social structure & society
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Social Structure & Society. Social Structure. The underlying patterns of relationships in a group Status — a position a person occupies within a social structure Status helps us define who and what we are in relation to others . Two types of social statuses:. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Social Structure & Society
Social Structure• The underlying patterns of relationships in a
group– Status—a position a person occupies within a
social structure• Status helps us define who and what we
are in relation to others
Two types of social statuses:
• Ascribed Status—a position that is assigned or is acquired at birth; it is not earned or chosen– Example: newborn female ascribed status is
child and daughter• Achieved Status—a position that is earned or
chosen– Example: a person who decides to become a spouse or
a parent
Status Set• All of the statuses that a person
occupies at any particular time– one lawyer may be a wife, mother,
author, and choir director– One student may also be a brother, a
tennis player, a tutor, and a store clerk
Master Status
• A position that strongly affects most other aspects of a person’s life– Can be achieved or ascribed– In many societies, occupations
are master statuses– “criminal” is an achieved
master status
Roles
• Role—an expected behavior associated with a particular status– Statuses include a variety of
roles– Roles = statuses “in action”
Rights and Obligations• Rights—a behavior that individuals
can expect from others
• Obligations—a behavior that individuals are expected to perform toward others– Example: Doctors are obligated to
diagnose their patients’ illnesses . . . patients have the right to expect their doctors to diagnose as best they can
Roles continued
• Role Performance—the actual behavior of an individual in a role
• Social Interaction—the process of influencing each other as people relate
When Roles Conflict
• Role Conflict—the performance of a role in one status interferes with the performance of a role in another status– Example: teenagers going to school and
working—hard to balance study and work demands
Conflicting Roles Continued
• Role Strain—the roles of a single status are inconsistent or conflicting– Example: high school teachers have to
prepare lessons and sponsor clubs and go to student-centered meetings and go to professional meetings and go to workshops
• The fulfillment of one role can interfere with the performance of the others
Society
• people living within defined geographic boundaries and sharing a common culture
Types of Societies• Hunting and Gathering Societies—society that survives
by hunting animals and gathering edible plants
• Horticultural Society—society that survives through the growing of plants
• Pastoral Society—society in which food is obtained by raising and taking care of animals
• Agricultural Society—society that uses plows and draft animals in growing food
• Industrial Society—society that depends on science and technology to produce its basic goods and services
Groups & Formal Organization
Groups / Collectivities
• Types of Groups (3)–1. Social Aggregate• People who gather in the same place at the
same time but lack organization or lasting patterns of interaction.
–2. Social Category • People with the same status or trait • May play similar roles• Don’t necessarily know each other
Groups / Collectivities
• 3. Social Group– Interact regularly–Have expected behaviors for each other–Have a feeling of association between them
Aggregate, Category or Social Group?
• Your family• Buddhists• The Senate• People at Lake Lynn• Firemen• The WHS soccer team• Watching the ball drop at Times Square• Passengers on an airplane• Drug dealers• The current Kappa Sigma fraternity members at UNC-CH• All Kappa Sigma fraternity members
Group Types• Group—at least two people who have one or
more goals in common and share common ways of thinking and behaving
• Social Category—people who share a social characteristic
• Primary Group—people who are emotionally close, know one another well, and seek one another’s company
Groups Continued• Secondary Group—people who share only part of
their lives while focusing on a goal or task
• Reference Group—group used for self-evaluation and the formation of attitudes, values, beliefs, and norms
• In-Group—exclusive group demanding intense loyalty
• Out-Group—group targeted by an in-group for opposition, antagonism, or competition
Primary, Secondary, Reference or In-group?
• The Senate• Alcoholics• This Sociology class• The Bloods• Your family• Vegetarians• Democrats• Your co-workers• Your clique of best friends• Coffee drinkers
How many primary relationships do you have?
• Duke and Univ. of Arizona Study– Over last 20 years, primary relationships shrank from 3 to
2.– Number of Americans who have no one to confide in
grew to 1 in 4.– 80% rely solely on family members, 9% solely on spouses
– Related podcasts: • The guy at the printer (start 43:25)
How groups interact• Social Network—a web of social
relationships that join a person to other people and groups
• Social Exchange—a voluntary action performed in the expectation of getting a reward in return
Problems with Groups• Conformity—behavior that matches group expectations
• Groupthink—self-deceptive thinking that is based on conformity to group beliefs, and created by group pressure to conform
• Coercion—interaction in which individuals or groups are forced to behave in a particular way
• Deviance—behavior that departs from societal or group norms
• Social Control—ways to encourage conformity to society’s norms
• Societal Sanctions—rewards or punishments that encourage conformity to social norms
Deviance leads to Labels
• Labeling Theory—theory that society creates deviance by identifying particular members as deviant
• Stigma—an undesirable trait or label that is used to characterize an individual