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Introduction to Sociology SOC-101
Unit 5 – Social Structure and Social Interaction
Levels of Sociological Analysis Macrosociology
This is the analysis of social life that focuses on the broad features of society This includes social class and how groups related to one
another Used by conflict theorists and functionalists Goal is to examine the large-scale social forces that
influence people Microsociology
This is the analysis of social life that focuses on social interaction What people do when they come together Used by symbolic interactionists
Both analyses need to be used to get a full perspective of what is being studied
Macrosociological Perspective In order to understand human behavior, we
must examine the social structure Social Structure
This is the framework that surrounds us Consists of the relationships of people and groups
to one another It guides our behavior People learn certain attitudes and behaviors
because of their location in the social structure
Components of Social Structure The components of social structure include:
Culture Social Class Social Status Roles Groups Social Institutions
Components of Social Structure Culture
This refers to a group’s language, beliefs, values, behaviors, gestures and material objects
This is the broadest framework that determines who we become
Social Class A group of people who rank close to each other in
income, education, and power This influences not only our behaviors but
attitudes and ideas
Components of Social Structure Status
A recognized social position that an individual occupies
Different from “prestige,” where someone who holds a high position has high status
We hold multiple statuses at once Each status adds to our social identity, defines our
relationships to one another, and guides our behavior
Components of Social Structure Status Set
All the statuses a person holds at a particular time For example, at one time a person can be a sister,
daughter, student, and friend Status sets can change over the course of one’s
life We gain and lose many statuses over the course
of our lifetimes
Components of Social Structure Ascribed Status
This is a social position that a person receives at birth or assumes involuntarily later in life
Race, ethnicity, gender, daughter, teenager Achieved Status
This is a social position that a person assumes voluntarily and reflects personal ability and choice
Honors student, spouse, parent, teacher
Components of Social Structure Master Status
This is a position that carries exceptional importance for identity and often shapes a person’s entire life
Cuts across all other statuses you hold For most people occupation is a master status
because it says a lot about your social background, education, and income
Master status can be a negative if it is tied in with a disease, disability, or even gender in some societies
Components of Social Structure Status Inconsistency
When a person’s statuses are mismatched or contradict one another
10-year-old college student or 25-year-old with Alzheimer's
Status Symbol Item used to identify a status Wedding rings, uniforms, luxury car Can also be negative like the “scarlet letter” in
Hawthorne’s book
Components of Social Structure Role
The behaviors, obligations and privileges expected of someone who holds a particular status
Individuals hold a status and perform a role Roles lay out what is expected of people
Group People who regularly interact with one another They usually share similar values, norms, and
expectations To belong to a group we have to yield the right to
make certain decisions about our behavior to others in the group
Social Institutions Social Institution
The organized, usual, or stand ways by which society meets its basic needs
Examples include family, education, law, military, and mass media
In industrialized societies, the social institutions are more formal, while in tribal societies they are more informal
Society and Its Transformations Society
A group of people who share a culture and a territory In order to understand society, we need to
examine its transformation over time Hunting and Gathering Society
A group that depends on hunting and gathering for its survival
Consisted of small, nomadic groups that moved as they depleted an area’s vegetation or pursued migratory animals
Had an egalitarian society since no one owned anything and no one became wealthier than anybody else
There were no rulers as the group as a whole made decisions
Pastoral and Horticultural Societies Pastoralism
This is the domestication of animals Horticulture
This is the cultivation of plants using hand tools First Social Revolution
With a dependable source of food, labor became specialized and with that people were able to accumulate material possessions
Creation of an elite, ruling class
Agricultural Societies Agricultural Societies
Agriculture Large-scale cultivation using plows harnessed to
animals or more powerful energy sources Growth of permanent settlements with populations
growing into the millions Members of this society become even more
specialized and money is invented as a form of common exchange
Agricultural Societies Second Social Revolution
Social inequality became a fundamental feature of social life
Most people worked as serfs or slaves The elites were free to study philosophy, art, and
literature The elites also created armies to hold their power Men began to gain pronounced power and
privilege over women
Industrial Societies Industrial Societies
Industry The production of goods using advanced sources of
energy (like steam) to drive large machinery
Before 1765, most had depended upon human or animal to provide power
With the development of the steam engine, production became much more efficient
Industrial Societies Third Social Revolution
Industrialization brought even greater surplus and even greater social inequality
Those who first used the new technology created massive amounts of wealth
People moved off their farms into the cities to work in factories
Over time, the social equalities diminished as workers gained rights, slavery was abolished, and there was the creation of a more representative form of government
Postindustrial (Information) Societies Postindustrial Society
It is based on information, services, and the latest technology rather than on raw materials and manufacturing
Basic component is information Fourth Social Revolution
Based on the microchip, the information revolution is transforming society
Social Integration Social Integration
This is the degree to which members of a society are united by shared values and other social bonds
With the way society has evolved and its many conflicting groups, how does society still hold itself together?
