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Book No. – 24 (Sociology)
Book Name – The Social System
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1. THE FUNCTIONAL PREREQUISITES OF SOCIAL SYSTEMS
2: THE INSTITUTIONAL INTEGRATION OF ACTION ELEMENTS
3. THE POINTS OF REFERENCE FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF INSTITUTIONAL PATTERNS
4. TYPES OF INSTITUTIONALIZATION RELATIVE TO THE SOCIAL SYSTEM
5. THE PATTERN ALTERNATIVES OF VALUE ORIENTATION AS DEFINITIONS OF RELATIONAL ROLE-EXPECTATION PATTERNS
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LANGUAGE
The Major Points of Reference and Structural Components of the Social System
Chapter – 2
Table of Contents
- A social system is a mode of organization of action elements relative to the persistence or change of interactive patterns among individual actors.
- The theoretical analysis aims to develop a scheme for the explicit analysis of the structure of social systems, which must provide points of reference for analyzing motivational processes.
- In the previous chapter, the general character of systems of action and their major components was outlined. Now the focus shifts to the specific relation of theory of action to social systems.
- The chapter focuses on the constitution of social systems and the bases of their structure, while following chapters will deal with structural differentiation and variability.
- The unit of social systems is, in the most elementary sense, the act. This act becomes part of a social system when it is involved in an interaction with other actors.
- For macroscopic analysis, the status-role is a more useful unit than the act. The status-role refers to the structure of relationships between actors in an interactive process.
- A social system is a network of relationships where each individual actor participates in a plurality of these relationships, often in complementary roles.
- The participation of an actor has two principal aspects:
- Positional aspect: where the actor is located in the social system relative to others—this is the status.
- Processual aspect: what the actor does in relation to others—this is the role.
- The distinction between status and role is linked to two reciprocal perspectives in interaction:
- An actor as an object of orientation (status).
- An actor as oriented to others and acting in relation to them (role).
- Statuses and roles are units of the social system, not attributes of the actor. The status-role bundle is analogous to the particle in mechanics, not to mass or velocity.
- The actor as a unit of the social system refers to the individual who holds a status or performs a role, but for analysis, the actor is a higher-order unit than the status-role.
- The actor is a composite bundle of statuses and roles but must be distinguished from the personality, which is itself a system of action. This distinction arises from the mutual irreducibility of personality and social systems.
- Three different units of social systems refer to the individual actor:
- The social act performed by an actor and oriented to other actors as objects.
- The status-role, which is the organized subsystem of acts involving reciprocal statuses.
- The actor as a composite social unit, the system of all statuses and roles.
- The collectivity as actor and object cuts across the individual actor as a composite unit. It abstracts relevant sectors of individual actors’ action systems.
- Status-roles are significant because they serve as units for both the action system of the individual and the collectivity, articulating the two cross-cutting modes of organization in social systems.
- It is important to be clear which unit (act, status-role, actor, or collectivity) is meant when breaking down a social structure into units.
THE FUNCTIONAL PREREQUISITES OF SOCIAL SYSTEMS
- Interactive relationships in social systems are analyzed in terms of statuses and roles. For a system to maintain order or undergo orderly change, certain functional prerequisites must be met.
- The problem of functional prerequisites is complex, as it can be approached from different levels. The analysis starts from the most general and formal level of action theory and gradually adds specifics.
- Social systems are structured around three integrative foci: the individual actor, the interactive system, and a system of cultural patterning. Each of these is interdependent, and their variability is limited by compatibility with the other two.
- From the perspective of the social system:
- It cannot be radically incompatible with the conditions of functioning of its individual actors (as biological organisms and personalities) or the stable integration of a cultural system.
- The social system depends on sufficient support from individual actors and culture. It requires that actors are adequately motivated to act according to role expectations, avoiding disruptive or deviant behavior.
- Functional prerequisites begin with biological needs (nutrition, safety), followed by conditions necessary for the stability of personality, such as affectional support and security for socialization.
- If a social system deviates too far from meeting these individual needs, it can lead to deviant behavior, either disruptive or through withdrawal from essential activities.
- The functional prerequisite of meeting individual needs can be likened to a spring. The more these needs are unmet, the greater the pressure to act, potentially leading to system disruption if the pressure becomes too great.
- The social system also needs adequate participation from actors, meaning they must be sufficiently motivated to engage in required performances for the system to persist or develop.
- Motivational prerequisites break into two main aspects:
- Negative aspect: Ensuring control over disruptive behavior (aggressive actions or behavior that harms others or the system).
- Positive aspect: Encouraging individuals to meet role expectations and fulfill necessary duties.
