Social Structure Interactions are embedded in social structures Social structure a largely invisible system that coordinates human activities in broadly predictable Some are temporary some are long lasting Four interrelated components Statuses social position Human created and defined positions in society Assigned a social value Ascribed sister brother race age gender Results from Achieved results from effort choice or ability Athlete chance parent divorced Ascribed statuses can effect achieved statuses People typically have more than one status Roles expected behavior of a status Your status may be mother your role would be nurturer caretaker provider Groups 2 or more people interacting in largely predictable ways who share expectations about their purpose for being Group members hold statuses and enact roles that relate to the group s purpose Primary Secondary Institutions stable and predictable social arrangements created and sustained by people that have emerged over time with the purpose of coordinating human activities to meet some need such as food shelter clothing or entertainment Consist of statuses roles and groups Have a history Ability to allocate privileged and disadvantaged status Continually change Allocate scarce and valued resources Schools workplaces Division of Labor Durkheim general framework for understanding forces that drive global scale interactions Refers to work that is broken down into specialized tasks each preformed by a set of workers Disruption of Labor Industrial and commercial crises Worker strikes Job specialization Forced division of labor Inefficient development or distribution Social Networks Closely knit or Loosely knit Strong ties or weak ties Electronic Supported Social Networks Further enhance the ability of people to connect with others by Allowing people in different time zones schedules communicate Increase speed of communication Expand number of people person can communicate with Allows people who live far apart an inexpensive way of keeping in touch