Sociologists have found that as societies change, so do people’s orientations to life
Mechanical/Organic Solidarity Emile Durkheim (1893)
Believed that as society changes, the relationships amongst its members also change
Mechanical Solidarity People have much in common through similar
work, education, religion, and lifestyle This was found in more traditional and small scale
societies
Mechanical/Organic Solidarity As societies get larger, labor becomes more
specialized People become more dependent on one another
for the work they contribute to the whole Organic Solidarity
The interdependence that results from the division of labor where people depend on others to fulfill their jobs
This is found in more modern and industrial societies
Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft Ferdinand Tönnies also analyzed the evolution
of two types of human association in 1887 Gemeinschaft (“Intimate Community”)
A type of society in which life is intimate, and where everyone in the community knows everyone else
Found in traditional and small scale societies An example of this is Amish society
Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft Over time, society changed and the
relationships among people became more impersonal
Gesellschaft (“Impersonal Association”) A type of society that is dominated by impersonal
relationships, individual accomplishments, and self-interest
This is more modern day, industrial society
Microsociological Perspective While macrosociologists look at the overall
features of society, microsociologists looks that the interpersonal, face-to-face interactions
Stereotypes Assumptions of what people are like, whether true
or false First impressions of a person can be shaped and
affected by their sex, race, ethnicity, age and clothing
This can also affect how you act towards that person
Personal Space Personal Space
This refers to the surrounding area over which a person makes some claim to privacy
The definition of personal space varies from culture to culture In the U.S., most people prefer to stand several feet
apart when talking In the Middle East, they stand much closer
Edward Hall (1969) An anthropologist who observed that North
Americans use four different “distance zones” when it comes to personal space
Personal Space Four levels of personal space
Intimate Distance – (> 18 inches from our bodies) Reserved for comforting, protecting, hugging, intimate
touching, and lovemaking. Personal Distance – (18 inches to 4 feet)
Reserved for friends and acquaintances and ordinary conversations
Social Distance – (4 to 12 feet) For impersonal or formal relationships For example, we use this zone for such things as job
interviews Public Distance – (<12 feet)
Reserved for more formal relationships For example, it is used to separate dignitaries and
public speakers from the general public
Dramaturgy Dramaturgy – Erving Goffman (1922-1982)
Analyzed social life in terms of drama or the stage Socialization consists of learning how to perform on the
stage of life Performances
Everyday life includes things like dress (costume), objects carried along (props), and tone of voice and gestures (manner)
Impression Management People’s efforts to control the impressions that others
receive of them Front Stage – This is where we give “our lines” to an
audience Back Stage – “Behind the scenes” where there is no
audience This is where we can relax and let “our hair down”
Dramaturgy Roles play a vital aspect in dramaturgy
Role Performance The ways in which someone performs a role within the
limits that role provides Being the “ideal” daughter, or the “good” worker
Role Conflict The conflict someone feels between roles because the
expectations attached to one role are incompatible with the expectation of another role
Do you study, go to your friend’s party, or help your parents out with chores?
Role Strain Conflicts that someone feels within a role A friendly boss still needs to keep his distance to
evaluate his workers properly
Dramaturgy Team Work
The collaboration of two or more people to manage impressions jointly.
Face-Saving Behavior Techniques used to salvage a performance going
sour Tact
Helping someone save face; when members of the “audience” help a performer recover from an embarrassment
Role Strain and Role Conflict
Ethnomethodology Ethnomethodology – Harold Garfinkel (1967)
This is the study of the way people make sense of their everyday surroundings using commonsense
Background Assumptions These are deeply embedded common understandings
of how the world operates and how people are supposed to act
In order to discover our background assumptions we must break the rules This is the only way to see how people construct their
reality Examples include bargaining for items in a
supermarket, the teacher playing the student for a class, talk to people an inch away from their face
By breaking the rules, people will become agitated, surprised, and possibly angry
Social Construction of Reality Social Construction of Reality
The use of background assumptions and life experiences to define what is real
Thomas Theorem – William and Dorothy Thomas (1928) “If men define situations as real, they are real in
their consequences” We behave according to the way we perceive the
world It is not the reality of something that impresses
itself on us, but society impresses the reality of something on us
“Saints” and “Roughnecks” In 1978, William Chambliss published his
study on the “Saints” and the “Roughnecks” Examined two different delinquent groups in a
town’s high school The “Saints” were boys from “good” middle-class
families and were expected to “go somewhere” The “Roughnecks” were boys from lower-class
families and perceived to have “no futures”
“Saints” and “Roughnecks” The boys in both these groups skipped school, got
drunk, did a lot of fighting, and committed numerous acts of vandalism The Saints actually were more delinquent since they
skipped school more often and committed more acts of vandalism
After high school, seven of the eight Saints graduated college and went on to well paying jobs Three of them received advanced degrees
With the Roughnecks, only four finished high school Two did well in sports, went to college on scholarships,
and became high school coaches Two who did not graduate wound up in prison for
separate murders
“Saints” and “Roughnecks” Using macrosociology, we can see:
How social class can either open or close doors for us How people learn different goals in different groups
Using microsociology, we can see: How the Saints used their reputation to their
advantage and how it negatively affected the Roughnecks
How the Saints used the fact that they had cars and were able to use them to commit crimes in other communities (thus keeping their “good” reputation in their own community
How the Roughnecks, by not having cars, were focused in a small area and visible to their own community
Macro- and Micro-Sociology We need to study both macro- and micro-
sociology to get a complete understanding of social life as they both give us different aspects