Social Structure and Interaction Assignment

1.

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?
2.
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).
3.
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?
4.
What are the five functional prerequisites that a society must satisfy if it is to
survive? Describe the differences between organic and mechanical solidarity.

1) An ascribed status, where at birth, the person already has that social standing within the
society. It is not earned; it is assigned. This provides many expectations for the child who is
ascribed. For example, if the parents of the child had gone to Harvard, then many others would
start to think that the child is smart and should be going to Harvard in the future.
An achieved status is earned from working at the very beginning. This social status is
given based on the persons skills and abilities. A person who has parents that are in prison may
not be looked upon as skilled or gifted. If the person works hard and begins to earn good
grades, the individual might go to a good college, and gain the achieved status of a prestigious
student.
A reference group is a group that people base their behaviors on, so that they can either
fit in more, or stand out based on what everyone is following. Reference groups are everywhere.
If a person wanted to become a doctor, they might use doctors in a hospital as a reference
group in order to act more like them in hopes that it will help them achieve their career.
(Naomi Lin)
2) Social roles are considered to be a set of expectation, behaviors, and norms that a person
has to fulfill given their certain social position. For example on a basic level, we expect that a
chef in a restaurant will be able to know how to cook the food written on the menu, or that a cab
driver will know the streets of the town so that they will be able to get around town in a timely
fashion. Individual social status have certain role expectations; however, the actual task of each
person can vary. For example a company can have two executives, but one executive could be
in charge of business overseas while the other could be in charge of marketing. Social roles are
important because they stabilize society by allowing people to expect certain behaviors from
others. On the other hand, these roles restrict the relationship between peoples relationships
and communications.
One can violate their role by having an incompatible relationship between two or more
people of the same social status. A common example would be in the work place: a person who
was hired within the same group of interns, who has worked and labored the same amount of
hours, could be promoted before any one else. After taking the promotions over her coworkers,

how will be she able to gain their trust and respect? They see her as a friend; however, she is
now their boss and has attained a new social status. Violation of a role can come from not being
able to meet the expectations of the status, or even dealing with conflicting demands and
expectations. Role exit is the process in which someone is trying to leave their social role to
establish a new identity, an example of people going through this process would be recovering
alcoholics, retirees, transsexuals, etc. The socialization process is the beginning in which the
person learns their role in society, while as role exit is the leaving of social roles.
Primary group is a small group who are accustomed to intimate relations and cooperation.
These primary groups often need a long term commitment; for example, a family would be a
primary group because most likely your family has the same beliefs and have built a close-knit
relationship. Another great example would be a sports team because the small group has
worked together for a common goal, with each practice and game, their trust and
interdependence grows within the group. Secondary group is a larger, less personal group in
which a person would move in and out easily and would most likely use these secondary groups
to fulfill their needs; for example, employment agencies and merchant-client relationships. It is
important to keep in mind that there is not always a distinct line between the two groups, due to
groups fluctuating in size or even work groups becoming more close knit after an event.
(Ashley Wong)
3. 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?
In-group refers to a group where an individual feels that they belong to and is an important part
of who they are. In a sense, the in-group is the group that is the us because it is comprised of
you and other people that identify as the same thing. The out-group in this sense would be the
others, or the them. Out-group refers to a group that someone doesnt feel that they are part
of. Usually there is a sense of competition among those of the out-group. An example of an outgroup would be like a sports team.
In-group is related to primary group because these are the group of individuals you identify with
and are usually small; these are the people that you have a greater bond with and usually
communicate with them in a longer term, and is usually face to face, like your family. These two
are quite similar in the sense that this group is comprised of the people that you communicate
with the most. The primary group can consist of members who are part of the in-group and the
out-group. For example, my in-group is my family, but within my primary group, my friends are
there also because I see them and talk to them face to face. In this sense, my friends would be
an out-group but I still identify with them as my primary group because I still communicate with
them, and we are close. Secondary groups are characterized by a bigger group and are usually
task and time oriented. A perfect example of a secondary group would be this group for this
project, I dont necessarily know my group members that well but we do communicate and talk
because we are working on this assignment together. I do not have a strong bond with them and
I also dont see them so this would make them a secondary group. The secondary group and
the out-group are related because the out-group is a group that you dont feel like you strongly
belong to, and the secondary group is a group that is mostly impersonal, they are related
because you do not feel strongly bonded and do not really initiate contact with these groups of
people making them overlap in that sense. (Devonne Hwang)
4. What are the five functional prerequisites that a society must satisfy if it is to survive?
Describe the differences between organic and mechanical solidarity.

Five functional prerequisites that a society must satisfy to survive:

a. Replacing members
- Any society, in order to function well, has to know when to replace its members, such as
when they leave under different circumstances, incapable of performing their duties, or pass
away. The society needs every member to serve at his or her best capacity to develop and be
stable.
b. Socialization
- This prerequisite is very important because it allows all members in the society to interact
and connect to share the groups purposes and responsibilities. The customs have to be
established between all members under mutual agreement to maintain unity within the group.
c. Production and distribution (of goods and services)
- In order to maintain social order and behavior, society must provide its members desired
goods and services. Members need to know that if they work hard for the group, they will be
getting what they need.
d. Preserving order
- Laws and rules are necessary to maintain social order and also to protect members from
outside attacks.
e. Purpose
- Society is only stable when all members share a common goal and purpose so that
everyone is motivated to work hard for.
v Organic solidarity refers to one way of social integration established on a division of labor in
which its members depend on one another for goods and services.
v Mechanical solidarity, on the other hand, is a social unity that is built upon shared customs,
values, and beliefs.
(AnhThu Tran)