The structure of society and its main elements. Types of social structures from the Middle Ages to the present day

What is the social structure of society

What elements form the social structure of society

What are the causes of social stratification

What are the types of social mobility

7.1. The concept of the social structure of society and its main elements

Society resembles a complex mechanism, made up of many hundreds and even thousands of parts. Each of them has its own dimensions, performs only its own functions. All these details - and these are different social communities and groups - play an unequal role in public life.

The problem of the structure of society as a social system has always been one of the central ones in sociology. So, even O. Comte, outlining the subject of research of his social statics, determined that it is a social anatomy that studies the structure of a social organism, which consists of a large number of social elements.

What are the components of society as a social system? It is clear that the primary unit of any social system is the individual. He, being a social being, is in close relationship with other individuals, forms various social groups and social communities with them, are also components of society. The structure of any social system, including society, is supplemented by social ties, social relations and social institutions. Thus, we can give the following definition of the social structure of society.

This is a set of interconnected and interacting social groups, communities and institutions, interconnected by relatively permanent relationships.

So, the social structure of society is the structure of this social system, determines the nature of the relationships and relationships between its constituent parts.

The essence of the social structure of society is most fully expressed in its general features, which include:

The variety of social elements that form the social structure of society (social institution, social group, social community, etc.);

Different degrees of influence of each constituent element of the social structure of society on social processes and phenomena, the difference in their social roles;

The presence of relatively stable links between the constituent elements of the social structure of society, the interdependence of the latter. This means that no element of the social structure can exist autonomously in society. In any case, it is combined social ties with other structural units of society. In this case, the story of Robinson Crusoe is interesting, who, even when he was on a desert island, was in close connection with society (he used things, made other people, was engaged in the same types of activities, and in England he equipped his own house, grew crops, prayed to the Lord etc.);

The cordiality of the elements ensures the integrity of the social structure, that is, the same social subjects can be parts of various constituent units of society. For example, one and the same person can be included in different social groups and communities;

Multifunctionality and stability - each element of the social structure of society performs its own specific functions, which are different from the roles of other social elements, and provides for a significant number of social functions of society. In connection with the foregoing, we can conclude that the main components of society are social communities, since their influence on social processes is incomparably greater than the participation of an individual. As for social organizations and social institutions, they are formed as a result of the activity and interaction of social communities and groups, are derived from them * 1. Social groups are also an important element of the social structure of society.

* 1: (A number of modern Ukrainian sociologists, in particular, V. Gorodyanenko, on the contrary, consider social institutions - economics, politics, science, education, family, as the leading element of the social structure of society, since it is they who preserve and support the social obligations and obligations existing in society. relations.)

Thus, the social structure of society has two main components: the presence of constituent elements and the social ties that arise between these elements.

Most modern sociologists identify a number of separate substructures in the structure of society, which are the main constituent elements of society. However, these substructures are only relatively independent of each other, since, like all social elements that make up society, they are interconnected by relatively stable social ties. The substructures of society are based on the main forms of social communities operating in society, and this also suggests that it is social communities that are the leading constituent elements of the social structure of society.

So, the main substructures (elements) of society are:

Socio-ethnic structure;

Socio-demographic structure;

Socio-professional structure;

Social class structure;

Socio-territorial structure.

Rice. 2. Social structure of society

Each of these substructures is characterized primarily by the fact that it includes the corresponding generalities. On the other hand, each substructure has all the same components, signs and characteristics, and the social structure of society as a whole.

That is, all elements in social substructures are also interconnected by stable social ties and relationships. It should be recalled that relations between all subjects of social life are based on certain values and rules of behavior (social norms) that are characteristic of this type of society and distinguish it from others. Therefore, it should be noted that social norms, in fact, as well as social control, is a support for the social structure of society, since they affect the nature of social ties and relations operating in the social structure of society. It is also important to note that in connection and relations between the components of the social structure of society, social statuses and roles are also affected, which will be discussed later, therefore they are the basis of the social structure of society. Therefore, the general scheme of social structure can be depicted approximately as shown in Fig.

The complexity of building a social structure also lies in the fact that in society there are relations of social equality and inequality. A typical example is that an ordinary employee or student is equated by the law of Ukraine in their constitutional rights with the President of Ukraine, because the Constitution of our state provides for the equality of citizens. At the same time, it is quite clear that in terms of rights and benefits, these categories of citizens differ significantly from each other. Social roles and statuses, social equality and inequality - an issue that is the subject of consideration of the following divisions of this topic.

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1) The concept of society

Society is a group of people created through purposeful and reasonably organized joint activity, and the members of such a group are not united by such a deep principle as in the case of a true community. Society is based on a convention, an agreement, the same orientation of interests. The individuality of an individual changes much less under the influence of his inclusion in society than depending on his inclusion in the community. Society is often understood as the sphere that lies between the individual and the state.

After attempts to explain the essence of the concept of "society" in antiquity (Aristotle) and in the Middle Ages (Augustine and Thomas Aquinas), this question became, especially in the 1-18th century, a political and philosophical problem, the exhaustive solution of which Comte tried to give in his sociology; therefore, society became the subject of consideration and the central point of the new science - sociology.

In the broadest sense, the society studied by social philosophy acts as a sociality in general, as a society, or a special kind of being in the world.

There are various interpretations of society: subjective, which considers society as a special amateur collective of people; active, which believes that society should be considered not so much the collective itself, but the process of the collective existence of people; organizational, which considers society as an institutional system of stable ties between interacting people and social groups.

Society as an extremely broad concept for designating that part of the material world that has become isolated from nature and interacts with it in a certain way. This isolation consists in the following: in contrast to the elemental natural forces, a person with consciousness and will is at the center of social development. Nature, on the other hand, exists and develops according to its own laws, independent of man and society. In this sense, society is the totality of all forms of association and ways of interaction between people, both among themselves and with the natural world around them.

