Social Structure

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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