sociology for Bsc Nursing students

1. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
AND SOCIAL SYSTEM
UNIT : 10
SOCIOLOGY
-DIVYAGNI SONI

2. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION:
• It means a set of differentiated activities serving a
common purpose and so correlated that effectiveness of
each is increased by its relation to the rest.
• Organization refers to “the way people relate
themselves to one another.”
• Definition:
• “Social organization is a state of being , a condition in which the
various institutions in a society are functioning in accordance
with their recognized or implied purposes.”
• Thus family, church, temple, college, factory, a play group, a
political party, a community all are examples of an social
organization.

3. TYPES OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION:
All these organizations are called social organization
which needed for the smooth running of any society.
• Political organization: Government
• Economic organization: Factory
• Religious organization: Church
• Financial organization: Bank
• Educational organization: school and colleges

4. ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL
ORGANIZATION:
• A Goal:
• The member of an organization are inter-related to each other for
the pursuit of a common goal.
• Preparedness to accept one’s role and status:
• Organization is an arrangement of people and parts.
• By arrangement is meant that every member of the organization
has an assigned role, a position and status.
• Common norms:
• Every organization has its own rules and regulation which control
its members.
• An organization can function smoothly if its members follow the
organization norms.

5. ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION:
• Sanctions:
• If a member does not follow the norms he is
compelled to follow them through sanctions
(conditions) which may range from warning to
physical punishment. e.g. expelled, dismissed.

6. TYPES OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION:
Democratic participation
Authoritarian
Voluntary association

7. Democratic participation:
• A democratic participation usually consult with
subordinates on planned actions, decisions and
participations from them.
• Democratic participation includes Participative
leaders who encourage group members to participate.
Group members feel engaged in the process and are
more motivated and creative.
• Democratic leaders offer guidance to group members,
but they also participate in the group and allow input
from other group members.

8. Authoritarian:
• This type of participation is based on the use of coercive
power.
• Authoritarian participation induced greater dependency
on the leader, low frequencies of suggestions for group
action and group policy, dissatisfaction with group and
high quantity but low quality of productivity.
• Authoritarian leaders make decisions independently with
little or no input from the rest of the group.

9. Voluntary association:
• David L Sills – “Voluntary organization is a group of
persons organized on the basis of voluntary membership
without state control for the furtherance of some
common interests of its members”.
• A voluntary association or union is a group of individuals
who voluntarily enter into an agreement to form a body
(or organization) to work together for a purpose. Which
perform varied functions for the welfare, integration and
solidarity of the society.
• Article 19 (1) (c) of the constitution of India confers on
the Indian citizens the ‘right to form association’.

10. Characteristics of voluntary
association :
• It is registered under some Act for legal status.
• It has definite aims and objectives and programmes
for fulfillment and achievement.
• It has an administrative structure.
• It is initiated and governed by its own members.
• It raises funds from the contributions or subscription
from the members of the local community and/or the
beneficiaries of the programmes.

11. SOCIAL SYSTEM:
• It is an organization where orderly and systematic
arrangement of social interaction and consists of
a network of interactive relationships.
• The people will interact with each other
according to shared cultural norms and meanings.
• Each and every individual has a role to play which
influences the behavior of others.
• The behavior of group and people in society is
controlled by social institution.

12. • Each and every social systems` interaction and
interrelationships with each other creates a
patterns which is called “Social system”.
• Definitions:
• “Social system means a network of
interactive relationships.”
• Loomis – “Social system is constituted of a
plurality of individual interacting with each
other according to shared cultural norms and
meaning”.

13. Elements of social system:
• Belief and knowledge
• Sentiment
• Goal and objective
• Norms
• Status
• Role
• Rank
• Power
• Sanction
• Facility

14. Elements of social system:
Belief and knowledge:
Any proposition about any
aspects of the universe that is accepted
as true. It may be true or false, verifiable
or not, but the people considers it as
true.
It furnishes the cognitive basis for social
action.

15. Elements of social system:
Sentiments:
It represents what we feel about a
particular stimulus. It is articulated in the
internal patter of the social system,
results from interaction.
These are acquired as a product of
experience and cultural conditions.

16. Elements of social system:
Goal and objectives:
Members in the social system will
expects to accomplish particular goal
through appropriate interaction.
Norms:
Standards to determine right or wrong
appropriate on inappropriate , good or bad in
social relationships.

17. Elements of social system:
• Rank:
The importance of the individual has for the system
in which the rank is accorded.
• Power:
It is the capacity to control others and exhibits
authority.
• Sanctions:
The society will rewarded or punish the individual
depending on the efficiency of their work performance.
• Facility:
It is a mean used to attain ends within the system
to enable the individuals to perform functions and their
roles efficiently.

18. Elements of social system:
• Status:
• Status is the position which an individual
has in society.
• In social system each individual has a status.
• The element of status is found in every social
system.
• Ex, In the family there are statuses of father,
mother, son,
• daughter, etc….likewise there are statuses in
a club, school, union or factory.

