social system essay

Social System

• Key Concepts
• Major Sociologists
• News & Issues
• Research, Samples, and Statistics
• Recommended Reading
• Archaeology

Definition: A social system is an interdependent set of cultural and structural elements that can be thought of as a unit. The concept of a social system embodies one of the most important sociological principles: that the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

Examples: If we have two sticks of wood and joint them together to form a Christian cross, no amount of understanding of the sticks themselves can fully account for our perception of the cross as a particular arrangement of sticks in relation to each other. It is the arrangement of the parts that makes the whole what it is, not merely the characteristics of the parts themselves.

• Introduction to Sociology
• The Importance Customs in Society
• Understanding Diffusion in Sociology
• Definition of Cultural Materialism
• What Is Lexicogrammar?
• Renaissance Rhetoric
• What Is the Fallacy of Division?
• Cultural Ecology
• What Is Game Theory?
• List (Grammar and Sentence Styles)
• What Is an Exocentric Compound?
• Understanding Momentum in Physics
• What Is an Orientational Metaphor?
• What Are the Different Types and Characteristics of Essays?
• Margaret Mead Quotes
• The Sociology of Race and Ethnicity

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5.1 Social Structure: The Building Blocks of Social Life

Learning objectives.

• Describe the difference between a status and a role.
• Understand the difference between an ascribed status, an achieved status, and a master status.
• List the major social institutions.

Social life is composed of many levels of building blocks, from the very micro to the very macro. These building blocks combine to form the social structure . As Chapter 1 “Sociology and the Sociological Perspective” explained, social structure refers to the social patterns through which a society is organized and can be horizontal or vertical. To recall, horizontal social structure refers to the social relationships and the social and physical characteristics of communities to which individuals belong, while vertical social structure , more commonly called social inequality , refers to ways in which a society or group ranks people in a hierarchy. This chapter’s discussion of social structure focuses primarily on horizontal social structure, while Chapter 8 “Social Stratification” through Chapter 12 “Aging and the Elderly” , as well as much material in other chapters, examine dimensions of social inequality. The (horizontal) social structure comprises several components, to which we now turn, starting with the most micro and ending with the most macro. Our discussion of social interaction in the second half of this chapter incorporates several of these components.

Status has many meanings in the dictionary and also within sociology, but for now we will define it as the position that someone occupies in society. This position is often a job title, but many other types of positions exist: student, parent, sibling, relative, friend, and so forth. It should be clear that status as used in this way conveys nothing about the prestige of the position, to use a common synonym for status. A physician’s job is a status with much prestige, but a shoeshiner’s job is a status with no prestige.

Any one individual often occupies several different statuses at the same time, and someone can simultaneously be a banker, Girl Scout troop leader, mother, school board member, volunteer at a homeless shelter, and spouse. This someone would be very busy! We call all the positions an individual occupies that person’s status set (see Figure 5.1 “Example of a Status Set” ).

Figure 5.1 Example of a Status Set

Sociologists usually speak of three types of statuses. The first type is ascribed status , which is the status that someone is born with and has no control over. There are relatively few ascribed statuses; the most common ones are our biological sex, race, parents’ social class and religious affiliation, and biological relationships (child, grandchild, sibling, and so forth).

Status refers to the position an individual occupies. Used in this way, a person’s status is not related to the prestige of that status. The jobs of physician and shoeshiner are both statuses, even though one of these jobs is much more prestigious than the other job.

Public Domain Images – CC0 public domain.

The second kind of status is called achieved status , which, as the name implies, is a status you achieve, at some point after birth, sometimes through your own efforts and sometimes because good or bad luck befalls you. The status of student is an achieved status, as is the status of restaurant server or romantic partner, to cite just two of the many achieved statuses that exist.

Two things about achieved statuses should be kept in mind. First, our ascribed statuses, and in particular our sex, race and ethnicity, and social class, often affect our ability to acquire and maintain many achieved statuses (such as college graduate). Second, achieved statuses can be viewed positively or negatively. Our society usually views achieved statuses such as physician, professor, or college student positively, but it certainly views achieved statuses such as burglar, prostitute, and pimp negatively.

The third type of status is called a master status . This is a status that is so important that it overrides other statuses you may hold. In terms of people’s reactions, master statuses can be either positive or negative for an individual depending on the particular master status they hold. Barack Obama now holds the positive master status of president of the United States: his status as president overrides all the other statuses he holds (husband, father, and so forth), and millions of Americans respect him, whether or not they voted for him or now favor his policies, because of this status. Many other positive master statuses exist in the political and entertainment worlds and in other spheres of life.

Some master statuses have negative consequences. To recall the medical student and nursing home news story that began this chapter, a physical disability often becomes such a master status. If you are bound to a wheelchair, for example, this fact becomes more important than the other statuses you have and may prompt people to perceive and interact with you negatively. In particular, they perceive you more in terms of your master status (someone bound to a wheelchair) than as the “person beneath” the master status, to cite Matt’s words. For similar reasons, gender, race, and sexual orientation may also be considered master statuses, as these statuses often subject women, people of color, and gays and lesbians, respectively, to discrimination and other problems, no matter what other statuses they may have.

Whatever status we occupy, certain objects signify any particular status. These objects are called status symbols . In popular terms, status symbol usually means something like a Rolls-Royce or BMW that shows off someone’s wealth or success, and many status symbols of this type exist. But sociologists use the term more generally than that. For example, the wheelchair that Matt the medical student rode for 12 days was a status symbol that signified his master status of someone with a (feigned) disability. If someone is pushing a stroller, the stroller is a status symbol that signifies that the person pushing it is a parent or caretaker of a young child.

Whatever its type, every status is accompanied by a role , which is the behavior expected of someone—and in fact everyone —with a certain status. You and most other people reading this book are students. Despite all the other differences among you, you have at least this one status in common. As such, there is a role expected of you as a student (at least by your professors); this role includes coming to class regularly, doing all the reading assigned from this textbook, and studying the best you can for exams. Roles for given statuses existed long before we were born, and they will continue long after we are no longer alive. A major dimension of socialization is learning the roles our society has and then behaving in the way a particular role demands.

Roles help us interact because we are familiar with the behavior associated with roles. Because shoppers and cashiers know what to expect of each other, their social interaction is possible.

David Tan – Cashier – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Because roles are the behavior expected of people in various statuses, they help us interact because we are familiar with the roles in the first place, a point to which the second half of this chapter returns. Suppose you are shopping in a department store. Your status is a shopper, and the role expected of you as a shopper—and of all shoppers—involves looking quietly at various items in the store, taking the ones you want to purchase to a checkout line, and paying for them. The person who takes your money is occupying another status in the store that we often call a cashier. The role expected of that cashier—and of all cashiers not only in that store but in every other store—is to accept your payment in a businesslike way and put your items in a bag. Because shoppers and cashiers all have these mutual expectations, their social interaction is possible.

Social Networks

Modern life seems increasingly characterized by social networks. A social network is the totality of relationships that link us to other people and groups and through them to still other people and groups. As Facebook and other social media show so clearly, social networks can be incredibly extensive. Social networks can be so large, of course, that an individual in a network may know little or nothing of another individual in the network (e.g., a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend). But these “friends of friends” can sometimes be an important source of practical advice and other kinds of help. They can “open doors” in the job market, they can introduce you to a potential romantic partner, they can pass through some tickets to the next big basketball game. As a key building block of social structure, social networks receive a fuller discussion in Chapter 6 “Groups and Organizations” .

Groups and Organizations

Groups and organizations are the next component of social structure. Because Chapter 6 “Groups and Organizations” discusses groups and organizations extensively, here we will simply define them and say one or two things about them.

A social group (hereafter just group ) consists of two or more people who regularly interact on the basis of mutual expectations and who share a common identity. To paraphrase John Donne, the 17th-century English poet, no one is an island; almost all people are members of many groups, including families, groups of friends, and groups of coworkers in a workplace. Sociology is sometimes called the study of group life, and it is difficult to imagine a modern society without many types of groups and a small, traditional society without at least some groups.

In terms of size, emotional bonding, and other characteristics, many types of groups exist, as Chapter 6 “Groups and Organizations” explains. But one of the most important types is the formal organization (also just organization ), which is a large group that follows explicit rules and procedures to achieve specific goals and tasks. For better and for worse, organizations are an essential feature of modern societies. Our banks, our hospitals, our schools, and so many other examples are all organizations, even if they differ from one another in many respects. In terms of their goals and other characteristics, several types of organizations exist, as Chapter 6 “Groups and Organizations” will again discuss.

Social Institutions

Yet another component of social structure is the social institution , or patterns of beliefs and behavior that help a society meet its basic needs. Modern society is filled with many social institutions that all help society meet its needs and achieve other goals and thus have a profound impact not only on the society as a whole but also on virtually every individual in a society. Examples of social institutions include the family, the economy, the polity (government), education, religion, and medicine. Chapter 13 “Work and the Economy” through Chapter 18 “Health and Medicine” examine each of these social institutions separately.

As those chapters will show, these social institutions all help the United States meet its basic needs, but they also have failings that prevent the United States from meeting all its needs. A particular problem is social inequality, to recall the vertical dimension of social structure, as our social institutions often fail many people because of their social class, race, ethnicity, gender, or all four. These chapters will also indicate that American society could better fulfill its needs if it followed certain practices and policies of other democracies that often help their societies “work” better than our own.

The largest component of social structure is, of course, society itself. Chapter 1 “Sociology and the Sociological Perspective” defined society as a group of people who live within a defined territory and who share a culture. Societies certainly differ in many ways; some are larger in population and some are smaller, some are modern and some are less modern. Since the origins of sociology during the 19th century, sociologists have tried to understand how and why modern, industrial society developed. Part of this understanding involves determining the differences between industrial societies and traditional ones.

One of the key differences between traditional and industrial societies is the emphasis placed on the community versus the emphasis placed on the individual. In traditional societies, community feeling and group commitment are usually the cornerstones of social life. In contrast, industrial society is more individualistic and impersonal. Whereas the people in traditional societies have close daily ties, those in industrial societies have many relationships in which one person barely knows the other person. Commitment to the group and community become less important in industrial societies, and individualism becomes more important.

Sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies (1887/1963) long ago characterized these key characteristics of traditional and industrial societies with the German words Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft . Gemeinschaft means human community, and Tönnies said that a sense of community characterizes traditional societies, where family, kin, and community ties are quite strong. As societies grew and industrialized and as people moved to cities, Tönnies said, social ties weakened and became more impersonal. Tönnies called this situation Gesellschaft and found it dismaying. Chapter 5 “Social Structure and Social Interaction” , Section 5.2 “The Development of Modern Society” discusses the development of societies in more detail.

Key Takeaways

• The major components of social structure are statuses, roles, social networks, groups and organizations, social institutions, and society.
• Specific types of statuses include the ascribed status, achieved status, and master status. Depending on the type of master status, an individual may be viewed positively or negatively because of a master status.

For Your Review

• Take a moment and list every status that you now occupy. Next to each status, indicate whether it is an ascribed status, achieved status, or master status.
• Take a moment and list every group to which you belong. Write a brief essay in which you comment on which of the groups are more meaningful to you and which are less meaningful to you.

Tönnies, F. (1963). Community and society . New York, NY: Harper and Row. (Original work published 1887).

Sociology Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Social System Essays (Examples)

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Social systems egypt aksum and inland niger.

Social Systems (Egypt, Aksum, and Inland Niger Delta) This paper makes comparisons between the early social systems of Egypt, Aksum, and the Inland Niger Delta. Egypt Society in early Egyptian history was more structured than either of the other two societies to be reviewed in this paper. Egyptian society was structured like a pyramid, according to U.S. History's pages on Ancient Civilizations. At the top of the pyramid the gods were placed; Isis, Ra, Osiris and other Egyptian gods were most revered and respected because Egyptians believed that gods had control of the universe. They could "make the Nile overflow, cause famine, or even bring death" (U.S. History). Leaders called "pharaohs" were also considered gods (in human form), and they had a huge amount of power to enact laws and lead the military, so they were high on the pyramid. In fact the pyramids in Egypt were built specifically to house pharaohs,….

Works Cited

Ancient Civilizations. (2008). Ancient Egypt / Egyptian Social Structure. U.S. History.

Retrieved January 14, 2013, from  http://www.ushistory.org .

Hirst, Kris K. (2011). Aksum of Ethiopia. About.com. Retrieved January 14, 2013, from  http://archaeology.about.com .

McIntosh, Susan Keech, and McIntosh, Roderick J. (2009). Jenne-Jeno, an Ancient African

Social Systems This Work Will

It is the process of interaction among family members that determines the rules by which the family is governed. This is the family's level of cohesion, its adaptability, and its communication style. Finally, these interactions work together to serve individual members and collective family needs; (3) Family function is the output of the interactional system. Utilizing the resources available through its structure (input), the family interacts to produce responses that fulfill its needs; and (4) the family life cycle introduces the element of change into the family system. As the family moves through time, developmental and non-developmental changes alter the family structure and/or the family's needs. These, in turn, produce change in the way the family interacts." (Allen, et al., 2007) Figure 1 -- the Family System Source: Allen et al. (2007) The family is stated by Allen et al. (2007) to have many "attitudes, rules and communication patterns which help to define….

Bibliography

Allen, Jo Ann (1991) Understanding Families, Children's Bureau, Administration for Children, Youth and Families, Office of Human Development Services, United States Department of Health and Human Services. Online available at:

Anderson, Ralph E., Carter, Irl. E. And Lowe, Gary (1999) Human Behavior in the Social Environment: A Social Systems Approach. Aldine Transaction 1999. Google Books. Online available at:  http://books.google.com/books?id=hYfv-ieHdYkC 

Family Developmental Theory (nd) University of Kansas -- Department of Psychology. Online available at:  http://www.psych.ku.edu/dennisk/PF642/Family%20Developmental%20Theory.pdf 

Fontaine, Reid Griffith (2005) Applying system Principles to Models of Social Information Processing and Aggressive Behavior in Youth. Aggression and Violent Behavior. 11 (2006) 64-76.

