MCCCD Official Course Competencies:

SOC253  1996 Fall - 2009 Spring

Social Class and Stratification

1.

Cite the main theories of social class, caste, and rank, particularly the theories developed from the approaches of Karl Marx and Max Weber. (I)

2.

Describe the tendency toward status crystallization in the U.S. social structure. (I)

3.

Describe the U.S. class system as it relates to forms of social mobility. (I, II, VI)

4.

Describe social stratification in the U.S. from the 1920s to the present. (II)

5.

Contrast the nature and operation of U.S. social structure with other open-class systems, as well as the caste or caste-like systems of other societies. (II, VI)

6.

Describe and exemplify current trends in social change in the U.S. (III)

7.

Explain the importance of the transformation brought about by the industrialization process. (III)

8.

Define and analyze the factor of sex stratification; the economic variables of occupation, income, and wealth; the social variables of personal prestige, association, and socialization; the political factors of power and class consciousness; and the longitudinal elements of succession and mobility. (IV, V, VIII)

9.

Describe the impact of family, education and career on social class in the U.S. (VII)

10.

Contrast micro-levels and macro-levels of society, and explain the interplay between the two. (IX)

11.

Explain the dynamics of possible change in this country's stratification. (IX, XI)

12.

Identify and explain the effects of public policy on poverty in the U.S. (X)

MCCCD Official Course Outline:

SOC253  1996 Fall - 2009 Spring

Social Class and Stratification

I. The Dimensions of Social Class in the U.S.

A. Karl Marx

B. Max Weber

C. The variables involved

D. Theoretical models

II. Prestige

A. Past research

B. Indices of occupational prestige

C. International comparisons

D. Socioeconomic indicators

E. Subjective placement

III. Social Change

A. Past research

B. Current trends

1. The Post-Industrial case

2. The new classes

3. Women working

4. Occupational studies of minorities

IV. Distribution of Wealth

A. Income

B. Wealth

C. Social class and life chances

V. Status in the Weberian Sense

A. Socialization

B. Marriage

C. Association

D. Lifestyle

VI. Structural Opportunities for Success and Mobility

VII. Family, Education, and Career

A. Research Blau-Duncan, Coleman, and Jencks

B. Who goes to college?

C. Minority categories

VIII. The Relationship Between the Political System and Class Structure

A. Studies of power structures

B. The power elite

C. The U.S. capitalist class

D. Money and politics

IX. Class Consciousness

A. Historical perspective

B. Research

C. Class conflict, present and future

X. The Poor and the Underclass

A. The discoveries of poverty

B. The definitions of poverty

C. Public policy

XI. Synthesis

A. The classes

B. Change