Role set - a set of roles (role complex) associated with one status. Another name is a role-playing system. Both terms are equally used in the literature. The status set belongs to the person, and the role set belongs to the status. There are only interactions between roles, and relationships between statuses.
Each status usually includes a number of roles. For example, the status of a university professor implies such roles as teacher, researcher, mentor of youth, consultant to industry and government, administrator, author of scientific articles, specialist in his field of knowledge, etc.
Each role in the role set requires a specific manner of behavior and communication with people. Even two similar roles of a professor - a teacher and a mentor - imply a different attitude towards students. The first is to comply with formal norms and rules: lecturing, checking term papers, taking exams. The second involves informal communication with students as a wise adviser or older friend. Accordingly, each role has its own type of implementation of social relations. Each role in the role set thus appears as a collection of relationships unlike any other. With colleagues, the professor develops one relationship, with the university administration - others, with editors of journals, students, industrialists - still others. As a result, the role set forms a set of social relations. The term "relationship" is used here as a dynamic characteristic - in the sense of "enter into a relationship." Just a “relationship”, or a static characteristic, does not imply the interaction of two people, but only a readiness, a predisposition for it. This readiness is called the installation.
So, in parallel with the concept of "status set", the concept of "role set" is used. It describes all kinds and variety of patterns of behavior (roles) assigned to one status. Accordingly, each type of role forms its own type of social relations.
Role play in the family.
Let us consider the concept of a role set in more detail, for which we will choose the most common and familiar sphere of life - the family. The family is a consanguineous cell of society, in which almost the entire gamut of social relations is represented: legal, social, economic, cultural and spiritual. No, perhaps only political ones, since the family does not belong to the institutions of the political system of society. Such completeness, the presentation of all types of relationships, allows the sociologist to conduct a deep and complete analysis of the distribution and performance of roles that occur between people.
In the role-playing set of husband and wife, four main roles are found in each. The status of a husband includes such roles as social partner, sexual partner, breadwinner (father of his children). In the structure of the role set of the "Wife" status, we see practically similar roles - a social partner, a sexual partner, a housewife, a father of her children.
The difference between the two role sets lies in the two roles - breadwinner (husband) and housewife (wife). The ratio or relationship of the social roles of family members in relation to each other is called the family system. In our case, it includes four key roles. The roles of sexual partners are in the first place because the majority of marriages are made in modern society in order to satisfy sexual needs legally.
The second most important place is the economic role of obtaining a livelihood and preserving the family - the breadwinner. The function of the breadwinner is symmetrical to the function of the housewife. The next important role is the social partner. Both wife and husband act as social partners. The last important role is socialization or raising children.
What are these roles made up of? If a role is a model of behavior and these models of behavior exist in society, then they must somehow be regulated by norms, laws, customs, mores, and traditions.
Sexual partner.
The sexual partner is the main role for which marriage arises. A man and a woman enter into marriage primarily for the sake of fulfilling the role of a sexual partner. What norms should define and limit the role of a sexual partner? The most important among them is the observance of marital fidelity. If this rule is violated, then the marriage breaks up.
No one else has the right to interfere in sexual relations between husband and wife, even close relatives, such as mother-in-law or children. And no one else can control or tell them how they should behave as sexual partners.
Marital fidelity in some societies remains in the code of unwritten norms, in others it is legalized and goes into the register of formal rules. So, if you apply to the court with a request to dissolve the marriage due to adultery, the court will grant your request.
Thus, sexual partnership implies:
- a) prohibition of physical treason;
- b) a ban on moral or spiritual treason.
Adultery implies both.
Breadwinner and housewife.
The social essence of the pair of economic roles "breadwinner-housewife" lies in the requirement that the husband provide a "living wage", and the wife - an acceptable comfort of the home.
The division of labor between men and women leads to the acquisition of different skills. Some types of occupations are directly considered as "women's occupations", others - as "men's occupations". Even in those families where a woman works full-time, she also takes care of the house at home and takes care of the children.
Society defines family roles in different ways. The law obliges a man to financially support his wife and children, but the wife is not obliged to support her husband. Therefore, the first must necessarily have a job for which he receives money and fills the family budget with them. For the wife, employment is a matter of free choice in the event that the family lives materially well.
In decision-making in the family in all countries, the material factor plays the main role: the spouse who earns more has more power in the family. Since the higher the salary, the higher the qualification, and therefore the level of education, the man is at the top of the family pyramid according to three criteria at once: a high educational and professional status, as well as a high income.
Wives usually have a lower income, after the birth of children they become dependent on their husband, since in the event of a divorce they themselves will have to support the family. If a woman works, this does not automatically equalize their chances in the family. Paternity has a higher social status in society. Human society is arranged in such a way that the final decision is expected from the stronger sex.
The function of the breadwinner is determined by who brings more money to the family. Another component of this function or role is the social prestige of the main occupation of the breadwinner, especially the husband. The highly qualified profession of the husband determines the social and economic position of the family as a whole.
It is equally important that both components: prestige and making money coincide. Teaching is a highly prestigious but poorly paid occupation. At the same time, the wife works as a salesman: she has a little prestigious, but highly paid occupation. With such a distribution of roles, problems may arise in determining who in the family acts as the breadwinner. In our example, the wife provides for the family, and the husband determines her social status. Ideally, it is desirable that both functions be performed by one person, namely the husband. Of the two characteristics - prestige and money - money is more important today, and tomorrow, when children grow up and they have to be introduced into adulthood, prestige will be a priority. It is important that the wife, looking into the future, not be disappointed in the present.
If the roles of breadwinner and housewife are correctly distributed between husband and wife, then there is a high probability of achieving harmony in marriage.
Social partner.
Equally important is the role of the social partner. The content of the “social partner” role includes such social activities as communication with relatives and friends, receiving guests, repairing an apartment, etc.
Consider an example: a married couple receives guests. How are spouses doing? The husband welcomes the guests, and the wife cooks in the kitchen. This is the division of labor. But especially striking evidence of social partnership in marriage are such facts, or behavioral models, as:
- - the ability not to talk about family matters in front of guests;
- - do not contradict, but even support a partner, even if he is not quite right;
- - the ability to treat his friends or relatives as if they were his own.
Social partnership implies a model of behavior of a husband and wife as representatives of a given society or a given social group. This model should be different in different societies and different groups:
- - upper class (big businessmen);
- - middle class (intelligentsia);
- - lower class (workers).