This last definition is considered in this paper as the main one.

2) Structure and historical types of societies.

The concept of structure is also used in a different, broader sense as

a set of elements and their relationships. In this case, the concept of structure,

is essentially identified with the concept of the whole, since, for example,

"elementary" particles and atoms, molecules and other objects and phenomena,

being integral formations, are referred to as material structures.

Structure is the orderliness, organization of the system. Naturally

therefore, that the essential characteristic of the structure is the measure

orderliness, which in the most general form, in the cybernetic sense,

acts as a degree of deviation from the state of its thermodynamic

balance. Social systems tend to increase the degree of order,

own functioning and development.

When applied to society as a system, the structure acts as an internal

organization of society or its individual links. The structure of society is

set of social relations. Society as a whole has structure and

any particular subsystem within it. Moreover, any particular system

within the framework of the "global" whole - society - has its own specific

structure, organization, which is a specification of a more general

structure, the structure that dominates society.

Since the main component of any social system are

people, then the main element of its structure, so to speak, its

the central link is the relationship of people, primarily production

relations. People, however, act in various spheres of social life -

economic, socio-political, spiritual, family and household. From here

the presence of specific structures for specific areas of an integral society -

economic structure, socio-political structure, structure

spiritual life, the structure of everyday life and seed life. Each of them has

their features, which bear the stamp of the qualitative nature of society and

determined primarily by the dominant forms of ownership in it.

The structure of the social system appears but only as relations

people to each other. Relationships of various spheres of public life -

economic and socio-political, economic and spiritual, relations

other public spheres are also elements of the structure.

Relations of things can also be elements of the structure. At the same time, it is impossible

forget, of course, that things have a social nature. structure, for example,

such a system as an enterprise includes a certain connection,

the arrangement of machines, mechanisms, the relationship of technological

processes, etc.

The structure is also manifested in the relationship of people to things, in particular to

means of production, then the awn in the forms of ownership that

constitute an essential element of the structure of society. She can

act as the relationship of people to ideas. It is a process of development, perception,

dissemination of ideas by certain groups of people, classes, etc.

the place and relations of ideas to ideas, the connection of ideas of various kinds, etc.

For example, social consciousness as a system of ideas has certain

forms, they, these forms - science, political ideas, art, etc. -

are in a certain relationship.

Structure is also the attitude of people to processes - economic,

political, etc., the ratio of various processes in society, say

revolutions and reforms, economic and socio-political processes, etc.

Basic elements of the structure of society

The first necessary element of social activity are living

human individuals-subjects of activity with which its triggers are associated

and regulatory mechanisms.

The second element is the object of social activity. Objects

social activities can be divided into two classes:

1. Things, "tools" with which people influence

the real world around them. With these things people

carry out adaptive activities, adapting to the environment

through its material-energy transformation,

targeted transformation.

2. Symbols, signs (books, paintings, icons, etc.). These items

serve not to directly change reality, but to change

our ideas about the world. They affect our consciousness

aspirations, goals, and through them, indirectly, affect

reality other than consciousness. The function of symbols is to embody

in itself in a special way encoded information, to serve

means of its storage, accumulation, transfer, allowing people

agree on the goals of their collective activity.

The need for symbols is due to the fact that any ideas, images,

feelings designed to influence people's behavior can make

this, and only in that case will they acquire some "bodily shell"

becoming material conductors, "carriers

If things serve as a direct tool for adaptation, then symbols provide

purposefulness of human activity.

3) The social structure of society.

Social structure and social institutions. In sociology, the concept of social structure (separate parts of society ordered into a single whole) is interpreted in a broad and narrow sense.
In a narrow sense, social structure is social stratification, i.e. distribution in a hierarchical order of groups and strata, identified according to some feature (economic, political, professional, etc.).

Any society appears not as something homogeneous and monolithic, but as internally divided into various social groups, strata and national communities. All of them are in a state of objectively conditioned connections and relations - socio-economic, political, spiritual. Moreover, only within the framework of these connections and relations can they exist, manifest themselves in society. This determines the integrity of society, its functioning as a single social organism, the essence of which was revealed in their theories by O. Comte, G. Spencer, K. Marx, M. Weber, T. Parsons, R. Dahrendorf and others.

The social structure of society is a set of those connections and relations that social groups and communities of people enter into among themselves regarding the economic, social, political, spiritual conditions of their life.

The development of the social structure of society is based on the social division of labor and ownership of the means of production and its products.

The social division of labor determines the emergence and continued existence of such social groups as classes, professional groups, as well as large groups consisting of people from the city and the countryside, representatives of mental and physical labor.

The relations of ownership of the means of production economically consolidate this internal dismemberment of society and the social structure that develops within it. Both the social division of labor and property relations are objective socio-economic prerequisites for the development of the social structure of society.

O. Comte and E. Durkheim, Russian thinkers M.I. Tugan - Baranovsky, M.M. Kovalevsky, P. A. Sorokin and others. A detailed doctrine of the role of the social division of labor in the historical process is contained in the socio-economic theory of Marxism, which also reveals the role of property relations in this process.

The main elements of the social structure of society include: classes that occupy a different place in the systems of social division of labor, ownership of the means of production and distribution of the social product. Sociologists of various trends agree with their understanding; residents of the city and village; representatives of mental and physical labor; estates; socio-demographic groups (youth, women and men, the older generation); national communities (nations, nationalities, ethnic groups).

Almost all elements of the social structure are heterogeneous in composition and, in turn, are divided into separate layers and groups that appear as independent elements of the social structure with their inherent interests, which they realize in interaction with other subjects.

