social institutions

(noun)

In the social sciences, institutions are the structures and mechanisms of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given human collectivity. Institutions include the family, religion, peer group, economic systems, legal systems, penal systems, language, and the media.

Related Terms

Examples of social institutions in the following topics:

  • Social Institutions

    • An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given community.
    • An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given community.
    • Sociology traditionally analyzes social institutions in terms of interlocking social roles and expectations.
    • Social institutions are created by and defined by their own creation of social roles for their members.
    • The social function of the institution is the fulfillment of the assigned roles.

  • The Functionalist Perspective

    • The functionalist perspective attempts to explain social institutions as collective means to meet individual and social needs.
    • The functionalist perspective attempts to explain social institutions as collective means to meet individual and social needs.
    • It is sometimes called structural-functionalism because it often focuses on the ways social structures (e.g., social institutions) meet social needs.
    • Because social institutions are functionally integrated to form a stable system, a change in one institution will precipitate a change in other institutions.
    • Functionalists analyze social institutions in terms of the function they play.

  • Understanding Social Interaction

    • In sociology, social interaction is a dynamic, changing sequence of social actions between individuals or groups.
    • The United States Congress is an example of a social institution that is clearly predicated upon social interactions.
    • A social interaction is a social exchange between two or more individuals.
    • Social structures and cultures are founded upon social interactions.
    • By interacting with one another, people design rules, institutions and systems within which they seek to live.

  • Resocialization and Total Institutions

    • A total institution is a place where a group of people is cut off from the wider community and their needs are under bureaucratic control.
    • Within a total institution, the basic needs of a entire bloc of people are under bureaucratic control.
    • Institutions established to care for harmless or incapable people, including orphanages, poor houses and nursing homes
    • First, the staff of the institution tries to erode the residents' identities and independence.
    • Review Goffman's five types of social institutions and their functions, including their processes of resocialization

  • The Conflict Perspective on Deviance

    • Conflict theories emphasize the social, political, or material inequality of a social group, that critique the broad socio-political system.
    • Foucault theorized that institutions control people through the use of discipline.
    • In conflict theory, deviant behaviors are actions that do not comply with social institutions.
    • He also theorized that institutions control people through the use of discipline.
    • Institutions of knowledge, norms, and values, are in place to categorize and control humans.

  • Institutionalized Children

    • Institutionalized children may develop institutional syndrome, which refers to deficits or disabilities in social and life skills.
    • In clinical and abnormal psychology, institutional syndrome refers to deficits or disabilities in social and life skills, which develop after a person has spent a long period living in mental hospitals, prisons, or other remote institutions.
    • The term institutionalization can be used both in regard to the process of committing an individual to a mental hospital or prison, or to institutional syndrome; thus a person being "institutionalized" may mean either that he/she has been placed in an institution, or that he/she is suffering the psychological effects of having been in an institution for an extended period of time.
    • Deinstitutionalization can have multiple definitions; the first focuses on reducing the population size of mental institutions.
    • This can be accomplished by releasing individuals from institutions, shortening the length of stays, and reducing both admissions and readmission.

  • Social Control

    • Social control refers to the various means used by a society to bring its members back into line with cultural norms.
    • There are two general types of social control:
    • formal social control refers to components of society that are designed for the resocialization of individuals who break formal rules; examples would include prisons and mental health institutions
    • Some researchers have outlined some of the motivations underlying the formal social control system.
    • rehabilitation - some argue that formal social controls should work to rehabilitate criminals, eventually turning them into productive members of society

  • Social Constructionism

    • Social constructionism is a school of thought introduced into sociology by Peter L.
    • Berger and Thomas Luckmann with their 1966 book The Social Construction of Reality.
    • Social constructionism focuses on the description of institutions and actions and not on analyzing cause and effect.
    • Berger and Luckmann argue that social construction describes both subjective and objective reality - that is that no reality exists outside what is produced and reproduced in social interactions.
    • A clear example of social constructionist thought is, following Sigmund Freud and Émile Durkheim, religion.

  • Elements of Socialization

    • Depending on the degree of isolation and resocialization that takes place in a given institution, some of these institutions are labeled total institutions.
    • In his classic study of total institutions, Erving Goffman gives the following characteristics of total institutions:
    • The most common examples of total institutions include mental hospitals, prisons, and military boot camps, though there are numerous other institutions that could be considered total institutions as well.
    • The goal of total institutions is to facilitate a complete break with one's old life in order for the institution to resocialize the individual into a new life.Mortimer and Simmons note a difference in socialization methodologies in different types of institutions.
    • When the goal of an institution is socialization (primary or secondary), the institution tends to use normative pressures.

  • The Role of Socialization

    • Socialization prepares people for social life by teaching them a group's shared norms, values, beliefs, and behaviors.
    • The role of socialization is to acquaint individuals with the norms of a social group or society.
    • Socialization is an important process for children, who are socialized at home and in school .
    • Second, socialization teaches individuals how to prepare for and perform certain social roles—occupational roles, gender roles, and the roles of institutions such as marriage and parenthood.
    • The term "socialization" refers to a general process, but socialization always takes place in specific contexts.