Social Division Sociology

Social divisions have existed essentially since civilisation began, so the definition has changed over time. However, in order to ascertain the extent of the impact that divisions have, an understanding of what is meant by ‘social divisions’ has to be reached. In this case, social division is the organisation of a society into groups of similar features, such as gender, class or religion. Best defined social divisions as the distinction between individuals and ‘others’ based upon definite differences (2005). Best’s understanding of social division will be referred to several times throughout this exploration of the effects of such distinctions, to see if this definition is applicable to many different divisions. Initially it appears, from

Consequently there have always been vast inequalities between those in the upper classes, or what would have originally been referred to as the aristocracy, and those in the working class, or the peasants. These inequalities refer to not only wealth and income, but also indicators such as education, living conditions, leisure activities and mortality rates (Bennett et al, 2013). Bennett argued that ones class would impact hugely on their identity and how they saw themselves, due to the distinctive separating line between upper and lower class. For those in the lower classes, this is a negative impact, for example around one-in-six households have no one in employment and this has lead to a quarter of all children being born into poverty (Roberts, 2004). These children, in particular, grow up experiencing serious difficulties such as depression and suicidal tendencies caused by their situation. Children who grow up in poverty report feelings of helplessness, anger that is reflected onto themselves, as well as feeling rejected from society, compared to those in financially stable families who will more often produce children much more comfortable with their identity. These characteristics show exactly how strongly class divisions in society can impact upon individuals. Some argue that class divisions are essential for society to run smoothly, as without a ruling governmental hierarchy then laws wouldn’t be made and society may turn to chaos. However, though this may be true, it is the vast inequalities that come with the class divisions that are questionable. Fulcher and Scott pointed out that systems of poverty and wealth could only disappear if there was an equal distribution of resources and while in this case there may still be extremes of income and