Social Structure and Interaction in

Everyday Life
 Social structure is the framework of
societal institutions (politics, and
religion) and social practices (social roles)
that make up a society and establish
limits on behavior.

 Social interaction is the process by

which people act toward or respond to
other people and is the foundation for all
relationships and groups in society.
 A status is socially defined position in
society characterized by certain
expectations, rights, and duties.
 Ascribed status
◦Social position based on attributes over which
the individual has little or no control, such as
race/ethnicity, age, and gender.

 Achieved status
◦Social position that a person assumes as a
result of personal choice, merit, or direct effort.
 A set of behavioral expectations associated with
a given status learned in the socialization.
 Role Expectation
◦A group or society‟s definition of the way a specific
role ought to be played.
 Role Performance
◦How a person actually plays a role.
 Role Conflict
◦Occurs when incompatible demands are placed on a
person by two or more statuses held at the same time.
 Role Strain
◦Occurs when incompatible demands are built into a
single status that the person holds.
 Role Distancing
Creating an appearance of distance or mentally
distancing oneself from a particular role/status
 Master status is the most important
status that a person occupies.
Examples: Being a member of a religious,
racial, or sexual minority, homeless,
gender

 Status symbols are material signs

that inform others of a person‟s specific
status.
◦Example:
 Wearing a wedding ring proclaims that a person is
married.
Many gay rights advocates would suggest that
homosexual orientation is an ascribed status
(i.e. gays and lesbians were born that way).
With what we know from Scripture, what kind of
status would Christians classify homosexuals
as?
Statuses held by „Teresa‟, a 35 yr. old wife, mother, and
full-time secretary
Roles Mother Secretary Wife
Corresponding Firm with children in Deferential to Boss Occasionally disputes
to her Various setting boundaries husband, mostly
agrees with him
Statuses
Cooks Meals Proofs her boss‟s Send birthday and
correspondences holiday greetings on
behalf of her husband

Helps children with Takes minutes at staff Listens to husbands‟

homework meetings gripes about his job

Buys clothes for Serves as first point of Is sexually intimate

children contact for bosses‟ with husband at
clients mutually-approved
times
Status Role

Role Conflict Statuses in Conflict

Role Strain Examples of conflicting roles

Example of a „Distressed‟ Status: within a Given Status
Applying Role Strain & Role Conflict
How might a pastor whose parishioner admits to
committing a felony in a private counseling session
exemplify the role strain of the clergy? How about role
conflict?

Occupying Statuses, Playing
Roles
Socialization:
Teresa learns what parenting
Teresa learns to be a good is really like when she has
mom and wife by playing her first child at 26, she
with baby dolls as a child experience role conflict
when juggling mothering
with work
Role Exit
Teresa becomes confused
about her role when they
move off to college, gets a
pet to have something to
dote on, and eventually
accepts a new identity as
the mother of increasingly
autonomous children
A social group
consists of two or
more people who
interact
frequently and
share a common
identity and a
feeling of
interdependence.
 Formal organizations-A highly
structured group formed for the purpose
of completing certain tasks or achieving
specific goals.
OR
 Social institution-is a set of
organized beliefs and rules that
establishes how a society will
attempt to meet its basic social
needs.
 Social Institutions Formal Organizations
Family United Methodist Church
Religion Bank of America
Education Department of Labor
Economy Goodwill
Government CNN
Mass Media* Pfizer
Sports*
Science*
Military*

*Items with an asterisk are considered emerging institutions.

 Social institutions,
statuses and roles,
and social groups
form an interrelated
whole of what
sociologists call the
social structure.

EXAMPLE:
A family provides a
stable structure to
raise children and
sense of identity for
its members. It
may consist of a
mother who cooks
and cleans.
 Social solidarity is based on social
structure which is based on division of
labor.

Mechanical Solidarity - people are united

by traditions and shared values.

Organic Solidarity - people are united by

mutual dependence on one another.
 Sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies (1855–
1936) used the terms Gemeinschaft and
Gesellschaft to characterize the degree
of social solidarity and social control
found in societies.

 Gemeinshcaft societies are bound by

kinship and strong ties to communities,
while Gesellschaft are based on
impersonal and specialized relationships
 How would we classify 21st century U.S. society
according to Durkheim? Tonnies?

How might the modern megachurch resemble

Gesellschaft?
 The process by which our perception of
reality is largely shaped by the subjective
meaning that we give to an experience.

 This meaning strongly influences what we

“see” and how we respond to situations.

“If men define situations as real, they are real

in their consequences”
-W.I. Thomas
 Definition of the situation -
◦We analyze a social context in which we find
ourselves, determine what is in our best interest, and
adjust our attitudes and actions accordingly.

 Self-fulfilling prophecy
◦A false belief or prediction that produces behavior
that makes the original false belief come true.

 Examples: Housing Bubble of 2008, Y2K

„crisis‟, MTV‟s „Punk‟d‟
Social Construction of Reality
on MTV‟s Punk‟d

Start at 1:15
How does Miley Cyrus define the situation? Does her subjective
definition of what Justin Beiber does correspond to reality?
 The study of social interaction that
compares everyday life to a theatrical
presentation. We engage in „drama‟ on
a daily basis.
 Members of our “audience” judge us and are
aware that we may slip and reveal our true
character.
 Impression management
◦ People‟s efforts to present themselves in ways
that are favorable to their own interests or
image.
 Face-saving behavior
◦ Strategies to rescue our performance when we
experience a potential or actual loss of face.
 Front Stage-Pulpit

 Back Stage-Parish Office

Appearance-Clerical collar and black

garb

Manner-Solemn facial expression when

administering the Eucharist
 Matthew 6:
◦ Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for praying, fasting, and
doing acts of charity in public view
 Luke 22:25-26 :
“Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it
over them; and those who exercise authority over
them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to
be like that.
Instead, the greatest among you should be like the
youngest, and the one who rules like the one who
serves”
The Gentile kings engaged in impression
management-they wanted to viewed as „in
touch‟ with people, though they wanted to
control them