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Socially defined position in a group or in a
society
Each person has several statuses
 Status defines relationships
 Status clarifies rights and obligations
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Assigned according to standards that are
beyond our control
Based on inherited traits or are assigned
based on reaching a certain age
Not based on abilities, accomplishments or
efforts
Examples: teenagers, black, female,
Ethiopian
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Acquired through effort or competition
Based on special skills, knowledge or ability
Based on standards that YOU control
Example: college graduate, parent, spouse,
doctor
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Status= social categories
Master status= plays the greatest role in your
life
 Determines your social identity
 Can be either achieved or ascribed
 Changes over time
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The behavior expected of someone
occupying a particular status
Roles bring status to life
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Corresponding roles that define the patterns
of interaction between related statuses
Examples:
 Husband-wife
 Athlete-coach
 Friend-friend
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Socially determined behavior expected of a
person performing a role
 “cop’s aren’t supposed to commit crimes”-
Training Day
 Parents are supposed to give their children love
and physical security, not abuse them- A Child
Called It”
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Role performance- actual role behavior
 A person’s actual behavior may not match what
society expects their behavior to be
 Sometimes behaviors that are okay in a subgroup
are not okay in the larger society
▪ Example: Americans value equality, yet some subgroups
deny women this equality
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Sometimes roles can be contradictory to
each other
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Role set- different roles attached to a single
status
Role conflict- fulfilling the role expectations of
one status make it difficult to fulfill the role
expectations of another status
– Example: good employee v. good parent
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Role strain- difficulty meeting the role
expectations of a single status
– Example: A teacher trying to establish a good rapport
yet having to enforce the rules of the school
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A system of statuses, roles, values and norms
that is organized to satisfy one or more basic
needs of society
– Economics- producing goods and services
– Education- transmitting knowledge
– Family- providing physical and emotional support for
members of the society
– Law- maintaining social control
– Medicine- healing the sick and injured, caring for the
dying
– Military- protecting us from enemies
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Politics- allocating power, determining
authority, preventing chaos
Religion- dealing with ideas about life after
death, the meaning of suffering and loss
Science- mastering the universe
Mass media- distributing information,
molding public opinion, reporting events
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Mechanic solidarity
– Pre industrial societies are held together by the close-
knit social relationships that result when a small
group of people share the same values and perform
the same task
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Organic solidarity
– Industrial societies lead to impersonal social
relationship because of increased job specialization
and individuals become dependent on other for
aspects of their survival
• Need becomes more important that shared values
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Gemeinschaft (community)
– Close relationships, activities centered on family
and community
– Strong sense of group solidarity
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Gesellschaft (society)
– Relationships are based on need rather than
emotion
– Individual goals are more important than group
goals