Chapter 5 Social Structure: The Macrolevel Perspective Components of Social Structure Societies, Technology, and Sociocultural Change Sociological Perspectives on Stability and Change in Society Social Interaction: The Microlevel Perspective Changing Social Structure and Interaction in the Future
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• Social interaction in the process by which people act toward or respond to other people and is the foundation for all relationships and groups in society. • Social structure is the complex framework of societal institutions and the social practices that make up a society and that organize and etablish limits on people’s behavior. Social Structure: The Macrolevel Perspective Social structure provides the framework within which we interact with others. Social structure gives us the ability to interpret the social situations we encounter. Social structure helps people make sense out of their environment even when they find themselves on the streets. Social structure creates boundaries that define which persons or groups will be the “insiders” and which will be the “outsiders.”
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Components of Social Structure • The social structure of a society includes its social positions, the relationships among those positions, and the kinds of resources attached to each of the positions. • A status is a socially defined position in a group or society characterized by certain expectations, rights, and duties. • A status set comprises all the statuses that a person occupies at a given time.
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• An ascribed status
Ex: male, child, Hispanic, age; queen or princess • An achieved status
Ex: college graduate, drug user, wife • A master status • Dominates all of the individual’s other statuses and is the overriding ingredient in determining a person’s general social position • Master statuses are vital to how we view ourselves, how we are seen by others, and how we interact with others
• Status symbols • Just as wearing a wedding ring proclaims that a person is married, owning a Rolls-Royce announces that one has “made it” © Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
ROLES • A role
Whereas we occupy a status, we play a role • Role expectation • Mothers should care for their children • Students should study
• Role performance • One mother emphasizes safety; another emphasizes fun • One student emphasizes learning; another emphasizes grades
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Role conflict It is difficult to find time to be both a mother and a student A manager has difficulty exerting authority over friends who work in the same restaurant Role strain A nurse must be compassionate but give shots that might be painful A student is required to write papers in different formats for different classes Role exit Occurs over stages: Doubt: frustration or burnout Search for alternatives : separation; leave of absence. The turning point: take an action © Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
SOCIAL GROUP • A social group consists of two or more people who interact frequently and share and common identity and a feeling of interdependence. • A primary group is a small, less specialized group in which members engage in face-to-face, emotion-based interactions over an extended period of time. • Examples include family members. Have a huge influence on us. • A secondary group is a larger, more specialized group in which members engage in more-impersonal, goal-oriented relationships for a limited period of time. • Examples include sociology class, work group A formal organization is a highly structured group formed for the purpose of completing certain tasks or achieving specific goals.
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• A social institutions is a set of organized beliefs and rules that establishes how a society will attempt to meet its basic social needs. • Five basic social institutions: Family, religion, education, economy, and government or Politics • Mass media, sports, science and medicine, and the military are also considered to be social institutions
• Essential tasks of social institutions 1. replace members 2. teach new members 3. producing, distributing, and consuming goods 4. preserving order 5. providing and maintaining a sense of purpose
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Sociological Perspectives on Stability and Change in Society • Division of labor
• Mechanical solidarity refers to the social cohesion of preindustrial societies, in which there is minimal division of labor and people feel united by shared values and common social bonds. • Organic solidarity refers to the social cohesion found in industrial societies, in which people preform very specialized tasks and feel united by their mutual dependence.
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• Gemeinschaft is a traditional society in which social relationships are based on personal bonds of friendship and kinship and on intergenerational stability. • Gesellschaft is a large, urban society in which social bonds are based on impersonal and specialized relationships, with little long-term commitment to the group or consensus on values.
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Social Interaction: The Microlevel Perspective • The social construction of reality is the process by which our perceptions of reality is largely shaped by the subjective meaning that we give to an experience. • A self-fulfilling prophecy
• Ethnomethodology
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• Dramaturgical analysis is the study of social interaction that compares everyday life to a theatrical presentation. • Social script is a playbook that the actors use to guide their verbal replies and overall performance to achieve the desired goals of the conversation or fulfill the role they are playing. • Impression management refers to people’s efforts to present themselves to others in ways that are most favorable to their own interests or image.
• Face-saving behavior refers to the strategies we use to rescue our performance when we experience a potential or actual loss of face.
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• Nonverbal communication is the transfer of information between persons without the use of words. • Facial expression • Eye contact • Touching • Personal space – the immediate area surrounding a person that the person claims as private.
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Changing Social Structure and Interaction in the Future • Global social structures • Technological advancements
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