Social System User Managers and IT Professionals

Digital Divide The Social System: User, Managers, and IT Professionals The term Digital Divide refers to the broad disparities between income groups in terms of availability of information technologies including the Internet and related services. Studies of the Digital Divide show that the greater the accessibility of the Internet, specifically in schools and libraries, the higher the probability of students graduating and pursuing advanced education (Stevenson, 2009). Advocate organizations including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Gates Center for technology Access (GCTA) argue that it is critically important for the Digital Divide to be eradicated to ensure below poverty line children and families have an opportunity to pursue educational opportunities and therefore increase their earning potential (Stevenson, 2009). The hard reality of the Digital Divide is that it exists in the United States just as prevalently as in 3rd world nations (Agarwal, Animesh, Prasad, 2009). The CTA has discovered that….

Agarwal, R., Animesh, A., & Prasad, K.. (2009). Social Interactions and the "Digital Divide": Explaining Variations in Internet Use. Information Systems Research, 20(2), 277-294.

Andrew Batson and Shai Oster. (2006, November 22). Politics & Economics: As China Booms, the Poorest Lose Ground; Survey Showing Income Decline Among Bottom 10% Suggests New Wealth Isn't Filtering Down. Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition), p. A.4.

James, J.. (2009). Sharing Mechanisms for Information Technology in Developing Countries, Social Capital and Quality of Life. Social Indicators Research, 94(1), 43-59.

Karen L. Middleton, & Valrie Chambers. (2010). Approaching digital equity: is wifi the new leveler? Information Technology & People, 23(1), 4-22.

Late Imperial China and Its Social System

Chinese Ritual Enforced Ritual as a Political Tool: Dogma in the Song and Yuan Dynasties It is difficult for a student of today's world to not look back in awe at the rigid and ritualistic behavior of the Chinese during the periods of the Song and Yuan dynasties. By today's standards, these people's laws and rites demonstrate their ability to submerge individual advancement in order to comply with the social and group dynamics. Why would these, or any other people for that matter submit themselves to such ordered and disciplined ritual? The purpose of this essay is to examine the idea that these people were ignorant of scientific thought and relied on heavily disciplined and ritualistic behavior to make sense of their violent and paternally dominant society. In Ebrey's translation of the rules of the lineage of charitable estate certain distinctions are brought forward to highlight strict self-discipline measures in order to prove….

System Theory the Origin and

However, in the most recent theory of evolution which discusses the living world appears as the result of chance and an output of different randomly selected natural mills. This kind of development came to present as a result of the need of more subjects or topics in areas such as cybernetic, general system theory, information theory, theories of games which is needed in most decision making process in line with real applications. In mathematics techniques however, there are a number of general assumption which are insufficient and most of the time very contradict themselves (Laszlo & Krippner, 1982). Again, Laszlo (1982) outlined that von Bertalanffy considered the idea of organization to be involved at various stages in the expression of natural system. This could be highlighted from his first statement on the system which he made between the years 1925-1926, during the time when similar thinking of organism was being….

Bailey, K.D. (2004). Beyond System Internals: Expanding the Scope of Living Systems Theory. Los Angeles: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Bailey, K.D. (2006). Living systems theory and social entropy theory. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 23, 291-300.

Bertalanffy, L. (1951). General system theory - a new approach to unity of science. (Symposium), Human Biology, 23, 303-361. Dec 1951.

Bertalanffy, L. (1972). General system theory: Foundations, development, applications. London: Allen Lane.

Systems Theory Discuss Relationship Systems Theory Healthcare

Systems Theory Discuss relationship systems theory healthcare deliver U.S. - What current concepts healthcare explained helped a system theory approach? - What system theory? - How researchers (Ludwig von Bertalanffy Everett M. Systems theory and diffusion of innovation theory Systems theory Systems theory was not specifically designed to cope with the challenges of the U.S. healthcare system, although it has been frequently applied to some of its issues. Systems theory was originally coined by the scientist Ludwig von Bertalanffy to sum up his idea that the 'whole' of systems -- both biological and otherwise -- were larger than the sum of their parts. According to von Bertalanffy, "in the past, science tried to explain observable phenomena by reducing them to an interplay of elementary units investigable independently of each other, conceptions appear in contemporary science that are concerned with what is somewhat vaguely termed 'wholeness', i.e. problems of organization, phenomena not resolvable into local….

Diffusion of innovation theory. (2013). University of Twente. Retrieved:

 http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Communication%20and%20Information%20Technology/Diffusion_of_Innovations_Theory.doc/ 

This website contains excerpts from E.M. Rogers' work on diffusion of innovation theory, along with a helpful graphical representation of how the information is disseminated.

Kaminski, J. (Spring 2011).Diffusion of innovation theory. Canadian Journal of Nursing.

Social and Political Problems and How it Relates to Radicalization Into Violent Extremism

Social System, Institutional Values and Human Needs_ Burton's Deviance, Terrorism, and War redefined the nature of the problem to be discussed and the means to discuss it. Burton's agenda is not about states and state centric dynamics. He constitutes a new definition of the problem and a new definition of the reality (1979). In fact, the subtitle of his book, solving unsolved social and political problems, attests to this. Burton's work is therefore committed to addressing the process as opposed to stasis or structures. The book is committed to solving social and political problems and not their containment, management, or control. It is committed to initiating change not coercion. It is concerned with recurrent patterns of human behavior at all levels of social complexity (Burton, 1979). Burton (1979) assesses the way society classifies and defines deviance. Structure of freedom underpins a portion of Burtons work. Structure of freedom is recognized by Burton….

References List

Burton, J. (1965). International Relations, a General Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Burton, J. (1979). Deviance, Terrorism and War: The Process of Solving Unsolved Social and Political Problems. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Social Work and Welfare the

This in turn generates a kind of societal morality. As a consequence, social order becomes an incorporated trait of everyday life. According to the theory, what people see as standards are indirect behavioral rules. Infringements of the standard lead to diverse amounts of punishment depending on how common the standard may be. Chastisements can come in the shape of being disqualified from one's social group, critical looks, or imprisonment in the case of harsh infringements like killing or assault (Jeanty, 2010). As sociologists and historians examine social work, they often see a profession the spirit of which is social control. For them the language of therapy, assisting, or even empowerment masquerades a coercive center. Various recent literature of the vocation, conversely, has confronted the attitude of those researchers who depend on case reports as proof of what social workers in fact do in the field has highlighted empowerment in the….

Burford, Gale and Adams, Paul. (2010). Restorative justice, responsive regulation and social work. Retrieved March 23, 2011, from Web site:

 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CYZ/is_1_31/ai_n6065937/ 

Chapter 4: The role of the social worker. (2006). Retrieved March 23, 2011, from Web site:

 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/02/02094408/8

System Paradigms Humans Have the

The religious organization has other-worldly goals, but must adapt to the demands of this world in order to survive. There are generally two kinds of responses to this problem -- the church response and the sect response. The church response is to adapt at the expense of the goals and the sect response is value-rational-to maximize goal commitment at the expense of adaptation (Satow, 1975). EXAMPLE NATUAL -- Management NEED in Business OGANIZATION Theories and research concerned with individual performance, employee satisfaction, and reduction of tension between individual and organizational goals deal only with internal aspects of events, relationships, and structures that make up the total organizational system. However, if an organization is seen as an open-energy system, it is apparent that it is dependent for survival and growth upon a variety of energy transfers within the organization and also between the organization and its external environment. It is sure, then,….

Barnard, C. (1938). The Functions of the Executive. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University

Friedlander, F., and Pickle, H. (1968). Components of Effectiveness in Small Organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly13(2), 289-304

Kanigel, Robert (1997). The One Best Way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the Enigma of Efficiency. New York:  http://www.leaonline.com/entityImage/?code=200B 

Kloos, B., McCoy, J., Stewart, E., Thomas R.E., Wiley, a., Good,- T.L., Hunt G.D., Moore, T. And Rappaport, J. (1997) Bridging the Gap: A Community-Based, Open Systems Approach to School and Neighborhood Consultation. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation 8(2), 175-196

Social Change Leadership and Advocacy for Ces and Human Services and Fostering Change

Social Justice Improving social justice for women has been identified as one of the building blocks of social change. Population control, education, and the eradication of domestic violence are all interlinked. "UNICEF estimates that worldwide, some 117 million school-aged children do not attend school, 62 million of them girls. Attendance rates are lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, where only 57% of girls are in school, and just 15% of these go on to secondary school" (About us, 2011, Women's global education fund). Women's education is not simply a feminist issue. Higher rates of female education are linked to lower birth rates and better health outcomes for children as well as women. Women who are educated are more empowered to take control over family planning and have more resources to take care of the children they do have. "Educated mothers limit their families," says Dr. Yasmin aashid, a leader in obstetrics and gynecology in….

About us. (2011). Women's Global Education Project.

Retrieved August 23, 2011 at  http://www.womensglobal.org/About%20Us/about.html 

Domestic violence. (2011). American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

Retrieved August 23, 2011 at  http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp083.cfm

Systems Theory Napier & Whitaker's 1978 Classic

Systems Theory Napier & Whitaker's (1978) classic The Family Crucible is the benchmark book related to family therapy. The book is thorough, and divided into twenty chapters that cover the gamut of family therapy theory and especially practice. Napier & Whitaker (1978) are family systems theorists, and they openly divulge their appreciation for an approach to individual psychology that takes into account family systems. In other words, no individual can be understood or helped without paying attention to the family situation, its dynamics, and its role in identity formation and coping. The authors discuss dysfunctional family systems via a case study. By focusing on one case study, Napier & Whitaker (1978) show how family systems theory works, and what clients can expect from the process. The authors weave their personal views and experiences throughout the case study, which clutters and bogs down the narrative, but which also provides a necessary context for….

Napier, A.Y. & Whitaker, C. (1978). The Family Crucible. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Social Work Assessment From My

Therefore, today's society in the United States is diverse, which is something a social worker needs to understand and know how to deal with each diverse group. Furthermore, through research, it has been discovered most ethnic groups that live in the United States consist of young people, which means by staying in this country, they grow accustom to their surroundings. Once they have grown accustom to living here, they feel like this is their home to start a life with their own families. This continues the growing number of ethnic groups in this country. Due to the educational accommodations that schools and college campuses make for students that have ethnic backgrounds, there is not enough prejudice of one group to let a Holocaust to occur in the United Stated. Furthermore, this country believes in freedom of speech to allow one ethnic to be isolated from the rest and condone any….

Dennen, Johan. THE 'EVIL' MIND: PT. 3. CRUELTY AND 'BEAST-IN-MAN' IMAGERY. Retrieved March 30, 2008, from http://rechten.eldoc.ub.rug.nl/FILES/departments/Algemeen/overigepublicaties/2005enouder/EVIL_CRU/EVIL_CRU.pdf

Citrome, Lesilie,. (2007). Aggression. Retrieved March 30, 2008, from  http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic3005.htm 

Hall, Kathy Jo. (1997). Carl Rogers. Retrieved March 30, 2008, from  http://aolsearch.aol.com/aol/search?query=Throughout+this+Jim+knocks+the+clay+figurines+head+of+and+crushes+the+body+while+shouting&invocationType=spelling 

Seal, B., A. Bradford, and C. Meston. 2009. The Association Between Body Esteem and Sexual Desire Among College Women. Archives of Sexual Behavior 38, no. 5, (October 1): 866-72.  http://www.proquest.com.library.capella.edu  / (accessed April 1, 2010).

Social Work Scenario Mrs Ozdemir

al., 2009). Part 5 -- Use of reframing eframing refers to the manner in which something is said, or the actions one takes in introducing certain elements to clients -- perhaps a new way of looking at an old problem, of themselves, of a clinical issue. In the case of Mrs. O., we would ask that she look to the expansion of her universe through developing language abilities, or helping to find her translation assistance. The reframing stage would also be indicating that her cultural privacy issues about the effects of her medical problems might be contributing to her pain and suffering over them. Instead, reframing the issue would allow us to find a way to solve the problem, while still slowly moving within Mrs. O's comfort zone. eframing, in fact, is applicable when the fixed attitude constitutes a fundamental part of the issue -- in this case, a cultural bias against….

Coady, N. And Lehman, P. (2008). Theoretical Perspectives for Direct Social Work Practice.

New York: Springer.

Cournoyer, B.R. (2008). The Social Work Skills Workbook. Belmont, CA: Thompson

Higher Education.

Social Work Question 1 Shift

Those values include the fact that I am very socially conscious and am very aware of my responsibilities and obligations as a social worker. I constantly strive to comprehend and understand the theories of human behaviors and social systems, and in doing so I strive to employ that understanding in order to promote the positive aspects of society and mankind. I am very apt to assist someone in solving the problems faced in their life or lives, and oftentimes see simple solutions even in the most complex scenarios. My strengths are that the values and beliefs I hold dear are the same values and beliefs that will hold me in high regard with the clientele I am most likely to interact with. Humanism in particular plays a pivotal role in my values since I have always cared for my fellow humans and will continue to do so for as long as….

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This leads one to believe that they are not very well off financially and the mother has not real education in order to obtain employment since she is currently attaining administrative assistant training. Antonio also has issues with controlling his behavior when in the daycare environment, as he frequently has violent outbursts and crying spells. If one were to assess Antonio from an Eco-Feminist perspective one would be better able to understand Antonio and his present behavior. Ecofeminism is the social movement that regards the domination of women and nature as unified. It is one of the few movements and analyses that in fact connect the two movements. Lately, ecofeminist theorists have extended their analyses to reflect on the interconnections flanked by sexism, the domination of nature, and also racism and social dissimilarities (What is Ecofeminism, n.d.). Daniel spent a lot of time suppressing Hilda in his behavior that he….

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Talcott Parsons: Social system | Sociology Optional for UPSC Civil Services Examination I Triumph IAS

Table of Contents

Talcott Parsons: Social system

Relevance: Sociology: Paper I: Sociological Thinkers: Talcott parson: Social System

INTRODUCTION

The term ‘system’ implies an orderly arrangement, an interrelationship of parts. In the arrangement, every part has a fixed place and definite role to play. The parts are bound by interaction. To understand the functioning of a system, for example the human body, one has to analyse and identify the sub-systems (e.g. circulatory, nervous, digestive, excretionary systems etc.) and understand how these various subsystems enter into specific relations in the fulfillment of the organic function of the body.

Likewise, society may be viewed as a system of interrelated mutually dependent parts which cooperate to preserve a recognisable whole and to satisfy some purposes or goal. Social system may be described as an arrangement of social interactions based on shared norms and values. Individuals constitute it and each has place and function to perform within it.

