COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

AND HUMANITIES
Department of Sociology
Course title; introduction to Sociology
Target group: Compulsory for all undergraduate
students
By; Mr. Masresha Tesfaye
January 2021
Harar, Ethiopia
 CHAPETR ONE
UNDERSTANDING SOCIOLOGY
1.1. Definition
1.2. Sociology and common sense
1.3. Sociology and Other Sciences
1.4. Historical Development of Sociology
1.5. The Major Theoretical Perspectives in
Sociology
 The course introduces students with the subject matter of sociology by
the first briefly covering some ideas of the classical sociological thinker
and major sociological theories and then goes provide discussion on
various sociological concepts (social values, social norms, culture) basic
elements of social life (group ,institution ,society) social process,
stratification and social class social change.
 Defining the term Sociology
 The term sociology was first coined by a French
thinker Auguste Comte.

 linking two words, socius and logos.

 Socius is a Latin word to mean society, city,

companion, togetherness or people

 where as logos is a Greek word which means

knowledge or wisdom.

 Therefore, sociology is a social science concerned with

the systematic study of human social relationships.
 Sociology the study of groups, group interaction societies
and social interaction from personal groups to very large
groups.

 Sociology is a branch of the science of human behavior that seeks

to discover the causes and effects that a rise in social relations

 among persons and in the intercommunication and interaction

among persons and groups.

 Sociology is concerned with the basic nature of human societies.

 Sociology also studies the individuals’ place in a society, the

influence of society on an individual, the influence of individual on
society, and the influence between members of society.

 Sociology includes the study of the customs, structures, and

institutions that emerge from interaction.
 Sociology and sociologists deal with the social
environments:
 religions behaviors;
 conduct in the military;
 the behavior of workers and managers in the industry;
 the activities of voluntary associations;
 the changing relationship between men and women or between
aging individuals and their elderly parents.

 sociology and sociologists study:

 the behavior of groups in cities and neighborhoods;
 the activities of gangs; criminals, and judges;
 differences in the behavior of entire classes;
 the way cities grow and change;
 the fate of entire societies during and after revolutions; and a
host of other subjects.
 The scope of sociological study is extremely wide, ranging
from the analysis of passing encounters between individuals
on the street to the investigation of global social processes.

 In general, sociologists focus on social environment.

Sociology and common sense

 common sense is sometimes accurate, it is not always
reliable, because it rests on commonly held beliefs rather
than on systematic analysis of facts.

 Sociologists do not accept something as a fact because

“everyone knows it”. Instead, each piece of information
must be tested and recorded, then analyzed in relation with
other data.
 Sociology helps us in our lives
 Sociology provides us sociological imagination (a particular way
of looking through sociological lenses.
 Helps us understand how social forces influence our goals
attitudes, behavior and personality.
 We can be more humane and people centered (we give high value
to human dignity.
 Play practical roles to tackle social problems.
 Awareness of cultural difference (Diversity).
 Allow us to see the social world from other views points than our
own.
 Self knowledge/self enlightenment.
 Increase self understanding.
 Assessing the effects of policies .
 Sociological research provides practical help in assessing the result
of policy initiatives and implementation.
 The Sociological Imagination
 Sociological work depends on what the American author C. Wright

Mills, in a famous phrase, called the sociological imagination.

 The sociological imagination requires us, above all, ‘to think ourselves

away’ from the familiar routines of our daily lives in order to look at

them anew.
 The sociological imagination (perspective) is an unusual type of

creative thinking that sociologists rely on in attempting to understand

social behavior.
 It can bring new understanding to daily life around us.
 The key element in sociological imagination is the ability to view one’s

own society as an outsider would, rather than only from the limited

perspective of personal experiences and cultural biases.

Advantages of the Sociological Imagination

1. The sociological perspective becomes a way of thinking, a ‘form

of consciousness’ that challenges familiar understandings of

ourselves and of others, so that we can critically assess the truth

of common assumptions.

2. Sociological thinking leads us to see that, better or worse, our

society operates in a particular way.

3. The sociological perspective empowers us to be active

participants in our society.

4. The sociological perspective helps us to recognize human

differences and human suffering and to confront the challenges

of living in a diverse world.

Sociology and Other Sciences

 Science: is the application of systematic methods to obtain

knowledge and the knowledge obtained by those methods.

 Political Science: focuses on politics and government. Political

scientists study how people govern themselves: the various forms
of government, their structures, and their relationships to other
institutions of society.

 Economics : also concentrates on a single social institution, like

political science. It studies the production, distribution and
consumption of goods and services by a society.

 Anthropology: Anthropology, in which the primary focus has been

preliterate or tribal people, is the sister discipline of sociology. The
main focus of anthropologists is to understand culture- a people’s
total way of life.
 Psychology: The focus of psychology is on processes that occur within
the individual. Psychologists are primarily concerned with mental
processes: intelligence, emotions, perception and memory. Some
concentrates an attitudes and values, others focus on personality,
mental aberration (psychopathology or mental illness), and how
individuals cope with the problem they face.

 Sociology: is the scientific study of human society and human

behavior. It is one of the sciences that modern civilization has
developed.

 What distinguishes sociology from other social sciences? Political

science and economics concentrates on a single social institution.
But sociologists do not concentrate on a single social institution.
Unlike anthropology, sociology focuses primarily on industrialized
societies. And unlike psychologists, sociologists stress factors
external to the individual to determine what influences.
 Historical Development of Sociology

 Sociology is a relatively new science, emerging as a distinctive discipline in

the 19th century.

 By the end of that century, the discipline was well established in most
European and several U.S universities.

 Certain developments in Europe paved the way for the emergence of

sociology. Generally, the most important factors contributed for the
development of sociology are called the nineteenth century social currents
or social issues. Among those factors the most important ones include:
Massive social change (revolution)
 1. Political revolution (upheaval) or French Revolution (1789)

 2. The Industrial Revolution (late 18th century- Britain)

 3. The Enlightenment and advances in natural sciences and technology

 4. Secularization

 5. Exposure to different culture

1.Political revolution (upheaval) or French Revolution
(1789)

 The long series of political revolutions ushered in by the French Revolution in

1789 and carrying over through the nineteenth century was the most immediate
factor in the rise of sociological theorizing.

 The revolution brings positive changes.

 However, what attracted the attention of many early theorists the negative
effects of such changes.

 These writers were particularly disturbed by the resulting chaos and disorder,
especially in France.

 This interest the issue of social order was one of the major concerns of
classical sociologist especially Comte and Durkheim.

 The French revolution was d/t from other revolution (guided by scholars idea)
 The French revolution which was aimed to abolish monarchical system
was excessive in nature that caused instability and disorder in French
society.

 Social thinkers of the time like Auguste Comte worried how to restore the
social order.

 They needed an appropriate science that they could use to understand,

explain and solve the social problems of French society.
2. The Industrial Revolution (late 18th century- Britain)

 the European economy shifted from a strictly agricultural one to an

economy based on manufacturing, trading, and many scholars sometimes
called “The Industrial Revolution.”

