Social Interaction Social Interaction

The process by which people act toward and respond to others… the foundation for all relationships and groups in society.

How do you interact?

How has technology impacted the WAY we interact?

PROS CONS

Social Structure Social Structure

The stable pattern of social relationships that exist within a particular group or society

What groups / relationships exist in your life? AWEC? Annapolis Valley? Canada vs. other countries?

Components of Social Structure Essential Components:

Social institutionsSocial groupsStatus & roles

Social structure includes social positions, the relationship among those positions, and the kinds of resources attached to each position

Status? Social Status:

A socially defined position in a group or society characterized by certain expectations, rights, and duties

Ascribed: born with Achieved: personal choice / merit

Who are you? What are your status’?

Status Symbols Material signs of your status

Roles Role

A set of behavioural expectations associated with a given status.

What is the role (behaviours expected) of students at AWEC? Teachers? Administrators?

Is there a gender difference? What about in your family?

Role Conflict When incompatible role demands are

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

I.e. Student by day, superhero (or fast-food attendant) by night!(P.139)

Social Groups 2+ Interact frequently Common Identity Interdependence

Primary: small, less specialized….family, close friends, school or work-related peer groups.

Secondary: larger, goal-oriented, limited time….school, church, corporations

Social Networks A series of social

relationships that link an individual to others.

Social Institutions Social Institution:

A set of organized beliefs and rules that establish how a society will attempt to meet its basic social needs

In the past, these needs have centered around 5 basic social institutions:Family, religion, education, the economy, the

government or politics Today’s societies include further institutions

Family Sports Race/ethnicity Occupation Family members Schools Churches Close friends Education Economy class

Age Mass media Religion Education Science/medicine Gender Income level Peers Corporations Government military

Social Structure Framework

Journal Entry What are the roles you have?

List the roles you have in your life.Identify examples of role conflict.If no conflict, why do you think you are

without role conflict?

why do we get hung up on being able to identify if a person is male or female – ask why does that matter?

Think biology – our basic instinct is to identify possible mates or threats

how do we identify male and female ?

is it long hair, is it nurturing attitudes, is it posture, is it clothing? What if how we identify male and female has nothing to do with how people think of themselves?

Sex: The biological sex of an individual. Physically a human can be male or female. There are however some medical conditions where both sexes are expressed with physical characteristics such as genitals.

Gender: The emotional, or social expression of sexuality and socialization. A person’s gender may or may not be connected to their physical sex. (A person may be physically male while they identify with female expressions of socialization. A person may be physically female prefer physical sex with other females, identify themselves as female yet express themselves in typically male ways)

Gender Roles: The jobs and functions society places on people as a result of their sex, these roles typically result as a by-product of a societal ideas of what it means to be a male or a female.