Meaning of Social System:

It is Talcott Parsons who has given the concept of ‘system’ current in modern sociology. Social system refers to’ an orderly arrangement, an inter relationships of parts. In the arrangement, every part has a fixed place and definite role to play. The parts are bound by interaction. System signifies, thus, patterned relationship among constituent parts of a structure which is based on functional relations and which makes these parts active and binds them into reality.

Society is a system of usages, authority and mutuality based on “We” felling and likeness. Differences within the society are not excluded. These are, however, subordinated to likeness. Inter-dependence and cooperation are its basis. It is bound by reciprocal awareness. It is essentially a pattern for imparting the social behaviour.

It consists in mutual inter action and interrelation of individuals and of the structure formed by their relations. It is not time bound. It is different from an aggregate of people and community. According to Lapiere, “The term society refers not to group of people, but to the complex pattern of the norms of inter action that arises among and between them.”

Applying these conclusions to society, social system may be described as an arrangement of social interactions based on shared norms and values. Individuals constitute it, and each has place and function to perform within it. In the process, one influences the other; groups are formed and they gain influence, numerous subgroup come into existence.

But all of these are coherent. They function as a whole. Neither individual, nor the group can function in isolation. They are bound in oneness, by norms and values, culture and shared behaviour. The pattern that thus comes into existence becomes the social system.

A social system may be defined, after Parsons, a plurality of social actors who are engaged in more or less stable interaction “according to shared cultural norms and meanings” Individuals constitute the basic interaction units. But the interacting units may be groups or organisation of individuals within the system.

The social system, according to Charles P. Loomis, is composed of the patterned interaction of visual actors whose’ relation to each other are mutually oriented through the definition of the mediation of pattern of structured and shared symbols and expectations.

All social organisations are, therefore, ‘social system’, since they consist of interacting individuals. In the social system each of the interacting individual has function or role to perform in terms of the status he occupies in the system. For example, in the family parents, sons and daughters are required to perform certain socially recognised functions or roles.

Similarly, social organisations function within the frame work of a normative pattern. Thus, a social system presupposes a social structure consisting of different parts which are interrelated in such a way as to perform its functions.

Social system is a comprehensive arrangement. It takes its orbit all the diverse subsystems such as the economic, political, religious and others and their interrelation too. Social systems are bound by environment such as geography. And this differentiates one system from another.

Elements of Social System:

The elements of social system are described as under:

• Faiths and Knowledge:

The faiths and knowledge brings about the uniformity in the behaviour. They act as controlling agency of different types of human societies. The faiths or the faith is the result of the prevalent customs and beliefs. They enjoy the force of the individual are guided towards a particular direction.

Man does not live by reason alone. Sentiments – filial, social, notional etc. have played immense role in investing society with continuity. It is directly linked with the culture of the people.

• End Goal or object:

Man is born social and dependent. He has to meet his requirements and fulfill his obligations. Man and society exist between needs and satisfactions, end and goal. These determine the nature of social system. They provided the pathway of progress, and the receding horizons.

• Ideals and Norms:

The society lays down certain norms and ideals for keeping the social system intact and for determining the various functions of different units. These norms prescribe the rules and regulations on the basis of which individuals or persons may acquire their cultural goals and aims.

In other words ideals and norms are responsible for an ideal structure or system of the society. Due to them the human behaviour does not become deviant and they act according to the norms of the society. This leads to organization and stability. These norms and ideals include folkways, customs, traditions, fashions, morality, religion, etc.

• Status-Role:

Every individual in society is functional. He goes by status-role relation. It may come to the individual by virtue of his birth, sex, caste, or age. One may achieve it on the basis of service rendered.

Like the status, society has prescribed different roles to different individuals. Sometimes we find that there is a role attached to every status. Role is the external expression of the status. While discharging certain jobs or doing certain things, every individual keeps in his mind his status. This thing leads to social integration, organization and unity in the social system. In fact statuses and roles go together. It is not possible to separate them completely from one another.

Conflict is a part of social system, and order is its aim. It is implicit, therefore, that some should be invested with the power to punish the guilty and reward those who set an example. The authority exercising power will differ from group to group; while the authority of father may be supreme in the family, in the state it is that of the ruler.

It implies confirmation by the superior in authority, of the acts done be the subordinate or the imposition of penalty for the infringement of the command. The acts done or not done according to norms may bring reward and punishment.

Characteristics of Social System:

Social system has certain characteristics. These characteristics are as follows:

• System is connected with the plurality of Individual actors:

It means that a system or social system cannot be borne as a result of the activity of one individual. It is the result of the activities of various individuals. For system, or social system, interaction of several individuals has to be there.

• Aim and Object:

Human interactions or activities of the individual actors should not be aimless or without object. These activities have to be according to certain aims and objects. The expression of different social relations borne as a result of human interaction.

• Order and Pattern amongst various Constituent Units:

Mere coming together of various constituent units that from social system does not necessarily create a social system. It has to be according to a pattern, arrangement and order. The underlined unity amongst various constituent units brings about ‘social system’.

• Functional Relationship is the Basis of Unity:

We have already seen different constituent units have a unity in order to form a system. This unity is based on functional relations. As a result of functional relationships between different constituent units an integrated whole is created and this is known as social system.

• Physical or Environmental Aspect of Social System:

It means that every social system is connected with a definite geographical area or place, time, society etc. In other words it means that social system is not the same at different times, at different place and under different circumstances. This characteristic of the social system again point out towards its dynamic or changeable nature.

• Linked with Cultural System:

Social system is also linked with cultural system. It means that cultural system bring about unity amongst different members of the society on the basis of cultures, traditions, religions etc.

• Expressed and implied Aims and Objects:

Social system is also linked with expressed and implied aims. In other words, it means that social system is the coming together of different individual actors who are motivated by their aims and objectives and their needs.

• Characteristics of Adjustment:

Social system has the characteristic of adjustment. It is a dynamic phenomenon which is influenced by the changes caused in the social form. We have also seen that the social system is influenced by the aims, objects and the needs of the society. It means that the social system shall be relevant only if it changes itself according to the changed objects and needs. It has been seen that change takes place in the social system due to human needs, environment and historical conditions and phenomena.

• Order, Pattern and Balance:

Social system has the characteristics of pattern, order and balance. Social system is not an integrated whole but putting together of different units. This coming together does not take place in a random and haphazard manner. There is an order am’ balance.

It is so because different units of the society do not work as independent units but they do not exist in a vacuum but in a socio-cultural pattern. In the pattern different units have different functions and roles. It means that there is a pattern and order in the social system.

Types of Social System:

Parsons presents a classification of four major types in terms of pattern variable. These are as follows:

• The Particularistic Astrictive Type:

According to Parsons, this type of social system tends to be organized around kinship and sociality. The normative patterns of such a system are traditional and thoroughly dominated by the elements of ascription. This type of system is mostly represented by preliterate societies in which needs are limited to biological survival.

• The Particularistic Achievement Type:

There is a significant role of religious ideas as differentiating element in social life. When these religious ideas are rationally systematized that possibility of new religious concepts emerge. As a result of this nature of prophecy and secondly it may depend on non-empirical realm to which the porphyry is connected.

• The Universalistic Achievement Type:

When ethical prophecy and non-empirical conceptions are combined, a new set of ethical norms arise. It is because the traditional order is challenged by the ethical prophet in the name of supernatural. Such norms are derived from the existing relations of social member; therefore they are universalistic in nature. Besides, they are related with empirical or non-empirical goals, therefore they are achievement oriented.

• The Universalistic Ascription Type:

Under this social type, elements of value orientation are dominated by the elements of ascription. Therefore emphasis is placed on status of the actor, rather than his performance. In such a system, actor’s achievements are almost values to a collective goal. Therefore such a system becomes politicized and aggressive. An authoritarian State example of this types.

Maintenance of Social System:

A social system is maintained by the various mechanisms of social control. These mechanisms maintain the equilibrium between the various processes of social interaction.

In brief, these mechanisms may be classified in the following categories:

• Socialization.
• Social control.

(1) Socialization:

It is process by which an individual is adjusted with the conventional pattern of social behaviour. A child by birth is neither social nor unsocial. But the process of socialization develops him into a functioning member of society. He adjusts himself with the social situations conforming with social norms, values and standards.

(2) Social Control:

Like socialisation, social control is also a system of measures by which society moulds its members to conform with the approved pattern of social behaviour. According to Parsons, there are two types of elements which exist in every system. These are integrative and disintegrative and create obstacles in the advancement of integration.

Functions of Social System:

Social system is a functional arrangement. It would not exist if it were not so. Its functional character ensures social stability and continuity. The functional character of society, Parsons has discussed in depth. Other sociologists such as Robert F. Bales too have discussed it.

It is generally agreed that the social system has four primary functional problems to attend. These are:

• Adaptation,
• Goal attainment,
• Integration,
• Latent Pattern-Maintenance.
• Adaptation:

1. Adaptability of social system to the changing environment is essential. No doubt, a social system is the result of geographical environment and a long drawn historical process which by necessity gives it permanence and rigidity. Yet, that should not make it wooden and inelastic. It need be a flexible and functional phenomenon.

Economy for its maintenance, division of labour for better production of goods and effective services, and role differentiation for job opportunity is essential. Durkheim in Division of Labour in society has given great attention to the role of division of labour and role differentiation as these make possible a higher average degree of skill than would otherwise be possible.

Lack of adaptability, very often has caused the social system to be challenged. It has caused revolution resulting in the overhauling of the system. The British system, in the nineteenth century, when the continent was in the inferno of revolution, showed remarkable adaptability. It responded well to the mounting demands of change. Over the time our system has demonstrated the excellent sense of adaptability.

• Goal Attainment:

Goal attainment and adaptability are deeply interconnected. Both contribute to the maintenance of social order.

Every social system has one or more goals to be attained through cooperative effort. Perhaps the best example of a societal goal is national security. Adaptation to the social and nonsocial environment is, of course, necessary if goals are to be attained. But in addition, human and nonhuman resources must be mobilised in some effective way, according to the specific nature of tasks.

For example, there must be a process of ensuring that enough persons, but not too many, occupy each of the roles at a particular time and a process for determining which persons will occupy which roles. These processes together solve the problem of allocation of members in the social system. We have already touched upon the “need” for property norms. The rules regulating inheritance e.g., primogeniture-in part solve this problem.

The allocation of members and the allocation of scarce valuable resources are important, of course, for both adaptation and goal attainment. The difference between adaptation and goal attainment is a relative one.

The economy of a society is that subsystem which produces goods and services for a wide variety of purposes; the “polity”, which includes above all the Government in complex societies, mobilizes goods and services for the attainment of specific goals of the total society regarded as a single social system.

• Integration:

Social system is essentially an integration system. In the general routine of life, it is not the society but the group or the subgroup in which one feels more involved and interested. Society, on the whole does not come into one’s calculations. Yet, we know as indicated by Durkheim, that individual is the product of society. Emotions, sentiments and historical forces are so strong that one cannot cut oneself from his moorings.

The working of these forces is best seen when society is involved in a domestic crisis or an external challenge. An appeal in the name of society, culture, heritage, patriotism, national solidarity or social welfare invokes quick response. Cooperation in effort is often demonstrative of integrating. It is the real basis of integration.

During normal times, the spirit of integration is best expressed by not disregarding the regulative norms. Abiding by them is essential, as otherwise, it will be the domination of might over right, of self over society, and the spirit of mutuality which is based on common welfare, will get eliminated. The command and obedience relation as it exists is based on rationality and order. If it is not sustained, the social order would break down.

In almost every social system, and in every system as large as a society, some participants, including whole subgroups, violate the relational or regulative norms. So far as these norms meet social needs, violations are a threat to the social system,

This necessitates the need for social control. “Social control” is the need for standardized reactions to violations in order to protect the integrity of the system. When there is dispute concerning the interpretation of relational or regulative norms, or concerning the factual aspects of conflicts of interest, there is need for agreed-upon social arrangements for settling the dispute. Otherwise the social system would be subject to progressive splits.

• Latent Pattern-maintenance:

Pattern maintenance and tension management is the primary function of social system. In absence of appropriate effort in this direction maintenance and continuity of social order is not possible. In fact within every social system there is the in built mechanism for the purpose.

Every individual and subgroup learns the patterns in the process of the internalization of norms and values. It is to invest the actors with appropriate attitude and respect towards norms and institution, that the socialization works. It is not; however, merely the question of imparting the pattern, equally essential is to make the actor to follow it. For this there is always a continuous effort -in operational terms of social control.

There may yet be occasions when the components of social system may become subject of distraction and disturbance. Tension may arise due to internal or external causes and society may get involved into a critical situation. Just as a family in distress draws upon all its resources to overcome it, so also society has to overcome it.

This process of ‘overcoming’ is the management of the tension. Society has the responsibility, like a family, to keep its members functional, to relieve them of anxiety, to encourage those who would be detrimental to the entire system. The decline of societies has been very much because the pattern maintenance and tension management mechanism has often failed.

Equilibrium and Social Change:

Equilibrium is a state of ‘balance’. It is “a state of just poise”. The term is used to describe the interaction of units in a system. A state of equilibrium exists, when systems tend towards conditions of minimum stress and least imbalance. The existence of balance between units facilitates the normal operation of system. Community evaluates and recognises the importance of equilibrium.

The equilibrium condition, is a “condition of integration and stability”. It is sometimes made possible with the development of a certain set of productive forces such as pressure groups which brings into being an appropriate super structure of institutions. Equilibrium can also be of moving sort, which according to Parsons, is “an orderly process of change of the system”.

The maintenances of equilibrium, according to him resolve two fundamental types of process: “The first of these are the process of the socialization by which actors acquire the orientations necessary to the performance of their roles in the social systems, when they have not previously possessed them; the second type are the process involved in the balance between the generation of motivations to deviate behaviour and the counter balancing motivations to restoration of the stabilized interactive process which we have called mechanism of social control”.

A social system implies order among the interacting units of the systems. This order, be it equilibrium or harmonious relations between individuals, is likely to be disturbed, at times, by social changes, occasioned by innovations which force new conceptions of roles and norms. The role of a housewife is affected when she goes for work away from home. This change is bound to influence other social institutions as well.

Maintaining the orderliness or social system is difficult when social changes are frequent. Herbert Spencer introduced the cause and effect relationships to explain the changing nature of societies in the equilibrium/disequilibrium’ analysis.

