Social inequality differentiates between individuals. Highlight the principles to explain the concept of social stratification.

Following are the key principles to explain the concept of social stratification:

1. Social stratification is a characteristic of society, not simply a function of individual differences. Social stratification is a society-wide system that unequally distributes social resources among categories of people. However, social resources are unequally distributed to various social categories regardless of people’s innate individual abilities.

2. Social stratification persists over generations. It is closely linked to the family and to the inheritance of social resources from one generation to the next. A person’s social position is ascribed. That is, children assume the social positions of their parents. The ascribed aspect of social inequality is reinforced by the practice of endogamy.

3. Social stratification is supported by patterns of belief, or ideology. No system of social stratification is likely to persist over generations unless it is generally understood as being either fair or necessary. The caste system, for example, is justified in terms of the opposition of purity and pollution. The ascribed type of social inequality with the Brahmins designated as the most superior and Dalits as the most inferior by virtue of their birth and occupation. Typically, people with the greatest social privileges express the strongest support for systems of stratification such as caste and race.