Doc

Social Interaction

Social

Interaction

04/08/23 1social interaction/erikchoi

Social interaction

Refer to the ways in which people respond to one another, whether face to face or over the telephone or on the computer.

Social Structure refers to the way in which a society is organized into predictable relationships.

The closely linked concepts of social interaction and social structure are central to sociological study.

- Sociologists scrutinize patterns of behavior to understand and accurately describe the social interactions of a community or society and the social structure in which they take place.


Considering how social interaction shapes the way we view the world around us, we will focus on…

The Five Elements of Social Structure:

Statuses

Social Roles

Groups

Social Networks

Social Institutions


Herbert Blumer – the distinctive characteristic of social interaction among people is that “human beings interpret or ‘define’ each other’s actions instead of merely reacting to each other’s actions.

In other words, our response to someone’s behavior is based on the meaning we attach to his or her actions. Reality is shaped by our perceptions, evaluation, and definitions.

The meaning that we attach to people’s behavior are shaped by our interactions with them and with the larger society.


Defining and Reconstructing Reality.Sociologist William I. Thomas, an early critic of theories of racial and gender differences, recognized that the “definition of the situation” could mold the thinking and personality of the individual.

Thomas observed that people respond not only to the objective features of a person or situation but also to the meaning that the person or situation has for them.

Erving Goffman – “presentation of the self” – all of us have an image of how we want to be seen by others.

Negotiation…


Negotiation refers to attempt to reach agreement with others concerning some objective.

It is through negotiation that society creates its social structure.

Examples of situations where negotiation takes place:Family-to-family bargainingCollege financial aid programs


Negotiated Order refers to a social structure that derives its existence from the social interactions through which people define and redefine its character.


Elements of Social Structure:

Statuses

Social Roles

Groups

Social Networks

Social Institutions


1. Statuses - refers to any of the full range of socially defined

positions within a large group or society.

Ascribed status is assigned to a person by society without regard for the person's unique talents or characteristics.

This takes place at birth such as age, gender, racial background and other biological characteristics.

Ascribed status does not necessarily have the same social meaning in every society.

Achieved status comes largely through efforts.Examples are statuses such as “bank president”,

“lawyer” and other professions.Our ascribed status frequently influences our

achieved status. Master status is a status that dominates others

and thereby determines a person's general position in society.

It only shows that an individual can hold different and conflicting statuses in his/her lifetime.


2. Social Roles

is a set of expectations for people who occupy a given social position or status.

With each distinctive social status – whether ascribed or achieved, come particular role expectations.

The actual performance of social roles varies from individual to individual.

roles are a significant component of social


Viewed from a functionalist perspective:

roles contribute to a society’s stability by enabling members to anticipate the behavior of others and to pattern their own actions accordingly.

yet social roles can also be dysfunctional if they restrict people’s interactions and relationships.


Role Conflict occurs when incompatible expectations arise from two or more social positions held by the same person. fulfillment of the roles associated with one status may directly violate the roles linked to a second status calls for important ethical choices. another type of role conflict occurs when individuals move into occupations that are common among people with their ascribed status.Role Strain describes the difficulty that arises when the same social position imposes conflicting demands and expectations.


Role exit developed by sociologist Helen Rose Fuchs Ebaugh to describe the process of disengagement from a role that is central to one’s self-identity and establishment of a new role and identity.

Ebaugh has offered a four-stage model of role exit.1. The first stage begins with doubt,- the person experiences frustration, burnout, or simply unhappiness with an accustomed status and the roles associated with the social position.2. The second stage involves a search for alternatives.- a person who is unhappy with his or her career may take a leave of absence.3. The third stage or role exit is the action stage or departure.-a turning point that made the person leave their job, end their marriage.4. The last stage of role exit involves the creation of a new identity.


Groups

A group is any number of people with similar norms, Values and expectations who interact with one another on a regular basis.

Every society is composed of many groups in which daily social Interaction takes place.

We seek out groups to establish friendships, to accomplish certain goals, And to fulfill the social roles we have acquired.

Groups play a vital role in a society’s social structure. Much of our social interaction takes place within groups and is influenced by their norms and sanctions.