The structural-functional pattern of institutions which constitute a society would change in accordance with change it may encounter in its total external environment, and with changes in its internal conditions. There would be a changing disposition of the parts of a society until some appropriate ‘equilibrium’ is reached.

Spencer elaborating the theory of equilibrium has indicated its universal applicability. He pointed out that members of a society are continuously in the process of adapting to its material substance. “Each society”, he wrote, “displays the process of equilibration in the continuous adjustment of its population to its means of subsistence.

A tribe of men living on wild animals and fruits is manifestly like every tribe of inferior creatures, always oscillating from side to side of that average number which the locality can support. Thought by artificial production unceasingly improved, a superior race continually alters the limit which external conditions put to population, yet there is ever a checking of population at the temporary limit reached”.

In elaborating his theory of equilibrium, Spencer has referred to several economic aspects, and to the industrial system, of a society which continuously adjusts itself to the forces of ‘supply and demand’. He has also discussed political institutions in ‘equilibrium-disequilibrium’ terms. It is applicable to, all societies equally.

Taking society as a total entity, and its interrelationship with its parts, the changes in them can be explained by ‘equilibrium- disequilibrium’ adjustments. “Marxian Historical Materialism” remarks Ronald Fletcher, in The Making of Sociology is in fact an” equilibrium-disequilibrium analysis of the historical sequences of social order and social changes, and the explanation of this process in terms of material changes, attendant social conflict, and its resolution.”

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Talcott Parsons Social System, Talcott Parsons: Social system, Social system, Society elements, Faith, Sentiment, End goals, Ideals, Status-role, Power, Sanctions, Social organization, Stability of society, Equilibrium and Social Change, Latent Pattern-maintenance, Goal Attainment, Characteristics of Social System, Elements of Social System, Talcott Parsons,

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Essay on Social Structure and Its Effect On Our Lives

Social Structure and Its Effect On Our Lives Social structures are constraints that affect the lives of both the affluent and the indigent members of society. Each society has its own set of social arrangements for example; class, gender and ethnicity are all constraints that each society has to deal with in one way or another. One of the most fundamental of the social structures would be class. Class structure is found in all societies and is the key source of economical inequality. Members of different class groups start their lives with unequal opportunities. This means that when someone is born into a poor household they will undoubtedly remain in the same economical situation they began in. Gender is another important …show more content…

According to McGregor (1989) class is the main cause of inequality and social injustice in Australia. The prime explanation for this is that members of different class groups begin their lives with unequal opportunities, this affects the education they will receive, the social connections they will make and even the way they speak and behave. McGregor also argues that the class one belongs to is determined by many factors, these include; power, family background, wealth, lifestyle, mannerisms, social interactions, and employment. Class can be separated into three categories, upper class, middle class and lower class. According to Abercrombie (2000) the upper class is distinguished from the rest by its wealth and power. The upper class consists of very few people; McGregor argues that it may be as little 1% of society's population. The people in this group are employers, they own large quantities of land, and some are self-employed or have a career as managers or professionals. Wealth is distributed among the upper class members mainly through inheritance. With greater wealth people have the opportunity to manipulate the life that they will lead. The education system reinforces many inequalities insuring that members of the highest class have better opportunities and elevated chances of achieving greatness. Members

Class in America: Gregory Mantsios Essay example

In the article, "Class in America", Gregory Mantsios (Myths and Realities 2000) shows us how what class a person is in affects his or hers life more than they think. This article is written sufficiently well however, it does have some weak spots. I will prove my thesis by examining his use of examples and showing factual data and statistics, but also show how this article could have been better.

Social Class in the United States Essay

• 8 Works Cited

There is much debate about the issue of social class in the United States. There are arguments about whether social classes are distinctly separate or fluid, dependent upon one’s community or society as a whole, and if they are subjective or objective (Hughes and Jenkins). However, despite the debate surrounding social classes, it is still important to try to define them and analyze their effects, as they are such an important part of our identity and our opportunities in society. Although our society has tried to appear as though we have no classes, and it is becoming harder to tell what class someone is in by material goods, classes do still exist today (Scott and Leonhardt). The trend has been to divide the U.S. into four major

Social Stratification Has Good Consequences For Society

The upper-upper class are those who come from old money, which is inherited from previous generations.This class compose less than 1% of the population, but possess a great deal of power, and influence society. The upper-lowers are those who come from “new money.” Most of these people a famous stars and are sometimes referred to as the “working rich” because they work for the money they earn. Although the upper-lowers may possess more money than the upper-uppers, they often find it difficult to be apart of the upper society.

Horatio Alger's Ragged Dick Essay

Situations like these create problems and make it hard for all people to move up in society, which is something that Alger does not point out. For years, many people continue to work hard in order to one day to reach the upper class. However, for most of us making high amounts of six figures or better is really a dream and never shapes into reality.

Identity Autobiography on Class

In reality class always matters and it shapes our interests in life. We all come from different background and ethnicity. I believe that class is shaped mainly by income and occupation. However, many people think if a person is wealthy, therefore, he belongs in the upper class. But there are other factors that define class and it is more than just how much money you have. It can be the network of people that surrounds, traditions, and academic status that can also define class. Many of it has to do in which family you have been born and network that creates it. All of my family members have been born and raised in Russia; they completed universities, got jobs, and had enough income to support a family. “Each of us is born into a family with a particular class identity and class history—sometimes it is a mixed or hybrid identity—but almost always it is part of a network of other relationships—to other families in a community, to work and jobs, and to institutions” (Zandy 112).

Social Class In Richard Foltz's Religions Of The Silk Road

The concept of social class has been around for ages and is still a part of today’s society. Social class is not only based on the individual’s wealth but also on their social standing such as; monarchs, priests, nobles, merchants, and peasant class. The peasant class was practically ignored, which means that the higher classes would only pay attention to each other. This can be the case in society today, there are some people who feel that their career makes them higher than a janitor. Even though humans have been around for centuries, social class is still a big issue.

United States Six Economic Social Classes

Society is set up into a hierarchical triangle that essentially determines social class. A social class is any person or group of people with the same educational, social or economical status. Social class can be broken down into many different categories such as race, age, gender, economic status, educational status and many more. Social class can be measured in many different ways such as financial status, family values, appearance, and demeanor. In America there are six main economical social classes which are the: Very poor, Poor, Working class, Middle class, Upper middle class, and the ruling class.

Social Construction Theory And Social Class

The axis of inequality that will be focused throughout this paper is the social class. Social class is defined as a group of individuals who are categorized according to class (i.e. poor, middle, and upper) due to their income, wealth, power, and occupation. Social class is socially constructed by the way we view how much income and wealth a person possess (Ore, 20011a, 10). In reality it is much more than that. According to the text, poverty is not only the shortage of income, but it is the rejection of opportunities and choices that leads a person to a standard way of living (Ore, 2011a, 10). Stereotyping also contributes to it being socially constructed. These stereotypes influence us by defining who is who based on their principles in each class category. This can cause some to feel worthless.

Essay on Class in Australia Today

Connell & Irving (1992) identify ‘class structure’ in Australia with the ‘ruling class’ owning property/business, and the ‘working class’ in the way of labourers whom ‘act together in resistance to the capitalists’. This is relevant today in Australia with the privileged having majority of the power and wealth. Moreover, exploitation of the ‘working class’ continue to maintain less power within the workplace & less wealth. Connell & Irving offer an uncomplicated view of class structure, (1992: p 40):

The Outsiders: Effects of Social Class

Social class describes the different "layers" that exist in society. These "layers," or classes in society, are a division that civilization has been running on ever since the beginning of mankind. In most modern societies, our system of social class division is one of opportunity. We experience a good deal of social mobility, where people through generations or in their own lifetime can move up or down the social scale. By examining the many different perceptions of social class along with S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, it is illustrated that social class has an impact on people while they are growing up, and will usually deny them from rising above adversity.

The Impact Of Social Stratification On Minorities

Each of these groups is stratified into its own class; the group of people ranked most closely to them in property, power, and prestige. A person’s position in the stratification system affects everything about their life, from what they think and expect in life to how they see the world, as well as what opportunities they will have access to. Although, your status is still assigned at birth, but you have the chance at upward social mobility based on material possessions that you acquire, or things that you achieve. Or you may be on the other end of the spectrum and experience downward social

Social Structure Theory Essay

There are several theories created by many thinkers of our time that believes that societal, financial, and social arrangements and/or structures as the main cause of criminal behavior. In society, depending on where you are, there are usually some unwritten norms that are expected to be followed. It can be in a business corporation, out in the streets, at home. Usually there will be two sets of norms that is expected to be followed that causes an individual to feel torn. However, the feeling of being torn is the inner battle of doing the right thing, conscience or keeping yourself alive.

An Explanation Of Why Sociologists Are Interested On Class

Class is important as it can determine various aspects that will have a significant impact and influence on how people’s lives are shaped. Feminists have argued for other things to be included such as social divisions to show how they intersect with class. Economic inequalities can have an impact on class as they can determine a person’s status, wealth, income and lifestyle. Class is important as social inequalities exists amongst the rich and poor. Important social factors include poverty, health and education. A person’s identity is just as important as their class. People may face discrimination due to their identity, whether that may be due to their gender, age, ethnicity or disability. Social mobility is where people are in a different social class now from which they were brought up in. However sociologists argue that class is less important in contemporary society today than it once used to be.

How Social Class Affects My Family Life And Education

"We are shaped by society 's structures," is the primary concept of the idea developed by C. Wright Mills (Henslin). In this paper, I will demonstrate how my social class affected my family life and education.

Example Of Irreversible Inequality

Structure, agency, and structuration play a significant role in social inequality. Social structure are things that are outside a person’s control, but still affect the person. Agency is the actions of individuals and each person’s choices. Structuration is referring to how each person’s life is shaped by uncontrollable influences, structure, and by their own choices, agency. An example of social structure affecting agency would be growing up in a poor neighborhood effecting what kind of education you receive. Poorer neighborhoods typically have a lower quality school, resulting in a lower quality education. In every society, there is a cultural norm, or an expected “right” behavior. When

Related Topics

• Social class
• Middle class

Social Structure and Social Interaction Analytical Essay

Introduction, agents of socialization, rehabilitating and re-socializing a drug user.

Social structure refers to the way the society is organized relationship wise whereas social interaction refers to how people relate to each other. Through these two, people’s identity and behavior is shaped though the sharing of socialization and culture.

Social institutions that govern social structure and interaction include the family, education, work, economy, religion, sports, mass media, and health care among others (Schaefer & Lamm, 1995). This paper focuses on three agents of socialization that have been part of my learning process and examines the re-socialization of drug users through rehabilitation.

Agents of socialization refer to the groups that act on behalf of the society and in my learning process, family, peers, and media have played a great role. For instance, my family has been greatly influential since I was a minor. It is in this agent of socialization that I learnt basic skills like communication, which rule my interactions to date.

It is also here that I learnt moral values and emotional control, which I can say, has modeled me into the person I am today. In addition, I also learnt how to conduct myself publicly from this agent and I can attest to it that my family has played a great role in giving me an identity, self-esteem, personality as well as keeping me emotionally healthy.

Peer groups have also contributed to my socialization process in the sense that these have been my close associations who I have grown up and interacted with. Most of them are my neighbors, members of the family as well as the people I have met in school and other places of socialization. Some of the vital lessons that I have learnt from my peers include cooperation, negotiation, compromise, leadership, and dominance.

School is the other agent of socialization that has made an impact in my life in matters of acquiring knowledge and skills that continue to shape me professionally as part of the official curriculum. The social curriculum has enhanced my social behavior at a secondary level where skills of domination, communication, and negotiation have featured prominently.

The hidden curriculum in the school setting has taught me how to behave in organized groups in what I would call behavior maxims. Some of the values that I have learnt here include obedience, self-reliance, competitiveness, and precision, which have all contributed in preparing me for the adult world (Brinkerhoff et al., 2008).

Rehabilitation involves the treatment of drug users with the goal of improving their social functioning. This takes special interventions by a health provider who ensures that the user is re-socialized to a drug-free lifestyle. Some of the treatments administered to drug users include detoxification, psychosocial therapies, substitution therapy, and counseling (United Nations, 2003).

To recover totally from drug use, people must be ready to change their lifestyles. Rehabilitation ensures that people realize how drugs are impacting on their lives negatively and helps them determine things that could make their lives change for the better. This calls for a change from things that could be standing between them and the change they want to make which include certain hobbies, work, and places of entertainment as well as friendships.

Personal perception must also change if people are to lead a drug-free life. It is important to make considerations of vital things in ones life such as family, spouse, children, health, and career. In addition, rehabilitation advocates for people to rely more on family and close friends who are capable of giving unconditional support. It also advises people to invest in sober social networks, sober homes and also consider joining support groups in their locality (Smith et al. 2001).

Agents of socialization play a great role in shaping people to become responsible members of the society. The family, peers, and school rank among the major agents of socialization as evidenced by this study. The society is home to many kinds of people including drug users who with the proper rehabilitation can become productive individuals. There are several social implications that result from the rehabilitation process the greatest one being a comprehensive lifestyle change.

Brinkerhoff, D.B., White, L.K. & Ortega, S.T. (1998). Essentials of Sociology. 7 th Edition. USA: Thomson Higher Education.

Schaefer, A. & Lamm, C. (1995). Social interaction and social structure. Sociology Journal, 4(2), 2-3.

Smith, M., Segal, J., & Robinson, L. (2001). Overcoming drug addiction: Drug abuse treatment, recovery, and help. Help Guide Journal, 4(1), 3-8.

United Nations. (2003). Drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation: A practical planning and implementation guide. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 5(2), 4.

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Social Structures in Sociology: 15 Examples & Definition

social structures in sociology are the relationships or interactions between groups of different people in a society.

Typically, individuals associate themselves in groups. These groups can be decided by a person’s interests, job, social status, political party, religion, and a large variety of other factors.

When these groups interact with one another, the social structure of a society is formed. Explanations of social structures are used by sociologists to understand the parts of society and see how they weave together.

Sociological Definition of Social Structure

The word social structure was first introduced in 1873, by Herbert Spencer, who was an English philosopher, sociologist, anthropologist, and biologist. We generally consider him to be a functionalist sociologist .

