Sociology · May / June 2023 · Paper 11 · Question 3

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Sociologists debate the causes and impact of social inequality. Functionalists believe that inequality is positive for society. However, most sociologists consider inequality to be negative. Arguments 3 for the negative impact of inequality include scapegoating, ethnic minority disadvantage and underclasses now emerging. Many sociologists believe that social class is still important in modern industrial societies.

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3(a)[2]
What is meant by the term ‘scapegoating’? One mark for a partial definition e.g. blaming ethnic groups. Two marks for a clear definition e.g. when individuals or marginalized groups are blamed and sometimes punished for things that are not their fault.
3(b)[4]
Describe two features of the underclass. Possible answers:
they include the long-term unemployed who live in poverty;
they include people dependent on state benefits who are in relative poverty;
they include people dependent on state pensions;
Marxists argue that the underclass is socially excluded (left out of society) and is likely to be the worst affected in an economic recession;
includes disaffected teenagers without qualifications or prospects who are likely to become welfare dependent and/or turn to crime;
includes a high proportion of families with illegitimate children (births to unmarried mothers) – they will struggle economically and may have problems in controlling their children;
associated with higher levels of criminality than other classes e.g. drugs, petty theft, dealing in stolen goods etc.;
associated with a dependency culture - unwilling to take jobs and having values such as fatalism, immediate gratification etc.;
they experience a poverty trap because of, for example, a lack of quality education means they can never climb out of their poverty;
associated with poor housing e.g. slums;
the underclass does not have the same life chances as other classes e.g. in education, social mobility etc.;
being in the underclass could be an ascribed status as children may be born into it;
any other reasonable response. One mark for each feature correctly identified (up to a maximum of two). One mark for each feature correctly developed (up to a maximum of two).
3(c)[6]
Explain how some ethnic minorities are disadvantaged in modern industrial societies. Possible answers:
teacher labelling and stereotyping based on racial profiles may lead to bias and unfair treatment of ethnic minority pupils which can affect achievement;
an ethnocentric curriculum may reinforce negative stereotypes or the ‘invisibility’ of ethnic minorities in culture;
prejudice and discrimination in the workplace may impact on an individual’s chances of getting a job, getting promotion etc.;
hate crime via the media, including social media, breeds hatred and mistrust of ethnic minorities and may lead to discrimination;
institutionalised racism in the police and courts may lead to targeting and over–representation of ethnic minorities in the criminal justice system;
institutionalised racism in health and housing etc. and its negative consequences for ethnic minority individuals and families;
any other reasonable response. Band 0 [0 marks] No creditworthy response. Band 1 [1 – 3 marks] Answers in this band will show only a limited awareness of the question. Responses may be short and un/underdeveloped. At the bottom of the band (1 mark), expect one weak point. Higher in the band (2–3 marks), candidates may offer more than one weak point, but there may be a tendency towards simplistic answers, engaging with sociological ideas without using sociological language. Band 2 [4 – 6 marks] Answers in this band will have clear and accurate explanation, showing good sociological knowledge and understanding. Sociological terms and concepts should be expected and explained. At the bottom of the band, the range of points covered may be narrow or lack detail. Higher in the band, answers will cover more than one point in a well-developed way or cover several points in less detail.
3(d)[8]
Explain why functionalists believe that inequality can be positive. Possible answers:
inequality provides an incentive for people to achieve their status and work hard to move up the social ladder;
society is a meritocracy so people who get to the top have earned it and have a right to greater status and rewards;
inequalities such as poverty reminds the rest of society of values such as hard work, honesty and a stable family life and warns them of the consequences of straying from these values;
inequality can be a spur for change e.g. the British suffragettes experienced gender inequality in voting, protested and eventually gained voting rights;
social class has a function - inequality ensures that the most functionally important jobs are filled by the best qualified people – we cannot all be CEOs of large companies and so inequality ensures that the full range of jobs that are needed for a functional society are filled with the right people;
New Right sociologists see poverty as just – it is the fault of the poor who have a dependency culture and welfare benefits ought to be cut as an encouragement to re–engage with expected social values of hard work etc.;
functionalists see the poverty faced by immigrants as an incentive to assimilate with the host community, by learning the language and adopting the norms and values, to achieve social mobility;
