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

Exchange

Competition

Conflict

Cooperation

Accommodation

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. Wars2. Disagree

ments 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 3rd 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: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvKGRSovQNM

Pastoral Societies – domesticate animals for food (i.e. goats, cattle, chickens, pigs, etc.)

Video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk7TzqDyvQ8

Horticultural Societies – grow small amounts of food and herd some animals for family and/or small village

Video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvwg56IbWpY

Agricultural Societies – grow large quantity of crops for family and to the community for a profit

Video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqx9MuZIC9o

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: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A92FGy3vhg

Postindustrial Societies – primarily makes a profit off of technology and services

Video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWcH9iOm-h8

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?HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=15D3ELV1JZW

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.