New technology has broadened the definition of groups to include those who interact electronically. Not all the “people” with whom we converse online are real. At some websites, chatterbots – fictitious correspondents created by artificial intelligence programs – respond to questions as if a human were replying.

Ultimately, such conversations may develop into a chat group that includes other online correspondents, both real and artificial. New groups organized around interests, such as antique collection or bowling, have already arisen from this type of virtual reality.


Social

Networks

and

Technology

Social Network

a series of social relationships that links a person directly to others, and through them indirectly to still more people.

may constrain people by limiting the range of their interactions, yet networks may also empower people by making available to them vast resources (Lin 1999).


Social

Networks

and

Technology

Involvement in social networks (networking) is especially valuable in finding employment.

According to Manuel Castells, these emerging electronic social networks are fundamental to new organizations and the growth of existing businesses and associations. One such network, in particular, is changing the way people interact.


Social

Networks

and

Technology

Texting- is the exchange of wireless e-mails over cell phones.

began first in Asia in 2000 and has now taken off North America and Europe.

popular among young users, who sent shorthand messages such as “WRU” and “CU2NYT”.

Sociologists caution that devices such as cell phones may create a workday that never ends, and that increasingly people are busy checking their digital devices rather than actually conversing with those around them (Rosen 2001).


Social

Networks

and

Technology

Well-established networks have developed to help beginners at electronic communication to connect to the Internet.

In 2003, when the U.S. troops were sent to the Middle East, many people relied on e-mail. Today, digital photos, and sound files accompany e-mail messages between soldiers and their family and friends.


RU Ready for Texting Lingo?

@ wrk At work

A3 Anytime, anywhere, anyplace

Abt 2 About to

AFAIR As far as I remember

AML All my love

A/S Age/Sex?

AWCIGO And where can I get one?

AYT Are you there?

CU2NYT See you tonight

Grr I’m angry

RUF2T Are you free to talk?

RUMF Are you male or female?

UOK Are you OK?

WRU Where are you?


Social Institutions


Mass Media Government


Economy Family


Health Care System


FUNCTIONALIST VIEW Replacing personnel Teaching new recruits Producing and distributing goods and services Preserving order Providing and maintaining sense of purpose

CONFLICT VIEW Major Institutions

– -education– -religion

INTERACTIONIST VIEW“Social Institutions affect our everyday behavior, whether we are driving down the street or waiting in a long shopping line.”

-Sociologist Mitchell Duneier “The Network Center”

Interactionist theorists emphasize that our social behavior is conditioned by the roles we accept, the grounds, the groups to which we belong, and the institutions within which we function.


CONFLICT VIEW VS. FUNCTIONALISM Functionalists believe that society is a social system consisting of

various integrated parts. Each of these parts fulfills a specific role that contributes to the overall functioning of society.

The conflict view of life regards all social interactions as a struggle for authority and privilege. Each person in society and every group is seen as being in competition for scarce and valued resources.

Comparison and Contrast. Functionalists view society as a social system with a variety of

needs of its own which have to be met if the requirements and needs of its members are to be met. Conflict theorists view society as the setting within which they strive over wealth and power.

The functionalist regards the principal bodies of every society as value neutral entities within which various struggles occur.

Functionalists argue that coercion plays only an insignificant role and that disparity arises as a necessary result of the fact that there is a compromise within the society on its most important values and jobs and differential rewards are essential to a society’s effective functioning.


Social and economic inequality, in the conflict view, arises because of the operation of coercive institutions, which put a great emphasis on power, deception, and inheritance as the main avenues for obtaining rights and privileges. Functionalists have stressed such things as hard work, inborn talent, and selection by others as the way by which economic advantages can be obtained by some and not by others.

Functionalists see class categories as mere objects or categories. Conflict theorists see classes as social groups with distinguishing interests, which inescapably bring them into conflict with other groups with opposed interests.


Conclusion

Conflict view became popular in the late nineteenth century with the rise of socialism but we have seen its failure in all the failed governments of socialist republics. Functionalism on the other hand has been the most successful as seen by us in the US Government and democratic setup. The above discussion concludes that the Functionalist view provides a better explanation for the democratic process and an understanding of the reasons contributing to social inequality.


