individual in the social space can be more accurately described not by a single, but by several indicators: economic (income), political (power, prestige) and professional (status).

In the XX century. many other models of stratification have been created. Thus, the American sociologist B. Barber proposed a whole range of features for the stratification of society: the prestige of the profession; power and might; income and wealth; education; religious or ritual purity; the position of relatives; ethnicity.

The creators of the theory of post-industrial society, the French sociologist A. Touraine and the American D. Bell, believe that in modern society social differentiation occurs not in relation to property, prestige, power, ethnicity, but in terms of access to information. The dominant position is occupied by people who own strategic and new information, as well as the means of controlling it.

In modern sociological science, the following indicators act as the basis of social stratification: income, power, education, prestige. The first three indicators have specific units of measurement: income is measured in money, power - in the number of people to whom it applies, education - in the number of years of study and the status of an educational institution. Prestige is determined on the basis of public opinion polls and self-assessments of individuals.

These indicators determine the overall socio-economic status, i.e., the position of an individual (social group) in society. Let us consider in more detail the bases of stratification.

Income is the economic characteristic of the position of the individual. It is expressed as the amount of cash receipts for a certain period of time. Sources of income can be different income - salary, scholarships, pensions, allowances, fees, cash bonuses, bank charges on deposits. Members of the middle and lower classes tend to spend their income on sustenance. But if the amount of income is significant, it can be accumulated and transferred into expensive movable and immovable property (car, yacht, helicopter, securities, precious items, paintings, rare items), which will make up wealth. The main asset of the upper class is not income, but wealth. It allows a person not to work for the sake of a salary, it can be inherited. If the life situation changes and a person loses high incomes, he will have to turn wealth back into money. Therefore, high income does not always mean great wealth, and vice versa.

The uneven distribution of income and wealth in society means economic inequality. Poor and rich people have different life chances. Having a lot of money empowers a person, allows him to eat better, take care of his health, live in more comfortable conditions, pay for education in a prestigious educational institution, etc.

Power- is the ability of individuals or groups to impose their will on others, regardless of their desire. Power is measured by the number of people who are subject to this influence. The power of the head of the department extends to several people, the chief engineer of the enterprise - to several hundred people, the minister - to several thousand, and the President of Russia - to all its citizens. His status has the highest rank in social stratification. Power in modern society is fixed by law and tradition, surrounded by privileges and wide access to social benefits. Power allows you to control key resources. To master them means to gain dominion over people. People who have power or enjoy recognition, authority for their economic, political, spiritual activities, constitute the elite of society, its highest social stratum.

Education- the basis of general cultural and professional training in modern society, one of the characteristics of the achieved status. As society develops, knowledge becomes more specialized and deep, so modern man spends much more time on education than a few hundred years ago. On average, it takes 20 years to train a specialist (for example, an engineer) in modern society, given that before entering a university, he must receive a secondary education. The level of education is determined not only by the number of years of study, but also by the rank of educational institutions that confirmed in the manner prescribed by law (with a diploma or certificate) the individual's education: high school, college, university.

Prestige- the respect with which public opinion relates to a particular profession, position, occupation or individual for his personal qualities. The formation of the professional and job structure of society is an important function of social institutions. The nomenclature of professions eloquently testifies to the nature of society (agrarian, industrial, informational) and the stage of its development. It is changeable, just as the prestige of various professions is changeable.

For example, in medieval society, the profession of a priest was perhaps the most prestigious, which cannot be said about modern society. In the 30s.

20th century millions of boys dreamed of becoming pilots. Everyone had the names of V.P. Chkalov, M.V. Vodopyanov, N.P. Kamanin on their lips. In the postwar years, and especially after the development of scientific and technological revolution in the middle of the 20th century. the prestige of the engineering profession has grown in society, and computerization of the 90s. updated the professions of computer specialists and programmers.

The most prestigious at all times were considered professions associated with access to valuable resources for a given society - money, scarce goods, power or knowledge, information. A person, as a rule, seeks to emphasize his own high prestige with appropriate status symbols: clothes, accessories, an expensive car brand, awards.

In sociological science, there is such a thing as a ladder of professional prestige. This is a scheme that reflects the degree of public respect that goes to a particular profession. The basis for its construction is the study of public opinion. Such polls are especially popular in the USA. An example of a scale built by American researchers based on a generalization of the results of public opinion polls conducted in 1949-1982 is shown in Table. 6. (The highest score awarded to the profession is 100, the lowest is 1.)

Table 6

Scale of professional prestige

There is a part of the social system that acts as a set of the most stable elements and their connections that ensure the functioning and reproduction of the system. It expresses the objective division of society into classes, layers, pointing to the different position of people in relation to each other. The social structure forms the framework of the social system and largely determines the stability of society and its qualitative characteristics as a social organism.

The concept of stratification (from lat. stratum- layer, layer) denotes the stratification of society, differences in the social status of its members. social stratificationis a system of social inequality, consisting of hierarchically arranged social strata (strata). All people belonging to a particular stratum occupy approximately the same position and have common status characteristics.

Different sociologists explain the causes of social inequality and, consequently, social stratification in different ways. Yes, according to Marxist school of sociology, inequality is based on property relations, the nature, degree and form of ownership of the means of production. According to the functionalists (K. Davis, W. Moore), the distribution of individuals according to social strata depends on their importance. professional activity and contribution which they contribute by their labor to the achievement of the goals of society. Supporters exchange theories(J. Homans) believe that inequality in society arises due to unequal exchange of results of human activity.

