SOC 104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Ascribed Status, Talcott Parsons, Role Theory
Document Summary
Functionalists emphasize the importance of how norms integrate people into society: norms are organized around statuses and roles. A status describes what one is, while a role is something that one does. An ascribed status is one that someone is born into or imposed by nature. An achieved status is one that is earned, or chosen during the life course. People hold many statuses; for example, one may be a father, worker, and jogger at the same time. A cluster of statuses is called a status set; status sets are not xed as they are often recon gured. Role con ict: this occurs when the demands of one role are at odds with another. For example, many women experience role con ict with being mothers and holding careers. Role strain: refers to a situation when competing demands are built into one single role causing tension and stress.
