SOCI 1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Symbolic Interactionism, The Sociological Imagination, C. Wright Mills
7 Jan 2016
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Document Summary
Elements of social structure: institutions: an established and enduring pattern of social relationships. The 5 traditional social institutions are family, religion, politics, economics, and education. Institutions are the largest elements of social structure: social groups: institutions are made up of social groups. Defined as 2 or more people who have a common identity and who interact and form a social relationship. Social group may be categorized as primary or secondary. Primary group: a small group characterized by intimate and informal interaction. Secondary group: a group characterized by impersonal and formal interaction. Employees: statuses: just as an institution consists of social groups, a social group consists of statuses. Status: a position a person occupies within a social group. Ascribed status: a status that society assigns to an individual on the basis of factors over which the individual has no control. We have no control over the sex, race, ethnic background into which we are born.
