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Social structure is a term frequently used in sociology and social theory — yet rarely defined or clearly conceptualised (Abercrombie, et al. Sociology (from Latin: socius "companion" and the suffix -ology "the study of" from Greek λόγος lógos "knowledge" Social theory is an essential tool used by scholars in the analysis of society through the use of theoretical frameworks social structures and phenomena are analyzed and placed in context , 2000; Jary & Jary 1991). In a general sense, the term can refer to:

The notion of social structure as relationships between different entities or groups or as enduring and relatively stable patterns of relationship emphasises the idea that society is grouped into structurally related groups or sets of roles, with different functions, meanings or purposes. A role (sometimes spelled rôle) or a social role is a set of connected Behaviors Rights and Obligations as conceptualized by actors One example of social structure is the idea of "social stratification", which refers to the idea that society is separated into different strata, according to social distinctions such as a race, class, disability and gender. In Sociology, social stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of Social classes Castes and strata within a Society. The term race or racial group usually refers to the concept of categorizing Humans into Populations or groups on the basis of various sets Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions (or stratification) between individuals or groups in Societies or Cultures. Gender comprises a range of differences between men and women extending from the biological to the social Social treatment of persons within various social structures can be understood as related to their placement within the various social strata.

The notion of structure as embedded institutions or norms that shape the actions of social agents is important, as structural determination may occur as the actions of people and organisations are guided partially by the underlying structures in the social system. Structure determination, structural determination or structural redetermination or simply redetermination in Chemistry is the process of This approach has been important in the academic literature with the rise of various forms of structuralism, and is important in the contemporary organizational context as organisation structure may determine an organisation's flexibility, capacity to change and many other factors, and is therefore an important issue to management. For the use of structuralism in biology see Structuralism (biology Structuralism is an approach to the human sciences that attempts to analyze Management (covering theory practice and scope of management and Manager' (covering the people who manage might help clarify and systematise

Social structure may be seen to underly important social systems including the economic system, legal system, political system, cultural system, and others. An economic system is a System that involves the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services between The three major legal systems of the world today consist of civil law, Common law and Religious law. A political system is a System of Politics and Government. It is usually compared to the Law system, Economic system, Cultural A cultural system may be defined as the interaction of different elements of Culture. Family, religion, law, economy and class are all social structures. Family denotes a group of People affiliated by consanguinity affinity or co-residence A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions (or stratification) between individuals or groups in Societies or Cultures. The social system is the parent system of those various systems that are embedded in the social system.

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History of the concept of social structure

The concept of social structure has a long history in the social sciences, going back for example to the class structure analysis of Karl Marx, later on footing on Herbert Spencer, Ferdinand Tönnies, Émile Durkheim, and Georg Simmel on social structure underlying human interaction. Herbert Spencer ( April 27, 1820 – December 8, 1903) was an English Philosopher; prominent classical liberal Ferdinand Tönnies ( July 26, 1855, near Oldenswort ( Eiderstedt, North Frisia) - April 9, 1936, Kiel Émile Durkheim ( April 15, 1858 – November 15, 1917) was a French Sociologist whose contributions were instrumental Georg Simmel (March 1 1858 &ndash September 28 1918 was one of the first generation of German sociologists.

One of the earliest and most comprehensive accounts of social structure was provided by Karl Marx, who related political, cultural, and religious life to the mode of production (an underlying economic structure). In the writings of Karl Marx and the Marxist theory of Historical materialism, a mode of production (in German Produktionsweise, meaning 'the Marx argued that the economic base substantially determined the cultural and political superstructure of a society. Subsequent Marxist accounts, such as that by Louis Althusser, proposed a more complex relationship that asserted the relative autonomy of cultural and political institutions, and a general determination by economic factors only "in the last instance". Louis Pierre Althusser (Pronunciation altuˡseʁ ( October 16, 1918 – October 22, 1990) was a Marxist philosopher. [1]

1905, the German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies first published his study The Present Problems of Social Structure in the United States,[2] arguing that only the constitution of a multitude into a unity does create a "social structure" (basing this approach on his concept of social will). Ferdinand Tönnies ( July 26, 1855, near Oldenswort ( Eiderstedt, North Frisia) - April 9, 1936, Kiel In Sociology, will is a concept introduced by Ferdinand Tönnies in " Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft " 1887

Emile Durkheim (drawing on the analogies between biological and social systems popularized by Herbert Spencer and others) introduced the idea that diverse social institutions and practices played a role in assuring the functional integration of society — the assimilation of diverse parts into a unified and self-reproducing whole. Émile Durkheim ( April 15, 1858 – November 15, 1917) was a French Sociologist whose contributions were instrumental In this context, Durkheim distinguished two forms of structural relationship: mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity. The former describes structures that unite similar parts through a shared culture; the latter describes differentiated parts united through exchange and material interdependence. [1]

The notion of social structure has been extensively developed in the twentieth century, with key contributions from structuralist perspectives drawing on the structuralism of Levi-Strauss, Feminist or Marxist perspectives, from functionalist perspectives such as those developed by Talcott Parsons and his followers, or from a variety of analytic perspectives (see Blau 1975, Lopez and Scott 2000). For the use of structuralism in biology see Structuralism (biology Structuralism is an approach to the human sciences that attempts to analyze Talcott Parsons ( December 13, 1902 - May 8, 1979) was an American sociologist, who served on the faculty of Harvard University Some follow Marx in trying to identify the basic dimensions of society that explain the other dimensions, most emphasizing either economic production or political power. Others follow Lévi-Strauss in seeking logical order in cultural structures. Still others, notably Peter Blau, follow Georg Simmel in attempting to base a formal theory of social structure on numerical patterns in relationships—analyzing, for example, the ways in which factors like group size shape intergroup relations. Peter Michael Blau ( February 7, 1918 &ndash March 12, 2002) was a Sociologist. Many animals including humans tend to live in groups Herds flocks, bands packs, parties or colonies (hereafter groups of conspecific individuals [1]