 The industrial revolution brought massive social changes and social

problems.
 The industrial revolution has brought a number of changes such as;
 New technological innovations (stem power and machinery)

 Migration of peasants from the land (rural area) to factories and industrial work.

 Rapid expansion of urban areas ushered in new forms of social life (relationships). E.g.
Change in family structure (from extended family to nuclear family).

Urbanization was one of the social changes.

 Following the establishment of factories and industries urban centers were developing around them.
 Urbanization process was also accompanied by massive migration of people from rural to urban.
 The industrial revolution and its consequences, massive social changes, resulted in a number of
social problems.

 unemployment
 cultural confusion
 social networks
 criminal activities
 Furthermore, people engaged in different criminal activities which were partly contributed by poverty
  3. The Enlightenment and advances in natural
sciences and technology
 Enlightenment is the eighteenth century social philosophical and
intellectual movement that emphasized human progress and the poser
of reason.
 Overall, the Enlightenment was characterized by the belief that people
could comprehend and control the universe by means of reason.
 The enlightenment altered a traditional explanation of human
behavior. The central belief of enlightenment is that society is created
by people.
 Enlightenment thinkers rejected the notion that we could understand
the world by explaining events in religious terms. Instead, they said
we must turn to reason and science.
 By doing so it resulted in secularization where by the religious aspect
of human life was separated from the nonreligious one.
 The dominance of religion as the only source of explanation ceased
for the first time.
 Social thinkers started to explain social phenomena using reason, evidences which made
possible the development of sociology and other social sciences.
4. Secularization
 Secularization is the process whereby religious thinking, practices and institutions lose social
significance. The influence of religion was minimal.

5. Exposure to different culture

 the tinker of the time asked why culture differ from place to place and in response they
coined sociology to study cultural differences from society to society.
The founder or the pioneering sociologists
 1. Auguste Comte (1798-1857), French Social Philosopher )
 The word “Sociology” was first coined in 1838 by Auguste Comte
 Comte is generally referred to as the father of Sociology.
 He defined sociology as the scientific study of social dynamics and social static.
 social dynamics refers to the changing, progressing and developmental dimensions of
society and the study of factors contributed to progress and social change,
 social static signify the social order and those elements of society and
social phenomena which tend to persist and relative permanent, defying
change.
 Positivism is the idea of applying the scientific method to the social world.
use empirical methods to discover basic laws of society.
 Comet’s Law of the Three Stages
 society tends to evolve through three stages of human intellectual progress
or development that states each mental age of human kind is accompanied
by a specific type of social organization and political dominance.
 1st. Theological /Fictious stage (Until 1300 AD)

 2nd. Metaphysical Stage

 3rd. Positive (Scientific) stage

The Theological Stage (from medieval period to 1300 AD):

In this stage thoughts were guided by religious ideas and the belief that society was an
expression of God’s will.

Supernatural force is the central idea and things were taken-for- granted.

 There was no critical investigation, both philosophical speculation and scientific

explanation were absent, but dominated by religious interpretation of occurrences.
The Metaphysical / Abstract Stage (1300-1800 AD):

 Explanation of human society developed by religion gradually changed in to

metaphysical.
 Abstract natural forces were believed to be the source of explanation and
understanding.
 The explanation was in influenced by the philosophical idea of Thomas Hobbes
that state ‘society is not a reflection of God; rather the reflection of the
selfishness of individuals.
Positive / the Scientific Stage (Post 1800s):

 All social phenomena are investigated in a scientific manner through

observations, experiment and comparison.
 The stage encouraged the application of scientific techniques to the social world.
 Both physical and social world began to follow the scientific method to express
the relationship between the world and human being.
 Empirical evidence and rational reasoning became sources of explanation.
 Comte said that through scientific methods people began to understand different
things occur in the societies like crime, poverty, conflict and other social
conditions.
 2. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
 . Spenser believed that society operates according to fixed laws.
 He believed that there exists a gradual evolution of society from the primitive (militant)
to the ethical.
 he said, the most capable and intelligent (the fittest) members of a society survive, while
the less capable die out. Spencer called this principle “the survival of the fittest”.
 Spencer’s view of the evolution of societies became known as “Social Darwinism”.
 some people are rich while others are poor. Spencer was famous for the
organic analogy of human society- Social Darwinism (the attempt to
apply, by analogy, the evolutionary theories of plant and animal
development to the explanation of human society and social phenomena).
 Spencer didn’t think sociology should guide social reform. In fact, he was convinced
that no one should intervene in the evolution of society. The fittest members did not
need any help.
 Spencer believed that ideas of charity and helping the poor were wrong, whether carried
out by individuals or by the government.
 The subject matter of sociology as Spencer defined contains the family, politics, religion,
social control, industry or work etc.
3. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)- French

 Durkheim see society as a real entity: society is order, a set of social force, a
moral agreement, what he called a “collective consciences” fragile, very real,
and important, for determining much of what the individual does. , individual
“choice” like suicide,
 To Durkheim, the ultimate justification of sociology is the study of these social forces (or
what he called “social facts”).
 sociologists should instead examine social facts (aspects of social life that
shape our actions as individuals), such as the state of the economy or the
influence of religion.
 Solidarity is maintained when individuals are successfully integrated in to social groups and
are regulated by a set of shared values and customs
According to Durkheim there are two types of Solidarity, namely Mechanical Solidarity
and Organic Solidarity

Mechanical solidarity
This type of solidarity is characterized by traditional cultures with a low division of labour and most
members of the society are involved in similar occupations, they are bound together by common
experience and shared beliefs.


