Social Structures
Essential Question- How is my social status
defined?
• Social Structure
• Status
• Ascribed
• Achieved
• Master
• Role/ Reciprocal roles
• Five types of interaction
Exchange
Competition
Conflict
Cooperation
Accommodation
Social Structure
• The framework that surrounds us
• Consists of the relationships between people and groups
• Gives direction to and sets limits on behavior
• Ex. You are hanging out with friends being loud and you are
approached buy a nun. How would your behavior change
and why?
Social Status
• Socially defined position in a group or in a
society
• Given most of the time or you are molded
• Individuals have multiple statuses
• Types:
• 1. Ascribed
• 2. Achieved
• 3. Master
Ascribed status
• A status assigned out of your control
• Inherited or bestowed upon an individual
• Ex. Gender
• Economic Class
• ethnicity
• Any others?
Achieved status
• Acquired through direct effort on the part of the
individual
• Require a special skill. Knowledge or ability
• Ex. Occupations
• Being a Husband or Wife “sometimes ascribed, if
it is arranged” Mostly choose to be married
• For you- a Straight A student
Master Status
• Status that ranks above all others
• Plays the greatest role in a person’s social identity
• Can and does change as you get older
• Ex. Mr. Chavez= Cool, Suave Teacher
• Could change if had kids
• What’s your master status?
Article: What’s your Social Status
• How is it possible to be low in one but high in another? What are some
examples in American society or other societies?
• Ex.
• What other professions are seen as high status but have a stigma attached
to it like the example of investment bankers?
• Ex.
• What groups can we compare Mods to today?
• Is there such a thing as High School Status?
• Write down any status you may have that others might not be aware of.
Roles/ Reciprocal Roles
• Expected behavior of someone occupying a given role.
• “You occupy a status, but you play a role.”
• Reciprocal Roles- corresponding roles that define interaction
between related statuses
• Only exist because of each other
• Ex. Athlete to coach
• Doctor to patient
• Jedi Master to Padawan
When Roles Converge
• Role Conflict- when fulfilling the expectations of one role makes it
hard to fulfill another.
• Ex. Being a good athlete conflicts with being a good student
• Being a good friend conflicts with being a good significant other
• Role strain- person has difficulty meeting obligations of a single
status
• Ex. Parents having to be providers, parents, a significant other
Social interaction
• When you play a role, you generally have to interact with others.
• “This has changed to include online interaction” but for the most part
still involves physical interaction
• Through these interactions we help stabilize social structure and
promote change.
• Five types of interaction:
Exchange
• People are motivated by self-interest “basically we are selfish”
• Interaction that results in a reward for their action= exchange
• Why are there so many exchanges on a daily bases?
• Reciprocity!- if you do something for someone, that person owes you.
A lot of the reason we do nice things for others.
• Rewards can be material or non-material
• Ex. I give you the “hook up” so then “you gotta hook me up”
• Or maybe you just tell people how nice I am.
Competition
• When 2 people or more oppose each other to achieve a goal
that only one can attain. “IN THE END THERE CAN ONLY BE
ONE”
• Ex. Sports, Speech competitions, GPA
• Some societies are more competitive than others.
• Some social groups are also more competitive than others
Conflict
• Deliberate attempt to control by force, to oppose
someone or to do harm to another person.
• Ex. Wars- U.S has been in constant state of war since
its birth
• Disagreements within groups
• Legal Disputes
• Clashes over ideology- Could be political,
Cooperation
• When 2 groups or more work together to achieve a goal that will
benefit more than one person
• Helps get things done in society
Accommodation
The most common thing we do.
- Find a state of balance between cooperation and
conflict is known as accommodation.
- Multiple Forms:
-Compromise- Give and Take
-Problem- you must have something people want
-Truce