Chapter 4

1. Chapter 4 Social Structure

2. Social Structure • Social structure gives society its enduring characteristics and makes patterns of human interaction predictable. • Social structure: the network of interrelated statuses and roles that guide human interaction.

3. Status • Status: A socially defined position in a group or in a society. • Each status has attached to it one or more roles. • Each individual in society occupies several statuses. • Statuses are ways of defining where individuals fit in society and how they relate to others in society

4. Ascribed Status • Ascribed: Based on a person’s inherited traits or are assigned automatically when a person reaches a certain age. • Teen or young adult due to age…You didn’t earn it, not can you do anything about it. • Ex. Sex, family heritage, race, etc. (write down one example)

5. Achieved Status • Achieved: Acquired through your own direct efforts, special skills, knowledge, or abilities. • Ex. the status of baseball player is achieved because of physical ability and knowledge of the game. • People have some control over their achieved status. • All occupations are achieved statuses, as are husband/wife, parent, high school or college grad

6. Master Status • Of all the statuses you have, one tends to take rank over all others. • Master Status: the status that plays the biggest role in shaping a person’s life and determining his or her social identity. • Can be ascribed or achieved.

7. Master Status • An adult in the U.S. usually has an achieved master status. • Ex. Occupation, wealth, marital status, parenthood, etc.

8. Master Status • Master status can change throughout your life. • Teen- Student or athlete • Adulthood- Occupation • Late adulthood- Volunteer work, hobbies, grandparenthood, past accomplishments

9. Roles • Statuses are social categories, whereas roles are the component that brings social structure to life. • “You occupy a status, but you play a role.” (Linton) • At home you play the role of son or daughter. At school you may play the role of student.

10. Roles • You may also perform roles that go along with the status of athlete, cast of the play, student mentor, etc.

11. Reciprocal Roles • Reciprocal Roles: Corresponding roles that define the patterns of social interaction between related statuses. • Ex. one cannot fulfill the role associated with the status of husband without having someone else perform the role that goes along with the status of wife. • Ex. doctor-patient, friend-friend, employer-employee, sales clerk-customer

12. Role Expectations and Role Performance • Ideally, when people interact with one another their behavior corresponds to the particular roles they are playing. • Role Expectations: Socially determined behaviors expected of a person performing a role. • What are some examples of role expectations?

13. Role Expectations and Role Performance • Role Performance: Actual role behavior. • Unfortunately, role behavior does not always match the behavior expected by society. • Problems can arise because role behaviors considered appropriate by a certain segment are seen as inappropriate by society as a whole.

14. Role Conflict and Role Strain • Even within a single status, there are many interested roles to perform. • Role Sets- The different roles attached to a single status. • Because we hold many different statuses, we must deal with many role sets in our daily lives. • Contradictions between our role sets can lead to conflict and role strain

15. Role Conflict • Occurs when fulfilling the role expectations of one status makes it difficult to fulfill the role expectations of another status.

16. Role Conflict • Ex. To be a good employee an individual needs to go to work. However, to be a good parent, that person needs to stay home and take care of a sick child.

17. Role Conflict • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJbtd1pzie0&NR=1&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WGNAwdkoGo&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

18. Role Strain • Occurs when a person has difficulty meeting the role expectations of a single status.

19. Role Strain • Ex. A boss trying to maintain the morale of his workers while asking them to work long overtime hours.

20. Social Institutions • Statuses and their related roles determine the structure of various groups in society. • Social Institutions- System of statuses, roles, values, and norms that is organized to satisfy one or more of the basic needs of society. • Basic Needs: provide physical and emotional support, transmit knowledge, produce goods and services, maintain social control.

21. Exchange • Exchange- Individual, group, or social interaction undertaken in an effort to receive a reward in return for actions. • Almost all daily interaction involves exchange. • “Exchange is the most common form of interaction.” (Blau) • Dating, family life, friendship, politics all involve exchange.

