Unit 3 Lesson 2

Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences

General Academic Strand | Humanities and Social Sciences
● Society shapes the way
we live.
○ family
○ government
○ religion
● Institutions act as
building blocks of
today’s society.

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 Learning
Competency
Examine the constitutive nature of informal and
formal institutions and their actors and how it
constrains social behavior (HUMSS_DIS 11-IVb-7).

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 Learning
Objectives
● Interpret personal and social experiences
using relevant approaches in the social
sciences.
● Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of
the approach.
● Define institutionalism as a lens for students
to understand society.

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 The Shape of Our Lives
Explore
Answer the following questions in your
notebook.

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Identify a commonly-held belief that has greatly
influenced your life. How has this belief shaped your
decisions?

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Identify a rule in school or a law by the government.
How do you think this rule or law has affected
society?

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 Which rule or law in
any institution should
be implemented in an
ideal society? Explain
your answer.

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When discussing norms,
laws, and rules in
society...

● Which benefits
society the most?

● Which should be
updated or changed?

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Essential
Question

How can our institutions work toward positive

social change?

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Institutionalism

Definition of Institutions
● Institutions are:
○ organizations
○ other formal social
structures that govern a
field of action such as
education (Rojas 2018)
● Understanding society through
institutions is called
institutionalism. 11
 Institutionalism

Institutions
● Various institutions work
together to keep a society
functional.
● Individuals in those institutions
behave according to their
customary practices.

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Institutionalism

Institutions and the

Individual
● Institutions are made by
humans through a series of
social interactions.
● Just as how institutions
influence the life of an
individual, we are capable of
shaping our institutions.
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To shape our institutions
toward social change,
we must understand how
our institutions behave.

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Institutionalism

Institutions and Tradition

Max Weber (1864–1920)

German sociologist and historian

● Institutions become a tradition

as more people follow it.
● An individual typically follows
institutions as part of his or
her society’s tradition.
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 Institutionalism

Types of Institutions
Formal institutions are made
through a series of explicit
social interactions:

● habits
● customs
● conventions

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 Institutionalism

1. Habits
● These are repeated actions that
become recognized by an
individual.
● These actions, when repeated
consistently over a period of
time, become a part of one’s
identity.
Habits, such as exercise, are
cultivated into daily routines.
● e.g., exercising every morning,
allocating study time
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 Institutionalism

2. Customs
● habits shared within a group
● integrate a social aspect in an
individual’s habits
● e.g., chewing loudly while
eating
○ a sign of respect in some
countries
○ a sign of disrespect in Eating together creates a space for
family socialization.
other countries
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 Institutionalism

3. Conventions

● procedures agreed upon by

society
● formed to establish social
stability
● e.g., language rules in English,
The dictionary institutionalizes
Philippine laws, Catholic
language by agreeing upon the
meaning of various words.
Church practices
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Institutionalism
Conventions
● As conventions become more
represented in society, they
gradually become
institutional.
● The institutionalization
process formalizes habits,
customs, and conventions to
be part of a society’s collective
identity.
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 Institutionalism
Authority Figures
● They are implementers of
institutionalization.
● e.g., imams in Islam uphold
religious beliefs by facilitating
traditions, conventions, and
customs.
● e.g., Teachers, as school
authorities, implement rules in Imams are considered authority
figures in Islam.
the classroom. 21
 Institutionalism

More than Habits, Customs,

and Conventions

● informal institutions
○ widely implied
understandings of how to
behave in society
○ no explicit law or doctrine
but still generally followed Showing utang na loob by taking care
of one’s parents when they grow
older is common in Filipinos.

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Institutionalism
Informal Institutions in
Society
● The role of tagasalo in the family
○ one who takes care of the
family or always comes to its
rescue (Carandang 1987)
○ integrates responsibility, care,
and dependability in resolving
conflict in the family
○ reinforces the “breadwinner”
characteristic
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 Check
Your
Progress
What is the relationship between habits and
institutions? Give one example to show this
relationship.

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How can we
apply
institutionalism
in today’s
society?