A number of classic sociologists considered the problem of stratification more broadly. For example, M. Weber, in addition to economic (attitude to property and level of income), proposed in addition such criteria as social prestige(inherited and acquired status) and belonging to certain political circles, hence - power, authority and influence.

One of creators P. Sorokin identified three types of stratification structures:

• economic(according to the criteria of income and wealth);
• political(according to the criteria of influence and power);
• professional(according to the criteria of mastery, professional skills, successful performance of social roles).

Founder structural functionalism T. Parsons proposed three groups of differentiating features:

• qualitative characteristics of people that they possess from birth (ethnicity, family ties, gender and age characteristics, personal qualities and abilities);
• role characteristics determined by a set of roles performed by an individual in society (education, position, different kinds professional and labor activity);
• characteristics due to the possession of material and spiritual values ​​(wealth, property, privileges, the ability to influence and manage other people, etc.).

In modern sociology, it is customary to distinguish the following main social stratification criteria:

• income - the amount of cash receipts for a certain period (month, year);
• wealth - accumulated income, i.e. the amount of cash or embodied money (in the second case, they act in the form of movable or immovable property);
• power - the ability and ability to exercise one's will, to exert a decisive influence on the activities of other people through various means (authority, law, violence, etc.). Power is measured by the number of people it extends to;
• education - a set of knowledge, skills and abilities acquired in the learning process. The level of education is measured by the number of years of education;
• prestige- public assessment of the attractiveness, significance of a particular profession, position, a certain type of occupation.

Despite the variety of different models of social stratification currently existing in sociology, most scientists distinguish three main classes: high, middle and low. At the same time, the share of the upper class in industrialized societies is approximately 5-7%; middle - 60-80% and lower - 13-35%.

In a number of cases, sociologists make a certain division within each class. Thus, the American sociologist W.L. Warner(1898-1970) identified six classes in his famous Yankee City study:

• top-top class(representatives of influential and wealthy dynasties with significant resources of power, wealth and prestige);
• lower-higher class("new rich" - bankers, politicians who do not have a noble origin and did not have time to create powerful role-playing clans);
• upper-middle class(successful businessmen, lawyers, entrepreneurs, scientists, managers, doctors, engineers, journalists, cultural and art figures);
• lower-middle class (wage-earners- engineers, clerks, secretaries, employees and other categories, which are commonly called "white collars");
• upper-lower class(workers engaged mainly in physical labor);
• lower-lower class(poor, unemployed, homeless, foreign workers, declassed elements).

There are other schemes of social stratification. But they all boil down to the following: non-basic classes arise by adding strata and layers that are inside one of the main classes - rich, wealthy and poor.

Thus, social stratification is based on natural and social inequality between people, which is manifested in their social life and is hierarchical. It is sustainably supported and regulated by various social institutions, constantly reproduced and modified, which is important condition functioning and development of any society.

Social stratification involves the division of people into groups that are characterized by certain characteristics. There are special criteria of social stratification that allow us to determine how classes are formed in a modern state and how differences between people affect the development of society.

The main criteria for social stratification

The concept of a criterion in this case carries the meaning of a sign, on the basis of which the definition of social strata in the structure of modern society is given.

The main criteria for the division of society are:

Income

All are meant cash that a person receives for a certain period of time. Income stands out as a criterion, since it is not the same for all people.

• a large income that allows you to satisfy all needs and accumulate funds, purchase luxury goods;
• the average income that is spent exclusively on meeting the needs of a person and his family;
• insignificant income, which is not enough even to support life.

Power

Opens opportunities for managing society. Depending on the level, it can apply to a different number of people.

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Decisions of the Ministry of Education and Science Russian Federation must be followed by all educational institutions in the country, and the orders of the director of a particular school are binding only on its employees and students.

Part of the population has power (Ministers, leaders of political parties, directors and others). Others do not have such features. This also allows us to consider power as a criterion for the differentiation of society.

Education

This criterion is measured by the number of years that a person has spent studying in an educational organization.

This indicator is also not the same for all people: if a professor of philosophy can have more than 20 years that he spent on education, then an electrician or a driver - only 12.

Prestige

Prestige is understood as society's respect for the position a person occupies. There are things that people strive to have in order to be respected. For example, in modern society it is highly valued if a person has his own expensive car. Professions can also be prestigious. Now these include a lawyer, a doctor, a manager, a pilot. And vice versa, such professions as a driver, janitor, plumber and others are not popular and respected.

According to research, in Russia the prestige of those professions that allow you to get high salary and give great opportunities to make a career (lawyer, manager) and the prestige of professions that require high qualifications and a level of education (engineer, teacher) is noticeably falling.

The peculiarity of society is that most often representatives of the upper classes concentrate in their hands all the top positions of these criteria: wealth, power, prestige and quality education. Although some indicators may not match.

The division of society into groups

Thus, the following are distinguished in society group types :

• by income level;
• if possible, influence the policy of the state, control the actions of other people;
• by level of education;
• by prestige.

What have we learned?

Criteria of social stratification are signs by which special groups of people with common features can be distinguished in society. There are four such criteria: income, power, education, prestige. All people do not have the same access to these phenomena and objects. For example, the income received by citizens of our country is not the same.

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