SOCIAL INTERACTION AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE

2. 5 SOCIAL INTERACTION AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE

3. Chapter Outline • Social Interaction and Reality • Elements of Social Structure • Social Structure in Global Perspective • Social Policy and Social Structure: The AIDS Crisis

4. Social Interaction and Reality? • Social Structure: The way in which a society is organized into predictable relationships.

5. Social Interaction and Reality? • Defining and Reconstructing Reality • Human beings interpret or define each other’s actions. • The ability to define social reality reflects a group’s power within society.

6. Social Interaction and Reality? • Negotiated Order • --Negotiated order is a social structure that derives its existence from the social interactions through which people define and redefine its character. • --People reshape reality by negotiating changes in patterns of social interaction. • --Negotiation is the attempt to reach agreement with others concerning the same objective.

7. Elements of Social Structure • Statuses • Status • --Status refers to any of the socially defined positions within a large group or society. • --A person holds more than one status simultaneously. • --Examples of statuses: • president daughter • student neighbor

8. Elements of Social Structure • Statuses • Ascribed and Achieved Status • --Ascribed status is a status one is born with. • --Achieved status is a status one earns. • Master Status • --Master status is a status that dominates others and determines a person’s general position in society.

9. Elements of Social Structure Figure 5.1: Social Statuses

10. The Role of Socialization • Social Roles • Social Roles • --Social roles are sets of expectations for people who occupy a given status. • Role Conflict • --Role conflict occurs when incompatible expectations arise from two or more social positions held by the same person. • Continued...

11. The Role of Socialization • Social Roles • Role Conflict • --Role conflict is the challenge of occupying two social positions simultaneously. • Role Strain • --Role strain describes the difficulties that result from the differing demands and expectations associated with the same social position. • Role Exit • --Role Exit describes the process of disengagement from a role that is central to one’s self-identity and reestablishment of an identity in a new role.

12. The Role of Socialization • Groups • A group is any number of people with similar norms, values, and expectations who interact with each other on a regular basis. • Every society is composed of many groups in which daily social interaction takes place, including those groups who interact electronically.

13. The Role of Socialization • Social Networks and Technology • Social Network • --A Social Network is a series of social relationships that links a person directly to others and through them indirectly to still more people.

14. The Role of Socialization • Social Institutions • Social institutions are organized patterns of beliefs and behavior centered on basic social needs. • Social institutions provide insight into the structure of society.

15. The Role of Socialization Table 5.1: Functions and Institutions

16. Social Structure in Global Perspective • Tönnie’s Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft • Gemeinschaft (guh-MINE-shoft) • The Gemeinschaft is defined as a small community in which people have similar backgrounds and life experiences. • Gesellschaft (guh-ZELL-shoft) • The Gesellschaft is defined as a large community in which people are strangers and feel little in common with other community residents.

17. Social Structure in Global Perspective Table 5.2: Comparison of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft

18. Social Structure in Global Perspective • Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution Approach • This approach views society as undergoing change according to a dominant pattern, known as sociocultural evolution. • Sociocultural evolution refers to the “process of change and development in human societies resulting from growth in their stores of cultural information.”

19. Social Structure in Global Perspective • Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution Approach • A society’s level of technology is critical to the way it is organized. • Preindustrial Societies • --Hunting-and-Gathering Societies • *These societies are composed of small, widely dispersed groups. • *These societies use minimal technology. • Continued...

20. Social Structure in Global Perspective • Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution Approach • --Horticultural Societies • *People plant seeds and crops. • *People are less nomadic than in hunter-gatherer societies. • *People use technology in a limited way. • --Agrarian Societies • *People are primarily engaged in production of food. • *People use technological innovations like the plow for dramatic increases in food production.

21. Social Structure in Global Perspective • Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution Approach • Industrial Societies • --These societies depend on mechanization to produce its goods and services. • --These societies rely on inventions and energy sources that facilitate agricultural and industrial production. • --These societies change the function of the family as a self-sufficient unit.

22. Social Structure in Global Perspective • Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution Approach • Postindustrial and Postmodern Societies • --Postindustrial Society • *A postindustrial society is one whose economic system is engaged primarily in the processing and control of information. • *The main output of postindustrial society is services. • Continued...

23. Social Structure in Global Perspective • Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution Approach • --Postmodern Society • *A postmodern society is a technologically sophisticated society preoccupied with consumer goods and media images.

