Social StructureChapter 4

An individual’s statuses and roles are limited an unchanging TRUE: Individuals cannot affect the statuses

and roles into which they are born FALSE: Individuals will take on many different

statuses and roles throughout the course of their lives

Truth or Fiction?

Informal interaction has little effect on the functioning of formal organizations TRUE: There are few or no informal interactions

in formal organizations FALSE: Although formal organizations are

dominated by formal interactions, informal interactions have a strong influence on these organizations as well

Truth or Fiction

Society is made up of interrelated parts

Social structure gives us enduring characteristics

Makes patterns of human activity predictable

Building Blocks of Social Structure

Social Structure: network of interrelated statuses and roles that guide human interaction

Status: socially defined position in a group or in a society

Role: the behavior-the rights and obligations-expected of someone occupying a particular status

Building Blocks

We can hold multiple statuses Male, on, brother, teacher, American, etc.

Statuses help define where we fit in society and how we relate to each other

Status

We can control some statuses, some we cannot

Ascribed status: assigned status according to qualities beyond a person’s control Not based on abilities, efforts, or

accomplishments Inherited traits or assigned at an age

Teenager/adult/retired Achieved status: status through direct

efforts Skills, knowledge, or abilities

Ascribed and Achieved Status

We all have many statuses…but we rank one the most important

Master status: status that plays the greatest role in shaping our life and determines social identity Achieved or ascribed Changes over lifetime

Master Status

Statuses serve as social categories Roles bring statuses to life You occupy a status, you play a role You play roles associated with your status Reciprocal roles: roles that define the

patterns of interaction between related statuses In order to be a husband…you need a wife Doctor/patient, athlete/coach, boss/employee,

etc.

Roles

Role Expectations: socially determined behaviors expected of a person performing a role Parents: love and protect their children Doctor: treat patients with care

Role performance: actual role behavior Doesn’t always match expected behavior

Role Expectations and Performance

It’s possible we have multiple roles to play in one status Different roles attached to a single status is a

role set Possible contradictory expectations

within/between role sets Role conflict: occurs when fulfilling the role

expectations of one status makes it difficult to fulfill the role expectations of another. Doctor/Parent

Role Conflict/Strain

Role strain: occurs when a person has difficulty meeting the role expectations of a single status Coach making team practice long hours to win

Role Conflict/Strain

When statuses and roles are organized to satisfy one or more of the basic needs of society, the group is called a social institution Providing physical and emotional support,

transmitting knowledge, producing goods and services, and maintaining social control

Social Institutions

Name some ways we interact 5 common ways we interact: exchange,

competition, conflict, cooperation, and accommodation

4.2 Types of Social Interaction

When we interact to receive a reward or return for our actions that is an exchange Suggested as the most basic and common interaction

Reciprocity: the idea that if you do something for someone, they owe you something in return Basis for exchange Rewards may be material and nonmaterial

Exchange theory: ppl are motivated by self-interest in their interactions with other people

Exchange

What is competition? Competition: occurs when 2 or more ppl or

groups oppose each other to achieve a goal that only one can attain Promotes many advancements; business, school,

gov’t As long as comp follows accepted rules of

conduct…mostly seen as positive Negative aspects: stress, inequality, conflict, lack

of cooperation

Competition

Competition we focus on achieving the goal Conflict we focus on defeating the opponent Conflict: deliberate attempt to control a

person by force, oppose someone, or to harm someone Few rules of conduct, most are ignored anyway

4 sources of conflict: wars, disagreements w/in groups, legal disputes, and clashes over ideology Religion, ideology, politics Businesses, loyalty, social change

Conflict

What does it mean to cooperate? Football team, fans, band…shared win

Cooperation: 2 or more people or groups work together to achieve a goal that will benefit multiple people

Cooperation

Many of our interactions we neither cooperate nor have conflict. What do you think we do^^^^^^^^^^?

Accommodation: state of balance between cooperation and conflict Hotel stay Compromise Mediation

Accommodation

Role behavior often takes place in groups

Group: set of people who interact on the basis of shared expectations and who possess some degree of common identity Largest/complex groups are societies

Sociologists classify societies according to:

Subsistence strategies: the way a society uses technology to provide for the needs of its members

4.3 Types of Societies

Preindustrial: food prod. carried out by human and animal labor, is the main economic activity

Subdivisions of preindustrial societies

Hunting & gathering: collection of wild plants and hunting wild animals Nomads, small societies, relatively

equal

Preindustrial Societies

Pastoral society: rely on domesticated herd animals to meet food needs Nomadic, larger societies

Division of labor: specialization of individuals or groups in the performance of specific economic activities Craft workers, weapons, jewelry, farmer, smith

Promotes trade = inequality

Preindustrial Societies

Horticultural societies: fruits and vegetables grown in a garden specifically cleared Crop rotation = semi/permanent settlements

