Sociology in Modules

1. Sociology in Modules Social Interaction, Social Structure, and Groups

2. Social Interaction, Social Structure, and Groups 5 • Module 16: Social Interaction and Social Structure • Module 17: Social Structure in Global Perspective • Module 18: Understanding Groups • Module 19: Understanding Organizations

3. A Look Ahead • What determines a person’s status in society? • How do our social roles affect our social interactions? • What is the place of social institutions such as the family, religion, and government in our social structure?

4. Statuses Module 16 • Status: Socially defined positions within a large group or society • Person can hold more than one status at same time

5. Social Roles Module 16 • Social role: Set of expectations for people who occupy a given status • Roleconflict: When incompatible expectations arise from two or more social positions held by same person • Role strain:Difficulties that arise when same social position imposes conflicting demands and expectations

6. Social Roles Module 16 • Role exit: Process of disengagement from a role that is central to one’s identity to establish a new role • Doubt • Search for alternatives • Action stage • Creation of a new identity

7. Social Institutions Module 16 • Social institution: Organized pattern of beliefs and behavior centered on basic social needs • Functionalist view Preserving order Providing and maintaining a sense of purpose Replacing personnel Teaching new recruits Producing and distributing goods and services

8. Social Institutions Module 16 • Conflict view • Major institutions help maintain privileges of most powerful individuals and groups within society • Social institutions have inherently conservative natures • Social institutions operate in gendered and racist environments

9. Social Institutions Module 16 • Interactionist view • Social institutions affect everyday behavior • Social behavior conditioned by roles and statuses

10. Social Networks Module 16 • Social network: Series of social relationships that link a person directly to others, and indirectly links him or her to still more people • Networking: Involvement in social network; valuable skill when job-hunting • Can center on any activity

11. Virtual Worlds Module 16 • With advances in technology, people can maintain social networks electronically • FaceBook and MySpace first stage in creation of alternative forms of reality • Virtual life can migrate into real life • Online socializations may not necessarily reinforce people’s prejudices • Help preserve real-world networks interrupted by war or other dislocations

12. Research Today Module 16 • Social Networks and Smoking • Do smokers and nonsmokers tend to cluster in separate groups? If you have tried to quit, or quit smoking, did your cluster of friends and family help or hinder you? • Besides public health campaigns, what other applications can you think of for social network research?

13. Figure 16-1: Social Statuses Module 16

14. Table 16-1: Sociological Perspectives on Social Institutions Module 16

15. Social Structure in Global Perspective Module 17 • Modern societies are complex • Durkheim’s Mechanical and Organic Solidarity • Tönnies Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft • Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution Approach

16. Durkheim’s Mechanical and Organic Solidarity Module 17 • Division of Labor ([1893] 1933) • MechanicalSolidarity: Collective consciousness that emphasizes group solidarity, implying all individuals perform the same tasks • OrganicSolidarity: Collective consciousness that hinges on the need society’s members have for one another

17. Tönnies Gemeinschaftand Gesellschaft Module 17 • Gemeinschaft (guh-MINE-shoft): Small community in which people have similar backgrounds and life experiences • Gesellschaft (guh-ZELL-shoft): Large community in which people are strangers and feel little in common with other community residents

18. Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution Approach Module 17 • Human societies undergo process of change characterized by dominant pattern known as sociocultural evolution • Society’s level of technology critical • Technology: “Cultural information about the ways in which the material resources of the environment may be used to satisfy human needs and desires” (Nolan and Lenski 2006:361)

19. Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution Approach Module 17 • Preindustrial Societies • Hunting-and-gathering society: People rely on whatever foods and fibers are readily available • Horticultural societies: People plant seeds and crops • Agrarian societies: People are primarily engaged in production of food

20. Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution Approach Module 17 • Industrial societies: societies that depend on mechanization to produce its goods and services • People depend on mechanization to produce goods and services • People rely on inventions and energy sources • People change function of family as a self-sufficient unit

21. Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution Approach Module 17 • Postindustrial and Postmodern Societies • Postindustrial society: Economic system engaged primarily in processing and controlling information • Postmodernsociety: Technologically sophisticated society preoccupied with consumer goods and media images

22. Table 17-1: Comparison of the Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft Module 17

23. Table 17-2: Stages of Sociocultural Evolution Module 17

24. Types of Groups Group: any number of people with similar norms, values, and expectations who interact on a regular basis Primary group: small group with intimate, face-to-face association and cooperation Secondary group: formal, impersonal groups with little social intimacy or mutual understanding Module 18

