Do You Know? How would you rate your importance in your house? Highest, Lowest, Middle, high, or low? If your younger brother grew up to be your boss, would you be comfortable with this? In your group of friends, who usually makes most of the decisions?
Social Structure Structure helps us know what is expected of us Ensures stability from one generation to the next – even though the actual society changes
Social Structure Social Structure- is the patterned interaction of people in a system of connected statuses and roles. Activity: High School Students Schedule Come up with a list of what you did starting from the time you woke up yesterday to the time you went to bed.
High School Student Schedule On the board, I want you to write your responses down to these questions. What time you woke up What time you got to school What you did at 4:00 What time you ate dinner What time you went to bed What are some patterns we see within this class
Social Structure-Status Status- socially defined position in a group or in a society
Each individual in society occupies several statuses- you are students, sons, brother/sisters, friends, etc… Ascribed status Achieved status is a position one holds in a social system that one attains involuntarily or by birth. Not based on individual’s abilities, efforts, or accomplishments Based on inherited traits or assigned automatically when they get to a certain age is position one holds in a social system that one attains based on money/wealth or effort. People have control over these
Social Structure-Status Ascribed Status: male, female, teen, adult, family heritage, race Achieved Status: any occupation, being lead part in a play, being a spouse, being a parent, being a high school or college graduate, or an athlete
Social Structure-Status
Social Structure-Status Master Status- is the one that plays the greatest role in a person’s life. It can be either ascribed or achieved. In the United States, use achieved characteristics like occupation, wealth, marital status, and parenthood to serve as our master status It can change: As teen, master status might be being a student or athlete As adult, it might be based on occupation Elderly, it might be based on grandparenthood
Do you know anyone who has chosen an a master status that is not good for them? Do you know anyone who is having a difficult time moving away from a master status?
Social Structure-Roles Role- is the behavior-rights and obligations- expected of someone occupying a particular status. Statuses are social categories – but roles bring statuses to life You occupy a status you play a role
Social Structure-Roles At home you play the role associated with the status of being a son or daughter At school you perform the role associated with the status of being a student All the roles have reciprocal roles: corresponding roles that define the patterns of interaction between related statuses Cant fulfill role of husband if there is no wife Doctor-Patient, Athlete-Coach, Employee-Employer, Leader-follower, salesclerk-customer
Social Structure-Roles Role Expectations Role expectations -socially determined behaviors expected of a person performing a role Doctors for example are expected to treat their patients with skills and care Parents expected to provide emotional and physical security for their children
Social Structure-Roles Role Performance Role performance is the actual behaviors of a person and it may not match the behavior expected of society Doctors who mistreat their patients Parents who mistreat their children.
Social Structure-Roles Role Conflict, Role Strain, and Role Exit Role set- different roles associated with a particular status. Role conflict- occurs when two role expectations of one status makes it difficult to fulfill the role expectations of another status Ex: Being a good employee interferes with being a good parent Role strain occurs when a person has difficulty meeting the role expectations of a single status Ex: manager who has to keep her workers positive as they are asked to work long overtime hours Role exit is the process people go through to detach from a role that was previously central to their social identity.
Application Go to website and look for the “Goonies” file. We will be taking 3 characters and applying today’s notes to the film You will look for as many examples as you can.