SOC 1200 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Role Theory

• School: University of Manitoba
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 1200
• Professor: Mary- Anne Kandrack

Document Summary

Introduction: finding our place in the social structure. Social structure: any recurring pattern on social behaviour, the ordered interrelationships between the different elements of a social system. Institutions are clusters of norms and meanings that define the expectations that people hold about ea(cid:272)h other"s (cid:271)eha(cid:448)iour: these expectations allow for specific roles and reciprocal role relationship to be defined. Social institution: social structures made up of many relationships and used to achieve certain social goals (eg. schools, hospitals, and family) Social script: unwritten guidelines that people follow during social interactions in order to fulfill the expectations associated with the situation and the roles of the actors involved. Norms: rules or expectations that serve as common guidelines for behaviour in daily life, telling us what kinds of behaviour are appropriate or inappropriate in specific situations. Sanction: a gesture used to reinforce social norms, either by rewarding behaviour that supports a norm (positive sanction) or by punishing norm-contravening actions (negative sanction)