Sociology Notes 3

Society and Social Institutions
A. Society- a collection of interacting individuals sharing the same way of life (culture) and living in the same territory.
B. Fundamental Building Blocks of Society
1. Statuses: positions in society
a. Ascribed position- status given to us at birth or involuntary assigned later in life.
Ex: race, gender, social class
b. Achieved status- status obtained voluntarily by personal ability and effort.
Ex: college, graduate with Bachelors/Master’s degree.
c. Master status- highest status a person can obtain that is determined by society.
Ex: President of the United States of America
2. Roles- patterns of expected behavior that should align with one’s status in society
a. Prescribed Role- set of expectations about how a person with a particular status should behave.
b. Role Performance- how a person actually carries out a role.
3. Group- collection of people who interact with one another and have a feeling of unity; groups form when people carry out statuses and roles.
4. Social institutions- a set of widely shared beliefs, norms, and procedures necessary for meeting the basic needs of society. Social institutions do for us collectively what we as individuals are not able to do.
***The five most important social institutions: family, education, religion, economy, and politics***