Chapter Four - Social Structure
Food For Thought
“We
are none of us truly isolated;
we are connected to one another
by a web of regularities and by a
host of shared, deep-seated
certainties.”
What do you think?????
Section 1: Building Blocks of
Social Structure
 Introduction:
live & work in groups &
interact in predictable ways.
 Society has structures that help guide
human interaction
 Helps you know what is expected in
certain situations & helps keep a stable
society
Textbook Terms
 Sociologist
view society as a system of
interrelated parts -- as a structure -since the time of Auguste Comte
 Social Structure: is the network of
interrelated statuses and roles that
guides human interaction.
 Status:
is a socially defined position in a
group or society.
 Role: is the behavior - the rights and
obligations - expected from someone
Statuses
 Central
to understanding of social
structure
 Lets look at different status
Ascribed Status is one that is
assigned to you.
 Inherited
traits or obtained at a certain
point in life (age) or Sex
 Can not be changed
 Examples female, race, ethnic background
Achieved Status is one that is
acquired
 Earn
status
 One has control over this status
 Examples: team member, occupations,
spouse, parent, etc.
Master Status plays the
greatest role
 Can
be achieved or ascribed
 Can and will change over time
 Example: Teenage years being an
athlete can be a Master status. During
Adulthood it can be the occupation.
Roles
 While
statuses serve as social
categories, Roles are the component of
social structure that bring these statuses
to life.
 One plays many different roles during
the day.
 There are various roles
Reciprocal roles
 Are
corresponding roles that define the
patterns of interaction between related
statuses.
 Husband needs a wife
 Parent needs a kid
 Athlete needs a coach
Role Expectations and Role
Performance
 Society
has expected behaviors
assigned to its roles this is role
expectations
 Role Performance is the actual role
behavior being preformed
 Parents
abuse kids
Role Conflict and Role Strain
 The
various roles one plays are called a
role set.
 Roles preformed by one person can lead
to conflict
 Occurs
when fulfilling the role
expectations of one status makes it difficult
to fulfill the role expectations of another
status.
 Role
Strain occurs as the conflict begins
to surface
 Being
a employee and good parent
Social Institutions
 This
is a system of statuses, roles,
values and norms that is organized to
satisfy one or more of the basic needs of
society.
 Basic needs include providing physical
and emotional support for members of
society, transmitting knowledge,
producing goods, and services and
maintaining social control.
End of Section One
 Social
Structure
 Master Status
 Roles
 Reciprocal roles
 Role Set
 Social Institution
 Ascribed and Achieved Status
 Role Expectations and Role
Performance
 Role Conflict and Role Strain
Chart Activity in Class
 10
statuses you occupy
 Columns: Status, How Acquired
(Ascribed or Achieved), Associated
Roles, Reciprocal Roles, Role
Expectations, Role Performance,
Sources of Conflict, Sources of Role
Strain.
Section 2: The Structure of
Groups and Societies
What is a group?
 is
a set of two or more people who
interact on the basis of shared
expectations and who possess some
degree of common identity
 Can be intimate (family), formal
(wedding)
Four requirements for a group
 must
be 2 or more people
 must be interaction
 Members of the group must have
shared expectations
 members must possess some sense of
common identity
Key to the last 3 categories are
important
 people
who form a group but lack
organization or lasting patterns of
interaction
 This
forms aggregate
 People waiting in line
 Social
category is classifying people
according to a shared trait or a common
status.
Groups can differ in many
ways
 Terms
of the length of time they remain
together
 Their organizational structure
 The time
Time
 Some
we meet once
 Some we meet everyday
 But NO group meets 24 hours a day 7
days a week
Organization
 Formal
or informal
Size
 Dyad
- two people
 Triad - three people
 Small group more than three
Types of Groups
 Primary
Groups
 Small
group of people who interact over a
relatively long period of time on a direct
and personal basis.
 Like Family
 Secondary
Groups
 Interaction
is impersonal and temporary in
nature
 Importance of an individual in the group
is on the role they play within the group
More groups
 Reference
groups - a group with whom
individuals identify and those attitudes
and values they often adopt
 Ingroups and Outgroups
 Groups
one identities with is an ingroup
 Groups one does not identify with is and
outgroup
Social Networks
 All
the relationships that is formed by
the sum total of a person’s interactions
with other people is called a SOCIAL
NETWORK
Types of Societies
 Subsistence
strategy is the way in which
a society uses technology to provide for
the needs of its members
 Division
of Labor
 Preindustrial Society
 Industrial Society
 Postindustrial society
Society names
 Hunting
and Gathering Societies
 Pastoral Societies
 Horticultural Societies
 Agricultural Societies
 Barter
system
 Industrial
Societies
 Urbanization
 Postindustrial
Societies
Contrasting Societies
 Mechanical
solidarity
 Organic Solidarity
 Gemeinschaft
 Gesellschaft