Icioeconomic Theory: Postmodernism And The Sociological Theory

Life chances is a sociological theory of the opportunities each individual potentially has to improve his or her life. According to this theory, the available resources in a person’s life dictate whether his or her life will remain the same or improve, both economically and socially. Life chances are essentially shaped by our socioeconomic status. Belonging to a certain social class makes it predictable to determine an individual’s quality of education, work, and family. While many individuals in our society conceive that if they work hard enough they will attain success in what ever they set out to do, contrary evidence shows that our social positon in many ways is a result of our family’s social status and impacts the level of success one

which is based solely on their physical appearance and social stigma.

Postmodernism is a sociological theory studied by sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, which states that social class is passed down from one generation to the next and thus remains relatively stable. According to Bourdieu, this happens as a result of each generations acquisition, cultural capital, children inherit tastes, habits, and expectations from their parents, and cultural capital can either help or hinder them as they become adults. An individual’s family is the first and primary social group a person is exposed to. Depending on the socioeconomic status of the person’s family determine the types of norms and values and individual will acquire. For example, if the parents of the child are

Stigmas placed on different races from past generations has consequently impaired certain individual’s ability to improve his or her life. For instance, when employers are looking at candidate’s applications, they are more likely to pick a candidate with a “white” name rather than a candidate with a “black” name. Also, in a job interview, the candidates that appear attractive and speak well are more likely to impress the employer versus an individual who is dark-skinned, has coarse hair, and speaks in a “ghetto” or “ratchet” accent. Employers may not hire certain candidates based on the social stigmas placed on individuals who have a certain name, appear a darker skin complexion, or speaks in a different accent than what they conceive as normal. They may hold negative beliefs on these types of individuals or believe that these individuals will bring a negative vibe to the environment/atmosphere. A person cannot change the genes that were genetically passed down by their parents. Individuals also face difficulty trying to overcome aspects that were socially learned throughout their childhood by their family members. Families living in an a less privileged environment often obtain more hardships if they are trying to better themselves socially and