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Answer to q. 1
Sociologist Erik Wright outlined four criteria for placement in the class structure: (1)
ownership of the means of production, (2) purchase of the labor of others (employing
others), (3) control of the labor of others (supervising others on the job), and (4) sale
of one's own labor (being employed by someone else). Wright assumes that these
criteria can be used to determine the class placement of all workers, regardless of
race/ethnicity in a capitalist society.
Wright identified four classes. The capitalist class holds most of the wealth and power
in society through ownership of capitalbanks, corporations, factories, etc. The
ruling elites, or ruling class, within this category hold political power and are often
elected or appointed to influential political positions. The capitalist class is composed
of individuals who have inherited fortunes, own major corporations, or are top
corporate executives with extensive stock holdings or control of company
investments. The major sources of income for the capitalist class are profits, interest,
and very high salaries. Members of this class make important decisions about the
workplace, including which products and services to make available to consumers and
how many workers to hire or fire.
The managerial class has substantial control over the means of production and over
workers. However, these upper-level managers, supervisors, and professionals
typically do not participate in key corporate decisions such as how to invest profits.
Top professionals such as physicians, attorneys, etc. may control the structure of
their own work; however, they typically do not own the means of production and may
not have supervisory authority over more than a few people. The small-business class
consists of small-business owners and crafts people that may hire a small number of
employees but largely do their own work. It is in the small-business class that we find
many people's hopes of achieving the American Dream. Recent economic trends,
including corporate downsizing, telecommuting, and the movement of jobs to other
countries, have encouraged more people to think about being self-employed. The
working class is made up of a number of subgroups, one of which is blue-collar
workers, some of whom are highly skilled and well paid, and others of whom are
unskilled and poorly paid. Skilled blue-collar workers include electricians, plumbers,
etc.; unskilled blue-collar workers include janitors and gardeners. White-collar
workers are another subgroup of the working class; they include secretaries, other
clerical workers, and sales workers. These workers are at the bottom of the class
structure in terms of domination and control in the workplace. The working class
contains about half of all employees in the United States.
Answer to q. 2
A drug is any substance other than food and water that, when taken into the body,
alters its functioning in some ways. Drugs are used for either therapeutic or
recreational purposes. Alcohol and tobacco are example of drugs that are primarily
used for recreational purposes. Alcoholthe use of alcohol is considered an accepted
part of the dominant culture in the United States. Chronic heavy drinking or alcoholism
can cause permanent damage to the brain or other parts of the body. For alcoholics, the
long-term negative health effects include nutritional deficiencies resulting from poor
eating habits cardiovascular problems such as inflammation and enlargement of the
heart muscle, high blood pressure, and stroke and eventually alcoholic cirrhosisa
progressive development of scar tissue that chokes off blood vessels in the liver and
destroys liver cells by interfering with their use of oxygen. Nicotine (tobacco)the
nicotine in tobacco is a toxic, dependency-producing psychoactive drug that is more
addictive than heroin. It is classified as a stimulant because it stimulates central
nervous system receptors and activates them to release adrenaline, which raises blood
pressure, speeds up the heartbeat, and gives the user a temporary sense of alertness.
Tobacco is still responsible for about one in every five deaths in the United States.
Even people who never light up a cigarette are harmed by environmental tobacco
smokethe smoke in the air inhaled by nonsmokers as a result of other people's
tobacco smoking. Illegal drugsmarijuana is the most extensively used illegal drug in
the United States. High doses of marijuana smoked during pregnancy can disrupt the
development of a fetus and result in congenital abnormalities and neurological
disturbances. Another widely used illegal drug is cocaine. People who use cocaine over
extended periods of time have higher rates of infection, heart problems, internal
bleeding, hypertension, stroke, and other neurological and cardiovascular disorders than
do nonusers. Intravenous cocaine users who share contaminated needles are also at
risk for contracting AIDS.
