Structural explanation

An explanation that focuses on how the organisation of society, including education, employment and the distribution of wealth, shapes people's circumstances.

An explanation that focuses on how society’s organisation, institutions and inequalities shape people’s circumstances.

Structural explanations focus on society’s organisation: employment opportunities, ownership, unequal rewards and gender relations. Cultural and individual explanations place greater emphasis on people’s values and behaviour. These approaches can lead to very different interpretations of the same situation.

An explanation of social outcomes that focuses on the organisation of society, including economic inequalities and access to employment.

Distinguish a cultural explanation, based on behaviour and values, from a structural explanation, based on inequalities and opportunities.

An explanation which locates the causes of poverty in wider social and economic conditions, such as a shortage of jobs, rather than primarily in individuals’ values or choices.

These findings support a structural explanation: poverty and worklessness can persist because opportunities and resources are limited, not because families teach children to reject employment. Someone caring for an ill relative may also be doing demanding unpaid work despite having no paid job.

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AQA GCSE Sociology · 8192

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Eduqas GCSE Sociology · C200