Chapter Four social structure and social interaction PDF

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Doctor Jamie Foster...

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Chapter Four: social structure and social interaction

Levels of sociological analysis 

Macro: focus on the broad features of society o Analyze for example: 

Social class

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How groups relate to one another

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Conflict and functionalists use this approach

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Micro: focus is on social interaction o What a person does when communication with another

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Symbolic interactionist uses this approach

The sociological significance of social structure 

Social structure: the typical patterns of a group o Ex. The usual relationships between men and women or students and teachers o Framework of society that was already laid out before you were born o It guides our behavior

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People learn their behaviors and attitudes because of their location in the social structure (whether those are privileged, deprived, or in between) and the act accordingly

Major components of social structure 

Culture

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Social class

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Social status

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Roles

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Group

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Social institutions

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Social Class:

1. Income 2. Education 3. Occupational Prestige a. Social class and social status are significant factors in social life. Fundamental to what we become, they affect our orientations to life. 

Social status: position that someone occupies

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Roles: behaviors, obligations, and privileges attached to a status

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We occupy a status that is a social position, but we play a role that is a social expectation

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Group: people who interact with one another and who feel the values, interest, and norms they have in common are important

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Social institutions: the organized, standard, or usual ways that a society meets its basic needs

Functionalist’s five social institutions 1. The family 2. The economy 3. Political institutions

4. Education 5. Religion Norms: Expectations that guide our behavior 

Status set: all the statuses that you occupy

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Ascribed status: involuntary

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Achieved status: voluntary

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Status symbols: signs that identify a status

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Master status: cuts across your other statuses o Ex. Your sex. Whatever you do, people perceive you as a male or female

Comparing functionalist and conflict perspectives 

Functionalists…view social institutions as working together to meet universal human needs

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Conflict theorists…view social institutions as having a single primary purpose to preserve the social order o Small group holds majority of wealth o Preserve the status quo

Durkheim…what holds society together 

Social integration: the degree to which members of a society are united by shared values and other social bonds

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Mechanical Solidarity: small town

o Then, here comes the division of labor. This disperses people into different interest groups where the develop different ideas about life. Each person contributes to the group differently 

Organic solidarity: dependence on others based on the division of labor within the society

United by close ties or building anonymity? 

From Gemeinshaft (intimate community) to Gesellschaft (impersonal association)

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The sociological point is that social structure sets the context for what we do, feel, and think, and ultimately, then, for the kind of people we become.

Symbolic interaction 

Stereotypes in everyday life o Your assumptions about these “characteristics” shape how you act toward that person

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Personal space

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Eye contact

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Smiling

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Body language

Goffman and Dramaturgy 

Birth ushers us onto the stage of everyday life, and our socialization consists of learning to perform on that stage

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Dramaturgy: an approach to social interaction in which social life is analyzed in terms of the stage

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Impression management: our efforts to manage the impressions that others receive of us

Role performance, conflict, and strain 

Role performance: particular interpretation that you give a role, you style

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Role conflict: what is expected of us in one status (our role) is incompatible with what is expected of us in another status

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Role strain: conflict within a role

Sign vehicles 

These are used to communicate information about The Self o Social setting: where the action unfolds o Appearance: includes props and costumes o Manner: to communicate information about your feelings and moods

The social construction of reality 

If people define situations as real…then they are real in their consequences: Thomas theorem

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The social construction of reality…from the social groups to which we belong (the social part of this process), we learn the ways of looking at life o Ex. We learn how to view Hitler....