Chapter 4
Social Structure and
Interaction in Everyday Life
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• Social Interaction
– Process of acting/responding
– Foundation for all relationships/groups
• Social Structure
– Framework
– Social practices
– Limits on behavior
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Part I:
The Macrolevel Perspective
( 3 of 23)
Social Structure Framework
SOCIETY
Social Institutions
Statuses and Roles
Traditional
Emergent
Family
Religion
Education
Government
Economy
Sports
Mass Media
Science/Medicine
Ascribed Status
Achieved Status
Race/ethnicity
Age
Gender
Class
Occupation
Education
Income Level
Social Groups
Primary Groups
Secondary Groups
Family
Members
Close friends
Peers
Schools
Churches
Corporations
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• Social Structure
– Insiders and outsiders
– Social Marginality
• Stigma
– Devalues a person’s social identity
– Disqualifies that person from full
social acceptance
What does this
“uniform”
communicate?
( 5 of 23)
Status:
socially defined position
•Expectations
•Rights
•Duties
• Ascribed
– Conferred at birth
– Involuntarily a “senior citizen”
• Achieved
– Voluntarily
– Personal choice, merit of direct effort
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Ascribed or Achieved?
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• Master Status
• Poor or rich
• Race or ethnicity
• Homelessness
– a stigmatized master status
– Status Symbols
• Material signs
• Communicates a person’s specific status
( 8 of 23)
How do these two
shopping cart images
contrast with one
another?
What point can then
be made about status
symbols?
( 9 of 23)
• Roles
– Behavioral expectations associated with a
specific status
• Role expectations  defined by society
• Role performance  how the role is played
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( 11 of 23)
• Social Groups
consist of two or more people
– Frequent interaction
– Common identity
– Interdependence
– Primary Group
» Face-to-face
» Emotion-based
» Extended period of time
– Secondary Group
» Impersonal, goal-oriented
» Limited period of time
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Social Institutions
– Organized beliefs and rules
– Meet societies basic social needs
Traditional
The
FAMILY
RELIGION
EDUCATION
The
ECONOMY
The
GOVERNMENT/
POLITICS
Emergent
The
MASS MEDIA
SPORTS
SCIENCE &
MEDICINE
The
MILITARY
( 13 of 23)
Social Institutions
What purpose do
social institutions
serve?
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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Changes in Social Structure
Mechanical
Solidarity
Organic
Solidarity
Gemeinschaft
Gesellschaft
Durkheim
Tönnies
Economic complexity
LOW
HIGH
Urbanization
LOW
HIGH
Social Cohesion
HIGH
LOW
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Part II:
The Microlevel Perspective
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• Social Interaction rituals
– Shared meanings
– Interpretations and reactions
• Goffman: civil inattention
– Awareness without attention
• Social construction of reality
– Perception of reality is shaped by the meaning
we give to an experience
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• Definition of the situation
– We act on reality as we see it
• Self-fulfilling prophecy
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• Ethnomethodology (Garfinkel)
– the study of "common sense”
knowledge
How are
you?
Fine.
Well, actually I have a
headache, a big, sore
pimple on my butt, I
lost my job, my wife
never wants to have sex
with me anymore, I’m
getting fat, my
cholesterol is through
the roof . . .
( 19 of 23)
• Dramaturgical Analysis
(Goffman)
– Compares social interaction to a
theatrical production
• Players
• Audience Members
– Impression Management
• Presentation of self
• Give people the most favorable
impression of their own image
• Face-saving behavior
– Rescue our failed performance
– Studied nonobservance
Front Stage &
Back Stage
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Nonverbal Communication
• Visual Cues
– (gestures)
• Vocal Features
– (inflection , volume, pitch)
• Environmental Factors
– (use of space, position)
• May be intentional or unintentional
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• Facial Expressions
• Eye Contact
• Touching
• Personal Space
 0
– 18”: intimate
 18” – 4’ : personal
 4’ – 12’: social
 12’ – 25’: public
Cultural Differences?
Racial/Ethnic Differences?
Gender Differences?
Power Relationships?
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Questions?
Comments?
( 23 of 23)