The Social Structure Of Modern Britain

The Social Structure of Modern Britain, Third Edition is a comprehensive account of the social structure of modern Britain. Aspects of social structure are examined from a historical and comparative perspective. The book includes statistical information, not only on the more obvious areas like births, deaths, and immigration, but also on such lesser known (but no less important) topics as leisure behavior, income and wealth, and trends in criminal and other deviant activities. Comprised of six chapters, this book begins with an introduction to the demographic features of British society, including population trends in the twentieth century, socio-economic aspects of population, and fertility and mortality trends, along with the effects of immigration on demography. Subsequent chapters focus on the family, social class, and education as well as leisure and pleasure. The final chapter is devoted to three major mechanisms of social control in British society: religion, political institutions, and law enforcement. In particular, it assesses the extent to which religious beliefs and political attitudes exert control over people's thoughts and behavior, together with the definition of crime, the causes of criminal behavior, and the aims of a penal system. This monograph will be a useful resource for sociologists and social scientists.

In this, the third edition of a highly successful textbook first published in 1965, the author has taken the opportunity to critically evaluate some of the assumptions and generalizations made in the earlier editions because of the absence of any evidence constructed on sound foundations. The content of the work includes references and detailed accounts of recent work on population trends, the relative influences of heredity and environment on intelligence, the significance of early socialization and parent-child relationships in the subsequent development of the individual etc. The book also incorporates up-to-date statistical information. Where possible, in the self-imposed concentrated framework, existing aspects of social structure are placed in an historical and comparative context

The book incorporates three alternative conceptions of class. Erik Olin Wright's structural Marxist account is set alongside John Goldthorpe's occupational class schema, and the Registrar-General's prestige and skill-related categories. The authors use their unique data on inequality and conflict in contemporary Britain to provide, for the first time, a rigourous comparison of Marxist, sociological and official class frameworks. The book ranges widely across such topics as sectionalism in the workforce; privatism of families and individuals; fatalism; gender and class processes; sectoral production and consumption cleavages. The authors conclude that class is still crucial in structuring economic, political and social life.

The second edition of this classic study includes an analysis of recent trends in intergenerational mobility, the class mobility of women, and social mobility in modern Britain.

The second edition of this classic study includes an analysis of recent trends in intergenerational mobility, the class mobility of women, and social mobility in modern Britain.