 Organic Solidarity
 people’s economic interdependence and recognition of the importance of
other’s contributions.
 As the division of labour expands, people become more and more
dependent on one another,
 The rapid and intense processes of change give rise to major social
difficulties.
 They can have disruptive effects on traditional lifestyles, morals,
religious beliefs and every day patterns without providing clear new
values.
 Durkheim linked these unsettling conditions to anomie (a feeling of
aimlessness or despair provided by modern social life).
 Durkheim was concerned about the tendency of modern society to
produce what he called Anomie, and there by suicide.
 By anomie, Durkheim referred to the breaking down of the controlling
influence of society, which leaves people without the moral guidance
that societies usually offer. Life becomes meaningless
 Suicide
 Suicide (taking one’s own life willfully) seems to be purely personal act;
however, social facts exert a fundamental influence on suicide behavior –anomie
being one of these influences.
 One Durkheim's major work, suicide, is still considered as an outstanding
example of how sociologists are able to test ideas scientifically.
 Especially Durkheim found, Protestants, the wealthy, men, and the unmarried
killed themselves at a higher rate than did Catholics and Jews, the poor, women,
and married people.
 Low suicide rates categories of people are who have strong ties to other. By
contrast, high suicide rates were found among types of people who are typically
individualistic.
 He related his explanation to the idea of social solidarity and to two types of
bonds with in society. These bonds are social integration and social
regulation.
 Durkheim identified four types of suicide, in accordance with the relative
presence or absence of integration and regulation.
 These include egoistic suicide, anomic suicide, altruistic suicide, and fatalistic
suicide.
1. Egoistic suicide
ↈ Egoistic suicide is marked by low integration in society and occur when on individual is
isolated, or when his or her ties to a group are weakened or broken. for example, among
protestants ) and single people
2. Anomic suicide
This type suicide is caused by a lack of social regulation.
It is common during rapid change or instability in society and divorce.
If there is no rule and regulation governing the process of divorce, and individual is more
likely to commit anomic suicide.
The absence of governing rule and regulation will also work for suicide committed during
economic instability
3. Altruistic suicide
Altruistic suicide occurs when an individual is over – integrated (social bonds are too
strong) and values society more than himself or herself.
Suicide becomes a sacrifice for the “greater good”.
4. Fatalistic suicide.
Fatalistic suicide results when an individual is over- regulated by society
The oppression of the individual causes a feeling of powerlessness before fate or society.
 4. Karl Marx (1818—1883) a German Philosopher
 Spencer describes society as a set of interrelated parts that promoted its own
welfare.
 Marx described society as a set of conflicting groups who have different values
and interests whose selfish and often ruthless competition harmed society.
 Spencer saw progress coming from only non-interference with natural,
evolutionary process.
 Marx, too, believed in an unfolding, revolutionary pattern of social change.
 His ideas contrasts sharply with those of Comte and Durkheim, but
like them, he sought to explain the changes that were taking place
in society during the time of the industrial revolution.
 Marx always concerned to connect economic problems to social
institutions. the principle of economic determinism. A society’s
economic system determines the society’s legal system, religion, art,
literature and political structure.
Capitalism and Class Struggle
, Marx predicted that all industrial societies ultimately would contain only two social
classes. These are
 1. The bourgeoisie – those who own the means for producing wealth in industrial society
and
 2. The proletariat – those who sell their labor for the bourgeoisie for subsistence wages

exploitation of the powerless by the powerful.

 Capitalism is a system of production which involves the production of
goods and services sold to a wide range of customers
 He identified two main elements within capitalist enterprise.
 These are capital and wage- labor.
 Capital is any asset, including money, machines, or factories, which can be
used in order to make future assets.
 Wage- Labor refers to the pool of workers who do not own the means of
their livelihood but must find employment provided by the owners of
capital.
 the dependency is highly unbalanced. Factory is a center of conflict
between proletariat and capitalist.
 Conflicts between classes provide the motivation for historical
development- they are the motor of history.
 The Major Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology
 Theory is systematic attempt to explain how two or more phenomena
are related. To create a testable proportion/hypothesis/.
 A theory is “a statement of how and why specific facts are
interrelated” (Macionis and Gerber, 2002).
 There are three major theoretical perspectives in sociology.
1. The Structural- Functionalist Perspective
 The theory tries to explain how the relationships among the parts of
society are created and how these parts are functional and
dysfunctional.
 See society as a structure with interrelated part design to meet the
biological and social needs of the individual in society.(like human
body organ work together)
 theory focuses on consensus, order, structure, function (manifest or
direct functions and latent or hidden, indirect functions) and
equilibrium.
 The social process often have the following
1.Manfest function –consequences of social process that are sought or
anticipated
2.Latent function – the unsought consequences of social process.
 The social process that have undesirable consequences for that operation
of society called Dysfunction
 Social order is maintained through agreement and consensus.
 The parts of society include family, politics, religion, education, health,
and so on.
 a change in one part of a society leads to change in other parts. A major
change in the economy, for example, may change the family.
 functionalism is that societies tend to return to the state of stability or
equilibrium after some upheaval has occurred.
 A society may undergo change over time, but functionalists believe that it
will return to a state of stability.
 Functionalists argue that the overall goal of the various social structures
is to maintain consensus, stability, harmony and order (not conflict) in
 Healthy society all parts work together to maintain stability state called
Dynamic Equilibrium
 Critique of functionalism:
 Focuses on macro- level (large scale) analysis of society neglecting
micro- level (small scale) societal realities.
 The perspective doesn’t provide us with the entire story of social life
and social change.
 It tends to exaggerates consensus, integration and stability while
disregarding conflict, dissensus and instability.
 Conservativeness in its approach.
 The focus on stability and order means that divisions or inequalities
in society- based on factors such as class, race and gender- are
minimized.
2. The Conflict Perspective
 The conflict perspective is a theoretical framework based on the
assumption that society is a complex system characterized by inequality
and conflict that generate social change.
 This theory stresses the importance of power and conflict in
societal relationships, as well as the problems brought about by social
and economic inequality, and scarcity of resources.
 Society as computation for limited resources.
 It emphasize conflict, rather than consensus, and constant social
change, rather than stability emanating due to the existence of scarcity
of resources for achieving goals.

 The major argument of this school of through is that “instead of people

working together to further the goals of the social system, people are
seen achieving their will at the expense of others”.
 Macro level perspectives
 People are seen achieving their will at the expense of others
 People compete against each other for scarce resources

 The struggle between social classes was the major cause of change in
 Like the functionalists, conflict theorists recognize the
existence of social structures, but instead of structures
existing for the good of the whole system, social structures
(institutions) serve the interest of the powerful.

 Marx said that there are two classes- bourgeoisie and the
proletariat-in capitalist system.

 The bourgeoisie is the more powerful class that owns means of

production and able to purchase labor.

 The proletariats do not own anything of the production process

except their labor.
 Key concepts developed in this perspective include conflict,
complementation, struggle, power, inequality, and exploitation.
 Therefore, social order is maintained, not by popular agreement,
but rather by the direct or indirect exercise of power by the
dominant group.

 Critiques of the conflict perspective:

 Conflict theorists argue that conflict (than consensus) is
essentially functional for society.
 The theory over emphasize inequality and division, neglecting.
 It sees society in very broad terms (macro-level), neglecting
micro- level social realities.
 Symbolic Interactionist perspective
 Symbolic interactionists drawn much of their idea from American
sociologists George Herbert Mead, Charles Horton Cooley, and
Herbert Blumer ( who coined the term symbolic interactionism.
 we learn meanings from others and adjust ourselves according to
those meanings. Meanings are subject to change.
 They perceive that society is the product of the everyday
interaction of individuals.
 Interactionists reminded us that the different social institutions are
ultimately created, maintained, and changed by people interacting
with one another.
 Symbols play an important role in interaction according to the
symbolic interactionist perspective.
 symbol
 is “any kind of physical phenomena-word, object, color, sound,
feeling, odor, movement, or taste-to which people attach
a name, meaning or value.”
 Symbols are shared by people and used to communicate
with one another.
 Interactionists see symbols as an especially important
part of human communications. Members of a society
share the social meanings of symbols.

