Social structure
means the network of interrelated statuses and roles that guide human
interaction. A status
is a socially defined position in a group or in a society. A role
is the behavior expected of someone occupying a particular status. An
ascribed status
through their own direct efforts. The status that plays the greatest
role in shaping a person's life and determining his or her social
identity is their master status.
Reciprocal roles
are corresponding roles that define the patterns of interaction
between related statuses. The socially determined behaviors expected
of a person performing a role are called role expectations.
A person's role performance
is their actual role behavior. Sociologists call the different roles
attached to a single status a role set.
Role conflict
occurs when fulfilling the role expectations of one status makes it
difficult to fulfill the role expectations of another status. Role
strain occurs when a person
has difficulty meeting the role expectations of a single status. When
these statuses and roles are organized to satisfy one or more of the
basic needs of society, the group is called a social
institution.
Wherever
people interact in an effort to receive a reward or a return for
their actions, an exchange
has taken place. Reciprocity
is the idea that if you do something for someone, that person owes
you something in return. The volume of exchange in daily interactions
has led to the emergence of an exchange theory,
which is the theory that people do things on purpose for rewards.
Competition occurs
when two or more people or groups oppose each other to achieve a goal
that only one can attain. Conflict
is the deliberate attempt to control a person by force, to oppose
someone, or to harm another person. Cooperation
occurs when two or more people or groups work together to achieve a
goal that will benefit more than one person. Accommodation
is a state of balance between cooperation and conflict.
A
group is a set of
people who interact on the basis of shared expectations and who
possess some degree of common identity. A subsistence
strategy is the way a society
uses technology to provide for the needs of its members. In a
preindustrial society,
food production is the main economic activity. Hunting and
gathering is the daily
collection of wild plants and the hunting of wild animals. A pastoral
society will rely on
domesticated herd animals to meet their food needs. The division
of labor is the
specialization by individuals or groups in the performance of
specific economic activities. Fruits and vegetables grown in garden
plots hat have been cleared from the jungle or forest provide the
main source of food in a horticultural society.
In an agricultural society
animals are used to pull plows to till the fields. Many agricultural
societies barter,
which is the exchange of goods or service. In industrial
societies the emphasis shifts
from the production of food to the production of manufactured goods.
Urbanization is the
concentration of population in cities. In a postindustrial
society much of the economy
is involved in providing information and services. Mechanical
solidarity means that when
people share the same values and perform the same tasks, they become
united in a common whole. Organic solidarity
is the impersonal social relationships that arise with increased job
specialization, in which individuals can no longer provide for all of
their own needs. Gemeinschaft
is
the German word meaning community, and Gesellschaft
is the German word meaning society.
When
people gather in the same place at the same time but lack
organization or lasting patterns of interaction, they form an
aggregate. A social
category is simply a means of
classifying people according to a shared trait or a common status.
The smallest group possible, a group with two members, is called a
dyad. A
three-person group is called a triad.
Sociologists consider a small group
one with few enough members that everyone is able to interact on a
face-to-face basis. Time is also very important to groups, like how
long it has been around. In a formal group
the structure, goals, and activities of the group are clearly
defined. In an informal group
there is no official structure or established rules of conduct. A
primary group is a
small group of people who interact over a relatively long period of
time on a direct and personal basis. A secondary group
is a group in which interaction is impersonal and temporary in
nature. Any group with whom individuals identify and whose attitudes
and values they adopt is called a reference group.
The group that a person belongs to and identifies with is called an
in-group. Any group
that the person does not belong or identify with is called an
out-group. In an
e-community people
interact with one another regularly on the Internet.
The web of relationships that is formed by the sum total of person's
interactions with other people is termed a social
network.
Groups need to select leaders,
people who influence the attitudes and opinions of others.
Instrumental
leaders
are task-oriented, while expressive
leaders
are emotion-oriented.
A
formal organization
is a complex secondary group that has been established to achieve
specific goals. A bureaucracy
is a ranked authority structure that operates according to specific
rules and procedures. Rationality
involves subjecting every feature of human behavior to calculation,
measurement, and control. Max Weber developed a theoretical model of
bureaucracies. It includes: division of labor, ranking of authority,
employment based on formal qualifications, rules and regulations, and
specific lines of promotion and advancement. A voluntary
association
is typically a nonprofit organization formed to pursue some common
interest. Bureaucracies are not always effective however. Sometimes
the bureaucracy will lose sight of its goal, sometimes it requires
too many rules and regulations. The tendency of organizations to
become increasingly dominated by small groups of people is the iron
law of oligarchy.
Social
structures are very essential and important in a society. Groups can
be personal or not. Sometimes they are formal, other times they are
formal. The world will always have societies with groups. Groups will
always be a very important part of a society.
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