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Assignment no 1
Question no 1
Define the concept of social Structure.
Social Structure:
Social Structure Social structure refers to the pattern of social relationships in a society. Such structure
regulates the interactions among members of the society, providing guidelines within the cultural norms
for achieving the goals defined by cultural values. Generally, social structure maintains societal stability.
However, when the social structure and the societal values become incompatible, the structure must
embrace social change to allow the society to survive and continue healthy development. While a
variety of sociological approaches have sought to describe the development and maintenance of social
structure, understanding the relationship between structure and change is necessary for the
development of a peaceful world society. Social structure is the distinctive, stable system of social
relations that exists in any human society. It is not concerned with people as individuals, in groups, or in
the organizations forming the society, nor the ultimate goal of their relationships. Rather, social
structure deals with the organization of their relationships: how they are arranged into patterns. Thus,
the concept of social structure assumes that human social relationships are not arbitrary or coincidental,
but rather they follow certain patterns that can be identified. Social structure is the institutional
framework that makes for order in repetitive, rhythmic (whether daily, weekly, or yearly) interactions
among people. The key to the social structure of a society lies in understanding its social institutions and
their intertwining combinations. Social institutions provide the order necessary to make social structure
possible. 7 Overall the way in which society is organized into predictable relationships, patterns of social
interaction (the way in which people respond to each other). These patterns etc, are to some extent
independent of the particular individual, they exert a force which shapes behaviour and identity. Social
structure may be seen to influence important social systems including the economic system, legal
system, political system, cultural system, and others. Family, religion, law, economy and class are all
social structures. The "social system" is the parent system of those various systems that are embedded
in it. Social structure can also be divided into microstructure and macrostructure. Microstructure is the
pattern of relations between most basic elements of social life, that cannot be further divided and have
no social structure of their own (for example, pattern of relations between individuals in a group
composed of individuals - where individuals have no social structure, or a structure of organizations as a
pattern of relations between social positions or social roles, where those positions and roles have no
structure by themselves). Macrostructure is thus a kind of 'second level' structure, a pattern of relations
between objects that have their own structure (for example, a political social structure between political
parties, as political parties have their own social structure). Some types of social structures that modern
sociologist differentiate are relation structures (in family or larger family-like clan structures),
communication structures (how information is passed in organizations) and sociometric structures
(structures of sympathy, antipathy and indifference in organisations. Briefly we can say both "micro-
structure" and "macro-structure" can be found within social structure. Micro-structure is the pattern of
relations among the basic elements of social life that cannot be further divided and have no social
structure of their own (i.e. pattern of relations between individuals in a group composed of individuals,
where individuals have no social structure). Macro-structure is thus a kind of “second level” structure, a
pattern of relations among objects that have their own structure (e.g. the relationship among political
parties, as political parties have their own social structure). Overall social structure contains on the
following aspects. Society: self contained, self sufficient population united by social relationships,
bounded from other populations by geographic locations Stratification: unequal distribution of valued
goods or holdings in a population (i.e. class, status, resources, grades, wealth, positional goods, etc.)
Network: pattern of relationships in a population of actors Social structure variables: pattern of
relationships, size of institution, income distribution, and concurrency of social relationships 8 Karl Marx
developed a view of social structure as he argued that society moves to the next stage when the
dominant social class is displaced by a new emerging class, resulting in a new social structure. Marx's
approach includes several core assumptions that are not specific to any period of history:  Human
beings are social creatures who live in complex societies.
 Human society consists of human beings collectively working to achieve the necessities of life.
 Human society develops a complex division of labor.
 Over time, unlike ants or bees, human beings develop better methods of harnessing nature through
the development of science and technology.
 Human beings have the ability to reflect on their society and interaction with nature, but their thinking
and organization are always dependent on the state of development of their society and of the power
structures in their society.

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Assignment no 1

Define the concept of social Structure.

 Human society develops a complex division of labor.

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