Each class has its own social circle and its own repertoire of social partnership. At a party, everyone tries to demonstrate what is valued in this society. In the upper class, the reception of guests sometimes turns into an exhibition of "achievements of the national economy": they show off to the guests a chic mansion and a car, a collection of expensive things, and prestigious acquaintances. Here the party serves as a means of establishing new and strengthening existing business ties.
In the middle class, especially among the intelligentsia, the purpose of the party is to talk heart to heart, open up, get advice, discuss the correctness of one's own or other people's actions, etc. The main purpose of spiritual communication is to get approval for one's actions from significant others (primarily friends or colleagues).
Solving most family issues, for example, choosing a tutor, university, place of work, a marriage partner for a child, distribution of the family budget and determining the order of purchases, helping relatives, etc. - all these are elements of social partnership. In other words, specific forms of social interaction.
Socializer.
The role of a socializer or educator of children (the family essentially begins with children, and not with spouses) is alternately played by both spouses. Having a family and children is a deep desire and need of every woman. Sometimes this comes to the fore and replaces the first of the considered roles - sexual partnership.
Different women view marriage differently. Some consider a husband just a means of having children, others pay attention to marital relationships, and see children as a burden.
Functional (correct) upbringing is one in which the father and mother pass on to their children those value orientations, rules of conduct and traditions that are assigned to them by society.
The data of sociological studies conducted in our country show that in most cases a woman puts children in the first place. This is explained by the huge number of divorces, the fragility of family ties, and the drunkenness of her husband. In the event of a conflict, women usually prefer to keep their children rather than their husband. It is possible that this is a manifestation of the higher social responsibility of women in modern society and the deterioration of the value scale of men.
In the upbringing of children, spouses bear an unequal burden. It is more in women and less in men. This disproportion is partly explained by the greater employment of men in production, and partly by the dominance of patriarchal survivals, which allow the husband not to be loaded with household chores, and the wife to overburden them.
role set
Role set - a set of roles (role complex) associated with one status. Each status usually includes a number of roles. For example, the status of a university professor includes such roles as teacher, researcher, mentor of youth, consultant to industry and government, administrator, clerk, writer of scientific articles, specialist in his field of knowledge, etc.
Each role in the role set requires a specific demeanor. Even two similar roles of a professor - teacher and mentor - involve a different relationship with students.
The first is to comply with formal norms and rules: lecturing, checking term papers, taking exams, etc. The second is rather an informal role of a wise adviser, an older friend.
Accordingly, each role has its own type of implementation of social relations. A professor's relationship with fellow professors, with university administrators, or with faculty like him is not at all the same as the relationship he has with students, magazine editors, or entrepreneurs. Thus, the role set forms a set of social relations.
The term "relationship" is used here as a dynamic characteristic - in the sense of "enter into a relationship." Just a “relationship”, or a static characteristic, does not imply the interaction of two people, but only a readiness, a predisposition for it.
This readiness is called the installation.
So, let's summarize the above: in parallel with the concept of a status set, the concept of a role set is applied. It describes all kinds and variety of patterns of behavior (roles) assigned to one status. Accordingly, each type of role forms its own type of social relations.
Identification with role and status
Life is so arranged that we identify ourselves to varying degrees with our statuses and their corresponding roles. Sometimes we literally merge with the role: another clerk behaves dismissively not only with subordinates, but with visitors, household members, passers-by, neighbors. The teacher tries to teach everyone who comes across her hand. They transfer the stereotype of behavior from one status to another without even thinking. Why do they behave automatically? But because they merged with their main role (the main status), grew together with them.
The maximum merging with the role is called role identification, and the average or minimum is called distance from the role. A university teacher is expected to come to a lecture in a formal suit and tie. Many do just that.
Others prefer loose clothing - a sweater and jeans. Thus, they emphasize a certain distance from the role of a teacher and, at the same time, a rapprochement with students, testifying by their behavior that we are all members of one society, colleagues, equals.
Distancing from the role must be distinguished from the reduction of the inter-status distance. Student and professor are not only different statuses, but also different ranks in the status hierarchy. The professor is higher, the student is lower.
When a professor is on an equal footing with students, he symbolically shortens the distance between statuses. But when students, not feeling a real difference between ranks, switch to "you", this is called familiarity - inappropriately cheeky, too casual behavior towards older or superior people.
Since the latter allow familiarity, this indicates a very low level of identification of a person with his status.
The higher a society values a certain status, the stronger the degree of identification with it. All the more often, the holder of a high status seeks to distinguish it from other statuses with the help of symbolic attributes (orders, medals, uniforms, titles).
Some roles, and most of them - a pedestrian, a patient, a buyer, a trade union member, etc. - are not personally significant for a person.
Their absence or presence is perceived imperceptibly. A piece of the soul and one's "I" is not invested in them. On the contrary, other roles, and their minority, primarily those associated with the main status, are perceived as part of the "I". Their loss is experienced especially deeply - as an internal tragedy.
A man is a producer of material goods, a family breadwinner. The loss of a job is experienced as a collapse of personality. The unemployed change their style and way of life, relationships with relatives and friends, the structure of leisure, the system of values.
The status of the unemployed brings serious changes to the whole status set. The foundations of the value core of the individual - self-respect and self-esteem - are being destroyed.
Thus, each person has his own role system. But not with all roles a person identifies himself equally - with some (personally significant) more (role identification), with others (secondary) less (distance from the role).
The term "reduction of the inter-status distance" describes the nature of the relationship between two or more individuals - carriers of different, but functionally related statuses.
The functional approach contributed to the development status-role personality theory. From the standpoint of studying the social functions performed by a person, it is defined as a set of social statuses and social roles characteristic of a given society.
social status- this is the position of the individual in society, determined by his functions, duties and rights. The position depends on the professional, socio-economic status of an individual or group, political opportunities, gender, origin, marital status, etc.
Imposing duties on a person, society "pays" him with rights. These include income, benefits, prestige. The higher the status of a person, the higher his prestige, the better his financial situation. The position of the individual in the social hierarchy of statuses is called rank. Rank forms a status worldview.
Status ranks are also determined by external insignia - symbols. These include skin color, facial expressions, gestures, clothing, language, demeanor, titles and titles. Each status has its own image. Image - it is an idea of how a person of a certain status should look and behave. Failure to comply with the image is punished by the loss of status positions.
