CHAPTER V- Development of Social InstitutionsThe term "institution" is commonly applied to customs and behavior patterns important to asociety, as well as to particular formal organizations of thegovernmentand public services. According to Bertrand, institutions are a system of social relationships for meeting various felt human needs. Merill also gives definition of institution as the interrelated system of norms. Social Institution is define as a system of behavioral and relationship patterns that are densely interwoven and enduring. Each institution fulfills certain tasks and responsibilities that contribute to the overall functioning and stability of society. Characteristics of Social InstitutionsThe following are the characteristics of Social Institutions according to Merwill; Social institutions are patterns of behavior grouped about the central needs of human beings in society. In all societies, the institution of family plays a central role. Social institutions are therefore social patterns directing the ordered behavior of human beings in the performance of their basic activities. The continuity of institutional practices is further assured by the development of rituals. The central aspects of institutions are the functions they perform and the pattern, established to carry out the functions. The claim of institutions upon the members is also known as loyalties. The institutions of a society are connected in a close end interdependent pattern. Institutions are connected through status and role of the members. Institutions are the most important agencies in the formation of personality. Social institutions are the great conservers and transmitters of cultural heritage. Cultural heritage is thus transmitted through social interaction. The moral values of the society are embodied in its institution. Each institution is a center of complex social norms.CommunityThe term community refers to a group of people living in the same locality and under the same government or a group or class having common interests. It governs the intangible institutions such as kinship, marriage, inheritance and sharing of oxen at community level and organizations that operate at community level and are controlled by their members.

Figure 1 Community

Functions of Community Production-Distribution-Consumption:No community can survive if it does not provide some way for its people to make a living and obtain the material resources that they need for living. Socialization: No community can survive it does not arrange for its continuation.A way must be found for children to learn what they will need to know to be adults; for workers to develop the knowledge, skills and abilities to do their jobs; for in-migrants (whether they are from the neighboring State or from across the ocean) to learn how we do things here. Social Control:Communities are incredibly complex systems.For all those players (whether human or corporate) are to move around and do their thing, there have to be traffic rules to keep them from crashing into each other.Only the smallest part of social control is busting bad guys; much of it is an issue of forming and enforcing contracts (mutual agreements about who will do what to whom how and with what) and supporting the social contract (those rules of what is expected of one that were learned through socialization).This function is also often referred to as boundary maintenance. Social Participation: In part, the community needs the human resources of its people to get the job done.It is throughparticipationthat much of those functionsisaccomplished (And much of socialization and social control is accomplished as a by-product of social participation. Mutual Support:Finally, one of the purposes of community is to motivate and encourage each other along the way.

Health Care InstitutionsThe institution ofmedicineis responsible for defining and treating physical and mental illnesses among members of a society. The goal of a societys medical establishment is to promotehealth and the total well-being of its people. The nature of both health and medicine in a given society are culturally determined. Figure 2 Medicine as a Social InstitutionMedicine has existed for thousands of years, during most of which it was considered as an art that frequently had connections to thereligiousand philosophicalbeliefs of each culture. Medical availability and clinical practice varies across the world due to regional differences in culture and technology. Modern scientific medicine is highly developed in theWestern world, while indeveloping countriessuch as parts of Africa or Asia, the population may rely more heavily ontraditional medicinewith limited evidence and efficacy and no required formal training for practitioners.Contemporary medicine is in general conducted within health care systems. Legal,credentialingand financing frameworks are established by individual governments, augmented on occasion by international organizations, such as churches. The characteristics of any given health care system have significant impact on the way medical care is provided.From ancient times, Christian emphasis on practical charity gave rise to the development of systematic nursing and hospitals and theCatholic Churchtoday remains the largest non-government provider of medical services in the world.Advanced industrial countries (with the exception of the United States)and manydeveloping countriesprovide medical services through a system ofuniversal health carethat aims to guarantee care for all through acare system, or compulsory private or co-operativehealth insurance. This is intended to ensure that the entire population has access to medical care on the basis of need rather than ability to pay. Delivery may be via private medical practices or by state-owned hospitals and clinics, or by charities, most commonly by a combination of all three.Mosttribalsocieties, and the United States,provide no guarantee of healthcare for the population as a whole. In such societies, healthcare is available to those that can afford to pay for it or have self-insured it (either directly or as part of an employment contract) or who may be covered by care financed by the government or tribe directly. Transparency of information is another factor defining a delivery system. Access to information on conditions, treatments, quality, and pricing greatly affects the choice by patients/consumers and, therefore, the incentives of medical professionals. While the US healthcare system has come under fire for lack of openness, new legislation may encourage greater openness. There is a perceived tension between the need for transparency on the one hand and such issues as patient confidentiality and the possible exploitation of information for commercial gain on the other.

