Sociology in our Times - Essay Example

Doctors and lawyers and university teachers are given more status than unskilled laborers in the society. This difference in the social positions represents different levels of power, influence and money (Lucas, 2000, pp.95)The British society is often considered to be divided into three main groups of classes, namely, the Upper Class, the Middle Class and the Lower or Working Class. This is known as class system (Kendall, 2008, pp.219). The Upper Classes tends to consist of people with inherited wealth, and includes some of the oldest families, with many of them being titled aristocrats.

The upper classes are not only defined by their title, but also by their education, and their pastimes which include the traditional and luxurious sporting life involving hunting, shooting and fishing, as well as a great deal of horse riding for both leisure and as a competitive pursuit. The middle Classes are the majority of the population of Britain today. They include industrialists, professionals, business people, and shop owners.In the "Social structure of the United Kingdom," there is Received Pronunciation used by upper classes and upper-middle classes people and there is Estuary English used by lower-middle-class British people (Marx, 2001, pp.85). Many people in Oxford colleges who speak with supposedly good pronunciation are members of the upper class