An important element of status is social role- behavior expected from a person of a certain status (N. Smelser). For the first time, the role as a dynamic aspect of status was considered by R. Linton. The role is standard, but it is performed by people - individuals. Each of them explains his role in his own way, performs it differently. The actual performance of the role of the individual is called role behavior.
The social role has a certain normative structure: 1. description behavior that others demand from a person; 2. expectations presented to the person in the performance of the role; 3. grade role performance; four. sanctions for playing the role.
There are 3 types of social roles: 1. represented role- expectation of others; 2. perceived role- a person's idea of the role; 3. role played- the real embodiment of the role. According to I. Hoffman, roles are divided into 2 types: 1. stage roles- performed by a person in public, or in official situations; 2. backstage roles- performed by a person alone with himself.
Status and role set
Each person simultaneously occupies several status positions. The set of status positions is called a status set. There are several types of status.
1. Prescribed Status- the status that a person receives at birth: statuses related to gender, nationality, race, family.
2. Achieved status- the status received by a person due to his own strengths or luck.
3. mixed status- has signs of what is prescribed and achieved, but not achieved at the request of a person.
4. Main status- the status that determines the position of the individual in the social hierarchy. Most often, the main status of a person is due to his work. The main statuses include the status that determines the attitude and orientation of the individual, the nature of the activity, lifestyle, demeanor, circle of acquaintances, etc.
J. Lenski proposed the concept status inconsistencies. Each status has four dimensions: income, education, professional prestige, ethnicity. Inconsistency occurs when status dimensions do not match. Inconsistency leads to feelings of dissatisfaction and attempts to change the status system. J. Lenski called the change in the status positions of a person in time “ status profile».
Each status has not one, but several roles (R. Merton). The set of roles corresponding to this status is called role set. A person has a complex of statuses, each status has its own set of social roles, and any of them requires a special manner of behavior and communication with people. Naturally, when performing roles, role tension may arise - a difficulty associated with improper role training, unsuccessful role performance. Role tension often turns into conflicts. Role conflict- this is a clash of role requirements for a person, caused by the plurality of roles simultaneously performed by him. There are two types of role conflicts: 1) between roles; 2) within the same role. Often the coexistence of roles involves incompatible responsibilities. There are conflicts of interest within many roles. If the conflict escalates, it can lead to a departure from this role, to internal stress. Role conflicts are usually resolved with the help of protective mechanisms: rationalization, separation and regulation of roles.
Rationalization hides the conflict by unconsciously looking for unpleasant aspects of the desired but unattainable role.
Separation of roles expressed in the temporary withdrawal from life of one of the roles.
Role regulation- with its help, the individual is released from personal responsibility for the consequences of the performance of a particular role by shifting the blame on the organization, people, class. With the help of unconscious defense mechanisms and conscious connection of social structures, a person can avoid the dangerous consequences of role conflicts.
The concept and definition of social status
A person daily interacts with different people and social groups. It rarely happens when he fully interacts only with members of one group, for example, a family, but at the same time he can be a member of a work collective, public organizations, etc. Entering many social groups at the same time, he occupies in each of their corresponding position, due to the relationship with other members of the group. To analyze the degree of inclusion of an individual in various groups, as well as the positions that he occupies in each of them, the concepts of social status and social role are used.
Status (from lat. status - position, condition) - the position of a citizen. Social status is usually defined as the position of an individual or group in a social system that has features specific to that system. Each social status has a certain prestige.
There is a wide range of statuses: prescribed, attainable, mixed, personal, professional, economic, political, demographic, religious, and consanguineous, which are of a variety of basic statuses.
In addition to them, there are a huge number of episodic, non-main statuses. These are the statuses of a pedestrian, a passer-by, a patient, a witness, a participant in a demonstration, a strike or a crowd, a reader, a listener, a TV viewer, etc. As a rule, these are temporary states. The rights and obligations of holders of such statuses are often not registered in any way. They are generally difficult to determine, say, a passerby. But they are, although they affect not the main, but the secondary features of behavior, thinking and feeling.
Although statuses enter into social relations not directly, but only indirectly (through their carriers), they mainly determine the content and nature of social relations.
Political, religious, demographic, economic, professional statuses of a person determine the intensity, duration, direction and content of people's social relations.
The concept and definition of social role
Role (French role) - the image embodied by the actor. A role is an expected behavior determined by a person's status (Linton, cited in Merton, 1957).
A social role is an expected model of behavior that corresponds to a certain social status and does not depend on the individual.
For each social role, behavioral characteristics are different. The limits are limited, but the very fulfillment of the role of any status is a creative process.
Each social status usually includes a number of social roles. The set of roles corresponding to a given status is called a role set (R. Merton). So the teacher has one status, but the roles in relation to the head of the department, the student are different, that is, with one status, you can have many roles. Talcott Parsons introduced the concept of role pluralism. This is a combination of important long-term roles and temporary, situational roles.
An equally important issue is role training. The development of roles occurs in the process of socialization, and their number is constantly increasing.
Socialization is a broad process that includes both the acquisition of skills, abilities, knowledge, and the formation of values, ideals, norms and principles of social behavior.
Social roles can be:
Institutionalized: the institution of marriage, family (social roles of mother, daughter, wife).
Conventional: accepted by agreement (a person may refuse to accept them).
Cultural norms are acquired mainly through role training, however, few norms are accepted by all members of society, the acceptance of most norms depends on the status of a particular person.
What is acceptable for one status is unacceptable for another. Thus, socialization as a process of learning the generally accepted ways and methods of action and interaction is the most important process of learning role-playing behavior, as a result of which the individual really becomes part of society.
The types of social roles are determined by the variety of social groups, activities and relationships in which the individual is included. Depending on social relations, social and interpersonal social roles are distinguished.
Social roles are associated with social status, profession or type of activity (teacher, pupil, student, seller). These are standardized impersonal roles based on rights and obligations, regardless of who fills these roles. There are socio-demographic roles: husband, wife, daughter, son, grandson, etc. A man and a woman are also social roles, biologically predetermined and involving specific ways of behavior, fixed by social norms and customs.
Interpersonal roles are associated with interpersonal relationships that are regulated on an emotional level (leader, offended, neglected, family idol, loved one, etc.).
