Social Divisions and Inequalities - Report Example

Social Divisions and Inequalities Social Divisions and Inequalities The reading was based on research that was funded by a group called the ESRC under a grant. The paper was also written on behalf of the British Sociological Association. The paper mainly revolves around factors such as childhood, morality, step parenting, narratives, parenting and families. The study based on the paper was the first British qualitative study of sociology. The main sample used included 46 individuals retrieved from 23 step- clusters (Llewellyn, 2008). Interviews between parents and step-parents made the researchers realise that step-parenting is very crucial to current debates on sociology about the changing nature of marriage and family lives, intimacy issues, individualism and relationships on kin. From the paper, it has been found that family lives are under debate and scrutiny in the Western societies (Llewellyn, 2008). The study points out that family lives are an area where the moral identities of different people are at stake. It was found that when parenting, separation and divorces, frequent reconciliations between partners and upbringing of children in stepfamilies all raised concerns (Romero, 2008). The raising of children by their biological parents has been considered best, as stepfamilies have been found to engender certain difficulties and stresses, which include child abuse. Parents, who are, therefore, seen re-partnering are in morally questionable situations and may have their moral identities at stake. This study helps review how step-parenting has influenced the needs of children. From the researchers, it is only when they carried out their inductive analysis that they got better knowledge of the nature of moral overtones from the discussions in the interview. It was evident that recent developments in qualitative analysis introduced ideas about the relationship between interviews and narratives. The analysts found that the interviewees were telling moral tales, which means that those interviewed were in defence of their having established morally acceptable identities. The interpretation of what was considered right in the parenting process was the concept that mattered most in the interviews conducted. The interviews were a base to the revelation of fundamental importance of the categories of the adult and child to the building of moral worthiness. The study is not set to imply that some people are more moral than others (Mannon, 2010). The description of the stepparents taking up their foster children is seen as a social category, and not a way of moralising their narratives as childish or the fact that they fail to shoulder adult responsibilities. On the contrary, the images of Adult and Child identified are developed from the narratives by the interviewees. Understanding the morality concept involved in the interviews was dependent on the social categories of Child and Adult. The construction of childhood has been based on the theme separateness of childhood and creation of the site ‘home as a right place for children, their segregation into educational facilities, exclusion from paid jobs and conservation of certain public spaces as playgrounds. Underlying this particular way of separation, as researchers suggest, are notions of vulnerability and dependency as well as incompetence of children. Childhood is seen as a phase of life that has been separated, and is a time of spontaneity and freedom. In this phase of life, the only responsibilities required are for the children to enjoy childhood and go through the right developmental milestones. From the study, it was evident that intrinsically moral social characters would follow ground rules of whatever interaction setting for the sake of preserving the sense of their social-selves (Ministry of Justice 2009). The agency responsible for the individual placing himself in relation to major social norms by choice, however, is not responsible for the positioning of children. The relationship to such qualities is, therefore, taken as the responsibility of those that are caring for the children. The adult caretakers are, therefore, the ones held accountable for actions of the children under their care. Such caretakers are expected to make practical their acknowledgement of their moral responsibilities through trying to control their charges. It is apparent that although there is a clear moral dimension to notions about childhood innocence, this does not entail perceptions of moral accountability because the child is short of knowledge (Fritzell, 2012). References made to the evil nature of children, therefore, are not necessarily an indication of the children being accountable. The image of children that is brought out as a major consideration in this discussion. The importance of these constructions as a child without a moral agency and the adult as morally accountable are significant to the comprehension of the moral narratives collected from the interviews. Parenting and Step-parenting Adulthood is seen as a way of passing morals to children. Adults should work towards being responsible to themselves and those under their care (Turiel, 2012). From the interviews, the overall statement of discussion was that adults should take responsibility for the children under their care and must seek to put the children’s needs first. Most interviewees found it hard to disagree to the above statement, and most admitted to having tried to achieve it. Of all those interviewed, none could place themselves in a position to challenging the statement. Researchers say that how adults fulfil the above statement is seen when there is need to make decisions/ moral choices. To be morally deficient would imply that one had a choice, but did not go for the moral option. An example from the interview was given when a case of a young mother of three was widowed. A