his group that are systemically reinforced through institutions from the corporate and legal to the educational and media arenas. From a conflict perspective, it is difficult for disenfranchised groups to win a value battle with the predominant group. As Chapter One notes, the origins of social problems from the conflict perspective stem from ôGroups with different values and differing amounts of power meeting and competingö (200X, 7).
It is readily apparent that the nature of a democracy does not seem to mesh with the conflict perspective of society. Nevertheless, U.S. society is becoming continually more stratified along economic, race, gender and other divisions. Such divisions undermine a democratic government and serve to favor the ôstatus quoö in terms of resource allocation and government influence. Such a reality causes the marginalization of many subgroups in U.S. society, particularly poor minorities. Such a troubled society cannot provide adequate support for such groups that will empower them economically in order to improve their quality of life. This is true in all aspects of existence, from education and employment to legal representation and health care. In Chapter Two, the authors maintain that such class divisions dramatically impact the health and health care of the disadvantaged. As noted in Chapter Two, ôThe poor, near-poor, members of racial and ethnic minority groups, and residents of depressed rural areas are most likely to fall into the uninsured category. Economic class and race are also correlated with the risk of becoming seriously ill,ö (200X, 30). In other words, a troubled society stems from the nature of conflict over resources that are typically, if not always, won by the predominant and wealthiest social classes. This only serves to widen class distinctions while doing little to resolve social troubles.
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