How do ascribed and achieve statuses serve to identify who a person is in a culture? What are reference groups? How are reference groups experienced in society? 1. An ascribed status is a position that a person holds from the moment of their birth and is often considered unchangeable (such as a person's race). An achieved status on the other hand is one that is earned rather than inherited (such as a earning a college degree). In a given culture, a person's ascribed status can give them their identity by the way others interact with them and the expectations society has for them. This collides with achieved status, since a person's ascribed status can sometimes place more pressure on them to attain an achieved status. An ascribed status is probably the most significant part of a person's identity in a given culture, since it's something that they have no control over. Reference groups is a term used by sociologists to describe a group that a person uses as a model to judge themselves. One example of a reference group in society could be the way elite colleges have similar rate of graduation rates to average colleges, despite having “smarter” students. This could be because students at top schools compare themselves to their brilliant peers and feel inferior despite being among the best in the world—this is known as the “big fish, little pond” effect. (Mitchell Miller)
What is a social role (give examples)? How does one violate his or her role? What is meant by role exit? And how does role exit relate to the socialization process? Distinguish between primary and secondary groups (give examples). 2. Social role can be defined as the way we act in certain situations. For example, when I am at my home speaking to my parents, I probably won’t speak to them the same way compared to if I was with my friends in person. If I’m at work in a office building compared to when I’m at home in my room, all of these situations require me to act different and appropriate for each. Role exit is exactly how it is described. When you leave your established role to form a new one. In socialization, it is a never-ending process, we learn new behaviors and adapt based upon those. An example of this can be if you’re attending church for the first time and go with a friend and you begin talking during the sermon and your friend tells you to be quiet, you might be a little surprised, but you will have learned that in this scenario what the appropriate behavior is an instead also attempt to be quiet during the sermon. Primary groups are groups where individuals see these people in person often and have emotional needs. A good example of this can be one’s best friend, significant other such as a girlfriend or boyfriend, and wife or husband. Secondary groups on the other hand are more impersonal, and usually task-oriented. An example of this can be a class in high school, you attend a class for 50 minutes to learn and get some assignments done and you leave. It is still possible for you to have primary groups while in that class if you decide to form them, but the relationship with the teacher and student are secondary groups. (Christan Caum)
What is meant by in-group and out-group? How is in-group connected to primary group? How is out group connected to secondary group? 3. Group in is described as the people who are in the social circle in a functionalist group ex church, football team, club, etc. This is only promoting that a certain group of individuals in the in-group are much better than the out-group. We see this during the segregation time period when blacks kept to their own and did not mingle with the whites. The connection of primary groups to in-groups is that the connection is deeper than the surface. These are people whom confine in one another and at times ask for help either in a spiritual sense or on a personal level. As for secondary groups are let’s say at arms distance, those who you interact with either at school or at work only. Just like this assignment is a secondary group example we are depending on our fellow student to finish this assignment, however we do not know them in deep personal level only school wise extent of a type relationship.(Roger Moreno)
What are the five functional prerequisites that a society must satisfy if it is to survive? Describe the differences between organic and mechanical solidarity. 4. The five functional prerequisites that a society must satisfy if it is to survive is replacing members, socializing new members, producing and distributing goods and services, preserving order, and providing a sense of purpose. These are mostly self-explanatory itself, but it will be explained below. Replacing members is the first prerequisite because the society would diminish throughout time. The society replaces members due to dying or leaving of individuals within a society, therefore, a society must replace members. Socializing new members is a great way to prevent new and current members from creating chaos. Socializing new members also helps individuals to bond and accept religion and education to achieve socialization through the society. Producing and distributing goods and services is to help the society to survive. Preserving order is the most critical prerequisite in a society because it is very critical that every society preserve order and protect themselves from an attack. Internal and external attack on a society are protected by police force and the military to prevent invasion. The last and final functional prerequisite is providing a sense of purpose. In order for members of the society to fulfill the requirements needed, individuals must be motivated. The purpose of this is to persuade members to do these jobs because it’s self sacrifice and restraint. This prevents a society from being destroyed from self-interest and own destruction. Organic and mechanical solidarity refers to concepts that were developed by Émile Durkheim. Organic solidarity explains how technologically advanced, industrialized societies are bonded together. This normally occurs in modern and industrial societies. Mechanical solidarity is normally used in traditional and small societies and it is based on kinship ties of familiar networks. This helps people feel more connected within the same society. (Michelle To)
Reflection: I chose to do my reflection of the assignment Social Structure and Interaction because this was the first time I had to choose my own group to work with during an online class. It was a new experience for me because usually the professor picks my group members. I had to physically message people in the class to figure out who would work with me and finally, I found someone and another person who already had a partner. I feel like in doing this assignment my academic skills have improved because it got me out of my comfort zone. Since I don’t usually message people for help on canvas, it felt weird messaging people through the inbox option. You never know if someone is going to reply to you or if they’re going to be plain out rude and ignore you. This assignment also helped me gain the trustworthiness of the three classmates that helped me complete this assignment. We each had one question to answer and they all completed it before the due date came up. Not only did I have to focus on my own question to answer, I relied on three others to complete their part in completing their questions. My academic skills have improved because this assignment included some critical thinking questions that really tested me. I have trouble with answering questions, even if some of the answers are located in the textbook that we have to read. My learning goals for my next assignment is to finish earlier than the due date because even though I completed this assignment 2 days earlier, it was through the help of others because there were four questions. If I were to finish this assignment myself, it would have taken much longer and I would have turned it in the day it was due. The skills I need to work on more is to not procrastinate as much. I am the biggest procrastinator especially if it deals with school work. I need to finish 3-4 days prior to the due date so that I don’t stress myself out.Another skill I need to work on is answering questions to the fullest, I usually just answer the question that’s being asked, but not thoroughly enough. Answering questions thoroughly will help me get all the points possible on the assignment.