Performing roles, a person, as a rule, experiences emotional and moral experiences, can come into conflict with other people, experience a moral crisis, split. This gives rise to discomfort, insecurity, psychological distress, which are signs of role tension.
The main causes of role tension are, first of all, role conflicts.
2. Roles and role conflicts in the organization
The entry of a person into an organization is a special, very complex and extremely important process, in the success of which both the person himself and the organization are interested.
When interacting with an organization, a person is interested in various aspects of interaction regarding what he should sacrifice for the interests of the organization, what, when and to what extent he should do in the organization, in what conditions to function, with whom and for how long to interact, what will give him organization, etc. From this and a number of other factors depends on the satisfaction of a person with interaction with the organization, his attitude to the organization and his contribution to the activities of the organization.
It is necessary to note two fundamental points that underlie most of the causes of misunderstanding, opposition and conflicts in the interaction of a person with the organizational environment. These are:
Expectations and ideas of the individual about the organizational environment and his place in it;
The organization's expectations of the individual and his role in it.
People working in organizations perceive situations in which they find themselves differently. Differences in perception often lead to people disagreeing with each other. This disagreement arises when the situation is really of a conflict nature.
Role conflict is defined as a situation in which an individual occupying a certain status encounters incompatible role expectations and is unable to fulfill the requirements of the role.
The role of an employee in an organization is a set of expected behaviors associated with the performance of a particular job. Worker roles have several characteristics. First, work roles are independent, they are performed by everyone who occupies a specific social position. Secondly, they are directly related to the work behavior associated with the performance of the task. Third, job roles can be difficult to fit together. The problem lies in determining who determines what is expected of whom. What is the scope of our role, what others think about it and what it really is, can vary greatly. This makes it difficult to define what a "real" role is. Finally, roles are quickly learned and can have a significant impact on both social positions and labor behavior of employees.
A role conflict occurs when an individual performing a certain role receives a task that is inadequate to his role. Fuzzy instructions and an indefinite statement of the task, the ambiguity of the meaning and meaning of the assigned action can lead to the fact that the person performing the role, even despite the effort and desire to do everything in the best possible way, will receive a negative result from the standpoint of the organization.
Role conflict as a type of intra-organizational conflict is most often associated with confrontation and clashes that arise on the basis of how individual jobs or the organization as a whole were designed, as well as on the basis of how power is formally distributed in the organization.
Can be distinguished four types of role conflict.
1. Intra-role conflict. Occurs when the same role set member gives two or more incompatible jobs.
2. Inter-role intrapersonal conflict. It appears when two or more roles performed by an individual contain incompatible requirements.
3. Inter-role conflict. It occurs when two or more subjects of a social relationship have incompatible expectations.
4. Personal-role. It refers to a situation where the personal positions of the role performer are incompatible with his role requirements. It should be noted that a high level of role conflicts leads not only to a lower degree of employee satisfaction with their work, but also to a decrease in productivity and an increase in staff turnover.
The use of a role-based approach to embedding a person in an organization may be accompanied by the emergence of conflicts in the performance of roles and the emergence of a number of problems that complicate the existence and functioning of the organization.
Very often in organizations with formal organizational relationships, the source of poor role performance is role uncertainty. If the content of the role is not clearly defined, the person performing this role may interpret it in such a way that the actions taken by him will lead far from the result expected by the organization.
Role conflict can also arise when the expectations of colleagues do not match the actions of a member of the organization. Often this happens in a situation where a new member of the organization performs his role differently than his predecessor did and what his colleagues around him were used to.
A role conflict can arise if the goals of a member of the organization contradict the goals of the organization, if his values do not correspond to the values of the group in which he works, etc.
Summarizing what has been said about the sources of role conflicts, we can single out the main groups of causes that give rise to problems in the performance of a role.
The first group consists of the causes of conflicts associated with the contradictions that were originally embedded in the content of the role.
The second group can include all those reasons that are associated with the contradictions between a person and his specific role in the organization.
The third group consists of reasons caused by contradictions between the role and its perception by the organizational environment.
The fourth group consists of the causes of conflict situations generated by the contradiction between this role and some other roles.
social conflict profession
Conclusion
The concepts of social status, social role and role conflict considered in this essay, as a means of describing the relationship between the individual and society, provide mechanisms for including the individual in complex social formations.
In order to occupy a certain status and function successfully in this capacity, each individual must fulfill certain requirements in relation to his behavior. In this case, the individual is said to fulfill his social role, which serves as a dynamic characteristic for each social position. In other words, social status is understood as the specific position of an individual in the social system, which implies certain rights and obligations, and social role is understood as a set of expectations shown in relation to an individual occupying a certain social position. Consequently, each individual performs a large number of roles, and he must correlate them in such a way that the fulfillment of the requirements of one role would not interfere with the fulfillment of the requirements of other roles.
Role conflict is a fairly common phenomenon in many organizations, but not always negative. Role conflict belongs to the type of intrapersonal, it is due to the confrontation of conflicting roles that are performed by one employee or is a contradiction of the roles of different employees.
Each individual performs a set of certain social, psychological and professional roles, and sometimes they come into conflict, generating an internal conflict.
For the timely detection of role conflicts among employees, it is necessary to constantly monitor the behavior and characteristics of the individual psychological state of employees. If there are signs indicating the presence of a role conflict, it is necessary to urgently take measures to resolve the conflict.
To do this, it is advisable to carry out a number of managerial and organizational measures, for example, to make changes in work in order to relieve the burden on employees, explain to them their roles, improve staff qualifications and improve working conditions.
We have already encountered the concept "status set" introduced into science by R. Merton. It denotes the totality of all statuses belonging to one person. R. Merton also has another concept, closely related to the first one. role set- a set of roles (role complex), associated with one status.
Each status usually includes a number of roles. For example, the status of a university professor includes such roles as teacher, researcher, mentor of youth, consultant to industry and government, administrator, clerk, writer of scientific articles, specialist in his field of knowledge, etc.
Each role in the role set requires a specific demeanor. Even two similar roles of a professor - a teacher and a mentor - imply a different relationship with students. The first is to comply with formal norms and rules: - giving lectures, checking term papers, taking exams, etc. The second is rather an informal role of a wise adviser, an older friend.
