Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Societies systematically categorize individuals and groups into hierarchical layers based on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, and power.
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
- Social Stratification refers to this structured categorization of society into hierarchical layers (strata). It also encompasses the study of "social mobility", which is the movement of individuals or groups between these different layers over time.
- Social Control refers to the mechanisms, rules, and institutions that regulate individual and group behavior to maintain social order.
- Social Conflict describes the struggles between different social classes or groups competing for scarce resources and power.
- Social Solidarity refers to the degree of integration, cohesion, and unity within a society.
Step 4: Final Answer
The categorization of society into structural layers and the study of movement between them is defined as Social Stratification.