19. Status:
•Definition:
• Secord and Bukman – “Status is the worth of a person
as estimated by a group or a class of persons”.
• Ogburn and Nimkoff – “Status is the rank-order
position assigned by a group to a role or set of
roles”.
• Mazumdar – “Status means the location of the
individual within the group, his place in the social
network of reciprocal obligations and privileges,
rights and duties”.

20. Types of Status:
• Ascribed status:
• It is one which an individual gets at his birth.
• It is conferred to him by his group or society.
• It may be based on sex, age, caste or colour.
• Achieved status:
• It is one which an individual achieves by his
efforts.
• A man born in a low caste may, be his efforts,
become the Prime Minister and achieve
thereby a high status.

21. Elements of social system:
ROLE:
• Definitions:
• Lundberg – “is a pattern of behaviour
expected of an individual in a certain
group or situation”.
• Davis – “Role is the manner in which a
person actually carries out the
requirements of his position”.

22. ROLE:
• Individuals differ not only in such attributes of sex,
colour, height, age etc., but also differ in behaviour of
their occupations.
• Some persons are professors, physicians, labourers,
scientists, soldiers etc.,
• It is an expected behavior in a given individual for
social status and social position.
• Role refers to the obligations which an individual has
towards his group.
• Role is the function of particular individual in a
particular field.

23. Characteristics of social system:
• Social system is based on social interactions:
• When a number of individuals act and interact their
interactions produce a system, which is called as ‘
social system‘. An individual alone cannot produce
it, he has to interact with numbers of individual
then only social system is formed .
• The interaction should be meaningful:
• It is an orderly arrangement of the various
expressions of social relationships. They find
expression in tradition, customs, mores, laws and in
institutions. Aimless and meaningless interactions
do not produce social system.

24. Characteristics of social system:
• Social system is a unity:
• Where the various parts/ subsystems are arranged in
an integrated manner and constitute a social style.
It implies order among the interacting units of the
system.
• The parts of social system are related on the
basis of functional relationship:
• Each system has its assigned role and performs it in
accordance with united to the each other. It is an
arrangement of interdependent interactive parts
based on functional relationship.

25. Characteristics of social system:
• Social system has environmental aspects:
• Social system changes with the change in time. This
change does not disturb the social equilibrium , but
may be disturb for some time. In spite of social
changes social system continues to exist.
• Social system has the quality of self-adjustment .
• It is the system of interdependent action consist
of mechanisms of socialization and social
control.

26. Classification of Social Systems:
The following are the important classifications of
social systems:
• (1) Classification by Morgan and other
Evolutionists
• (2) Durkheim’s Classification
• (3) Sorokin’s Classification

27. (1) Classification by Morgan and
other Evolutionists:
• Morgan and other evolutionists have presented a
classification of social systems on the basis of evolution.
According to them, society or social system has passed
through three stages:
• (i) Savagery social system,
• (ii) Barbarian social system, and
• (iii) Civilized social system.
• They have also classified social systems on the basis of
means of livelihood. Thus these social systems have been
• (i) Hunting social system,
• (ii) Pastoral social system,
• (iii) Agricultural social system, and
• (iv) Industrial social system.

28. (2) Durkheim’s Classification:
• Durkheim has described two kinds of social systems
• (i) Mechanical social system: Mechanical solidarity is the
social integration of members of a society who have common values
and beliefs. These common values and beliefs constitute a
“collective conscience” that works internally in individual members
to cause them to cooperate.
• (ii) Organic social system: It is social integration that arises out of
the need of individuals for one another’s services. Society relies less
on imposing uniform rules on everyone and more on regulating the
relations between different groups and persons, often through the
greater use of contracts and laws.
• The ancient societies had mechanical system whereas in
modern societies we find organic social system.

29. (3) Sorokin’s Classification:
• Sorokin has classified the cultural systems. According to
him, there are three kinds of cultural systems
• (i) Sensate,
• (ii) Ideational, and
• (iii) Idealistic.
• Under sensate cultural system material happiness is
given primary importance whereas under ideational
system spiritual happiness is regarded more important.
In idealistic cultural system both the material happiness
and spiritual happiness are given importance

30. Pre-Requisites of Social System:
• There are certain pre-requisites of a harmonious and
active social system. It need no emphasis that there should
be harmony in a social system. A tension ridden social
system cannot function efficiently. Just as an organism can
work as a healthy body only if there is no disorder in its
parts, or there is no diseased part, similarly a social
system can function efficiently only if there is order among
its parts and these parts remain active.
• The essential pre-requisites of a healthy social system
can be classified into three kinds:
• (1) Biological pre-requisites
• (2) Functional pre-requisites,
• (3) Cultural pre-requisites.

31. (1) Biological Pre-requisites:
• These are the following:
• (a) Adequate number of people and (b) A definite
system of procreation.
• There should be sufficient number of people in a
social system so that it may function efficiently. But
the number should not be too much. Overpopulation
is an evil. The number of people in a social system
should be neither too less nor too many. Moreover, a
social system should ensure a definite system of
procreation to maintain its continuity. There should
not be an exceedingly high death rate.

