The concept and types of social relations. Social status and social relations Social relations enter

Social interaction

The starting point for the emergence of social connection is the interaction of individuals or groups of individuals to meet certain needs.

Interaction - it is any behavior of an individual or a group of individuals that is important for other individuals and groups of individuals or society as a whole at the moment and in the future. The category "interaction" expresses the content and nature of relations between individuals and social groups as permanent carriers of qualitatively different types of activity, differing in social positions (statuses) and roles (functions). Regardless of in which sphere of society's life (economic, political, etc.) the interaction takes place, it is always social in nature, since it expresses connections between individuals and groups of individuals, connections mediated by goals that each of the interacting parties haunts.

Social interaction has an objective and a subjective side. Objective side of interaction- these are connections that are independent of individuals, but mediate and control the content and nature of their interaction. The subjective side of interaction - it is a conscious relationship of individuals to each other, based on mutual expectations (expectations) of the corresponding behavior. These are interpersonal (or, more broadly, socio-psychological) relations, which are direct connections and relationships between individuals that develop in specific conditions of place and time.

Mechanism of social interaction includes: individuals who perform certain actions; changes in the outside world caused by these actions; the impact of these changes on other individuals; the backlash of the affected individuals.

Under the influence of Simmel and especially Sorokin, interaction in his subjective interpretation was accepted as the initial concept of group theory, and then became the initial concept in American sociology. As Sorokin wrote: “The interaction of two or more individuals is a generic concept of a social phenomenon: it can serve as a model for the latter. Studying the structure of this model, we can learn the structure of all social phenomena. Having decomposed the interaction into its component parts, we will thus decompose the most complex social phenomena into parts ”. “The subject of sociology,” says one of the American sociology textbooks, “is direct verbal and non-verbal interaction. The main task of sociology is to achieve a systematic knowledge of social rhetoric. Interview as a form of rhetoric is not just a sociological tool, but part of its subject of study. "

However, social interaction by itself still explains absolutely nothing. To understand the interaction, it is necessary to find out the properties of the interacting forces, and these properties cannot be explained in the fact of interactions, no matter how they change due to it. The very fact of the interaction of knowledge does not add. It all depends on the individual and social properties and qualities of the interacting parties. That is why the main thing in social interaction is content side. In modern Western European and American sociology, this side of social interaction is considered mainly from the standpoint of symbolic interactionism and ethnomstodology. In the first case, any social phenomenon appears as a direct interaction of people, carried out on the basis of the perception and use of common symbols, meanings, etc .; as a result, the object of social cognition is considered as a set of symbols of the human environment included in a certain "behavioral situation". In the second case, social reality is viewed as "a process of interaction based on everyday experience."

Everyday experience, meanings and symbols, which are guided by interacting individuals, give their interaction, and it cannot be otherwise, a certain quality. But in this case, the main qualitative aspect of interaction remains aside - those real social phenomena and processes that appear for people in the form of meanings, symbols, and everyday experience.

As a result, social reality and its constituent social objects act as a chaos of mutual actions based on the “interpreting role” of the individual in “determining the situation” or on everyday consciousness. Without denying the semantic, symbolic and other aspects of the process of social interaction, it must be admitted that its genetic source is labor, material production, and the economy. In turn, everything derived from the basis can and does have an opposite effect on the basis.

Interaction method

The way the individual interacts with other individuals and the social environment as a whole determines the "refraction" of social norms and values ​​through the individual's consciousness and his real actions based on understanding these norms and values.

The interaction method includes six aspects: 1) information transfer; 2) obtaining information; 3) reaction to the information received; 4) processed information; 5) receiving processed information; 6) reaction to this information.

Social relationships

Interaction leads to the establishment of social relationships. Social relations are relatively stable ties between individuals (as a result of which they are institutionalized into social groups) and social groups as permanent carriers of qualitatively different types of activity, differing in social status and roles in social structures.

Social communities

Social communities are characterized by: the presence of conditions of life (socio-economic, social status, vocational training and education, interests and needs, etc.) common to a given group of interacting individuals (social categories); the way of interaction of a given set of individuals (nations, social classes, socio-professional groups, etc.), i.e., a social group; belonging to historically established territorial associations (city, village, town), that is, territorial communities; the degree of restriction of the functioning of social groups by a strictly defined system of social norms and values, the belonging of the studied group of interacting individuals to certain social institutions (family, education, science, etc.).

Formation of social relationships

Social interaction is an invariable and constant companion of a person who lives among people and is forced to constantly enter into a complex network of relationships with them. Gradually emerging connections take the form of permanent ones and turn into social relations- conscious and perceptible sets of repetitive interactions, correlated in their meaning with each other and characterized by appropriate behavior. Social relations, as it were, are refracted through the inner content (or state) of a person and are expressed in his activities as personal relationships.

