ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL

STRUCTURE
 Definition of Status
Davis Kingsley :” Status is the position in the general institutional
system recognized and adopted by the entire society spontaneously
evolved rather than deliberately created rooted in the folkways and
customs.”

Maciver,R.M. & Page :” Status is the position that determines for its
possessor , apart from his personal attribute, as social services , a
degree of respect , prestige and influence.”

Ogburn & Nimkoff: “The simplest definition of status is that it

represents the position of the individual in the group.”

Majumdar: Status means the location of the location of the

individual within the group his place in the social network of
reciprocal obligations and privileges, rights and duties.”
 Characteristics of Status
 The status is determined by cultural situation of a society.

 Status is determined only in relevance of other members of the society(relative concept)

Every individual has to play certain roles in accordance with status.

Status is not only a part of society as a whole of the society or the society as a whole.

As a result of status society is divided into various groups.

Every status carries with it some prestige(joking and avoidance relationship).

Status is an important aspect of society thus on the basis of the status, Society is divided into
groups.

 According to status people may be divided into different categories. These categories or
statuses are not imposed from above. Some of theses statuses are earned or achieved while
other are ascribed.

Status has noting to do directly with the temperament of character of the individual but every
individual is assigned a status on the bases of membership of group and placement in the group.
 Importance of Status
 Status is important in society because it is the fundamental unit of analyses of social
structure.

A large number of interaction in society are status interactions and which is based on the
status of an individual.

A large number of relationship of individual are also based on their status.

A status which contributes to interactions patterns and indolently harmonious interaction

among people this contributes to the stability of society.

Status is important because it entitle an individual certain right and responsibility.

Status prepare a person to performer some role.

Statues help in the development of personality of the individual and teach the person a
normative aspect with pattern of behavior.

The structure of society is made up of network of status and these statuses contribute to
fundamental order of society.
Types of Statuses
Ascribed Status: Is one that is assigned to a person at birth or at different
stages in the life cycle . For Example , being male and female. This has often
been said about the youth culture in the U.S. because of the high value
Americans attach to being young. Pre-modern China, by contrast, attached the
highest value to old age and required extreme subordination of children. The
perquisites and obligations accompany age change over the individual's
lifetime, but the individual proceeds inexorably through these changes with no
freedom of choice.

Achieved Status are those which the individual acquires

during his or her lifetime as a result of the exercise of knowledge,
ability, skill and/or perseverance. For Example, Being a
professional athlete is an achieved status, as is being a lawyer,
college professor, or criminal.
Ascribed Status Achieved Status

Sex Differences Education

Age Differences Occupation

Politics
Kinship

Physical Strength
Caste Differences

Specialization
Racial Differences
 Definition of Role
Davis, Kingsley : “Role is the manner in which a person actually carried out
the requirements of his position”

Ogburn and Nimkoff : “Role is a set of socially expected and approved

behavior patterns consisting of both duties and privileges, associated with a
particular position in a group”.

Elliot and Merrill:”Role is the parte he plays as a result of each status.”

Fitcher,J.H. : “ When a number of inter-related behavior patterns are

clustered around a social functions , we call this combination a social role.”
 Characteristics of Role
 Action aspect of the Status: The role is the action aspect of the status. It
involves the various type of action that a person has to perform in accordance of
the expectation of the society .These action are depend not on individual but on
social sanctions. That’s why it is said that every social role has a cultural bases.

Changing aspect of role: The social role has already states ,accordance
with the social value , pattern norms etc. These ideas ,values and object change so
the concept of the role also changes. The role which is justified at a particular
time may not be justified at other time . E.g. Sati Pratha at traditional time is Anti-
Social but in modern time it is called Reform ( Change accordance to situation or
time).

Limited field of operation : E.g An officer has a role to play in the office
when he reaches in family his role is ceased.
 Role Conflict
ROLE CONFLICT OCCURS WHEN PEOPLE FACE CONFLICTING SETS
OF EXPECTATIONS : Playing roles is not always easy for Tarun or for us.
Role bring problems. They are meant to make interaction easier by helping us
know what to do. But in the real world we often don't know what to do
because if we act according to one set of expectations we fail to meet another
set that is important to us. We are faced with role conflict. There are several
kinds of role conflict.

