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Chapter 5
Social Structure and
Society
Chapter Outline
Social Structure
 Status
 Roles
 Social Interaction
 Society
 Postindustrial Society
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Social Structure
Defined as the underlying pattern of
social relationships.
 Relationships among individuals are
patterned.
 Status, role, role performance, and
social interaction explain social
structure.
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All the world’s a stage. And all the
men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their
entrances; And one man in his
time plays many parts.
~ William Shakespeare,
As You Like It
Status
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Defined as a position that a person
occupies within a social structure.
Individuals in interrelated statuses
usually behave in orderly and
predictable ways.
Statuses may be assigned or earned.
Individuals occupy many statuses at once
as well as throughout their life course.
A status set is all the statuses that an
individual occupies at a particular time.
Types of Status
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Ascribed status – assigned to us at birth.
Gender and age are both ascribed. So are
princess, prince, lower class, higher class.
Achieved status – earned or chosen
because people have a degree of control and
choice. Spouse, occupation, at some
stages/societies lower class, higher class.
Master status – affects/influences most
other aspects of a person’s life.
The Interrelationships of
Social Statuses
Roles
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Defined as culturally defined rights and
obligations attached to social statuses.
Basically, the expected behaviors
attached to a status.
Role sets – all of the roles that are
attached to a single status.
As you can see, the structure gets
complex, as a person can have many role
sets that are associated with the many
statuses of their status set.
Rights and Obligations
The roles of one status are matched
with the roles of other statuses
through rights and obligations.
 Rights inform one person of the
behavior that can be expected from
another person.
 Obligations inform individuals of the
behavior others expect from them.
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Role Performance
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Occurs when roles are put into action
through social interaction.
Social interaction is the process of two
or more persons influencing each other’s
behavior.
According to Erving Goffman, statuses
are analogous to the parts of a play and
roles are the script. In turn, social
interaction represents the way the actors
respond to cues given by other actors.
Questions for Consideration
How do the principles of interaction
mentioned in the video relate to how
Goffman discusses social interaction
and role performance?
 What is the importance of the
pleasure principle of interaction?
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Role Conflict & Role Strain
Role conflict occurs when role
performance in one status clashes
with role performance in another
status.
 Role strain occurs when the roles
of a single status are inconsistent.
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Zimbardo Experiment
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From the “Doing Research” box in
the text.
The experiment was designed to observe
the behavior of people without record of
crime or violence in a mock “prison.”
Zimbardo was amazed at the rapidity
with which statuses were adopted and
roles fulfilled by “liberal” college students
randomly assigned to play prisoners
and guards.
Questions for Consideration
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How can you discuss Zimbardo’s
experiment within the context of one of
the three major theoretical perspectives?
Do you think this experiment could be
carried out today under the sociological
code of ethics?
What examples of various statuses, roles,
role strain, and role conflict can you
identify in this experiment?
Types of Society
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Society – composed of people living within
defined territorial borders, sharing a
common culture.
How societies solve the problem of subsistence
influences culture and social structures.
Societies become more complex as the means
for solving subsistence problems improve.
Major types of societies are hunting and
gathering, horticultural, pastoral, agricultural,
industrial, and postindustrial.
Comparison of Major Types of
Society: Hunting and Gathering
Comparison of Major Types of
Society: Horticultural
Comparison of Major Types of
Society: Pastoral
Comparison of Major Types of
Society: Agricultural
Comparison of Major Types of
Society: Industrial
Comparison of Major Types of
Society: Postindustrial
Questions for Consideration
Which countries do you think could
be ready to move from one type of
society to another? Be specific on
countries and what types of
societies.
 What parts of the world are least
likely to changed in the near future?
Explain your answer.
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Differences between Preindustrial
and Industrial Societies
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Three theorists compared these two types
of societies: Ferdinand Tönnies, Emile
Durkheim, and Robert Redfield.
Tönnies (1887) distinguished between
gemeinschaft, based on tradition,
kinship, and intimate social relationships,
and gesellschaft, based on weak family
ties, competition, and less personal social
relationships.
Differences between Preindustrial
and Industrial Societies – Cont.
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Durkheim (1893) also identified two types of society
by looking at their social solidarity.
Mechanical solidarity – foundation for social unity;
achieves this through a consensus of beliefs, values,
and norms; strong social pressures for conformity
and dependence on tradition and family.
Organic solidarity – achieves social unity through
complex specialized statuses that make members
interdependent. Dependence and need for
cooperation replace the homogeneity of beliefs,
values, and norms characteristic of simpler societies.
Differences between Preindustrial
and Industrial Societies – Cont.
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Robert Redfield (1941) made a distinction
between folk society and urban society.
Folk society – rests on tradition, cultural and
social consensus, family, personal ties, little
division of labor, and an emphasis on the sacred.
Urban society – social relationships are
impersonal and contractual; the importance of
the family declines; cultural and social
consensus is diminished; economic specialization
becomes even more complex; and secular
concerns outweigh sacred ones.
Major Features of
Postindustrial Society
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Economic base is grounded more in service
industries than in manufacturing. Relies on
expertise in production, consumption, and
government. Bell (1999) identifies five
major features of postindustrial society:
1.
Majority of labor force is employed in
services rather than agriculture or
manufacturing.
2.
White-collar employment replaces bluecollar work.
Major Features of
Postindustrial Society
3.
4.
5.
Theoretical knowledge is the key
organizing feature.
Through new means of
technological forecasting, society
can plan and control
technological change.
Intellectual technology dominates
human affairs.
Questions for Consideration
In what ways have you experienced
role conflict and/or role strain?
Describe these situations and how
you felt.
 In what ways will your work life be
different in a postindustrial society
than it would be in an industrial
society?
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