Sociology 374 Introduction to Social Structure and Change

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Sociology 374Introduction to Social Structure
and Change
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SOCIAL STRUCTURE

• SOCIAL STRUCTURE
• THE RELATIVELY STABLE PATTERNS OF SOCIAL
  INTERACTION THAT CHARACTERIZE HUMAN SOCIAL LIFE
• SOCIAL INTERACTION
• AT THE MICRO-LEVEL OF ANALYSIS
• INDIVIDUAL TO INDIVIDUAL
• AT THE MEZZO-LEVEL OF ANALYSIS
• LARGER ORGANIZATIONS
• AT THE MACRO-LEVEL OF ANALYSIS
• SOCIETIES and INSTITUTIONS

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THE SMALLEST ELEMENTSOF SOCIAL STRUCTURE

• STATUS
• SOCIAL POSITIONS THAT PEOPLE OCCUPY
• Individual statuses largely define who that
  person is in relation to other people (A group is
  a set of interrelated status.)
• STATUS SET
• ALL THE STATUSES THAT PERSONS OCCUPY AT A GIVEN
  TIMES IN THEIR LIVE (e.g., gender status,
  religious status, family status, class status,
  occupational status, and many others)
• STATUS INCONSISTENCY
• WHEN VARIOUS STATUSES A PERSON OCCUPIES DO NOT
  FIT SMOOTHLY TOGETHER
• A PERSON WITH A PH.D., WORKING AT SEARS SELLING
  APPLIANCES IN ORDER TO BRING IN A LITTLE MORE
  MONEY FOR FAMILY EXPENSES
• PEOPLE OFTEN INTERACT WITH OTHERS ON THE BASIS OF
  THE STATUSES THEY OCCUPY RATHER THAN WHO THEY ARE
  
• STATUS SYMBOLS that identify the statues they are
  occupying thus tell others how to behave towards
  them (e.g., a wealthy persons sports car, a
  street persons tattered clothes)

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• ASCRIBED STATUSES
• THOSE STATUSES INTO WHICH A PERSON IS BORN
  INVOLUNTARILY ACQUIRED (e.g., gender, race,
  family status, etc.)
• ACHIEVED STATUSES
• positions we acquire over time as a result of our
  own actions and efforts (e.g. occupation,
  educational status, political affiliation, etc.)
• MASTER STATUS
• Not all statuses are equally important
• A POWERFUL STATUS THAT DETERMINES A PERSONS
  INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY
• PROFESSOR, STUDENT, DISABLED, RICH OR POOR,
• MASTER STATUSES MAY BE HARD TO ESCAPE OR CHANGE
  (e.g., Catholic priest)

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SOCIAL ROLES
LETS SEEI KNOW I WAS EXPECTED TO TURN THIS IN
LAST WEEK, BUT I DIDNT PERFORM THE TASK UNTIL
LAST NIGHT, SO I BETTER TRY TO NEGOTIATE MY
ROLE AS STUDENT WITH MY PROFESSOR TODAY!

• ROLES
• THE BEHAVIOR EXPECTATIONS STEMMING FROM NORMS
• ASSOCIATED WITH VARIOUS STATUSES
• ROLE SET
• ALL THE BEHAVIORS ASSOCIATED WITH A PARTICULAR
  STATUS (e.g., college professors role set
  teaching, research, service, etc.)
• ROLE EXPECTATION
• THAT BEHAVIOR WHICH IS EXPECTED
• ROLE PERFORMANCE
• THE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE BY THE PERSON
• ROLE MAKING
• NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN ROLE PLAYERS
• A GOOD EXAMPLE IS THAT OF A COLLEGE STUDENT AND
  WHAT IS EXPECTED, GIVEN, AND NEGOTIATED

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• ROLE STRAIN
• CONFLICT IN PERFORMING ALLTHE ELEMENTS OF THE
  ROLE SET CONNECTED TO A SINGLE STATUS
• Many students find it difficult to take a heavy
  course load and do equally well in all their
  classes
• ROLE CONFLICT
• CONFLICT IN PERFORMING ROLE EXPECTATIONS WHEN TWO
  OR MORE STATUSES ARE INVOLVED
• A PERSON WHO IS BOTH A POLICE OFFICER AND PARENT
  WHO CATCHES HER SON BREAKING THE LAW

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SOCIAL GROUPS

• TO BE OR NOT TO BE A SOCIAL GROUP
• TWO OR MORE PEOPLE
• WHO INTERACT ON A REGULAR BASIS
• AND FEEL SOME SENSE OF COMMON IDENTITY and
  SOLIDARITY
• NON-GROUPS
• AGGREGATES
• COLLECTIONS OF PEOPLE WHO HAPPEN TO BE IN THE
  SAME PLACE AT THE SAME TIME
• CATEGORIES
• A COLLECTION OF PEOPLE WHO SHARE A SOCIAL STATUS
  (e.g., college freshmen, sociologists, etc.)