Answer to q. 3
Sociologist Dennis Gilbert uses a model of social classes based on three elements: (1)
education, (2) occupation of family head, and (3) family income. H e identified six
different categories. The upper (capitalist) classwhich is the wealthiest and most
powerful in the United Statesincludes about one percent of the population whose
members own substantial income-producing assets and operate on both the national
and international levels. The upper-middle classpersons in this class are often highly
educated professionals who have built careers as physicians, attorneys, etc. About 14
percent of the population is in this category. A combination of three factors qualifies
people for the upper-middle class: university degrees, authority and independence on
the job, and high income. Of all the class categories, the upper-middle class is the one
that is most shaped by formal education. In the middle class of today, two-year and
four-year college degrees are necessary for entry-level requirement for employment
in many middle-class occupations, including medical technicians, nurses, etc. An
estimated 30 percent of the population is in this category. The working class is an
estimated 30 percent of the population. The core of this class is made up of
semiskilled machine operators who work in factories and elsewhere. Working class
families not only earn less than middle-class families, but they also have less financial
security, particularly because of high rates of layoffs and plant closings. Few people in
this class have more than a high school diploma, and many have less, which makes job
opportunities scarce for them in a high-tech society. The working poor account for
about 20 percent of the population.
Members of this class live from just above to just below the poverty line; they
typically hold unskilled jobs, seasonal migrant jobs in agriculture, lower-paid factory
jobs, and service jobs (such as counter help at restaurants). Employed single mothers
often belong to this class. For this category, living from paycheck to paycheck makes
it impossible to save money for emergencies. The underclasspeople in this category
are poor, seldom employed, and caught in long-term deprivation that results from low
levels of education and income and high rates of unemployment. Single mothers are
overrepresented in this class because of the lack of jobs, the lack of affordable child
care, and many other impediments to the mother's future and that of her children.
About 5 percent of the population is in this category.
Answer to q. 4
Social epidemiology is the study of causes and distribution of health, disease, and
impairment throughout a population. Typically, the three targeted areas for investigation
are disease agents, the environment, and the human host. Disease agents include
biological agents such as insects, bacteria, and viruses that carry or cause disease
nutrient agents such as fats and carbohydrates chemical agents such as gases and
pollutants in the air and physical agents such as temperature, humidity, and radiation.
The environment includes the physical (geography and climate), biological (presence or
absence of known disease agents), and social (socioeconomic status, occupation, and
location of home) environments. The human host takes into account demographic
factors (age, sex, and race/ethnicity), physical condition, habits and customs, and
lifestyle.
Answer to q. 5
According to sociologist Max Weber, no single factor (such as economic divisions
between capitalists and workers) was sufficient for defining the location of categories
of people within the class structure. Weber stated that the access that people have to
important societal resources (such as economic, social, and political power) is crucial
in determining people's life chances.
Weber developed a multidimensional approach to social stratification that reflects the
interplay among wealth, prestige, and power. Wealth is the value of all of a person's
or family's economic assets, including income, personal property, and incomeproducing
property. Weber placed categories of people who have a similar level of
wealth and income in the same class. He identified a privileged commercial class of
entrepreneurswealthy bankers, ship owners, professionals, and merchants who
possess similar financial resources. He also described a class of rentierswealthy
individuals who live off their investments and do not have to work.
According to Weber, entrepreneurs and rentiers have much in common. Both are able
to purchase expensive consumer goods, control other people's opportunities to acquire
wealth and property, and monopolize costly status privileges (such as education) that
provide contacts and skills for their children. Weber divided those who work for
wages into two classes: the middle class and the working class. The middle class
consists of white-collar workers, public officials, managers, and professionals. The
working class consists of skilled, semiskilled, and unskilled workers. The second
dimension of Weber's system of stratification is prestigethe respect or regard that a
person or status position is given by others. Fame, respect, honor, and esteem are the
most common forms of prestige. A person who has a high level of prestige is
assumed to receive deferential and respectful treatment from others. Weber
suggested that individuals who share a common level of social prestige belong to the
same status group regardless of their level of wealth. They tend to socialize with one
another, marry within their own group of social equals, spend their leisure time
together, and safeguard their status by restricting outsiders' opportunities to join their
ranks. Style of life, formal education, and occupation are often significant factors in
establishing and maintaining prestige in industrial and postindustrial societies. The
other dimension of Weber's system is powerthe ability of people or groups to
achieve their goals despite opposition from others. The powerful can shape society in
accordance with their own interests and direct the actions of others. Weber stated
that wealth, prestige, and power are separate continuums on which people can be
ranked from high to low. Individuals may be high on one dimension while being low on
another. In Weber's multidimensional approach, people are ranked on all three
dimensions.
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