SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

This chapter introduces the concept of

social institutions, which refers to a system of
standardized patterns of behavior and norms
toward the preservation of social order. Social
institutions play a huge role in society as there
are various social institutions that organize
and define social life. Understanding social
institutions can help us explain how social
order is attained or maintained as well as gain
insights into human behavior.
 SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS refer to organized sets
of elements such as beliefs, rules, practices,
and relationships that exist to attain social
order. It also refers to well established and
structured relationships between groups of
people that are considered fundamental
components of societys culture.
 ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
INSTITUTIONAL APPROACH- tells us that
social institutions are ordered sEts of rules,
norms, beliefs, or values that organize human
behavior.
RELATIONAL APPROACH- focuses on social
relations rather than rules, norms, beliefs, or
values.
 Social Institutions
The Family, Marriage, and Kinship
The family is considered a vital social
institution. Aristotle considered the family as
having arisen from a mans desire to leave
something of himself behind.
The family is a group of people who are
related by birth, marriage, and a shared
residence.
 SEVERAL KINDS OF FAMILY
1. NUCLEAR FAMILIES are families that are
composed of parents and children.
2. ENTENDED FAMILIES are those that are
composed of the nuclear family and the other
relatives such as grandparents, aunts, uncles,
and cousins.
3. RECONSTITUTED FAMILIES are composed
of the spouses and their children from the
previous marriage.
 The family is also a basis for KINSHIP which is
a social structure defined by relations among
individuals linked by blood or marriage ties.
Kinship ties based on the descent can be
either MATRILINEAL, PATRILINEAL, or
BILINEAL.
MATRILINEAL kinship means that ones
descent is based on the female line.
 PATRILINEAL kinship means that ones descent
is based on the male line.
. BILINEAL kinship refers to a descent system
based on both the male and female lines.
Kinship ties can also be based on marriage or
the formally recognized union of man and
woman.
 Marriages can either be MONOGAMOUS or
POLYGAMOUS. Marriage is culture-specific.
For Christian societies, marriage is
monogamous which means that a spouse
cannot have more than one spouse. Among
Islamic, societies, in contrast, marriage can be
polygamous which means that a person can
have more than one spouse. The type of
polygamy among Muslims is called POLYGYNY,
 that is a, a husband could take many wives.
Another type of polygamy is called
POLYANDRY where a wife can have many
husbands.