22. Exchange • Reciprocity- The idea that if you do something for someone, that person owes you something in return. • Reciprocity is the basis of exchange. • Rewards for reciprocity can be material and nonmaterial.

23. Exchange Theory • Exchange Theory- Believes that people are motivated by self-interest in their interactions with other people. • Behavior that is rewarded tends to be repeated. • When costs of an interaction outweigh rewards; individuals are likely to end a relationship. • (Exchange Theory= Maximize Rewards, Minimize Costs)

24. Assignment • Page 68 Section 1 Review #2-3 • Page 70 think About It #1-2 • Try to write 2 to 3 sentences for each question

25. Competition • Occurs when 2 or more people or groups oppose each other to achieve a goal that only one can attain. • Competition is about achieving the goal. • Cornerstone of the capitalist economic system and the democratic form of government

26. Competition • Viewed as positive as long as it follows accepted rules of conduct. • Competition can lead to psychological stress, a lack of cooperation in social relationships, inequality and even conflict.

27. Conflict • The deliberate attempt to control a person by force, to oppose someone, or to harm another person. • Conflict is about defeating the enemy. • Conflict has few rules of conduct, and even these are often ignored.

28. 4 Sources of Conflict • War • Disagreements • Legal Disputes • Clashes over ideology (religious or political) • Conflicts sometimes begin as competition (businesses, politics) • Conflict can be positive by reinforcing group boundaries and strengthening group loyalty by focusing on an outside threat.

29. Cooperation • Cooperation: Occurs when 2 or more people or groups work together to achieve a goal that will benefit more than one person. • A social process that gets things done. • Competition can be used along with cooperation to motivate group members to work harder.

30. Accommodation • Accommodation is the state of balance between cooperation and conflict. • Ex. Staying at a hotel…

31. Accommodation • 4 Types of Accommodation: • Compromise: Give up something to come to a mutual agreement. • Truce: Brings conflict to a halt until a compromise can be reached.

32. Accommodation • Mediation: A form of accommodation involving a 3rd party who acts as an advisor or counselor to help the 2 parties reach an agreement. • Arbitration: When a 3rd party makes decision that is binding on both parties. • Ex. child support or MLB

33. Group • Group: A set of people who interact on the basis of shared expectations and possess some degree of common identity. • Societies are the largest and most complex groups that sociologists study.

34. Groups • Sociologists classify societies according to subsistence strategies; the way a society uses technology to provide for the needs of its members. • 3 Categories of Subsistence Strategies: • Preindustrial • Industrial • Post Industrial

35. Preindustrial • Types of Preindustrial societies • Hunting and Gathering • Pastoral societies • Horticultural societies • Agricultural societies

36. What is a Group? • In sociological terms, a group has four major features. • It must consist of two or more people. • There must be interaction between group members. • The members of the group must have shared expectations. • The members must possess some sense of common identity.

37. What is a Group? • The last three features- interaction, shared expectations, and a common identity- distinguish a group from an aggregate or social category. • An aggregate is a group of people gathering in the same place at the same time but they lack organization or lasting patterns of interaction. • Ex. People on an airplane, people standing in a ticket line at a movie.

38. What is a Group? • In the case of social categories it is not necessary for people to interact in any way. • A social category is simply a means of classifying people according to a shared trait or a common status. • Ex. Students, women, teenagers, left-handed people

39. Organization of Groups • Organization of groups can be formal or informal. • In a formal group, the structure, goals, and activities of the group are clearly defined. • Ex. Student government • In an informal group there is no official structure or established rules of conduct. • Ex. Your group of friends

40. Reference Groups • People usually perform their social roles and judge their own behaviors according to standards set by a particular group. • They do not have to belong to this group, but when people identify with the group’s standards and attitudes, the group influences their behavior. • Any group with whom individuals identify and whose attitudes and values they adopt is called a reference group.