Social Structure in

Global Perspective


Durkheim’s Model of Social Structure

A. Mechanical SolidarityB. Organic Solidarity


Social structure depends on the division of labor in a society or on the manner in which tasks are performed

Task/labor in societies can be carried out by an individual or can be divided among many people


Mechanical Solidarity

minimal division of laborA collective consciousness develops

that emphasizes group solidarityImplies that all individual perform

the same tasksThere is a little concern for individual

needs


Few social roles

Both social interaction and negotiation are based on close, intimate, face-to-face social contacts


as societies become more advanced technologically, greater division of labor takes place; with increasing specialization, many different task must be performed by many different individuals

Social interactions become less personal in societies


Organic Solidarity

Dependence on others becomes essential for group survival


Tonnies’s Model of Social Structure

A.GemeinschaftB. Gesellschaft


Gemeinschaft rural life/close-knit communityA small community in which people

have similar backgrounds and life experiences

Social interactions are intimate and familiar

There is a commitment to the larger social group and a sense of togetherness among members


Consequence: less privacySocial control: (informal) moral

persuasion, gossip and even gestureSOCIAL CHANGE is limited


Gesellschaft modern urban lifeRelationships are governed by social

roles that grow out of immediate tasks

Self-interest dominates and there is a little consensus concerning values or commitment to the group


social control: (formal) laws and legally defined punishments

SOCIAL CHANGE is an important aspect of life


Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft

• Rural life typifies this form

• People share a feeling of community that results from their similar backgrounds and experiences

• social interactions are intimate and familiar

• Urban life typifies this form

• People have a little sense of commonality. Their differences appear more striking than their similarities

• Social interactions are impersonal and task-specific


• People maintain a spirit of cooperation and unity of will

• Task and personal relationships cannot be separated

• People place little emphasis on individual privacy

• Self-interest dominates

• The task being performed is paramount; relationships are subordinate

• Privacy is valued



• Informal social control predominates

• people are not very tolerant of deviance

• Emphasis is on ascribed statuses

• Social change is relatively limited

• Formal social control is evident

• People are more tolerant of deviance

• more emphasis is put on achieved statusses

• Social change is very evident, even within a generation



Societal Type First Appearance Characteristics

Hunting-and-gathering Beginning of human life Nomadic reliance on readily available food and fibers

Horticultural About 10, 0000 to 12, 000 years ago

More settled; development of agriculture and limited technology.

Agrarian About 5,000 years ago Larger, more stable settlements: improved technology, increased crop yields and specialization of labor

Industrial 1760-1850 Reliance on mechanical power and new sources of energy; centralized workplaces; economic interdependence; formal education

Postindustrial 1960’s Reliance in services, especially the processing and control of information; expanded middle class

Postmodern Latter 1970’s High technology; high consumption goods and media images; cross culture of integration.

Stages of Sociocultural Evolution


Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution Approach

Sociologist Gerhard Lenski sees human society as undergoing a process of change according to a dominant pattern, known as Sociocultural Evolution.

Sociocultural Revolution – process of change and development in human societies that results from cumulative growth in their stories of cultural information.

Technology – information about the ways in which the material resources of the environment may be used to satisfy human needs and desires.


Preindustrial SocietiesHunting-and-gathering society Horticultural societyAgrarian society


Hunting-and-gathering society – people simply rely on their environment for their survival

Horticultural society – people place greater emphasis on the production of tools and households objects.

Agrarian society – introduced new technological innovations but still continues to rely on physical power of humans and animals.


Industrial society – is a society that depends in mechanization to produce its goods and services but it had distinctive social consequences.

Postindustrial society – is a society wherein Economic system is engaged in primarily in the processing and control of information.

The main output of a Postindustrial society is services rather than manufactured goods.

Postmodern society - is a technologically sophisticated society that is preoccupied with consumer goods and media images.


Agencies of Socialization

04/08/23 social interaction/erikchoi 49

1. Family

2. Peer groups

3. Media

4. School

5. Workplace

6. Church

7. neighborhood

…end…finally…04/08/23 social interaction/erikchoi 50