Unit V: Social Institution

1
Social Institution
Meaning and Definition
• An institution is an • William Kornblum: “In Sociology, an institution is
enduring set of cultural a more or less stable structure of statuses & roles
patterns & social devoted to meeting the basic needs of people in
relationships organized
to accomplish basic a society “
social tasks
• Horton and Hunt defines institution as, “a system
• A social institution, for of norms to achieve some goal or activity that
example, religion, is not people feel is important”
a group of people; it is a
system of ideas, beliefs,
practices and • MacIver and Page: “Social institutions are
relationships
established forms or conditions of procedure,
characteristic of group activity”
  2
Features and Functions of Institutions
Functions
Features • Controls human behavior
• Vehicle of culture
• Universality
• Factor of social change
• An unit in the cultural system • Provide role and status for individuals
• Institutions are standardized norms • Fulfills human needs and directs his
• Relatively Permanent but Changeability functions
• Well defined objectives • Contributes to unity & uniformity
• Institutions as means of satisfying needs • Each of the other social institutions has a far-
reaching effects on our lives
• Control mechanisms & Sanction ( :jLj[mlt ) • E.g. by weaving the fabric of society, institutions
(swikriti) establish the context in which we live
• Symbol ( k|lts ) (pratik) Traditions ( k/Dk/f ) • Provides support for better chances for
(parampara) human survival
• Structure ( ;+/rgf ) (sanrachana) • Develops personality of the members of the
society
• All social institutions are interdependent 3
 Functionalist theorists have traditionally identified these needs/functions as follows
(Parsons 1951; Aberle et al 1950; Levy 1949; quoted in Anderson & Taylor, 2008):

• The socialization of new members of the society. Family & education

• The production and distribution of goods and services. Economy & family

• Replacement of society’s members who migrate or leave. Family

• The maintenance of stability and existence. Government, police, military

• Providing the members with an ultimate sense of purpose. National

anthem promotes patriotism, religion, the family & education
4
 Conflict theorists

• Believe that social institutions do not provide these functions or all its
members equally

• Some members are provided for better than others

• Institutions affect people by granting more power to some social groups

than to others

• Racial and ethnic minorities and the poor in general have low access to
facilities of health, education, employment etc. than do those of higher
social class.
5
 Types of Institutions
Sociologists have identified 9 social institutions

• Family
• Religion • Each institution is built around a standardized
• Law solution to the primary problems encountered in a
particular sphere
• Politics
• Economics
• Institution in one society is different to the same
• Education
institution in another society
• Medicine
• Science • Since the parts of social systems are interrelated, a
• Military change in one institution has consequences for the
other institutions & for the society as a whole
6
Family
Concept and Definition
• Latin word 'Famulus' means servant • JWVZ: Family is a social group
whose members are related by
• In Roman law the word denotes a ancestry, marriage, or adoption
group of producers & slaves & other and who live together, cooperate
servants as well as members economically and care for the
connected by common descent or young
marriage

• Family is a social unit consisting of a

• M. F. Nimkoff: 'Family is a more
married couple and their children or less durable association of
husband & wife with or without
child, or of a man or woman
• In many societies it is a kin group, not alone, with children.'
a married couple and their children
that is the basic family unit 7
Characteristics/Features of Family

• Universal
• Emotional basis
• Limited in size
• Breeding ground
• Responsibilities of members
• Social Regulation

8
Functions of a Family

• Kinsley Davis • MacIver

• Reproduction • Primary or Essential Functions are the basic functions
• Maintenance • Stable satisfaction of sex need
• Placement • Reproduction or procreation
• Production & rearing of child
• Socialization
• Provision of home
• Cultural transmission & agent of socialization
• Ogburn & Nimkoff • Ascribes status
• • Affection functions
Affectional
• Economic
• Recreational • Secondary or Non-essential Functions of family
• Economic functions
• Protective • Educational functions
• Religious • Religious functions
• Educational • Recreational functions
9
Family Types

On the basis of marriage, family has been On the basis of nature of authority,
classified into 3 types: family can be classified into 2 types:
•Polygamous Family •Matriarchal Family
•Polyandrous Family
•Patriarchal Family
•Monogamous Family

On the basis of nature of residence, family has On the basis of nature/structure, family
been classified into 3 types: can be classified into 2 types:
•Family of Matrilocal Residence •Nuclear or Single Unit Family
•Family of Patrilocal Residence •Joint or Undivided Family
•Family of Changing Residence
On the basis of nature of relations,
On the basis of ancestry or descent family can
be classified into 2 types: family can be classified into 2 types:
•Matrilineal Family •Conjugal (marital) Family
•Patrilineal Family •Consanguine Family 
10
Some Common Types of Families
• Matriarchal Family
• Also known as the mother-dominated family where she is the head of the family & exercises
authority, is also the owner of the property. Found amongst the Eskimos, Khasi, Nayars etc.

