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Chapter 4

Social Structure and Interaction in Everyday Life

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Social Structure and Interaction

Social structure is the framework of societal institutions (politics, and religion) and social practices (social roles) that make up a society and establish limits on behavior.

Social interaction is the process by which people act toward or respond to other people and is the foundation for all relationships and groups in society.

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Components of Social Structure

Status Roles Groups Social Institutions

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Status

A socially defined position in society characterized by certain expectations, rights, and duties.

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Status

Ascribed status Social position based on attributes

over which the individual has little or no control, such as race/ethnicity, age, and gender.

Achieved status Social position that a person assumes

as a result of personal choice, merit, or direct effort.

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Status

Master status is the most important status that a person occupies.

Status symbols are material signs that inform others of a person’s specific status. Example:

Wearing a wedding ring proclaims that a person is married.

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Roles

Role Expectation A group or society’s definition of the

way a specific role ought to be played.

Role Performance How a person actually plays a role.

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Roles

Role Conflict Occurs when incompatible demands

are placed on a person by two or more statuses held at the same time.

Role Strain Occurs when incompatible demands

are built into a single status that the person holds.

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Social Groups

A social group consists of two or more people who interact frequently and share a common identity and a feeling of interdependence.

Primary groups - Family, close friends, school or work-related peer groups

Secondary - Schools, churches, corporations

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Formal Organization

A highly structured group formed for the purpose of completing certain tasks or achieving specific goals.

Many of us spend most of our time in formal organizations such as colleges, corporations, or the government.

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Food for Thought

The alcohol industry earns almost $23 billion annually from underage drinkers, according to research from Columbia University. That’s 17.5% of all money spend on alcoholic beverages in the United States. (Reuters News)

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Which theorist do you think would be most interested in this statistic?

1. A structural functionalist?2. A conflict theorist?3. A symbolic interactionist?

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Social Institutions A social institution is a set of

organized beliefs and rules that establishes how a society will attempt to meet its basic social needs.

Social institutions fulfill a basic need for society. They arise over time as people develop solutions to the particular needs of their society.

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Five Basic Social Institutions

Family Religion Education Economy Government or politics

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Functionalists: Five Tasks of Social Institutions

1. Replacing members.2. Teaching new members.3. Producing, distributing, and

consuming goods and services.4. Preserving order.5. Providing and maintaining a sense

of purpose.

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The Family as a Social Institution

Statuses? Roles? Norms? Values?

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Functions of the Family as a Social Institution

Physical survival of children Socialization of children Emotional support Sense of identity Regulation of sex

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Interconnection of Social Institutions: Family and …

Examples: Religion Economy Education

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Due to this interconnectivity, a change in one social institution will have consequences for others

Example: The changing role of women Education Family Government Religion Economy

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Food for Thought: How important is the family?

“What is done to children, they will do to society.” (Karl Menninger)

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Durkheim's Typology of Social Solidarity

Social solidarity is based on social structure which is based on division of labor.

Mechanical Solidarity - people are united by traditions and shared values.

Organic Solidarity - people are united by mutual dependence on one another.

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Tönnies: Gemeinschaft andGesellschaft

Sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies (1855– 1936) used the terms Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft to characterize the degree of social solidarity and social control found in societies.

He was especially concerned about what happens to social solidarity in a society when a “loss of community” occurs.

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Food for Thought

Americans are far more socially isolated today than they were two decades ago, and a sharply growing number of people say they have no one in whom they can confide.

From a 2006 study of the decline of social ties in the United States conducted by Miller McPherson, Lynne Smith-Lovin and Matthew Brashears.

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Industrial and Postindustrial Societies Industrial societies are based on

technology that mechanizes production. People who are unemployed do not share the

same status markers as those who have jobs. A postindustrial society is one in which

technology supports a service and information based economy. They are characterized by an economy in which

large numbers of people provide or apply information or are employed in service jobs.

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Social Construction of Reality

The process by which our perception of reality is largely shaped by the subjective meaning that we give to an experience.

This meaning strongly influences what we “see” and how we respond to situations.

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Social Construction of Reality Definition of the situation -

We analyze a social context in which we find ourselves, determine what is in our best interest, and adjust our attitudes and actions accordingly.

Self-fulfilling prophecy A false belief or prediction that

produces behavior that makes the original false belief come true.

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Ethnomethodology The study of the commonsense knowledge

people use to understand situations. Sociologist Harold Garfinkel (1967) initiated

this approach and coined the term: ethno for “people” and methodology for “a

system of methods.” He was critical of mainstream sociology for

not recognizing the ongoing ways in which people create reality and produce their own world.

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Dramaturgical Analysis

The study of social interaction that compares everyday life to a theatrical presentation.

Members of our “audience” judge us and are aware that we may slip and reveal our true character.

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Dramaturgical Analysis Impression management

People’s efforts to present themselves in ways that are favorable to their own interests or image.

Front Stage and Back Stage Behavior Face-saving behavior

Strategies to rescue our performance when we experience a potential or actual loss of face.

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Food for Thought

“Unlike grown-ups, children have little need to deceive themselves”

(Goethe)

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Case Study: Homeless Adults and Self-esteem

1. Role distancing keeps us from being too closely associated with a status. (I’m not like the others.).

2. Role embracement is putting the best face on one’s lot and standing up for it.

3. Stories of how important one used to be, or to foretell better days ahead.

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Nonverbal Communication

Facial expressions Head movements Eye contact Body positions Touching Personal space

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Functions of Nonverbal Communication

Supplements verbal communication.

Regulates social interaction. Establishes the relationship among

people in terms of their power over one another.

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Food for Thought

The Looking Glass Self:I am not who you think I am; I am not who I think I am; I am who I think you think I am.

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Macro versus Micro Analysis

Society

All Social Institutions

Social Institution of Education

Manatee Community College

Sociology Classroom

Classmates

Macro Theory

Micro Theory