Spencer compared the many groups in a society to the various organs in the human body. Just like organs they, “performed a specifiable function for the organism as a whole.” (Wright, 2015, p.713).

In his metaphor, society can be thought of as the human body, and organs as the social structures that carry out social functions for the larger society.

How to Study Social Structures

Today, many sociologists study social structures in societies, and they use data to understand how different societies functions.

The analysis of social structures often occurs on three levels:

• Macro analysis – looks at broad categories and systems like large populations and groups like entire countries or economic systems.
• Meso analysis – studies communities or certain groups in a society.
• Micro analysis – observes patterns and collects data from smaller groups like families, or individuals (DeCarlo, 2018).

Social Structures Examples

• Nations: The nation-state is one of the formal social structures that shape how we interact as imagined communities , and shapes geopolitical structures worldwide.
• Economies: Economies act as social structures on local (i.e. industrial and commercial estates such as silicon valley), national, and international levels (i.e. the European economic zone).
• Racial Groups: Humans have, throughout history, been separated into groups based on racial traits (such as skin colour, facial features, types of hair, stature).
• Religions: Religion provides moral guidelines and laws for behavior of members of the religious groups.
• Legal System: The makeup of the bodies that make laws (politicians), enforce laws (police), and pass judgment (courts) make up a core social structure in society.
• Ethnic Groups: Ethnic groups are groups of people bound together by a common language, heritage, or culture.
• Political Parties: In democracies, political parties have functioned as social structures designed to promote social, economic, and cultural ideologies upon which a society can organize itself.
• Social Networks: These can be social groups or teams with a larger organization; all of our functions at work, school, or home can take place in a social network.
• Communities: Communities can be determined by the geography of where people live, who lives in the community, and that they are cooperating towards common goals.
• Families: Relationships within a family as well as family structure can be seen as social structures.
• Relationships: The patterns of friendships, marriage, and dating among peopl e are micro-level social structures.
• Social Status: Formal and informal hierarchies of social status create social structures for shaping everyday social interactions (the position is often a job title).
• Social Classes: In capitalist societies, social classes emerge which become social structures. Each class develops distinct cultural, economic, and political orientations.
• Gender Stratification: Gender can be considered a social structure, where certain genders are given ascribed gender roles within a society.
• Educational Institutions: The hierarchies of educational institutions, barriers to access, cultural capital gained from attendance of an institution, and what is taught, form an educational ecosystem that shapes society.

Five Key Social Structures in Sociology

1. racial groups.

Throughout history, racial identities have been used as social structures to stratify societies (often leading to discriminatory outcomes).

People cohere around racial identities both as a matter of self-identification and through ascribed statuses that they have no choice about. This can result in different treatment of groups based upon their identification. Sociologists often concern themselves with identifying how societies are stratified on racial lines.

For example, research conducted by Williams & Sternthal (2010) attempted to understand the Racial/ethnic disparities in healthcare in the United States.

They used data from African American populations, and also data according to gender, to find out why there was a difference in life expectancy between white men and women in comparison to other races within American demographics.

2. Ethnic Groups

While race and ethnicity overlap, the concepts do differ. In fact, if we look at ethnic groups within societies like Myanmar, we can see that there can be many ethnicities with shared racial origins, who mark their difference by culture and tradition.

Abramson (1976) suggests a four-point definition of ethnicity:

• Intergenerational continuity: relationships and customs that transfer from grandparents to grandchildren (p. 44). Simply put, the origin of someone’s ethnicity is based on a historic past.
• Cultural practices: ethnicity is less based on the way someone looks, and is more closely related to their cultural practices.
• Boundlessness: ethnicities are not bound by territories. For example, Irish people, Jewish people, Chinese people, or Japanese people whether in their homeland or not “represent ethnic groups in their distinctiveness abroad. The fourth point concludes that ethnicities are “symbolic”.

In short,  ethnic category groups are interpreted, and seen differently, and sometimes prejudiced against depending on where in the world they are living and the social groups that surround them(pp.45-47).

One example of research conducted on an ethnicity in sociology is a study of 2nd generation Italians living in New York City. Sociologist Mariono (2016) explores each detail concerning the lives of the people in this ethnic group. The ethnic groups’ health statistics, standard of living, occupations, demographics, housing, and citizenship are some of the data collected and analyzed.

For more on the distinction between race and ethnicity, I recommend visiting our article on the topic here .

3. Community

The word community is derived from two L atin words; ‘com’ and ‘munis’. When used in the English language, ‘com’ means together, while ‘munis’ means to serve. Therefore, community means to serve together (Mini Pradeep & Sathyamurthi, 2017, p.58) .

However, community can mean different things to different people. Some sociologists believe that a main component of a community is a specific geographic location where people live together. While, others, like American anthropologist Robert Redfield (1989) emphasize the homogeneity of thought among a community’s members.

From referencing the opinions of a group of notable sociologists, MiniPradeep & Sathyamurthi (2017) have divided the definition of community into two categories. One definition concerns the place or neighborhood that a group of people live. An example is a a small area in a large city, or a rural town/village.

The second definition refers to the relationship of the people, and whether or not they “have the same sense of shared identity”(p. 59). For example, a community of motorcycle enthusiasts, or a community of academics in a particular field.

4. Political Parties

Political parties are groups of people with a shared worldview or goal who come together to exercise political power.

Sociologists look for explanations for why voters prefer the party that they vote. These explanations are often found in socio-structural variables such as social class, religion, urban-rural residence and region.

Maria Oskarson (2005) in a journal article regarding European society, examines the how party systems are formed, and how these origins often lead to “cleavages” in society.

She studies the connections between social positions and party preference and analyses the divisions in society as a result of these “cleavages”. This is often referred to as the Social Cleavage Model in sociology (pp. 82-86).

5. Relationships

Sociologists categorize social relationships into primary and secondary groups .

Primary groups involve direct, personal, and intimate interactions. Additionally, primary group members share similarities such as support, love, and compassion for each other.

These could be both close friends, family members, a church group, or a crisis group where people help each other overcome grief or substance abuse. These relationships are often long lasting.

Secondary relationships are often temporary, goal-oriented, and can be impersonal. Some examples are a doctor to patient relationship, a client to lawyer relationship, or a mechanic to customer relationship.

For example, sociologists can use love in relationships to better understand society.

Benefits of Social Structures

Human beings can create social structures to more effectively organize society, achieve efficiency in the economic sphere, and work of the common good .

Indeed, humans’ capacity to create large-scale social structures that transcend immediate relationships has facilitated rapid economic growth, the spread of ideas around the world, and growing global prosperity.

While social structures are natural and inevitable in societies (humans naturally form relationships), they are also a vehicle for social stratification.

For example, the emergence of a hierarchical social and economic structure based on social class (a social structure) works to prevent social mobility and facilitate wealth transfer from the poor to the wealthy.

Similarly, when society is structured according to race and ethnicity, prejudice and discrimination can emerge, which leads to social inequality .

Social structures in sociology help sociologists to better understand how society functions. They allow sociologists to analyze the interactions between different social institutions, groups, individuals, communities, and other layers of society to better understand what they have in common and how they may differ.

Researching on the macro, meso, and micro level help sociologists to understand how interactions between social structures occur. Utilizing a wide array of data collection tools and methods to accomplish their goals, sociologists then use these defined social structures to gain valuable insight into humanity.

Abramson, H. J. (1976). On the Sociology of Ethnicity and Social Change: A Model    of Rootedness and Rootlessness.  Economic and Social Review ,  8 (1), 43- 69. http://www.tara.tcd.ie/bitstream/handle/2262/69096/v8n11976_3.pdf?sequ   ence=1&isAllowed=y

DeCarlo, M. (2018, August 7). 6.1 Micro, meso, and macro approaches – Scientific Inquiry in Social Work. Pressbooks . https://pressbooks.pub/scientificinquiryinsocialwork/chapter/6-1-micro-meso-and-macro-approaches/

Wright, J. D. (2015).  International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences  (2nd ed.). Elsevier.

Mariano, J. H. 1. (2016). The Second Generation of Italians in New York City . Wentworth Press.

Mini Pradeep, K. P., & Sathyamurthi. (2017). The “Community” in “Community Social Work.”  IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science ,  22 (9), e-ISSN: 22790837.

Oskarson, M. (2005). Social Structure and Party Choice1.  The European Voter , 84–   105. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/0199273219.003.0004

Redfield, R. (1989). The Little Community and Peasant Society and Culture . Amsterdam University Press.

Williams, D. R., & Sternthal, M. (2010). Understanding Racial-ethnic Disparities in Health: Sociological Contributions.  Journal of Health and Social          Behavior ,  51 (1_suppl),S15–S27. https://doi.org/10.1177/002214651038383

Gregory Paul C. (MA)

Gregory Paul C. is a licensed social studies educator, and has been teaching the social sciences in some capacity for 13 years. He currently works at university in an international liberal arts department teaching cross-cultural studies in the Chuugoku Region of Japan. Additionally, he manages semester study abroad programs for Japanese students, and prepares them for the challenges they may face living in various countries short term.

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Chris Drew (PhD)

This article was peer-reviewed and edited by Chris Drew (PhD). The review process on Helpful Professor involves having a PhD level expert fact check, edit, and contribute to articles. Reviewers ensure all content reflects expert academic consensus and is backed up with reference to academic studies. Dr. Drew has published over 20 academic articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education and holds a PhD in Education from ACU.

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Psychology Discussion

Essay on family: definition, function, social systems and changes | psychology.

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Essay on ‘Family’ for class 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Family’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on Family

Essay # 1. definition of family:.

It is a well-known fact that family is found everywhere and it is concomitant with group life. Society and State derive from a circle of intermarrying families banded together to satisfy their basic needs. Sociologically and historically, the family may be viewed as a group consisting of two or more parents and their children.

Such a view suggests itself because there have been great variations in the number of parties entering into the marriage union. Although the family is universal, no particular form of it is primary or inevitable. Like all other institutions, it is a social product subject to change and modification.

In response to varying conditions, different forms of the family have appeared from time to time. But in the present day world Patriarchal family organised under the system of monogamy is most prevalent institution. In such a kill-group that it is both an association and institution and very essential to the life of society.

Essay # 2. Function of Family:

It is an open secret that family plays an important role in the life of society. There is no other human group that dominates the life of the individuals, more than family. It is in the light of this hard fact that, Maciver says, “Of all the organizations, large or small, which society unfolds, none transcends the family in the intensity of its sociological significance. It influences the whole life of society in innumerable ways, and its changes, reverberate through the whole social structure. It is capable of endless variation and yet reveals a remarkable continuity und persistence through change.”

The family occupies a vital place in the working of social order and it is so because it performs certain characteristically significant functions. Davis has characterized the main social functions of the family in four divisions. These are reproduction, maintenance, placement and socialization of the young. It also performs individual functions but these are the corollary of its social functions.

However, Davis has said, “From a sociological point of view we are mainly concerned with the social functions and consequently we stress the four functions mentioned here as being the core functions with which the family is always and everywhere concerned. There may be great variation from one society to another in the precise manner and degree of fulfilment of the functions, but the four mentioned above seem to be the ones which universally require a family organization.”

Lundberg has also mentioned a number of basic functions of the family. In them he has included the regulation of sexual behaviour and reproduction, care and training of children, co-operation and division of labour and primary group satisfactions. Besides, there are many auxiliary functions as well.

Maciver divides the functions of the family into two categories. They are the essential and non-essential functions of the family. Under the essential he includes three functions- (i) Stable satisfaction of sex need, (ii) Production and rearing of children, and (iii) Provision of a home. Under the non­essential functions he mentions religious, educational, economic, health and recreation, which he says have now been transferred to specialized agencies in society.

In short, the various functions of the family can be mentioned in the following way:

1. Essential Functions of Family:

The essential functions of the family are those functions, which it has to perform exclusively. They can neither be shared with any other group nor can they be delegated to any other association. They are the functions, which in every age and in any form the family must perform and there can be no deviation from them.

Some of them are:

(i) Satisfaction of sex need

(ii) Provision of a home

(iii) Production and rearing of children.

They are in a way the primary functions of the family, for the doing of which some sort of family group has ever to remain in existence.

This fact is aptly testified by Reuben Hill in these words, “Family life is probably more than a social habit. The family may be viewed as a device for solving certain fundamental problem, which must be faced by any group of people who live and work together in a society. As a problem-solving device it has simplified the social life of many of its members. Through it sex partners are sorted out and their sex drives are harnessed and linked with the love sentiments to weld together conjugal units into which children can be born, cared for and reared to adulthood. Within it all the basic elemental needs are met and kept from becoming individual problems, which if left unsolved might demand collective action. It simplifies life to live in a family and that is true for adults as well as for children. Certain basic needs of affection, intimate response, recognition, personality, expression, growth and security are met through the family which are not met satisfactorily elsewhere.”

In view of these facts the important essential functions of the family can be explained in some detail in the following manner:

(i) Satisfaction of Sex Need:

This is the first essential function, which the family performs. Satisfaction of sex instinct brings the desire for life-long partnership among male and female. The satisfaction of sex instinct makes for normal personality. If sex instinct is suppressed, it may produce personality maladjustments and disrupt social relations.

The modern family can satisfy this instinct in greater degree and in a better way than the traditional family. In the old family the sexual act was combined with reproduction and the fear of pregnancy as a result of intercourse prevented the couple to satisfy their sex urge. But in modern family the task of sexual satisfaction has been eased by the invention of contraceptives and other methods of birth-control.

It has now become a primary function of the modern family. According to Reed, “The fundamental function of the family is to regulate and gratify sexual needs. Manu accepts sexual satisfaction besides production as the aim of family. Vatsyayan also regards sexual satisfaction as the primary objective of the family.

(ii) Provision of Home:

The desire for a home is a powerful incentive for men as well as women after marriage. Man after the hard toil of the day returns home where in the midst of his wife and children he sheds off his fatigue.

Though, in modern times there are hotels and clubs which also provide recreation to the man but the joy that a man feels within the congenial circle of women, parents and children stands far above the momentary pleasure, which is provided by club and hotel. In spite of these re-creative agencies the home is still the heaven and sanctuary where its members find comfort and affection.

(iii) Production and Rearing of Children:

The inevitable result of sexual satisfaction is procreation. The task on race perpetuation has always been an important function of the family. It is an institution par excellence for the production and rearing of children. The function of child-rearing is better performed today than in the past because now more skill and knowledge are devoted to the care of the unborn and new-born children.

