Social Interaction

1. Social Interaction Groups, Institutions, & Social Construction of Reality

2. Group V Institution • Group • Composed of specific, identifiable people • 2 or more people who interact frequently and share a common identity and a feeling of interdependence • i.e. families, childhood friends, university classes, work & community organizations, society • Primary V Secondary group

3. Group V Institution • Institution • A standardized way of doing something • A set of organizaed beliefs and rules that establish how a society will attempt to meet its basic social needs: • Children are born & socialized, goods & services are produced & distributed, order is preserved • i.e. family, religion, education, economy, gov • i.e. mass media, sports, science, medicine, military

4. Group V Institution • Family as a Group • “your family” or “my family” = a family (grouping) • Family as an Institution • Ideologies and standardized patterns of behaviour that organize family life = family (social institution) • Certain statuses are organized into relationships • (husband-wife, parent-child, brother-sister)

5. Social Institutions • Functionalist view on Social Institutions • Social Institutions perform 5 essential tasks • Replacing members • Teaching new members • Producing, distributing, and consuming goods & services • Preserving order • Providing & maintaining a sense of purpose • All societies require these tasks, yet the institutions in each society perform these tasks in different ways depending on their specific cultural values & norms

7. Social Construction of Reality • People interpret social interactions in different ways • Ethnicity, gender, and social class play a role • Varies based on the statuses we occupy and our unique personal experiences • i.e. members of the dominant classes regard the poor, unemployed, and working class as less worthy of attention

8. Social Construction of Reality • Symbolic Interactionists believe that there is very little shared reality beyond that which is socially created • Social Construction of Reality: • The process by which our perception of reality is shaped largely by the subjective meaning that we give to an experience • Influences what we “see” and how we respond

9. Social Construction of Reality • We act on reality as we see it • “the definition of the situation” • We analyze a social context in which we find ourselves, determine what is in our best interest, and adjust our attitudes and actions accordingly. • This can produce a self-fulfilling prophecy • A false belief or prediction that produces behaviour that makes the originally false belief come true

10. Social Construction of Reality • Reality can be constructed by the dominant group • Dominant group members with prestigious statuses may have the ability to establish how other people define “reality” • i.e. the media often set the tone for our current opinions about homelessness, teen crime, and what is considered “cool” at the moment via negative or positive news stories