1. Sociology 374 Introduction to Social Structure and Change

2. SOCIAL STRUCTURE SOCIAL STRUCTURE SOCIAL INTERACTION
THE RELATIVELY STABLE PATTERNS OF SOCIAL INTERACTION THAT CHARACTERIZE HUMAN SOCIAL LIFE
SOCIAL INTERACTION
AT THE MICRO-LEVEL OF ANALYSIS
INDIVIDUAL TO INDIVIDUAL
AT THE MEZZO-LEVEL OF ANALYSIS
LARGER ORGANIZATIONS
AT THE MACRO-LEVEL OF ANALYSIS
SOCIETIES and INSTITUTIONS

3. THE SMALLEST ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE
STATUS
SOCIAL POSITIONS THAT PEOPLE OCCUPY
Individual statuses largely define who that person is in relation to other people (A group is a set of interrelated status.)
STATUS SET
ALL THE STATUSES THAT PERSONS OCCUPY AT A GIVEN TIMES IN THEIR LIVE (e.g., gender status, religious status, family status, class status, occupational status, and many others)
STATUS INCONSISTENCY
WHEN VARIOUS STATUSES A PERSON OCCUPIES DO NOT FIT SMOOTHLY TOGETHER
A PERSON WITH A PH.D., WORKING AT SEARS SELLING APPLIANCES IN ORDER TO BRING IN A LITTLE MORE MONEY FOR FAMILY EXPENSES
PEOPLE OFTEN INTERACT WITH OTHERS ON THE BASIS OF THE STATUSES THEY OCCUPY RATHER THAN WHO THEY ARE
STATUS SYMBOLS that identify the statues they are occupying thus tell others how to behave towards them (e.g., a wealthy person’s sports car, a street persons tattered clothes)

4. ASCRIBED STATUSES ACHIEVED STATUSES MASTER STATUS
THOSE STATUSES INTO WHICH A PERSON IS BORN; INVOLUNTARILY ACQUIRED (e.g., gender, race, family status, etc.)
ACHIEVED STATUSES
positions we acquire over time as a result of our own actions and efforts (e.g. occupation, educational status, political affiliation, etc.)
MASTER STATUS
Not all statuses are equally important
A POWERFUL STATUS THAT DETERMINES A PERSON’S INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY
PROFESSOR, STUDENT, DISABLED, RICH OR POOR,
MASTER STATUSES MAY BE HARD TO ESCAPE OR CHANGE (e.g., Catholic priest)

5. SOCIAL ROLES ROLES ROLE SET ROLE EXPECTATION ROLE PERFORMANCE
LET’S SEE…I KNOW I
WAS EXPECTED TO TURN
THIS IN LAST WEEK, BUT
I DIDN’T PERFORM THE
TASK UNTIL LAST NIGHT,
SO I BETTER TRY TO
NEGOTIATE MY ROLE
AS “STUDENT” WITH MY
PROFESSOR TODAY!
ROLES
THE BEHAVIOR EXPECTATIONS STEMMING FROM NORMS
ASSOCIATED WITH VARIOUS STATUSES
ROLE SET
ALL THE BEHAVIORS ASSOCIATED WITH A PARTICULAR STATUS (e.g., college professor’s role set; teaching, research, service, etc.)
ROLE EXPECTATION
THAT BEHAVIOR WHICH IS EXPECTED
ROLE PERFORMANCE
THE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE BY THE PERSON
ROLE MAKING
NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN ROLE “PLAYERS”
A GOOD EXAMPLE IS THAT OF A COLLEGE STUDENT AND WHAT IS EXPECTED, GIVEN, AND NEGOTIATED

6. ROLE STRAIN ROLE CONFLICT
CONFLICT IN PERFORMING ALLTHE ELEMENTS OF THE ROLE SET CONNECTED TO A SINGLE STATUS
Many students find it difficult to take a heavy course load and do equally well in all their classes
ROLE CONFLICT
CONFLICT IN PERFORMING ROLE EXPECTATIONS WHEN TWO OR MORE STATUSES ARE INVOLVED
A PERSON WHO IS BOTH A POLICE OFFICER AND PARENT WHO CATCHES HER SON BREAKING THE LAW

7. SOCIAL GROUPS TO BE OR NOT TO BE A SOCIAL GROUP NON-GROUPS AGGREGATES
TWO OR MORE PEOPLE
WHO INTERACT ON A REGULAR BASIS
AND FEEL SOME SENSE OF COMMON IDENTITY and SOLIDARITY
NON-GROUPS
AGGREGATES
COLLECTIONS OF PEOPLE WHO HAPPEN TO BE IN THE SAME PLACE AT THE SAME TIME
CATEGORIES
A COLLECTION OF PEOPLE WHO SHARE A SOCIAL STATUS (e.g., college freshmen, sociologists, etc.)