The infant death rate has shown a market declare. In the achievement of this result specialized agencies like nursing child welfare centres have come to the aid of the family. A close study of the available statistical data reveals that the number of illegitimate children is falling down, the practice of prostitution is vanishing away and the number of marriages is increasing rapidly.

It is a pointer to the fact that the function of procreation of race is only performed through family. In most human societies of the world the child is believed to be the nucleus of the family. Procreation perpetuates the family. It increases the population of the country.

(iv) Protection and Care of the Young:

It is another essential function of the family and it may be said to be a corollary of its sexual and procreative functions. According to Groves the protection and care of children is one necessary function of the family. The human child is the most helpless and weak being. A family is needed in order to maintain its existence and to ensure its coordinated and balanced development.

Its balanced development is achieved with difficulty and that too with the care of the parents and other family members. It is right that in the modern age this function of the family is losing much of its past significance and it is being handed over to the subsidiary agencies. But all the same it still continues to be one of the essential functions of the family and the Indian families are particularly known for this function.

(v) Provision of Psychological Satisfaction and Security :

Another fundamental and universal function of the family is to meet the psychological needs of its members. Ogburn has included affectional functions in the necessary or vital functions of the family. According to Groves it is the functions of the family to provide opportunities for the establishment of intimate relations.

Burgess and Lock have written, “Mutual affection is becoming the essential basis of marriage and family:” The individual receives affection, sympathy, love and psychological security in the family. The relations between man and woman in the family are not exclusively physical. Profound conjugal affection for each other is generated in husband and wife by working together in the family and by sharing each other’s joys and sorrows.

An all-around development of individual is not possible in the absence of family love. The family has an important part to play especially in the development of the child’s personality. Ralph Linton has written that merely the satisfaction of bodily needs is not sufficient for the proper development of the infant.

2. Non-Essential Functions of the Family :

The non-essential functions of the family are those functions which it performed in the traditional society but which it is giving up one by one in the modern times. These functions are being either delegated to the subsidiary agencies or they can be shared with other groups.

They are no longer the exclusive function of the family but still in some societies the family is associated with them in some form or the other. The Indian society is one such example where the family despite so many modifications and being placed under limits has been laying its claims on the so-called non-essential functions along with the essential functions.

Some of the non­essential functions of the family can be enumerated in the following order:

i. An Economic Unit:

A very important non-essential function of the family is that it serves as an economic unit. In the traditional family most of the goods for consumption were made at home. The members of the family were all engaged in the family occupation. The ancient Hindu joint family served as a sort of mutual insurance society. It was a unit of production and the centre of economic activities.

However, in the present time the importance of family as an economic unit has been lessened because most of its economic activities have been taken over by some outside agencies. The members of the modern family do not work together as they did in the old family.

They are engaged in different activities outside the come. Moreover the family has not even remained the unit of production as most the goods for consumption including even the food are purchased ready-made from the market.

But with all these shifts in the family as an economic unit, it has not been reduced to a passive body. This is to say that the old pattern has not been destroyed, it has been merely changed. In the family one or the other profession is still carried on though of a different sort and in a different atmosphere. In the West the family might have lost much of its role as an economic unit but in India it still to a certain extent continues to perform this traditional function.

ii. Centre of Religious Activities:

Another non-essential function, which the family performs is of a religious character. It is a centre for the religious training of the children who learn from their parents various religious virtues. In the old family, different religious practices like idol worship, yagya, religious discourses and sermons by pandits were carried on which made the outlook of the children religious in India. The modern family, however, does not observe religious practices and has become secular in outlook.

iii. Centre of Education:

One more function performed in the family is the education of children. The family is an important education agency. The child learns the first letters under the guidance of parents though today he learns them in a nursery-school. The traditional family was the centre of vocational education because the children from the early childhood were associated with the family task.

The modern family has delegated the task of vocational education to technical institutes and colleges. But despite all this the role of the family as a center of education has not vanished completely and in a somewhat modified form it still continues to perform some of the educational functions.

For instance, it is even now in and through family that the people learn their social habits and moral virtues. It is in no way an in significant function for which the Indian families are conspicuously known and popular.

iv. Guardian of Culture:

The family keeps the culture of society, alive. It moulds its members according to the social culture. The children are educated in the various aspects of culture from their infancy. The family creates such an environment for them that they learn to live and behave in acccordance with their culture.

The elderly members of the family impart training in matters of conduct, thinking religion and ethics etc. to the children. The family is aptly described as the maker and guardian of Culture.

v. Centre of Recreation:

The old family provided recreation to its members. They used to sing and dance together and visit the family relations. In modern times family relationship is individual rather than collective. The present forms of recreation such as bridge tennis carrom and movies, provide for only individual or couple participation.

Moreover, recreation is now had in club or hotel rather than in home. In this way> there has also occurred a shift in the recreational functions of-the family. However, it needs be said that in countries like India having close ties of ancient culture the family is still acting as a centre of recreation at least in the rural areas.

It is clear from the foregoing facts that there has come about a great change in the functions of the family whereas about a hundred years back the family was more of a community, it has become today more of an association. The very importance of the family has been loosened. It is no longer a home for recreation of its members, a school of education for children or a centre for their religious training.

Many family duties, which were performed formerly by the parents have now been transferred to external agencies. The functions of a modern family are very much limited both in their number and extent. Even the task of procreation has suffered a setback. Of course the task of satisfaction of sex need is better performed, by modern family.

In short, the family has lost some of its former functions. It is to be, however, remembered that though there is a loss of functions the family is not going to perish. There are certain functions for this performance of which no human society can do without family. Thus it may be said in the end that despite its structural and functional changes, the family still plays a significant role in social strength and social solidarity.

Essay # 3. Family as a Social System:

It is customary to regard family as a social system. In fact there are many kinds of social systems and these are composed of variety of elements. So far as family is concerned, it fulfils many of the conditions, which go to make it a social system. It is for this reason that family is characterised as being a perfect social system and this notion fully holds good at least in the case of joint family.

Defining social system Talcott Parsons writes, “The social system is composed of the patterned interaction of members. It consists of interaction of a plurality of individual actors, whose relations to each other are mutually oriented through the definition and mediation of a pattern of structured and shared symbols and expectations.”

Similarly C.P. Loomis is also of the opinion, “Sociologists frame of reference is inter action, characterised by patterned social relation that display in their uniformities social elements articulated by social processes, the dynamics of which account for the emergence, maintenance and change of social system.”

When these observations are applied on family, it becomes clear that the family is contained in a number of elements, which are found in every social system. These are some of those elements of which most family groups consist and on the basis of which family is entitled to be called a social system.

Every family consists of a number of persons and all of them have a certain status. This status of the members of a family is normally determined on the basis of age and sex. But sometimes learning and occupation also have some effect in this matter. The status of parents is always higher than that of the children.

Similarly in a family sons enjoy better status than daughters. Status helps in making gradation in the position of the different members of their family and their social relations are determined in accordance with their position.

Since father’s status in the family is the highest of all, he is authorised to perform all the family responsibilities. The eldest son being next in importance to his father automatically obtains the same position after his father’s death.

All the members of the family perform a certain role and it is by this means that the working of the family is made possible. The roles that the different persons perform are determined and conditioned by the status that they hold in the family. In fact every status has a correspondent role attached to it.

Role is the outward manifestation of the status and, thus both of them go together. Every member of the family while performing his role keeps in view his status in the family and does the things accordingly.

The role maintains the balance of status system and thereby keeps intact the structure of the family. Since, there are a variety of status differing from person to person, so there are a number of roles varying from person to person according to his status.

For Instance, the role of parents in the family is quite different from that of the children but it needs be said that the functioning of the family can go well only if all of its members perform their respective roles properly.

3. Privilege:

In a social system every unit is gifted with a certain kind of privileges. These privileges also go with the roles that they perform and the status that they hold in a social structure. It is through the enjoyment of privileges that a unit is enabled to do its responsibilities nicely under all circumstance. It is this element that gives stability and continuity to a social system. The same thing can be said in the case of family as well. The members of the family are always in the enjoyment of certain privileges according to their status. It is by the exercise of these privileges enjoyed by the members that structure and functioning of the family remain intact.

4. Necessities and Aims:

Every social system consists of the needs, aims and ends of the people. They are related to the level of cultural and economic progress of the society. Sometimes they are also concerned with the social development of the people. Men have some basic needs and the fulfilment of them is the chief aim of a social system. For realization of these aims a social system has to set before it its certain ideals and ends.

In this way needs and alms play a vital role in the efficient working of any social system. Family as a social system is concerned with fulfilling some-physical and social needs of the people. There are some basic needs like sex impulse, procreation of race and the provision of home, which cannot be met elsewhere except in the family.

These needs aim at ensuring good life to the people. It is right that in the modern times many of the functions of the family have been taken over by some other associations, but all the same there are some primary functions which must be performed in the family in all civilized societies.

5. Sanctions:

The sanctions determined by the social values and Ideals play in important part in the field of human conduct. The social sanctions make a distinction between what is right and what is wrong in the activities and behaviour of the individuals. Society permits its members to do certain things and forbids them to do others and thereby lays down a standard for the general conduct of its members.

The members are allowed to do only those things, which are beneficial for the life and stability of the social order. In this way sanctions also help a lot in the strengthening of a social system. They maintain discipline and orderly conditions in it. This element is found in abundance in the working of the family as well. There are some set rules and codes of behaviour which are binding on the members and which they cannot ignore easily.

Thus the family as a social system depends largely for its life and sound working on a set of rules, which operate in the form of social sanctions. The more active and forceful are these social sanctions, the more solid and the longer lasting will be the structure of the family. This is why in the past families were more integrated and well-disciplined because there was more force behind the social sanctions.

In every social system there exists a supreme power which acts as a controlling figure in it. It, on the one hand, resolves the conflicts of different units and on the other, keeps intact the unity of that social system. The family as a social system vests its supreme power in the father or husband who supervises and controls the activities of other members.

There can be no challenge or disobedience to the command of the head of the family. Only such families last long in which there is unity of command and a well-knit controlling power.

7. Ideal Principles:

The family, as a social system, derives its life out of the inter-relations and inter-actions of its members. Every member of the family has a special function to do and a particular role to play for its well-being. There is great need of making. It certain that all the members of the family do their part well. For this purpose there exists some ideal principles. These principles maintain solidarity and balance in the family. These principles are in the form on unwritten maxim and are based on common consent. They are so vital to the social life that they cannot be set aside easily and in their absence a good family life cannot be made possible.

8. Sentiments:

Sentiments occupy an important place in a social system. The sentiments especially influence collective life. It is under their influence that an individual gives preference to collective interest over his own individual gain. They develop general working patterns of different groups, which afford stability and uniformity to a social system.

Family as a social system gives expression to a number of sentiments. The chief among these are a sentiment of love, the sentiment of co-operation, sentiment of sympathy and the sentiment of respect. These sentiments form the be all and end all of family life.

Thus it is clear from the above facts that family is truly a social system because it contains most of the basic elements of a social system. It is right that in the modern times family is undergoing great changes. As a result of this fact it is feared that family may not lose in course of time, its character of being a social system.

But such doubts appear to be unfounded because there are so many elements of social system, which cannot vanish from family. Thus in the end it can be said that family is definitely a social system with this much exception that it has been more apparent in a joint family.

Essay # 4. Changes in the Modern Family:

It is a well-known fact that change is the Law of Nature. There is no human organisation on social institution which has remained uniform and static at all times and under all circumstances. It has to move and change with the changing conditions, or it is apt to become obsolete and go out of existence. This rule is fully applicable on the age-old institution of family as well. The family as it is now is much different from what it was a few generations ago.

Several changes have taken place in its nature and structure with the result that it has undergone an overall transformation. Whereas about a century back the family was more of a community, it has become today more of an association.

According to Ogburn and Nimcoff, “The family has changed a good deal in the past and has assumed many different forms and functions. The family has proved to be a very resilient and flexible institution. Despite radical changes in form and function, the family has continued to exist in every society known to us.”

It points to the fact that in the recent times many changes have occurred in the family and some of them may briefly be mentioned here.

Referring to some of the changes occurred in the modern family and the forces bringing about them Davis writes, “Modern civilization characterized by an elaborate industrial technology, a high degree of urbanization, and a great amount of geographical and social ability, has sheered away the extended kingship bonds. The role effective kinship group is now the immediate family and even this unit has lost in size and function. True, the immediate family has gamed in importance by being freed from the control of extended kindred, but it has declined in importance in other ways.”

It is clear from this statement that in the modern time a large number of changes have occurred in the organization and working have the family and several factors has been operating to bring about these changes.

Some of the more important changes in family life need be mentioned here in order to reveal its present position:

(i) To begin with, the joint family system is declining and in its place single-family system is coming into prominence. Unlike the large family of traditional society the modern families are small in size. They consist of the husband, wife and their minor children. This is of course the first and the fundamental change that has occurred in the structure of family.

(ii) In the modern time there has occurred a change in the mutual relation of parents and children. The control of parents over their children has lessened a great deal and now the family discipline is not as tight as it was in the ancient families. The children have become less obedient to their parents and they are very particular about their freedoms and rights.

(iii) There has taken place a change in the mutual relation of husband and wife in the family. Unlike old times women have become independent and self-reliant in many ways. Now that the women have gamed equal fights with men, their mutual relationship has undergone much change. Mowrer has correctly written of modern woman that ‘she is no longer the drudge and slave of other days.’

(iv) The modern family is no longer a permanent association. It is precarious and can be rendered void at any time. Marriage has been reduced to a mere social contract, which it is not difficult to break in the event of even the slightest friction. According to Maciver, “The Modern family in comparison with the ancient and medieval families is very weak and unstable.”

(v) There has come about a good deal of change in the extent of family functions. Many of the functions which family performed previously are no longer under its care. They have been transferred to several external agencies. The family has ceased to be an economic as well as social unit. When compared with the family of medieval times, the functions of the modern family are few. All but gone are its economic educational, religious and protective functions. They have been transferred to the State, the church, the school, and industry.

(vi) The modern family is under less religious control. It has been replaced by legal control. With the decline of the Influence of religion the family morals have also become comparatively loose. The modern family has become secular in outlook and it has given up many of its religious activities.