24. Social Policy and Social Structure • The AIDS Crisis • The Issue • --While there are encouraging new ways to treat people, there is currently no way to eradicate AIDS by medical means. • --How can people be protected and whose responsibility is it?

25. Social Policy and Social Structure • The AIDS Crisis • The Setting • --Health practitioners pay particular attention to methods of transmitting HIV because there is no cure or vaccine for AIDS at this time. • --AIDS is on the increase, with an estimated 36.1 million people infected and 3 million dying annually. • --AIDS is not evenly distributed and the developing nations of the sub-Saharan Africa have been hard hit.

26. Social Policy and Social Structure • The AIDS Crisis • Sociological Insights • --A dramatic health crisis such as AIDS is likely to bring about changes in social structure. • --From a functionalist view, if established social institutions cannot meet a crucial need, new social networks are likely to emerge to fill that function.

27. Social Policy and Social Structure • The AIDS Crisis • Sociological Insights • -- Viewed from a conflict perspective, policymakers were slow to respond to the AIDS crisis because those in high-risk groups--gays and IV drug users--were comparatively powerless. • --Interactionists widely forecast that AIDS would lead to a more conservative sexual climate. They are also concerned about the impact of AIDS treatment on the daily lives of those stricken with the disease.

28. Social Policy and Social Structure • The AIDS Crisis • Policy Initiatives • --AIDS has struck all societies, but not all nations can respond in the same manner. • --The high cost of drug treatment programs has generated intensive worldwide pressure on the major drug companies to lower their prices to patients in developing nations. • --The prospect of cheaper medicine will in turn stimulate the demand for care and a need for additional resources.

29. Social Policy and Social Structure Figure 5.3: Daily Dosing for AIDS

30. Characteristic Percent of Population15 Years Old or Older With any disability 24.0 Severe 12.5 Not severe 11.5 Has difficulty or is unable to: See words and letters 4.1 Hear normal conversation 4.8 Have speech understood 1.0 Lift or carry 10 pounds 7.9 Climb stairs without resting 8.9 Walk three city blocks 9.1 Social Policy and Social Structure Persons with Disabilities (I) Source: Census analysis released in 1998 based on the 1994-1995 Survey of Income and Program Participation. See Bureau of the Census 1998. Disability Status of Persons 15 Years Old and Over. Special analysis provide to author.

31. Characteristic Percent of Population15 Years Old or Older Has difficulty or needs personal assistance with: Getting around inside the home 1.7 Getting in/out of bed or chair 2.7 Bathing 2.2 Dressing 1.6 Eating 0.5 Getting to or using the toilet 1.0 Social Policy and Social Structure Persons with Disabilities (II) Source: Census analysis released in 1998 based on the 1994-1995 Survey of Income and Program Participation. See Bureau of the Census 1998. Disability Status of Persons 15 Years Old and Over. Special analysis provided to author.

32. Characteristic Percent of Population15 Years Old or Older Needs personal assistance with: Going outside the home 4.0 Keeping track of money and bills 1.9 Preparing meals 2.1 Doing light housework 3.4 Using the telephone 1.3 Social Policy and Social Structure Persons with Disabilities (II) continued Source: Census analysis released in 1998 based on the 1994-1995 Survey of Income and Program Participation. See Bureau of the Census 1998. Disability Status of Persons 15 Years Old and Over. Special analysis provided to author.

33. Characteristic Percent of Population15 Years Old or Older Needs personal assistance with: Going outside the home 4.0 Keeping track of money and bills 1.9 Preparing meals 2.1 Doing light housework 3.4 Using the telephone 1.3 Social Policy and Social Structure Persons with Disabilities (II) continued Source: Census analysis released in 1998 based on the 1994-1995 Survey of Income and Program Participation. See Bureau of the Census 1998. Disability Status of Persons 15 Years Old and Over. Special analysis provide to author.

34. The geography of HIV, 1997 Percentage of people in each country ages 15 to 49 infected with HIV or suffering from AIDS in 1997: 16.0 — 26.0 percent 8.0 — 15.9 percent 2.0 — 7.9 percent 0.5 — 1.9 percent 0.0 — 0.4 percent Data not available Social Policy and Social Structure Mapping Life Worldwide: Distribution of AIDS Worldwide Source: Richard T. Schaefer. 2001. Sociology, 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Figure 5-2, p. 135. From United Nations data reproduced by L. Altman 1998:A1.