• Patriarchal Family
• Also known as father-dominated family where he is the head of the family & exercises authority.

• Characteristics of Matriarchal and Patriarchal Families

• Descent, inheritance & Succession
• Matri/patri local residence
• Exercise of power
• The structure of the family

• However, today matriarchal & patriarchal families are diminishing & egalitarian or
equalitarian families are emerging often called as 'modern' or 'nuclear' families. 11
Variations of Family in Nepal
Joint Family (Extended)
• Also known as undivided or extended family; normally consists of members of 3 generations: husband
& wife, their married & unmarried children & their married as well as unmarried grandchildren.
Types
• Patriarchal Joint Family
• Matriarchal Joint Family

Characteristics of Joint Family

• Depth of generations
• Common roof, kitchen
• Common worship
• Common property
• Exercise of authority
• Obligations toward the family
• Self-sufficiency 12
Merits of Joint Family Changes in the Joint Family
• Stable & durable System
• Ensures economic progress
• Advantage of division of labor • Influence of Education
• Provides social & economic security • Impact of Industrialization
• Provides recreation
• Influence of Urbanization
• Helps social control
• Promotes Cooperative virtue • Change in Marriage System
• Legislative Measures
Demerits of Joint Family
• Damages individual initiative & enterprise
• Influence of Western Values
• Promotes Idleness • Awareness among Women
• Centre of quarrels
• Denies privacy
• Undermines status of women
• Limits social mobility

13
Variations in Nepalese Family

Nuclear Family
•It is a small group composed of husband, wife & immature children, which
constitute a unit apart from the rest of the community

Types
•The Family of Orientation
•The Family of Procreation

•Every adult belongs to 2 nuclear families.

•The Family of Orientation in which the person was born & brought up which
includes his father, mother, brothers & sisters.
•The Family of Procreation is the one which the person establishes by his
marriage & which includes the husband or wife, the sons & daughters
14
Trends in the Modern Nuclear Family Functions of Nuclear Family

• Industrialization • Decreased control of the marriage

• Urbanization contract
• Changes in the relationship of man &
• Democratic Ideals woman
• Spirit of Individualization • Economic Independence
• Status of Women • Decline of Religious control
• Decline of Birth Rate • Separation of non-essential functions
• Divorce • Filocentric Family (domination of
• Parent Youth Conflict children)
• Procreation & Upbringing of Children

15
 Marriage

Meaning Definition
• One of the universal social • Gillin & Gillin: Marriage is a socially
institutions approved way of establishing a family
of procreation
• Closely connected with the
institution of family • Malinowski: Marriage is a contract for
the production and maintenance of
children
• Marriage, a socially approved sexual
union between two or more
individuals that is undertaken with • R. W. Lewis: Marriage is a relatively
some idea of permanence permanent bond between permissible
mates 16
 Marriage
Importance and Functions
Features
• Regulation of sexual life
• Universality
• Leads to establishment of a
• Relationship between men and family
women
• Provides for economic
• Marriage bond is enduring (lasting) cooperation
• Marriage requires social approval • Contributes to intellectual and
• Marriage is associated with some emotional inter-stimulation of
civil or religious ceremony the partners
• Marriage creates mutual • Marriage aims at social solidarity
obligations

17
 Types of Marriage Advantages
• Enhances group unity & solidarity
Endogamy
• The requirement that marriage occur • Preserves property with the group
within a group • Safeguards purity of the group

• The rule of marriage in which the life-

partners are to be selected within the Disadvantages
group that may be caste, class, tribe, race, • Hampers national unity
village, religious group, etc.
• Limits choice of life-partners
• Factors such as sense of superiority or • Feelings of hatredness for other
inferiority, cultural & racial differences, groups
geographical separation etc. causes • Close-in-breeding affects the
endogamy
biological potentiality of off springs
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 Types of Marriage Forms of Exogamy
Exogamy •Gotra Exogamy: is the hindu practice of
•People must marry outside their kin group, be it their
immediate nuclear family, clan or tribe one marrying outside one's own 'gotra‘