(vii) The rigidity traditionally associated with marital and sexual relationships no longer characterizes the modern family. The use of contraceptive and means of birth control has rendered the size of the family very small. There is not much affinity among the blood relations of the family. In this way the relations in the family have become more formal and mechanical in Nature.

(viii) The family seems to be coming on the verge of disorganization. The number of divorces is on the increase. The control, which the family exercises over the individual is being lessened rapidly. Thus the family has undergone a good deal of transformation in the present century.

Factors Responsible for Changes in the Family :

It is clear from the foregoing facts that a large number of changes have occurred in the structure of family. This process has not completed yet and is liable to continue till indefinitely even in the unknown future. There is not one but many factors which are working at the root of all these changes.

Referring to some of these factors Jay Rumney and Joseph Maier write, “The modern family which is still essentially patriarchal in character has been shorn of much of its power. The State is tending to become a super-parent, having arrogated to itself much of the patriarch’s authority. Profound economic changes since the Industrial Revolution have deprived the family of its economic functions as a unit of production. It is now mainly a unit of consumption. The new economy, requiring the use of womanpower opened up new occupations to women, they became economically in dependent of their husbands. The political and economic emancipation of woman as well as periods of prolonged unemployment undermined the authority of the father, especially if his earnings were surpassed by those of his wife and children. A new morality emerged in conflict with the traditional moral standards. Large families became rare. Urbanization led to a wide dissemination of contraceptive knowledge. The small independent if it, consisting of parents and one or two offspring became the rule.”

Thus, lit short, some of the causes and factors of family changes may be explained in the following order:

1. Impact of Industrialization:

The first important factor bringing about changes in the structure of family has been the force of industrialization. The Industrial Revolution substituted the power machine for the manual tool. As new techniques of production advanced they shelved the old family of its economic functions. New factories with heavy machines have been set up which have taken both the work and the workers out of the family.

Now cloth is produced not on the family handloom but in the textile mill. Thousands of workers who are drawn out of home are required to work in the factory. Not only males but females also have begun to go to the factory for work. The work of women has become specialized like that of men. They instead of being busy with the multifarious tasks of the family have started going to workshops and factories for work.

As a result of it women have become as good the earning members of the family as men. This earning power of the women has made them free from dependence on men. In this way industrialization has greatly affected the character of modern family. As Maciver says, ” The family has changed from a production to consumption unit.”

2. Decline of Religious Control:

The modern family has become secular in its outlook because of the decline of the force of religions. Marriage has become a civil contract rather than a religious sacrament. It can be broken at any time. The authority of religion over the conditions of marriage and divorce has suffered a great decline.

Divorce is a frequent occurrence in modern family while in traditional family it was a rare phenomenon. Religion has been a great uniting and solidifying factor in the, family. And with the loss of its force the family is bound to undergo disintegration.

3. Effect of Urbanism:

An inevitable result of industrialization has been the, growth of urbanism. Urbanism has materially affected not merely the size of the home but also the essentials of the family life. It has substituted legal controls for informal controls and has brought the family into competition with specialized agencies. The result is that many of the family functions have been taken over by the external agencies.

For example, the educational, health and recreational functions of the family are now performed by schools, hospitals and recreational centres respectively. Under the joint force of industrialization and urbanization the family has ceased to be a social as well as economic unit. The joint family system is vanishing and in its place the single-family system is becoming the order of the day. It has even affected the mutual relations of the different members of the family.

To quote Davis,” It has forced individuals to co-operate with countless person who are not kinsmen. It has also encouraged them to join special interest groups thus drawing them out of the unspecialized and heterogeneous family with its wide sex and age differences.” In this way urbanism and industrialization have caused considerable modifications in the structure of family.

4. Effect of Changing Mores:

The mores concerning family life are constantly changing and this factor has. Also greatly affected the organization of family. Now the mutual relations of different members of the family have undergone remarkable change and it is all the result of changing mores. According to Maciver and Page “The basis of husband wife relationship in the family is no longer domination but co­operation”.

Previously everywhere, the wife was dominated by the husband and so the family stability survived because of the unity of command. But with the removal of this dominance the family organization has been exposed to powerful perils. Thus as a result of all these factors the family organization is not stable and it is undergoing quick modifications. But notwithstanding all these facts the family still continues to be a strategic social Institution.

5. Social Mobility:

The critics are of the opinion that social mobility has cut still deeper into the family organization. In so far as individuals improve their class status by virtue of their own achievement rather than by birth, an intrinsic function of the family is lost to it.

In this connection Davis writes, “In a completely open society where all vertical positions were filled purely by individual accomplishment, there could scarcely be a family organization; each family member would tend to find himself in a different. Social stratum, from the others, and the invidious sentiments thus brought into the family circle would prove incompatible with family sentiment.”

The organizations of the family can remain intact only if its members feel dependent on it for their personal advance in life. If this requirement is fulfilled by some external factors, it adversely affects the family organization. This is exactly what is happening in the present society, people do not feel themselves so much. Attached to family because so many external factors are on their disposal to help them in their individual development.

Essay # 5. Sociology Significance of the Family:

The family is by far the most important primary group in society. Historically it has been transformed from a more or less self-contained unity into a definite and limited organization of minimum size, consisting primarily of the original contracting parties: On the other hand it continues to serve as a total community for the lives born within it, gradually relinquishing this character as they grow toward adulthood. The family more profoundly than any other organization, exists only as a process.

Referring to the sociological of the family Maciver and Page opine, “Of all the organizations, large or small, which society unfolds, none transcends the family in the intensity of its sociological significance. It influences the whole life of society in innumerable ways, and its changes reverberate through the whole social structure. It is capable of endless variation and yet reveals a remarkable continuity and persistence through change”.

Thus, in short, family is the first and foremost organ of society and this fact can be proved by the following arguments:

1. Universal in Character:

The family is the most nearly universal of all social forms. It is found in all societies, at all stages of social development, and exists far below the human level, among a myriad species of animals. Almost every human being is or has been a member of some family. There is no other social group that can equal family in this matter.

2. Formative Influence:

Family is also significant because it exerts the profoundest formative influence on the life of the individuals. It is the earliest social environment of man’s life and plays a vital role in moulding it. No other organization can compete with family in this respect. According to Maciver, “In particular it moulds the character of the individual by the impression both of organic and of mental habits”.

Its influence in infancy determines the personality structure of the individual. It is largely from his parents that the child receives his physical inheritance and mental training, on the basis of which he leads the whole of his life. It is well-said by a critic, “To be well-born is to possess the greatest of all gifts. To be ill-born there is nothing which this world can afford that will be adequate compensation for the lack of good heredity.” Thus family has come to surpass all other social organizations in the matter of formative influence on human personality.

3. Nuclear Position in the Social Structure:

Family is the nucleus of all the social organizations. Frequently in the simpler societies, as well as in the more advanced types of patriarchal society the whole social structure is built of family units. Only in the higher complex civilizations does the family cease to fulfill this function, but even in them the local community, as well as its divisions of social classes tends to remain unions of families. One of the first definitions ever given of a community made it “a union of families” and for the local community the definition, with some qualification, still holds today.

4. Performance of Basic Functions:

The significance of the family as a social institution may be measured by the number of basic functions it performs. Compared with the family of medieval times, the functions of the modern family are few. All but gone are its economic, educational, religious and protective functions. They have been transferred to the State, the church, the school and industry. Notwithstanding the loss of functions, the family remains a strategic social institution. It is our parents that first cure us of our natural wildness, and break in us the spirit of independency we are all born with.

It is to them that we owe the first rudiments of our submission and to the honour and deference which children pay to parents all societies are obliged for the principle of human obedience, writes Mandeville.

In addition to performing this all-important function of socializing the individual, the family regulates sexual relationships, provides for the affectional needs of its members, makes possible the prolonged care, which children require and transmits the values of the culture.

It remains a powerful agent of social and political control and economic differentiation. Children generally stay in the social class to which their parents belonged. They inherit both the property and the cultural advantages, which its possession offers.

5. Proper Organization of Society Dependent upon Family:

Proper social organization largely depends upon sound organization of families. If in a particular society families disintegrate, that society can never be safe and sooner or later it is found to meet its doom. This is why at all times one major cause of social disorganization has been family disorganization.

Families develop the characters of the members of the society. In the opinion of ADLER, a man’s role in the family determines his role in society. There is no exaggeration in calling family a cornerstone of society.

6. An Important Agency of Social Control:

Family is an important agency of social control. Family controls sex passions in society. A strict control over sex relationships is necessary for maintaining the order otherwise society will disintegrate. In all cultures, family exercises some degree of control over the unmarried members from falling into bad habits.

No parents would like their children to adopt the career of crime. The children under the influence of their parents drop bad habits and learn good habits. In the making of great men families have always played a major role. In this way the making of a good citizen in society depends upon the parents.

7. Family is the Conveyer of Culture:

The family not only moulds character and personality of the individuals, but it also imparts its culture to them. It is while living in the family that the child acquires knowledge about the culture of society. It is an efficient vehicle for the transmission of culture from one generation to another. It is a very good socializing agency that makes the people social and cultured beings.

According to Deway and Tufts, “The family is a social agency for the education and protection of the race.” It is through family that the individuals come to know the customs, traditions, social values and cultural background of their community. Family provides them knowledge and understanding of the past or d thereby prepares them to live well in the future. Thus in all these ways family plays a vital role in the field of preservation and transmission of social culture.

8. Family is Vital to the Process of Socialization :

Another point of significance of family is that it plays a vital role in the process of socialization of the individuals. Merrill is of the opinion that family is an enduring association of parent and offspring whose primary functions are the socialization of the child and the satisfaction of the members.

It is in the family that child learns all good and human qualities like sincerity, sympathy, self-submission, conscious­ness of responsibility and so forth. It is the character developed in the family, which helps the child in becoming an important and responsible member of society.

F. J. Wright was quite correct in saying that in every family, the child gets an opportunity for free expression of thoughts and developing his entire personality. It has been conclusively proved that the proper development of the child is impossible without a good environment in the family. The tendencies and habits, which he acquires in the family remain with him for the whole of his life.

It is in view of this fact that Freud says, “The view-point of a child towards the senior in the family determines his attitude and viewpoint towards the elders in society.” Thus it is obvious that ‘family is the cradle of social virtues and no other social group contributes more than family in the process of socializing the individuals. Confucius remarked quite correctly that if you want to improve society, improve its families. Society will improve automatically when the families improve.”

It is clear from the above account that family is the most important social institution. No other human organization can overshadow it in the matter of sociological significance. This fact is true not only from the structural view-point, but also from the functional stand-point.

There are some functions of the family, which no other group can undertake successfully. There are some clear uses of the family, which no one can derive from any other group. Without family the process of socialization would remain incomplete, the task of preserving and transmitting culture to posterity would be half done and there would be no organization to safeguard their social and cultural values. Its significance also lies in the fact of its being the oldest and universal human organization.

It is even the parent of society whose structure is raised on the foundations of family. If family were to vanish, it would expose the whole human race to the horrors of complete decay. The present changes in the family need not be taken to mean the signal of its possible downfall in the future; it is rather a process of its adjustment to the current needs and the changing times. Family in the past has remained an indispensable social system and it is sure to continue as such in the future as well.

Thus on account of its strategic position the family more than any other group exerts persistent, intimate and far reaching influence on the habits, attitudes and social experiences of the people. It plays the foremost role in the formation of personality. It occupies a key place in social organization.

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School As A Social System (Essay Sample)

School as a social system.

Any social system is related to the environment. Social systems can be applied to understand social organizations.  As a social system, the school consists of different structures that depend on each other. These include the population that is different from its environment. A school has a complex network of social relationships with unique culture, making it a unique social system. The school is an important organization that prepares children for future roles.  Their working mechanism depends on the interaction between different departments.

Individuals are the key elements of a social system. In school, students, teachers and the school administration bring their needs, beliefs, goals and enhance their course and academic understanding of their roles within the school system. According to the social system theory, organizational performance is determined by the structure, individual, the culture and the environment. All social systems have boundaries; similarly, schools have a building that separates the school with the environment.  As a social system, the school structure has specific characteristics of rational, openness and natural. They have hierarchies of authority, school set goals and have expectations.

A social system can be informal or formal; schools have a formal process, and it is an open system where the school constantly interacts with the environment. In a school system, two or more people work together coordinating activities to attain these goals. School as a social system uses four different resources from environment these are human, financial, physical and information .Human resources are staffs and laborers, financial resources include capital used for its operation. Physical resources needed in school are learning materials ,equipment  and  facilities. Information resources in schools are the input from education experts and the school curricula. The transformation process occurs when school administrators coordinate various resources to attain the set objectives, that is better learning outcomes for all.

Transformation occurs when students and teachers meet to fulfil the overall school objectives.  Students are molded to become better citizens and contribute meaningfully to the society.   School administrator accomplishes these tasks by working within the system to produce output. The transformation processes within the system includes internal operation and general management. The operational Management process requires technical competence of staff and their ability to plan and execute their duty.

Tasks performed by the school administrators will determine the output. The use of input to transform them into output requires internal and external variables to produce outputs. Within the school, social system outputs are goals to be attained or objective to be achieved.  These include reducing school dropout rate. A school as an open system is different from another system because of this transformation process. In school, the inputs are students, and the outputs are graduates. Therefore, the system takes sources from the environment, transforming them according to the needs of the environment.

A school as an open system and is different from another system because of this transformation process. In school, the inputs are students, and the output is the graduate; therefore, the system takes sources from the environment transforming them according to the needs of the environment. However, the most important element of interaction between the school systems is feedbacks. A social system like the school has unique characteristics lie rational, neutral and openness, they should have hierarchies of authority, goals, and role expectation like bureaucratic systems. The interaction and feedback process is important because individuals need affect employee behavior and how they interact with. In summary, schools as a social system t can be described by three qualities these are arbitrary and consequential boundaries, interrelated subsystems and multiple causations these are the events that happens because of more than one cause.

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• How to structure an essay: Templates and tips

How to Structure an Essay | Tips & Templates

Published on September 18, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

The basic structure of an essay always consists of an introduction , a body , and a conclusion . But for many students, the most difficult part of structuring an essay is deciding how to organize information within the body.

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Table of contents

The basics of essay structure, chronological structure, compare-and-contrast structure, problems-methods-solutions structure, signposting to clarify your structure, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about essay structure.

