Principles of Sociology
Social Organizations, Groups, and Social Structures
Babar Ali Qalbani | Monday & Wednesday
02:15PM – 03:45 PM
1
“A journey is measured in friends, rather than
miles.”
– Tim Cahill
Elements of Social Structure
• Statuses
• Social roles
• Groups
• Social networks
• Virtual worlds
• Social institutions (e.g., family, religion, and government)
Social Interaction and Reality
• Our social interaction shapes reality.
• Example.
• Establishment of relationships
• Pursue successful careers
• Mentoring and shaping future.
Status
• Status refers to any of the full range of socially defined positions
within a large group or society, from the lowest to the highest
position.
• Ascribed: one that is ‘assigned’ to a person by society without
regard for the person’s unique talents or characteristics.
• From birth based on biological factors such as age, gender, and
race.
• Achieved: one that is earned through one’s efforts.
• Attainment of pre-requisite for this status is very necessary.
Master Status
• A master status is a status that dominates others and thereby
determines a person’s general position within society.
• Type of status that is more pre-dominant over other statuses or
becomes a social sign of identify for a person.
• Changes throughout a person’s life.
• Disability
• Race
• Gender
Fahad Mirza. He is also a husband,
a son, and a plastic surgeon.
Social Roles
• A social role is a set of expectations for people who
occupy a given social position or status.
• With each distinctive social status—whether ascribed
or achieved— come particular role expectations.
• Roles are a significant component of social structure.
• Can be dysfunctional, by restricting people’s
interactions and relationships.
Social Roles
Role Conflict
• Role conflict occurs when expectations arise from
two or more social positions held by the same
person.
• Fulfillment of the roles associated with one status
may directly violate the roles linked to a second
status.
• Another type of role conflict occurs when
individuals move into occupations that are not
common among people with their ascribed status
(e.g. female soldiers, male flight attendants).
Role Strain
• Role conflict describes the situation of a person dealing with the
challenge of occupying two social positions simultaneously.
• Role strain: refers to situation that occurs when the same
social position imposes conflicting demands and expectations.
• One status having multiple roles to be fulfilled.
• Example: A engineer at a Telecom site may feel strain due to his
or her role as a mentor to the subordinate employees, while
having to exhibit a stern and professional watchful eye over the
employees.
• One job, multiple tasks.
• Strain literally means pressure or burden.
Groups
• Group is any number of people with similar norms, values,
and expectations who interact with one another on a
regular basis.
• Cricket team
• Faculty members sharing an office
• Students working on a project
Would residents living in
DHA constitute a group??
Primary and Secondary Groups
• Primary groups: refer to a small group characterized
by intimate, face-to-face association and cooperation.
• Secondary groups: refer to a formal, impersonal group
in which there is little social intimacy or mutual
understanding.
• The distinction between primary and secondary groups
is not always clear-cut. Some social clubs may become
so large and impersonal that they no longer function as
primary groups.
Differences
Primary Group Secondary Group
Generally small Usually large
Relatively long period of interaction Relatively short duration, often temporary
Intimate, face-to-face association Little social intimacy or mutual understanding
Some emotional depth in relationships Relationships generally superficial
Cooperative, friendly Formal and impersonal
Organizations and Bureaucracy
Understanding Organizations
• Formal organizations and bureaucracies
• As industrial and postmodern societies have shifted to more advanced
forms of technology and their social structures have become more
complex, our lives have become increasingly dominated by large
secondary groups referred to as formal organizations.
• A formal organization is a group designed for a special purpose and
structured for maximum efficiency.
Characteristics of
Bureaucracy
Division of
labor
Employment based Hierarchy of
on technical authority
qualifications Bureaucracy
Written
Impersonality rules and
regulations
Recent Trends in Formal
Organizations
• The recent arrival of a number of women and minority group members in
high-level management.
• Open door policy by top management.
• In large corporations, the decision-making role of groups that lie outside
the top ranks of leadership.
• The loss of fixed boundaries in organizations that have outsourced key
functions.
• The role of the Internet and virtual worlds in
influencing business and
consumer preferences.
Kinship and Heredity
Recent Trends in Formal
Organizations
Kinship is a fundamental concept in sociology that refers to the
relationships between individuals based on blood ties, marriage, or
adoption.
Types of Kinship
Affinal Kinship Fictive Kinship
Consanguineal Kinship
(Marriage Relations) (Social or Ritual Relations)
(Blood Relations)
relationship after marriage like socially tied relations
Importance of Kinship in Society
• Regulates Marriage: Kinship determines who can marry whom and enforces rules like
exogamy (marrying outside the kin group) or endogamy (marrying within the kin group).
• Defines Social Roles: Kinship dictates roles and responsibilities within families, such as
caregiving and inheritance rights.
• Provides Social Support: Family and kin networks offer emotional and financial support in
times of need.
• Influences Social Identity: Kinship ties define an individual’s
social status and belonging within a community.
End of Lecture
Thankyou
