Chapter
Four: Social Structure and Social Interaction
Chapter
Summary
People are influenced by the
norms and beliefs of their cultures and society. This influence can take a more
personal and intimate level or a more general and widespread level that affects
large numbers of people. Sociologists who study the affect of social life on
society use two approaches, macrosociology
(focusing on broad features of social structure) and microsociology
(concentrating on
small-scale, face-to-face social interactions). Functionalists and conflict theorists
tend to use the macrosociological approach, while symbolic interactionists are more likely to use the microsociological approach. Although most
sociologists specialize in one
approach or the other, both
approaches are necessary for a complete understanding of social life.
Using the macrosociological
approach, functionalists and conflict theorists examine the more expansive
aspects of social structure.
It refers to a society’s framework, consisting of the various relationships
between people and groups that direct and set limits on human behavior.
The major components of
social structure include culture,
social class, social status, roles, groups, and social
institutions. Social structure guides people’s behaviors. A person’s
location in the social structure (his or her social class, social status, the
roles he or she plays, and the culture, groups, and social institutions to
which he or she belongs) underlies his or her perceptions, attitudes, and
behaviors. People develop these perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors from
their place in the social structure, and they act accordingly. All of the
components of social structure
work together to maintain
social order by limiting, guiding, and organizing human behavior.
Social institutions are the organized, usual, or standard ways by which
society meets its basic needs. In industrial and postindustrial societies,
social institutions include the family,
religion, law, politics, economics, education, science, medicine, the military,
and the mass media.
Functionalists and conflict
theorists disagree over the purposes and effects of social institutions. According to functionalists, social
institutions exist because they meet universal group needs. Conflict theorists view social institutions
as the primary means by which the elite maintains its privileged position.
Social structure is not static. It responds to changes in culture, technology,
economic conditions, group
relationships, and societal needs and priorities.
Structural changes can,
sometimes, fundamentally and permanently alter the way a society organizes
itself. Emile Durkheim’s demonstrated this with the concepts of mechanical and organic
solidarity; Ferdinand Tönnies used the constructs of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft
While functionalist and
conflict theorists tend to explore broad features of social structure from a macrosociological
perspective, symbolic interactionists are more inclined to examine small scale,
face-to-face social interactions from a microsociological perspective. Symbolic
interactionists are especially interested in the symbols that people use to
define their worlds and how these definitions, in turn, influence human
behavior. For symbolic interactionists, this may include studying stereotyping,
personal space, and touching.
Stereotypes are assumptions that people make about other people based on previous
associations with them or people with similar visible characteristics.
Stereotypes may also be based on what they have been “told” about “such people.”
These assumptions may be accurate, semi-accurate, or completely inaccurate.
Stereotypes affect how people define and treat other people. They influence how
these “other people” define themselves and adjust their behaviors accordingly. Stereotypes based on gender, race, ethnicity,
ability, and intelligence are particularly widespread and profoundly
consequential in today’s society.
According to symbolic
interactionists, people surround themselves with a “personal bubble” that they
carefully protect by controlling space, touching, and eye contact.
Anthropologist Edward Hall studied how human groups have different perceptions
of personal space and how much physical distance they use to keep physically
apart from people in specific situations. Frequency of touching also differs
across cultures. Furthermore, the meaning of touching differs not only across
cultures, but also within cultures. People also protect their “personal bubble”
by controlling eye contact. This includes the length of contact and whether it
is direct or indirect. Erving Goffman
developed dramaturgy, an analytical approach that analyzes social life in terms
of the stage. According to Goffman, everyday life consists of social actors
playing assigned roles. At the core of Goffman’s approach is impression
management, or how people try to control other people’s impressions of them
through sign-vehicles (social setting, appearance, and manner), teamwork, and
face-saving behavior.
Symbolic interactionists
contend that reality is subjectively created by people’s perceptions of “what
is real.” People define their own realities and then live within those
definitions. The social construction of reality refers to how people construct
their views of the world. Ethnomethodology is the study of
how people use background assumptions (deeply embedded
common understandings
concerning people’s views of the world and how they ought to act) to make sense
out of life.
Because social structure and
social interaction influence human behavior, macrosociology and microsociology
are essential to understanding social life.
Learning
Objectives