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MarinaAcobiance
ClaudiaFuentes
StephanieHo
ProfessorColeman
Sociology1
June12,2015

SocialStructuresandInteraction

1)
Howdoascribedandachievestatusesservetoidentifywhoapersonisinaculture?
Whatarereferencegroups?Howarereferencegroupsexperiencedinsociety?

Ascribedstatusisanidentitythatapersonisbornwith,itisnotachievedandisdecidedatbirth
norcanitbechanged.Forallculture,themother,father,son,daughterrelationshipsareascribed
statuses,nomatterwhatthatcantbechanged.Achievedstatusesisearnedbyanindividual.For
example,ifacollegestudentwantstobeadoctor,heorshehastogothroughschooland
trainingandgetadoctorjobatahospitaltobefinallyacceptedasadoctor.ThattitleDr.isnot
justgiventoanyone,itisearnedthroughhardworkandtime.Forachievedstatusesthatidentify
apersoninanyculturecanbethroughmarriage.Forwomenafterbeingmarriedtheirlastname
willmostlikelybechangedtotheirhusbands.Thiscreatesclosenessasacouple,andthelast
namechangingpartmakesthemfamilyaswell.Areferencegroupcanbeaguidetouseforself

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tofitintoanewenvironment.Theyobservetheirnewplacebyhowthepeopleact,speak,dress,
etc.Afterobserving,fortheindividualtobeapartofthisnewenvironment,heorshehasto
adapttothereferencegroup.Insocietyreferencegroupsiswhatpullspeopletogetherinto
behavingaacceptedcertainway.Thiscreatespeopletogetalongwitheachotherandcanwork
withoneanotherinapeacefulmanner.
(StephanieHo)

2)Whatisasocialrole(giveexamples)?Howdoesoneviolatehisorherrole?
Whatismeantbyroleexit?Andhowdoesroleexitrelatetothesocializationprocess?
Distinguishbetweenprimaryandsecondarygroups(giveexamples).

Socialroleiswhenpeoplebehaveacertainwaythatfitsintoaparticularenvironmentorstatus
role.Thesesocialbehaviorsarelikeunwrittenrulesthataremadeupbypeople,andpeopleare
supposetoadapttotheserulesindifferentsituationstofitinsociallysuchastheproperway
tobehaveinpublic.InanexpensivesteakhouseinBeverlyHills,theattireisprobably
somewherefromabovecasualtofancy,ifahomelesswalksinheorshewouldbefrownedupon.
Inaclassroomastudentssocialroleistostayquietandnottalkwhiletheteacherislecturing,
becauseitisrudeifthatstudentdoessoanditdistractsothersfromlearning.Socialrolesareto
befollowedaswellsothattheyarenotcausingpublicdisturbance.Apersoncanviolatehisor
herroleisbygoingagainsttheproperwayofbehaving.Sayinalibrary,everyoneknowstobe
silentinthere,byscreamingandyellinginalibrarydistractsothersfromtheirstudy/reading.
Roleexitiswhenanindividualstartsleavingaroletocreateorbecomeanewone.Forexample,
astudentgoestoschooltobecomeateacher,duringthisperiodsheorheisastudent.After
graduatingfromschoolandearningadegree,sheorhefindsateachingjobataschool,thenthat

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personleavestheirroleofastudentthenturningtotheirnewroleofateacher.Roleexitrelates
tosocializationprocessisbecauseoftheirrole,theyhavetoactwhatisexpected.Asateacher,
theyneedtobeprofessional,reasonable,honest,helpful,encouraging,andgoodatteaching
towardstheirstudents.Ateachershouldnotsocialize/lecture/teachtheirstudentswithbroken
grammerway,slanging,orwithfoullanguage.Primarygroupsandsecondarygroupsaresome
whatopposites.Primarygroupsarepeoplewhohavecloserelationshipswithoneanother,
whetherabiggrouporjustbetweentwopeoplefamiliesandclosefriendsareprimarygroups.
Secondarygroupscanbeclose,buttherelationshipisonlytemporaryandshorttermincollege
itisnormallybysemestersystemorquartersystem.Althoughitispossibletobuildastrong
relationshipwiththeteacher,butbecauseoftheshortperiodoftimemostofthestudentsdonot.
Aftertheclassisover,mostofthestudentswouldnevercontactthatteacher/professoragain.In
thiscase,itissecondarygroups.
(StephanieHo)

3)Whatismeantbyingroupandoutgroup?Howisingroupconnectedtoprimary
group?Howisoutgroupconnectedtosecondarygroup?
Aningroupisagroupwheresomeonebelongsorfitsinto,andanoutgroupistheopposite
wheresomeonedoesnotbelongtoagroupbecausetheycannotrelate.Aningroupis
connectedtoprimarygroupbecauseifsomeoneispartofaprimarygroup,theymustbeinthe
ingroup.Theprimarygroupisapersonalgroupwhereeveryoneistreatedliketheybelongand
supportoneanother.Anoutgroupisconnectedtosecondarygroupbecausepeoplein

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secondarygroupsdonothavetightbonds.Thesegroupsarebasedmoreonshortterm
friendshipsbecausethepeopledonotconnectonadeeperlevel.Someoneinanoutgroup
wouldlandinasecondarygroup.(MarinaAcobiance)

4)Whatarethefivefunctionalprerequisitesthatasocietymustsatisfyifitistosurvive?
Describethedifferencesbetweenorganicandmechanicalsolidarity.

Inorderforasocietytosurvivefivefunctionalprerequisitesneedtobefulfilled.Thefirst
prerequisitethatisneededis
replacingmembers.
Peopleinsocietymustmultiplytoincreasein
sheernumberstoguaranteeasocietythatisabletosurvive.Second,therequiredprerequisite
neededforsurvivalis
socialization
.Individualsmustbesocializedintoasocietyorcomplete
chaoswillbetakenintoeffect.Socializationcanbetakenintoeffectthroughreligion,education,
andotherinstitutions.Then,
productionanddistribution
isneededtobringaboutitsgoodand
serviceswhichcanbedivideduponeconomicinstitutions.Next,individualsmustworkto
preserveorder
insocietyagainstthreateningforcesthatareexternalandinternal.Societiesoften
acquireoutsideforcesforprotectionsuchaslawenforcementofficialstopatrolthestreetsand
militarytodefendthemagainstbiggerthreats.Lastly,thefinalprerequisitethatmembersin
societymusthaveis
purpose
.Havingasenseofpurposebringsgreatmeaningtooneslife.Not
havingapurposedestroysanindividualsselfinterestforfunctioningstabilityintheirlifes.
MechanicalandOrganicSolidarityarewhat
EmileDurkheim
callscollectiveconsciousness,
inwhichcohesivepowertiestogetherhumangroupsandindividuals.Groupingindividualswith
eachother,teachesthemtocooperateandinteractwitheachothersotheycangraspsocietys
goals.MechanicalSolidarityseparatesindividualstogetherwhohavecommonvalues.Organic

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Solidaritywasmorecomplex,butthoseinthedivisionlaborcloselydependononeanotherto
functioninlife.OrganicSolidarity,allowsindividualstobettersurviveinasocietythrough
socialization.WhereasMechanicalSolidarityisbasedongroupinteractionbythosewhomshare
thesamevalues.
ClaudiaFuentes