Chapter 5

SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND SOCIETY

Social Structure and Status

Social Structure- the pattern of social relationships within a group.

-Helps people interact, or relate to one another, more smoothly.

In learning the structure of each group we belong to, we learn about statuses and roles—major elements of social structure.

Status-a position a person occupies within a social structure.

- Helps us define who and what we are in relation to others within the same social structure.

Social Structure and Status

Ascribed Status-a position in a social structure that is neither earned nor chosen to be assigned to a person.

-In some societies, social class is an ascribed status that is assigned to someone as the result of birth into a particular family or into a religious, ethnic, or racial group.

Achieved Status-a position in a social structure that is earned or chosen.

-This is possible only if people have some degree of control over their lives and a range of choices.

- Reflects a person’s individual accomplishments or choices.

Social Structure and Status

- Occupations are also achieved statuses in most modern societies, in which people are free to choose their work.

Some Ascribed Statuses can change over time

Each life stage—childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, mature adulthood, and old age—has a distinct position in society

Social status is often hierarchical. Different statuses are seen by members of a group as ranking higher or lower than one another.

Social Structure and Status

Any person in society occupies more than one status.

- Child, friend, student, teammate.

Status Set-all the statuses a person occupies at any given time.

-The Status set of two individuals in the same group can be very different.

Master Status-a position that strongly influences most other aspect of a person's life

Social Structure and Status

-Can be achieved or Ascribed.

-modern industrial societies, occupations—which are generally achieved statuses—are typically master statuses.

-Gender, age, race, and ethnicity are all ascribed master statuses.

Social Structure and Roles

Role- Expected behavior associated with a particular task.

-”Statuses in action”

-describe behaviors

Rights- are behaviors that individuals expect from others.

Obligations- are behaviors that individuals are expected to perform toward others.

-Rights of one status correspond to the obligations of another.

-People with different statuses follow social scripts to act out social roles, and our culture provides the script for the roles we play in real life.

Role performance and Social Interaction

Role Performance- is the actual conduct, or behavior, exhibited by people as they carry out a role.

-Most involve social interaction but some may occur without an audience.

-The performance itself.

Social Interaction- is any of the processes by which people influence one another as they interrelate.

-Represents the way we use words and actions to cue one another and how they respond to those cues.

Role Conflict and Role Strain

Role conflict- the situation that exists when expectations for or performance of a role in one status clash with expectations for or performance of a role in another status.

-Students and employees

Role strain-the situation that occurs when a person has trouble meeting the many roles connected with a single status

How to manage role conflict and Role Stain?

-We solve these dilemmas by setting priorities. Consider dropping the one that is least important.

Social Structure and roles

-Another way is to segregate roles. Separate behavior in one role from behavior in another role.

-Some roles can be incompatible.

Because of role conflict and role strain, meeting the incompatible goals and expectations of all our roles is impossible.

-Fired for poor performance in role performance.

Preindustrial Societies

Society- a group of people living within defined territorial borders and sharing a common culture.

-share patterned and predictable social relationships that are passed from generation to generation.

-Societies meet their members’ basic needs, such as the needs for food and shelter, in different ways.

Preindustrial Societies

Hunting and gathering society- survives by hunting animals and gathering edible fruits and vegetables.

-this is the oldest solution to the problem of meeting subsistence needs, few hunting and gathering societies remain today.

-Hunting and gathering societies are usually nomadic,

-Settle disputes through song.

Preindustrial Societies

Horticultural society-using simple tools to grow plants.

- A few horticultural societies remain today, such as the Birom people of Nigeria and the Hanunóo of the Philippines.

-led to more permanent settlements.

-allowed the growth of larger societies—as many as one thousand or more people.

-primary emphasis is on the survival of family members.

Preindustrial Societies

Pastoral societies- goods are obtained primarily by raising and taking care of animals.

-groups herd domesticated animals, such as cattle, camels, goats, and sheep.

-Migration is a key feature of pastoral societies

-Some, however, have long-term villages and simply move their herd animals to different pastures within a given area at different times of year.

-Societies tend to be male dominated.

Preindustrial Societies

Agricultural society- a society that uses plows and draft animals to grow food.

-use plows and domesticated animals, which boost productivity by digging more deeply into the ground and making it possible to farm larger areas.

-people are free to engage in noneconomic activities such as education and the arts.

-Even though agricultural societies can have cities, they are agrarian because farming is the basis of the society.