Social relations are extremely diverse in form and content. Each person knows from personal experience that relationships with others develop in different ways, that this world of relationships contains a motley palette of feelings - from love and irresistible sympathy to hatred, contempt, and hostility. Fiction, as a good assistant to the sociologist, reflects in its works the inexhaustible wealth of the world of social relations.

When classifying social relations, they are primarily divided into one-sided and mutual. One-sided social relationships exist when partners perceive and evaluate each other differently.

One-sided relationships are common. A person experiences a feeling of love for another and assumes that his partner also experiences a similar feeling, and orients his behavior towards this expectation. However, when, for example, a young man marries a girl, he may unexpectedly receive a refusal. A classic example of one-sided social relations is the relationship between Christ and the Apostle Judas, who betrayed the teacher. World and domestic fiction will give us many examples of tragic situations associated with one-sided relations: Othello - Iago, Mozart - Salieri, etc.

Social relations that arise and exist in human society are so diverse that it is advisable to consider any one aspect of them, proceeding from a certain system of values ​​and the activity of individuals aimed at achieving it. Recall that in sociology under values understand shared views and beliefs about the goals people strive for. Social interactions become social relationships precisely because of the values ​​that individuals and groups of people would like to achieve. Thus, values ​​are a necessary condition for social relations.

To determine the relationship of individuals, two indicators are used:

• value expectations (expectations), which characterize satisfaction with a value model;
• value requirements that the individual puts forward in the process of distributing values.

The real possibility of achieving a particular value position is value potential. Often it remains only an opportunity, since the individual or group does not take active steps to take value-wise more attractive positions.

All values ​​are conventionally subdivided as follows:

• the values ​​of well-being, which include material and spiritual benefits, without which it is impossible to maintain the normal life of individuals - wealth, health, safety, professional skill;
• all others - power as the most universal value, since its possession allows one to acquire other values ​​(respect, status, prestige, fame, reputation), moral values ​​(justice, kindness, decency, etc.); love and friendship; also distinguish national values, ideological, etc.

Among social relationships, relationships stand out social dependence, because they are present to one degree or another in all other respects. Social dependence is a social relation in which the social system S 1, (an individual, group or social institution) cannot perform the social actions necessary for her d 1 if the social system S 2 will not take action d 2... In this case, the system S 2 is called dominant, and the system S 1 - addicted.

Suppose the mayor of Los Angeles is unable to pay utility wages until the governor of California, who manages the funds, allocates money to him. In this case, the mayor's office is a dependent system, and the governor's administration is seen as the dominant system. In practice, dual interdependent relationships often arise. So, the population of an American city depends on the leader in terms of the distribution of funds, but the mayor also depends on voters, who may not elect him for a new term. The line of behavior of the dependent system must be predictable for the dominant system in the area that concerns the relationship of dependence.

Social dependence is also based on the difference in status in the group, which is typical for organizations. Thus, individuals with a low status are dependent on individuals or groups that have a higher status; subordinates depend on the leader. Addiction arises from differences in the possession of meaningful values ​​regardless of official status. For example, a manager may be financially dependent on a subordinate from whom he borrowed a large amount of money. Latent, i.e. hidden, dependencies play an important role in the life of organizations, teams, groups.

Often in an organization, a leader relies on the opinion of a relative working here in everything; to please him, decisions are often made erroneously from the point of view of the interests of the organization, for which the whole team then pays. In the old vaudeville "Lev Gurych Sinichkin", the question of who will play the main role in the premiere performance instead of the sick actress can only be decided by the main "patron" of the theater (Count Zefirov). Cardinal Richelieu actually ruled over France instead of the king. Sometimes a sociologist, in order to understand a conflict situation in a team where he was invited as an expert, must start by looking for a “gray cardinal” - an informal leader who actually has real influence in the organization.

Power relations arouse the greatest interest among researchers of social addiction. Power as the ability of some to control the actions of others is of decisive importance in the life of a person and society, but until now scientists have not developed a consensus on how power relations are carried out. Some (M. Weber) believe that power is primarily associated with the ability to control the actions of others and overcome their resistance to this control. Others (T. Parsons) proceed from the fact that power must first of all be legalized, then the personal position of the leader makes others obey him, despite the personal qualities of the leader and subordinates. Both points of view have a right to exist. Thus, the emergence of a new political party begins with the emergence of a leader with the ability to unite people, create an organization and begin to lead it.

If the power is legalized (legitimate), people submit to it as a force to resist which is useless and unsafe.