- The functional significance of actions is determined by their actual or probable consequences for the system, not just their motivation. Even ethically approved actions can be disruptive if they conflict with the system’s requirements.
- The motivational problem of order involves minimizing disruptive behavior in the system. This includes issues like opportunity, prestige allocation, and power, which can disrupt the performance of roles and affect system stability.
- Disruptive behavior may not threaten system stability unless it becomes organized in a way that impacts strategic points in the system. Problems of opportunity, prestige, and power are treated as key examples of these strategic points.
- The distinction between negative and positive aspects of motivation is relative and gradual. Both present functional problems but differ in their impact on the system.
- Negative actions actively disrupt the system, while positive disruptive behavior often involves withdrawal from responsibilities. The latter reduces efficiency by preventing others from benefiting from expected actions.
- Withdrawal behavior, such as illness, is a significant form of deviant behavior in society and is a key issue in the structure of social control.
- Withdrawal as a failure to adequately fulfill role expectations is not defined in motivational terms, but in functional terms relative to the social system.
- Simple withdrawal may be highly aggressive and disruptive to others, but it is distinct from motivational aspects, thus requiring a functional distinction.
- This distinction provides insight into the analysis of deviant behavior and the mechanisms that operate within the social system.
- The prerequisite of adequate motivation raises the question of whether personalities naturally fulfill the functional prerequisites of the social system or if specific motivational mechanisms are needed to organize individual behavior in relation to the roles within the social system.
- The older psychological view suggests that societies result from the independently determined traits of individuals, while modern sociological views emphasize the need for specific mechanisms.
- Adequate motivation relates to the mechanisms of socialization and social control, which are essential for understanding the dynamics of the social system.
- Personality psychology now focuses on the relational system of the actor, emphasizing their orientation to objectsand the significance of expectations in the theory of action.
- One central aspect of motivation is the set of need-dispositions toward fulfilling role expectations, especially those of significant others and the actor’s own expectations.
- In the structure of the individual’s personality, there exists a conformity-alienation dimension, indicating a disposition to either conform with or be alienated from others’ expectations.
- The conformity-alienation balance in specific role contexts becomes central to the articulation of the actor’s motivational system and the social system’s structure.
- Two fundamental properties of biological human nature are crucial for the social system’s operation: plasticity and sensitivity.
- Plasticity refers to the human organism’s ability to learn a variety of behavioral patterns rather than being limited by genetic factors. The significance of cultural and social factors in shaping action is crucial within the limits of this plasticity.
- Sensitivity refers to the accessibility of individuals to influence by the attitudes of others, particularly in the social learning process. This is important for accepting value-orientation patterns and the social integration of personality.
- Without discipline from social learning, the stability of expectations and their fulfillment, crucial for a functioning social system, would not be possible.
- Cultural prerequisites for a social system are essential, even though discussions often exclude explicit treatment of culture.
- Integration of cultural patterns must align with other elements of the action system, imposing imperatives on the social system.
- Disruption of communication systems or cultural patterns can be as damaging as disruption of the motivational integration of the system, leading to social instability.
- Language is a prime example of a cultural prerequisite—without language, a social system cannot function, and failure to meet the prerequisites for language acquisition can prevent the development of human sociocultural systems.
- A social system cannot exist without certain basic cultural patterns, such as knowledge to cope with physical and social environments, expressive symbolism, and value-orientation.
- Disruption of culture or blocking the processes through which it is acquired leads to both social and cultural disintegration.
- The limits of human society and cultural prerequisites are still being explored, though detailed knowledge exists about specific types of cultural patterns, like modern science.
- Culture is embodied in physical form, but it is also directly constitutive of personalities through internalization, meaning cultural resources must be assimilated for a human level of personality and social system to emerge.
- Cultural resources and their organization are crucial for maintaining the social system. This includes instrumental knowledge (technical skills), language, and other aspects like value-orientation and symbol systems.
- The presence of deviant tendencies among actors requires mechanisms of control to prevent dysfunctional consequences.
- On the cultural side, maintaining cultural patterns imposes strains on both personality and the social system, particularly when these patterns conflict with reality or are difficult to conform with.
- Conflicts between personal beliefs and reality, such as in Christian Science versus medical science, can create significant strains on the actor, affecting the stability of the system.
- A utopian ideal can also impose strains, especially if it is institutionalized and does not align with the reality of the social system.
- For the social system to function, a minimum level of culture must be maintained, and the culture must be compatible with the system to avoid extinction or dysfunction.
- Analysis of the mediating mechanisms between cultural patterns and concrete action systems, particularly their motivational aspects, is a crucial area of research in action theory and social systems theory.