8. REASONS FOR JOINING GROUPS
NO DOUBT ABOUT
IT…I AM HAVING TO
SPEND MUCH MORE
TIME ON THE JOB!
REASONS FOR JOINING GROUPS
TO ENJOY A MEASURE OF INTIMACY
TO ACCOMPLISH GOALS
TYPES OF GROUPS (Cooley, 1909)
PRIMARY GROUPS (e.g., family, peer group, etc.)
SMALL, INTIMATE, AND ENDURING
CENTRAL TO OUR LIVES
CONTAIN SIGNIFICANT OTHERS
SECONDARY GROUPS
LARGER, IMPERSONAL, TEMPORAL
OFTEN RELATED TO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
AMOUNT OF TIME SPENT INTERACTING WITHIN SECONDARY GROUPS IS RISING

9. OTHER Types of Groups GROU
IN- AND OUT-GROUPS
IN-GROUPS
GROUPS THAT INDIVIDUALS JOIN AND FOR WHICH THEY FEEL LOYALTY AND PRIDE
OUT-GROUPS
GROUPS TOWARD WHICH INDIVIDUALS MAY FEEL DISDAIN AND HOSTILITY
RFERENCE GROUPS
people we look to in order to evaluate our own behavior
REFERENCE GROUPS SERVE A COUPLE OF FUNCTIONS
NORMATIVE FUNCTION
GUIDANCE ABOUT HOW TO ACT
COMPARATIVE FUNCTION
ASSESS ONESELF IN RELATION TO OTHERS
GET THEM!

10. GROUP DYNAMICS GROUP DYNAMICS MAJOR AREAS OF CONCERN
THE RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUAL AND GROUPS
MAJOR AREAS OF CONCERN
GROUP SIZE
NUMBER OF RELATIONSHIP; FORM COALITIONS
LEADERSHIP
EXPRESSIVE AND INSTRUMENTAL
CONFORMITY
PRESSURES TO CONFORM TO GROUP MANDATES
DECISION MAKING PROCESSES
OPEN OR CLOSED; CONSEQUENCES OF GROUPTHINK

11. GROUP SIZE TERMS DYADIC RELATIONSHIP TRIADIC RELATIONSHIP SMALL GROUPS
THESE DYADIC
RELATIONSHIPS ARE
INTIMATE…YES,
BUT SO UNSTABLE
TERMS
DYADIC RELATIONSHIP
TWO PERSONS
VERY UNSTABLE AND EASILY DESOLVED
TRIADIC RELATIONSHIP
THREE PERSONS
MANY MORE RELATIONSHIPS POSSIBLE
SMALL GROUPS
FOUR OR MORE MEMBERS
INTIMACY DECLINES AND STABILITY INCREASES AS SIZE OF GROUP GROWS

12. LEADERSHIP IN SMALL GROUPS
GROUPS TEND TO HAVE TWO DISTINCT LEADERS DEVELOP
INSTRUMENT
TASK-ORIENTED
EXPRESSIVE
INTERESTED IN MORALE OF GROUP
TYPES OF LEADERSHIP STYLE
AUTHORITARIAN
TASK-ORIENTED, very directive, little attention to the members opinions
DEMOCRATIC
ENCOURAGES GROUP DISCUSSION AND INPUT, build group consensus
LAISSEZ-FAIRE
Highly non directive, letting group members make their on decisions without much help or input, LEAST EFFECTIVE AND OFTEN DETACHED
I PREFER TO BE
COLLABORATIVE,
BUT I CAN ALSO
DO WHATEVER IT
TAKES TO GET THE
JOB DONE!
DON’T
STEREOTYPE

13. CONFORMITY AND DECISION-MAKING
ON CONFORMITY
STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT GROUPS INFLUENCE CONFORMITY
ASCH’S RESEARCH
DECISION-MAKING
GROUPS OFFER LARGER POOL TO DRAW FROM WITH RESPECT TO BRAINSTORMING EFFORTS
GROUP THINK
Tendency of highly cohesive groups to make poor decisions because the members are unwilling to threaten the group’s solidarity
AND, OF COURSE,
EVERYONE AGREES
WITH THE GROUP’S
POSITION…RIGHT!?!

