Social Structure Status, Role, and Norm

Social Structure: Status, Role, and Norm How do we understand Social Context? Social Order - Social context provides order in our world Sociologists often study the processes that enable social order; that allow society to function Social order is created and maintained through: laws and formal rules, informal social processes/factors Social Structure and Culture Social Structure: the way that relationships between individuals/groups are organized. - How parts of society are related - Structure provides predictable patterns of interaction between individuals/groups. Culture: Shared system of meaning (beliefs, values) or way of thinking (worldview), that exists in any social culture Social Structure: Status & Role Status: social positions (assigned by society) that people occupy. - Any social position that has rights, obligations, and expectations that go along with it. 1. Ascribed status: a position generally given at birth or assigned at different stages of life (sex, race, age). 2. Achieved status: position acquired through personal effort (student, husband, author). 3. Status-set: combination of various statuses 4. Master-status: when one status assumes a certain priority and appears to override other statuses you hold. Role: The expressions and behavior of a person who occupies a particular status. - Roles involve expressions and behaviors of a person who occupies a particular status. - Roles define our interactions with occupants of other statuses - Roles involve not just actions, but also expressions of feeling and emotion. Status and Role in Interaction - Society (writ large) is not homogenous - We must look at specific social contexts to understand social behavior - We act differently in different social contexts People in their everyday interactions are like actors performing on a stage (Goffman Analogy, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, 1959) - Social Interaction = theatrical performance - Status = Character in a play - Role = Script: the dialogue and action of the character Our performance includes: - The way we dress (costumes) - The objects we carry (props) - Our tone of voice and gestures (manners) - Performance varies according to where we are (context/set) Presentation of Self = Each Individuals Performance - We play the ROLE connected to our STATUS (or status we’d like to have) - We reveal information to others through our expressions (verbal/non-verbal communication) - Individuals can influence the performance to some extent by managing their expressions - However, for interactions to be successful, people must agree on a common understanding (“definition of the situation”) of their statuses and roles. We can present ourselves in a certain way, manage expressions, and define situations. - Because of our shared understanding of statuses and the roles attached to them. - Statuses and Roles have expectations attached to them - These expectations are called norms Social Structure: Norms & Social Control Norms: The shared rules and expectations that govern our behavior. - Norms govern the roles (behavior) attached to statuses. (Norms -> Role -> Status) - Norms vary depending on context or situation - Norms inform us how we are to act, toward whom, where and when. - And, nor only how we are to act, but what to anticipate in others, - Norms are also integrally linked to values, and therefore are often described as a part of culture Characteristic of Norms: Norms are Comprehensive - Norms shape all our behavior - Even our perceptions - how we perceive things have predictable patterns. Norms Vary in Intensity - Norms vary in intensity of their moral significance. “Mores”: Norms that have great moral significance; very important to a society - Distinguish between right/wrong - Usually apply everywhere and at all times “Folkways”: Norms for routine or casual interaction in a society. - Distinguish between right and rude - Often depend on the situation (appropriate greetings, proper dress) Norms are not Always Clearly Defined - Case of unclear script - Very often with new statues in society (1970s-1990s, role of stepparent) (2020 remote worker/online-student) Social Control: The ways that society (individuals, groups, institutions) enforces norms; formal and informal actions (sanctions) taken to keep people in line with social norms. - Norms make our interactions orderly and predictable - Thus, society has mechanisms to ensure that people conform to norms. Norm-maintenance Positive sanctions: rewards for norm-maintenance; acknowledgment that behavior is “proper” or acceptable for the situation. (verbal affirmations; smiling) (children learning etiquette rules). Norm Violations Negative sanctions: punishment for norm-breaking/disapproved behavior - For informal norms (raised eyebrows/dirty look/verbal admonitions) - For laws, formal rules (fines, banishment, prison) Norms