In society, there are other, not legalized aspects of the manifestation of power dependence. The interaction of people at the personal level often leads to the emergence of power relations, paradoxical and inexplicable from the point of view of common sense. A person of his own free will, not prompted by anyone, becomes a supporter of exotic sects, sometimes a real slave to his passions, which make him break the law, decide to kill or commit suicide. An irresistible attraction to gambling can deprive a person of his livelihood, but he returns again and again to roulette or cards.

Thus, in a number of spheres of life, constantly repeating interactions gradually acquire a stable, ordered, predictable character. In the process of this ordering, special bonds are formed, called social relations. Social relations - these are stable ties that arise between social groups and within them in the process of material (economic) and spiritual (legal, cultural) activities.

Social relations are relations of a normative and regulatory order that develop between various social and professional groups. The subject of such relations is usually collective or personal interests, the imposed collective will (in relation to the opposing group), as well as an economic or symbolic resource, the right to possession of which is claimed by all opponents. In this regard, the term "social" is synonymous with the concept of "public" and serves as an integral designation of the entire depth of interactions, interconnections and interdependencies that exist in society. At the same time, the narrow meaning of this phrase is also used. In this case, social relations are relations associated with the struggle of individuals or groups for the right to occupy certain positions in society (the so-called "social status") and, naturally, the material, symbolic and economic resources that are attached to this status.

In principle, if we are talking about any relationship, then we mean the relationship that is formed with respect to some object or abstract concept. In this sense, social relations are between everyone. Consider such an example as labor relations in production. The employer accepts an employee for a certain position, offering him a certain amount of permanent work, the conditions accompanying this work, and payment as an economic reward for work. The employee, in turn, agrees to all the proposed conditions, including the obligation to produce the required volume of products. In addition, the employee accepts the rules of conduct in the team and the place (social status) that is given to him along with the position. As a result, a system of social relations (in this case, production) arises, which exists for an indefinitely long time in a limited physical space. Of course, any one is modified and improved, it becomes more complex, but in essence it remains unchanged and stable, of course, if there are no social conflicts.

But what happens if such a conflict does arise? It must be remembered that social relations are, in general terms, relations that develop in relation to property. The latter can be played by both quite tangible objects (land, house, factory, Internet portal) and abstract concepts (power, domination, information). A conflict arises when previous agreements on property rights lose their legal, moral, or even religious significance, and the functions of governance and regulatory status regulation are also lost. Nobody wants to live by the old rules, but new ones have not yet been created, much less recognized by all participants in the social contract. As a result, there is not only a revision of the rules of the game (in our case, the adoption of a new version of the Charter or other statutory document), but also a change of the elite (the director's corps), which comes with its own rules and requirements for hired personnel.

However, let's get back to our definition. Social relations are in a broad sense, that is, we are talking about economic, cultural, religious and other relations that have arisen in the process of forming the social organization of society. Any sphere of his life is permeated with the theme of sociality. This is due not only to the fact that a person initially lives in a specific social environment, assimilates his habits, imposes his views, accepts others, that is, is included in the process of socialization. But he understands that he cannot live outside of society, whether he wants it or not, he is forced to accept general rules, otherwise society will "throw" him out of its circle, turn him into an outcast. It is not without reason that we are now talking about social organization as such. According to some sociologists, it is society that is the most rigidly built corporation using a vertically integrated management system. The development of social relations in such an organization is possible only through submission to the proposed social practices. The choice, if possible, is only in the case of a change of social partners: when moving to another corporation, moving to another city, or completely breaking any ties with the former personal environment.

Practical lesson number 3.

Theme: Social relations in society

Target: systematization of knowledge and skills on the topic "Social relations in society"; fostering a culture of communication, a conscious attitude towards the participation of a citizen in the social life of society; the formation of the ability to analyze and critically interpret educational information, compare, identifying the common features and differences of various types of social groups, recognize and correctly use the terminology of sociology in various contexts, draw conclusions, rationally solve cognitive and problematic tasks, work with documents.

Equipment: Man and Society: Social Studies: a textbook for students of 10-11 grades. general education. institutions / ed. L. N. Bogolyubov and A. Yu. Lazebnikova. - Part 1 10 class., Part 2. - 11 cl. - M., 2012; Methodical instructions for students for practical exercises.

Course of the lesson:

Theoretical part

Interconnected social groups formsocial structure of society .

Social groups are different in nature, scale, and the role they play in society.

There is no generally accepted typology of social groups. One of the principlesclassification - conditional division of socialgroups by the number of participantsbig andsmall (up to 30 people).

Family, educational, labor associations, interest groups, etc. are distinguished as small groups. A small group differs from a large one in that all its members are united by common activities and are in direct communication with each other.

