1. Social Structure

2. Building Blocks of Social Structure
Social structure is the network of interdependent statuses and roles that guide human interaction
Status is a socially defined position in a group or in a society
Role is the behavior—the rights and obligations—expected of someone occupying a particular status

3. Status Statuses are ways to define people
You can be more than one status at a time
Example: You are a student, an employee, a son/daughter, a teenager and a friend
Ascribed v. Achieved statuses
Ascribed means that you are assigned that status because of qualities beyond your control
Example: you are a teenager because of your age, you are an African American because of your DNA
Achieved means you are that status because of something you did
Example: you are on the football team because you are good at sports
Master status is the status that plays the biggest role in shaping a person’s life and determining his or her social identity
Can be ascribed or achieved
Could be occupation, wealth, marital status, or parenthood

4. Roles You occupy the status, but play the role
This means that you are a son or daughter, but you have to play the role of son or daughter when you are home
Reciprocal roles are those that require interaction with another role
A husband cannot be a husband without someone providing the role of wife

5. Role Expectation and Role Performance
Role expectations-what are you expected to do
Doctors are supposed to treat patients, parents care for children, children respect adults
Role performance-what you actually do
Doctors sometimes harm patients, parents mistreat their children, children don’t always respect authority

6. Role Conflict and Role Strain
Role sets are all the different roles attached to a single status
Because we hold many statuses, they sometime conflict with each other
Role conflict is when fulfilling the role of one status conflicts with another
Ex: being a parent of a sick child and an employee means you have to leave one for the other
Role strain is difficulty meeting the roles of one status
A boss who must maintain morale while asking employees to work overtime

7. Social Institutions
When statuses are organized to satisfy one or more of the basic needs of society it is called a social institution
There are several social institutions, however sociologists usually focus on the following:
Family
Economy
Politics
Education
Religion

8. Types of Social Interaction
Interactions takes on many forms
There are five common forms of social interaction:
Exchange
Competition
Conflict
Cooperation
Accomodation

9. Exchange
Exchange occurs when someone interacts with another in order to illicit a response from the second party
Exchange is the most basic form of social interaction; includes dating, family, friends
Reciprocity is the idea that if you do something for someone, they owe you something in return
Could be material or nonmaterial-a “thank you” from your parents for doing the dishes
Exchange theory is basically a self-motivation to interact with those that cause positive reward (repeat behaviors), and avoid behaviors regarding exchange that cause negative consequences
Ex: If you tell a joke that was really lame and people made fun of you, you would not tell that joke again, if the joke got a positive response you would tell others

10. Competition
Competition occurs when two or more people or groups oppose each other to achieve a goal that only one can attain
Common feature of Western societies
Positive motivator but leads to lack of unity, inequality, and conflict

11. Conflict
Conflict is the deliberate attempt to control a person by force, to oppose someone, or to harm another person
There are four major sources of conflict: wars, disagreements within groups, legal disputes, and clashes over ideology
Conflict is not always negative
Can strengthen a group (focusing on outside threats instead of differences)
Lead to social change by making opposing sides seek solutions

12. Cooperation
Cooperation occurs when two or more people work together to achieve a goal that will help more than one person
Cooperation is a social process that gets things done
Group cannot achieve goal without cooperation from its members
Football, for example, cannot be played unless the offense and the defense are willing to work together and the quarterback and the wide receiver are on the same page

13. Accommodation
Accommodation is the balance between conflict and cooperation
Example: If you buy a video game the store owner is accommodating you by giving you the game in exchange for $50
If the owner were in cooperation with you, he would give it to you for free
If the owner were in conflict with you, he would refuse to sell it to you
A compromise (someone gives up something in order to make peace) and a truce are the two common forms of accommodations
In a truce (agree to disagree until a solution is found) you may use mediation (have a third party give you ideas based on both sides) or arbitration (have a third party decide what is to be done)

14. Types of Societies
A group is a set of people who interact on the basis of shared expectations and who possess some degree of commonality
A subsistence strategy is the way a society uses technology to provide for the needs of its members
This is how sociologists often classify societies
The three broad groups are called: preindustrial, industrial, or postindustrial

15. Hunters and Gathers
Food production, carried out through human and animal labor, is the main economic activity
They are divided according to their method of producing food
Hunting and Gathering Societies collect wild plants and hunt wild game
They do not build permanent villages
Generally have fewer than 60, rarely +100
Family is the main social unit
Family is related by birth or marriage

