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SOCIAL STRATIFICATION: INTRODUCTION AND SIGNIFICANCE

Social strata are levels of social statuses. Members of a society who possess similar amount of wealth, power, and privileges occupy each social stratum. We can see layers of social statuses occupied by members of society. Organized systems of such strata are conceptualized as social stratification system. Social stratification refers to a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. Four basic principles of stratification: 1.  Social stratification is characteristic of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences. Children born into wealth families are more likely than born into poverty to enjoy good health, achieve academically, succeed in their life’s work, and live well into old age. Neither rich nor poor people are responsible for creating social stratification, yet this system shapes the lives of them all. 2.  Social stratification persists over generations. In all societies parents pass their social position along to their c...
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Corporate Crime

Offenses committed by large corporations in society. Pollution, mislabeling, violations of health and safety regulations affect much larger number of people than petty criminality. The increasing power and influence of large corporations, and their rapidly growing global reach means that our lives are touched by them in many ways. Corporations are involved in producing cars that we drive and the food we eat. They also have an enormous effect on the natural environment and financial markets, aspects of life, which affect all of us.   Slapper and Tombs (1999) have listed six types of violations by corporations: •  Administrative(non-compliance of rules). •  Environmental (pollution, permits violations resulting in disasters. Victims). •   Financial (tax violations, permits violations). •  Labor(working conditions, hiring practices). •  Manufacturing (product safety, labeling). •  Unfair trading practices (anti-competition, false advertising) ...

SOCIAL DISTRIBUTION OF CRIME: EXPLANATIONS

Background There is a growing and widespread perception among the population that, over time, crime has grown more prevalent and serious. During the last half century it has been reported that people are now much more fearful of crime than in earlier times. They are experiencing heightened anxiety about going out after dark, about their homes being burgled, and about becoming the victims of violence. Statistics about crime and delinquency are probably the least reliable of all officially published figures on social issues. We cannot take official statistics at face value, but must pay attention to the way in which those statistics were generated.   The most basic limitation of official crime statistics isthat they only include crimes actually recorded by the police. There is a long chain of problematic decisions between possible crime and its registration by the police. The majority of crimes, especially petty thefts, are never reported to the police at all. Even in the case...

EXPLANATIONS OF CRIME -- CONTINUED

Sociological Explanations (continued) Control theory by W. Reckless Inside most of us, it seems, are strong desires to do a lot of things that would get us in trouble. Yet most of the time we don’t do these things. We mostly keep them to ourselves, and the temptation, urge, hostility, or desire to do something passes. To explain this restraint, Walter Reckless (1973) developed control theory.  According to this theory two systems work against our motivations to deviate. 1.  Inner control system: It includes our internalized morality --- call it conscience, ideas of right and wrong, reluctance to violate religious principles. It also includes fears of punishment, feelings of integrity, and the desire to be a ‘good’ person. 2.  Outer control system: It involves groups --- such as friends, family, sub-cultures, police that influence us not to deviate. How strong are the controls, inner as well as outer, determine deviancy of a person. Control theory by T. Hirschi Tr...