 Human beings are unique because most of what they do

with one another has meaning beyond the concrete act.
 They stated that interaction is generally face to- face and addresses
“every day” activities.
 All the other “structures” found in society are nothing but human
creations.
 For them, society is always in a process of being created, and this
occurs through interaction, communication and negotiation.
 Symbolic interaction more likely to use qualitative research.
subjective
 Critiques of Symbolic Interactionism
 Symbolic interactionists cannot account for social structures
Extremely narrow focus , difficulty of remaining objective
 Symbolic interactionists acquire direct, firsthand, and extensive
knowledge of a social world.
 Focus on micro level and ignore macro level.
  CHAPTER TWO
 THE SOCIETY AND CULTURE
 The concept of society
 A society is a system of interrelationships which connects
individuals together. It also refers to the people who share and
engage in culture.
 Society is an autonomous/self govern/ grouping of people who:-
 inhabit a common territory,
 have a common culture (shared set of values, beliefs, customs etc.)
and
 are linked to one another through routinized social interactions and
interdependent statuses and roles.
 Basic features of society
 Society is usually a relatively large grouping of people in terms of
size.
 Its members share common and distinct culture.
 has a definite limited space or territory
 The people who make up a society have the feeling of identity
and belongingness, the feeling of oneness.
 Members of a society are considered to have a common origin
and common historical experience
 A society is autonomous and independent i.e. it has all the
necessary social institutions and organizational arrangements to
sustain the system. However a society is not an island rather
societies are interdependent. People interact socially,
economically and politically.
  The Definition of Culture and Basic Cultural Concepts
 Anthropologists define culture as an aspect of human environment,
both tangible and intangible, created by men.
 It is the distinctive way of life of human society designed for
living. Sociologists accept the anthropological definition of
culture.
 Taylor defined the term in his book, “Primitive culture” as “that
complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals,
custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a
member of society”.
 Paddington defined culture as the sum total of material and
intellectual equipment where by people satisfy their biological and
social needs and adapt themselves to the environment.
 In general, culture is the entire human social heritage; values,
norms, beliefs, language, religion, behaviors, skills, knowledge
and even material objects that are passed from one generation to
 Culture is acquired/ learned but not inherited.
Types of culture
 There are two types of culture
 1) Material (tangible), and physical artifacts, symbolic objects like clay
pots, dress, houses / buildings /
 2) Non-material (intangible) culture tattooing, hospitality, values, norms,
beliefs, customs and that society professes to hold (e.g. monogamy,
democracy language).
 Attributes (characteristics) of culture
 Culture is all inclusive
 Culture includes all aspects of life of a society. For a society nothing is
excluded from their culture.
 Culture is essentially symbolic
 Symbols are the central components of culture. The most frequent form of use
of symbol is language.
 More specifically, symbols are words, objects, gestures, sounds or images
that represent something else rather than themselves.
 Culture is socially created and determined
 It is the result of social interaction; hence, it is a social
construction. For a society nothing is excluded from their culture.
 Culture is learned
 This implies that culture is acquired. Culture is learned from each
other through interaction in families, schools, and all forms of
human social organizations including religion, and group.
 Each individual is born in to a group that already possesses values, beliefs, and
standards of behavior. These are transmitted through interaction with other i.e.
socialization.
 Culture is shared
 Culture belongs to a society not to individuals as a single
individual cannot develop his/her own culture but only learns from
the society.
 Culture is the public property of a social group.
 Culture is Universal and Relative
 Culture is universal because all societies have culture.
 Culture is also relative; culture varies from society to society and
from time to time even in a given society due to cultural changes.
 Culture is stable and yet dynamic (it changes)
 Culture is a stable because people maintain valuable practices and
behavior for generations.
 However, culture is not fixed; rather it is dynamic or it changes.
 It cannot be changed over night; it takes longer time for the
process is gradual. Culture cannot also be changed by individuals’
interest.
 Culture is Organic and Supra- Organic
 It is supra – organic because it is far beyond an individual life
time. i.e. individuals come and go, but culture remains and
persists with some changes /modification.
 Culture is Explicit and Implicit
 Culture is explicit when we consider those actions which can be
explained and described easily by those who perform them.
 It is implicit when we consider those things we do, but are unable to
explain them, yet we believe them to be so.
 Basic cultural concepts
 Social values
 values are shared assumption by the member of society as to what is
right and wrong, good or bad, important or unimportant, desirable or
undesirable.
 Values and norms are deeply embedded/build, but can change over
time.
 Social Norms
 Social norms are the standards which should govern behavior in role.
 They are the society expectations of what is normal.

 Mores:
 are serious social norms up on which society’s existence is believed to
depend.
 Are norms which must be and must not followed by members.
Violation of this norms resulted in punishment both formal and
informal.
 Mores are very important, strictly enforced and punishable.
 There are codified norms = laws.
 Conventions= are established rules governing behavior. They are
generally accepted ideals by the society.
 Folk ways
 Folkways are norms that are not strictly enforced
 Folkways govern the mundane aspects or details of daily life– when
and what to eat, how to greet to someone, how to walk, how to talk…
 Folkways give us discipline and support of routine and habit.
Violation of folkways are tolerated and not taken very seriously.
 Social Control
 Social control refers to all the mechanism and process employed by a
society to ensure conformity. It involves the use of sanctions.
 Failure to conform to and/ or abide by the norms of a society is referred
to as non- conformity.
 Non- conformity is divided in to two groups.
 A. Eccentricity: refers to non- conformity to folk ways. It is usually
overlooked by the members of society.
 B. Deviance: non- conformity to mores.
 4. Cultural Universals
 Cultural Universals refers to those practices, beliefs, values, norms,
material objects, etc., which are observed across all societies in the
world, or across different social groups with in a society.
 Eg. Kin groups - Kin terminology - Calendar
 Language - Marriage -Family
 Religious rituals - Food taboos - Sexual restrictions
 Culture Shock
 Culture shock is temporary psychological and social
maladjustment individuals experience when they came across the
society different from their own culture.
 No person is protected from culture shock.
 Ethnocentrism
 Ethnocentrism is a tendency to feel that one’s own particular
culture or way of life is superior, right, and natural and that all
other cultures are inferior and often wrong and unnatural.
 Cultural Relativism
 Cultural relativism refers to the notion that each
culture should be evaluated from the stand point of
its own setting rather than from the stand point of a
different culture.
Xenocentrism
 Xenocentrism is the opposite of an ethnocentric attitude. It is a belief
that every other nation or culture is some how superior to one’s own.
 Sub- Culture
 sub-culture is a culture with in a culture.
 Culture Lag
 Culture lag is a condition by which non- material culture changes
slowly, while material culture changes fast.
 Culture Lead
Culture lead refers to the phenomenon where by in some less
developed societies, the change of non- material culture may
outpace/faster than the material culture.
 Cultural Diversity
Cultural diversity (Variability): refers to the differences with in a
specific culture that add to the complexity of the culture and to the rich
texture of social life.
 Cultural diversity or variability can be both between societies and
within societies.
 The Causes for Cultural Variations
 Geographic Factors
 Climatic conditions, topography, vegetation etc are considered to
be principal sources of cultural variability. Societies adopt behavior
in accordance with the natural environment.
 Span of Interest
The argument here is that different societies have developed different
span of interest emphasizing on different aspects of life.
 Demographic Factors -Population size
 Historic Chance
 The argument here goes that cultural difference is due to mere
historic chance or exposure to certain historical circumstances and
opportunities.
 SOCIALIZATION, SOCIAL GROUPS AND ORGANIZATION
Socialization defined
 Socialization is an on going process by which people learn the culture,
attitudes, values and behavior of a given social group.
 It is a process which begins immediately after birth and continues
unceasingly until the death of an individual.
 Societal point of view
 socialization is the process of fitting (including) new individuals in to
an organized way of life and teaching them the society’s cultural
traditions.
 Individual point of view
 socialization is the process of developing a self through interaction with
other, a person gains an identity, develops values and aspirations.
 Socialization may be formal or informal.
 Formal socialization is conducted by formally organized social groups
and institutions like schools, religious centers, mass media, universities,
Informal when it is carried out through the informal social interactions
and relationships at micro-levels, at interpersonal and small social
group levels
Goals (roles) of socialization:
 To promote conformity and avoid deviance
 To teach social norms and roles to the new generation
 To restrain individuals from immediate gratification
 To promote personality development and full humanness etc.
 Types of Socialization
1) Primary or Childhood Socialization
 it supplies the foundation for all other learning
 Most often the child learns from the family through imitation,
conditioning and rewards for accomplishing the expected
behavior.
 foundation for personality development
2) Secondary or Adulthood Socialization
 learning that builds on and modifies primary socialization and is
required all of us as we move in to new stage of life and face a
changing environment.

