 Social structure is the framework of

societal institutions (politics, and

religion) and social practices (social
roles) that make up a society and
establish limits on behavior.


Social interaction is the process by which
people act toward or respond to other
people and is the foundation for all
relationships and groups in society.
 A status is socially defined position in
society characterized by certain
expectations, rights, and duties.
Ascribed status
◦ Social position based on attributes over which
the individual has little or no control, such as
race/ethnicity, age, and gender.

 Achieved status
◦ Social position that a person assumes as a
result of personal choice, merit, or direct
effort.
 A set of behavioral expectations associated with
a given status learned in the socialization.
 Role Expectation
◦ A group or society‟s definition of the way a specific
role ought to be played.
 Role Performance
◦ How a person actually plays a role.
 Role Conflict
◦ Occurs when incompatible demands are placed on a
person by two or more statuses held at the same
time.
 Role Strain
◦ Occurs when incompatible demands are built into a
single status that the person holds.
 Role Distancing
Creating an appearance of distance or mentally
distancing oneself from a particular role/status
 Master status is the most important
status that a person occupies.
Examples: Being a member of a religious,
racial, or sexual minority, homeless, gender

 Status symbols are material signs that

inform others of a person‟s specific
status.
◦ Example:
 Wearing a wedding ring proclaims that a person is
married.
Statuses held by „Teresa‟, a 35 yr. old wife, mother, and full-
time secretary
Mother Secretary Wife

Occasionally disputes
Firm with children in
Deferential to Boss husband, mostly
setting boundaries
agrees with him

Send birthday and

Proofs her boss‟s
Cooks Meals holiday greetings on
correspondences
behalf of her husband

Helps children with Takes minutes at staff Listens to husbands‟

Roles homework meetings gripes about his job

Corresponding
to her Various Serves as first point of
Is sexually intimate
Statuses Buys clothes for with husband at
contact for bosses‟
children mutually-approved
clients
times

Occupying Statuses, Playing
Roles
Socialization: Teresa learns what parenting is
Teresa learns to be a good really like when she has her
mom and wife by playing first child at 26, she
with baby dolls as a child experience role conflict when
juggling mothering with work
Role Exit
Teresa becomes confused
about her role when they
move off to college, gets a
pet to have something to
dote on, and eventually
accepts a new identity as the
mother of increasingly
autonomous children
A social group
consists of two or
more people who
interact frequently
and share a
common identity
and a feeling of
interdependence.
 Formal organizations-A highly structured
group formed for the purpose of
completing certain tasks or achieving
specific goals.
OR
 Social institution-is a set of organized
beliefs and rules that establishes how a
society will attempt to meet its basic
social needs.
 Social Institutions Formal Organizations
Family Church
Religion Banks
Education
Economy
Government
Mass Media*
Sports*
Science*
Military*

*Items with an asterisk are considered emerging institutions.

Social Institutions
Institution Dictionary meaning

• Institution = established practice:

• an established law, custom, or practice
Penguin Dictionary of Sociology
• The term is widely used to describe social practices
that are regularly and continuously repeated, are
sanctioned and maintained by social norms, and have a
major significance in the social structure.
• Like role, the term refers to established patterns of
behaviour, but institution is regarded as a higher-order,
more general unit that incorporates a plurality of roles.
 DEFINITION

• A social institution is an interrelated

system of social roles and social norms,
organized around the satisfaction of an
important social need or social
function.
• Social Institutions are organized patterns
of beliefs and behaviour that are centered
on basic social needs.
ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL INSTITUTION

• A group of people
• United by common interest
• Having material resources
• Having norms
• Fulfill some social need.
Functions of Social Institutions
• Each institution performs two types of social
function.
• (a) primary functions, which are also
called manifest, explicit, or direct functions;
• (b) secondary functions, which are
also called indirect, hidden, or latent
functions. Through these functions, social
institutions fulfill important needs in the
society.
 THE FAMILY

• The family is generally regarded as a

primary social institution.
• The institution of family is a basic unit in
the society, and the multifaceted functions
performed by it makes it a much-needed
institution in a society.
• It is one of the oldest social institution on
the earth. Although families differ widely
around the world, they also share certain
common concerns in their everyday lives.
 EDUCATION

• Educational institution is responsible for the

systematic transmission of knowledge, skills
and cultural values within a formally organized
structure.
• It is one of the most influential institutions in
contemporary societies. Every nation in the
world is equipped with some form of
education system, though those systems vary
greatly.
 ECONOMY

• Economy is the social institution that ensures

maintenance of society through the production,
distribution and consumption of goods and
services.
• Economy is the social institution that organizes a
society’s production, distribution and
consumption of goods and services.
• The economy system is the complex of
interrelated institutions through which the
economic activity of man is expressed.
 RELIGION

• Religion is a social institution composed of a

unified system of beliefs, symbols, and rituals—
based on some sacred or supernatural realm—
that guides human behavior, gives meaning to
life, and unites believers into a community. For
many people,
• religious beliefs provide the answers for
seemingly unanswerable questions about the
meaning of life and death.
• Religion is a system of faith and worship.
Government

• Political institution is the distribution

system of power and authority which is
used to maintain social order.
• Politics is the social institution through
which power is acquired and exercised by
some people and groups.
• Social institutions are universal.
• They vary from time to time and across
cultures, in terms of complexity,
specialization, scope, formality and
organization. But their basic nature and
purpose are similar everywhere.
• Social institutions are resistant to change;
they tend to persist.
 Characteristics of Social Institutions
• Institutions are the controlling
mechanisms:
• Institutions like religion, morality,
state, government, law, legislation etc.
control the behaviour of men.
• These preserve the social order and give
stability to it.
 Characteristics of Social Institutions
• Institutions are interrelated: Institutions, though
diverse, are interrelated and interdependent.
These are connected through statuses and roles
of the individuals.
• Relatively permanent: Many institutions are rigid
and enduring. Institutions normally do not
undergo sudden or rapid changes. Changes take
place slowly and gradually in them.
• Therefore institutions are the great conservers
and transmitters of cultural heritage.
 Characteristics of Social Institutions
• Use Symbols to distinguish: Institutions have
cultural symbols. The symbols may be either
material or non-material. A country has a flag, an
emblem, a national anthem as its symbol. A
school may have its own flag, uniform dress etc.
• Possess material objects: The institutions being
group of people have national resources and
material objects. The buildings, furniture, books
and other objects are part of social life are a part
of institutions.
• Social institutions are patterns of behaviour
grouped about the central needs of human
beings in society.