Society

What is a society?

Group of interacting individuals who share the same territory and participate in the same culture.

What are the three key features of a society?

Interactions, culture, and territory.

What does “interaction” mean in the context of society? *

The ways individuals act and communicate with one another within a shared environment.

What does “culture” refer to in a society? *

The shared beliefs, values, norms, and practices of people within a group.

What does “territory” mean in defining a society? *

The geographic area where members of a society live and interact.

What is social structure? *

Social structure refers to the different relationships that organize society.

What are the main components of social structure?

• Status

• Roles

• Groups

• Rights and Obligations

• Social Institutions 

What is a status?

• A status is an active/social position that a person occupies in society.

• Includes benefits and responsibilities a person experiences according to their rank and role in society.

What are the two main types of status?

Ascribed status and achieved status.

What is an ascribed status?

A status that is inherited or assigned at birth, such as child or Creole.

What is an achieved status?

A status that is gained through individual effort or accomplishment, such as lawyer or student.

What is a master status?

• The status that defines a person the most or plays the greatest role in shaping identity

• achieved or ascribed, perceived the most by others

What is a role?

The pattern of behavior expected of a person in a given status.

What is a role-set?

Several roles associated with a single status.

What is role strain?

Difficulty meeting many roles within a single status.

What is role conflict?

When the roles associated with two different statuses clash.
Example: A student who also has a part-time job.

What is role performance?

The actual conduct or behavior of an individual in carrying out a role.

• occurs during social interactions (process of influencing each other as people relate) or without an audience

What are rights in a social role?

Behaviors we expect from others based on their roles.
Example: Students expect teachers to come prepared.

What are obligations in a social role?

Behaviors we are expected to perform based on our roles.
Example: Students are expected to complete assignments on time.

How do rights and obligations relate to each other?

They are complementary—one person’s rights are another person’s obligations.

What is a group?

A set of two or more people who interact with each other, have shared expectations, and share a common identity.

What are the three main characteristics of a group?

• Two or more people

• Interaction between group members

• Shared expectaions

• Common identity

What is a primary group?

A small, close, and long-term group characterized by intimate relationships.
Examples: Family, close friends.

What is a secondary group?

A larger, temporary, more impersonal group formed to achieve a specific goal.
Examples: Gym buddies, work colleagues.

What is a reference group?

A group we choose and adopt values, attitudes, or behaviors from.

What is an in-group?

A group we identify with and feel loyalty toward.

What is an out-group?

A group we do not belong to or identify with.

In group may compete with out group = conflict

What is a social institution?

An organized system of statuses, roles, values, and norms that meet society’s basic needs.

Institution: Family

Provide physical and emotional support

Institution: Education

Transmitting knowledge

Institution: Economic

Producing goods and services

Institution: Law

Maintaining social control

Institution: Medicine

Healing the sick and injured, caring for the dying

Institution: Military

Protecting us from enemies

Institution: Politics

Allocating powers, determining authority

Institution: Religion

Dealing with ideas about life after death, the meaning of suffering and loss

Institution: Science

Mastering the Universe

Institution: Mass Media

Disseminating information, molding public opinion, reporting events

What is a pre-industrial society?

A type of society that existed before industrialization, relying mainly on human and animal labor for survival

What are the four types of pre-industrial societies?

• Hunting & Gathering → hunt animals and gather edible foods
  

• Horticultural → grow plants
  

• Pastoral → raising and taking care of animals

• Agricultural → growing food and increased productivity

What is an industrial society?

A society based on science and technology, where machines and factories produce goods and drive the economy

Urbanization is a basic feature

What is a post-industrial society?

A society based on technical knowledge and technology, where information and services are more important than manufacturing.

According to Émile Durkheim, what holds modern society together?

Technical knowledge and interdependence.

• most of labour force: services rather than agriculture/manufacturing

• white-collar employment replaced blue-collar 

• technical knowledge = key organizing feature

• technological change = planned & assessed

• reliance on computer modelling in all areas

What does Durkheim mean by “modern society is held together by technical knowledge”? *

In modern societies, people depend on specialized skills and expertise rather than shared traditions