So the social structure in any society is quite complex and is the subject of attention not only of sociologists, but also representatives of such a science as social management, as well as politicians and statesmen. It is important to understand that without understanding the social structure of society, without a clear idea of what social groups exist within it and what their interests are, i.e. in which direction they will act, it is impossible to make a single step forward in the management of society, including the field of economics, social, political and spiritual life.

Such is the significance of the problem of the social structure of society. Its solution must be approached on the basis of a deep understanding of social dialectics, scientific generalization of historical and modern data of social practice.

Considering the subject of sociology, we found a close connection between the three fundamental concepts of sociology - social structure, social composition and social stratification. The structure can be expressed through a set of statuses and likened to empty cells of a honeycomb. It is located, as it were, in a horizontal plane, but is created by the social division of labor. In a primitive society there are few statuses and a low level of division of labor, in a modern society there are many statuses and a high level of organization of the division of labor.

But no matter how many statuses there are, in the social structure they are equal and connected and connected with each other functionally. But now we have filled the empty cells with people, each status has turned into a large social group. The totality of statuses gave us a new concept - the social composition of the population. And here the groups are equal to each other, they are also located horizontally. Indeed, in terms of social composition, all Russians, women, engineers, non-party people and housewives are equal.

However, we know that in real life the inequality of people plays a huge role. Inequality is the criterion by which we can place some groups above or below others. The social composition turns into social stratification - a set of social strata located in a vertical order, in particular, the poor, the wealthy, the rich. Stratification is a certain way "oriented" composition of the population.

In sociology, there are four main dimensions of stratification - income, power, prestige, education. They exhaust the range of social benefits to which people aspire. More precisely, not the goods themselves, but the channels of access to them.

Thus, the social structure arises about the social division of labor, and social stratification - about the social distribution of the results of labor, i.e. social benefits. And it's always uneven. So there is an arrangement of social strata according to the criterion of unequal access to power, wealth, education and prestige.

1. The social structure of society and its elements.

2. Social relations and types of social structures.

3. Social stratification.

4. Social mobility.

5. Actual problems of development of the social structure of modern Kazakhstani society.

1. The social structure of society and its elements.

Any society appears not as something homogeneous and monolithic, but as internally divided into various social groups, strata and national communities. All of them are in a state of objectively conditioned connections and relations with each other - socio-economic, political, spiritual. Moreover, only within the framework of these connections and relations can they exist, manifest themselves in society. This determines the integrity of society, its functioning as a single social organism, the essence of which was revealed in their theories by O. Comte, G. Spencer, K. Marx, M. Weber, T. Parsons, R. Dahrendorf and others.

social structuresociety is a set of those connections and relations that social groups and communities of people enter into among themselves regarding the economic, social, political, spiritual conditions of their life.

The development of the social structure of society is based on the social division of labor and ownership of the means of production and its products.

To basic elements of social structuresocieties can be attributed:

classes that occupy a different place in the systems of social division of labor, ownership of the means of production and distribution of the social product. Sociologists of various trends agree with their understanding; residents of the city and village; representatives of mental and physical labor; estates; socio-demographic groups (youth, women and men, the older generation); national communities (nations, nationalities, ethnic groups).

Thus, social structure arises from the social division of labor, and social stratification arises from the social distribution of the results of labor, i.e. social benefits. And it's always uneven. So there is an arrangement of social strata according to the criterion of unequal access to power, wealth, education and prestige.

2. Social relations and types of social structures. The relationship of social groups and communities of people existing in society is by no means static, but rather dynamic, it manifests itself in the interaction of people regarding the satisfaction of their needs and the realization of interests. This interaction is characterized by two main factors: 1) the very activity of each of the subjects of society, directed by certain motives; 2) those social relations that social subjects enter into in order to satisfy their needs and interests. These relationships are very different. In a broad sense, all social relations can be called social, i.e. inherent in society.

Social relations act as specific relations that exist along with economic, political and others. They are formed between subjects, including between social groups, regarding the satisfaction of their needs in appropriate working conditions, material benefits, improvement of life and leisure, education and access to spiritual culture, as well as medical care and social security.

The most important aspect of the functioning of the social sphere of society is the improvement of the social relations between people that arise here.

Depending on the level of development of the division of labor and socio-economic relations, various types of social structures have historically evolved.

The social structure of the slave-owning society was made up of classes of slaves and slave-owners, as well as artisans, merchants, landowners, free peasants, representatives of mental activity - scientists, philosophers, poets, priests, teachers, doctors, etc.

The social structure of feudal society was an interconnection of the main classes - feudal lords and serfs, as well as estates and various groups of intelligentsia. Estates occupy a special place. Estates are social groups whose places in society are determined not only by their position in the system of socio-economic relations, but also by established traditions and legal acts. This determined the rights, duties and privileges of such estates as secular feudal lords and the clergy.

A complex social structure has a capitalist society, especially a modern one. Within the framework of its social structure, first of all, various groups of the bourgeoisie, the so-called middle class and workers interact. The middle class plays a special role. It includes small and medium income entrepreneurs, farmers, traders, highly paid workers and employees. The middle class includes the majority of the population of industrially developed capitalist countries based on their income level.

The experience of building a socialist society in the countries of Central, Eastern Europe and Asia revealed the main directions in the development of its social structure. Its main elements were considered to be the working class, the cooperative peasantry, the intelligentsia, the layers of private entrepreneurs that survived in some of these countries, as well as professional and demographic groups and national communities.

3. social stratification. Under the socially stratified structure of society understood (according to Kharcheva) a multidimensional, hierarchically organized social space in which people differ (group) depending on the degree of possession of power, property, social status, corresponding value orientations.