Market InstitutionsAccording to Adam Smith, market economy is made up of a series of individual exchanges or transactions which automatically create a functioning and ordered system. This happens even though none of the individuals involved in the millions of transactions had intended to create a system. Each person looks only to their own self-interest but in the pursuit of this self-interest the interests of all or of society also seem to be looked after. He also argued that the capitalist economy is driven by individual self-interest and works best when individual buyers and sellers make rational decisions that serve their own interests. The society overall benefits when individuals pursue their own self-interest in the market because it stimulates the economy and creates more wealth. This economic philosophy was also given the name Laissez-faire means leave alone or let it be. Figure 3 Market as a Social InstitutionModern economics developed from the ideas of early thinkers such as Adam Smith and is based on the idea that the economy can be studied as a separate part of a society that operates according to its own laws leaving out the larger social or political context in which markets operate. In contrast to this approach sociologists have attempted to develop an alternative way of studying economic institutions and processes within the larger social framework. Sociologists view markets as social institutions that are constructed in culturally specific ways. For example markets are often controlled or organized by particular social groups or classes and have specific connections to other institutions, social processes and structures. Sociologists often express this idea by saying that economies are socially embedded.LawIt refers to the system of rules that are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior. Laws can be made by legislatures through legislation (resulting instatutes), the executive throughdecreesandregulations, or judges through bindingprecedent(normally incommon lawjurisdictions). Private individuals can create legally bindingcontracts, including (in some jurisdictions) arbitration agreements that may elect to accept alternative arbitration to the normal court process. The formation of laws themselves may be influenced by aconstitution(written or unwritten) and therights encoded therein. The law shapespolitics,economics, andsocietyin various ways and serves as a mediator of relations betweenpeople.The history of law links closely to the development ofcivilization.Ancient Egyptianlaw, dating as far back as 3000BC, contained a civil code that was probably broken into twelve books. It was based on the concept ofMa'at, characterized by tradition,rhetoricalspeech, social equality and impartiality.By the 22nd centuryBC, the ancientSumerianrulerUr-Nammuhad formulated the firstlaw code, which consisted ofcasuisticstatements ("if ... then ..."). Around 1760BC,King Hammurabifurther developedBabylonian law, by codifying and inscribing it in stone. Hammurabi placed several copies of his law code throughout the kingdom of Babylon asstelae, for the entire public to see; this became known as theCodex Hammurabi. The most intact copy of these stelae was discovered in the 19th century by British Assyriologists, and has since been fullytransliteratedand translated into various languages, including English, German, and French. TheOld Testamentdates back to 1280BC and takes the form of moral imperatives as recommendations for a good society. The smallGreekcity-state, ancient Athens, from about the 8th century BC was the first society to be based on broad inclusion of its citizenry, excluding women and theslaveclass. However, Athens had no legal science or single word for "law", relying instead on the three-way distinction between divine law, human decree and custom.YetAncient Greek lawcontained majorconstitutionalinnovations in the development ofdemocracy.

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