Social structure and social

institutions.
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2  LECTURE III Social structure and social institutions

3  Plan 1. Social structure –1.1 The definitions of social structure –1.2 The types
of social structure 2. Norms and their kinds 3. Values 4. Social groups and
institutions

4  n The notion of social Social structure, used in a general sense, refers to

entities or groups in definite relation to each other, to relatively enduring
patterns of behaviour and relationship within social systems, or to social
institutions and norms becoming embedded into social systems in such a way
that they shape the behaviour of actors within those social systems n the notion
social structure as relationships between different entities or groups or as
enduring and relatively stable patterns of relationship emphasises the idea that
society is grouped into structurally related groups or sets of roles, with different
functions, meanings or purposes. One example of social structure is the idea of
«social stratification» which refers to the idea that society is separated into
different strata, according to social distinctions such as a race, class and
gender. Social treatment of persons within various social structures can be
understood as related to their placement within the various social strata.

5  Definitions and concepts of social structure n As noted above, social

structure has been identified as –(i) the relationship of definite entities or groups
to each other, –(ii) as enduring patterns of behaviour by participants in a social
system in relation to each other, and –(iii) as institutionalised norms or cognitive
frameworks that structure the actions of actors in the social system.

6  n Lopez and Scott distinguish between institutional structure and relational

structure, where in the former: –... social structure is seen as comprising those
cultural or normative patterns that define the expectations of agents hold about
each other's behaviour and that organize their enduring relations with each
other. n whereas in the latter: –... social structure is seen as comprising the
relationships themselves, understood as patterns of causal interconnection and
interdependence among agents and their actions, as well as the positions that
they occupy.

7  The types of social structure

8  Norms and their kinds n In sociology, a norm, or social norm, is a rule that is
socially enforced. Social sanctioning is what distinguishes norms from other
cultural products or social constructions such as values. Norms and
normlessness are thought to affect a wide variety of human behaviour.

9  –Folkways n A society's web of cultural rituals, traditions and routines.

Deviation is not usually considered a serious threat to social organization and is
thus sanctioned less severely than moral deviation. Example: In certain
households in the U.S., it is a folkway to say grace before eating Thanksgiving
dinner. –Moral n Moral judgements that define wrong and right behavior, the
allowed and the disallowed, what is wanted and not wanted within a culture. The
word is the plural of the Latin mor-, mos, which means 'custom'. A violation of
mores is usually considered by society as a threat to social organization and
harshly sanctioned. Examples: Drug use, sexual promiscuity, and extreme styles
of dress. n "More than ambition, more than ability, it is rules that limit
contribution; rules are the lowest common denominator of human behavior. They
are a substitute for rational thought". - G.Rickover

10  –Laws n In highly organized societies, formalized and precisely delimited

norms. The breaking of legal norms, or laws, invokes procedures and judgments
through formal, legal institutions, such as police and the courts, set up to
enforce them. These norms generally relate to individual violations of mores or
to the adjustment of proprietary relationships. Heteronormativity n
Heteronormativity is a system of norms dictating the range of socially
acceptable sexual and gender identities. It is based around the notion that all
people fall into two categories male and female and that there are notions of
how these two sexes are expected to act.

11  Personal values n Personal values are implicitly related to choice; they

guide decisions by allowing for an individual's choices to be compared to each
choice's associated values. n Personal values developed early in life may be
resistant to change. They may be derived from those of particular groups or
systems, such as culture, religion and political party. However, personal values
are not universal; one's genes, family, nation and historical environment
determine one's personal values. This is not to say that the value concepts
themselves are not universal, merely that each individual possess a unique
conception of them i.e. a personal knowledge of the appropriate values for their
own genes, feelings and experience.
12  Cultural values n Groups, societies, or cultures have values that are largely
shared by its members. Members share a culture even if each member's personal
values do not entirely agree with some values sanctioned in the culture. This
reflects an individual's ability to synthesize and extract aspects valuable to them
from the multiple subcultures they belong to. n If an individual expresses a value
that is in serious conflict with their group's norms, the group's authority may
carry out various ways of stigmatizing or conforming the individual. For example,
imprisonment can result from conflict with social norms that have been
established as law.

13  n In sociology, a group is usually defined as a collection of humans or

animals, who share certain characteristics, interact with one another, accept
expectations and obligations as members of the group, and share a common
identity. Using this definition, a society can appear as a large group. n While an
comprises merely a number of individuals, a group in sociology exhibits
cohesiveness to a larger degree. Characteristics that members in the group may
share include interests, values, ethnic/linguistic background, and ties.

14  n Social institution, is a group of social positions, connected by social

relations, performing a social role. It can be also defined in a narrow sense as
any institution in a society that works to socialize the groups or people in it.
Common examples include universities, governments, families and any people or
groups that you have social interactions with. It is a major sphere of social life
organized to meet some human needs. n Social organizations can take many
forms, depending on a social context. For example, for family context the
corresponding social organization is of course the family. For business context -
an enterprise, company, corporation etc. For educational context - schools,
universities etc. For political context - government, political parties and others.
Commonly, experts officially recognize these five major social institutions that
have been evident in some way in every civilization in history: government,
religion, economics, education and family.