T. Parsons under social stratification understands the differentiating ranking of the individuals of a given social system. This is a way of viewing individuals as occupying a lower or higher social position relative to each other in some socially important aspects.

E. Giddens defines stratification as structural inequalities between different groups of people, each of which differs in the volume and nature of social privileges.

In the textbook on sociology by American scientists L. Bloom, C. Bonjon, D. Broom, the following definition of social stratification is given: "A system of different levels of goods, power and prestige."

N. Smelser derives the essence of the concept of "social stratification" from the concept of "inequality". By the latter, he understands the conditions under which people have unequal access to such social goods as money, power and prestige. Accordingly, stratification is concerned with the ways in which inequality is transmitted from one generation to the next; thus different layers of a society are formed.

According to P. Berger, the classification of society can be based on a wide variety of criteria, represent a wide variety of advantages that act as privileges (in the sense of access to material things and services), power (in the understanding of M. Werber, who saw in it a chance to achieve his own even in spite of the resistance of others) and prestige. To enroll people in one or another category, various criteria can be used - physical strength, age, gender, origin, economic success, the favor of the king or the verdict of the oracle.

The basis of stratification, according to many sociologists, is social inequality. R. Dahrendorf highlights the following forms of inequality :

natural variety of appearance, character, interests;

natural inequality of minds, talents and forces;

social differentiation of fundamentally equivalent positions;

social stratification by prestige and wealth as a rank ordering of social status, i.e. there is individual and social inequality.

R. Dahrendorf in his work "The current state of the theory of social stratification" notes that in the sociological literature, the following approaches to causes of social stratification (inequalities):

Davies and Moore argue that stratification is universally necessary to "inspire fit individuals with a desire to take certain positions and, once they are in those positions, a desire to fulfill the duties associated with them." Inequality, in their opinion, is necessary, because stimulates the promotion of people to prestigious social positions.

Tumin and Rong argued that stratification should be considered in relation to dominance, namely, that stratification systems help those who dominate.

Simson argues that social stratification is an economic phenomenon resulting from the interaction of supply and demand in the distribution of personnel and social positions.

Dahrendorf and Lepsius write that stratification is the result of an unequal stratification of positions in relation to dominant values.

Let's take a closer look at the concept of G. Lensky, formulated in the work "Power and Privilege". In his opinion, social structures consist of activities that guarantee the physical survival of the individual in society and activities beyond consumption and survival, i.e. in the sphere of economic social surpluses. The first structures are the sphere of functional coordination and cooperation, the latter - the area of domination and coercion. Physical survival efforts do not produce large inequalities, while the distribution of surpluses, which generates both inequalities and conflicts. The surplus grows as the technological basis of society develops; and together with the resulting surpluses, they are more difficult, more problematic and more clearly fixed in terms of the positions of the stratification system.

The main elements of social stratification in modern society are (according to T. Parsons), are:

belonging to a related cell. Belonging to it can be determined both by birth and marriage, etc.;

personal qualities, i.e. features of a person that distinguish him from other people and which can be considered as a basis for evaluating him above others: gender, age, personal attractiveness, intelligence, strength, etc.;

achievements, i.e. considered as a value the results of the actions of individuals;

possession, i.e. objects belonging to the individual, which are characterized by the fact that they can be transferred;

P. Sorokin believed stratification in society can be of three types: economic, political and professional . This means that it is necessary to divide society according to the criteria of income (wealth, i.e., accumulation), according to the criteria for influencing the behavior of members of society, according to the criteria associated with the successful use of social roles, the availability of knowledge, skills, and intuition, which is evaluated and rewarded by members of the society.

Karl Marx had the greatest influence on the formation of the concept of stratification. He believed that everything social phenomena are determined by the economy. K. Marx argued that in any economic system there is a ruling class that owns1 the means of production, an oppressed class that works for the owners. The former, exploiting the latter, do not pay them the full cost of their labor, they sell the product produced by the proletarians for more than its production costs, thereby creating surplus value, which the bourgeoisie uses at its discretion. The workers, as we see, are overwhelmed by exploitation and alienation from their true nature, i.e. they are not able to express themselves through work and experience any satisfaction from it, thereby limiting their creativity, depriving life of meaning. With the passage of time, a polarization of classes occurs: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat are in opposition to each other. Having a common "enemy", spending most of their time together in factories, the proletariat becomes homogeneous, and common class interests emerge, leading to class conflict.

The class that owns the means of production controls the economy through them and implements the policy of the state, i.e. he is the ruling class.

Let us consider in more detail the once popular, and now forgotten, theory of classes by K. Marx and F. Engels. A class, according to K. Marx and F. Engels, is a group of people determined in relation to the means of production, according to their place in the system of social division of labor. The definition of classes, classical for Marxist theory, was given in his work “The Great Initiative” by V. I. Lenin: “ Classes are large groups of people who differ in their place in a historically determined system of production, in their relation to the means of production, in their role in the social organization of labor. Classes are such groups of people, of which one can appropriate the labor of another due to the difference in their place in a certain way of social economy.". Formulated on the basis of this approach the concept of the social structure of society boils down to the following:

the social structure of society consists of three main elements - classes, social strata and social groups;

The “core” of the social structure of society is made up of classes defined in relation to the means of production (owners and propertyless), namely the classes of exploiters (slave owners, feudal lords, bourgeoisie) and exploited (slaves, peasants, proletariat);

the formation of classes is, first of all, a product of economic relations - classes are formed as a result of the social division of labor (primarily into mental and physical) and the emergence of private property;

the process of class formation, according to K. Marx and F. Engels, proceeded in two main ways - by separating the exploiting elite in the tribal community (tribal nobility and wealthy people) and by enslaving captured foreigners, and fellow tribesmen into debt bondage;

ownership or non-ownership of the means of production determines the role of classes in the system of organization of social labor (managing and managed), with the system of political power (dominant and subordinate), their property status (rich and poor, i.e. paupers);

the struggle of the exploiting and exploited classes, resolved in the form of revolutions, serves as the driving force of social development;

at the same time, in addition to the main social classes, closely related to the dominant mode of production (the exploiters and the exploited), Marxist theory singles out the so-called. non-basic classes are either the remnants of the former classes (nobles under capitalism), emerging new classes (commercial bourgeoisie under feudalism), or classes passing from formation to formation (peasantry);

in addition to classes, social strata (or strata) are distinguished in the structure of society - i.e. intermediate or transitional social groups that do not play a decisive role in the system of socio-economic relations: the so-called. the petty bourgeoisie (artisans, merchants) and the intelligentsia;

the intelligentsia, in turn, is divided into proletarian and petty-bourgeois.

