Social Interaction and Social Structure

Chapter 5

Mock Prison Experiment

Phillip Zimbardo at Stanford University

70 Male students were paid to give up vacation time to simulate a prison in the basement corridor of a school building

arbitrarily designated as prisoners or guards (flip of a coin)

guards acted “guardlike”. Some tough but fair

1/3rd became cruel and abusive <Zimbardo’s Mock Prison Slide Show and Discussion of

Social Interaction and Reality

Herbert Blumer-response to someone’s behavior is based on the meaning we attach to his or her actions

meanings typically reflect the norms of the dominant culture and our socialization experiences

Interactionalists-meanings attached are shaped by interactions

<reality is constructed by our interactions

Defining and Reconstructing Reality

Regard tattoos-few short years ago- “weird, kooky”

associated with fringe counterculture-punk rockers, bike gangs, skinheads

increased social interaction with people with tattoos has brought about a different view

<Tattooed Brett Michaels of Poison

Negotiated Order

Social reality can be negotiated as changes occur in social interactions

negotiation refers to attempt to reach an agreement with others concerning some objective

does not involve coercion through negotiation as a form of

social interaction- society creates social structure

Negotiated Order-social structure that derives its existence from social interaction through which people define and redefine its character

Status

Status-any of the full range of socially defined positions within a large group or society

Ascribed Status-”assigned” by a society without regard for talent

Conflict Theorists are especially interested in these

Achieved Status- comes largely through our own efforts

our achieved status is heavily influenced by our ascribed status

Master Status-a status that dominates others and thereby determines a person’s position within society

<Malcolm X. was told by an English Teacher: being a lawyer was “no realistic goal for a nigger” and encouraged him to be a carpenter

Status Exercise

Put in the middle of the circle ‘ME’

surround yourself with circles filling each with a status

on top put- ascribed statuses-make it a certain design

on bottom -achieved statuses-make it a certain design

star -the master status

Social Roles and Role Conflict

Social Roles-Set of expectations for people who occupy a given status

view someone as only a “police officer”, difficult to view as a “friend”

Role Conflict-incompatible expectations arise from two or more social positions held by the same person

women promoted to supervisor on an assembly line

individuals move into occupations that are common among through ascribed status

Role Strain and Exit

Role Strain-difficulty of occupying two social positions simultaneously

Zimbardo-as professor at the head of an experiment and as professor looking out for the welfare of his students

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg-spies?, scientists

Role Exit-adjustments made when leaving a role-eg. Ex-convict, quitting a job, divorce

four stages of role exit 1. Doubt 2. Search for alternatives 3. Action stage or departure 4. Creation of a new identity

Groups

Groups-Any number of people with similar norms, values and expectations who interact with one another

Women’s basketball team, hospital’s business office, symphony orchestra

entire staff of a hospital is not staff members rarely interact vital part in social structure also now- those who interact

electronically these transmission allows for

impression management-alter one’s ego

Social Institutions

Social Institutions-organized patterns of beliefs and behaviors centered on basic social needs

five Social Institutions (in no specific order)

1. Family 2. Government 3. Education 4. Business 5. Religion

Perspectives on Social Institutions

Functionalist Perspective-(David Aberle (1950), Raymond Mack and Calvin Bradford (1979)

5 functional prerequisites must accomplish to stay alive

1. Replacing personnel-die, leave or become incapacitated

<Shakers-came in 1774-celibacy-must replace personnel through recruitment (6000 in 1840’s-7 in 1999)

Functionalist Perspective of Social Institutions

2. Teaching New Recruits- group must encourage the recruits to

learn and accept its values and customs learning can take place formally in

schools (manifest function) or informally through interaction and negotiation in peer groups (latent function)

3. Producing and distributing Goods and Services-

society must provide goods and services for its members

the group must provide for most members or the members will become discontent and grow into disorder

Functionalist Perspective of Social Institutions

<4. Preserving order- native people of Tasmania are

now extinct-1800’s destroyed by the hunting parties of European conquerors-looked on as half human

must protect themselves from attack as well as preserve order

5. Providing and maintaining a sense of purpose-

people must feel motivated to continue as a member of that society to fulfill the other four requirements

Conflict Theorist Perspective on Social Institutions

Do not agree with the functionalists

object to the idea that the outcome is efficient and desirable

present order is not an accident maintains the privileges of

certain powerful groups and individuals, contributing to the powerlessness of those without power

social institutions are inherently conservative

Conflict Theorists Perspective on Social Institutions

Functionalist-social change could be dysfunctional

why should we preserve unfair and discriminatory social structures?

Social Institutions work in Gender and racist environments

Matrix of Domination-Patricia Hill Collins (1971)-interlocking models of oppression-unless activists or policymakers intervene-those in less advantaged groups will remain in those groups

Interactionalist Perspective of Social Institutions

Emphasize that our social behavior is conditioned by the role and statuses that we accept, the groups which we belong, and the institutions in which we function

“judge”-in relation to attorney, defendant, plaintiff, witness

judicial system derives its significance due to the roles people carry out in social interactions

Gemeinschaft and Gessellschaft

Ferdinand Tonnies(1855-1936)-rise of industrial city marked the end of the ideal type close-knit community-Gemeinschaft

brought about the impersonal mass society-Gessellschaft

<Characteristics of both

Sociocultural Evolution

Gerhard Lenski-change according to the dominant pattern

rather than opposite forces as Tonnies had seen

level of technology is critical to the way it is organized

<Technology-information about the ways in which material resources of the environment may be used to satisfy human needs and desires.

Preindustrial Society

1. Hunters and Gatherers-rely on food and fiber readily available

technology is minimal, organized in groups and constantly searching for food-little division of labor

small widely dispersed groups, each group is related-kinship ties rule the groups

last group has virtually disappeared by the close of the 20th century

Preindustrial Society

2. Horticultural Society-plant seeds and crops rather than subsist merely on available food

much less nomadic production of tools and

household objects technology is still limited-digging

sticks or hoes are the furthest reaches of technology

3. Agrarian Society-production of food

technology allows for increased production-Plow

Preindustrial Society

Still relies on physical power of humans and animals

social structure has more defined roles than in Horticultural society

individual concentrate on specialized tasks-ie. Blacksmith

social institutions become more elaborate-property rights

create artifacts

Industrial Society

Industrial revolution-in England between 1760-1830

scientific revolution focused on the nonanimal(mechanical) sources of power to labor tasks

people left the homesteads and started to work in centrally located factories

specialization of task social consequences-families and

communities could not function as self-sufficient units

individuals, villages and regions exchanged goods and services and interdependent

Industrial Society

Family loses its position as the power source and authority

specialization knowledge leads to more formalized education, education becomes distinct from the family

Postindustrial and Modern Society

Postindustrial-a society whose economic system is engaged primarily in the processing and control of information

main output is services not manufactured goods

Postmodern-technologically sophisticated society that is preoccupied by consumer goods and media images

global perspective-note the ways a nation’s culture crosses its borders