 This socialization necessitated when individual take up new roles,

reorienting themselves according to their changes in social
statuses and roles.

3) De-socialization
 It refers to stripping/lose individuals of their former life styles,
beliefs, values and attitudes.
 so that they may take up other partially or totally new way of life.
 Both re-socialization and de-socialization often take place in
what is called total institutions. Like religious denominations,
prisons, mental hospitals, military units, and some political groups,
etc.
4) Re- Socialization
 Re-socialization applies to situations that are more un usual
and dramatic.
 It requires some break with a past way of life.
 Re socialization may also mean socializing individuals again
in to their former values and norms.
 This kind of socialization may also be regards as reintegration.
 Examples for re-socialization can be, brainwashing (rejecting
old beliefs & ideas and accepting new ideas), rehabilitation of
criminals, religious conversion of sinners, and living in
monastery.
5) Anticipatory Socialization
 This type socialization involves adopting the attitudes and behavior of
group or category before one joins. It refers to learning roles by
practicing those we anticipate playing in the future.
6) Reverse Socialization
 Refers to the process of socialization where by the dominant socializing
persons, such as parents, happen to be in need of being socialized
themselves by those whom they socialize, such as children.
Agents of Socialization
 The Socialization process takes place in the following three components
 The socialize (the person being socialized)
 The socializer, and
 The social environment (the environment in which socialization takes
place)
 The most socializing agencies are the family, peer relationships
(friends), schools, neighborhoods (the community), and the mass media,
 Meaning and types of social groups

 A social group is a collectivity or set of people who involve

in more or less permanent or enduring social interactions and
relationships. They are characterized by the following
features:
 They have regular and usually sustained interaction between
members
 Members of a social group have Shared interest, a feeling of
common identity or belongingness
 Have some patterns for organization of behavior on a regular
basis.
 Members are functionally integrated through role and status
relationship in the group structure.
 Types and characteristics of social groups

1) Primary groups
 Primary groups are characterized by the following;
 They have close and intimate association and cooperation
 Usually, they are small in size and have face to face relationship
 They have relatively frequent contact
 Members have strong sense of identity and loyalty
 Deep and extensive communications
 High level of emotional & spiritual satisfaction. The family,
neighborhood, children’s play group (Peer groups) are examples
of primary groups.
 Primary group Two important functions of socialization and
individual support
 2) Secondary groups
 These groups have the following characteristics:
 They are relatively larger in size
 Instrumental in nature (serving as a means pursuing aims)
 Relations are partial /limited purpose/
 Relationships are basically contractual
 There is little or no emotional involvement.
 Members are more competitive than cooperative
 The group is mainly a means to an end rather than an end in itself.
 Membership is unlimited
 They are more formal
 3) Aggregates
 They are quasi/seeming/ social groups having the
following basic features.
 Mere physical proximity/ togetherness
 Lack of unifying (common) features
 Members are not functionally integrated
 Examples for aggregates can be a group of people
taking (waiting for) a tax or a bus, a group of people
walking in a busy city street, and a group of patients
sitting or standing in a waiting room of a hospital etc.
 4) Category
 characterized by the following basic features:
 They are physically dispersed (live apart) but share common traits
and interests
 Have more or less similar lifestyles, physical and psychosocial
characteristics.
 There may be little or no social interaction, social structure, social
norms , etc. but there is the feeling of belongingness, even though
the people may never know each other.
 Members belong to similar socio- economic back ground.

 Examples for category can be all female engineers in Ethiopia, all

women aged 70 and above, all HIV patients in the world, and all
rural people in Ethiopia etc.
 5) Dyad
 Dyad is a two person primary social group.
 The group of husband and wife without having children (a
two-person peer group) is a dyad.
 Social Organizations
 An organization is a social arrangement which pursues collective
goals, which control its own performance and which has a
boundary separating it from its environment.
 Social organization is a network of roles involving interaction
between individuals and groups.
Social status and roles
 Status and roles are the two aspects of the patterns of social life
which are necessary for human interaction. They are basic unit of
social structure.
 Status: refers to any of the hundreds of socially defined positions/rank
that members of a society may occupy.

 Ascribed Status
 They are naturally given or acquired by birth. Gender (being male or
female/boy or girl), race or ethnic group, age, family, being black or
white, son or daughter.

 Achieved Status
 Being a husband or wife, a student or teacher, a physician, a nurse, a
lawyer, etc.
 A person can have various statuses.