Max Weber, like K. Marx, defined the social class of people by its economic power, but unlike K. Marx, he singled out other factors influencing the formation of inequality relations. For example, social position (social prestige and belonging to certain political circles), in his opinion, is an important characteristic for a person in society. He called it status.

Weber for the first time lays the basis for the class division of the system of stratification that exists at the present time. He divided the class of owners and the "trading class", divided the working class into several classes (depending on the type of ownership of the enterprise where they work). M. Weber proves that any person has the opportunity to improve their status.

P. Berger offers the following definition of a class: “ A class is a group of people whose privileges derive from their role in the production process and who are distinguished by common interests and common cultural characteristics.". A class society, in his opinion, is a society in which the class form of stratification dominates. The class system creates a situation in which, at least in principle, only economic success determines the material privileges available to a certain individual. In this position, it can be assumed that other advantages, especially prestige and power, can be acquired in a similar way.

In modern Western sociology, it is customary to distinguish two approaches to class definition- subjective and objective. Subjective based on the principle of "self-identification", i.e. on the self-enrollment of the individual in one class or another. Objective Approach based on criteria independent of the opinion of the individual. In the foreign sociological literature, there are two such criteria:

the nature of the activity (labor);

amount of income.

Along with them, other criteria are taken into account, which are closely related to the first two and follow from them:

educational level;

qualified level;

job level;

features of value orientations and labor motivation;

the quality of life;

consumption standards.

course: Sociology

topic: The social structure of society and its elements

Introduction

1. Society as a social system. Structure and forms of social interaction

2. Institutionalization and its stages. Types and functions of social institutions

3. Social communities, groups and organizations

4. The social structure of society and the basis for its classification

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

I have chosen the topic "The social structure of society and its elements" because I believe that this issue concerning society occupies one of the main places in sociology.

The question of what society is, what is its place and role in people's lives, has always been at the center of attention of sociology.

Throughout the history of sociology, these have been one of its most important problems, the consideration of which is the main task of this essay.

From the point of view of K. Marx, society is a historically developing set of relations between people that develop in the process of their joint activities. But there are many other definitions of society, as well as its structure and elements, which I will consider in this essay.

1. Society as a social system

Structure and forms of social interaction

Scientists have been studying society, its essence, basic elements and patterns of development for more than one millennium. Many discoveries in this area were made already in the IV century. BC. the ancient Greek sage Plato, who tried to create the theory of an ideal state - a perfect human society.

The development of ideas about society as a system is closely connected with the development of the natural and social sciences in the 18th-19th centuries.

Successes in the development of biology in the 19th century, in particular the emergence of the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin, made it possible to overcome mechanical ideas about the structure of society and contributed to the spread "organic"(from the word "organism") of the model, along with which the concepts of social science came "organic whole", "self-regulation", "morphological structure" etc.

Under " social system»in modern sociology, it is customary to understand an ordered, usually hierarchically built set of individuals, social groups, communities, organizations, united by stable ties and relationships, interacting with the environment as a whole.

Along with the concept of "social system" in modern sociology, the category "society" is used. " Society» can be defined as a socio-cultural system that differs from other associations of people - groups, communities, organizations - by the duration of existence and self-sufficiency, i.e. having all the necessary resources for its reproduction and development.

The most complete definition of the signs of society belongs to the American sociologist Edward Shils. In his opinion, the concept of "society" is applicable to any historical era and any association of people if:

Association exists longer than the average life span of an individual;

It is not part of any larger social system;

It has a territory of residence that it considers its own;

It has its own name and its own history;

Marriages are concluded mainly between representatives of this association;

It is replenished mainly due to natural growth, i.e. the birth of children within the association;

It is united by a common system of values (customs, traditions, norms, laws, rules, mores), which is called culture;

The Association has its own management system.

In this regard, it is important to emphasize the difference between the concepts of "society" and "social system" from the concept of "population", which is widely used in geography, demography, and less often in sociology. " Population» is defined as a set of people living in a common area.

The categories "society" and "social system" are the central categories of sociology, but they describe complex social phenomena, and therefore cannot be initial categories of the system of sociological knowledge.

The initial category of a system of sociological knowledge can only be a category that is a model of the simplest social phenomenon that logically and historically(genetically) preceded the emergence of society, any social system.

In order for a social system to exist, at least two people are needed, connected with each other by various social interactions.

Modern sociology defines social interaction as a system of interdependent social actions associated with cyclic dependence, in which the action of one subject is both the cause and effect of the response actions of other subjects.

P.A. Sorokin identified the following elements of social interaction ¹:

1) subjects of interaction;

2) mutual expectations of the subjects of interaction;

3) purposeful activity of each of the parties;

4) conductors of social interaction.

Classification of forms of social interaction carried out for various reasons.

Depending on the number of participants:

Interaction of two people among themselves (two comrades);

Interaction of one and many (lecturer and audience);

Interaction of many and many (cooperation of states, parties, etc.)