•Regulations relating to exogamy are based primarily •Pravara Exogamy: is the restriction on
on kinship
marrying one from same 'pravara'
•Involve incest taboo (rules that prohibit sexual (uttering the name of a common saint
intercourse with close blood relatives) at religious functions)
•Blood relatives are not supposed to marry but the
degree of nearness differs from community to •Village Exogamy: is the practice of
community
marrying outside their village
•But who constitutes a ‘close blood relative’ is a
matter of social definition •Pinda Exogamy: is the restriction on
•E.g. Fufu – mama cleli amongst Gurung community, marrying into the same 'pinda'
Brother-sister marriage amongst ancient Egyptians (common parentage)
 

19
Marriage
Types
Monogamy: One husband, one wife
• Appears in all societies, most preferred, ideal

Advantages of Monogamy
• Economically better suited
• Promotes better understanding between husband & wife
• Contributes to stable family and sex life
• Helps for better socialization
• Provides better status for women

20
 Marriage
Types
Polygyny
Causes of Polygyny
• One husband and two or more wives at a given • More women less men
time
• The arrangement is closely tied with economic • Economic advantage
production and status considerations
• Favored where large families are advantages • Women as badges of
• Women make substantial contributions to
subsistence
distinction
• Childlessness of the
• Sororal Polygyny is the type of marriage in which
the wives are the sisters. It is often called first wife
'sororate'. The Latin word 'Soror' stands for sister
• Constancy of sex urge
• Non-Sororal Polygyny is the type of marriage in in man
which the wives are not related as sisters
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 Marriage
Type
Causes of Polyandry
Polyandry
• Two or more husbands and one wife
• More men than women
• Where a family cannot afford wives or
marriages for each its sons, it may find a • Desire to keep the
wife for the eldest son
property intact
• Frateral or Adelphic Polyandry is the type
of marriage where several brothers share
• Heavy bride price
the same wife. This practice of being
mate, to one's husband's brothers is called • Poverty
'levirate'
• Sterility (infertility) of
• Non-Fraternal Polyandry is the type of
marriage where the husbands need not men
have any close relationship prior to the
marriage
22
 Marriage Same sex marriage
Types •Cheyenne Indians permitted men to
take on berdaches, or male
Group Marriage transvestites, as second wives
•Two or more husbands and two or more wives

•Means the marriage of 2 or more than 2 women •Azande of the African Sudan
with 2 or more men allowed warriors who could not
afford wives to marry “boy-wives”
• The husbands & wives are common & children to satisfy their sexual needs who
are regarded as the children of the entire group. also performed many chores
But this arrangement is practically rare

•Kaingang of the jungles of Brazil, Marquesans of •Female-female marriages are also

the South Pacific, Chukchee of Siberia, Todas of found in some African societies
India
•It is legalized in my countries today

23
 Economic Institution
Definitions
Meaning
• For sociologists, economic system is a
• Economic System is the social institution sub-system of the wider society.
responsible for the production and
distribution of goods & services
• Regmi (2008) states economic systems as
• It provides answers to three basic problems the means by which scarce resources are
all societies confront: produced and allocated within and
• What goods & services should they produce, & (sometimes) between societies.
in what quantities?

• How should they employ their limited

• There is essential link between the
resources – land, water, minerals, fuel & labor economic system and the other social
– to produce the desired goods & services? institutions such as family, politics, and
religion. (Subberwal, 2009)
• For whom should they produce the goods &
services?
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Economics: Types

Capitalism Meaning • Capitalism is an economy in which

most of the means of producing are
• Capitalism is an economy in largely in the hands and the main
which incentive for economic activity is the
• the means of producing are largely accumulation of profits.
in private hands and Rosenberg
• the main incentive for economic
activity is the accumulation of
profits
• rely heavily on free markets • It is an economic system where the
means of production are owned,
managed and controlled by private
persons, singly or in groups, who are
driven by profit motive in a free
market
25
Capitalism: Basic Features