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NO DOUBT ABOUT ITI AM HAVING TO SPEND MUCH
MORE TIME ON THE JOB!

• REASONS FOR JOINING GROUPS
• TO ENJOY A MEASURE OF INTIMACY
• TO ACCOMPLISH GOALS
• TYPES OF GROUPS (Cooley, 1909)
• PRIMARY GROUPS (e.g., family, peer group, etc.)
• SMALL, INTIMATE, AND ENDURING
• CENTRAL TO OUR LIVES
• CONTAIN SIGNIFICANT OTHERS
• SECONDARY GROUPS
• LARGER, IMPERSONAL, TEMPORAL
• OFTEN RELATED TO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
• AMOUNT OF TIME SPENT INTERACTING WITHIN SECONDARY
  GROUPS IS RISING

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OTHER Types of Groups GROU

• IN- AND OUT-GROUPS
• IN-GROUPS
• GROUPS THAT INDIVIDUALS JOIN AND FOR WHICH THEY
  FEEL LOYALTY AND PRIDE
• OUT-GROUPS
• GROUPS TOWARD WHICH INDIVIDUALS MAY FEEL DISDAIN
  AND HOSTILITY
• RFERENCE GROUPS
• people we look to in order to evaluate our own
  behavior
• REFERENCE GROUPS SERVE A COUPLE OF FUNCTIONS
• NORMATIVE FUNCTION
• GUIDANCE ABOUT HOW TO ACT
• COMPARATIVE FUNCTION
• ASSESS ONESELF IN RELATION TO OTHERS

GET THEM!
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GROUP DYNAMICS

• GROUP DYNAMICS
• THE RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUAL
  AND GROUPS
• MAJOR AREAS OF CONCERN
• GROUP SIZE
• NUMBER OF RELATIONSHIP FORM COALITIONS
• LEADERSHIP
• EXPRESSIVE AND INSTRUMENTAL
• CONFORMITY
• PRESSURES TO CONFORM TO GROUP MANDATES
• DECISION MAKING PROCESSES
• OPEN OR CLOSED CONSEQUENCES OF GROUPTHINK

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GROUP SIZE
THESE DYADIC RELATIONSHIPS ARE INTIMATEYES, BUT
SO UNSTABLE

• TERMS
• DYADIC RELATIONSHIP
• TWO PERSONS
• VERY UNSTABLE AND EASILY DESOLVED
• TRIADIC RELATIONSHIP
• THREE PERSONS
• MANY MORE RELATIONSHIPS POSSIBLE
• SMALL GROUPS
• FOUR OR MORE MEMBERS
• INTIMACY DECLINES AND STABILITY INCREASES AS SIZE
  OF GROUP GROWS

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• LEADERSHIP IN SMALL GROUPS
• GROUPS TEND TO HAVE TWO DISTINCT LEADERS DEVELOP
• INSTRUMENT
• TASK-ORIENTED
• EXPRESSIVE
• INTERESTED IN MORALE OF GROUP
• TYPES OF LEADERSHIP STYLE
• AUTHORITARIAN
• TASK-ORIENTED, very directive, little attention
  to the members opinions
• DEMOCRATIC
• ENCOURAGES GROUP DISCUSSION AND INPUT, build
  group consensus
• LAISSEZ-FAIRE
• Highly non directive, letting group members make
  their on decisions without much help or input,
  LEAST EFFECTIVE AND OFTEN DETACHED

I PREFER TO BE COLLABORATIVE, BUT I CAN ALSO DO
WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET THE JOB DONE!
DONT STEREOTYPE
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CONFORMITYAND DECISION-MAKING

• ON CONFORMITY
• STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT GROUPS INFLUENCE
  CONFORMITY
• ASCHS RESEARCH
• DECISION-MAKING
• GROUPS OFFER LARGER POOL TO DRAW FROM WITH
  RESPECT TO BRAINSTORMING EFFORTS
• GROUP THINK
• Tendency of highly cohesive groups to make poor
  decisions because the members are unwilling to
  threaten the groups solidarity

AND, OF COURSE, EVERYONE AGREES WITH THE
GROUPS POSITIONRIGHT!?!
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LARGER ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE
IT SURE IS GREAT TO BE ABLE TO USE YOUR INPUT ON
THIS DRAFT NETWORKING REALLY PAYS OFF!

