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Comparative Social Institutions (SOC1106)

MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Comparative Social Institutions

Human beings are social and political creatures. We live in families, ethnic groups, cities,
nations, and networks, and how we live together plays an important role in shaping our
individual patterns of feeling, thought, and action. In Comparative Social Institutions, students
investigate central questions about society and human conditions by comparing families,
communities, countries, and other social unities across the globe and over time.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module, learners should be able to:

1) Define the term ‘social structure

2) Point out the elements of social structure

3) List four characteristics of a social structure

4) Describe social institution

5) Identify the structure of social institution

6) State types of social institution

Definitions of Key Concepts

Social Structure This refers to patterns around which society is organized.

Social Status This represents the recognized social position an individual occupies.

Social Roles This represents the behaviors of persons occupying certain statuses.

Social Institutions This represents collection of individuals banded together in pursuit of a

common purpose.

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1.2 Social Structure

In every society, certain social behaviors exist that aid the day to day interrelationships that exist
between the different systems in the society. The structure of every society is created based on
the grounds of satisfying a particular social need or needs. Institutions and the relations that take
place within it, is what makes up the social structure of any society.

Social structure refers to patterns around which society is organized. Henslin (1999) defines
social structure as the framework of society that was already laid out before you were born.
Social mobility is often achieved by routes provided by the social structure.

Social structure refers to any recurring pattern of social behavior, or more specifically, to the
ordered interrelationship between the different elements of a social system or society.

Social structure is also the crucial combination of institutions and relations as constituting the
anatomy of a society. Social structure then comprises both institutional structure and relational
structure (Scott and Marshall, 2009).

Social structure is also a set of interrelated social institutions developed by human beings to
impose interactions for the purpose of survival and well-being.

Social structure comprises of elements that determine behavior, in the sense that they define fully
what the structure of the society looks like. Social roles and statuses constitute elements of social
structure.

Quiz One (Max half a page)

What do you understand by social structure?

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1.2.1 Elements Of Social Structure

a) Social Status

This refers to the recognized social position an individual occupies. For example, father and
mother are examples of statuses in the family. Status also refers to all the statuses a person holds
at a given time. For example, a teenage girl is a daughter to her parents, a sister to her brother, a
student at her school and a goalie on her soccer team. Status sets change over the life course. A
child grows up to become a parent, a student graduates to become a Sociologist, Anthropologist,
Political Scientist etc, and a single person becomes a husband or wife (Macionis, 2008).

1.2.3 Three types of status

Ascribed status: this is a social position a person received at birth or taken on involuntarily later
in life. Examples of ascribed status are; a Prince, a widower, or a Son. They are matters about
which we have little or no choice.

Achieved status: this is a social position a person takes on voluntarily that reflects his/her
personal ability and effort. Examples of this include; a Priest, Software writer and an
Accountant. In this case the individual has a choice.

Master status: this is a status that has special importance for social identity, often shaping a
person’s entire life. For most people, a job is a master status because it reveals a great deal about
social background, education, and income. For example, name is a master status; being in a
Royal family attracts attention and creates opportunities. In real life situations though, most
statuses involve a combination of ascription and achievement. This means that people’s ascribed
statuses influence the statuses they achieve.

b) Social Roles

This is the behaviors of persons occupying certain statuses. They can also be seen as the ways
an individual behaves in a particular status in the society (Kornblum, 1997). According to Linton
(1937) roles refer to behavior expected of someone who holds a particular status. A person holds
a status and performs a role. For example, holding the status of student leads you to perform the

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role of attending classes and completing assignments. In every society, actual role performance
varies according to an individual’s unique personality, although some societies permit more
individual expression of a role than others.

1.2.2 Elements of social roles include:

Role set: this term was introduced by Merton (1968) to identify a number of roles attached to a
single status. One individual for example can have four statuses and each status linked to a
different role set. A teacher may teach students, meet anxious parents, advise the drama club and
attend workshops. Second, he can occupy the status of a husband, with a marital role to his wife,
with whom he also performs domestic roles. Third, he holds the status of a father and so
performs paternal roles towards his children and also performs roles towards the business men
organization in his community

Role conflict: this refers to the conflict that arises among the roles connected to two or more
statuses. People experience role conflict when they find themselves pulled in various directions
as they try to respond to the many statuses they hold. For example, people have put off having
children in order to stay on the fast track for career success.

Role strain: this refers to the tension among the roles connected to a single status. For example,
a college professor can be friendly to his students, but must at the same time maintain the
personal distance needed in order to evaluate the students fairly.

Role exit: this is the process by which people disengage from important social roles. For
example, students dropping out of school, nuns living the convents to go back to school.

Conclusion: Components of a Social Structure are found in all human societies, although their
character and relationships between them vary from one society to another. Social structure often
remains largely stable from one year to the next, despite constant minor modifications and
pressure for change. Social structure allows us to perform most of the activities of everyday life
with a reasonable degree of efficiency, as it gives groups and society stability and continuity.

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The social structure has both the positive and negative side; it makes efficient human activity
possible, but it can also restrict personal freedom (coercive).

Quiz Two (Max one page)

What differentiate social roles from social status?

1.3 Society
Refers to a group of interacting individuals sharing the same territory and participating in a
common culture. People can be said to be living in one society when they occupy a common
territory, interact with one another, share a culture; and share a sense of membership and
commitment to the group

1.4 Social Institutions

Social Institutions can be defined in a number of ways:

Social Institutions are usually conceived as the basic focuses of social organization, common to
all societies and dealing with some of the basic universal problems of ordered social life.