Accordingly, each role has its own type of implementation of social relations. A professor's relationship with fellow professors, with university administrators, or with faculty like him is not at all the same as the relationship he has with students, magazine editors, or entrepreneurs. In this way, role set forms a set of social relations.
The term "relationship" is used here as a dynamic characteristic - in the sense of "to enter into a relationship." Simply "attitude", or a static characteristic, does not imply the interaction of two people, but only a readiness, a predisposition for it. This willingness is called installation.
So let's summarize what we've been through: parallel to the concept of a status set, the concept of "role set" is used. It describes all kinds and variety of patterns of behavior (roles) assigned to one status. Accordingly, each type of role forms its own type of social relations.
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Kravchenko A.I
K 78 Sociology: Textbook for university students.- M.: "Academic Project", Publishing Corporation "Lotos", 1999.-382p. ISBN 5-8291-0013-4
Antiquity
The first sociologists of antiquity are called social philosophers. Among them, two giants stand out - Plato (428/427 - 348/347 BC) and Aristotle (384 - 322 BC).
Middle Ages and modern times (IV-XVIII centuries AD)
The Middle Ages did not produce anything fundamentally new in what can be called a sociological understanding of society. The positions of Augustine (IV-V centuries) stand out somewhat, who thought the life of society as a
Modern stage
It was discovered by Opost Comte (1798-1857). He gave the name to sociology, which determined its subject and methods. The end of the war against all, proclaimed by Hobbes, never came
Subject of sociology
The state of scientific knowledge of modern sociology is expressed in its subject matter. Each science has its own area of interest, which is investigated using empirical methods (observation, experiment), and
Status is the position, position of a person in a group or society.
Being a leader or an outsider in a small group, such as a group of friends, means having an informal or personal status. Be an engineer, man, husband, Russian, Orthodox, conservative, business
This difficult, lifelong learning process is called socialization.
Its result is a socially mature person. And what is a person without culture? culture - a set of traditions, customs, social norms, rules that regulate the behavior of those who are alive
From theory to tool
So, sociological research does not begin at all with the compilation of a questionnaire, as is commonly thought, but with the study of the problem, the advancement of goals and hypotheses, and the construction of a theoretical model. Only then with
Survey types
In sociology, there are two types of questionnaire survey - continuous and selective. A type of continuous survey is a census, in which the entire population is surveyed.
Interview
It is the second most popular method in sociology. If the respondent fills out the questionnaire on his own, then in the interview the questions are read to him by a specialist. They call him an interviewer.
Observation
Sociologists resort to it even less often. It is believed that the ancestral home and area where it is still used most often is anthropology - the science of pre-literate cultures. Antrop
Experiment
Its application in sociology is extremely limited. But in psychology, physics and chemistry it is the main means of knowledge. The methodology and methodology of the experiment came to sociology from psychology. When fasting
Introductory remarks
The subject of sociology is a society consisting of social institutions, organizations, groups and individuals. People are the object of sociological research. They are called respondents.
Man and human
Man is a biological individual, the highest level of living organisms on Earth, the result of a complex and lengthy biological evolution, a prerequisite and subject of cultural evolution. Biological ev
Ancient Greece (VI - IV centuries BC)
Ancient philosophers were the first to realize that the value of life lies in its uniqueness. They took a significant, though not definitive, step forward by separating the individual from the cosmos. Turn to Anthropo
Renaissance (XIV - XVI centuries)
The views on man that developed in the era of the European Renaissance absorbed all the best from antiquity and Christianity and were embodied in the teaching of humanism. Thinkers of that era, titans of the spirit - Leon
Enlightenment (XVII - XVIII centuries)
The Enlightenment continues the struggle begun in the Renaissance for the establishment of the "kingdom of reason", political freedoms and civil rights. The end of the Enlightenment was marked by two important
Modernity
Philosophers considered personality from the point of view of the eternal and the temporal. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, later Comte and Hegel did this, and in the XIX - XX centuries the Danish philosopher Siren Kierkegaard (1813 - 18
Biological and social
Natural scientists adhered to a different view of man. Throughout the 19th century, the best minds in biology believed that a person exists as something fully formed inside an egg - under
Personality structure and psyche
In psychology, the recognized theory of personality is psychoanalysis created at the beginning of the 20th century by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Most of its provisions have been proven by experiments, applied in other
E.Yu. Solovyov personality and law
The word "personality" is at least ambiguous: it means either individuality or personality in the proper sense. The difference between individuality and personality already embraces ordinary language.
A.V. Petrovsky to be a person
Personality as a philosophical concept means holistically; th person in the unity of his individual abilities and you-| the social functions they perform. To this philosophical understanding, describe
A.N. Leontiev activity, consciousness, personality
Our language well reflects the discrepancy between the two concepts: the word "personality" is used only in relation to a person, and, moreover, starting only from a certain stage of his development. We don't say &qu
Activity and activities
Activity - the ability inherent in all living beings to respond to the environment. Thus, activity is a universal characteristic of the living, which distinguishes it from tenderness.
the freedom of action
Actions, deeds, movements and acts are the building blocks of behavior and activity. Activity and behavior are two sides of one phenomenon, namely human activity.
Hierarchy of Needs
When we lack something, we are in need, but at the same time we are dependent on this something. The elderly and lonely need care, help, sympathy. A hungry man needs
Dynamics of needs
The principle of hierarchy acts as a spring, a kind of motor that sets needs in motion. According to him, the needs of each new level become relevant
Motives and motivation
A motive is considered to be any motivating force of behavior hidden within us. At first glance, the needs, which are also related to the internal motivating forces of behavior, can be
Values and Meaning
This is how a person is arranged as a social being, that everything that falls into his field of vision, what he touches and what he involves in the circle of his activity, is endowed with meaning.
The value core of personality
The scale of human values is the core of his personality. We characterize a person as a person (and not just an individual) depending on what values he focuses on.
Public scale of values
It has already been said about how the mismatch of elements 1 and 2 affects a person. The discrepancy between 3 and 4 elements leads to even deeper and more dramatic consequences. Why? Mismatch
Mismatch of consciousness and actions
This phenomenon has been recorded by literary critics, philosophers, psychologists, cultural historians and sociologists. It is expressed in a contradiction or discrepancy between the content of consciousness and the content of the act.