Depending on the similarity or difference in the qualities of the participants in the interaction:

Same or different sexes;

One or different nationalities;

Similar or different in terms of wealth, etc.

Depending on the nature of the acts of interaction:

One-sided or two-sided;

Solidary or antagonistic;

Organized or unorganized;

Template or non-template;

Intellectual, sensual or volitional.

Depending on duration:

Short-term or long-term;

Has short or long term effects.

Depending on the nature of the conductors - direct or indirect.

Depending on the frequency of repetitions and stability in sociology, the following are distinguished types of social interaction Keywords: social contacts, social relations, social institutions.

Under social contact in sociology, it is customary to understand the type of short-term, easily interrupted social interaction caused by the contact of people in the physical and social space.

Social contacts can be divided on various grounds. The most clearly identified types of social contacts in S. Frolov. He structured them in the following order:

Spatial contacts, helping the individual determine the direction of the intended contact and navigate in space and time. Two types of spatial contacts:

1. Assumed Spatial Contact when a person's behavior changes due to the assumption of the presence of individuals in any place. For example, a driver slows down when he sees a poster that reads “A video surveillance and speed control system is in operation on this section of the road.”

2. visual spatial contact, or "silent presence" contact, when an individual's behavior changes under the influence of visual observation of other people.

Contacts of interest emphasize the social selectivity of our choice. For example, when attacking you, you will look for a person with great physical strength or power.

Exchange contacts. This is already a higher step in the desire of individuals for social interaction. The main thing that is emphasized in the analysis of this type of contacts is the absence in the actions of individuals of the goal to change the behavior or other socially significant characteristics of each other, i.e. so far, the attention of individuals is focused not on the result of the connection, but on the process itself.

« social relations”- sequences, “chains” of repetitive social interactions, correlated in their meaning with each other and characterized by stable norms and patterns of behavior.

The next type and qualitatively new level of development of social interaction is a social institution.

2. Institutionalization and its stages

Types and functions of social institutions

The development of human society cannot occur chaotically. From this point of view, history is a process of streamlining, fixing socially significant types of social relations.

The process of identifying and fixing certain social relations, social norms, rules, statuses and roles, bringing them into a system focused on meeting the needs that are essential for society (at a given historical stage of development) is defined in sociology as " institutionalization". Its result is the formation of social institutions.

social institutions called social relations that have become an ordered system of social ties, norms and roles, which combines significant social values and procedures that meet the basic needs of society. Institutions do not depend on the personal qualities of the participants in the interaction.

Not all social relations in their development turn into institutions. Social practice selects and consolidates only those relations between individuals and social groups that become vital for the functioning of society as a complex social system.

The process of institutionalization is the process of the emergence of a new one, which is always evaluated from the standpoint of the historically established needs of society, that is, from the standpoint of the “developed old”.

Formalizing the process of institutionalization, we can distinguish several stages that are inherent in the formation of social institutions:

1. The emergence of a need, the satisfaction of which requires joint organized action.

2. Formation of common goals.

3. The emergence of social norms and rules in the course of spontaneous social interaction, carried out by trial and error.

4. Emergence of procedures related to rules and regulations.

5. Institutionalization of norms and rules, procedures, i.e. recognition of their social significance.

6. Establishment of a system of sanctions to maintain norms and rules, the differentiation of their application in individual cases, the creation of a social control mechanism.

7. Creation of a system of statuses and roles, covering all members of the institute without exception.

The result of the process of institutionalization is considered to be the establishment of a clear status-role structure, socially approved by the majority of participants in this social process. The process of institutionalization is a process of finding compromises and reaching agreement between different social groups.

The successful operation of social institutions largely depends on the implementation of a certain set of conditions:

1. The presence of specific social norms and regulations governing the behavior of people within the framework of this institution.

2. Its integration into the socio-political, ideological and value structure of society, which, on the one hand, provides a formal legal basis for the activities of the institution, and on the other, allows social control over institutionalization types of activities.

3. The availability of material resources and conditions that ensure the successful implementation of regulatory requirements by institutions and the implementation of social control.

Each social institution has both specific features and common features with other institutions. signs. First, these are attitudes and patterns of behavior. Secondly, cultural symbols. The cultural symbol of an institution can be any material or non-material element of culture that expresses in the most concentrated form the main specific features of this institution, which form its integral image.

Thirdly, social institutions have utilitarian cultural features: the family has a hearth, a Russian stove, and an electric stove.

The fourth hallmark of institutions are oral or written codes of conduct. The people included in the activities of the institutions must assume the appropriate roles assigned to them.

The fifth sign of social institutions is the presence of ideology. Ideology can be roughly described as a system of ideas that is sanctioned by a set of norms.

Social institutions, regardless of what social relations they reflect (economy, politics, culture, religion, law, family), perform general institutional functions. In sociology, it is customary to distinguish explicit (historically recognized, clearly distinguished and easily recognizable functions) and latent (hidden, not officially recognized) functions.

Explicit functions of social institutions:

1. Isolation, consolidation and reproduction of social relations

Society as a social system, through social institutions, establishes the norms and rules for the behavior of individuals, which are fixed by relevant documents. Following these rules ensures stability in society and the possibility of developing an individual as a person.

2. Communicative function

This function is necessary to maintain the activities of a social institution at the proper level and to implement the internal interconnection of all its parts. In addition, every social institution is interested in obtaining external information about the activities of other social institutions.

3. Integrative function(function of maintaining the integrity of a social institution)

This function is aimed at ensuring cohesion during institutionalization, strengthening internal and external relations between members of the team. The integration function consists of three main elements:

1) consolidation, or combination of efforts;

2) mobilization of private resources of group members to achieve common goals;

3) compatibility of personal goals of individuals with the goals of others or the group as a whole.