• Private Property: Right to property

• Large Scale Production: Result of industrial revolution
• Profit Oriented
• Competition: Cut-throat competition; demand is artificially created & supply is
decreased
• Price Mechanism: Price of a commodity determined by law of demand & not by
cost of production
• Wage Institution: Pay less wages & take more work; exploitation of labor
• Money & Credit: Money on loan to develop business
• Business Organization: Vast business structure; numerous shareholders
• Market Economy: Capitalism controlled by market forces; liberalized
26
 Capitalism
Limitations
• Greed for Wealth/overemphasizes profits: Wealth is the
Strengths be-all & end-all of human life; moral degeneration
• Destruction of Human Values: Sole criterion is wealth
• High Standard of Living: Necessities of life • Materialism: Manifestation of materialism in its extreme
are easily available form
• Economic Progress: Inventions in industry, • Artificiality: Turned modern culture artificial; no human
touch
agriculture & business • Labor Exploitation / space for labor unions
• Specialization of Labor • Class Consciousness leads to Social Disorganization
• Exchange of Culture: International trade, • Hampers Moral Development of the Weak & Poor
global village, exchange of ideas & culture • Emphasis on Sex
• Imbalance in Social System: No welfare of society;
• Progress of Civilization: Invention of new widened gap between haves & have-nots
machines & production of material goods • Customers often cannot develop contact and
communication with the owners if there are a large
• Lessening of Caste & Racial Differences: number of shareholders
Lessening of differences; inter-mixing of • Minute division of labour and specification lead to
castes unpleasant results, including isolation of workers, in
particular
27
Socialism: Concept Features
• Socialism is a type of economy in • Common Ownership of the Means of
Production & Distribution
which
• the means of production & • Economic Activities are Planned by the
distribution in a society are State
collectively owned rather than • No Scope for Private Property
privately owned
• Less Economic Disparity
•  relies primarily on state planning and
publicly held property • Meets people's needs than maximizing
profits
• A socialist economic system consists of a system
of production and distribution organized to • Legal System concerned with
directly satisfy economic demands and human Administration
needs, so that goods and services are produced
directly for use instead of for private profit • The market does not play a significant
driven by the accumulation of capital role in the distribution of resources
(Kotz, 2011)
because the economic activities are
planned and controlled by the state
28
 Socialism
Limitations
Strengths • Not Proved Economically Efficient &
Dynamic than the Capitalist Societies
• Meet people’s needs rather than
• Not Democratic: Decisions taken by
to maximize profits. Less Scope Communist Party
for Waste: E.g. unemployment,
• Imperialist (royals): Exploit workers
over production, inflation etc.
• Social Stratification Exists: Income
• No Colonial (grand) Markets: Do inequality, inequalities in power,
not require an outlet for capital or differences in power etc.
commodities • Bureaucracy Enjoys the Autocratic
• More Democratic than Capitalist Power
Societies: Decisions are taken • Black Market Serves to Reinforce Society
collectively • Inequalities: Operation of economic
markets cannot be completely removed
29
 Polity
Definition
Meaning
• Political Institution is the social
• Politics is essentially an ancient and universal
structure concerned with the use and
experience distribution of power within a
society: JWVZ
• No one is completely beyond the reach of some
kind of political system
• Political institutions are sets of norms
• Everyone is involved in some fashion at some time and statuses that specialize in the
in some kind of political system exercise of power and authority: WK
• E.g. we encounter politics in Government, school,
club, school and everywhere

• Thus, politics is one of the unavoidable facts of

human existence
30
Politics
Nature of Politics and Political Institutions
• When we look at the ways in which conflicts over scarce resources like wealth, power and prestige occur,
we are looking at politics

• Creating new political institutions or changing old ones, requires years of effort

• Politics determines “who gets what, when and how”

• Different societies develop their own political institutions, but everywhere the basis of politics is
competition for power

• The complex set of political institutions – judicial, executive and legislative – that operate throughout a
society form the state

• In modern societies there are many institutions that are active in politics yet are not part of the state

• E.g. Labor unions lobby for govt-funded benefits for workers 31

Politics, power and authority

Power Authority (legitimate power)

•Power is the ability to control the behavior of others, • Authority is institutionalized power
even against their will

