Social Interaction and Social Structure

Social Interaction and Social Structure

Chapter 5

1Why should we choose these guys?

2I. Social Structure = *** Football: players and setting vary - all teams have common structure

3What does football teach us for sociology?* establishes relationships * identified by that job * to get anything done, all must work together and follow the rules

4 * sanctions for those who do follow the rules * each season new people join the team but structure is the same * social structure does not determine outcome!!!5* can add plays or improvise depending on players* without structure, the team would be a bunch of individuals that never get the goal accomplished

6I. Social Structure A. coordinates individual activities, provides continuity, allows for spontaneity , gives framework (rules)

7B. Social structure affects people 1. roles of husband, wife, mother, lover, worker change based on structure a. affects attitude, behavior, individual characteristics, temperaments

82. Roles are part of larger institutions: a. roles of student/professor

educationfamilyeconomyb. roles of husband/wife c. roles of producer/ consumer 93. Linked together to form society

Husband/Wifechild/studentprofessorProducerConsumer10C. Microperspective

1. looking at players, their roles, their relationships, etc.

how it affects the game

11D. Macroperspective =looks at overall patterns and trends 1. e.g. analyze different roles the NFL, college football, TV, ads, and fans play in professional football* a. what rules govern their relations*b.what happens when rules bent or broken

12F. Evolution of Society from the macroperspective1. Hunter-Gatherer Society main focus on acquiring food for subsistence living; little domestication of animals; many are nomads

2. Horticultural/Pastoral Horticultural Society Simple gardening; small tribes/villagesFamily the most important

Continueddomesticated animals; some people of tribe allowed to specialize (i.e. healer, craftsperson); Male dominatedThe sexual division of labor is sharply marked in pastoralist societies.Status of women still high

3. Agricultural Society use of technology to grow crops; food surpluses leads to bigger populations which led to development of towns and trade; women start to lower in status; social classes begin (nobility = land)

4. Industrial Society Industrial Revolution began the use of machines to produce goods; tradesmen lost identities in factories; factory owners get rich; standard of living raises;

public education rises; public health gets better; cities problems arise; struggles between working and wealthy classes arise

5. Postindustrial Society based on information, knowledge, and the selling of services; computer has revolutionized what is valued now power comes from ability to generate, store, manipulate and sell information

II. Social RelationshipsA. Relationships = basic building blocks of social structure 1. direct personal contact most influence2. indirect less contact but still has influence203. Bureaucracy (Weber)efficient organization of work based on skills and hierarchy

21Status and Roles Changing of the Social Structure

22B. Durkheims Analysis of Suicide

231. Suicide not linked to mental illnessa. women outnumbered men 5 to 4 in mental institutions but only makeup a small percentage of suicides

242. Race or genetic makeup did not predispose members to suicidea. variations within groups were as varied as between

253. Environment made no differencemajority of suicides in all countries took place in daylight during summer months

- i.e. places such as Sweden that have short days and long winters did not make people gloomy and suicidal264. 4 types of SuicideEgoistic, Altruistic, Anomic, and Fatalisticeach linked to distinct set of social circumstances

27Egoistic = excessive individualismwhen people do not feel attached to a group/community that commands participation then easier to opt outii. Catholics have lower suicide rate: rules clear, everyone shared them, so all a part of mother Churchiii. Explains why suicide rates go down in times of war: war unites people against a common enemy, creating a heightened sense of togetherness

28b. Altruistic = excessive attachment to communitywhen the group becomes more important than life, the individual is willing to sacrifice himself for its needssoldiers and Japanese have high suicide rate: save face or honor

29c. Anomic = breakdown of collective orderi. anomie = Greek word for lawlessnessii. any major disruption of way of life (for better or worse) is stressful

iii. guidelines for behavior and standards are fuzzy- people depend on these guidelines to order their livesiv. that is why in economic depressions or booms, suicide goes up30d. Fatalistic = too much control by social guidelinesoccurs in societies that exercise a high degree of control over their members emotions and motivationspeople kill themselves out of hopelessness and over manipulation