in Interaction: “Front Stage/Back Stage” - Front stage is public place where we expect to perform the roles attached to our status - Back stage is area where we get ready for our front stage performances - Different norms govern these spaces Cahill Article - Toilet Stalls: Backstage region - Toilet Stalls are publicly accessible yet private “backstage regions” - Normative Space - Open Area: a type of front stage region in a mainly backstage setting - Interpersonal rituals - governed by NORMS (between people) - change when in public/private setting - Managing personal fronts - cleaning/freshening appearance as a ritual to leave private space and enter public space CAHILL SUMMARY - The norms in this private yet public setting show that we are loyal to the behavioral guidelines of our society - the norms/values about privacy and bodily functions - Following norms contributes to social order Zimbardo: Example of Status, Role, & Norm - Situation = Social Context (Prison) - Subjects: Tested “normally” on psychological tests - Randomly assigned to be either a guard or a prisoner - Shut down experiment after 6 days - subjects could not differentiate between role-playing and real self. Structure - Statuses: Superintendent, Warden, Guards, Prisoners - Hierarchical Power Roles: behavior attached to status Guards: control prisoners, enforce rules, wield power over prisoners Prisoners: Follow rules, obey, be submissive Norms: come from the fact that roles depend on power in a hierarchical structure Actual behavior in experiment - Power of structure/status can overwhelm personality - All volunteers lived up to the roles of their assigned status Topic 4: Culture Understanding Culture - Working Definitions - Sociologists study Social Context/Systems by analyzing two major aspects: Social Structure and Culture Social Structure: the way that relationships between individuals and/or groups are organized or structured. - How parts of society are related - Structure provides predictable patterns of interaction between people and groups. Culture: Shared system of meaning (beliefs/values) or way of thinking (worldview), that exists in any society/social context. - Culture undergirds structure - Culture can be explicit or implicit. Explicit = religion/art. Implicit = things taken for granted Links Between Culture and Social Structure - They are intertwined - They focus on different aspects of social life Values: Values often accompany norms - They justify norms and provide believable reasons as to why we should conform. - Values define what is worthwhile or important to the group (or those in power) Prestige: Prestige often accompanies status - Based on values - Prestige concerns specific statuses (or characteristics about statuses) that the group defines as important and good Often, culture is implicit - invisible assumptions about meaning - US society has implicit meanings/values around the status-category of race - Adults socialized into the cultural meaning of these categories will bring these assumptions into their everyday lives, including work. Social Construction of Reality - Our world is “socially constructed”. The form (structure) and meaning (culture) of social contexts are created by humans; they are not inevitable or “natural”. Construction Aspect - Nothing contains meaning in and of-itself. - Humans “construct” or create meaning; including categories/distinctions that are important (e.g. gender or race) Social Aspect - Humans create meaning TOGETHER - Meaning is created through social interaction/social processes. - People decide together on meanings to assign categories/distinctions, events, objects. Example: The 7-Day Week - Eviatar Zerubavel, The Seven Day Circle Reality of the 7-Day Week - The week is ubiquitous, but taken for granted The Week is a Social Construction of Reality - It does not correspond to any naturally occurring phenomenon - It is made by people together (part of culture) - Origins in Judaism/Astrology - Attempts to change the 7-day week by Soviet Union/France didn’t work - They didn’t work because culture was so embedded in people’s lives that it seemed inevitable. Example: Henslin, Survivors of F-227 -- Good relation to essay Social Construction of Reality - Our world is socially constructed - People create meaning/beliefs together - Because meaning/beliefs are created by people, people can change them -- but usually only in extraordinary circumstances Meaning/Beliefs, Behavior, and Norms - New meaning/beliefs are the beginning point for new social construction of reality and will produce new behaviors 1. Groups must first develop new beliefs that underlie proposed new behaviors 2. Groups then develop new norms/rules that are consistent with new beliefs 3. These new norms then govern these new behaviors - Without norms or rules (without structure), people do not know how to relate to each other, and