•Power brings about change in people – in attitude, • Power whose exercise is governed by the norms
behavior, motivation or direction – that would not have and statuses of organizations
occurred in its absence
• These norms & statuses
•Those individuals & groups who control critical social
• specify who can have authority,
resources – rewards, punishments etc. are able to
• how much authority is attached to different status &
influence, even dictate, the way social life is ordered
• the conditions under which that authority can be
exercised
•Power affects the ability of people to make the world
work on their behalf
• When individuals possess authority, they have a
•State has the power to use physical coercion within a recognized & established right to determine
given territory policies, settle controversies & to act as leaders
32
Types of Authority
Traditional authority
• Power is legitimated by the sanctity of age-old customs
• People obey their rules because “this is the way things have always been done”
• Given by birth right, royal blood

Legal-rational authority
• Power is legitimated by explicit rules and rational procedures that define the rights and
duties of the person
• E.g. Authority of a newly elected president

Charismatic authority
• Power is legitimated by the extraordinary superhuman attributes that people ascribe to a
leader
• E.g. Religious prophets, political heroes etc.
33
Types of Political Systems in Modern Societies
 
Essential Conditions (features) of Democracy
• Requires political maturity & education of the people
Democracy System
• Everlasting alertness is a must
• Best & the most civilized form of political
system • Requires an efficient & elaborate system of self-governing
• Derived from Greek word "demos" meaning institutions
people & "kratia" meaning power • People's desire for democracy must be strong
• Democracy is the government where the power • Government by debate, discussion, criticism & consensus
is vested in the people • Strong, well organized, alert opposition
• Abraham Lincoln: "Democracy is a government • Majority party forms the government
of the people by the people and for the people."
• Proper leadership is a must
• Free & independent press is the watchdog of democracy
Types of Democracy
• Direct/Pure/Simple Democracy : People • Requires non-corruptible citizens
exercise power directly. Possible only in small • High political participation of citizens
states • Requires economic equality for its success
• Indirect/Representative Democracy: Govt. is run • Requires a sound constitution & an independent judiciary
by representatives elected by the people
• Army should be subordinated to civil authority
 
 
34
Types of Political Systems in Modern Societies Basic Features of Totalitarianism
• Totalitarian power (all within the state)
Totalitarianism System
• One man/party rule
• Known as dictatorship
• No civil, political and economic liberty
• Comes into being when the • Based on fear and force
social order is broken
• Militant nationalism (stands for purity
• Total power is vested in one of race, language, culture etc.)
individual or party • Absence of free & independent press
• Suppresses leadership and is • No distinction between the State & the
based on force Government
• Maintains power by • Hostile to internationalism
unconstitutional means

35
  
Merits and Demerits of Democracy

Merits of Democracy De-merits of Democracy

Gives importance to human liberty & equality Ignores the natural & inborn inequalities
Protects fundamental rights of people
Responsible government; opposition parties are the No guarantee that a democratic govt. works efficiently
'watch dogs'
Imp. to opinions & valuable suggestions of people Disagreements between the ruling party & the
opposition's suggestions
Gives pol. education to the people through pol. parties Politicize even the non-political issues
Provides peaceful & organized change Costly govt.
Govt. by consent, criticism, debates & discussion Slow & time-consuming process

Not based on force, violence Inefficient & corrupt

People are supreme & rulers are the elected Politicians prosper
representatives
Active participation of people Rule by the majority; often ignores the interests of the
minority
Strengthens nationalism & fosters patriotism Parties mislead & confuse people
36
Merits & Demerits of Totalitarianism

Merits Demerits
Regimes of "strong men who get things done" No freedom & fundamental rights to the people
No divergent views, thus brings unity Based on force and fear
Decisions are taken promptly & immediately No sense of self-prestige & self-respect

Economical; avoids unnecessary expenses Govt. based on force can't last long

Suppresses opposition; so stable Suppresses the freedom of people

Better suited to meet emergencies Glorifies the state and sacrifices the interests of
the people
Achieves material progress in short period Ambitious groups will be preparing grounds to
seize the reins of administration
Builds up military strength to meet threat from Opposed to world peace
outside
Can effectively end corruption, tax evasion, and People are dependants on the state
evil practices
Brings strict discipline in the country Imposes unwanted discipline at gunpoint and
damages personality growth
37
 Types of Political Systems in Modern Societies
Meaning and Functions of Welfare State
• Commonly known as an agency of social service than as an instrument of power
• G. D. H. Cole: "The welfare state is a society in which an assured minimum standard of living & opportunity becomes the
possession of every citizen."
 