Social institutions are relatively stable clusters of social structures that are organized to meet the
basic needs of a society. Such institutions include; education, religion, politics and the family
culture and Stratification among others.

A well-established and structured pattern of behavior or of relationships of group of people that

is accepted as a fundamental part of a culture.

Institutions are structures and mechanisms of social order and cooperation governing the
behavior of a set of individuals within a given human collectivity.

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A set of organized beliefs, rules, and practices that establishes how a society will attempt to meet
basic needs.

A socially approved system of values, norms, and roles that exists to accomplish specific societal
goals.

Quiz Three (Max one page)

What do you understand by social institution?

1.4.1 Elements of Social Institutions

The structure of social institutions consists of those ways of acting and the technique of the
persons doing them and the way they undertake their duties to achieve successful useful values.
The structure of social institutions is based on the following elements;

Individuals: different members of society perform different economic functions on account of

which the society is divided into different strata such as; teacher, engineer, managers, etc., the
family for example consists children and parents similarly religious institutions consists of
followers and clergy.

Material Structure: this is where the members perform their functions. For example, in
economic institutions we include machines, forms and stationery, etc., for religious institutions,
the places where the members worship are included such as; mosque, temple and church.

System: this are ways which organizes the people and material structure of the particular social
institution. These ways guide the human character under the certain principles. For example, in
political institutions, there are different systems such as; democracy, monarchy and socialism,
etc., that are adopted, in family, there are two systems; single or multi marriage system

1.4.2 Characteristics of Social Institutions

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1) Social institutions are patterns of behavior grouped about the central needs of human beings
in society.
2) In all societies, the institution of family plays a central role.
3) Social institutions are therefore social patterns directing the ordered behavior of human
beings in the performance of their basic activities.
4) The continuity of institutional practices is further assured by the development of rituals.
5) The central aspects of institutions are the functions they perform and the pattern, established
to carry out the functions.
6) The claim of institutions upon the members is also known as loyalties.
7) The institutions of a society are connected in a close end interdependent pattern.
8) Institutions are connected through status and role of the members.
9) Institutions are the most important agencies in the formation of personality.
10) Social institutions are the great conservers and transmitters of cultural heritage.
11) Cultural heritage is thus transmitted through social interaction.

1.4.3 Types of social institutions

Each society has its own social institutions. These institutions are not buildings/places but
structures of relationship, obligation, role and functions. They are social concepts and practices,
and also involve cognitive structures. There are five (5) basic social institutions on which
society revolves namely;Family, Religion, Government/Politics, Education and Economics. New
social institutions have been established with the growth of industrialized societies. They
include; Mass media, Healthcare, and Social work/Welfare

1.4.5 Relevance/Functions of comparative Social Institutions

Economic function: economic institutions fulfill the basic needs of the society. These needs are
provided under the system of production, distribution of wealth, expenditures and services.

Political functions: the main function of political institution is to deepen the human character in
organized forms, and also to maintain social organization.
Familial function: the main responsibility of the institution is to increase the human race, by
bringing up new generation, and this is done through family and marriage.
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Comparative Social Institutions (SOC1106)

Religious function: the principal aim of the religious function is to satisfy the religious/spiritual
needs of the society. It upholds mutual relationship between human beings and God. It also
provides sustainability and durability to society.

Social function: the basic objective of social institution is to maintain social control in the
society. It also provides formation to its members through exemplary characters.

Social transformation: social institutions protect social inheritance by transforming it from one
generation to the next. For example, in our daily lives, we act and behave whatever we are
taught during the process of socialization.

Socialization: social institutions play vital roles in the socialization of the individuals, therefore
the members of each society possess particular characteristics which separate them from other
societies.

Quiz Four (Max one page)

How relevant is economic institutions in this present society of ours?

1.5 Module One Summary

In module one, you learnt about the concept and nature of a social structure. The module first
defined the concept of social structure. Also examined was the elements of social structure which
include; social roles and status. Furthermore, you learnt about the concept of social institution.
Also, we discussed the structure of social institutions which comprised the individual, the
material structure and the system. The module further mentions the types of social institutions
and the functions of comparative social institutions.

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References / Bibliography

Applebaum and Chambliss. (1997). Social interaction and social structure. Retrived from
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Barners, H. L. (2008). Social institutions. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/terai/bba-
/11-dt-social-instituion presentation on 11/01/2020
Charon. (1986). Understanding society. Retrieved from
http://understandingsociety.blogspot.com/1997/11/what-is-socialstructure.html\ on
10/01/2020
Henslin. (1997). Understanding society. Retrieved from
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10/01/2020
Kornblum, William. (1997). Sociology in a Changing World (4th Ed.). Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich.
Linton, R. (1937). The Study of Man. New York: Appleton-Century.
Macionis, J. J. (2008). Sociology (12th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey.
Merton, R.K. (1968). Social Structure and Anomie. American Sociological Review. Vol. 3, No.6:
672-82
Sarhandi, N. (2010). Importance of social institutions. Retrieved from
http://nayyab.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/importance-of-socialinstitutions-of-society/ on
10/01/2020
Scott, J. and Marshall, G. (2009). Oxford dictionary of Sociology. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.

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