Chapter 4: Social Structure

Definition: a network of interrelated statuses and roles that guide

interaction

Status: a socially defined position in a group or society

• Ascribed status: assigned according to qualities beyond the individuals control, not according to effort or abilities; ex. teen or adult

• Achieved status: from abilities, special skills, knowledge; ex. Sports player or actor.

• Master status: the one which plays the greatest role in shaping one’s life or identity, can be achieved or ascribed. Changes over lifetime; ex. parenthood

Roles: bring meaning to status, play many roles simultaneously

• Reciprocal roles- no husband without wife• Role expectations for behavior• Role performance- actual behavior, may not always

match. Ex. Parent beating child• Role set- all those roles attached to a status can lead• Role conflict-when conflict, fulfilling one makes

another difficult. Ex good worker goes to work, good parent stays home with sick child.

• Role strain-if difficult meeting expectations of a single status. Ex. Good boss increase morale but make stay late.

Conflicts in playStatus Examples of Roles Examples of

Conflict / Strain

Firefighter

Mother

P.T.A. President

Put out fires, save lives, wear a uniform

Voluntarily puts self in danger, but has loved ones who need him or herFatigue and long shifts make household tasks and interactions difficult

Provide food and shelter, nurture family, discipline childrenRun meetings, recruit new members, plan activities

Has trouble getting members to attend and follow through on promises

Social Institutions

• Must organize statuses to make sure needs of society are meet;

• Physical and emotional support for members

• Transmitting knowledge• Producing good and services• Maintaining social control

Types of social institutions

• Family• Economy• Politics• Education• Religions• The media• Medicine• Science

Types of social interactions

Types of Social Interactions

Exchange Competition

Conflict Cooperation

Accommodation

Interactions stabilize or promote change

• Exchange: people interact in an effort to receive a reward or return for their actions. Ex dating, politics, family life. Peter Blau calls the most basic and common form of interaction.

• Reciprocity: do for another so will do for you. Rewards nonmaterial as a thank you, or material as wage

• Exchange theory-people are motivated by self-interest in all interactions, repeated if rewarded. What have you done for me lately?

• Stabilizes

• Competition: 2 or more oppose each other to achieve a goal that only one can attain.

• Accepted rules of conduct• Can be positive or negative in effects.• Deborah Tannen: the argument culture reading,

not everything is 2 sided. Polarizes battles, hurts cooperation and agreement. Language: “war on drugs”, courts adversarial, neg ads politics.

• Can disrupt society

• Conflict: deliberate attempt to control a person through force, harm, or by opposing.

• Few rules of conduct, can break. Snubbing to killing.

• Georg Simmel- 4 sources of conflict: wars, disagreements within groups, legal disputes, clashes over ideology (religion, politics).

• Can increase loyalty, group cohesion, focus changes away from internal problems.

• Can disrupt society

• Cooperation: 2 or more work together toward a common goal to benefit all or most.

• Motivate to work harder to achieve goal. Ex. Sports teams, work groups.

• Stabilizes

• Accomodation: state of balance between cooperation and conflict

• Compromise• Truce-bring a halt to conflict• Mediation- 3rd party used to reach

agreement• Arbitration-3rd party decision is binding• Stabilizes

Subsistence strategies

• Group- a set of people who interact on the basis of shared expectations and who possess some degree of common identity.

• Most complex societies are classified by their subsistence strategies or how the society uses technology to provide for the needs of its members

• Preindustrial, Industrial and Postindustrial societies.

• Preindustrial—food production is the main economic activity; can be subdivided according to the level of technology and the method of producing food (hunting & gathering, pastoral societies, horticultural societies, agricultural societies)

• Industrial—emphasis shifts from the production of food to the production of manufactured goods, made possible by changes in production methods

• Postindustrial—much of the economy is involved in providing information and services. US 73% work in these sectors, 2% agriculture, 25% production of goods.

