Outline the three major systems of stratification

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Slavery is an extreme form of stratification in which some people are owned by
others. It is a closed system in which people designated as "slaves" are treated as
property and have little or no control over their lives. As practiced in the United
States, slavery had four primary characteristics: (1) it was for life and was inherited
(children of slaves were considered to be slaves); (2) slaves were considered
property, not human beings; (3) slaves were denied rights? and (4) coercion was used
to keep slaves "in their place." Despite the fact that slavery in this country officially
ended many years ago, sociologists believe that its legacy is deeply embedded in
current patterns of prejudice and discrimination against African Americans. The caste
system is also a closed system of social stratification. A caste system is a system of
social inequality in which people's status is permanently determined at birth based on
their parents' ascribed characteristics. In India, caste is based in part on occupation.
By contrast, the caste system in South Africa was based on racial classifications and
the belief of white South Africans that they were morally superior to the black
majority. Until the 1990s, the white South Africans controlled the government, the
police, and the military by enforcing apartheid (the separation of the races). The class
system is a type of stratification based on the ownership and control of resources and
on the type of work people do. At least theoretically, a class system is more open than
a caste system because the boundaries between classes are less distinct than the
boundaries between castes. In a class system, status comes at least partly through
achievement rather than entirely by ascription.