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Introduction

SOCL 101 Social Structures Paper Final Copy Victor Grigorov 3/19/2012 Sociology 101: Social Structure The world we live in today is governed by different sets of rules and regulations almost everywhere we turn. From when and how we brush our teeth, to how we drive our cars, our world is in a way, very predictable. This is all due to the social structure that resides in our society and holds together everything in place. Social structure is the mainframe of how and why we do the things that we do every day of our lives. Without it, humanity would be in complete chaos, and anarchy would take control. Social structure guides us to do our everyday tasks, but also gives us direction in how we should perform those tasks. It is divided into smaller elements that have different tasks and functions in the bigger picture. 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 statuses we have are basically positions that we occupy in society and are associated with particular rights and obligations (Elements). ...read more.

Middle

These decisions that we make help build who we are and our identity in society. Certain roles can be hard to accomplish, and may result in role strain. Role strain occurs in occasions where there are contradictory "expectations with the same role "(Ferris 142). This can happen in parenting, when a parent is forced to either discipline a child or nurture it. The same concept can be seen in work environments when bosses are faced to discipline co-workers even though they might be close friends. Sometimes, people are also forced to perform role exits when they no longer need to fulfill a certain status. A student that has graduated from college has no longer the status of a student, but of a worker in society. Status changes result in role changes, and these roles and statuses help shape our individual identities and who we are in our society today. Social structure has another basic block that combines these individuals with their statuses into one united form. Social groups are defined as "two or more people who have a common identity, interact, and form a social relationship" (Mooney). These groups are just as important to society, as the individual person is. ...read more.

Conclusion

Goffman called this impression management (Ferris 31). It is a way of viewing the world and society as a movie setting, and the people that are involved in this movie are just mere actors. Although unorthodox, this perspective makes a lot of sense when everyday situations are presented, and the way people behave is analyzed. Most people do not act the same in a working environment as they do at home or when they are with friend or family. This front that people put for different occasions varies from situation to situation and from group to group. This exact way of thinking explains why people behave the way they do when they are acting upon different roles and statuses. To sum up, it is notable that these social structures exist for the good of all people regardless the gender, color of the body, s*x among other personal attributes. It is through these exact building blocks that the society develops well behaved and intelligent citizens, thereby giving hope for the future. Each different culture varies its importance on certain aspect of society, but as a whole, all these structures can be seen in every society around the world and are vital to the existence of mankind. ...read more.

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