TO WHAT EXTENT IS THE FUNCTIONALISTS PERSPECTIVE ON SOCIAL STRATIFICATION USEFUL TO THE STUDY OF CARIBBEAN SOCIETY?

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NAME:                Wasim Haroon

YEAR:                ONE

SUBJECT:        SOCIOLOGY

MODULE:        THREE INTERNAL ASSESSMENT

LECTURER:        MR. John

COLLEGE:        Peoples COLLEGE        

QUESTION:

TO WHAT EXTENT IS THE FUNCTIONALISTS PERSPECTIVE ON SOCIAL STRATIFICATION USEFUL TO THE STUDY OF CARIBBEAN SOCIETY?

Giddens describes Social Stratification as “structured inequalities between different groupings of people.”

        Haralambos and Holborn refer to Social Stratification as “a particular form of social inequality.  It refers to the presence of distinct social groups which are ranked one above the other in terms of factors such as prestige and wealth.”

        Functionalists view society as a whole and that any theory that arises has to operate with the society as a whole.  Functionalists look at Social Stratification to see if it fits their description of society, see if it integrates with the other parts of society.  Functionalists are primarily concerned with the contribution Social Stratification can make to the maintenance and well – being of society.  Stratification helps with role differentiation and role allocation.  It is inevitable.  There were three main Functionalists that dealt with the Social Stratification theory.  These were Talcott Parsons, Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore.

        Talcott Parsons believed in value consensus so his argument is that stratification systems derive from common values.  If values exist, then it is clear that persons will be evaluated and placed in some form of rank order.  “In Parsons’ words, stratification, in its valuation aspect, then is the ranking of units in a social system in accordance with the common value system.”  In other words, Parsons means that those who perform successfully according to society’s values will be ranked higher and receive rewards.  Parsons believes that stratification is an inevitable part of all societies.

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        Two other Functionalists that share major ideas on social stratification are Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore.  Their views were said to be the most famous of the Functionalists theory.  They believed that stratification presented that all roles must be filled and they must be filled by those who are best able to perform them.

        Davis and Moore believed that the education system is responsible for the act of differentiating between children and allocating them to their occupational roles.  They believed that inequality is a necessary feature of modern society that by inequality everyone is motivated to want to achieve ...

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