31C. Status and Roles: social script1. status = a position an individual occupies in society

a. achieved = b. ascribed =attained through personal effort (senator, loser, etc.)assigned at birth (race, gender)32Monty Python and Statushttp://youtu.be/5Xd_zkMEgkI

33 c. master status =social position that tends to override everything else the person is or does in life

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2. role = obligations and expectationsthat accompany status 35Roles

36a. role conflict = occurs when different positions make incompatible demands

e.g. Working mother37Social Groups

38D. Network = web of relationships that connects an individual to many other people

1. Structure of network affects efficiency and relationships391. Clique = everyone is connected to everyone else

40Effect of an efficient clique

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2. Orbit = one person serves as the connection to all others423. Chain = connections become increasingly distant

434. Ring = each person has more than one connection

44End Result of a positive and efficient network

45E. Social Interaction 1. from superficial to complex a. formal: such as a job interviewb. free form: such as when 2 kids meet on the playground46Conversations strangers are not supposed to haveFrench Kiss

47c. before speaking or acting we size up the person next to us d. Rules for conversations with strangers: weather, common complaint (airline), reasons for both being there i. Never fight, embrace, talk about intimate subjects with stranger48F. American Bubble = Space Norms

491. Public Distance = 12 feet or more: public speaker

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2. Social Distance = 4-7 feet: Impersonal business, interviews, purchasing products

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3. Personal Distance = 18 inches to 4 feet: conversation distance, friends, family, social interaction

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4. Intimate Distance = 0 to 18 inches: lovemaking to wrestling; conflict usually takes place

* conflict can be escalated by invading someones personal spacesanother form of insult533. Symbolic Interactionism: compare to stagea. Goffman: behavior is different at a formal dinner than sitting at home with parents

i. Frontstage public frontii. Backstage private behavior

54iii. We are all putting on an actCant Buy Me Love

55III. social identity =our sense of who and what we are (comes from roles we play, idealized version of who we would like to be)http://youtu.be/Wpr6QgQco6c

56A. Fashion and Fitness Look the part1. Fashion is to reveal at a glance what kind of person each is a. e.g. woman with tailored suit and suitcase attempts to project image of respectabilityb. e.g. man wearing wire-rimmed glasses & old tweed jacket sees himself or wants others to see him as an intellectual

572. All societies use clothing to distinguish groups of people 3. Fashion different than stylea. defines age, social group, beliefs/values

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4. Conflict: Fred Davis holds that fashion is a way to deal with cultural conflicts: youth versus age

conformity vs. individualism

success vs. failuremasculine vs. feminine

work versus play

snobs vs. nobodies

59a. Womens office clothing: 70sdress for success

80sconfusion over women/men90sgender ambivalence resurfacedpower suits00s- sex becomes a weapon

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B. Bodies: slim, fit, youthful, & sexy

Values: Hard work, self worth, pride, beauty611. Ideal body based on advertising (models)Photoshop Beauty

622. Fitness idealreflects values of hard work, self-control, achievement, and prosperity3. Economy--$50 billion/year on diets, makeup, plastic surgery, health clubs, and workout equipment63a. * Studies show that overweight, non-athletic, not-very-beautiful applicants are discriminated againstYou can never be too rich or too thin.Fitness represents social class

64C. Face-Work = everyone is trying to give an impressionothers help maintain this * professor or someone dignified passes gas or trips1. Examples: * if you see someone in public is about to cry then you turn away or feel uncomfortable

652. norm of reciprocity =norm that demands that people respond equally to certain behavior a. e.g. thank you cards for gifts, invitation for an invitation, greeting for a greeting

66b. we are uncomfortable around someone who is far more or less good looking, intelligent, wealthy, or talentedexchange is unequal

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