There are two main things to keep in mind when working on your essay structure: making sure to include the right information in each part, and deciding how you’ll organize the information within the body.

Parts of an essay

The three parts that make up all essays are described in the table below.

Order of information

You’ll also have to consider how to present information within the body. There are a few general principles that can guide you here.

The first is that your argument should move from the simplest claim to the most complex . The body of a good argumentative essay often begins with simple and widely accepted claims, and then moves towards more complex and contentious ones.

For example, you might begin by describing a generally accepted philosophical concept, and then apply it to a new topic. The grounding in the general concept will allow the reader to understand your unique application of it.

The second principle is that background information should appear towards the beginning of your essay . General background is presented in the introduction. If you have additional background to present, this information will usually come at the start of the body.

The third principle is that everything in your essay should be relevant to the thesis . Ask yourself whether each piece of information advances your argument or provides necessary background. And make sure that the text clearly expresses each piece of information’s relevance.

The sections below present several organizational templates for essays: the chronological approach, the compare-and-contrast approach, and the problems-methods-solutions approach.

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The chronological approach (sometimes called the cause-and-effect approach) is probably the simplest way to structure an essay. It just means discussing events in the order in which they occurred, discussing how they are related (i.e. the cause and effect involved) as you go.

A chronological approach can be useful when your essay is about a series of events. Don’t rule out other approaches, though—even when the chronological approach is the obvious one, you might be able to bring out more with a different structure.

Explore the tabs below to see a general template and a specific example outline from an essay on the invention of the printing press.

• Thesis statement
• Discussion of event/period
• Consequences
• Importance of topic
• Strong closing statement
• Claim that the printing press marks the end of the Middle Ages
• Background on the low levels of literacy before the printing press
• Thesis statement: The invention of the printing press increased circulation of information in Europe, paving the way for the Reformation
• High levels of illiteracy in medieval Europe
• Literacy and thus knowledge and education were mainly the domain of religious and political elites
• Consequence: this discouraged political and religious change
• Invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg
• Implications of the new technology for book production
• Consequence: Rapid spread of the technology and the printing of the Gutenberg Bible
• Trend for translating the Bible into vernacular languages during the years following the printing press’s invention
• Luther’s own translation of the Bible during the Reformation
• Consequence: The large-scale effects the Reformation would have on religion and politics
• Summarize the history described
• Stress the significance of the printing press to the events of this period

Essays with two or more main subjects are often structured around comparing and contrasting . For example, a literary analysis essay might compare two different texts, and an argumentative essay might compare the strengths of different arguments.

There are two main ways of structuring a compare-and-contrast essay: the alternating method, and the block method.

Alternating

In the alternating method, each paragraph compares your subjects in terms of a specific point of comparison. These points of comparison are therefore what defines each paragraph.

The tabs below show a general template for this structure, and a specific example for an essay comparing and contrasting distance learning with traditional classroom learning.

• Synthesis of arguments
• Topical relevance of distance learning in lockdown
• Increasing prevalence of distance learning over the last decade
• Thesis statement: While distance learning has certain advantages, it introduces multiple new accessibility issues that must be addressed for it to be as effective as classroom learning
• Classroom learning: Ease of identifying difficulties and privately discussing them
• Distance learning: Difficulty of noticing and unobtrusively helping
• Classroom learning: Difficulties accessing the classroom (disability, distance travelled from home)
• Distance learning: Difficulties with online work (lack of tech literacy, unreliable connection, distractions)
• Classroom learning: Tends to encourage personal engagement among students and with teacher, more relaxed social environment
• Distance learning: Greater ability to reach out to teacher privately
• Sum up, emphasize that distance learning introduces more difficulties than it solves
• Stress the importance of addressing issues with distance learning as it becomes increasingly common
• Distance learning may prove to be the future, but it still has a long way to go

In the block method, each subject is covered all in one go, potentially across multiple paragraphs. For example, you might write two paragraphs about your first subject and then two about your second subject, making comparisons back to the first.

The tabs again show a general template, followed by another essay on distance learning, this time with the body structured in blocks.

• Point 1 (compare)
• Point 2 (compare)
• Point 3 (compare)
• Point 4 (compare)
• Advantages: Flexibility, accessibility
• Disadvantages: Discomfort, challenges for those with poor internet or tech literacy
• Advantages: Potential for teacher to discuss issues with a student in a separate private call
• Disadvantages: Difficulty of identifying struggling students and aiding them unobtrusively, lack of personal interaction among students
• Advantages: More accessible to those with low tech literacy, equality of all sharing one learning environment
• Disadvantages: Students must live close enough to attend, commutes may vary, classrooms not always accessible for disabled students
• Advantages: Ease of picking up on signs a student is struggling, more personal interaction among students
• Disadvantages: May be harder for students to approach teacher privately in person to raise issues

An essay that concerns a specific problem (practical or theoretical) may be structured according to the problems-methods-solutions approach.

This is just what it sounds like: You define the problem, characterize a method or theory that may solve it, and finally analyze the problem, using this method or theory to arrive at a solution. If the problem is theoretical, the solution might be the analysis you present in the essay itself; otherwise, you might just present a proposed solution.

The tabs below show a template for this structure and an example outline for an essay about the problem of fake news.

• Introduce the problem
• Provide background
• Describe your approach to solving it
• Define the problem precisely
• Describe why it’s important
• Indicate previous approaches to the problem
• Present your new approach, and why it’s better
• Apply the new method or theory to the problem
• Indicate the solution you arrive at by doing so
• Assess (potential or actual) effectiveness of solution
• Describe the implications
• Problem: The growth of “fake news” online
• Prevalence of polarized/conspiracy-focused news sources online
• Thesis statement: Rather than attempting to stamp out online fake news through social media moderation, an effective approach to combating it must work with educational institutions to improve media literacy
• Definition: Deliberate disinformation designed to spread virally online
• Popularization of the term, growth of the phenomenon
• Previous approaches: Labeling and moderation on social media platforms
• Critique: This approach feeds conspiracies; the real solution is to improve media literacy so users can better identify fake news
• Greater emphasis should be placed on media literacy education in schools
• This allows people to assess news sources independently, rather than just being told which ones to trust
• This is a long-term solution but could be highly effective
• It would require significant organization and investment, but would equip people to judge news sources more effectively
• Rather than trying to contain the spread of fake news, we must teach the next generation not to fall for it

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Signposting means guiding the reader through your essay with language that describes or hints at the structure of what follows.  It can help you clarify your structure for yourself as well as helping your reader follow your ideas.

The essay overview

In longer essays whose body is split into multiple named sections, the introduction often ends with an overview of the rest of the essay. This gives a brief description of the main idea or argument of each section.

The overview allows the reader to immediately understand what will be covered in the essay and in what order. Though it describes what  comes later in the text, it is generally written in the present tense . The following example is from a literary analysis essay on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein .

Transitions

Transition words and phrases are used throughout all good essays to link together different ideas. They help guide the reader through your text, and an essay that uses them effectively will be much easier to follow.

Various different relationships can be expressed by transition words, as shown in this example.

Because Hitler failed to respond to the British ultimatum, France and the UK declared war on Germany. Although it was an outcome the Allies had hoped to avoid, they were prepared to back up their ultimatum in order to combat the existential threat posed by the Third Reich.

Transition sentences may be included to transition between different paragraphs or sections of an essay. A good transition sentence moves the reader on to the next topic while indicating how it relates to the previous one.

… Distance learning, then, seems to improve accessibility in some ways while representing a step backwards in others.

However , considering the issue of personal interaction among students presents a different picture.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy

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The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

An essay isn’t just a loose collection of facts and ideas. Instead, it should be centered on an overarching argument (summarized in your thesis statement ) that every part of the essay relates to.

The way you structure your essay is crucial to presenting your argument coherently. A well-structured essay helps your reader follow the logic of your ideas and understand your overall point.

Comparisons in essays are generally structured in one of two ways:

• The alternating method, where you compare your subjects side by side according to one specific aspect at a time.
• The block method, where you cover each subject separately in its entirety.

It’s also possible to combine both methods, for example by writing a full paragraph on each of your topics and then a final paragraph contrasting the two according to a specific metric.

You should try to follow your outline as you write your essay . However, if your ideas change or it becomes clear that your structure could be better, it’s okay to depart from your essay outline . Just make sure you know why you’re doing so.

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• Essay On Dowry System

Dowry System Essay

500+ words essay on dowry system.

Marriage is a beautiful relationship between two people where they are bonded by love and begin their new life together. In India, there is a custom of giving some gifts either in cash or gold or both before and after the wedding to the bride and the groom out of affection. It is considered as love and blessings for the newly wedded couple that help them in starting their new life. However, during the last three or four decades the Dowry System has become associated with the status of a family. Now, it has become compulsory to give money and gold to the groom’s family. This has given birth to the dowry system. In this essay on the Dowry System, we will highlight the points related to dowry in marriage and how it has affected our society. Moreover, at the end, we have discussed some steps to be taken to stop the dowry system.

Dowry System

Dowry has been conveniently defined as money, goods or estates, which a woman brings to her husband’s home after marriage. The system of dowry in marriages has been haunting our society for a long time. This is a social curse, which has gone unchecked, though time and again it has tormented people in general. Lust for money and acquiring high social status for one’s family has given birth to the social evil called Dowry. It has become the root cause of suicides and murders of brides. Bride burning for want of dowry has become a way of life. Different communities have different marriage customs, but the custom of giving dowry is shared by all the communities.

The dowry system is a great evil that still exists in society. It is an act of discrimination against unmarried girls, whose values are defined based on the prices of their respective dowries. It is an example of greed and selfishness and is a great curse, especially for the parents who belong to the lower middle class. This is the reason why people get depressed and feel cursed at the birth of a daughter. Moreover, the dowry system paves the way for other crimes against women like female foeticide, female infanticides, dowry death, cruelty by husband and his relatives.

How Can the Dowry System be Stopped?

A dowry system is a social stigma that needs to end. Every girl should go to her in-law’s house with pride. In India, every 5 out of 10 families face the dowry system. There are many laws made by the government but the custom of dowry persists in our society. So, there is an urgent need that we all start taking action against it. The first step is to start from our homes. At home, we should treat both boys and girls equally by providing them equal opportunities. We should educate both of them and give them freedom to be fully independent. The upbringing of the girls should not be limited to household work and marriage. In fact, they should be nourished in such a way that they feel free to make their choice, put their demands, ask questions, think openly and have the guts to fulfil their dreams.

There is a need to create awareness campaigns in different sections of society to make people aware of it. The campaign includes voluntary organization, civil marriage, launching of the youth movements etc. Eradicating the dowry practice will give equal rights to women and boost their confidence level. It will help in the growth of the family, society and nation. The sooner the dowry becomes a thing of the past, the better for our society.

Frequently asked Questions on Dowry System Essay

How can we write an effective essay on the dowry-system.

Students need to first understand what and how the Dowry system functions. This will automatically help students to write a descriptive essay.

Why is the Dowry-system an important topic for essay writing?

Students must be informed about such illegal practises happening around them. This will help them become responsible citizens of India.

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25 Mar 2024  ·  Braja Gopal Patra , Lauren A. Lepow , Praneet Kasi Reddy Jagadeesh Kumar , Veer Vekaria , Mohit Manoj Sharma , Prakash Adekkanattu , Brian Fennessy , Gavin Hynes , Isotta Landi , Jorge A. Sanchez-Ruiz , Euijung Ryu , Joanna M. Biernacka , Girish N. Nadkarni , Ardesheer Talati , Myrna Weissman , Mark Olfson , J. John Mann , Alexander W. Charney , Jyotishman Pathak · Edit social preview

Background: Social support (SS) and social isolation (SI) are social determinants of health (SDOH) associated with psychiatric outcomes. In electronic health records (EHRs), individual-level SS/SI is typically documented as narrative clinical notes rather than structured coded data. Natural language processing (NLP) algorithms can automate the otherwise labor-intensive process of data extraction. Data and Methods: Psychiatric encounter notes from Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS, n=300) and Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM, n=225) were annotated and established a gold standard corpus. A rule-based system (RBS) involving lexicons and a large language model (LLM) using FLAN-T5-XL were developed to identify mentions of SS and SI and their subcategories (e.g., social network, instrumental support, and loneliness). Results: For extracting SS/SI, the RBS obtained higher macro-averaged f-scores than the LLM at both MSHS (0.89 vs. 0.65) and WCM (0.85 vs. 0.82). For extracting subcategories, the RBS also outperformed the LLM at both MSHS (0.90 vs. 0.62) and WCM (0.82 vs. 0.81). Discussion and Conclusion: Unexpectedly, the RBS outperformed the LLMs across all metrics. Intensive review demonstrates that this finding is due to the divergent approach taken by the RBS and LLM. The RBS were designed and refined to follow the same specific rules as the gold standard annotations. Conversely, the LLM were more inclusive with categorization and conformed to common English-language understanding. Both approaches offer advantages and are made available open-source for future testing.

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Laser induced graphene (LIG) is a versatile form of graphene materials synthesized through direct laser writing (DLW) onto a carbon-rich precursor. Lignin is a promising natural precursor for LIG. However, the lack of understanding of the relationship between lignin chemistry and LIG properties limits the effective utilization of lignin. Herein, we aim to understand the structural evolution of lignin into few-layer graphene during direct laser writing via the combined experimental investigation and reactive force field molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Strong correlations are found between structural features of lignin and LIG characteristics, especially the sheet resistance (electrical conductivity) and defects in graphene domains. Specifically, higher molecular weight lignin demonstrates a superior propensity for generating the graphitic structure in the turbostratic matrix of LIG. This phenomenon leads to better graphene quality in terms of morphological continuity, conductivity, and graphene domains. The glass transition temperature (Tg) of fractionated lignin was identified to have the strongest linear correlation with both sheet resistance and defects density in LIG. Additionally, the MD simulations shed light on the role of closely positioned carbon atoms in the initial substrate, highlighting their facilitative effect on the formation of large graphene domains. The proposed LIG formation pathway offers a new avenue for lignin refinery, facilitating an efficient production of graphene materials from renewable resources.

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H. Zhang, Q. Li, K. D. Hammond, X. He, J. Lin and C. Wan, Green Chem. , 2024, Accepted Manuscript , DOI: 10.1039/D3GC03603K

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