SOCIOLOGY EXAM

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

social structure - a relatively permanent and stable set of relationships between people

• society is a whole composed of parts

• it has its own history and origins

components of social structure

1. social position

2. status

3. social role

4. social group

5. organization

6. institutions

social position - an individual’s place in the social structure

1. assigned (ascribed) position

• given regardless of an individual’s abilities, mostly hereditary

1. achieved

• the result of personal success, effort, or talent

status - social position valued by society or hierarchy

social role - a set of expected behaviors for a certain position

*the role of a student, a mother, a politician…

• ideal and real → society allows a flexible performance of roles

• social roles are reciprocal

→ they can’t be performed independently

→ they are always in relation to others in our surrounding

*child to parent, student to teacher, passenger to driver, friend to friend, etc.

• set of roles - one social position has several roles (they change throughout life)

• conflict of roles

→ contradictory behaviors are required at the same time

→ resolved by choosing priorities for that occasion only

social group - an interaction between two or more people

*family members, friends, choir

organization - larger social groups that are established in order to achieve some goals

*company, political party, school, museum, etc.

institutions - social activities that are regularly and constantly repeated

*educational, political, economic, cultural institutions?!

social dramaturgy

• E. Goffman → dramaturgy uses the metaphor of theater to explain human behavior

• social life is like a theater in which we present ourselves and we try to create specific impressions in others’ minds

• front stage → where the role is played out

• backstage → where we relax and take our masks off

SOCIAL GROUPS

social group

• a certain number of people who have a relatively constant and regular interaction

• they share a common identity (“we” feeling)

“quasi” groups are an aggregate and social category

1. aggregate

• collection of people who are in the same place at the same time, but they don’t have anything else in common

* people at the bus stop, supermarket, or a beach

1. social category

• statistical grouping using common characteristics (age, sex, hobbies, education, etc.)

C. Clooney differentiation

1. primary groups

• family

• smaller in number

• intenser interaction

• longer lasting

1. secondary groups

• class in school

• more members

• less intense interaction

• usually not as long-lasting

• group dynamics depends on the size of a group and the “leadership”

• G. Simmel: dyad, triad (group of three is more stable)

• interactions within a group are graphically presented with a sociogram

social network

• shows the interaction between group members

• it consists of knots and connections (strong or weak

• more connections and the stronger the connections, the interaction is more efficient and the social capital is bigger

• based on emotions, information, cooperation, finance, etc.

reference group

• a group to which an individual or another group is compared

• us comparing ourselves to groups we see as role models can lead to relative deprivation (individual experience of discontent when deprived of something to which we believe we are entitled to)

ethnocentrism

• applying one’s own culture or ethnicity as a frame of reference in order to judge other cultures, practices, behaviors, beliefs, or people, instead of using the standards of the culture involved

• nowadays cultural relativism is preferred

ORGANIZATION

• a secondary group with a common goal

• characteristics: specific goal, defined membership, rules of behavior, authority relations

Bureaucracy, Max Weber (version of an organization)

• needed form of an organization in modern societies → result of rationalization

• bureaucracy constitutes the most efficient and rational way in which human activity can be organized

• systematic processes and organized hierarchies are necessary in order to maintain order, maximize efficiency, and eliminate favoritism

• he also saw it as a threat to individual freedom

→ potential trapping of individuals in “iron cages” of rational and rule-based control

Bureaucracy traits:

• division of labor

• chain of command

• strict regulations

• formal education of bureaucrats

• impersonality

• serving the public interest

Dysfunctions of bureaucracy:

• twisted rationality

• rigidness

• self-sufficiency

• possibility of corruption

• too many bureaucrats

Collective behavior (loose interactions)

1. divergent (dispersed)

• rumors, fashion, panic, hysteria, public

1. convergent (condensed)

• crowds:

  • casual (street performer audience)

  • conventional (theater audience)

  • expressive (concert audience)

  • acting crowds (rioters, protestors)

• characteristics:

