It refers to a society’s framework, consisting of the various relationships between people and groups that direct and set limits on human behavior. The major components of social structure include
culture, social class, social status, roles, groups, and social institutions.
Talcott Parsons has described
four
principal types of social structure. His classification is based on four social values: universalistic social values, particularistic social values, achieved social values, and ascribed social values.
The major elements of the social structure are
institutions, social groups, statuses, and roles
.
Examples of social structure include
family, religion, law, economy, and class
. It contrasts with “social system”, which refers to the parent structure in which these various structures are embedded.
Social structure today has 4 main components:
status, roles, groups, and institutions
. Each one these components play out a different action in how we behave within the main framework that is being created.
The major components of social structure include
culture, social class, social status, roles, groups, and social institutions
. Social structure guides people’s behaviors.
There are seven elements of social system, according to Loomis and Beegle:
roles, status, authority, rights, ends and objectives, norms and territoriality
.
Social structure can be viewed in terms of inter relationships of the component parts. Social structure includes
social groups and institutions
. These are called the major groups and institutions. … The community, the total organized life of a locality, is the most inclusive spontaneous grouping in the social structure.
The examples of social structure in Sociology are
the family, religion, economic, political and education institutions
.
A. Functional Theory: Social structure is
essential because it creates order and predictability in a society
(Parsons, 1951). –Connects people to larger society through webbed pattern of social relationships (thus, homeless people are at a disadvantage ’cause little connections).
Acting via roles, social networks, and status, social structure can
affect the health, values, occupational attainment, and sense of belonging in society
. (We will also consider how some other social psychological variables are relevant influences on these.)
Social processes refer to
forms of social interaction that occur repeatedly
. By social processes we mean those ways in which individuals and groups interact and establish social relationships. There are various of forms of social interaction such as cooperation, conflict, competition and accommodation etc.
- Likeness: Likeness of members in a social group is the primary basis of their mutuality. …
- The Reciprocal Awareness: Likeness is generative of reciprocity. …
- Differences: Sense of likeness in not always sufficient. …
- Interdependence: ADVERTISEMENTS: …
- Cooperation: …
- Conflict:
social patternnoun.
The systems of control mechanisms to dominate these entities of the organization to achieve a defined goal
.
Social interactions include a large number of behaviors, so many that in sociology, interaction is usually divided into five categories. These are:
exchange, competition, cooperation, conflict and coercion
. Let’s examine these five types with a bit more detail.
A social structure is
a stable, routine-like pattern of interaction
, and a social function is any act or process that contributes to the maintenance of a social system. A social structure is a complex and interconnected machine, and a social function is any act that contributes to the maintenance of a social system.
