Social Structure & Society

Social Structure• The underlying patterns of relationships in a

group– Status—a position a person occupies within a

social structure• Status helps us define who and what we

are in relation to others

Two types of social statuses:

• Ascribed Status—a position that is assigned or is acquired at birth; it is not earned or chosen– Example: newborn female ascribed status is

child and daughter• Achieved Status—a position that is earned or

chosen– Example: a person who decides to become a spouse or

a parent

Status Set• All of the statuses that a person

occupies at any particular time– one lawyer may be a wife, mother,

author, and choir director– One student may also be a brother, a

tennis player, a tutor, and a store clerk

Master Status

• A position that strongly affects most other aspects of a person’s life– Can be achieved or ascribed– In many societies, occupations

are master statuses– “criminal” is an achieved

master status

Roles

• Role—an expected behavior associated with a particular status– Statuses include a variety of

roles– Roles = statuses “in action”

Rights and Obligations• Rights—a behavior that individuals

can expect from others

• Obligations—a behavior that individuals are expected to perform toward others– Example: Doctors are obligated to

diagnose their patients’ illnesses . . . patients have the right to expect their doctors to diagnose as best they can

Roles continued

• Role Performance—the actual behavior of an individual in a role

• Social Interaction—the process of influencing each other as people relate

When Roles Conflict

• Role Conflict—the performance of a role in one status interferes with the performance of a role in another status– Example: teenagers going to school and

working—hard to balance study and work demands

Conflicting Roles Continued

• Role Strain—the roles of a single status are inconsistent or conflicting– Example: high school teachers have to

prepare lessons and sponsor clubs and go to student-centered meetings and go to professional meetings and go to workshops

• The fulfillment of one role can interfere with the performance of the others

Society

• people living within defined geographic boundaries and sharing a common culture

Types of Societies• Hunting and Gathering Societies—society that survives

by hunting animals and gathering edible plants

• Horticultural Society—society that survives through the growing of plants

• Pastoral Society—society in which food is obtained by raising and taking care of animals

• Agricultural Society—society that uses plows and draft animals in growing food

• Industrial Society—society that depends on science and technology to produce its basic goods and services

Groups & Formal Organization

Groups / Collectivities

• Types of Groups (3)–1. Social Aggregate• People who gather in the same place at the

same time but lack organization or lasting patterns of interaction.

–2. Social Category • People with the same status or trait • May play similar roles• Don’t necessarily know each other

Groups / Collectivities

• 3. Social Group– Interact regularly–Have expected behaviors for each other–Have a feeling of association between them

Aggregate, Category or Social Group?

• Your family• Buddhists• The Senate• People at Lake Lynn• Firemen• The WHS soccer team• Watching the ball drop at Times Square• Passengers on an airplane• Drug dealers• The current Kappa Sigma fraternity members at UNC-CH• All Kappa Sigma fraternity members

Group Types• Group—at least two people who have one or

more goals in common and share common ways of thinking and behaving

• Social Category—people who share a social characteristic

• Primary Group—people who are emotionally close, know one another well, and seek one another’s company

Groups Continued• Secondary Group—people who share only part of

their lives while focusing on a goal or task

• Reference Group—group used for self-evaluation and the formation of attitudes, values, beliefs, and norms

• In-Group—exclusive group demanding intense loyalty

• Out-Group—group targeted by an in-group for opposition, antagonism, or competition

Primary, Secondary, Reference or In-group?

• The Senate• Alcoholics• This Sociology class• The Bloods• Your family• Vegetarians• Democrats• Your co-workers• Your clique of best friends• Coffee drinkers

How many primary relationships do you have?

• Duke and Univ. of Arizona Study– Over last 20 years, primary relationships shrank from 3 to

2.– Number of Americans who have no one to confide in

grew to 1 in 4.– 80% rely solely on family members, 9% solely on spouses

– Related podcasts: • The guy at the printer (start 43:25)

How groups interact• Social Network—a web of social

relationships that join a person to other people and groups

• Social Exchange—a voluntary action performed in the expectation of getting a reward in return

Problems with Groups• Conformity—behavior that matches group expectations

• Groupthink—self-deceptive thinking that is based on conformity to group beliefs, and created by group pressure to conform

• Coercion—interaction in which individuals or groups are forced to behave in a particular way

• Deviance—behavior that departs from societal or group norms

• Social Control—ways to encourage conformity to society’s norms

• Societal Sanctions—rewards or punishments that encourage conformity to social norms

Deviance leads to Labels

• Labeling Theory—theory that society creates deviance by identifying particular members as deviant

• Stigma—an undesirable trait or label that is used to characterize an individual