4. Regulatory function

This function ensures the development of common socially significant patterns of behavior. The main institution designed to reproduce common patterns of behavior (social ideal) is the institution of culture.

Latent functions are functions that appear in the process of institutionalization, but have not become fundamental for this process.

3. Social communities, groups and organizations

Various types of social systems arise as a result of social interaction. Indeed, in the process of interaction between people, stable connections and relationships are formed that give a new quality to previously independent individuals - they create a “collective unity” (P.A. Sorokin’s term), which interacts with the environment as a whole. As a result of regular interaction, a couple of lovers form a family, several football fans form a team, a group of believers form a religious community, several workers form a labor artel, and so on. Strengthening mutual ties, establishing more stable relationships and the evolution of social communities are two sides of a single process of interaction between people. The interaction of communities and groups results in the social structure of society.

The most general, abstract category of sociology, which describes the variety of forms of association of people, is the concept of " social community"- a set of people united by common conditions of existence, who have established regular stable interaction with each other.

The main types of social communities are:

1) nominal community;

2) mass community (quasigroup);

3) social group;

4) social organization (organized group).

Rated commonality is a special social category. Unlike all other types of social communities, it does not arise naturally as a result of social interactions and, therefore, strictly speaking, cannot be called a community. A nominal community is a set of people united by common social characteristics, the relationship between which is established by the researcher in order to solve some scientific problem. These people can have a huge number of common features: eye color, hair color, love for animals, etc., but never interact with each other. The term "nominal community" exists as a tribute to the scientific tradition and has a more accurate synonym " social aggregate ».

Mass community (quasigroup)- this is a really existing set of people who are accidentally united by common conditions of existence and do not have a stable goal of interaction. The main characteristic features of mass communities can be considered:

Spontaneity of occurrence;

Instability, temporary nature of the coincidence of interests;

Uncertainty of composition and boundaries;

The unification of individuals by external conditions of existence;

Inability to enter as elements in other social communities.

Quasi-groups most often exist for a short time, after which they either completely disintegrate, or, under the influence of the situation, turn into stable social groups. Sociologists and social psychologists distinguish the following types of mass communities: audience, crowd, social circles.

1) The audience. The audience is understood as a social community of people, united by interaction with a communicator - an individual or group that owns information and brings it to this community. The audience can interact both directly with the communicator (for example, listening to a street speaker, announcements of the manager in a store or other public places), and indirectly, anonymously (for example, exposure to the media).

The most characteristic feature of the audience is almost one-way interaction, weak feedback from the audience to the communicator, especially for a large audience. Any audience tends to be divided into separate communities, in which mutual communication and exchange of opinions about the information received begin.

2) Crowd. A crowd is, as a rule, an unstructured collection of people connected by a similar emotional state and a common object of attention. If the crowd has a structure, then it is very simple and rarely more complicated than the division into leaders and everyone else. But a crowd is more than a simple aggregation of individuals. Physically constrained space leads to social interaction even when people in a crowd try to avoid interpersonal contact. Most often, crowds have certain common characteristics:

1. Suggestibility. People who are in the crowd, as a rule, are more suggestible than those who are outside it. They are more likely to accept the opinions, feelings, and actions of the majority.

2. Anonymity. The individual feels insignificant and unrecognizable in a crowd. The crowd often acts as a whole, and its individual members do not stand out and perceive themselves as individuals.

3. Spontaneity. The people who make up the crowd tend to be more spontaneous than under normal circumstances. As a rule, they do not think about their actions, and their behavior in the crowd depends solely on emotions.

4. Invulnerability. Since the people who make up the crowd are anonymous, they begin to feel out of social control, realizing that they are difficult to "reach". For example, when acts of vandalism are carried out by rampaging football fans, each of those participating in them disclaims responsibility for this, acting together with everyone as one.

Crowds can be divided into several types depending on the way they form and behave:

1. random crowd does not have any structure.

2. Conditioned crowd- a meeting of people, pre-planned and relatively structured. For example, a crowd gathered for a performance behaves differently in a theater, a stadium, a meeting, and so on.

3. expressive crowd, is a social quasi-group, which is usually organized in order to obtain personal pleasure from its members. For example, dancing.

4. acting crowd- a crowd with extreme types of behavior.

congregation- an emotionally excited crowd, gravitating towards violent actions.

3) social circles. Social circles are social communities created for the purpose of exchanging information between their members. These communities do not set any common goals, do not undertake joint efforts, and do not have an executive apparatus. The main function of social circles is to exchange views, news, comments, arguments. We can say metaphorically that circles are communities of people discussing.

There are several varieties of social circles, mainly represented in the classification of J. Shchepansky.

1. contact circles- these are social communities of people who constantly meet at sports competitions, in transport or in queues. The presence of a common interest in the topic of discussion allows them to make fleeting acquaintances or exchange views on issues of interest to them.

2. Professional circles, or circles of colleagues - these are social communities whose members gather to exchange information solely on a professional basis. They arise within the framework of formalized groups at enterprises, symposiums, meetings, conferences, among workers, engineers, scientists, artists.

3. Friendly circles- these are social communities for the exchange of information that arise among individuals united by friendship relations. Usually, friendly social circles mean companies that meet from time to time and discuss pressing issues or are in correspondence.

4. Status social circles- social communities that are formed about the exchange of information among individuals who have the same or similar statuses. An example of such a community can be considered aristocratic circles, circles of outcasts (homeless people).

All social circles can have leaders, i.e. individuals who accumulate, generalize various opinions and statements that are important for members of this circle and influence their behavior. These leaders are informal and do not have the ability to control the behavior of members of the social circle.

