Ch 4. Social Structure Flashcards
Social Interaction
The process by which people act and react in relation to others
Social Structure
Any relatively stable pattern of social behaviour
Status
A social position that a person holds
Status set
All the statuses that a person holds at any given time (ex. Mother, Wife, Employee)
Master Status
A status that has special importance for social identity, often heaping a person’s entire life
Ascribed Status
A social position a person receives at birth or takes on involuntarily later in life
Achieved Status
A social position a person takes on voluntarily that reflects personal ability and effort
Role
Behaviour expected of someone who holds a particular status
(ex. Student expected to study)
Role set
A number of roles attached to a single status
Role Conflict
Conflict among the roles connected to two or more statuses
(Ex. People putting off having children for career success)
Role Strain
Tension among the roles connected to a single status
(Ex. Partying with friends as a uni student vs studying for exam)
Social Construction of reality
The process by which people creatively shape reality through social interaction
(Introduced by Berger and Luckmann)
Thomas Theorem
Thomas’ claim that situations defined as real are real in their consequences. (Reality is initially “soft” and becomes “hard” in its effects) - consequences of actions make those situations become real
Ethnomethodology
Harold Garfinkel’s term for the study of the way people make sense of their everyday surroundings. (We make assumptions of what’s real or not even if we aren’t thinking about it consciously)
Breaching Experience
Way to interrupt someone’s reality
