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236 CHAPTER 8 Social Class in the United States

resources make it more likely that children from the more privi-
leged classes go to college—and graduate.
Religion

One area of social life that we might think would not be affected
by social class is religion. (“People are just religious, or they are
not. What does social class have to do with it?”) As we shall see
in Chapter 13, however, the classes tend to cluster in different
denominations. Episcopalians, for example, are more likely to
attract the middle and upper classes, while Baptists draw heavily
from the lower classes. Patterns of worship also follow class lines:
The lower classes are attracted to more expressive worship services
and louder music, while the middle and upper classes prefer more
“subdued” worship.

Politics
As I have stressed throughout this text, people perceive events
from their own corner in life. Political views are no exception to
this symbolic interactionist principle, and the rich and the poor
This debutante is making her formal walk different political paths. The higher that people are on the
entrance into society, announcing her social class ladder, the more likely they are to vote for Republi-
eligibility for marriage. Like you she cans (Hout 2008). In contrast, most members of the working class believe that the
has learned from her parents, peers,
and education, a view of where she government should intervene in the economy to provide jobs and to make citizens
belongs in life. How do you think financially secure. They are more likely to vote for Democrats. Although the working
her view is different from yours? class is more liberal on economic issues (policies that increase government spending), it
(This photo was taken at the annual is more conservative on social issues (such as opposing abortion and the Equal Rights
debutante ball of the Society of Amendment) (Houtman 1995; Hout 2008). People toward the bottom of the class
Martha Washington in Laredo, Texas.)
structure are also less likely to be politically active—to campaign for candidates or even
to vote (Gilbert 2003; Beeghley 2008).

Crime and Criminal Justice
If justice is supposed to be blind, it certainly is not when it comes to one’s chances
of being arrested (Henslin 2013). In Chapter 6 (pages 171–173), we discussed how
the social classes commit different types of crime. The white-collar crimes of the more
privileged classes are more likely to be dealt with outside the criminal justice system,
while the police and courts deal with the street crimes of the lower classes. One conse-
quence of this class standard is that members of the lower classes are more likely to be
in prison, on probation, or on parole. In addition, since those who commit street crimes
tend to do so in or near their own neighborhoods, the lower classes are more likely to be
robbed, burglarized, or murdered.

Social Mobility
Contrast the three types
8.4
of social mobility, and review
No aspect of life, then—from work and family life to politics—goes untouched by social
gender issues in research on social
class. Because life is so much more satisfying in the more privileged classes, people strive
mobility and why social mobility
to climb the social class ladder. What affects their chances?
brings pain.
Three Types of Social Mobility
Watch on MySocLab Janice’s mom, a single mother, sold used cars at a Toyota dealership. Janice worked sum-
Video: Opportunity and Social mers and part-time during the school year, earned her BA, and then her MBA. After
Class
college, she worked at IBM, but she missed her home town. When her mom’s boss retired,