32. (2) Functional Pre-requisites:
Functional pre-requisites are those pre-requisites which are
concerned with the functions of the members of the social
system. These are:
• (a) Obedience to social norms:
• Each social system has some norms of conduct. There can be no norm-
less society. The norms are the socially approved ways of behaviour
which the members of a social system are required to observe. If these
are violated, social system cannot function efficiently.
• (b) Mechanism of Social Control:
• Since some individuals in society violate its norms, therefore, it is
essential that requisite mechanisms be provided whereby the
individuals may be compelled to observe these norms and the social
system may function in a satisfactory manner. The mechanisms of social
control may be formal and informal.
• (c) Interest towards Positive Action:
• The actors should willingly accept the social system. They should have
no resentment against it. They should evince keen interest towards
positive action

33. (3) Cultural Pre-requisites:
• (a) Language:
• The members of a social system should possess a meaningful language to
communicate and express themselves. Without language no social system can
operate.
• (b) Symbols:
• The symbols also have a significant place in social system. According to Piper, “A
symbol is essentially a material object or process which stands for a meaning
beyond bare sensation. It represents man’s supplement to animal response and
signalizes his entrance to the space-less, transcendental world of meaning”. A
symbol is an object representing an invisible and inaudible object, for example,
God is represented by an idol.
• The lion represents bravery, the fox represents cunningness. The tribes, clans
and nations adopt symbols which have importance in their individual and social
life. The flag is a symbol of the nation. A leaf, a flower, an animal can become a
symbol of a social system. A symbol must not be arbitrary but must be natural,
i.e., it must convey as well as illuminate the idea.

34. • (c) System of communication:
• Lastly, every social system should have a system
of communication. Social interaction acts
through communication. The means of
communication may be language, script, gesture,
symbols, telephone etc.

35. Mechanisms of Social System:
• Social system is a system of interdependent action processes.
Our knowledge of individuals informs us that there are
tendencies in the individuals to alter established status of
social system which disturb the stabilized or equilibrated
interaction process.
• It is, therefore, of utmost importance that requisite
mechanisms be applied for maintaining the equilibrium
between the various processes of social interaction so that
the social system may function in a satisfactory manner.
• These mechanisms have been classified by Parsons into
two categories:
• (i) Mechanisms of socialization, and
• (ii) Mechanisms of social control.

36. Mechanisms of socialization:
• Socialization is a process of learning whereby an individual
acquires the requisite orientations for satisfactory functioning
in a role. The process of Socialization develops a child into a
functioning member of society. He adjusts himself with the
social situations conforming with social norms, values and
standards. But the process of socialization is not confined to
the child alone. It goes on throughout life.
• The case of socialization of the child is singled out because it
is in childhood that the major value- orientation patterns are
laid down which are not subject to drastic alteration during
adult life. Socialization takes place through various
motivational processes which may be called the mechanisms
of socialization. Parsons has mentioned five mechanisms of
socialization. These are re-enforcement extinction,
inhibition, substitution, imitation and identification.

37. Mechanisms of social control
• Social control consists of the mechanisms
whereby the society moulds its members to
conform to the approved pattern of social
behaviour. It is evident that there are tendencies
in the actor to deviate from the conformity with
the normative standards. Such deviance may
disintegrate the social system. Through the
mechanisms of social control the actor is
motivated to abandon his deviance and resume
conformity.

38. • According to Parsons, ‘The most fundamental
mechanisms of social control are to be found in the
normal processes of interaction in an institutionally
integrated social system”. Thus institutionalization is
one of the primary means of social control through
which the different activities and relationships are co-
ordinated to minimize conflicts on the social level. A
proper institutionalization of ‘time schedule’ for
different activities and of priorities can minimize source
of serious potential conflict.

39. • Besides, in every society there is a system of rewards
for confirmative and punishments for deviant
behaviour. In addition to this system, there are also
unconscious mechanisms which counteract deviant
behaviour. These may be divided into three classes :
(a) those which tend to “nip in the bud” tendencies to
development of compulsively deviant motivation
before they reach the vicious circle stage, (b) those
which insulate the bearers of such motivation from
influence on others, and (c) the “secondary defences”
which are able to reverse the vicious circle process.

40. Interrelation of institution:
• A social structure is maintained by proper adjustment of
relationships among the different institutions.
• No institutions works in alone.
• Religion, education, family, government and business all
• interact on each other.
• Thus education creates attitudes which influence the
• acceptance or rejection of religious beliefs.
• Business conditions may influence the family life.
• Unemployment may determine the number of people who
feel unable to marry.
• Thus social institutions are closely related to each other.
• The family is the center while education, religion,
government and economics are the spokes of the wheel.

41. Interrelation of institution:
• Breakdown of economic institutions may have radical effects upon
political institutions.
• Any change in an institution may led to a change in the other
institutions.
• No institution can avoid affecting other institutions or avoid being
affected by others.
• Ex, Within the past century, the shift from farm to nonfarm work has
reduced the father's authority, reduced family size as
children became an expense rather than an asset, and encouraged
away-from-home employment of women. The night shift forces
millions of workers ,to change their family-life routines. The watch-
and-help system of job training on the farm is replaced by formal
educational institutions Thus changes in one institution force in
others. The urban family is a less satisfactory haven for the aged than
the family farm used to be; the state responds with Social.