man married her to help provide for the three kids, as well as, help keep her social status up. Discussions from the interviewees showed that the man was right for the girl, but the fact that he was her cousin had them fail since it was not morally upright (Grusky, 2012). The story would only be moral if it was viewed in the perspective of his getting married to help provide for the children and to keep the social status of the mother safe. Therefore, in his interview, signs of individualism do not show (Turiel, 2012). The interviewees response to the theme of moral responsibility varied based on how each one of them made their decisions (Merger, 2013). Some of the factors that influenced this were in relation to their statuses as non- resident parents, resident- stepparents or resident parents. In conclusion, the obligation of parents putting the needs of their children beforehand was adhered to from the interview. It was also found that the fact that the writer was looking at the situation of adults as (step) parents who care for dependent children, rather than the relationships between adult kin has some implications of how the nature of morality is conceptualised (Bauman, 2013). It was also found that some of the interviewees were adherent to the ethnic care for children who are dependent, but showed that they were incapable to carry it out. They conclusively placed themselves outside adult moral responsibility, by taking the position of child rather than adult. It was evident from the interviews that men considered themselves providers of the needs of the children, while the women accepted the responsibility to create a stable family environment for the children. It was also found that where parenting and step parenting are involved, the categories of Adult and Child are constructed, in a way, where largely, people seem to be living in a morally absolute and modernist society. Part two Patterns of Social Inequality and Diversity in the Contemporary World Societies are usually divided into horizontal strata, which are usually referred to as social classes. Many criteria, such as gender, talent and age affect the social position of an individual. Karl Max and Weber were two persons that helped explain social inequality. Social inequalities and there development play a major role, both politically and socially (Ministry of Justice, 2009). An analysis of the social structure goes back to the founding fathers of sociology. It was largely caused by ways in which some capitalist societies were forming different groupings as well as new forms of disadvantages and advantages Stratification. Over the past century, empirical and theoretical approaches towards social inequality were revisited and renewed. This led to the recognition of plurality as well as the difference between approaches by science towards the issue (Bauman, 2013). With the need to venture beyond determinist and materialist views and the explanations of change in society the analytical frameworks for the modern societies have had in their findings that, it is more fruitful to consider social classes and inequalities as not useful, (Merger, 2013). Certain trends are to be taken into consideration while anticipating a future research agenda on social inequality and family diversity. Despite the new approaches and debates on social and class inequalities to come to existence, mainstream survey on contemporary societies for the past three decades has not shed enough attention on these issues. Cross- national comparative survey on social inequalities is literally non-existent (Mannon, 2010). The fact that the social structure has paved way to a looser set-up does not imply that the social fabric of some societies is becoming uniform. It does not mean either that inequality; based on existing research using indicators of income inequality is decreasing. Although research allows emergence of a new sophisticated social structure, analysis and concern has a tendency to divert its focus to exclude the high-risk social groups, like the unemployed, the poor and immigrants. Several of socially-influenced characteristics of certain individuals that contribute to equality, social status, and inequality in society (Grusky, 2012). When a researcher decides to use quantitative variables such as wealth or income to measure inequality, on close examination of data, patterns indicating the other social variables lead to wealth or income as intervening variables. Important inequalities in wealth and income are noted when certain socially-influenced categories of people are put into comparison. Examples of the most pervasive of such variables are gender/ sex, ethnicity and race. This, however, does not mean that in communities where merit is seen as a primary factor determining one’s rank/ position in the special order, that merit does not have an effect on variations in wealth or income. Gender Inequality: Sex and gender-based prejudice and discrimination are factors that majorly contribute to social inequality. Most of the societies have some roles that have been divided into sexes. The gender-based division tends to increase in cases of industrialization. Emphasis of gender inequality is as a result, of the division that is becoming deeper in the roles assigned to women and men (Churchill, 2011). Women are, for instance, under low representation in political affairs as well as decision-making processes. By use of analysis, many researchers try to comprehend the responsibilities, social expectations, priorities and resources of men and women over specific contexts, while examining the economic, social and environmental factors that influence their roles as well as decision-making capabilities (Merger, 2013). Women are greatly faced with wage discrepancies and differences in comparison to what men earn. This is the case even in rural and agricultural sectors. Ensuring protection of women’s