Topic 1:
Social Institutions in Industrial Societies
a. Definition and Examples of Social Institutions
A social institution is a social arrangement guided by a set of beliefs, values and norms,
culturally assimilated, which determine the relationships, behaviour and social roles of
individuals in order to accomplish important social goals.


Social Arrangement – interrelate with each other
Culturally assimilated – belonging to a culture
Examples of social institutions:






Families
Educational Institutions
Political Institutions
Health Institutions
Religious Institutions
Economic Institutions
b. Relationship and Interdependence
Examples of relationships between social institutions:
 Family and Economic Institutions (example. Bank and supermarket)
 State and Hospital Institutions (example. To regulate health services)
Examples of relationships between industries in a social institution:
Students
Lecturers
Librarians
University
KSU
Secretaries
Interdependence:
Social institutes are dependent on each other to accomplish the common social goal (the
common good, which is generally considered as the holistic good of every person).
Examples of interdependence between social institutions:
Political Institution
Families
Economic Institutions
Schools
c. Behaviour
Behaviour of individuals and social institutions depends from culture and religion (both
influencing each other). Religion offers the basic beliefs and values of a culture.
d. Social institutions differ from one culture to another
Different cultures and different religions give different beliefs, expectations and norms of
behaviour. When cultures interact, they are influencing each other. There is no such thing as a
perfect culture. Culture is changing by time (nowadays it is changing more rapidly).
e. Definition of Industrial Societies
Industrial society refers to a society driven by the use of technology to enable mass production,
supporting a large population with a high capacity for division of labour.
Due to a changing culture, industrial societies have also changed by time:



Pre-modern Agrarian – economy based mainly on agriculture in order to survive
Modern Industrialised – economy based on industry, mass production and division of
labour
Post-modern Post-industrialised – economy based on services and communication
Qualities of an Industrial Society:


The use of technology
Division of labour




Mass production
Large population
Urbanisation
Large organisations
f.
Social institutions in Industrial Societies







Increase efficiency
and productivity
Family
Industrial society
Health institutions (hospitals, clinics)
Religious institutions
Political institutions (state, parliament, government, political parties)
Education (schools, universities)
Economical institutions (banks, factories, companies, supermarkets)