14. LARGER ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE
IT SURE IS GREAT
TO BE ABLE TO
USE YOUR INPUT
ON THIS DRAFT…
NETWORKING
REALLY PAYS OFF!
NETWORKS
BROAD WEB OF SOCIAL TIES THAT RADIATES OUT FROM A GIVEN INDIVIDUAL
STANLEY MILGRAM’S RESEARCH (1967)
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT IN DEVELOPING PROFESSIONAL CAREERS (e.g., job search)
NETWORKS ARE DIVIDED INTO
STRONG LINKS
PERSONS WHO KNOW EACH OTHER WELL
WEAK LINKS
PERSONS WHO ARE LESS INTIMATE
“STRENGTH OF WEEK TIES”

15. OTHER ELEMENTS FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS COMMUNITIES STRATA (Layers)
COMMUNITIES ARE
VIBRANT AND VERY
DYNAMIC ELEMENTS
OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE
FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS
A LARGE SECONDARY GROUP
DESIGNED TO ACCOMPLISH SPECIFIC TASKS
AN ELABORATE INTERNAL DIVISION OF LABOR
COMMUNITIES
RELATIVELY LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO LIVE TOGETHER IN A SINGLE GEOGRAPHIC AREA
CONNECTED BY A VARIETY OF SOCIAL BONDS
STRATA (Layers)
SEGMENTS WITHIN A LARGE POPULATION WHICH RECEIVE DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF SCARCE AND VALUED RESOURCES (e.g, social classes, racial groups, etc.)

16. SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Widely accepted, rather stable clusters of roles, statuses, norms, values, and groups that develop around the basic need of society (predictable, established ways to provide for one or more of a society’s basic needs)
Five core institutions: the family, religion, the economy, the political institution, and education
Other examples of institutions: science, law and criminal justice system, the military, etc.)
Theses institutions fulfill five critical needs of society
Replacing members (the family)
Socializing new members (education, religion)
Producing and distributing goods and services (the economy)
Preserving order (law and criminal justice system, the military)
Proving a sense of meaning and purpose (religion)

17. SOCIETIES THE LARGEST ELEMENT OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE
A SIZABLE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO INTERACT, SHARE A CULTURE, AND USUALLY LIVE IN A SINGLE GEOGRAPHIC TERRITORY
SOCIETIES ARE SELF-PERPETUATING
SOCIETIES ARE BECOMING MORE AND MORE INTERDEPENDENT
SOCIETIES DO EVOLVE OVER TIME, ALBEIT VERY SLOWLY

18. Global Social Structure
Social structure becomes
more diffuse and more global.
Face-to-face interaction vs. Diffuse interaction (e.g., Communicating online, virtual communities, etc)
Diffuse forms of social structure (no territorial limits)
Toward a global society?

19. Summary
1. Social structure consists of the relatively stable patterns of social interaction that characterizes human social life; it is within the context of social structure that people enact culture.
2. Statuses are the key components from which larger units of social structure are constructed.
3. Statuses may be ascribed or achieved; when a status is especially important in determining an individual's identity, it is called a master status.
4. Roles are the dynamic aspect of statuses - we occupy a status but play a role.

20. Summary
5. Role strain and role conflict can result when people play several roles at the same time.
6. Social groups consist of several people who regularly interact and feel some sense of solidarity or common identity.
7. Primary groups provide warmth and intimacy, where as secondary groups are important for accomplishing specific objectives.
8. In-groups, out-groups, and reference groups are other important types of social groups.

21. Summary
9. The size of the group is crucial in determining how it functions.
10. All groups have two types of leader: instrumental leaders, who concentrate on achieving group goals, and expressive leaders, who maintain group morale.
11. People in small groups feel strong pressure to conform to the expectations of others and to obey group leaders.
12. Groupthink can interfere with the ability of a cohesive group to make wise decisions.

22. Summary
13. Networks are an increasingly important type of relatively diffuse social structure.
14. Larger elements of social structure include formal organizations, communities, strata, institutions and societies.
15. Social structure becomes more diffuse and more global.