The structure within a society focuses on how the entire society is organized. Some of the major elements linked to the social structures include the statutes, the roles, groups and even institutions. Studies have established that fame and position are critical factors that are blended within the social structure. Status and roles can be considered as two primary factors that are associated with the social structure (Murdock, 1949). Status is the position that an individual often would hold within the social structure while on the other hand, the role is simply the total of a person’s expectations concerning a particular behavior that is attached to a given social status. In my case, I believe that my occupational status is highly multifaceted in nature. For instance, I am a police sergeant, and at the same time, I am expected to be one of the primary decision makers. In addition to this, within the department, I hold the status as a narcotic task force officer that in my view holds its status expectations. Evidently, the two ranks seem to be unique in nature as found within the law enforcement sphere. In my case, I also believe that I hold the middle-income class status based on my average income and the quality of lifestyle. It might be worth noting that most of these statuses are all achieved and not ascribed. I have been able to deal with status inconsistency since I entered my job. At the current position, I am in charge of supervising over a group of individuals and majority of whom are older than me. It was challenging at first since I could not easily get their cooperation because most of them did not respect me based on my younger age compared to theirs (Granovetter, 1985).
On the other hand, a group comprises of two or more individuals who interacts and have a common goal that establishes their social relationship. Every person in a group has his or her status, a position that he or she will carry within the group. Culture has been identified as one of the critical elements that often help in the determination of what kind of persons an individual would become in future. It is explicitly founded on different groups’ behavior, values, language and even beliefs. I was born and raised in the culture of my family and thus was expected to carry on and build onto what my parents had installed inside me. Based on my culture, I can state that my culture values are strictly defined as staying very close to the family, extending a helping hand to the need community members and a stronger relation to the family’s religious beliefs. I am a devoted Christian, and I am committed to church activities hence I a member of a church music group. The group clearly displays our identity as the church members. A secondary group comprises of the rest of the church members, the people I have attended school with and my co-workers. Clearly, my master status is my age. At my position I have faced increased criticism in any role assigned to be only because of my age and how mature I always act, therefore, in most instances, older people might not take me seriously.
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At one hand, an institution can be understood as established belief patterns and behaviors that an individual adopts to meet their basic needs. Some of the institutions that have been identified in the society include the following, religion, state, family and even education (Murdock, 1949). A major institution, in this case, is the government while a minor institution is a family. The government is in charge of overseeing the welfare of the entire community while providing social services such as health amenities, food, water and security to the citizens. The family, on the other hand, provides food, education, shelters and clothes to its members the family further offers social support and performs socialization function. There exists a strong interrelation between the government and the family (Granovetter, 1985). None of these institutions can operate properly without the other. Instabilities in the state would affect families, and massive family instability in the society would also influence the government by increased level of insecurity that would interfere with the functions of the government. Therefore, the two works to together to accomplish a specific goal. The government and the family have evolved rapidly over the years. The government, for instance, has changed based on the social pressure to meet the increased needs of the high population and the need to meet the international standards to enhance the social welfare (Murdock, 1949). The family, on the other hand, has considerably been influenced by industrial revolution that substantially changed the traditional roles of the families. Women have now pursued careers competing with men in the top jobs that were initially meant for men; there has been increased divorce and early marriages.
References
Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic action and social structure: The problem of embeddedness. American journal of sociology , 91 (3), 481-510.
Murdock, G. P. (1949). Social structure.