Functions of the Welfare State
• Maintenance of peace & order
• Protects people's rights & provides justice
• Conservation of natural resources
• Provision of education
• Arrangement of public utility services
• Encouragement of trade, industry, commerce & agriculture
• Organization of labor
• Protection of old, poor & the handicapped
• Maintenance of public health
• Arrangement of recreation
• Maintains social harmony
• Prevents socio-economic disorganization 38
 Education
Meaning Definitions
• Learning involves a more or less • Durkheim: "Education is the
permanent modification in behavior that socialization of the younger
results from experience
generation. It is the continuous effort
to impose on the child ways of seeing,
• Many societies transmit certain attitudes,
knowledge, and skills to their members
feeling & acting which he could not
through formal, systematic training – the have arrived at spontaneously."
institution we call education

• James Welton in Encyclopedia

• The term is derived from Latin word
'educare' that means to 'bring up’ Britannica: "Education is an attempt
on the part of the adult members of
• Apart from imparting knowledge,
human society to shape the
education transmits culture to the young development of the coming
and makes them face the future generation with its own ideals of life."
39
Features of Educational Role of Education in Society
Institutions • The members of the society establish educational
Institutions in a society themselves where the
• Particular name children are sent for their development of
knowledge so that they can build up their mind and
• Particular Goal learn to face future obstacles
• Division of Labor
• However, there is a choice in the membership
• Hierarchy of authority
• Impersonality • An individual is not compulsory to become a
member of a particular educational institution
• Employment based on
technical qualifications • One can choose any institution according to their
interests
• Universality
• Formal and Written • For e.g. a person to become an engineer should go
to engineering college which gives quality education.
40
 Functions
• Socialization (Personality Development)
• Transmission o f Cultural Heritage
• Reformation of Attitudes
• Occupational Placement (Screening and selecting individuals)
• Encourages the spirit of Competition
• Produces efficient individuals
• Social Integration(instills the dominant values of society & shape a
common national mind)
• Research and development
• Latent functions
41
Functionalist View on Education

• Functionalists like Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons viewed education as a system that brought
homogeneity and social solidarity

• Aim of education is to maintain social stability & to resolve conflicts

• Meritocracy (Davis and Moore): Success or failure - the system of stratification - individual merit -
equality of opportunities

• Subsystem (Parsons): Subsystem within the social system - school is the 'focal socializing agency' -
influence of 'socio-economic status' on achievement
• 
• Selection: Teacher sorts out best to achieve - 'allocation of adult roles'

• Teacher and pupil roles (Parsons): Child must accept the role of the teacher - Same value of family &
school for child to succeed
42
Functionalists’ View on Education Latent Functions:
According to Kendall (2004), education
Manifest Functions: server at least three latent functions.
• Technical Training • Restricting some Activities
• Selection and Allocation • Matchmaking and Production of Social
• Education to Democracy Networks
• Creating a Generation Gap
• Kendall (2004), education serves the
Criticisms of Functional Perspective of Education
following five major functions in society:
• Socialization. • 'Fairness' of the school system is by no
• Transmission of Culture
means proven by Parsons
• Social Control
• Social Placement • Education system - ensures some groups
• Change and Innovation monopolize success and others are left
to fail which follows through career
structure 43
Conflict View on Education

• Sees the institution of education as a system of inequality / benefit the rich at the expense of
everyone else

• Schools act to reinforce existing social class inequalities / discourage more democratic visions
of society

• Louis Althusser: transmits ruling class philosophy from one generation to another

• Educational system encourages learning and advancement in children from certain

backgrounds and discourages it in them from other back grounds like:
• Unequal funding of schools by social class;
• Process of symbolic-interaction in the schools, that encourage achievement in some children and
discourage it in others;
• The hidden curriculum is also a part of the problem, which varies according to the students’ social
backgrouds.
44
Conflict View on Education

Bourgeois ideology and the reproduction of capitalism:

• Reproduces capitalist system by presenting children with a view of society,
and their place within it

• Schools provide the new society with leaders, managers and great mass of
workers

• Those who accept the ideology passed on in school become the 'successes'
of the system, and go on to higher education