  • deindividualization

  • suggestibility

  • feeling of invulnerability

SOCIALIZATION

• the learning process in which humans become human beings

• result: personality and identity

• complex learning process: knowledge, attitudes, values, and behaviors needed in order to participate in society

• emotional development starts from birth, and family plays the key part

• internalization of norms → we accept the norms and values of our community by observing and imitating

1. biological determination

• most traits and behaviors can be explained by natural features (genes)

• emphasis on biological heritage and physical characteristics

• sociobiology → the theory that advocates for biological determination

• founder: E. Willson

• criticized for justifying gender, racial, and social inequalities

• biology, genetic inheritance, and adaptation to the environment do play a role, but they cannot be the only explanation

1. cultural determination

• emphasis on cultural factors as decisive for explaining behavior

• man is born a tabula rasa, and culture influences the development of personality

• representative: M. Mead

• New Guinea – three different interpretations of gender roles in three different tribes

• Samoa – she wanted to prove that puberty and adolescent challenges aren’t triggered biologically, but culturally

Types of socialization according to periods in life:

1. primary socialization

• first years of our lives

• speaking, walking, thinking, emotional abilities, first social roles, internalization of norms

• family plays the key part

1. secondary socialization

• later in childhood when we come into contact with other members of society, new roles, learning social skills, and knowledge about roles outside the home and family

• apart from family, educational institutions have an influence

Types of socialization according to social roles:

1. anticipatory

• learning a future role; imitating adults

* children’s dolls → learning for the role of a parent, education for a job

1. developmental

• learning the role while doing it; changing roles

*from girlfriend to wife, widow after partner’s death

1. reversed

• younger people get along with changes faster than older people; they teach the older members of society

1. resocialization

• learning roles all over again, either by force or voluntarily

• E. Goffman: total institutions → prisons, correctional homes, monasteries, mental institutions

• characteristics of total institutions: constant supervision, daily schedule, uniforms, strict rules, etc.

Factors of socialization

1. family

→ primary socialization, particularism (approach to person)

1. kindergarten and school (education + upbringing)

→ work habits, tolerance, respect for authority, universalism

1. peers (the experience of equality)

→ competition, emotions, hobbies and free time, subcultures

1. mass media

→ dilemmas:

- Does violent content create bullies?

- Do commercials create consumers?

Other factors: church, army, sports clubs, political parties, and influencers…

IDENTITY

• necessarily a social identity because it can only appear as a result of interaction

• made through the process of socialization

1. personal identity → differences from others, peculiarities

2. collective identity → emphasis on similarities between individuals

PRIMARY IDENTITY

• personality → sense of humanity

• sex → biological features

• gender → cultural characteristics

• kinship → our place in the family network, expressed through a surname

• ethnicity → ethnic, national, religious, and racial affiliation

SECONDARY IDENTITY

• occupation → identification with the profession that we do

• lifestyle → how we spend our free time, our cultural consumption

THREE LEVELS OD IDENTITY, H. BRADLEY

1. passive → we’re mostly unaware of them

2. active → we become aware of them (e.g. discrimination)

3. politicized → basis for organizing and advocating for changes

*e.g. gender becomes a politicized identity in the struggle for gender equality

identity crisis → most often during adolescence or middle age; turbulent periods of life

SUBCULTURES

• the feeling of belonging to a group is part of our collective identity

• subculture - a set of norms, values, and patterns of behavior that distinguishes a group from others

*religion, musical taste, profession, ethnicity, interests

EMERGENCE OF SUBCULTURES

in the past: mostly related to ethnic communities in the US (immigrants)

middle of the 20th century: delinquents (jazz music, marijuana consumption)

later, youthful styles: rockers, metalheads, sports fan groups, bikers, emos, hipsters, etc.

newer today: YouTubers, gamers, influences, etc.

COUNTERCULTURES

• they reject the values of dominant cultures and wish to change them

• e.g. hippies, original punkers, Anonymous