Feelings of common identity were generally lacking among groups in the lower class, although class consciousness existed within such groups as organized labor. Generally, members of the lower class were regularly employed with some degree of security, although they were frequently unskilled and unorganized. Included in this category were domestic servants, construction workers, taxi drivers, barbers, repairmen, and small shopkeepers. The rural lower class included small independent landholders, sharecroppers, and tenant farmers, who provided some security for their families.
Many of the problems between social classes have to do with social networks. Social networks are a connection of social relationships among social groups or people. The advantage of the social network approach is that it lends itself to measurement and depiction. For instance, if we limit the number of units, it is possible to draw accurate diagrams of social networks. Also since all groups have networks, conflicts between groups are conflicts between networks. When conflicts .
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do erupt they usually don't require most people to choose sides because the sides already exist. The existence of sides usually causes a conflict. That is how social .
classes between rich and poor usually develop. They both have different social networks but the rich probably have a closer or stronger positive relationship with their group rather than the lower classes.
The upper class has advantages in staying in their class because of the people they know and meet. The functionalist theory of stratification helps describe the reasons behind the upper class and lower class. The functionalist theory of stratification is seeing society as a system of roles or positions. The members of the upper class also tended to emphasize publicly their devotion to display a more stable family life than did the rest of the society. How to move up in the world depends on who you know and how well you know them.
