CHAPTER 4: SOCIAL STRUCTURE

SECTION 1: BUILDING BLOCKS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE

UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL STATUS: Master Status: can be either achieved or ascribed (example: job, wealth, marital status, parenthood) Achieved Status: based on an individual’s efforts (example: basketball player, nurse, teacher, lawyer) Ascribed Status: based on inherited traits or according to age (example: gender, race, or “teenager/adult”

Role Expectations: socially determined behaviors expected of a person (Ex: Doctors should treat their patients with care) Role Performance: an individual’s actual role behavior (does not always align with behavior expected by society) Role conflict: when fulfilling one role’s expectation conflicts with another role expectation (ex: Susan’s work schedule as a nurse conflicts with her responsibilities as a mom to pick up her 2 kids from elementary school) Role strain: when a person has difficulty fulfilling the expectations of a single status. Roles

SECTION 2: TYPES OF SOCIAL INTERACTION

TYPES OF SOCIAL INTERACTION ExchangeCompetitionConflictCooperationAccommod ation Interaction involves exchange daily. Exchange is the most basic and common form of interaction. When two or more people oppose each other to achieve a goal only one can attain. It is a common feature of Western society. It is a deliberate attempt to control a person by force or to harm another person. 4 Forces of Conflict: 1.Wars 2.Disagreem ents within groups 3.Legal disputes 4.Clashes over ideology When 2 or more people work together to achieve a goal that benefits more than 1 person. Can be used with 1 or more other forms of interaction. A state of balance between cooperation and conflict. It may take a variety of forms such as compromise and truce. Use arbitration, with a 3 rd person who makes the final decision and helps to ensure social stability.

SECTION 3: TYPES OF SOCIETIES

PREINDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES: Hunting and Gathering Societies – hunt and gather food for survival Video clip: Pastoral Societies – domesticate animals for food (i.e. goats, cattle, chickens, pigs, etc.) Video clip: Horticultural Societies – grow small amounts of food and herd some animals for family and/or small village Video clip: Agricultural Societies – grow large quantity of crops for family and to the community for a profit Video clip:

INDUSTRIAL/POSTINDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES: Industrial Societies – primarily produce machinery, tools, etc on assembly lines; mass production; population heavier in cities than in rural areas Video clip: Postindustrial Societies – primarily makes a profit off of technology and services Video clip:

SECTION 4: GROUPS WITHIN SOCIETY

UNORGANIZED VS. ORGANIZED GROUPS Aggregate : when people gather in the same place at the same time, but is not organized and does not exhibit any distinctive interactive patterns. Social category: a way to classify and organize people according to a common trait or status.

SIZE MATTERS! If one person leaves, the group no longer exists Making decisions or coming to a consensus can be difficult Dyad: a group of two No one person can dissolve the group Decision making is easier than in a dyad, since there can easily be a majority (2 to 1) Triad: a group of three When group grows beyond 15 members, the group may begin to dissolve into smaller groups Small group: a group where face-to-face interaction is still possible (up to ~ 15)

TYPES OF GROUPS Primary Group – small, long-time directly interactive group Secondary Group – interactive group that is impersonal and temporary Reference Group – any group with whom individuals identify and whose attitudes and values they adopt Ingroup – the group that a person belongs to and identifies with Out-group – the group that a person does NOT belong to or identify with E-communities –groups that interact regularly on the internet (i.e. Newsgroups, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) Social Networks – web of relationships that is formed by the sum total of a person’s interactions with other people (do not have clear boundaries)

THINKING CRITICALLY QUESTIONS: 1. What are the features of primary and secondary groups? 2. What roles do group members play in primary and secondary groups? 3. Compare the roles of group members in formal and informal groups. 4. Choose a formal and informal group to which you belong. Compare the different ways leaders might help you to fulfill the group’s goals.

SECTION 5: THE STRUCTURE OF FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS

WHAT IS A FORMAL ORGANIZATION? A large, complex secondary group that has been established to achieve specific goals.

WHAT IS A BUREAUCRACY? A ranked authority structure that operates according to specific rules and procedures.

WEBER’S MODEL OF BUREAUCRACIES 1. Division of labor – everyone has a specific list of duties 2. Ranking of authority – clear-cut lines of responsibility and authority level 3. Employment based on formal qualifications – tests, level of education, skill, previous experience 4. Rules and regulations – rules and procedures that identify the exact responsibilities and authority of each person on the staff 5. Specific lines of promotion and advancement – clear lines of promotion and advancement within the organization (i.e. job security and seniority)

HOW EFFECTIVE ARE BUREAUCRACIES? Pros 1. Coordinates large numbers of people to achieve large- scale goals 2. Create order by clearly defining job tasks and rewards. 3. Provide stability Cons 1. Try to prove its need for continual existence, after useful services cease 2. “Red Tape”; added procedures and paperwork to manipulate delays 3. Tend to result in OLIGARCHIES (few people at the top rule the masses) 4. Inefficiency in work time; add more work to fill in the time until actual work is completed.