Social Structures Flashcards
Social Structure
Set of social statuses, roles, group, networks, and institutions that organize and influence that way people live
Resources
Things individuals have or can acquire to accomplish goals (ex. money, education, status, and formal/informal knowledge). Shapes life chances
Life Chances
Opportunities to provide yourself with material goods, positive living conditions, and favourable life experiences
Rules
Formal/Informal expectations for behaving in any given situation
Formal examples: laws, organizational policies
Informal examples: don’t be naked in public, sneeze in your arm
Social Network
A series of social relationships that link a person directly to other individuals and indirectly to even more people
Can constrain/enable access to resources, information, and opportunities
Statuses
A person’s/group’s socially determined positions in society. It comes with social meaning and sets of social expressions
Ascribed Status
Involuntary status (ex. race, gender, age, etc.). It places people in social hierarchies and influences resources society makes available to individuals
Achieved Status
Voluntary status. Result of efforts/intentions (ex. college students, athletes, etc.)
Role
Derived from statuses. How people act due to how others expect them to behave because of their status
Examples: baristas are expected to know about coffee, students are expected to sit and listen
Role Strain
One role requires too much (ex. parenting)
Role Conflict
Multiple roles contradict one another (ex. working and being a student)
Social Groups
Two or more people with similar values and expectations who interact with each other on a regular basis
Primary Groups
Members aren’t interchangeable and relationships are enduring and meaningful (ex. family, romantic partners)
Secondary Groups
Impersonal and goal-orientated. Can be temporary and can have organized structures, rules, and authority figures (ex. coworkers, classmates)
Institutions
Consists of networks, statuses, roles, and groups that guide behaviors and is the main aspect of social life (ex. education, marriage, governments, etc.)
Governed by norms and can establish social order and perpetuate inequalities
Socialization
A process by which we learn to adhere to unwritten rules of social life. We learn cultures and expectations with our roles and gives us an identity
Agents of Socialization
Individuals, groups, organizations, and institutions that influence sense of self and helps us learn how to be a member of society
4 major agents of socialization
1) Family
2) School
3) Peers
4) Media
Agency
Acting on your own will within constraints posed by social structures and resources
Looking-Glass Self. Who coined the term?
Charles Cooley. The way how our perception of how others see us affects our sense of self
Generalized Other
The values and norms of the larger culture that individuals use to guide their actions
Reference Group
A group of individuals that others use as a comparison to guide their own beliefs, values, and behaviors, whether they’re a part of the group or not
Dramaturgy. Who coined the concept? What is “audience” and “performance”?
Erving Goffman’s theory of social interactions that uses the framework of theatre performances to describe how people behave and represent themselves
“Audience” gives the individual a certain amount of leeways, forgiving small mistakes, but interaction breaks down when the “performance” is no longer credible
Impression Management
The way which people try to control how others perceive them
Examples: Facial expressions, mannerisms, appearance, what people say and how
Face
The “image” presented and depends on the situation and audience
“Saving face” or “face work” is how people make adjustments based on mistakes
Front Stage
Where the performance takes place (most social interactions)
Back Stage
What happens out of the public eye (when someone is along or with trusted people)
People work in teams in particular situations: coworkers (ex. talking about customers), romantic partners, etc.
Self
A collection of roles we enact in different situations and with different audience members
Feeling Rules. Who coined the concept?
Concept from Arlie Hochschild that refers to social norms that shape the emotions people experience and express in different situations
Emotional Management. Who coined the term?
Arlie Hochschild. People work to change how they feel or how they appear to feel, based on these norms. People inhibit/produce emotions based on the situation
Emotional Labour
How people manage their emotions in way that are required by their occupation
Thomas Theorem
“If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences”
Role Set
One person is associated with multiple roles/statuses
