Society: Interactions Groups and Organizations

5c h a p t e r

We spend our lives both trying to fit in and trying to stand out. Sociology is interested in how we decide and how we go about both.

Society: Putting Things in Context

– contextualizing– society

• organized collection • bounded by space• same political authority• shared sets of values/expectations

– structured social interaction– identity construction– social structure

The Social Construction of Reality

– social interaction

• Cooley and the Looking-Glass Self– imagine how we appear– conclusions/reactions of others– develop self identity

The Social Construction of Reality

The Social Construction of Reality

– “I” and “me” (Mead)

• Goffman and the “Dramaturgical” Self– presentation of self to others– impression management– dramaturgy– face work

The Social Construction of Reality

• Nonverbal Communication– body movements– gestures– facial expressions– placement in relation to others– laughter

• Verbal Communication– ethnomethodology

• “conversational shortcuts”

The Social Construction of Reality

• Patterns of Social Interaction– Exchange– Cooperation– Competition– Conflict– Coercion

• superordinate• subordinate

The Elements of Social Structure

• Status– Ascribed Status– Achieved Status– Master Status

• Roles– expectations and performance– role strain– role conflict– role exit

1. Doubt2. Search for alternatives3. Departure4. New role

Groups

– group• formal or informal

– dyad– crowd– group cohesion

• Groups and Identity

Groups

• Types of Groups– Primary and Secondary

• expressive and instrumental– In-Groups and Out-Groups

• in-group heterogeneity• out-group homogeneity

– Reference Groups– Cliques

“ . . . when in-groups and out-groups are divided on thebasis of race, nationality, gender or other ascribed status,

relations become more severe and violent”

Groups

• Group Dynamics– size matters

• leader• hardcore members

– Conformity– Diffusion of responsibility– Stereotyping prejudice

Social Networks

– network• lasting influence (Domhoff)

• looser and denser• web (Simmel)

• Networks and Social Experience– support in times of stress or illness– “strength of weak ties” (Granovetter)

• Networks and Globalization

“ . . . online we can adopt new roles and statuses, changingnot only our skills and interests, but our age, ethnicity,

gender and sexuality at will.”

Networks

• Claude Fischer (1975)

– Sub-cultural Theory of Urbanism

• “critical masses” that foster unconventional behavior (next slide)

• Attracts those with special talents and interests

– density increases “unconventionality” and pathology but not from crowding

Networks and Mental Health

• Leo Srole (1980)– Mental Health in New York

• City life does not produce mental illness• urban mental health is better than rural• social networks

• Mark Granovetter (1973)– The Strength of Weak Ties

• primary• secondary • acquaintences

Organizations

– organizations• size• purpose• efficiency

• Types of Organizations– Normative Organizations– Coercive Organizations

• total institutions– Utilitarian Organizations

Organizations

• Are We a Nation of Joiners?– Democracy in America (de Tocqueville)

– decrease in normative organization participation

• Organizations: Race and Gender Inequality?– rules favor some groups over others– criteria is not necessarily “neutral”

Organizations

• Bureaucracy: Organization and Power– Division of labor– Hierarchy of authority– Rules and regulations– Impersonality– Career ladders– Efficiency

Figure 3.3

Organizations

• Problems with Bureaucracy– Overspecialization– Rigidity and inertia– Ritualism– Suppression of dissent– The bureaucratic “Catch-22”

Organizations

– bureaucratic personality

– Bureaucracy and Accountability

– Bureaucracy and Democracy

– The “Iron Cage” of Bureaucracy

• Globalization and Organizations

• Groups ‘R’ Us: Groups and Interactions in the 21st Century