LECTURE III Social structure and social institutions

Plan 1. Social structure –1.1 The definitions of social structure –1.2 The types of social structure 2. Norms and their kinds 3. Values 4. Social groups and institutions

n The notion of social Social structure, used in a general sense, refers to entities or groups in definite relation to each other, to relatively enduring patterns of behaviour and relationship within social systems, or to social institutions and norms becoming embedded into social systems in such a way that they shape the behaviour of actors within those social systems n the notion social structure as relationships between different entities or groups or as enduring and relatively stable patterns of relationship emphasises the idea that society is grouped into structurally related groups or sets of roles, with different functions, meanings or purposes. One example of social structure is the idea of «social stratification» which refers to the idea that society is separated into different strata, according to social distinctions such as a race, class and gender. Social treatment of persons within various social structures can be understood as related to their placement within the various social strata.

Definitions and concepts of social structure n As noted above, social structure has been identified as –(i) the relationship of definite entities or groups to each other, –(ii) as enduring patterns of behaviour by participants in a social system in relation to each other, and –(iii) as institutionalised norms or cognitive frameworks that structure the actions of actors in the social system.

n Lopez and Scott distinguish between institutional structure and relational structure, where in the former: –... social structure is seen as comprising those cultural or normative patterns that define the expectations of agents hold about each other's behaviour and that organize their enduring relations with each other. n whereas in the latter: –... social structure is seen as comprising the relationships themselves, understood as patterns of causal interconnection and interdependence among agents and their actions, as well as the positions that they occupy.

The types of social structure

Norms and their kinds n In sociology, a norm, or social norm, is a rule that is socially enforced. Social sanctioning is what distinguishes norms from other cultural products or social constructions such as values. Norms and normlessness are thought to affect a wide variety of human behaviour.

–Folkways n A society's web of cultural rituals, traditions and routines. Deviation is not usually considered a serious threat to social organization and is thus sanctioned less severely than moral deviation. Example: In certain households in the U.S., it is a folkway to say grace before eating Thanksgiving dinner. –Moral n Moral judgements that define wrong and right behavior, the allowed and the disallowed, what is wanted and not wanted within a culture. The word is the plural of the Latin mor-, mos, which means 'custom'. A violation of mores is usually considered by society as a threat to social organization and harshly sanctioned. Examples: Drug use, sexual promiscuity, and extreme styles of dress. n "More than ambition, more than ability, it is rules that limit contribution; rules are the lowest common denominator of human behavior. They are a substitute for rational thought". - G.Rickover

–Laws n In highly organized societies, formalized and precisely delimited norms. The breaking of legal norms, or laws, invokes procedures and judgments through formal, legal institutions, such as police and the courts, set up to enforce them. These norms generally relate to individual violations of mores or to the adjustment of proprietary relationships. Heteronormativity n Heteronormativity is a system of norms dictating the range of socially acceptable sexual and gender identities. It is based around the notion that all people fall into two categories male and female and that there are notions of how these two sexes are expected to act.

Personal values n Personal values are implicitly related to choice; they guide decisions by allowing for an individual's choices to be compared to each choice's associated values. n Personal values developed early in life may be resistant to change. They may be derived from those of particular groups or systems, such as culture, religion and political party. However, personal values are not universal; one's genes, family, nation and historical environment determine one's personal values. This is not to say that the value concepts themselves are not universal, merely that each individual possess a unique conception of them i.e. a personal knowledge of the appropriate values for their own genes, feelings and experience.

Cultural values n Groups, societies, or cultures have values that are largely shared by its members. Members share a culture even if each member's personal values do not entirely agree with some values sanctioned in the culture. This reflects an individual's ability to synthesize and extract aspects valuable to them from the multiple subcultures they belong to. n If an individual expresses a value that is in serious conflict with their group's norms, the group's authority may carry out various ways of stigmatizing or conforming the individual. For example, imprisonment can result from conflict with social norms that have been established as law.

n In sociology, a group is usually defined as a collection of humans or animals, who share certain characteristics, interact with one another, accept expectations and obligations as members of the group, and share a common identity. Using this definition, a society can appear as a large group. n While an comprises merely a number of individuals, a group in sociology exhibits cohesiveness to a larger degree. Characteristics that members in the group may share include interests, values, ethnic/linguistic background, and ties.

n Social institution, is a group of social positions, connected by social relations, performing a social role. It can be also defined in a narrow sense as any institution in a society that works to socialize the groups or people in it. Common examples include universities, governments, families and any people or groups that you have social interactions with. It is a major sphere of social life organized to meet some human needs. n Social organizations can take many forms, depending on a social context. For example, for family context the corresponding social organization is of course the family. For business context - an enterprise, company, corporation etc. For educational context - schools, universities etc. For political context - government, political parties and others. Commonly, experts officially recognize these five major social institutions that have been evident in some way in every civilization in history: government, religion, economics, education and family.