Inequality

Inequality and the Generation of Social Problems

One way to think about how inequality relates to social problems is to ask how social problems are generated. Social stratification based on race, class, and gender forms the structural context from which social problems are created. Social inequality, structured into society, blocks opportunities for some groups, generating the conditions from which social problems emerge. The sociological literature offers countless examples of the consequences of blocked opportunity.

Research shows, for example, a strong correlation between unemployment and multiple social problems, including crime, violence, divorce, and substance abuse, to name a few. As one example, an extraordinarily large difference exists in the homicide rate of black Americans, Latinos, and whites—explained as the result of social structural conditions of both the class and race status of poor, minority men. Were non-Latino whites subjected to the same social structural conditions of inequality as are racial/ethnic minorities, white homicide rates would likely be equal to those of racial/ethnic minorities. Various measures of risk, including death by homicide, firearms, and automobile accidents, are also strongly influenced by gender. This is the result, most argue, of greater risk-taking behavior among men. The interactive mix of gender, race, and class can be a lethal combination.

Race, gender, and class also affect the likelihood of experiencing social problems other than crime and violence. For example, low-income and minority communities will more likely be sites for hazardous waste facilities and toxic dumping, not only degrading the neighborhood environment but also placing residents at greater risk for poor health. Although many such communities have organized an environmental justice movement to protest dumping in their neighborhoods, the relative lack of political power in low-income and minority communities makes environmental racism a persistent social problem.

Social problems stemming from structural inequality are also prevalent in education and work. Rates of educational attainment are higher among white Americans than among either African Americans or Latinos/as. School dropout rates, too, significantly relate to both race and income status. Hispanic students have, by far, the highest dropout rate, followed by African American students, but income matters too: Students from low-income families have twice the dropout rate of those from middle-income families and four times the dropout rate of those from high-income families. Family disadvantage also strongly relates to racial variations in math and reading comprehension for schoolchildren, and the higher the family income is, the higher are student test scores and rates of educational attainment.

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