 Of the various statuses, one or two may be more dominant than others.
The most dominant of all is called a salient or master status. It is a
status which defines a person’s position in most cases at most occasions.
  Social Roles
 Role can be regarded as bundle of expectations.
 Social roles are duties responsibilities, expectations, and
obligations, etc., which are associated with a given social status.
 Roles can be divided in to two; Ideal role and Actual role.
 Ideal role: this role prescribes the rights and duties belonging to a
social position.
 Actual role: is role behavior which is subject to the influence of a
specific social setting as well as the personality of the individual.
 Actual role refers to actual conduct or the role of performance of
the individual who has occupied a specific status.
 Role Set: indicates the complements (varieties) of roles associated
with a particular status.
 Role Conflict: is the clashing of one role with the other. It may be
inter role conflict or intra-role conflict.
 Inter-role conflict: it is a conflict between two or more roles.
 Intra-role conflict: refers to a conflict that occurs when a person
feels strains and inadequacies in accomplishing a certain role. It
may also be called role strain.
 In other words, it is a clash between ideal role and actual role. It is
a conflict within a role.
 Status Set: refers to complement of a distinct statuses occupied by
an individual each of these in turn having its own role set. For
example a person can be a teacher, a husband, father, lawyer and
chairman. In this case the person has five distinct statuses.
 Multiple roles: refers to different, variety or complex of roles
played by the individual as a result of occupying different status.
 Chapter Three
Deviance and social control
3.1 The concept of deviance
 Deviance means not conforming to prominent norms.
 Any behavior that violates cultural norms.
 Violates the folkways , mores, and laws of particular group
and viewed as harmful or negative by the group.
3.1.1 The relativity of deviance
The following four aspects influence whether an act is defined
and how serious it is considered to be
 The relevance/matter/ of audience
 The relevance of time
 The relevance of social status
 The relevance of situation
1. The relevance of audience –anyone who
witnessed the act or was aware of the act.
Strangers, family, members of ordinary citizens
and judgement what is good or bad depends on
who evaluate.
2. The relevance of time- change over time,
the standards and expectations of conduct
substantially in a modern industrial society.
e.g. visit tomb at mid night, eating during fasting
time.
3. The relevance of social status-
according to social characteristics (position)
higher status individuals are less likely to be
labeled as deviant or than lower status.
4. The relevance of the situation –the
situational context is often important.
e.g. Killing another human (murder) is ultimate
deviant act. but person killed in self defense in war,
3.2 Types of Deviants
A . Pure deviant- objective of rule breaking, perception of
others.
The person break rule and the society or others perceived him
as deviant e.g. criminals
B . Secret deviant- objectives of breaking rule there is no
perception of others. e.g. white collar crime, embezzlement,
homosexuality.
c. Falsely accused deviant -no objective rule breaking, but
there is perception of others/society. Laughing for long period of
time. eating while walking.
3.3 Theories of Deviance
the role deviance in a society and its origin.
Social – strain theory
The concept of anomie into general theory of deviant behavior.
Anomie result from inconsistence b/n culturally approved
means to achieve goals and actual goals. e.g. financial wealth
power status.
 Deviance results from strain b/n means and goals.
Melton identified Four deviant adaptations to strain
1. Innovation –teachers unfair assisting his students
2. Ritualism – work becomes simply away of life rather than a means
to the goal of success.
3. Retreatism – when both culturally approved goals and means are
rejected. e.g. alcoholics drug addicts
4. Rebel – culturally approved goals and means are rejected and
replaced by other goals and means.
Sociological theories on deviance
5. Structural functionalist – dev. Plays important role in society
several reasons. Dev Behv. Can imbalance societal equilibrium,
society is often forced to change. Db. A means for society to change
over time.
6. Conflict theory – see deviance as a result of conflict b/n individuals
and groups. Deviance reflection of the power imbalance and
inequality.
7. Labeling theory – deviant only society labels as deviant. “giving
bad name” to individuals. Individuals became deviant when two
things occur.1.applied to them and adopt the label by exhibiting the
behavior actions, and attitudes associated with the label.
8. Differential association – all criminal behavior is learned behavior
like any other behavior. Learned through the association or
interaction from social agents. e.g. juvenile, gangs
Crime –non conformist conduct that break a law.
 Violation of criminal law for which some governmental authority applies
formal penalty.
 No crime without law.
Types of crime
A. Crimes of violence -(against the person)- e.g. rape, murder,
assault
B. Crimes against property- include stealing , destruction of property
etc.
e.g. White collar crime in the category of victimless.
c. Crime against state –burning of n nation and treason
Collective behavior
 the action or behavior of people in groups or crowds
 Physical proximity and properties of group.
 Neither conforming nor deviant
 Takes place when norms are absent or unclear eg rapid spread of
rumors
 Limited and short lived social interaction
 No clear boundaries
 Generates weak and unconventional norms
Social control
 To ensure conformity to norms ,rules , and laws, etc.
 Involves the use of sanctions.

 CHAPER FOUR

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION, SOCIAL INTERACTION

AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE
 Society is heterogeneous in nature.
 Everywhere society is divided into various classes: economic, social, political and
religious.
 The process by which individuals and groups are ranked in hierarchy of status is
known as social stratification.
 Social stratification is the division of large numbers of people into layers
according to their relative power, property and prestige.
Some examples of social stratification today and in history include:
Slavery, Feudal system (Estates), Caste, Clan, Social class
Principles of Social Stratification
The four basic principles of social stratification are:
1. Social stratification is a characteristic of society
2. Social stratification persists over generation.
3. Social stratification is universal but variable.
4. Social stratification involves not just inequality but beliefs.
Types of Social Stratification
here we can classify social stratification into two. These are
 closed stratification systems,- people are ranked on the basis of ascribed
characteristics or traits over which they have no control.
- Ascribed statuses such as race or ancestry play important role in
determining people’s social poison in closed stratification systems.
-Caste is an example of close stratification systems.
 open stratification systems.-
 It is open stratification system in which there is possibility for an
individual to change one’s own social class position.
-Social class is an example of social stratification system.
Why is Social Stratification Universal?
Social stratification is universal. It is found in all societies .
Race and Ethnic Inequality
Race: race is a category of men and women who share biologically transmitted traits
that members of a society deem socially significant. physical characteristics such as
skin color, facial features, hair texture, and body shape.
Ethnicity: ethnicity is a shared cultural heritage. Members of an ethnic category may
have common ancestors, language and religion that confer a distinctive social
identity.
Racial and ethnic minority groups

Minority is a category of people that is both set a part by physical or cultural

traits and socially disadvantaged. Distinct from the dominant majority, in other
words, minorities are set apart and subordinated.

Minorities have two major characteristics. These are

i. Minorities share a distinctive/unique/ identity.

ii. Subordination. Minorities typically have lower income, lower occupational
prestige and limited schooling.
Of course, not all members of any minority category are disadvantaged. Some
are quite wealthy, business leaders, etc.

Minorities are usually a small proportion of a society’s population. But not

always- for example, Black South Africans are disadvantaged even though they
are a numerical majority in their country.
 Social Mobility
 Every society has different strata in it.
 The different individuals and groups who occupy a certain social position may not
remain in that position permanently.
 Some may move from one position to another, from higher social class position to lower
social class position, and vice versa.
 Social mobility implies a set of changes in opportunities, incomes, lifestyles, personal
relationships, social status and ultimately class membership.
 Social mobility is a type of movement but it is not physical movement over geographical
space although social mobility could involve, and be brought about by, physical mobility.
 It is movement in the social space, the shifting or changing of statuses or class positions.
 . Social mobility is a social process that takes place among individual members or groups
in a society, as they interact with each other.
 It is a process by which individuals or groups move from one status to another; or
from one class or stratum to another.
 the ability to move up or down the ladder of social class.
 Types of Social Mobility
A. Vertical Social Mobility
 Vertical social mobility is a type of social mobility that individuals experience
when they move from their social status to other higher or lower social status.
 . It may be upward or downward.
Inter-generational Social Mobility
 This type of social mobility involves the movement up or down, between the social
class of one or two generations of a family, or a social group.
 we look at change in the status position of the family over two or more
generations,
Intra-generational mobility
 Intra-generational mobility is one’s chance of rising or falling from one social class
to another within one’s own lifetime.
 This concerns individual changes in positions during one's life span.
 In other words, through achievement or other means one can move up from being a
poor primary school teacher to a high court judge.
 Unlike the Inter-generational social mobility, intra­-generational social mobility is within
one generation. But like inter-generational social mobility, it may be an upward or
downward social mobility.
 . Unlike the inter­generational social mobility, our focus here is on a specific individual or
group.
 we observe change in the social position of an individual or a group over the life cycle of
the individual himself or the group either upward or in some cases downward.
 Example a person shifting from shoe shining to higher class economy
Structural mobility:
 movement up or down the social class ladder that is attributed to changes in the structure of
society, not individual efforts.
 It is the changes in society that cause large numbers of people to move up or down ward
the class ladder.
Exchange Mobility: occurs when large numbers of people move up or down the social class
ladder, but on balance, the proportion of the social class remains the same.

