Social Interaction, groups, and social structure

Social Reality

the way society constructed in social interaction

Herbert Blooming: defining and reconstruction reality

reality reflects a groups power within a society

what can a person/situation can bring to the table

dominant groups make societal values

status

any of the socially defined positions within a large group of society

a person can hold more than one status

Ascribed status

one is born with

arise from social or historical circumstances

Master status

dominates others and determines person's general position in society (label)

Social Roles

set of expectation from a given status

functionalist perspective on social roles

rules=stability and tells people how to behave and what to do

Role conflict

incompatible expectation arise from 2 or more social positions by the same person: A student juggling school and work

Role strain

the same position held by an individual is too demanding

Role exist

process of disengagement of a role in order to establish a new one

Ebaugh's Modal stage

1. doubt: burnout from a role

2. Searches for an alternative: a role that there not happy with

3. Action: takes action to change the situation

4. New identity: fits the new role; leaves the old one

Reference Groups

A group that sets the standard that an individual should complete to belong

Coalition

alliance geared towards a common good

Social Network

series of social relationships that link person directly to others and indirectly links them to more people

Networking

valuable skill when job-hunting

Functionalist View of social structure

Five Major task that a major group must accomplish

Replacing personal

must when someone dies/leaves

Teaching new recruits

must learn the companies ways

producing and distributing goods

employees must have services given e.g. benefits

perserving order

protection to avoid culture being stolen

providing a sense of purpose

employees motivated to do all 4 goals

Conflict perspective on social structure

-maintain privileges of powerful individuals

-operates in gendered and racial environments

Liberal/equality feminist

benefits like child care and parental leave= strengthen women employment

Interactionlist perspective on social structure

social institution affect our everyday behaviour

social behavior is conditioned through role and status

Durkeim (Mechanical Solidarity)

Society with minimal division of labour and group solidarity

People who feel connected and share the same beliefs, values and jobs

Durkeim (Organic Solidarity)

Society where it is specialized and interdependence among it's members E.g. A lawyer and criminals

(Lawyers need criminals for money, and criminals need lawyers to defend them)

Gemienchaft

Small communities where people have similar backgrounds and life experiences

RURAL COMMUNITIES

Gesellschaft

Big communities- people are strangers and feel little in common with neighbours

URBAN COMMUNITIES

Lenski's sociocultural evolution

long-term social trends resulting from the interplay of continuity, innovation, and selection (people and their way of life changes and improves overtime)

Pre-industrial Society: Hunting and gathering

Rely on whatever food and fibers were readily available

Pre-industrial: horticultural

plants seeds and crops

agrarian society

tools to help production of food/ farming E.g plowing

Industrial Society

a society that depends on mechanization to produce its goods and services; factory dependent

Post-industrial Society

engaged from in processing and control of informations- focused more on services then goods

Post modern society

Technology is used for consumer goods and media images

Formal Organization

Special- purpose group designed and structured for maximum efficiency

Bureaucracy

rules+ hierarchical ranking= achieve efficiency

Trained capacity

workers become so specialized= develop blind spots and fail to notice obvious problems

Alienation

dissociation from surrounding society

Goal displacement

individual being overzealous to conform to official regulation

Peter principal

workers reaching a level that they cannot do well

Oligarchy

rule by a few

Iron law of oligarchy

Democratic organization would turn into a bureaucracy rule by a few E.g. family blood line of the Trudeau

Classical theory/scientific theory

Workers motivated by economic rewards

Human relations Approach

Based on employees needs and satisfaction- treating customers well

Social structures

society organized into predictable relationships