What is your ROLE in society Explain Warmup

What is your “ROLE” in society? Explain Warm-up

What is your “STATUS” in society? Explain. Warm-up

If you could change your status, what would you change it to and why? Warm-up

How does being embarrassed [in a situation] affect your role? Warm-up

What did you find most interesting about your project? Warm-up

Social Structure and Society Chapter 5

Social Structure and Status �The underlying pattern of social relationships in a group is called social structure �The structure of society refers to the way society is organized. �Society is organized into different parts: institutions, social groups, statuses, and roles.

Institutions � An institution is an established and enduring pattern of social relationships. � The five traditional institutions are family, religion, politics, economics, and education. � Some sociologists argue that other social institutions, such as science and technology, mass media, medicine, sport, and the military, also play important roles in modern society. � Many social problems are generated by inadequacies in various institutions. For example, unemployment may be influenced by the educational institution's failure to prepare individuals for the job market

Social Groups �Institutions are made up of social groups. �A social group is defined as two or more people who have a common identity, interact, and form a social relationship. Ex: the family in which you were born is a social group that is part of the family institution The religious association to which you may belong is a social group that is part of the religious institution.

Social groups may be categorized as primary or secondary. �Primary groups, which tend to involve small numbers of individuals, are characterized by intimate and informal interaction. Ex: families and friends �Secondary groups, which may involve small or large numbers of individuals, are task-oriented and characterized by impersonal and formal interaction. Ex: employers and their employees and clerks and their customers.

Statuses �Just as institutions consist of social groups, social groups consist of statuses �Status is one very important element of social structure. Status is a position a person occupies within a social structure �Status helps us define who and what we are in relation to others within the same social structure

Question: What are different statuses you see in the everyday world?

Statuses may be either ascribed or achieved

Ascribed Status �Ascribed status is a position that is neither earned nor chosen by assigned Ex: we have no control over the sex, race, ethnic background, and socioeconomic status into which we are born Similarly, we are assigned the status of "child, " "teenager, " "adult, " or "senior citizen" on the basis of age--something we do not choose or control

Achieved Status �A position that is earned or chosen �Whether or not you achieve the status of college graduate, spouse, parent, or prison inmate depends largely on your own efforts, behavior, and choices. �One's ascribed statuses may affect the likelihood of achieving other statuses Ex: if you are born into a poor socioeconomic status you may find it more difficult to achieve the status of "college graduate" because of the high cost of a college education.

Pictured is an African Masai man in traditional clothes. Do you think that his clothing reflects an ascribed or an achieved status?

Statuses �Every individual has numerous statuses simultaneously. �You may be a student, parent, tutor, volunteer fundraiser, female, and Hispanic. �So…

Master Status �…is the status that is considered the most significant in a person's social identity �In industrial societies, occupations–achieved, for the most part–are master statuses because your occupation strongly influences such matters as where you live, how well you live, and how long you live. �Age, gender, race, and ethnicity are examples of ascribed master statuses because they affect the likelihood of achieving other social statuses.

Everyone has a status �Social statuses do not exist in isolation �All statuses are interrelated with other statuses

Social Structure and Roles �People interact according to prescribed roles, which carry certain rights and obligations �Sometimes conflict or strain occurs when an individual has too many roles to play

Activity: I need 6 volunteers

Rights and Obligations �An expected behavior associated with a particular status is a role Any status carries with it a variety of roles Roles can be thought of as statuses “in action” Statuses describes positions; roles describe behaviors �Rights are behaviors that individuals expect from others. Obligations are behaviors that individuals are expected to perform toward others.

Rights and Obligations �In terms of a play: Roles are the part of the script that tells the actors (status holders) what beliefs, feelings, and actions are expected from them A playright or screenwriter specifies the content of a performer’s part In the same way, culture underlies the parts played in real life ▪ Ex: mothers have different maternal “scripts” in different cultures

Role Performance and Social Interaction �Statuses and roles provide the basis for group life �It is primarily when people interact with each other socially that they “perform” in the roles attached to their statuses

Role Performance and Social Interaction �Role performance is the actual conduct, or behavior, involved in carrying out (or performing) a role. �Role performance can occur without an audience (as when a student studies alone for a test). �Most role performance involves social interaction. �Social interaction is the process of influencing each other as people relate.

How does play-acting differ from social interaction? �The process of choosing the role and then acting it out occurs in nearly all instances of social interaction. �Unlike stage performances, most real-life role performance occurs without planning. �On the stage, there is a programmed and predictable relationship between cues and responses. In life, we can choose our own cues and responses. �The range of responses is not limitless–only certain responses are culturally acceptable.

Is reality TV play-acting or social interaction? Question

Role Conflict and Role Strain � The existence of statuses and roles permits social life to be predictable and orderly. � At the same time, each status involves many roles, and each individual holds many statuses. � This diversity invites conflict and strain. � Role conflict exists when the performance of a role in one status clashes with the performance of a role in another. � Role strain occurs when a person has trouble meeting the many roles connected with a single status.

Examples of Role Conflict? 1. pull between family and career. 2. supervisor who also attempts to be friendly with his/her employees. Video: role conflict - police officer

How do we manage role conflict and strain? � Role conflict and strain may lead to discomfort and confusion. � When roles clash, we often settle dilemmas by setting priorities. We decide which role is most important to us and act accordingly. � To reduce the negative effects of conflicting roles, we can separate our behavior in one role from our behavior in another. � Ranking incompatible roles in terms of their importance is a good way to reduce role conflict and strain.

Role conflict Activity