The notion of social structure is intimately related to a variety of central topics in social science, including the relation of structure and agency. The debate surrounding the influence of structure and agency on human thought and behaviour is one of the central issues in Sociology and other Social sciences In The most influential attempts to combine the concept of social structure with agency are Anthony Giddens's theory of structuration and Pierre Bourdieu's practice theory. Anthony Giddens Baron Giddens (born January 18, 1938) is a British sociologist who is renowned for his Theory of structuration Pierre Bourdieu ( August 1, 1930 – January 23, 2002) was an acclaimed French Sociologist and writer known for his Giddens emphasizes the duality of structure and agency, in the sense that structures and agency cannot be conceived apart from one another. This permits him to argue that structures are neither independent of actors nor determining of their behavior, but rather sets of rules and competencies on which actors draw, and which, in the aggregate, they reproduce. Giddens's analysis, in this respect, closely parallels Jacques Derrida's deconstruction of the binaries that underlie classic sociological and anthropological reasoning (notably the universalizing tendencies of Lévi-Strauss's structuralism). Bourdieu's practice theory also seeks a more supple account of social structure as embedded in, rather than determinative of, individual behavior. [1]

Definitions and concepts of social structure

As noted above, social structure has been identified as

(i) the relationship of definite entities or groups to each other,
(ii) as enduring patterns of behaviour by participants in a social system in relation to each other, and
(iii) as institutionalised norms or cognitive frameworks that structure the actions of actors in the social system.

Lopez and Scott (2000) distinguish between institutional structure and relational structure, where in the former:

“ . . . social structure is seen as comprising those cultural or normative patterns that define the expectations of agents hold about each other's behaviour and that organize their enduring relations with each other. (p. 3) ”

whereas in the latter:

“ . . . social structure is seen as comprising the relationships themselves, understood as patterns of causal interconnection and interdependence among agents and their actions, as well as the positions that they occupy. (p. 3) ”

Social structure can also be divided into microstructure and macrostructure. Microsociology is one of the main branches of Sociology (contrast with Macrosociology and Mesosociology) which concerns itself with the nature of everyday Macrosociology is a Sociological approach that analyzes Societies, Social systems or Populations on a large scale or at a high level of abstraction Microstructure is the pattern of relations between most basic elements of social life, that cannot be further divided and have no social structure of their own (for example, pattern of relations between individuals in a group composed of individuals - where individuals have no social structure, or a structure of organizations as a pattern of relations between social positions or social roles, where those positions and roles have no structure by themselves). Social position is the position of an Individual in a given Society and Culture. A role (sometimes spelled rôle) or a social role is a set of connected Behaviors Rights and Obligations as conceptualized by actors Macrostructure is thus a kind of 'second level' structure, a pattern of relations between objects that have their own structure (for example, a political social structure between political parties, as political parties have their own social structure). Some special types of social structures that modern sociologist differentiate are relation structures (in family or larger family-like clan structures), communication structures (how information is passed in organizations) and sociometric structures (structures of sympathy, antipathy and indifference in organisations - this was studied by Jacob L. Moreno). Sociometry is a quantitative method for measuring social relationships Dr Jacob Levy Moreno (born Bucharest, Romania, May 18 1889; died New York, USA, May 14

Sociologists also distinguish between:

Origins and evolution of social structure

Some believe that social structure is naturally developed. Social norms have been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values beliefs attitudes and behaviors Social position is the position of an Individual in a given Society and Culture. It may be caused by larger system needs, such as the need for labour, management, professional and military classes, or by conflicts between groups, such as competition among political parties or among elites and masses. Management (covering theory practice and scope of management and Manager' (covering the people who manage might help clarify and systematise This article is about people called professionals For the Movie, see The Professional or Leon. A military is an Organization authorized by its Nation to use force usually including use of Weapons in defending its Country (or by attacking A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral Elite (also spelled Élite) is taken originally from the Latin, eligere, "to elect" Others believe that this structuring is not a result of natural processes, but is socially constructed. It may be created by the power of elites who seek to retain their power, or by economic systems that place emphasis upon competition or cooperation. An economic system is a System that involves the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services between Competition is a rivalry between individuals groups nations or animals for territory or resources Distinguish from Corporation. Cooperation, co-operation, or coöperation is the process of working or acting together

The most thorough account of the evolution of social structure is perhaps provided by structure and agency accounts that allow for a sophisticated analysis of the co-evolution of social structure and human agency, where socialised agents with a degree of autonomy take action in social systems where their action is on the one hand mediated by existing institutional structure and expectations but may, on the other hand, influence or transform that institutional structure. The debate surrounding the influence of structure and agency on human thought and behaviour is one of the central issues in Sociology and other Social sciences In

The notion of social structure may mask systematic biases

Some argue that men and women who have otherwise equal qualifications receive different treatment in the workplace because of their gender. Others note that individuals are sometimes viewed as having different essential qualities based on their race and ethnicity, regardless of their individual qualities. When examined, these social distinctions are often considered stereotypes based on prejudice. A stereotype (from Greek: stereo + týpos = "solid impression" is a generalized perception of first impressions behaviors presumed by a group However, these social distinctions often go unexamined because they appear to be the result of social structures rather than prejudice.

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d Dictionary of the Social Science, "Social Structure" article
  2. ^ in: The American Journal of Sociology, vol. Established in 1895, the American Journal of Sociology (AJS is the oldest scholarly journal of Sociology in the United States. 10, 1905, no. 5, p. 569-688
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