Defense mechanisms
The personal core of a person is the most valuable thing he has. It must be protected from excessive pressure from both the biological nature of man and from the general
Introductory remarks
In this chapter we will move on to a more detailed consideration of what constitutes a human society. We will present it not only in statics, but also in dynamics. So we have to remember
social action
Max Weber (1864 - 1920), one of the founders of sociology, defined sociology as the science that studies social action, by which he understood any action oriented towards the motives of others.
social interaction
In everyday life, we continually perform many elementary acts of social interaction, without even suspecting it. When we meet, we shake hands and say hello as we enter the car.
Social statuses
Social status - a certain position in the social structure of a group or society, associated with other positions through a system of rights and obligations. Status "teacher" name
Reference
For the first time, the concepts of achieved and ascribed status in the modern sense were used in 1936 by the prominent American sociologist and anthropologist Ralph Linton in the book: Linton R. The Study of Man
Universe of statuses
The set of statuses existing in human society is not exhausted by the listed ones. Assigned, achieved, mixed, social, personal statuses, as well as professional, economic
Status Mismatch
A person is characterized by at least two types of mismatches: 1) thoughts, words and actions (according to the principle: I think one thing, say another, and do a third), 2) needs, values and motives. Both refer
Status and social relations
Although statuses do not directly enter into social relations, but only indirectly - through their carriers, they mainly determine the content and nature of social relations. Chelov
social role
A social role is a model of behavior focused on a given status. It can be defined differently - as a template type of behavior aimed at the fulfillment of rights and obligations,
Identification with role and status
Life is so arranged that we identify ourselves to varying degrees with our statuses and their corresponding roles. Sometimes we literally merge with the role: another clerk behaves neglectfully
Typology of social interaction
Speaking of roles, we returned to social interaction. By the way (we forgot to mention this the first time), it differs from action by feedback. Action from an individual
Primary and Secondary Spheres
The whole variety of types of social interaction and the social relations that develop on their basis are usually divided into two spheres - primary and secondary. The primary sphere is the region
Forms of interaction
It is customary to distinguish three main forms of interaction - cooperation, competition and conflict. In this case, interaction refers to the ways in which partners agree on their goals.
Interaction as exchange
The distinguishing feature of interaction, which distinguishes it from mere action, is exchange. Any interaction is an exchange. You can exchange anything: signs of attention, words, sign
Introductory remarks
In the chapter "Socialization" we will talk about the process of assimilation of cultural norms and the development of social roles. This process means the transformation of a person into an individual and into a personality.
The process of socialization
Preparation for independent living today is not only longer than in traditional society, but also an expensive undertaking. To give a full-fledged education to everyone, i.e. P
Social assessment and social values
Socialization is not only the teaching of cultural norms and the development of social roles, but also the transfer of social values from parents to children, i.e. ideas about what is good and evil
Desocialization and resocialization
Socialization goes through stages coinciding with the so-called life cycles. They mark the most important milestones in a person's biography, which may well serve as qualitative stages in the formation of
Socialization and social control
Agents and institutions of socialization perform not one, but two functions: - teach the child cultural norms and patterns of behavior, - control how firmly, deeply
Elements of social control
When we talk about social progress and consider the development of society, we focus on change, innovation and bringing in the new. However, the progress of society is impossible without the preservation
social norms
social norms - prescriptions, requirements, wishes and expectations of appropriate (socially approved) behavior. Norms are some ideal samples (templates) prescribing t
Social sanctions
Sanctions are not only punishments, but also incentives that contribute to the observance of social norms. Sanctions are the guardians of norms. Along with values, they are responsible for how
self control
self-control is also called internal control: the individual independently regulates his behavior, coordinating it with generally accepted norms. In the process of socialization, norms are assimilated to the table.
Agents of formal and informal control
external control - a set of institutions and mechanisms that guarantee compliance with generally accepted norms of behavior and laws. It is divided into informal and formal.
Deviant and delinquent behavior
The assimilation of social norms is the basis of socialization. Compliance with these norms determines the cultural level of society. Deviation from generally accepted norms is called deviant behavior in sociology
Reference
In Russia in 1994, according to the CIA, there were 6,000 organized crime groups operating throughout Russia and 30 other countries. Only in Moscow there are more than 1000 brothels and firms providing
Deviation and diversity
The struggle with deviations often degenerates into a struggle with a variety of feelings, thoughts, and actions. diversity as a sociological category implies such a set of social actions
Teenage deviance
Districts of the city, where crimes occur more often than others, are called criminogenic, and categories of the population that are more inclined to commit deviant or delinquent ACTS are called
Introductory remarks
Some scientists believe that society also exists in animals: group life, interaction, conflicts, communication allow us to think so. But what they, without a doubt, do not have is
Culture has many meanings
Firstly, a subculture means a certain sphere of society that has received institutional consolidation. Not only in our country, but
Culture background
Objects surrounding a person do not remain nameless. He endows them with names, meaning and significance, depending on the purpose for which these objects are used. Since one and the same
Acculturation of religion
Is this possible and what does it mean? On television, especially on Saturday mornings, millions of Russians watch as Western preachers bring the light of the truth of their religion to television viewers. Exactly at
Culture Traits
If we imagine culture as a complex system, and this is exactly what human culture, created by thousands of generations of people, should be like, then there will certainly be initial cells, or
Traditions
Human culture is inseparable from traditions. Both concepts are so intertwined that they are often confused. Culture is reduced to a collection of traditions. But just as often with tradition
Values
Culture, like society, rests on a system of values. values - socially approved and shared by the majority of people ideas about what is goodness, justice, patriotism
Forms and varieties of culture
Depending on who creates culture and what level it is, sociologists distinguish between three forms - elite, folk and mass, and two varieties: subculture and counterculture.
Superculture
Along with the concepts of subculture and counterculture, the term "superculture" is gradually being introduced into sociology. The theory of superculture was put forward by the American economist and sociologist K. Baldwin
Reference
An example of language communities: out of 1500 languages, 22 belong to 75% of humanity, and 7 languages belong to 50% of humanity. The plurality of languages is inversely proportional to the number of people who speak them.
Cultural and speech status
It turns out that each social group, according to sociolinguistics, has its own language. It studies the social differentiation of a language depending on its speakers (workers,
Cultural and speech stratification
Speech culture, style and richness of the language are different for different social groups. Diplomats, rural teachers, lawyers, drivers or actors have a different cultural and speech environment, because different
Reference
It turns out that the total number of human groups on | | Earth exceeds the population by 1.5 - 2 times. Thus, more than 5 billion people live on the i planet, and the number of groups, according to estimates from
Group affiliation
At the very beginning of the book - in the paragraph on the subject of sociology - we said that status and role are its first building blocks. Indeed, both concepts ran like a red thread through the entire textbook.
