Society, Social Structure and Interaction

Pages to review:132-138 (up to roles)143-157 (up to Future Changes...)

Social Interaction & Social StructureSocial Interaction - process by which people

act toward or respond to other people and is the foundation for all relationships and groups

Social Structure - stable pattern of social relationships that exist within a particular group or society.

What is the relationship between social structure and social interaction?

Social StructureFramework of the parts of society.

StatusStatus – socially defined position in a group

or society – characterized by certain expectations, rights, and duties.

Status is at every level Statuses are “ascribed” (involuntarily or by

birth) or “achieved” (voluntary by choice, effort)

Status is a socially defined position in a group or society characterized by certain expectations, rights, and duties.

A status set is made up of all the statuses a person occupies at a given time

A master status is the most important status a person occupies

Status symbols are material signs that inform others of a person’s specific status.

Social InstitutionsA social institution is any sort of human

group that supports social practices or behaviours that a society has agreed to promote and obey.

Ex: family, legal system, religion, education, economy, government, media

What is the difference between a group and an institution?

A group is made up of specific, identifiable people.

(Our school is Lockview High)An institution is a standardized way of doing

something.(The school is responsible to educate

students)

Functions of Social InstitutionsReplacing membersTeaching new membersProducing, distributing and consuming goodsPreserving orderProviding and maintaining a sense of purpose

Gemeinschaft is a traditional society where bonds are based on bonds of kinship, friendship and intergenerational stability.Gesellschaft is a large, urban society where bonds are based on impersonal and specialized relationships, with little commitment to the group or consensus on values.Which one are we?

How does structure affect our daily lives?

Microsocial perspectives: Social Interaction“micro” = small , “macro = largeWhile macrosociology would look at the big

picture (ex: how have social institutions created current conditions?),

microsociology would have a more individual focus (ex: how do individuals interact in society?)

Looking at society from the microsocial perspective involves the following:

Social Interaction and MeaningThe Social Construction of RealityEthnomethodologyDramaturgical AnalysisNon-verbal Communications

Social Interaction and MeaningWe plan to act according to others’

words/actions.We know that they have expectations of us,

and we of themSome of these are shared and consistent

across situations.Ex: civil inattention: (passers on a street). Rituals will be interpreted differently

depending on ethnicity, gender, class

The Social Construction of RealityIf we interpret actions personally, can we

have a shared reality? Social construction of reality - Symbolic

interactionists say our perception is shaped largely by our subjective meaning of experiences.

So we act according to how we think the situation is.

Self-fulfilling prophecy - false belief or prediction that produces behaviour that makes the originally false belief come true.

EthnomethodologyEthnomethology is the study of the

commonsense knowledge that people use to understand situations

Interaction is based on assumptions of shared expectations (ex: talking back and forth)

Dramaturgical AnalysisDramaturgical Analysis - study of interaction

comparing life to a theatreImpression management – the effort to

present ourselves in the best light, own images.

This includes:Face-Saving behaviour Studied nonobservanceFront stage (on), Back stage (off/self).

The Sociology of EmotionsAre emotions biological or social?Both feeling rules – we acquire a set of rules for

how, where, why an emotion should be expressed

emotional labour – we work to achieve the correct level of emotion

Nonverbal CommunicationNonverbal Communication - transfer of

information between persons without the use of speech

May be intentional or unintentional.Functions of nonverbal communication:supplements, enhances, undermines verbal

communicationDemeanor – how we behave or conduct

ourselves

Deference - symbolic actions of permissivenessFacial expressions, eye contact and touching can

be examples of deference behaviorPersonal space is the immediate distance

surrounding a person that the person claims as private

Varies between cultures Intimate (0.5 m)Personal (0.5-1.2m)Social (1.2-3.6m)Public (over 3.6m)

All forms of non-verbal communication are influenced by gender, ethnicity, social class and the personal contexts in which they occur.