Horizontal Social Mobility

Horizontal social mobility is also called lateral social mobility. It is movement within a social
class or a social position where the individual slightly improves and/or declines in his social
position within his/ her class level. Unlike vertical social mobility, it doesn't involve drastic
changes.
 2. Social Movements
Social movements are different from crowds ( large no. of people gather together audience
like sport.) , rumors/unverified truth/, and other styles of collective behaviors in three ways.
These are

i. Social movements are deliberately(consciously , intentionally and carefully organized,

ii. They have lasting importance, and
iii. They seek to change or defend some social patterns.
 Social movements are much more common today and develop around various social issues.

 Social movements change conventional practices, rules and regulations of societies or governments.

 Social movements are persistent, organized, collective efforts to resist existing structures and
cultures, or introduce changes in them.

 Social movements allow less powerful members of society to effectively challenge and resist the
more powerful members.

 Social movements also sometimes allow the relatively powerless to affect inter societal relations.

 They can be the vehicle through which individual’s working together may be able to address issues
that otherwise seem too big, too daunting (intimidating), and overwhelming to them.
Characteristics of social movement
 Express the dissatisfaction of people
 The members of the movement expect that something will be done
about the matter.
 Social movements highly organized.
 Group of people who feels very strongly about a matter.
 “Propaganda”/information based/ when public attention is being
drawn to matters
 Influences public opinion
 Have the potential to bring social change
 May transform the society
 Potential strengths should not be over or underestimated
 Informal interaction
 Shared beliefs and solidarity
 Collective action focusing on conflicts
 Use of protests
 1. Types of Social Movements
 Social movements differ in the types of change they pursue, and the amounts of
change they aim for.

 Example S.M environmental mov,t ,labor mov,t ,peace mov,t ,feminist mov,t etc.

 Some movements targeted selected people while other tries to change everyone.
Social movements, thus, are classified based on:

 Who is changed? and

 How much change? Taking into consideration these variables,

we can classify social movements into four. These are

i. Redemptive social movements
ii. Alterative social movements
iii. Reformative social movements
iv. Transformative social movements
 How much change?

individual Limited Radical

Specific
Who is changed?

Redemptive
Alternative social
Social movement
Movement
Everyone

Reformative Revolutionary
Social movement Social movement
I. Redemptive Social Movements: do not attempt to change the society; their efforts target
individual change (it seeks total individual change). Many redemptive movements are
religious movements seeking to convert individuals.
II. Alterative Social Movement: also seeks changes among individuals. But while redemptive
movements seek total changes, alternative movements focus on limited, but specifically
defined, changes. For example, alcoholics anonymous in an organization that helps alcoholics
to achieve a sober life.
III.Reformative Social Movements: aims to change society. Reformative social movements
generally work within the existing political system, seek only limited social change but
encompass the entire society. The objective of reformative social movement is not to bring
radical change in social structure but to bring reformative change.
E.g. gov,t policy, political system,
IV. Transformative Social Movement/Revolutionary social movement: like that of reformative
movements, is change in society. But while reformative social movements work toward
limited, specific changes, transformative movements seek total changes in society. The
objective is to bring radical or total changes in social structure, resulting in a society that is
 Stages of social movement
Process of social movement

success
collaboration
provoking
failure

Emerge coalesce bureaucratese cooperation decline

repressio
n
Get permission Go
mainstream

propaganda
 Social Interaction and structure

 a social relation or social interaction refers to a relationship between two (i.e.

a dyad), three (i.e. a triad) or more individuals (e.g. a social group).

 It is an everyday event in which at least two people communicate and respond

through language and symbolic gestures to affect one another’s behavior and
thinking.

 Social relations, derived from individual agency, form the basis of the
social structure.

 To this extent social relations are always the basic object of analysis for
social scientists.

 Fundamental enquiries into the nature of social relations are to be found in the
work of the classical sociologists, for instance, in Max Weber's theory of
social action.
1. Forms of social interaction

 They are interaction patterns or modes, among members (individual) within a society or
a group involving particular repetitive features, occurring both at micro and macro
levels.

 They help us interpret and understand our social behavior.

Competition

 Competition is the process whereby individuals, groups, societies, and countries make
active efforts to win towards getting their share of the limited resources.

 It is an impersonal attempt to gain scarce and valued resources of wealth, land, health
care services, etc.

 As a result of competition, stratification, physical separation and so on may happen in a

given society. Competition involves struggle, efforts, decisions, actions, etc., to survive.
Competition is balanced by cooperation.
Cooperation

 Cooperation is a social process whereby people join hands towards achieving common goals.
 Competition is more likely to occur in advanced, modern, industrialized societies than in
traditional, homogenous societies where cooperation appears to be more important.
Conflict
 Conflict involves disagreement and disharmony, which results due to differences in ideology,
living standard, and other social factors.

 It is a universal phenomenon, an ever- present reality, taking place both at micro and macro
levels.

 Conflict involves clash of interest between individuals in a social group like in a family or
between groups or societies.

 It results due to power imbalance, due to unfair distribution of resources. Here, it produces
social class and stratification.

 Conflict may be between males and females, youngster and older generation; between
different religious, ethnic and, political groups.
Accommodation

 People may decide to consciously avoid the source of conflict thereby arriving at an
agreement to live accepting one another, co-exist at relative peace, avoiding overt conflict.

 Accommodation is a social process whereby people try to accept one another, avoiding
the sources of conflict to live in peaceful coexistence.

 It is a conscious adjustment and compromise among conflicting groups so that they can
live with one another without overt conflict.

Assimilation

 Assimilation is a social process whereby a group of individuals learns and accepts the
values, norms, etc., of another group and becomes sometimes virtually identical with the
dominant groups.

 Assimilation involves the acceptance or the internalizing of the larger or dominant group's
culture, values and life styles by the smaller or minority group. Assimilation could
imposed or voluntary.
 1. Social Structure
 Social structure refers to the recurrent and patterned relationships that exist among
the components of a social system.

 What sociologists call social structure consists of subtle understandings and

agreements-networks of invisible rules and institutional arrangements that guide our
behavior.

 Social structure provides an organized and focused quality to our group experiences.

 It consists the recurrent and orderly relationships that prevail among the members of
a group or society.

 One way we structure our everyday lives is by linking certain experiences together
and labeling them “family”, “church”, “government”…etc.