25. Types of Groups In-groups and Out-Groups In-groups: any groups or categories to which people feel they belong Out-groups: any groups or categories to which people feel they do not belong Module 18 Conflict between in-groups and out-groups can turn violent on a personal as well as political level

26. Types of Groups Reference group: any group thatindividuals use as standard for evaluating their own behavior Reference groups set and enforce standards of conduct and belief Often two or more reference groups influence us at the same time Module 18 Coalitions: temporary or permanent alliances geared toward common goal

27. Research in Action The Drinking Rape Victim: Jury Decision Making Have you ever served on a jury? Were you aware of jurors who made up their minds early in the trial, despite the judge’s instructions? Is a jury a typical small group? Module 18

28. Table 18-1: Comparison of Primary and Secondary Groups Module 18

29. Formal Organizations and Bureaucracies Formal organization: group designed for a special-purpose and structured for maximum efficiency In U.S., formal organizations fulfill enormous variety of personal and societal needs Ascribed statuses can influence how we see ourselves within formal organizations Module 19

30. Characteristics of a Bureaucracy Bureaucracy: component of formal organization that uses rules and hierarchical ranking to achieve efficiency Ideal type bureaucracy: construct or model for evaluating specific cases Module 19 Weber emphasized basic similarity of structure and process found in dissimilar enterprises of religion, government, education, and business

31. Characteristics of a Bureaucracy Ideal type bureaucracy Division of labor Hierarchy of authority Written rules and regulations Impersonality Employment based on technical qualifications Module 19

32. Characteristics of a Bureaucracy Division of labor Specialized experts perform specific tasks Fragmentation of work can remove connection workers have to overall objective of the bureaucracy Alienation: condition of estrangement or dissociation from the surrounding society Trained incapacity: workers become so specialized that they develop blind spots and fail to notice obvious problems Module 19

33. Characteristics of a Bureaucracy Hierarchy of Authority Each position under supervision of higher authority Written rules and regulations Rules and regulations ensure uniform performance of every task and offer continuity Module 19 Goal displacement: when rules and regulations overshadow larger goals of organization and become dysfunctional

34. Characteristics of a Bureaucracy Impersonality Bureaucratic norms dictate that officials perform duties without personal consideration to people as individuals Module 19

35. Characteristics of a Bureaucracy Employment based on qualifications Peter Principle: every employee within a hierarchy tends to rise to his or her level of incompetence (Peter and Jull 1969) McDonaldization: “process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest of the world” Module 19

36. Table 19-1: Characteristics of a Bureaucracy Module 19

37. Sociology in the Global Community McDonald’s and the Worldwide Bureaucratization of Society Do you patronize McDonald’s and other fast-food establishments? What features of these restaurants do you appreciate? Analyze life at your college using Weber’s model of bureaucracy. What elements of McDonaldization do you see? Module 19

38. Characteristics of a Bureaucracy Bureaucratization as Process Bureaucratization: process by which group, organization, or social movement becomes increasingly bureaucratic Can take place within small group settings Oligarchy: Rule by a Few Iron Law of Oligarchy: even a democratic organization eventually develops into a bureaucracy ruled by a few Module 19

39. Bureaucracy and Organizational Culture Classical theory: (also known as scientific management approach) Workers motivated almost entirely by economic rewards Human relations approach: Role of people, communication, and participation within a bureaucracy emphasized Module 19

40. The State of the Unions What diminished the importance of organized labor unions? Membership dropped from 39% of private sector workers in 1954 to 12.3% in 2009 Have unions perhaps outlived their usefulness in a rapidly changing global economy dominated by the service industry? Labor unions: organized workers sharing either the same skill or the same employer Module 19

41. The State of the Unions Understanding the Issue Decline of labor unions Changes in type of industry Growth in part-time jobs Legal system Globalization Employer offensives Union rigidity and bureaucratization 2008 economic downturn had consequences Module 19

42. The State of the Unions Applying Sociology Marxists/functionalists view unions as logical response to emergence of impersonal, large-scale, formal, and often alienating organizations Conflict theorists note the longer union leaders are in office the less responsive they are to the needs and demands of rank and file Many union employees have role conflict Module 19

43. The State of the Unions Initiating Policy U.S. unique in allowing employers to actively oppose employee’s right to organize Major barrier to union growth exists in 22 states with right-to-work laws Union power waning on the national level In Europe, labor unions tend to play major role in political elections Unions play a lesser role in U.S. politics Module 19

44. Figure 19-1: Labor Union Membership Worldwide Module 19

45. Figure 19-2: Union Membership in the United States Module 19