rights can enhance a sense of belonging that can be a source of self-drive to women, which can enable them to give back to society. Racial and Ethnic Equality Racial and ethnic inequality would be, as a result, of social distinctions between hierarchies within a community. They are often based on factors such as skin colour, place of origin or culture. Unequal opportunities and treatment between categories of such kind is usually due to some categories being considered superior to others. This kind of inequality would usually be manifested in cases where there is discriminatory pay and hiring practises. Employers have in some cases been found to prefer hiring specific employees based on their ethnicity (Turiel, 2012). Such practises of discrimination come from stereotyping and prejudice, which occurs when people make assumptions about characteristics and tendencies of certain social categories. Such categories are stemmed from assumptions about cognitive capabilities, biology or inherent moral failures. These negative attributes are then transmitted to society through different media as televisions, the internet and newspapers (Kanes, 2010). These and other forms of inequity continue to raise concern in different communities with the continued rise of globalisation. Age Inequality: Age inequality can be described as unfair treatment of persons with consideration to recruitment, promotions, privileges or resources because of their age. It can also be referred to as ageism. It can be said to be a set of norms, attitudes, beliefs and values to justify prejudice based on age (Churchill, 2011). An example of a form of ageism would be adultism, which means discriminating against children and people under the set legal adult age. Treating people differently based on their ages, however, does not necessarily mean that it is discrimination. Every society has stratification of age, which implies that age structure changes as people start living longer and the population gets older. In majority of cultures, there are varying social role expectations that people of different ages are expected to perform. Each society manages the ageing of people by allocating specific roles for the various age groups. Age inequality/ discrimination take place when age is used unfairly to make a criterion for allocation of resources. Researchers of age inequality suggest that specific social organisations favour specific age inequalities (Kanes, 2010). An example would be for the reasons of emphasis on training and maintenance of reproductive residents, modern capitalist societies commit disproportional resources to train youngsters and maintaining middle- aged workers to the harm of the retired and elderly. In the modern and technologically advanced societies, the young and the aged have a tendency to be disadvantaged. Non- participation in the labour force and the unequal access to well-paying jobs means that the young and the elderly have been subjected to unjust disadvantages due to their ages. Importance of Processes Underlying Change and Stability in Social Divisions Social divisions are usually, as a result, of how individuals construct their identities and by that, shape our community (Romero, 2008). In reference to the social identity theory by Henri Tajfel, identities of individuals are greatly constituted by self-descriptions made from characteristics used to identify with social groups. The society is in short divided in different groups, and each has its interests shared experiences and characteristics. Major social divisions are such as gender, religion, nationality and race (Fritzell, 2012). The groups are historically and socially constructed and belonging to either group means involvement of conventions and rules. Key social divisions like those mentioned above have huge impacts on people’s life chances, but do not apply equally to all. Identity and social divisions are, however, related. Dimensions of identity are a core sense of self or one’s personal identity such as religion, gender and race. References Mcarthy, J.R., Edwards, R. & Gillies, V. 2000. Moral tales of the child and the adult: narrative of contemporary family lives under changing circumstances. Sociology, 34 (4), 785-803 Romero, M 2008, The Blackwell Companion to Social Inequalities John Wiley & Sons, . New Jersey Llewellyn, A 2008, Sociology for Social Workers. Polity, Cambridge. Ministry of Justice, 2009, Rights and Responsibilities: Developing Our Constitutional Framework, The Stationery Office, Norwich. Turiel, E 2012, Social Development, Social Inequalities, and Social Justice, Psychology Press, United Kingdom. Mannon, E. S 2010, The Internet and Social Inequalities, Routledge, London. Bauman, Z 2013, Collateral Damage: Social Inequalities in a Global Age, John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey. Merger, M 2013, Social Inequality: Patterns and Processes, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Hong Kong. Churchil, H 2011, Parental Rights and Responsibilities: Analysing Social Policy and Lived Experiences, Policy Press, United Kingdom. Kanes, C 2010, Elaborating Professionalism: Studies in Practice and Theory, Springer Science & Business Media, Dordrecht. Grusky, D 2012, The New Gilded Age: The Critical Inequality Debates of Our Time, Stanford University Press, California. Sargeant, M 2011, Age Discrimmination and Diversity: Multiple Discrimination from an Age Perspective, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Semau, S 2010, Social Inequality in a Global Age, Pine Forge Press, California. Fritzell, J 2012, Changing Social Inequality: The Nordic Welfare Model in the 21st Century, Policy Press, United Kingdom. Jakobeit, L 2011, Social Inequalities in Brazil, GRIN Verlag, Munich, Suter, C 2010, Inequality Beyond Globalization: Economic Changes, Social Transformations, and the Dynamics of Inequality, LIT Verlag Munster, Munster. Read More