Shaping Identity Using Social Structure

INTRODUCTION friendly brotherly organization and mixer inter movement are integral in evaluating a persons personal individuation. Identities are the passels of meanings people hold for themselves that define what it mode to be who they are as persons, as post occupants and as throng members (PJB article) large number are gener ally influenced by the norms and beliefs of parliamentary procedure. A persons identity is formed through a combination of factors derived from companionable social structure (macrosociology) and social interaction (microsociology).The self-importance influences society through the actions of individuals thereby creating groups, organizations, networks, and institutions (PJB a soiciological approach to self and identity). Reciprocally, society influences the self through its shared verbiage and meanings that modify a person to scoop out the role of the early(a), engage in social interaction, and reflect upon oneself as an object. (PJB, a soci ological approach to self and identity). This essay explores how lots of social structure potbelly be more of the essence(p) in shaping an individual identity than social interaction.PARAGRAPH 1 (Definitions& Context) brotherly structure refers to the framework that surrounds us, consisting of the relationships of people and groups, which gives direction to and sets limits on behavior. (Sociology, A smooth to Earth Approach SDEA) K Plummer defines social structures as the patterns of predictable human being actions that cluster around key problems in living and they vary in all societies. cordial structure is all around us and is what protagonists to say our behaviour and keep our life in order.It sets the scene for an individual to impart and act appropriately in different settings at different cartridge clips. affectionate structure is made up of culture, social class, social precondition, roles, groups and social institutions (SDEA). Social interaction is the beh avior that people interact with one another (SDEA). gibe to K Plummer, human beings engage continually in social action and interaction with others changing their admit lives and others. We are never solitary individuals and ever depend on others for a sense of who we are (K Plummer).A persons action is influenced by the actions or awareness of others. Social interaction includes stereotypes, individualized space, touching, eye contact, smiling, applied body language, dramaturgy, role consummation, difference and strain (SDEA). The discrimination between social structure and social interaction is that social structure stomachs a guide to e actuallyday life and social interaction provides a meaning of sense (ref)? PARAGRAPH 2 Social status refers to a position that someone occupies (SDEA). attitudees hobo be prestigious or slight prestigious and range from mother, daughter, spouse, lawyer to criminal.Most individuals are found to occupy some(prenominal) statuses simultan eously thus giving us the term status set(SDEA). For guinea pig, an individual give the sack take on the status of mother, wife, employee and friend. Out of all the statuses we occupy, there is one significant status that tends to override all the other statuses one may occupy, this is termed as a master status (SDEA). Status can be further divided into two types, achieved status and ascribed status. To illustrate achieved status, Usain Bolt is best known for being the red-hot man in the world.We see him as a 26 form old Jamaican track and field athlete, a son and brother, nevertheless ever since winning some(prenominal) 100 pulsation and 200 meter races in the London 2012 Olympics, his achievements has earned him that title. Achieved status can be both positive and negative (SDEA). By contrast, factors that are involuntary and inherited such(prenominal) as race, sex, family social class, is known as ascribed status (SDEA). These factors are commonly beyond our control. As life brings change, so too do our statuses. It is ceaselessly evolving according to changes and stages in life.Despite our state of affairs, it is our status that guides our behaviour. For instance, a colleague may turn up to work one day after veneer some difficulties at home, however in a work environment, he would continue to work and behave in a professional modal value regardless of his personal situations. In addition, individuals can also reinforce their identity by using status symbols in as part of their appearance. This can be in the form of a work uniform to intend an occupation, or in a fashion sense, the type of clothing wearied is a silent statement of what sets you apart from others.PARAGRAPH 3 As Linton states, a person holds a status, and performs a role. Simply put, a status is a position and a role is a set of behaviours. With distributively status, follows a certain role for us to take part in. People tend to adapt to roles, moving through different roles in blandness as student, son, friend. Because people tend to have many a(prenominal) different statuses and therefore, many different roles, infringe occasionally occurs among the various roles. The concept of role conflict is conflict among the roles connected to two or more statuses (ref).A good example of role conflict lies in the functional mother she must take on the responsibilities of mothering the children at home while taking on the responsibilities of working outside the home, away from the children, in order to earn an income (RR). This kind of conflict involves roles which arise from separate statuses, but the same sort of conflict can occur from the roles of a single status. Role strain, then, is tension among the roles connected to a single status. A teacher, for example, can be friendly with his or her students, but must remain objective in grading them.Roles help to keep our behaviour aligned to our special(a) status. Roles are an essential component of social str ucture because they lay out what is expected of people. Role performance is the way in which someone performs a role, showing a particular style or personality (SDEA). Role performance allows us our own unique individuality to show through. PARAGRAPH 4 Knowledge is power, discipline is liberating, education is the premise of progress in every society in every family. These famous words quoted by Kofi Annan refer to a fewer social institutions that are a part of social structure.Social instituitions consist of family, religion, education, economics, medicine, politics, law, science, host and plenty media (SDEA). Each one functions separately but together they enable society to find order and create a sense of community. The mass media influences our attitudes toward social issues, the ways that we view other people and even our self-concept (SDEA). teaching in the media can be extremely persuasive, it can easily demasculinize our perception if we are not careful or have very l ittle experience in the topic of interest. They not only provide information and recreation but also mould public view and attitudes.The information and knowledge which we accumulate through life from media is part of creating an identity for ourselves. To demonstrate, smoking advertisements have been around to promote awareness and advises us of solemn health implications. However, forthwiths youth may view it differently and partake in it because of peer pressure. On the other hand, media can also bring nations together when there is an important event such as the Olympics, press conferences and so on (RR). The topic of religion is another social institution as it involves patterns of beliefs and behavior that help a society tackle its basic needs (steven Burkan).Emile Durkheim (1915/1947) 1 observed long ago that every society has beliefs about things that are supernatural and awe-inspiring and beliefs about things that are more practical and down-to-earth (Durkheim, E. (194 7). The elementary forms of religious life (J. Swain, Trans. ). Glencoe, IL bare(a) Press. (Original work published 1915)). Religion teaches us to practise a way of life that is fulfilling for self and others, thus enabling individuals to become better people. This can also create a meaning of identity for some. The other social institutions such as education, politics, law and the military keeps society safe and in order.They inform us of rules and regulations so that society can function and maintain order. Each social institution establish the context which we live, shaping our behaviour and colouring our thoughts. (SDEA). Social institutions form the pillars of society, they are not only a set of rules, but markers for society to develop an identity that is aligned with culture. closing curtain Which is more important in shaping individual identity? Studies of social structure attempt to explain the significance of shaping ones identity and in combination play a vital role in defining an individual.It is the content, which provides a way of making sense of who we are. This provides victimization to an identity which individuals are embedded in and therefore understood, communicated, and shared with others in culture. For example, individuals can define their identity upon meeting someone for the first time by describing what they do, where they are from or whether or not they are in a relationship. Social structure as we can see today can shape opinions, attitudes and thought which leads us to our behaviour and thus our identity.