2. Social Institutions Statuses and roles are enduring and repetitive Social life is therefore enduring and repetitive Social institutions Phenomena that account for much of the fact that social structures tend to be enduring and repetitive
4. Social Institutions Defining characteristic of society is self-sufficiency Separates society from any smaller group Must provide the resources to answer all of its members basic needs Self-sufficiency also applies to having the resources to meet the society’s own survival needs (such as continuity and new members)
5. Social Institutions Societal needs Continuing supply of new members Socializing new members Dealing with members’ health issues Selecting members for certain jobs and tasks Creating knowledge Controlling members and defending against enemies Producing and exchanging goods and services Promoting social unity and searching for higher meaning
6. Social Institutions Family Family, education, religion Medicine Education, labor market Science, religion Law, judicial, religion Government, military Economic system Education, religion, politics New members Socialize Health issues Jobs and tasks Knowledge Control Defense Goods and services Unity and higher meaning
7. Social Institutions Institution An accepted and persistent constellation of statuses, roles, values, and norms that respond to important societal needs Ideal type A model of a hypothetical pure form of an existing entity Sanctions against not fitting the ideal type
8.
9.
10. Social Institutions Social institutions are… Generally unplanned, develop gradually Inherently conservative, change, but slowly Interdependent, change in one brings change in another Bear little resemblance from one society to the next
11. Social Institutions Generally unplanned, develop gradually How do institutions come into being? Faced with a particular problem, people try a variety of things to solve their needs and the “best” way becomes a pattern for subsequent generations to follow
12. Social Institutions Generally unplanned, develop gradually Over time, behavior becomes habitualized Routines free up mental space for thinking about more important things Not all routines are institutions Routine behavior is the way we do it, institutions are the way it must be done
13. Social Institutions Generally unplanned, develop gradually Why do we do it this way? “Rightness” or “logic” Institutions only survive as long as their rightness can be explained as reasonable, logical and natural
14. Social Institutions Conservative, change but slowly Because they are legitimized by logic and appeals to the nature of things, institutions are difficult to change Change is seen as an attack on nature or logic Gay marriage
15. Social Institutions Interdependent Things happen that cause people to need to alter their routines Technological and economic change Wars Women in WWII Changes in marriage
