Effects Of Social Inequality

Social inequality can be easily defined as, “an unequal distribution of resources” (Symbaluk & Bereska, 2013, p. 93). Although it is easy to define, being aware of it in everyday life is a more difficult task. Social inequality can take many forms based on race, ethnicity, and gender and can be seen everywhere in society from school, the workplace, to government. It can be difficult to notice social inequality because stereotypes are ingrained into society and often affect the subconscious. Class stratification also enables people to scapegoat minorities by saying they have no merit to society rather than society has put up barriers to stop them from achieving merit. One easily observable effect of social inequality is the income gap between

In Canada the greatest inequality can be found among Aboriginal groups. “In 2006, one-third (33%) of Aboriginal adults aged 25 to 54 had less than a high school education compared to nearly 13% of the non-Aboriginal population, a difference of 20 percentage points (Statistics Canada,2010,para.2).” Alarming inequalities can be found in nearly every aspect of Canadian society. Data found by Correctional Service Canada shows that in 2007, Aboriginal people comprised 17.0% of federally sentenced offenders although the general Aboriginal population is only 2.7% of the Canadian adult population (Correctional Service Canada, 2013, para.1). As Symbaluk and Bereska explain, education is a factor in future employment and therefore education and poverty and crime are significantly related. One potential answer to eliminating social inequality between Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal groups could be increasing education levels among Aboriginal groups to match the levels of Non-Aboriginal groups. Doing this would reduce poverty and crime, and give future Aboriginal generations a chance at a good