Preindustrial Industrial

Postindustrial

Types of Societies

Hunting and gathering; pastoral; horticultural; mechanical solidarity

Organic solidarity

Manufacturing; urbanization; technology

Information; provision of services

Contrasting Societies

• Durkheim-preindustrial societies held together by mechanical solidarity-people share same values and perform same tasks, united whole

• Industrial societies held together by organic solidarity-impersonal relationships, depend on others for needs not shared values

• Ferdinand Tonnies- how simple and complex societies differ, 2 ideals types based on structure of social relations and degree of shared values.

• Gemeinschaft-community. Most members know each other, close relationships, family and community central to activities, strong sense of group identity and solidarity

• Gesellschaft-society. Society based on need not emotion, impersonal, often temporary relations, individual goals more important than group, urban society.

What is a group?• 1. two or more people• 2. interaction amongst members• 3. members must have shared expectations• 4. members must possess some sense of

common identity• An aggregate is without these, ex. Airplane flight

or on line. A social category is classifying by trait. Ex students.

• Vary by SIZE, TIME and ORGANIZATION.

Types of Groups

Primary Groups• Interact over a long period of time on a direct

and personal basis• Entire self of the individual is taken into

account• Relationships are intimate and often

face-to-face• Communication is deep and intense• Structure is informal

Types of Groups

Secondary Groups• Interaction is impersonal and temporary in

nature• Involve a reaction to only a part of the

individual’s self• Casual • Limited in personal involvement• Individual can be replaced easily

• Reference Groups-individual identify with attitudes and behaviors. Ex. Occupational groups.

• In-groups vs Out groups-1. members tend to separate themselves from other groups by use of symbols, 2. members tend to view themselves positively and out group negatively, 3. competition with out groups can lead to conflict.

• E-communities- on internet• Social network – sum of all interactions with

others, support system, feeling of community.

Group Functions

GROUP FUNCTIONS

Define Boundaries

Control Members’ Behavior

Set Goals Assign Tasks

Select Leaders

Make Decisions

• Select leaders—people that influence the attitudes and opinions of others. Instruemental leaders-task oriented. Expressive Leaders- emotion oriented.

• Define boundaries—members can tell who belongs and who does not

• Set goals, assign tasks, and make decisions• Control members’ behavior—if members

violate group norms, the group cannot survive long

Formal Organizations

• Large, complex with specific goals • Bureaucracy- ranking authority structure

that operates according to specific rules and procedures.

• Rationality- post industrial society, every feature of human behavior is measured, controlled, and calculated.

Weber’s Model of Bureaucracy

• Division of labor• Ranking of authority• Employment based on formal qualifications• Rules and regulations• Specific lines of promotion and

advancement

• Relationships develop within formal organizations. Informal groups develop among workers with own sets of norms more important than the structure of the organization.

• Are Bureaucracies effective? Efficient at coordinating large numbers of people, defining tasks and rewards

• Provide stability• Can lose sight of goals, create red tape, and result in

oligarchies (domination by increasingly small groups of people: the iron law of oligarchy).

• In some instances, reward incompetence and expand uncontrollably, endless waste of time from red-tape or bureaucratic delay.

• The Peter Principle- “In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence”. Often organized into role not qualified to perform.

• Parkinson’s Law- “work expands to fill the time available for its completion”. Worker feels overworked. Can 1. resign (lose benefits), 2. cut work in half by sharing with another (would create a rival for promotion), or 3. demand the assistance of 2 subordinates. Choice: 3! Now more work overseeing and likelihood for promotion.

Cross Cultural Studies: Japan

• Reading: strict codes and roles to follow, mentors, rules for dining, special training sessions, formal social controls.

• You spend much of your day in a formal organization-school. Describe some of the formal structures that guide day to day life at Myers Park. Discussion: students with cross-cultural experiences, how does school differ?

• Do you think American businesses differ from Japanese model? Why?

Investigating Formal Organizations

• The structure of CMS and its’ bureaucracies.• In media, The Office, Pilot & Diversity

Training.