45
 Religion Definitions
• MacIver & Page: "Religion implies
• It is one of the earliest & deepest
interests of human beings
a relationship not merely between
man & man but also between
• Its beginning is unknown man & some higher power."
• Is the most influential forces of
social control & also the most
effective guides of human behavior • Durkheim in his book The
•  Religion revolves round man's Elementary Forms of the Religious
faith in the supernatural forces Life: "Religion is a unified system
of beliefs & practices relative to
• Religion refers to those socially
shared ways of thinking, feeling
sacred things, that is to say, things
and acting that have to do with the set apart & forbidden."
supernatural or “beyond”
46
 Sacred and Profane (Durkheim's theory of religion)
Sacred Profane
• Extra-ordinary, supernatural, fear- • Anything ordinary, 'unholy‘
inducing, potentially dangerous
• Ideas, persons, practices, things
• Approached through ritual, prayer, regarded with an everyday attitude of
ceremonies etc. commonness, utility & unfamiliarity
• Almost everything can be sacred: god,
rock, cross, moon, tree, king etc.
• Something becomes sacred or profane
only when it is socially defined
• Some group of people mark them as
sacred • E.g. A rock, moon, king, tree may
• Are symbols of religious beliefs,
become profane
sentiments & practices • However, the distinction between
• God, ghost, totem (animal or plant), sacred and profane is not clear
supernatural forces can be sacred
47
 Functions and Dysfunctions of Religion

Functions of Religion Dysfunctions of Religion

• Provides Religious Experience • Religion hampers social changes
• Religion provides Peace of Mind • Religion increases conflict
• Religion promotes Social Solidarity, Unity & • Encourages dependence &
Identity irresponsibility
• Religion conserves the Value of Life • Conservative & retards progress
• Religion acts as an Agent of Social Control • Promotes evil practices & superstitious
• Religion promotes Welfare beliefs
• Religion provides Recreation • Contributes to inequalities & exploitation
• Religion helps to Integrate Personality • Religion promotes fanaticism
• Enhances Self-importance (extremism)
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Functional Approach to Religion

• Religion serves a vital social functions for the individual and for the group

• Durkheim, in his book The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912) states
that religion plays an important function in society and that all religions
have social rather than supernatural origins

• He pointed out that religion contribute to the harmony and stability of

society

• In religion, the people are held together in the rituals observed, and
religion provides a standard belief system and a common morality which
help to unite them
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• The set of symbols that a religion has, like the Christian cross or the Holy
Quran fir the Muslims, reminds the members of their common faith and
unity

• Religion serves certain functions such as cohesion, social control and

provision of a purpose or goal

• Religion functions to promote group unity and solidarity though shared set
of guidelines gives emotional bonds to believers

• Religion offers proper rituals for daily living and helps establish, reinforce
and renew social relationships

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Functionalists Functions (Emile Durkheim: The Elementary Forms of Religious Life)

• Religion is an organ in the organism, a sub-system within the system

• Plays a role in the creation & maintenance of the value consensus
• Religion has a role to play in maintaining 'mechanical solidarity' (Durkheim)
• Religion is a disguised way for people to worship society itself
• Religion reaffirms the social bonds that people have with each other, creating social
cohesion & integration
• Societies with a unified belief system would be highly cohesive
• Religious rituals are symbolic activities that express a group's spiritual belief
• Groups performing a ritual are expressing their identity as a group
• Religion binds individuals to the society in which they live through collective consciousness
• Religion has a strong emotional component
• Religion determines what is seen as legitimate within a given society and is a form of social
control
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Max Weber (The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism)

• Material success was taken as a clue to being favored by God

• Hard work & self-denial lead to salvation and accumulation of capital

• Hard work will lead to success are manifestations of the Protestant

ethic

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Conflict Approach of Religion

• Religion is placed as the ideological & legal superstructure of society

• Religion assists ruling-class ideology by helping to keep the workers in a state of

false consciousness, preventing them from realizing that they are being
exploited

• Religious ethnocentrism (excessive belief in the superiority of one's own group)

leads to the subordination of other groups

• Religion also leads to social inequality

• Religion prevents people from rising up against oppression –opium of people

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Conflict Approach of Religion: Karl Marx

• Karl Marx believed that religion was the most humane feature of an inhumane world and that it arose
from the tragedies and injustices of human experience

• He described religion as the ‘sigh of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world, and the
soul of soulless conditions’

• According to Marx, people need the comfort of religion to make the world bearable and to justify their
existence

• Religion is used to rationalize existing inequalities

• Marx said, “religion serves as source of false consciousness. That is religious teachings encouraged the
oppressed to accept the economic, political and social arrangements that limit their chances in their life
because they are promised compensation for their suffering in the next world

• Religion is unnecessary in a truly classless society

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