 Social structure gives us the feeling that much of social life is routine, organized and
repetitive.
 1. Intergroup Relations
 Intergroup relations refer to the way in which people in groups perceive, think
about, feel, and act towards people in other groups,
 if you replace the word ‘group’ in inter group say by ‘nation’ or ‘ethnic’, then
what is meant by intergroup relations become clear.
 We all know that international relations refer to how nations act towards and
treat one another.
 The groups taken into consideration in intergroup relations research are quite
diverse whenever scholars examine social entities/interdependent existence/, be
they small (e.g., classes, sports teams), large (neighborhoods, universities,
companies), or even very large (women, African Americans, Christians), they
speak of intergroup research.
 In addition, researchers tackle intergroup issues
Every time individuals react in a way that is influenced by their own or their
partner’s group membership, it falls under the umbrella of research on intergroup
relations.
Interactions between groups and between members of various groups take many
forms.
 Chapter five
 SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
 Social institutions are the organized, usual, or standard ways by
which society meets its basic needs. An organized network of
values, norms folkways and morays though which a particular
human society organized its self to satisfy their needs.
 The Three main functions are:
 - preserve the welfare (wellbeing) of society
 - Preservation and maintenance of the form of society
 - Meeting the major needs of the members of society.
 Each of these institutions has its own values, roles, and norm,
and each of them has far-reaching effects on our lives.
  Social institutions include the
 family, economics,
 religion, education,
 law, science
 politics, medicine,
 the military, and mass media
  4.1. The Family
 relationships, in which people live together with commitment, form an economic unit and
care for any young, and consider their identity to be significantly attached to the group.
(though blood, marriage adaption ties)
 Functions of the family
 Sexual regulation –family are expected to regulate the sexual activity of their members.
occurs within specific boundaries.
 Socialization- play a great role agents of socialization
 Reproduction – prerequire for survival of society and replace generation to generation.
 Economic and psychological support ( emotional security)
 Provision of social status –( scribed status like race, ethnicity, nationality, social class,
religion
 Family Structure
 The family structure is vary current and past kinship ties. Kinship refers a social network of
people based on common ancestry, marriage or adaptation.
 There are two types of family structures; namely;
 1. Nuclear family and /conjugal family (based on marriage)
 2. Extended family/ sometimes /consanguine ,’shared with blood’
Three or more generation
 Patterns of marriage
 Common criteria of marriage- must be heterosexual union and marriage
etc.
 There are two patterns of marriage, namely; monogamy and polygamy
1. Monogamy-a marriage between two partners of the opposite sex.
1.1. serial monogamy-a succession of marriages in which a person has
several spouses over a lifetime but is legally married to only one person at
a time.
2. Polygamy is the concurrent marriage of a person of one sex with two or
more members of the opposite sex. It is, thus of two types; Polygyny and
Polyandry.
2.1. Polygyny: is marriage of one man to two or more women.
2.1.1. Sororal polygyny is a form of polygamous marriage in which
two or more sisters share one husband.
2.1.2.Non-sororal polygyny is a marital relationship which unites a
man with two or more women at a time. In this case the wives are not
sisters to each other.
 2.2. Polyandry
 polyandry—marriage of one woman with two or more men.
 Two forms have been recorded: fraternal polyandry and non-
fraternal polyandry.
 2.2.1.Fraternal polyandry is a type of plural marriage in which a
group of brothers share a wife, and sexual access to the wife is
organized on the basis of age and seniority.
 2.2.2. Non-fraternal polyandry is one in which a woman’s husbands
are not related.
Modes of acquiring marital partner
 Bride wealth= is a gift from the groom or his family to his bride's
family.
 Dowry= is a gift from bride’s family to the groom/his family.
 Bride service: this is a practice where by a marrying man serves for a
specified time for his wife-to-be family before he gets the permission
to marry her.
 Gift exchange: this refers to an equivalent exchange of gifts
between the families of the married couples at marriage.
 Abduction: here a person settles his marital arrangement with the
use of force.
 Elopement: this is the capturing of the wife-to-be without the use
of force.
 Inheritance: this refers to a condition where a man of a house
dies, there by inherit his wife and assume his responsibilities, and
vice-versa.
 Adoption: in this case a boy may obtain a wife by being adopted
to a family –or a girl may obtain a husband by being adopted to a
family.
 Sister exchange: it refers to an exchange between two families
both having brother and sister to one another as husband and wife.
 Descent and inheritance
 All forms of marriage establish a system of descent so that kinship can be
determined and inheritance rights established.
 Descent a system of tracing ones own relatives, can be unilineal or
bilineal.
 Unilineal ( patrilineal or matrilineal) bilineal (both patrilineal and
matrilineal)
 Patrilineal descent –a system of tracing though the father’s side of the
family. Descent established by tracing descent exclusively though males
from a founding male ancestor.
 Matrilineal descent –opposite of patrilineal.
 Bilineal descent –kinship trace though both parents (bilineal)
Patterns of residence
1. Patrilocal residence - married couple living in the same household
husbands family. Daughter move out conversely.
Result for extended family,
2. Matrilocal residence –married couple move with the wife’s parents.
3. Neo local residence –independent resident and create nuclear family.
Power and authority in family –patriarchal family, matriarchal family and
egalitarian family
 The most prevalent patterns of power and authority in families is
patriarchy.
 4.2. The Educational Institution
 The educational institution serves as center of knowledge
production, exchange, and distribution.
 They are responsible for the vertical and horizontal transmission of
material and non material culture. From generation to generation or
society to society.
 Major functions:
 Completing socialization / as agents of socialization/-
 Social integration /social interaction/
 Screening and selecting (Recruitment) for roles
 Research and development /dev,t of new knowledge
 Social control/ learns the norms and values of society
 Preparing for social change / rapidly change industrialized
 There are also latent functions /as a daycare for parent, marriage
market, develop interpersonal skills and develop youth subcultures
 4.3. The Religious Institution
 Functions of religion
 religion is universal
 The reason for its universality, say functionalists, is that religion
meets the following basic human needs.
 Questions about ultimate meaning- e.g. answer about heaven
 Emotional comfort
 Social Solidarity /link bride and groom/
 Guidelines for everyday life
 Social Control /ethical guidelines
 Adaptation – adapting to new environment
 Support for the government
 Social Change/- prevailing for social order/
 4.4. The Political Institution (Government & Law)
 Regulate the use of and access to the power.
 The political institutions have the following major functions:
 A. Regulating the power of some people over others
 It determines when, how and who should gain power
 B. Resolving conflicts that exist among various segments of
society
 They are responsible for maintaining peace and order at micro
and macro levels.
 C. Institutionalizing and enforcing social norms through laws
which are established by government’s legislative body. Through
this they enforce social control.
 D. Protecting citizens from internal disorder, crime and chaos,
as well as from external threats and invasion.
Reading assignment from power and authority, forms of
government page 52-54.
 4.5. The Economic Institution
 A society’s economic institution is the social institution that
determines and coordinates the process of production, distribution,
exchange and consumption of goods and services in a society.
 1. Gathering of resources
 2. Responsible for organizing the production, exchange, distribution
and consumption of goods and services.
Major economic system
1. Capitalism
2. Socialism
3. Mixed economy
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