16. Pastoral
Pastoral Societies rely on domesticated herd animals to meet their food needs
They can support larger societies since food supply is reliable
Live nomadic lives, moving their herds from pasture to pasture
Since their were fewer people needed to make food, a division of labor developed
Division of labor means that people specialized in performance of specific economic activities
Ex. People became craftworkers, tool makers, etc.
This encouraged trade

17. Horticultural and Agricultural
Both are more complicated than pastoral and the hunters and gathers
Bartering, exchange of goods and services, grew out of agricultural societies
Typically systems of writing and government emerge out of ag. societies

18. Industrial Societies
Focuses more on producing goods as main economic activity
Causes a shift from home life setting (where most preindustrial societies work) to city life where factories are built
This leads to urbanization which is the concentration of population in cities
See more competition for status

19. Postindustrial Economy is based on providing information and services
This is what the US is
About 73% of our workforce is based on info and services
When switching from industrial to postindustrial, the standard of living increase, as well as a belief in rights

20. Groups within society Society is a group made up of groups
A group can be as small as two people on a date, or be large like 500 soldiers at boot camp
A group can be either intimate like a family or formal like people at a conference
There are four major features of a group:
There must be two or more people
There must be interaction among members
There must be shared expectations
Members must possess some commonality

21. Groups within society
If the groups do not possess interaction, expectations, and commonality then they are considered an aggregate-group that lacks organization
A social category is a means of classifying people (they do not necessarily have to interact in any way)
Ex: women, teenagers, etc. are examples of social categories

22. Groups within society Group size Dyad-a group with two members
If one person leaves, the group ceases to exist
Triad-a group of three people
The group takes on a life of its own, no one person can cause the group to stop existing
Small group-means that everyone can interact on a face-to-face basis
The more people in the group, the more face-to-face interaction has to take place
Sociologists have found 15 people is the largest number for a group before it begins to break down into smaller groups

23. Groups within society Group Time Organization
Some groups meet once and they never see each other again, some groups see each other everyday
Interaction is not continuous, you do not see your family 24 hours a day
Organization
Formal group-structure, goals, and activities are clearly defined
Informal group-there is no official structure or established rules of conduct

24. Types of Groups The most common types of groups are: Primary Secondary
Reference
In-groups
Out-groups
E-communities

25. Primary and Secondary Groups
Primary-small group of people who interact over a relatively long period
Entire self of individual is taken into account
Relationships often intimate and face-to-face
Secondary-interaction is impersonal and temporary in nature
Casual, limited personal involvement
Importance to group lies in what function he or she performs
Can be replaced easily

26. Reference, In-Groups and Out-Groups
Reference groups-any group with whom individuals identify and whose behaviors and values they adopt
Thug mentality, Christian groups, etc
Do not have to belong to the group
In-Groups-A group that a person belongs to and identifies with
Out-groups-Any group that a person does not identify with or belong to
In-groups tend to separate themselves by use of symbols, clothes, etc.; they view themselves positively and out-groups negatively; they find themselves in conflict with out-groups

27. E-Communities and Social Networks
E-communities are where people communicate regularly through internet
Some believe that these groups are primary groups because they interact on a more intimate level, but not face-to-face
The web of relationships that is formed by the sum of a person’s interactions with others is called a social network

28. Group Functions Groups must do several things to exist
Define boundaries (who can/cannot belong)
Select leaders (people who influence the attitudes and opinions of others)
Leader fall into two categories: Instrumental (task-oriented) leader and Expressive (emotion-oriented) leaders
Perform related functions of setting goal, assigning tasks, making decisions
Control their members behavior

29. The Structure of Formal Organizations
Formal organization is a large, complex secondary group that had been established to achieve specific goals
Includes businesses, schools, government agencies, religious organizations, labor unions…
Bureaucracy is a ranked authority structure that operates according to specific rules and procedures
Most formal structure
Been around since ancient times, came to prominence during Industrial Revolution
Rationality involves subjecting every feature of human behavior to calculation, measurement, and control
Bureaucracies were created to rationally organize groups to complete a set of goals

30. Weber’s Model of Bureaucracies
According to Weber bureaucracies have the following characteristics:
Division of Labor
Ranking of Authority
Employment based on formal qualifications
Rules and Regulations
Specific lines of promotion and advancement
Large corporations fit this description rigidly, other organizations like voluntary (nonprofit) associations are less rigid

31. How Effective are Bureaucracies?
Bureaucracies advantages:
Create order by clearly defining job tasks and rewards
Provide stability
Weaknesses
Lose sight of original goals
Focus too much on rules instead of goals
Iron Law of Oligarchy-a small group rules the larger group (sometimes promoting their own interests over others)
People rise to their level of incompetence