Elements of Social Structure

Elements of Social Structure

• Statuses are defined positions within society
• A person can simultaneously maintain multiple statuses
• Statuses entail duties and privileges, and they exist in hierarchical relationships
• Status System is an example of Royal Canadian Mounted Police structure, with ranks from special constable to commissioner
• Master status deals with multiple, sometimes conflicting, statuses
• Master status dominates others, determining a person's general position, and shifting based on location
• Everett Hughes defined the term master status
• Barack Obama is an example of a master status. His status as Black remains his master status despite achievements
• Ascribed statuses are those attained at birth, such as race, gender, age, and social class
• Achieved statuses come through personal efforts, like professor, lawyer, or convict
• Ascribed statuses often constrain achieved statuses

Social Scripts and Social Roles

• Social scripts are culturally constructed practices followed in social interactions
• Each situation or group has unique scripts, learned through observation and practice
• Students know how to act on campus
• Social scripts shape relationships and influence social life, affecting conflict and cooperation
• Social scripts are built on social norms, including rules of etiquette
• Sanctions result from failure to observe a norm, such as a glare or verbal rebuke
• Role conflict occurs when incompatible expectations arise from holding multiple social positions
• Role strain occurs when one position has conflicting demands, like a mother needing to nurture children and earn income

Role Exit

• Role exit is disengaging from a central role to establish a new one
• Graduation exemplifies exiting the student role
• Helen Ebaugh identified 4 stages of role exit
• Doubt: People experience "imposter syndrome," doubting accomplishments
• Alternative: Attempting to find employment
• Action Stage/Departure: Deciding to take the next step forward
• New Identity: Adapting to a new work environment

Groups

• Primary groups are intimate, with face-to-face interactions and a common goal
• They aid socialization and role development, like a family
• Secondary groups are formal and impersonal with little social intimacy
• These are common in workplaces
• In-group: People feel they belong
• Out-group: People feel they don't belong
• Example: "Stoners" viewing "geeks" as "goody two-shoes"
• Statuses constrain behaviour
• Reference groups are standards for self-evaluation
• Often, multiple reference groups influence individuals simultaneously
• Coalitions form when groups align toward a common goal
• For example, non-profits fighting food insecurity may form a national alliance

Social Networks and Institutions

• Social networks are individuals connected by interpersonal relationships
• They are vital socially and economically
• Social institutions are persistent, interlinked patterns functioning across society
• They regulate behaviour in areas like family, education, economy, and governance
• Schools, governments, and media are examples of social institutions

Functionalism

• Functionalism says all social systems have features enabling survival and progress
• Functionalism says social systems persist independently, compelling conformity
• Systems require specialized roles from regular people to maintain function
• Émile Durkheim's Division of Labour stated that social structure depends on societal division of labor
• Task distribution affects social structures
• Mechanical solidarity characterizes societies with minimal division of labor and strong group solidarity
• With few life options, focus is on the group rather than the individual
• Organic solidarity characterizes societies with a large division of labor and group interdependence
• Social cohesion relies on interdependence, shifting social structures

German Sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies

• Gemeinschaft: Society defined by shared past and communal networks like family and religious institutions
• This refers to solidarity based on kinship, neighborhoods, religious orders
• Gesellschaft: Society defined by market relations, business contracts, individuality, and competition
• Relationships are formed through contract, market exchange, and competition
• This is more modern and unrelated to emotion or shared pasts (dominant form of relation)

Talcott Parsons

• Parsons was concerned with order in society and system influence on behaviour
• Parsons wanted to understand social system maintenance amidst competing interests
• Parsons considered social, cultural, and individual elements and how societies function effectively

Conflict Theory

• Conflict theorists agree with functionalists that social institutions meet basic social needs
• They critique social institutions' efficiency and desirability
• Major institutions maintain privileges for the powerful in society
• Exploitation shows power imbalance between the privileged and those relying on them for resources
• Exploitation is associated with waged labour where labourers receive less than they produce
• Wealth redistribution in capitalist society benefits owners and perpetuates conflict and inequities

Education Example

• Property tax funds public education
• Affluent areas have better-funded schools than low-income areas
• Low-income children have limited opportunities
• These structures are unfair, discriminatory, and self-perpetuating
• Conflict theory shows how disability is a social construct excluding those deemed different

Symbolic Interactionism

• Each day, people create and revitalize the social structure through intentional efforts
• People participate in social institutions, taking on roles and statuses
• Interactionists study ways of communicating to create shared meanings

School Example

• Professor's role occurs within education
• Professor's status relates to student, janitor, lab assistant, and dean statuses
• Goffman suggests people perform socially, presenting an ideal version of themselves based on constraints
• People have different front-facing "selves" for friends, bosses, teachers, and parents

Impression Management

• Impression management is controlling another's impression through conscious or unconscious strategies
• Identities combine to form individuals, some with master statuses, others secondary or abandoned

Feminism

• Social structures maintain the power and privilege of some, disadvantaging girls and women
• Education: Girls and boys get different messages
• Girls are encouraged toward social sciences, boys into STEM
• Professions are segregated by gender and income, with STEM jobs paying more

Patricia Hill Collins

• Anti-racist feminists study how institutions maintain gendered and racist divisions through socialization

Organizations and Bureaucracy

• Organizations are large groups with a collective goal or purpose (e.g., multinational corporation, government)
• Formal organizations coordinate people and capital through formalized roles to achieve goals
• Formalized roles create a skeleton for communication and leadership
• Formal organizations have multiple goals and long lifespans
• Bureaucracies are formal organizations in public and private sectors
• Bureacracies have negative connotations; they thrive in capitalist and socialist societies
• Bureaucracies' main organizational form are comparatively efficient and effective
• Max Weber studied bureaucracies; they have six characteristics

Max Weber's Six Characteristics of Bureaucracies

• Division of labor: Each person has a specific task
• Example for this is that, the greeter seats you. while the server takes orders
• Hierarchy of authority: Positions are ranked so everyone reports to someone
• Example, there may be the chef, front staff supervisor, and owner in a restaurant
• Written rules and regulations: Clear instructions guide the work
• Written documents: Policies and records are in writing for enforcement
• Impersonality: Everyone carries out roles without personal consideration
• Hiring and promotion based on technical merit: Hiring is based on skill rather than bias

Robert Merton

• Bureaucrats are pressured to weaken the organization
• Bureaucracies force conformity to rigid rules that may not be useful
• Bureaucrats may fail to see clients as individuals with unique wants, and this will hinder service

McDonaldization of Organizations

• George Ritzer: The principles underscoring the McDonald's chain's success are dominating more and more in societies
• There are four principles of Mcdonalization

1. Efficiency: Finding the best way to the goal
2. Predictability: Providing a consistent experience (same from time to time)
3. Calculability: Focusing on quantity over quality
4. Control: Emphasizing automation over human labor Weber's characteristics of a bureaucracy appear in fast-food chains

• Includes, the division of labor, hierarchy of authority, written rules and regulations, and impersonality
• Real significance in this model is that it has seeped into all types of bureaucracies, changing the way business is done, how organizations are run, and the way that people live their lives.
• Busy lives result in fast-food consumption over home cooking