Glossary
Series is a loosely interconnected conglomerate of individuals, where each determines his belonging to the group by repulsion from the rest. Nexus - social
ethnic communities
These communities are also called consanguineous. These include clans, tribes, nationalities, nations, families, clans. They unite on the basis of genetic links and constitute ev
Public
The main exponent of the sociological approach to the public at the turn of the 20th century was the French sociologist Gabriel de Tarde (1843-1904). In Opinion and the Crowd (1901), he compared two social
Forms of mass behavior
Mass actions can be poorly organized (panic, pogroms) or sufficiently prepared and organized (demonstrations, revolutions, wars). Much depends on how the situation is understood.
Forms of organized protest
If resistance is a passive way of expressing one's disagreement, then protest is an active form of protecting one's interests from outside encroachment. Forms of organized protest include:
sister movement
The sister movement arose during the Crimean War of 1856. This is a movement of sisters of mercy helping the wounded on the battlefield. Nurses and nurses are two different things. The first ones work
small group
When we talk about the fate of civilization, the world community, or conduct a comparative analysis of societies, we characterize the mega-world of sociology. When we describe the fate of one country, parsing
Small group forms
A small group takes many forms up to very complex, branched and multi-tiered formations. However, there are only two initial forms - dyad and triad.
Small group interaction
J. Homans, using the example of a work team, studied the principles of interaction. He came up with a universal model applicable to all types of small group. It contains three elements:-
Introductory remarks
social stratification is a central theme in sociology. It explains social stratification into the poor, the wealthy and the rich. Considering the subject of sociology, we found a close relationship between the
Curious fact
Among the Alans, the deformation of the skull served as a sure indicator of the social differentiation of society: among the leaders of the tribes, the elders of the clans and the priesthood, it was elongated. Inequality of distances between statu
Membership in a stratum
Belonging is measured by subjective and objective indicators: - subjective indicator - a sense of belonging to this group, identification with it;
Historical types of stratification
In sociology, four main types of stratification are known - slavery, castes, estates and classes. The first three characterize closed societies, and the last
Stratification among the Arabs
Social stratification among the Arabs of Yemen is evident even in carrying weapons. Richer people wore a dagger on their belt on the left, poorer people in the middle, slaves were allowed only on the right. Yemeni about
Power Elite
The historical paradox is that the new class was able to make its way to power thanks to openness and pluralism, but it could only gain a foothold in the achieved positions thanks to closed and monopoly
Stratification in the USSR and Russia
During the existence of Soviet Russia (1917-1922) and the USSR (1922-1991), the basis of the theory of social structure was the scheme of V.I.
Introductory remarks
Inequality and poverty are concepts closely related to social stratification. Inequality characterizes the uneven distribution of scarce resources.
Rich
Money is a universal measure of inequality in modern society. Their number determines the place of the individual or family in social stratification. The wealthy are those who own
You have to pay for everything
Between 1980 and 1989, the number of millionaires in the US increased by 14 Rzz. If the salary of those who receive an average of $20,000 to $50,000 a year has increased by an average of 44% over the same time, the incomes of those who earn
Measuring inequality
If wealth is a sign of the upper class, then income - the flow of cash receipts for a certain calendar period, say, a month or a year - characterizes all sections of society. Income
Measuring poverty
If inequality characterizes society as a whole, then poverty concerns only part of the population. Depending on | | how high is the level of economic development of the country, poverty covers
Standard of living
The precise definition of poverty lines is very important from a practical point of view. The amount of social assistance from the government depends on it. If there are too many poor people, then government spending will skyrocket.
Absolute and relative poverty
Traditionally, sociologists have distinguished between absolute and relative poverty. Absolute Poverty is understood as such a state in which an individual is not able to
Reference
There are about 3 million homeless people in the US. They have neither property nor living conditions worthy of a human being. There are no institutions in the US that resemble our "Children's Homes" or orphanages.
Deprivation
Along with poverty and poverty (sometimes referred to as deep poverty), deprivation is distinguished. Deprivation characterizes poverty resulting from a lack of access to
Reference
Russian sociologists have established that in a period of falling living standards, it is the poor who lose their Friends first. They have nothing to treat guests and it is difficult to go to visit themselves. Children born in
Subculture of poverty
Back in the 40s of the XX century, anthropologists and sociologists began to think that poverty is not only, and if you look at the issue deeper, then not so much an economic problem, but
groups of the poor
Sociologists have long studied the question of the social composition of the poor. Already in the 19th century, in the most developed country in Europe, England, a need arose for an empirical study of the problem. The most comprehensive research
Introductory remarks
People are in constant motion, and society is in development. The totality of social movements of people, i.e. changes in one's status is called social mobility.
group mobility
It occurs there and then, where and when the social significance of an entire class, estate, caste, rank, or category rises or falls. The October Revolution led to the rise of the Bolsheviks,
Structural mobility
Industrialization opens new vacancies in vertical mobility. The development of industry three centuries ago required the transformation of the peasantry into a proletariat. Late stage industrialization
Volume and distance of mobility
Social mobility is measured using two main indicators. Mobility distance is the number of stairs you climbed or had to climb down.
Demographic factors of mobility
Vertical and horizontal mobility are influenced by gender, age, birth rate, death rate, population density. In general, young men are more mobile than older men and women. Peren
Mobility in the USSR
Soviet sociologists in the 1960s and 1980s quite actively studied inter- and intra-generational, as well as inter- and intra-class mobility. Workers and peasants were considered the main classes, and class-like
Vertical mobility channels
The most complete description of vertical mobility channels is given by P. Sorokin. Only he calls them "vertical circulation channels". He thinks that because
group closure
The erection of social barriers and partitions, the restriction of access to another group or the closure of the group in itself is called a social clause (social closure). About it
Reference
According to UN estimates, the number of migrants in the world permanently residing in countries other than their own is between 80 and 100 million. In Russia, their number reaches 6 million. There are also immigration
Staff turnover
staff turnover is a type of social mobility in industry. It is an unorganized transition of workers from one enterprise to another. Staff turnover includes all layoffs
Introductory remarks
Society is inconceivable without organizations - banks, enterprises, universities, shops, transport system. They are all types of organization. Suborganization in sociology
Social nature of management
Management is always based on the presumption of power and authority, on the subordination of the lower to the higher, on the overt or covert pressure of one against the other, on inequality and access to economic
Managment structure
Governance structure should not be confused with the broader concept of organizational structure, which includes both formal and informal organization. Control structure - structure element
Adhocracy
In 1970, Alvin Toffler introduced the term "adhocracy" and called it an alternative form of organization to bureaucracy. adhocracy - (from lat. ad hoc) - organizational structure, the basis of which is the composition
Terms of modern management
administrator - a manager who is employed primarily in public (governmental or non-profit) organizations, less often in private business, although senior managers in private companies
What are the managers accused of?