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 Institutionalism

A. Religion as an Institution
Functions of religion (Macionis,
2017):
○ unites members through
shared values and customs
○ maintains order by
forbidding certain behaviors
○ provides meaning and sense
Buddhists wear orange robes to
to other people’s lives symbolize simplicity.
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 Institutionalism

● religious conventions
○ Ten Commandments
○ Koran
● religious customs
○ doing the sign of the cross
when passing by a church
○ praying toward the
direction of the Kaaba in
The Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia,
Mecca is the most sacred site in Islam.
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 Institutionalism

B. Family as an Institution

Functions of the family:

○ first area of socialization

for children
○ cultivates values, beliefs,
and norms
○ reinforces social roles
Filipino families show close familial
bonds.
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 Institutionalism

Familial customs:

○ pagmamano as an
honoring gesture to elders
○ eating together to cultivate
a sense of community

Pagmamano is reinforced through

cultural symbols such as statues.
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 Institutionalism

C. Law as an Institution

● “No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of

speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble and petition the
government for redress of grievances.”

Which human right is being upheld by the statement?

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Institutionalism

Society places a great The right to freedom of

value on truth and speech and expression
honesty (belief). becomes protected by the
Institutionalizing Constitution.
Process

Society is obligated by law to uphold the

sharing of truth and to express
grievances to the government.
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 Institutionalism

What can we know?

● Generally-held principles in
society become ingrained into
various laws.
● These principles become
institutionalized in society
through habits, customs, and
conventions (e.g., laws).

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Institutionalism
On Institutionalism

When examining an institution, there

are two institutional relations that
must be considered:

● inter-institutional relations
○ e.g., Labor rights (law) protect
labor conditions (economy).
● institutions and the individual

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Institutionalism

On Institutionalism
● Individuals must reflect and
evaluate their institutions
despite their normative
pressures.
● Institutions bear within them
the promise of deep-seated
social control and the promise
of human liberation.
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 Institutionalism

Institutionalism and Society

● Reflect and examine the habits,
customs, and conventions in
today’s institutions.
● Ask yourself: How do my
institutions strive for human
liberation?
○ How can I do my part in
improving society?
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 ● Institutionalism is the study of the origins, effects,
Wrap-Up and potential for the reform of institutions.

● Institutions are made by humans through a series

of social interactions.

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 ● In analyzing a certain social phenomenon,
Wrap-Up institutionalism offers three key points:

○ habits – repeated actions that become

recognized by a self-conscious individual and
are then internally represented by him or
her
○ customs – habits that are shared within a
group
○ conventions – procedures that are agreed
upon by society
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 ● Institutions become more widespread in society as
Wrap-Up relevant habits, customs, and conventions become
more and more represented by various sectors of
society.
● Institutions reinforce habits, norms, and beliefs that
are part of the collective identity of a particular
group or organization.
● There are authorities that implement and uphold
norms, beliefs, trends, regulations, and laws in
society. Various authorities exist in different
sectors, such as in economics, culture, politics, and
religion. 38
Wrap-Up

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Challenge
Yourself It is said that institutions bear within
themselves the promise of deep-seated social
control while at the same time, the promise of
human liberation. How can social institutions
contribute to human liberation?

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Photo Credit

Slide 30: Core Value by Dnacario is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

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 Bibliography

Immergut, Ellen M. "Institutions and Institutionalism." In International Encyclopedia of Political Science, edited by Bertrand
BadieDirk Berg-Schlosser and Leonardo Morlino, 1203-1207. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2011.
doi: 10.4135/9781412959636.n277.

Macionis, John J. Sociology, Global Edition. Pearson Education Limited, 2017.

Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “academe,” accessed October 30, 2020, https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/academe.

Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “convention,” accessed October 30, 2020, https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/convention.

Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “institution,” accessed October 30, 2020, https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/institution.

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 Bibliography
Miller, Jack. “Religion in the Philippines.” Asia Society. Accessed October 30, 2020.
https://asiasociety.org/education/religion-philippines.

Piro, Isabella. “‘Fratelli Tutti’: Short Summary of Pope Francis's Social Encyclical.” Vatican News. Vatican News, October 4,
2020. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-10/fratelli-tutti-pope-fraternity-social-friendship-short-
summary.html.

Rojas, Fabio. “Institutions.” obo, August 26, 2013. https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-

9780199756384/obo-9780199756384-0132.xml.

THE 1987 CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES – ARTICLE III: GOVPH.” art. III. §4. Official Gazette of the
Republic of the Philippines. CDAsia. Accessed October 30, 2020.
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/constitutions/the-1987-constitution-of-the-republic-of-the-philippines/the-
1987-constitution-of-the-republic-of-the-philippines-article-iii/.

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