Social Structure
Mr. Niño | Sociology | Chapter 4 |
Section 4.1
Building Blocks of Social Structure
• Objectives
• Two major components of social structure
• How social structure affects human interaction
• Define
• Social structure, status, role, ascribed status, achieved status, master
status, reciprocal roles, role expectations, role performance, role set,
role conflict, role strain, social institution
Section 4.1
Building Blocks of Social Structure
• Society has always been viewed as a system of parts—a
structure
• Social Structure—the network of interrelated statuses and
roles that guide human interaction
• Status—a social defined position in a group/society
• Each status has a role—the behavior, rights, and obligations,
expected of someone occupying a particular status
Status
• Social Structure is built on status
• Individuals occupy several statuses
• Ex: teacher/father/husband/African-American
• Statuses define where individuals fit/relate to others in a society
Status
• Ascribed and Achieved Status
• Ascribed Status—a status assigned according to qualities beyond a
person’s control; based on inherited traits or age.
• Ex: teenager/adult; sex, heritage, race
• Achieved Status—status based on the individuals direct efforts, skills,
knowledge or abilitites.
• Ex: basketball player, actor, husband/wife, college grad
Status
• Master Status
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•
•
•
Ranks above all other statuses
Plays greatest role in life and social identity
Can be achieved or ascribed
Changes over time (adolescence, early adulthood, midlife, late adulthood
• Ex: occupation, wealth, marital status, parenthood
Roles
• Statuses serve simply as social categories
• Roles are the component of social structure and bring statuses
to life
• “You occupy a status. You play a role.” –Ralph Linton
• You play several roles in a day
• Son/daughter, student, athlete, brother
Roles
• Most roles are reciprocal roles—corresponding roles that
define the patterns of interaction between related statuses
• Ex: husband-wife, teacher-student, doctor-patient
• Others?...
•
Roles: Expectations vs. Performance
• Role expectations—the socially determined behaviors expected of a
person performing a role
• Ex: doctors treat patients with skill/care; parents provide emotional and physical
security for their children
• Role performance—the individual’s actual/real role behavior
• Does not always match expectations
• Serving many roles overwhelms
• Asked to perform contradictory roles
Roles: Conflict and Strain
• Role set—the different roles attached to a single status
• We all perform many roles
• Leads to conflict and strain
• Role conflict—occurs when fulfilling the role expectations of one
status makes it difficult to fulfill the role expectations of another
• Ex: good employee = go to work while being a good parent= staying home,
taking care of a sick child
Roles: Conflict and Strain (cont.)
• Role strain—occurs when a person has difficulty meeting the
role expectation of a single status
• Boss keeps up morale, working long hours
Social Institutions
• Statuses and roles determine social structure
• When they are organized to satisfy one or more of the basic
needs of society, the group is called social institution
• Ex: physical/emotional support, transmitting knowledge, producing
goods and services, maintaining social control
• Major social institutions include: family, economy, medicine, politics, education
Status/Roles Chart
Status
Examples of Roles
Conflicts/Strains
Fire-fighter
Putting out fires, saving lives,
wearing a uniform
Voluntarily puts self in danger
but has loved ones who depend
on him/her