(villages) Surplus food = complex division of labor

Craftspeople, religious leaders, traders Large amount of artifacts Economic and political systems

Preindustrial Societies

Agricultural societies: animals are used to pull plows to till the fields Plant more crops, irrigation, terracing High crop yields = very large populations

Even more specialized roles Development of cities, power to single people Building of armies, construction of roads, more

trade Abandon barter: exchange of good for a

service $ invented, system of writing, statuses

Preindustrial Societies

Industrial societies: shift from food production to manufactured goods Machines instead of

humans Advanced technologies More food = ^ pop. More industry = < farmers

(focus more on goods)

Industrial Societies

The advancements in technology make it possible to manufacture a wider variety of goods

Changes the location of work Rural farm to the cities. Urbanization:

concentration of the population in cities More productivity, less skill required Religion is challenged by science Freedom to compete for social positions

Industrial Societies

Postindustrial: much of the economy is involved in providing information and services (73% of U.S. workforce) 2% agricultural 25% goods production

Standard of living is greater along with wages

Emphasis on science and education Individual rights and personal fulfillment

Postindustrial Societies

Durkheim believed preindustrial societies were held together by mechanical solidarity: when ppl share the same values and perform the same tasks, they become united as a common whole

As division of labor becomes more complex, MS gives way to organic solidarity: individuals can no longer provide for all their own needs, they depend on others to survive

Contrasting Societies

Ferdinand Tönnies (German) interested in simple/complex societies

Gemeinschaft: close relat. Activities center around family/community

Gesellschaft: based on need rather than emotion. Impersonal relationships. Individual goals > group

Contrasting Societies

Every individual in society participates in a group What is a group?

A group has 4 major features:1. 2+ people2. Interaction among members3. Shared expectations4. Posses sense of common identity

The last 3 distinguish a group from an aggregate or social category

4.4 Groups Within Society

Aggregate: when ppl gather in the same place at the same time but lack organization or lasting patterns Ppl on an airplane, waiting for tickets, checkout

Social Category: means of classifying people according to a shared trait or common status Students, women, teenagers, left-handed

people Groups differ in size and length of time

they’re together

Groups Within Society

Dyad: smallest group possible, 2 members

Triad: 3 person group Small group: few enough members to

interact face to face Sociologists have found 15 is the largest #

Size

Some groups meet once, then never again Some exist for many years (who would?) Interaction is not continuous (not 24 hours a

day)

Time

2 types of organization Formal: structure, goals, and activities

are clearly defined Student council

Informal: no official structure or est. rules of conduct Your circle of friends

Organization

Primary group: small group of people who interact over a relatively long period of time on a direct personal bias entire self of the individual is taken into

account Intimate relationships, often fact-to-face Deep communication, often informal Family is probably most common

Types of Groups

Secondary group: interaction is impersonal and temporary in nature Only part of the individual is involved Casual and limited in personal involvement Classroom, factory, political party

Types of Groups

Reference group: any group with whom individuals identify and whose attitudes and values they adopt Students: Friends or school clubs Adults: members of a particular occupation

As we grow we change our reference groups Both positive and negative effects on

behavior

Types of Groups

When a groups boundaries are clearly marked, we think in terms of in-groups and out-groups

In-groups: group that a person belongs to and identifies with Have 3 things: separate from other groups

through symbols, members view themselves positively and out-groups in negative terms, and in-groups compete with out-groups

Out-groups: any group a person does not belong to or identify with

Types of Groups

Social network: the web of relationships that is formed by the sum total of a person’s interactions with other people Direct and indirect relationships

Unlike groups, social networks don’t have clear boundaries and no common sense of identity

Sense of community

Types of Groups

Must determine boundaries to determine who belongs and who doesn’t

Must select a leader: ppl who influence the attitudes and opinions of others

2 types of leaders: Instrumental: task-oriented. Find means

that will help the group reach its goals expressive: emotion-oriented. Find ways to

keep the group together and maintain moral

Other group functions: goals, tasks, decisions

Group Functions

Formal organization: large, complex, secondary group est. to achieve specific goals School, business, gov’t, religious & political

orgs, unions Bureaucracy: ranked authority

structure that operates according to specific rules and procedures Most formal organizations work under one Rationality: subjecting every feature of

human behavior to calculation, measurement and control

Structure of Formal Organizations

According to Weber, bureaucracies have these charact. Division of labor Ranking of authority Employment based on formal qualifications Rules and regulations Specific lines of promotion and advancement

Voluntary association: non-prof to purse common interest

Weber’s Model of Bureaucracies

Create order, define tasks/rewards, stability Lose sight of original goals Abandon them for self-continuation (EPA) Strict adherent to rules/regs “Red Tape” Tendency to end up like oligarchies

Peter Principle

Effectiveness of Bureaucracies?