Name McCombe Hour Date Bell Work Week of 2-26- 3-02 1.) Monday 2-26 I think the phrase “Social Structure” means…

The Building Blocks of Social Structure

Status Sociologists take the view that society is a system where everything is interrelated and interdependent-as we have seen in previous chapters. This is very defined. Within social structure, however, the meaning is a bit more loosely defined. Social structure: all the statuses and roles that are interrelated and help to make up and guide human interaction.

Status Status: A socially defined position in a group or in a society. Every status has one or more roles Role: The behavior expected of someone occupying a particular status. Think about your role as a student. What is expected of you as a student?

Ascribed and Achieved Status Everyone within society has several statuses they occupy. Think of yourself. You are a student, but you are also a son/daughter, brother/sister, niece/nephew. You may even be an employee, a member of a sports team, etc. Statuses help us to define where each person fits in within society. This also helps us to understand how they may relate to others within society. Some statuses are assigned and others are earned through effort. Ascribed Status: A status assigned based on qualities a person is unable to control. They are not based on abilities, efforts or accomplishments. Instead, they are based on inherited traits or things assigned when a person reaches a certain age. You are a teenager/young adult now, but when you reach 18, you are considered an adult

Ascribed and Achieved Status Achieved Status: status attained from their own effort. These include things like special skills, knowledge or ability. You may be considered a dancer based on your knowledge of various aspects of dance and your ability to dance. You gain the status of wife or husband when you marry. Achieved status allows more control than ascribed. The United States is so complex that it allows an almost endless list of achieved statuses.

Master Status Everyone has a large list of statuses they hold, but not all statuses are equal. Master Status: The greatest role in shaping a person’s life and determining his or her social identity. This can be achieved or ascribed. Usually, in the United States, an adult’s master status is their occupation. A teenager’s master status is usually their occupation-student. Master status can change over time. For example, when you retire from working your status could change from grandparent or volunteer.

Roles Statuses are social categories. Roles are what brings statuses to life. You occupy a status, but you play a role. Most roles have a reciprocal role. This means that there are roles that correspond to your role and helps to define the pattern of interaction between related statuses. If a woman is a mother, they need a child to fulfill the role of son/daughter and to help the woman fulfill her role as a mother. Other reciprocal roles include: teacher-students, doctor- patient, employer-employee.

Role Expectations and Role Performance When people interact, their behavior corresponds to the particular role they are playing. Socially determined behaviors of a person performing a role are called role expectations. Doctors are expected to treat parents with care and respect. Employers are expected to treat employees respectfully and equally. Sometimes role behavior does not meet the behavior expected by society. Police officers break the law, parents don’t provide children with emotional and physical security. This can happen because part of society sees behaviors as appropriate whereas a majority of society sees it as inappropriate.

Even when a person fulfills a role to the best of their ability, it may not meet the expectations of society. For example, think of the Olympics. Athletes are considered the best from their country, but often their performance does not meet the judge’s expectations. Sometimes people fall short to meet their expectations because of all the roles they play. Sometimes roles are contradictory. Example: Someone at work calls in sick but you need to work on a paper that is due for class the following day. You decide to work but will not have enough time to work on your paper as much as you would have liked. Because of this, your paper is not your best work.

Role Conflict, Role Strain and Role Exit Within one status, there are several roles to perform. The different roles assigned to a single status: Role Set Because all people hold several statuses, all people deal with several role sets. Role conflict and role strain comes from all the contradictory expectations from the different roles. Role Conflict: Occurs when fulfilling the role expectations of one status makes it difficult to fulfill the role expectations of another status. To be a good employee, you must go to work everyday. However, in order to be a good parent, you need to take off work to take care of your child. Role strain: occurs when a person difficulty meeting the expectations of a single status.

Role Conflict, Role Strain and Role Exit Role Exit: Process people go through to detach from a role that is central to their self- identity. People who have gone through role exit include ex-nuns, ex-convicts, divorced women/men. There are stages people go through when trying to detach from old role. Process goes as follows according to sociologist Rose Ebaugh First: People experience disillusionment with old role Second: The person begins to search for a new role Third: The person reaches a turning point and decide to depart from the old role Conflict occurs because society expects the person to still according to behaviors relating to their old role.

Social Institutions Statuses and their roles determine the structure of various groups within society. Social Institution: When statuses and roles are organized to satisfy one or more of the basic needs of society Basic needs of society include things like: physical and emotional support for members, transmitting knowledge, producing goods and services, etc Most important social institutions include: Family Economic institution Political institutions Education Religion