any other reasonable response. Band 0 [0marks] No creditworthy response. Band 1 [1 – 3 marks] Answers in this band will show only a limited awareness of the question. A tendency to description is likely. Responses may be short and undeveloped and points stated without explanation. Sociological terms and concepts are unlikely to be used. At the bottom of the band (1 mark), expect one weak point. Higher in the band (2–3 marks), candidates may offer more than one weak point. Band 2 [4 – 6 marks] Answers in this band will show basic sociological knowledge and understanding. Responses may be underdeveloped and lacking in range. At the bottom of the band, candidates are unlikely to use sociological terms and concepts accurately. Higher in the band, candidates may be beginning to use sociological terms and concepts with greater accuracy. However, some aspects of the answer may only be partially developed/explained. Band 3 [7 – 8 marks] Answers in this band will show good sociological knowledge and understanding and will be well-developed and explained. Sociological terms and concepts will be used accurately overall. Answers will be well-focused on the question and there will be a range of points presented. At the top of the band explanations will be clear throughout.
3(e)[15]
To what extent is social class still important in modern industrial societies? Possible arguments for:
class remains important because of the unequal distribution of wealth and income and the negative effect that this has on society via poverty, crime etc.;
functionalists believe social class remains important as an incentive for social mobility – those in the lower classes will aspire to improve their status and earn more rewards by conforming and working hard which benefits society;
class remains important because it has a significant effect on life chances e.g. in education some individuals may receive little or no schooling whilst others receive an elite education and this then has a knock–on effect on their other life chances such as health and housing;
Marxists believe class to be the core division in society – between capitalists and workers – and this inequality determines the power, status, privileges and resources that individuals have access to;
Weberians argue class is crucial in understanding society – a person’s market situation determines their access to power and status;
Marxist feminists consider both class, gender and ethnicity to be crucial in shaping an individual’s life chances – all three factors are interwoven in people’s lives and influence many aspects of their lives;
any other reasonable response. Possible arguments against:
class is less important because we are all middle class now – the old manual working class jobs have largely disappeared and people generally enjoy a more affluent lifestyle;
consumption is now more important than production – our social identities and status are linked to our lifestyle choices and spending patterns rather than our social class;
we live in a meritocracy and both intra– and intergenerational mobility is possible so social class no longer defines us or decides our life chances;
feminists argue that the importance of social class has now been overtaken by gender – women occupy a lower status position within each class and women are oppressed;
age could be seen as more important than social class due to widespread problems with ageism across different sectors such as health, employment and the media etc.;
ethnicity could be argued as more important than social class today with racial divisions both within and between societies e.g. global inequalities linked to race and issues of discrimination which have led to protests such as Black Lives Matter;
the boundaries between different social classes have become blurred and definitions of class differ and so it is difficult to see how important social class is e.g. the embourgeoisement debate;
it is difficult to measure social class and different countries use different classifications so there is little agreement on what the different classes are – this suggests that social class is now less important in the way that we see social divisions;
any other reasonable response. Band 0 [0 marks] No creditworthy response. Band 1 [1 – 4 marks] Answers in this band may be vague and largely based on common sense showing limited knowledge of the debate. Use of sociological terms or concepts is very unlikely. Responses may be short, undeveloped and one-sided. Lower in the band (1–2 marks), expect one or two weak points. Higher in the band (3–4 marks) candidates may offer more than two points and provide a weak definition of key terms in the question. Band 2 [5 – 8 marks] In this band candidates will show some basic knowledge of the debate. Alternatively, they may offer an answer which is list-like in nature but there will be no real attempt to assess the issues raised by the question. There may be limited/some use of sociological terms or concepts. Responses may be underdeveloped and lack range. Answers may be simplistic and two-sided or only cover one side of the debate. Lower in the band, the response may be rather narrow in the points covered and there may be some development. Higher in the band, more points are likely to be covered with some development. Alternatively, a list-like answer with some development covering both sides of the argument may score up to 8 marks. A one-sided answer cannot score higher than 8 marks. Band 3 [9 – 12 marks] Answers in this band will show good sociological knowledge and understanding of the debate. Sociological terms and concepts will be used with greater accuracy and/or frequency. For the most part, answers will be well-developed, focused on the questions and there will be a range of points presented. There will be a two-sided response but it may lack range on one side. At the bottom of the band, candidates may provide a narrower range of developed points. At the top of the band, expect a wider range of developed points and clear focus on the question. Band 4 [13 – 15 marks] Answers in this band will show excellent knowledge and understanding of the debate. There will be a strong grasp of the arguments as well as accurate and frequent use of sociological terms and concepts. Answers will be well-developed, clearly focused on the question and discuss a wide range of points. Responses will be two-sided and have a range of points on each side. At the bottom of the band (13 marks), the answer may lack a specific conclusion. Higher in the band, there will be a clear attempt to offer an assessment of the ‘To what extent.?’ part of the question through a focused conclusion.

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