• NETWORKS
• BROAD WEB OF SOCIAL TIES THAT RADIATES OUT FROM A
  GIVEN INDIVIDUAL
• STANLEY MILGRAMS RESEARCH (1967)
• EXTREMELY IMPORTANT IN DEVELOPING PROFESSIONAL
  CAREERS (e.g., job search)
• NETWORKS ARE DIVIDED INTO
• STRONG LINKS
• PERSONS WHO KNOW EACH OTHER WELL
• WEAK LINKS
• PERSONS WHO ARE LESS INTIMATE
• STRENGTH OF WEEK TIES

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OTHER ELEMENTS
COMMUNITIES ARE VIBRANT AND VERY DYNAMIC
ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE

• FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS
• A LARGE SECONDARY GROUP
• DESIGNED TO ACCOMPLISH SPECIFIC TASKS
• AN ELABORATE INTERNAL DIVISION OF LABOR
• COMMUNITIES
• RELATIVELY LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO LIVE
  TOGETHER IN A SINGLE GEOGRAPHIC AREA
• CONNECTED BY A VARIETY OF SOCIAL BONDS
• STRATA (Layers)
• SEGMENTS WITHIN A LARGE POPULATION WHICH RECEIVE
  DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF SCARCE AND VALUED RESOURCES
  (e.g, social classes, racial groups, etc.)

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SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

• SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
• Widely accepted, rather stable clusters of roles,
  statuses, norms, values, and groups that develop
  around the basic need of society (predictable,
  established ways to provide for one or more of a
  societys basic needs)
• Five core institutions the family, religion, the
  economy, the political institution, and education
• Other examples of institutions science, law and
  criminal justice system, the military, etc.)
• Theses institutions fulfill five critical needs
  of society
• Replacing members (the family)
• Socializing new members (education, religion)
• Producing and distributing goods and services
  (the economy)
• Preserving order (law and criminal justice
  system, the military)
• Proving a sense of meaning and purpose (religion)

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SOCIETIES

• THE LARGEST ELEMENT OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE
• A SIZABLE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO INTERACT, SHARE A
  CULTURE, AND USUALLY LIVE IN A SINGLE GEOGRAPHIC
  TERRITORY
• SOCIETIES ARE SELF-PERPETUATING
• SOCIETIES ARE BECOMING MORE AND MORE
  INTERDEPENDENT
• SOCIETIES DO EVOLVE OVER TIME, ALBEIT VERY SLOWLY

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Global Social Structure
Social structure becomes more diffuse and
more global.

• Face-to-face interaction vs. Diffuse
  interaction (e.g., Communicating online, virtual
  communities, etc)
• Diffuse forms of social structure (no
  territorial limits)
• Toward a global society?

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Summary

• 1. Social structure consists of the relatively
  stable patterns of social interaction that
  characterizes human social life it is within the
  context of social structure that people enact
  culture.
• 2. Statuses are the key components from which
  larger units of social structure are
  constructed.
• 3. Statuses may be ascribed or achieved when a
  status is especially important in determining
  an individual's identity, it is called a master
  status.
• 4. Roles are the dynamic aspect of statuses -
  we occupy a status but play a role.

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Summary

• 5. Role strain and role conflict can
  result when people play several roles at the same
  time.
• 6. Social groups consist of several
  people who regularly interact and feel some sense
  of solidarity or common identity.
• 7. Primary groups provide warmth and
  intimacy, where as secondary groups are important
  for accomplishing specific objectives.
• 8. In-groups, out-groups, and
  reference groups are other important types of
  social groups.

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Summary

• 9. The size of the group is crucial in
  determining how it functions.
• 10. All groups have two types of
  leader instrumental leaders, who concentrate on
  achieving group goals, and expressive leaders,
  who maintain group morale.
• 11. People in small groups feel strong
  pressure to conform to the expectations of others
  and to obey group leaders.
• 12. Groupthink can interfere with the
  ability of a cohesive group to make wise
  decisions.

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Summary

• 13. Networks are an increasingly important
  type of relatively diffuse social structure.
• 14. Larger elements of social
  structure include formal organizations,
  communities, strata, institutions and societies.
• 15. Social structure becomes more
  diffuse and more global.