that leads to chaos. Understanding “Social Construction of Reality” and Reification Reification: The practice of treating social constructions as natural phenomena; thinking that social constructions are inevitable or natural. - We often reify the cultural meaning of social categories, believing (or acting as though) they are natural or inevitable, when they are not. - Race IS a social construct. Cultures and Subcultures Definition of Subculture Subculture - A cultural group within a larger culture whose values and lifestyles are significantly different from larger society - The group defines itself as different - Subcultures often arise in smaller groups that are different in some respect from “dominant” societal groups - Biker/Heavy Metal subgroups - Subcultures also arise as a direct challenge to dominant culture (youth culture) - people “construct” a new culture (with a corresponding social structure) as a way to resist the dominant culture. Relationship Between Subculture and Mainstream Culture - Resistance - resisting dominant culture and values/constructing alternative structures that challenge dominant society - Subcultures think they resists/challenges more than it actually does. - Contradictions Culture Shock and Ethnocentrism Culture Shock: a feeling of confusion, doubt, or nervousness caused by being in a place that is very different from what you are used to. Ethnocentrism: Tendency to regard our way of life as the right way. Cultural Relativity - Stance taken by social scientists (opposite of ethnocentrism) - Different societies create different values and different systems of meaning. - Difference does not equal “right” or “wrong” Topic 5: Love Who do you love? - Societies have distinct social structural patterns associated with love. - Societies also have distinct cultural practices and beliefs about love. - “Love” is socially constructed. Social Structural Factors and Mate Selection Choice of mate is linked to social structure - Endogamy: marriage within a social group - Exogamy: marriage outside a social group Social Stratification: a group’s system of ranking - Societies develop different social stratification systems around different statuses (ascribed or achieved) - The society will rank the categories of a particular status group along a hierarchy; top categories are related to prestige/values in that society, as well as power U.S. Patterns: 1. Social Class (income, occupation, education) - Most people marry within their own social class. We see this particularly with the dimension of education. People marry others with similar education (75% marry close to same education level) 2. Age - Usually 2-3 years difference - Societies also define the right age to get married 3. Religion - Most marry within the same religious group - But less endogamous than other categories 4. Race - One of the most endogamous categories - 91.6% of all married couples What is Love? Definitions and Meaning of Love Background of Book - Interviewed 88 middle-class men and women from suburban areas near San Jose, CA - Not typical, but “proto-typical” Americans - “Middle-class” culture tends to be the dominant culture in our country - Most of the participants were in their 30s and 40s and were/or had been married. Cultural Views of Love What is the cultural meaning of “romantic love” in the U.S.? Two different views of love emerge in respondents’ interviews. 1) Love Myths – Mythic Love - Historical origins: Courtly Love Tradition Bourgeois tradition reshapes courtly love: 1. A decisive choice (love at first sight) 2. A unique other (one true love) 3. Overcoming obstacles (marrying for love, not money) 4. Love lasts forever (“happily ever after”) 2) Real Love – Prosaic-Realism - Participants often de-bunk the notion of Mythic Love Offer an alternative cultural view of “Real Love”: 1. Love grows slowly; is often ambivalent and confused. 2. One can love many people in a variety of ways. 3. Love should be based on compatibility and practical traits that make good partners. 4. Love does not necessarily last forever. Love involves emotional sharing, communication, often equality, respect Working at the relationship day-to-day People talk about both of these views of love when talking about what love MEANS to them. Structural Aspects of Love Look at notes on canvas for this part onwards There are 2 structural aspects of marriage 1. Marriage as decisive commitment - mythic love Social Structure: Marriage as Commitment - There is a structural reality behind mythic love: marriage as commitment (legal institution in society) The structural features of marriage as commitment 1. Decisive choice: one is either married or not 2. Unique other: One cannot be married to more than one person at a time 3. Transformative: Marrying someone is fateful, sometimes life transforming choice 4. Enduring: Despite divorce, marriages are meant to last forever.