SOC-0001 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Ascribed Status, Role Theory, Social Class
Document Summary
A social structure is a set of relatively stable roles. It is a set of patterned relationships among statuses. A social status is simply a position that a person occupies in a social structure. Achieved statuses might include being a spouse, a college graduate, a lawyer. These are all positions in the social structure that individuals achieve for themselves. Individuals are placed - generally at birth - in a status. The police officer"s u(cid:374)ifor(cid:373) is a sy(cid:373)(cid:271)ol of his o(cid:272)(cid:272)upatio(cid:374)al status. His wedding ring is a symbol of his marital status. After we k(cid:374)ow so(cid:373)ethi(cid:374)g a(cid:271)out people"s statuses, we ge(cid:374)erally feel (cid:373)ore (cid:272)o(cid:373)forta(cid:271)le interacting with them. The reason for this is that each status is accompanied by certain expectations about how the incumbent is supposed to behave and how others are to behave toward the incumbent. A role is the sum total of expectations about the behavior attached to a particular social status.
