Social structure

Understanding Social Structures and Roles

"The patterns in our lives are both constraining and enabling" (Giddens 1984).

​What Are Social Structures?

• Our daily interactions follow patterns.

• We often meet the same people (family, friends) or the same types of people (teachers, clerks).

• These repeated relationships form social structures.

​Key Components of Social Structures

• Each social structure includes:

  • Actors (e.g., mother/child, buyer/seller).

  • Norms that define expected behavior.

• Social structures exist at all levels of society.

• Some are supported by laws, but most rely on tradition.

​What is Status?

• Status: A person’s position in a group compared to others.

• Two types of status:

  • Achieved status – earned through actions (e.g., father, doctor, convict).

  • Ascribed status – given at birth (e.g., race, gender).

​Status Set

• Each person holds multiple statuses at the same time.

• Example: Someone can be a student, daughter, athlete, and employee simultaneously.

• This mix of statuses is called a status set.

Multiple Select

Choose Achieved status

• Writer

• Man

• Prisoner

• Businessman

Multiple Select

Choose Ascribed status

• Singer

• Man

• Thief

• Woman

​What Are Roles?

• Roles define how people should behave in a given status.

• Using a theater metaphor:

  • Status = character in a play.

  • Role = script that defines actions and behavior.

​Role Performance and Challenges

• People have statuses, but they perform roles.

• Sometimes, people struggle to fulfill their role expectations.

• Example: A father may have the status but fail to perform the role well.

​Role Strain vs. Role Conflict

• Role Strain: Difficulty managing demands of one status.

  • Example: A parent struggling to cook, clean, and help with homework in one evening.

• Role Conflict: Clashing demands between different statuses.

  • Example: A parent needing to care for a sick child but also expected to work.

​Flexibility of Social Roles

• Social roles are not fixed; they change over time.

• People perform roles differently based on:

  • Other statuses

  • Available resources

  • Social reactions

​Introduction to Basic Social Institutions

• Definition: Social institutions are enduring structures that meet basic human needs.

• Purpose: They provide stable arrangements for addressing essential social needs like care, goods, security, education, and understanding the unknown.

​The Five Basic Social Institutions

• Family: Cares for dependents and raises children.

• Economy: Produces and distributes goods.

• Government: Coordinates communities and provides defense.

• Education: Trains new generations.

• Religion: Answers questions about the unknown or unknowable.

​Characteristics of Institutions

• Enduring: Lasts through generations.

• Complex: Involves values, norms, roles, and statuses.

• Universal: Every society has these institutions, though their forms may differ.

Drag and Drop

Main social institute is​ ​

Placeholder

​ ​

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

Family

Economy

Government

Education

Religion

​The Family as a Central Institution

• In simpler societies, the family fulfills all five needs (political, economic, educational, religious).

• Kinship-based relationships organize production, reproduction, education, and defense.

​The Evolution of Institutions

• Growth & Complexity: As societies grow, the family becomes less able to handle all functions.

• Specialized Structures: The economy, education, religion, and government evolve into separate institutions.