social structure

foundations of social structures

statuses: the positions people occupy in a

group or society

roles: expectations of what individuals

should do in accordance with their
statuses
what is a status
an identification of a person in terms of his or
her relationship with another person or group;
classified into:

ascribed status: statuses of sex and race as well

as age; status which we are born with

achieved status: statuses that result from our

actions
what is a role?

dynamic, shaped by specific situations and

persons, i.e. children enjoy the right of
receiving food and shelter and love from
parents, but are expected to show respect
obedience, gratitude and affection to them
what is a role?
a role can be
prescribed role: the set of expectations or
norms about how a person should behave
role performance: how a person actually
carries out the role
role conflict: when we are expected to play
two conflicting roles at the same time
role strain: a single role involving conflicting
expectations
patterns of social relations

exchange
cooperation
competition
conflict
exchange

exchange: a transaction between two

individuals, groups or societies in which
one takes an action in order to obtain a
reward in return; social exchanges are
usually govern by the norm of reciprocity
cooperation
cooperation: a relationship of two or more individuals
working together to achieve a common goal and may be
classified into:

spontaneous cooperation: unpredictable, i.e. when

neighbors come together to help a family whose house
has just burned down

traditional cooperation: a form of cooperation that

occur frequently enough for them to become customary
in society
cooperation
directed cooperation: based not on custom
but on the direction of someone in authority

contractual cooperation: it does not originate

from tradition or authority, but from voluntary
action; neither does it happen spontaneously; it
involves, instead, some planning; individuals
freely and formally agree to cooperate in certain
limited, specified ways
competition

competition: each tries to achieve a goal

before another does thus there can be
only one winner

it is commonly believed that competition

encourages people to do their best and
thus benefits society
conflict

conflict: when competing parties no longer

play by the set of rules; defeating the
opponent, by hook or by crook, is the goal
large-scale social structure
group: two or more people who interact with one
another and share some sense of a common identity

organizations: groups that form to achieve specific

goals

social institutions: stable sets of widely shared beliefs,

norms, roles and procedures that are organized to satisfy
certain basic needs of society

societies: beyond the structure of social institutions

having patterns of stable relationships and in turn make
up even a larger structure an international community
characterized by certain patterns of social relationships
between nations
varieties of preindustrial societies

preindustrial societies: are often classified

on the basis of how they obtain their food;
using this method, we find four types:

hunting-gathering societies
pastoral societies
horticultural societies
agricultural societies
preindustrial and industrial
compared
gemeinschaft: community, meaning that
people in such a society have a strong
sense of community and relate to each
other in a personal way
gesellschaft: society, people think of
themselves as individuals first and relate
to each other in an impersonal way
preindustrial and industrial
compared
mechanical solidarity: social unity comes
about because people perform the same
tasks and have similar values

organic solidarity: arise when people are

forced to depend on one another because
their jobs are very specialized
preindustrial and industrial
compared
folk societies: small, nonliterate,
homogenous

urban societies: large, literate and

heterogeneous, with very little group
solidarity
preindustrial and industrial
compared
simplicity vs complexity
homegenity vs heterogenity
intimacy vs impersonality
traditionalism vs modernism