One Person Has Contradictory Expectations of Another

(Intrasender Conflict): Sometimes a person (or persons) expects us to do
contradic­tory things in our role. ("My parents say they expect me to be
independent, but they treat me like a child.") Katz and Kahn (1966) call this
kind of role conflict instrasender conflict.] .
E.g students expect instructors to be personal, to show interest in them, to
treat them as individuals, yet instructors must also grade everyone imperson­
ally—otherwise they are charged with having "favorites.“
Most of us are at some time or other in positions where the same people expect
incompatible actions from us. Role conflict may or may not become serious. If it is
serious, something must change—other people's expectations must change, or the
individ­ual must leave the relationship or a compromise must be worked out. At the
very least, the individual must choose one kind of behavior and not let the conflict
bother him or her. Probably one of the most important reasons we leave positions is
that other people, perhaps without even realizing it, make demands on us which are
so contradictory that it is impossible for us to meet them.
Some People have One Set of Expectations of a Person and Other People have a
Contradictory Set (Inter sender Conflict) :An individual may be subject to
contradictory expectations from different people. E.g -The president of the college
might expect the vice president to get rid of deadwood", the faculty might expect him
or her to represent them in a favorable light to the president, and the faculty union
might demand that the vice president do only what the union contract spells out.

A Person Plays Roles which Conflict with Each Other (Inter role Conflict) :
There may be conflict between roles when one person is both, say, wife and
professional soldier and Christian, social scientist and social reformer, student and
working person, political radical and corporate lawyer, or world peacemaker and
defender of the nation's security
Norms are social rules that specify appropriate and inappropriate behavior in given
situations. They afford a means by which we orient ourselves to other people.
Folkways, mores, and laws are types of norms

Norms are the guidelines people follow in their relations with one another ; they are
shared standard of desirable behavior .

Social norms are rules developed by a group of people that specify how people must,
should, may, should not, and must not behave in various situation.

Norms not only indicate what people should or should not do in a given situation, but
they also enable them to anticipate how others will interpret and respond to their
words and actions.

Some norms are situational that is , they apply to specific categories of people in
specific circumstances.
 Definitions of Norms
Davis , Kingsley: ”social norms are controls. It is through that
human society regulates the behavior of its members in such a
way , they perform activities fulfilling social needs-even sometime
at the expense of organic needs.”

Bierstadt, Robert : “A norm in short, is a standardized mode of

procedure, a way of doing something that is acceptable to our
society.”
Norms vary from society to society, from group to group within societies , and
from situation to situation . Behavior which in one society is the highest of
propriety in another may be disgraceful. For example The hand –shake is not a
“natural “ greeting , but is a social norms in most Western societies . In traditional
Japan , blowing is the customary of exchanging hellos.

Exchange of Hello in Japan

Shaking – hand
 Characteristics of Norms
Social norms are universal

Norms are related to the factual order

Norms incorporate value judgment

Norms are relative to situations and groups

Norms are not always obeyed by all

Norms vary with sanctions

Norms are normally internalized by the people

 Functional Importance
Norms assist Survival : E.g. if the young matured girls are not
protected by proper norms they would be subject to sexual
exploitation which would lead to serious consequences.

A norm less society is an impossible

Norms guide behavior

Norms permit efficient functioning

Norms help the maintenance of social order

Norms give Cohesion to society

Norms help self – control

What is Value

“Values are ideas about what is important or what

is ‘GOOD’ and ‘BAD’ in a society.”

Values are broad ideas regarding what is desirable,

correct and good that most members of a society
share. Values are so general and abstract that they
do not explicitly specify which behaviors are
acceptable and which are not.
Values are related to the norms of a culture , but they are more
general and abstract than norms.
They are the general principles or beliefs which underlie the norms
which from our social rules.
Values often related to what a society or culture regards as good or
bad and what it regards as important.
 Definition of Value
M.Haralambos : “ A value is a belief that something is good and
desirable. It defines what is important, worthwhile and worth
striving for.”

H.M. Johnson: “ Value may be defined as a conception or standard

cultural or merely personal, by which things are compared and
approved or disapproved relatively to one other held to be
relatively desirable or undesirable , more meritorious or more or less
correct.”

Radha Kamal, Mukerjee : “ Values may be defined as socially

approved desires and goals that are internalized through the process
of conditioning, learning or socialization and that become subjective
preferences, standards and aspirations.”
 Characteristics of Values
 Abstract
 Unconsciously Upheld
 Specificity
 Collection
 Integration
 Emotionally Based
 Conflict Resolution
 Change and Value
 Positive and negative values
 Values are Psychological Realities
 Functions of Value

 It provide goals or ends

 It provide stabilities and uniformities in group interaction

 It brings legitimacy to the rules that govern specific activities

 It help in bringing some kind of adjustment between different

set of rules