Social circles are the basis for the formation of active social groups. Such actions are especially vividly observed in politics, in the formation of political parties.

social group- a set of people united on the basis of joint activities, common goals and having an established system of norms, values, life orientations, stable patterns of behavior, thanks to which individuals form a sense of group solidarity.

The social group is characterized by a number of specific features:

Sustainability, longevity;

Definiteness of the composition and boundaries;

General system of values and social norms;

Awareness of one's belonging to a given social community;

Voluntary nature of the association of individuals (for small social groups);

The unification of individuals by external conditions of existence (for large social groups);

The ability to enter as elements in other social communities.

According to the number (mass character of participants) and the nature of relations, social groups are divided into big and small .

The main difference between a small social group and a large one lies in the possibility of direct emotional contacts between members of the group, in personal relationships between individuals, and therefore, in a clear distribution of them according to social statuses and roles. The classic example of a small social group is the family. Its number is 2-15 people. According to the type of influence of the community on the process of socialization of the individual, sociologists distinguish primary and secondary social groups.

Primary social groups constitute, as it were, the immediate environment of the individual and are the subjects of primary socialization (family, company of friends, classmates, like-minded people).

Secondary social groups characterized by impersonal, one-sided, utilitarian nature of interactions between individuals, indirectly affecting the process of socialization. For example, a sports club, a collective of philatelists, a joint team of school chess players.

4. The social structure of society and the basis for its classification

If the concept of "social system" indicates the relationship between many individuals that transform them into a qualitatively new set - "collective unity", then the category "social structure" reflects the nature of the ordered and interdependent relationships between the elements of the social system, describes the composition of the elements and "internal structure » human community.

Social structure - in the broad sense of the word - means the totality of relations between various social groups, communities, organizations and social institutions that ensure stability in society.

In the process of their own reproduction, people enter into certain social relations, primarily production relations, unite into groups, cooperate, and distribute functions. The dominant mode of production in a given historical period determines the nature of the social structure of a given society.

The classification of various aspects and elements of the social structure depends on the tasks solved by sociologists and the chosen foundations. Social structure can be seen in the following ways:

1) historical, from the point of view of the evolution of society, its development; the elements of such a structure are the stages of world history, the stages of development of individual countries, peoples;

2) functional, i.e. as an ordered system of forms of social activity that ensures the functioning and development of society; while the units of analysis are separate spheres of the social division of labor (economics, politics, law, morality, the system of education and upbringing);

3) institutional, as a system of links between social institutions that ensure the satisfaction of the most important social needs;

4) as the social composition of society, from the point of view of connections and relations between various social communities, groups, organizations identified on a variety of grounds (socio-demographic, socio-territorial, national-ethnic, stratification and other structures of society);

5) as a hierarchy of social statuses, each of which corresponds to a set of rights, duties and certain social roles;

6) as a certain system of socio-cultural orientation of individual and collective actions; the units of analysis in this approach to the social structure are the elements of social action (goals and means, motives and incentives, norms and patterns of behavior, etc.).

Other bases for the typology of the social structure of society, derived from those listed above, are also possible. In relation to the labor process, the entire society can be divided into "employed in social production" and "dependents" (children, students, pensioners, etc.). In relation to legal norms, the entire population can also be divided into groups with: 1) conformal (law-abiding) behavior; 2) deviant (deviant) behavior; 3) delinquent (criminal) behavior.

These approaches to the social structure of society can be considered as different, complementary, elements of it, each of which allows both theoretical and empirical analysis.

The social structure of society is not something fixed and unchanging. It is influenced by many factors, which by their nature can be both functional and dysfunctional. These include all sorts of internal conflicts and mutual influences of heterogeneous external structures (clash of local cultures or interests). Social structures differing in the level and type of their development are not equally capable of adapting internal and external influences.

The stability of the social structure of society and its adaptive capabilities change in the process of its development. In this case, two interrelated processes take place:

1. "Horizontal" differentiation of functions between separate complementary spheres of social activity (for example, the division of spheres of social production, the emergence of new spheres of activity);

2. "Vertical", hierarchical differentiation of functions between different levels of social management (for example, the corresponding differentiation of social institutions, mechanisms of social control and programs of activity of the social system).

Summing up the above, it is necessary to emphasize the great importance of studying the social structure of modern, and above all, Russian society. Not a single serious, socially significant institution or organization today can do without a competent sociologist who monitors trends in the development of this particular team and society as a whole.

Conclusion

Thus, having completed an essay on the topic “The social structure of society and its elements”, I answered the main questions of sociology in relation to society.

I gave a definition to society, determined its place and role in people's lives, examined the social structure of society and its elements.

The constituent elements of society are people, social ties and actions, social interactions and relationships, social institutions and organizations, social groups, communities, social norms and values, and others. Each of them is in more or less close relationship with others, occupies a specific place and plays a unique role in society.

In this regard, I defined and considered the tasks of sociology - to determine the structure of society, to give a scientific classification of its most important elements, to find out their relationship and interaction, place and role in society as a social system.

List of used literature

1. Belsky V.Yu., Belyaev A.A., Loshakov D.G. Sociology: Textbook / Ed. cand. Phil. Sciences, Assoc. Loshakova D.G. – M.: INFRA-M, 2002.

2. Radugin A.A., Radugin K.A. Sociology: a course of lectures. – M.: Vlados, 1995.

3. Toshchenko Zh.T. Sociology. General course. - 2nd ed. – M.: Prometheus, 2002.

4. Sociology. Tutorial. / Under the general editorship. doc. Phil. sciences, prof. Tadevosyan E.V. Moscow: Knowledge, 1995.

Portal for the student. Self-training

7.1. The concept of the social structure of society and its main elements

sociology about society.docx

1. The social structure of society and its elements.

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