Obscene or inappropriate behavior of workers is observed in all industrialized countries. Ivar Berg summarized the results of numerous studies and gave a list of claims made by
Cultural types of leader
National culture is largely created by management, and management, in turn, is even more created by the characteristics of national culture. How many nations - so many styles and t
Basic concepts of the sociology of organization
In foreign sociology, a social organization is understood as a social system that is characterized by a certain collective identity (identity), has something
Elements of an open system
Foreign sociologists proceed from the premise that the behavior of people in an organization and outside it are completely different phenomena. Elements of human behavior - motives, roles, values, attitudes, goals, needs
Formal and informal organization
The social organization of an enterprise (company, firm, concern, bank) is revealed through the interaction of informal and formal structures. The concept of formal and informal organization was introduced to mi
Leadership and leadership style
One of the reference manuals on leadership theory, published in the USA in 1981, contained information about 5 thousand studies conducted in this area. They are grouped into 14 major theoretical
Japanese management
The Japanese system is considered the most original and most effective in the world. The Japanese adopted all the best that was in the management of other countries and created their own style, unlike anyone else.
The theory of bureaucracy m. Weberl
M. Weber is known as the creator of the classical theory of bureaucracy, which is included in all the textbooks of the world. He considered bureaucracy in two senses - positive and negative. wop
Functions of bureaucracy
In the technical sense of the word, "bureaucracy" is the most efficient, rational, and systematic form of organization in which rules, regulations, and control techniques are strictly defined. In p
Dysfunctions of the bureaucracy
Sociologists use the word "bureaucracy" in a neutral sense. But this does not mean that they do not take into account both the positive and negative aspects of bureaucracy. They go further to the surface
Vizier's instruction
Samples of bureaucratic ceremonial can be found among the ancient Egyptians. On the tomb of the vizier Rekhmir, the ritual speeches of the king and instructions dating back to the era of the Middle Kingdom have been preserved. And next to the text
Komsomol circular
In 1987, the Moscow city committee of the Komsomol sent a circular "Plan for the Implementation of Emergency Situations" to the district committees. It details 17 unexpected situations that can occur.
Eastern and Western bureaucracy
During the period of existence of socialism in the USSR, a special concept arose that characterizes the bureaucratic system - the practice of life-long positions. It described a situation in which
Degradation of elite groups
As soon as the bureaucracy closes in its own circle, the focus is not on efficiency, but on loyalty. The stratum of officials begins to degrade and turns into a closed system. interpersonal
Mafia and bureaucracy
The degrading managerial elite eventually degenerates into a mafia. Experts are convinced that the Russian bureaucracy is primarily a hierarchical organized mafia of high
Iron law of the oligarchy
Bureaucracy tends to degenerate into an oligarchy - a political regime in which power belongs to a narrow circle of officials: the rich, the military, officials. First in
Introductory remarks
Sociological knowledge, discussed in the previous chapters, can be arranged on three levels. Problems of personality socialization, social action, social interaction and socialization
Civil society
Like everything in sociology, which is filled with rich internal content, the concept of "civil society" cannot be squeezed into the rigid framework of a precise definition. It is multi-valued. Let's single out two
Signs of society and state
society should be understood as the historical result of naturally developing relationships between people, and the state - as an artificial political construct - an institution or institution, designed to
The relationship between the state and society
Having carefully looked at the signs of E. Shils, we will notice that the state is only one of the signs of society, namely the management system. The state does not even exhaust the political system
World system and civilization
In a number of macrosociological concepts, they occupy the highest step. Indeed, the state and the country are narrower in meaning than civilization and the world system. Society occupies an intermediate position:
social progress
History shows that no society stands still: it either progresses or regresses. If the sum of the positive consequences of large-scale changes in society exceeds the sum
Reference
15-20% - this is the critical mass sufficient for the dissemination of new ideas and technologies. Experiments with a colony of monkeys showed that in order for a community to master a new technology of behavior, it is not about
Typology and evolution of societies
All conceivable and real diversity of societies that existed before and exist now, sociologists divide into certain types. Several types of society, united by similar features or
Reference
Already early agriculture made it possible to produce more food than was required to sustain life. In Sumer in 3000 BC. e. a man was given 36 kg of grain per month, and a woman - 18. Based on these
simple societies
These include such societies in which there is no social inequality, division into classes or strata, where there are no commodity-money relations and the state apparatus. In the primeval era
neolithic revolution
This term was introduced by the English archaeologist W. Child. Neolithic - a new stone age, a period (8-3 millennium BC) of the transition from an appropriating economy to a producing one. During the Neolithic period, tools and
Complex society
The Neolithic Revolution was the final stage in the development of simple societies and the prologue to a complex society. Complex societies include those where there is a surplus
Agrarian societies
They appeared in various regions of the country as a result of the Neolithic revolution. The specialization of the tribes both in cattle breeding and in agriculture caused an increase in products that can be easily exchanged for
Modern society
The modern understanding of "society" was formed in European culture not earlier than the 17th-18th centuries. At the end of the 18th century, the concept of "civil society" arose. It described the temper
industrial society
In an industrial society, perhaps for the first time, the place of work is separated from the place of residence: in contrast to the artisan, the worker leaves his house every morning and sets off in public transport for a day.
Modernization
The concept of "modernization" in world sociology describes the transition from pre-industrial to industrial, and then to post-industrial society. In
Technological progress and post-industrial society
Technological and cultural progress constantly accelerated as we approached modern society. About 2 million years ago, the first tools of labor appeared, from which technical production originates.
