Social Organization/ Social Structure

Social Organization/ Social Structure Group interaction status role sanctions folkways mores society Institutionalization Origins of Institutionalization Habitualization Statuses and roles are habitualized History is a factor Institutions are perceived as objective realities Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann. 1966 The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Garden City: Anchor Books.

Social Organization/ Social Structure Grouping by gender Grouping by age Age grades - based on chronological age Age sets - based on entry into group Grouping by common interest (Common Interest Associations)

Social Organization/ Social Structure Achieved status Ascribed status Egalitarian Stratified social mobility open closed (caste) social stratum social class social mobility horizontal vertical

Social Class in America http://www.nytimes.com/pages/national/class/index.html “Class Matters: A Six-Figure Rootless Life” “Results of the Poll”

Social Organization/ Social Structure Factors of increasing social complexity: Role conflict Emil Durkheim – Division of Labor in Society mechanical solidarity/organic solidarity Status disintegration Ferdinand Tönnies – Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft Cognitive dissonance, Leon Festinger Emil Durkheim, Study of Suicide altruistic, anomic Jack Gibbs, Status Integration and Suicide

Recognition of Social Class in America The New York Times series on Social Class in America is indicative of class awareness once again in the United States.

The Two Nations of Black America As featured in a current Dallas Morning News series, there is a growing economic divide in black America. Today, America's black middle class is the largest in its history, yet roughly one-third of black America continues to live in poverty. As we clearly saw (and see) in New Orleans, the ravages of stratification and racism are quite pronounced in our society and seem to be growing once again.