Large groups are aggregates of people who, as a rule, are united by one socially significant feature (for example, religious affiliation, professional affiliation, nationality, etc.). The members of a large group may never come into contact with each other.

Often, along with social groups, groups of people are distinguished, united by natural characteristics: race, gender, age. They are sometimes calledbiosocial groups ... Under certain conditions, natural differences between people can acquire social qualities. For example, in any society there are people of advanced age, but only at a certain level of social development does a social group of pensioners arise.

Each person belongs to any of the social groups or occupies some kind of intermediate, transitional position.

An intermediate, borderline state is characterized bymarginal (from lat.; line-height: 100% "> These include immigrants, the unemployed, the disabled, persons without a fixed abode and certain occupations (homeless people). A sign that testifies to the transition to a marginal state is the rupture of economic, social and cultural ties with the former social community and attempts to establish them with a new one. However, having lost contact with their former social group, the marginalized for a long time cannot accept new values ​​and rules of behavior. A striking example of such a state is people who have moved in search of work from the countryside to the city, cut off from the peasant environment, but have not yet accepted the values ​​and way of life of the townspeople. Having found themselves without roots (kindred, friendly, cultural), they seem to "hang in the air." As a rule, they do the simplest, unskilled, often temporary work, and the loss of it threatens them with becoming vagabonds and beggars.

The absence of certain stable ties and norms contributes to the manifestation of social activity and initiative by marginalized people in search of their new place in life. However, the state of uncertainty, "in-between" from time to time causes tension, discomfort, anxiety and even aggressiveness. That is why marginal individuals can become both the social support of progressive transformations in society and the bearers of various anti-democratic tendencies.

Word"norm" of Latin origin and literally means "a leading principle, a rule, an example." The norms are developed by society, social groups that are part of it.

Social norms guide the behavior of people, allow it to be controlled, regulated and evaluated. They guide a person in questions of how to act, what can be done, what cannot be done, how one should behave, how one should not behave, what is acceptable in the activities of people, what is undesirable. With the help of norms, the functioning of people, groups, the whole society becomes orderly. In norms, people see standards, models, standards of proper behavior. Perceiving them and following them, a person is included in the system of social relations, gets the opportunity to normally interact with other people, with various organizations, with society as a whole.

There are many norms in society. This is, first of all,customs andtraditions , in which habitual patterns of behavior are fixed (for example, wedding or funeral rites, household holidays, etc.). They become an organic part of people's lifestyles and are supported by the power of public authority.

Further,legal regulations ... They are enshrined in laws issued by the state, clearly describing the boundaries of behavior and punishment for breaking the law. Compliance with legal norms is ensured by the strength of the state.

Thenmoral standards ... In contrast to law, morality mainly carries an evaluative load (good - bad, fair - unfair). Compliance with moral rules is ensured by the authority of the collective consciousness, their violation meets with public condemnation.

There are alsoaesthetic norms ... They reinforce the idea of ​​the beautiful and the ugly not only in artistic creation, but also in the behavior of people, in production and in everyday life. They are manifested, for example, in judgments that a person “lived his life beautifully”, that such and such “behaves ugly”. In this case, negative assessments are combined with moral censure.

Political norms regulate political activity, the relationship between the individual and power, between social groups, states. They are reflected in laws, international treaties, political principles, moral norms.

Finally,religious norms ... In terms of content, many of them act as norms of morality, coincide with the norms of law, and consolidate traditions and customs. Compliance with religious norms is supported by the moral consciousness of believers and religious belief in the inevitability of punishment for sins - a deviation from these norms.

There are other types of norms, for example, the rules of etiquette, etc. Social norms differ from the norms of biological, medical, technical, establishing the rules for handling natural (natural) and artificial (technical) objects. For example, the rule prohibiting standing under the boom of a crane is aimed at the safety of a person in his relationship with a technical device. And the medical rule, requiring compliance with the dose of drugs prescribed by the doctor, protects human health from dangerous consequences, and fixes the procedure for handling chemicals.

As for social norms, they are allregulate relations in society itself : between people, groups of people, organizations created by them. The impact of social norms on personality behavior presupposes, firstly, knowledge of the social norm and its awareness, secondly, the motive (the desire to follow this norm) and, thirdly, the action itself (real behavior).

Social norms constitute one of the elements of the mechanism for regulating relations between the individual and society, which is calledsocial control .

The purposeful influence of society on people's behavior in order to strengthen order and stability is provided by social control.

Any activity includes a variety of actions, and each person performs many of them, entering into active interaction with the social environment (with society, social communities, social institutions and organizations, the state, and other individuals). All these actions, individual actions, human behavior are under the control of the people around him, groups, society. As long as these actions do not violate public order, existing social norms, this control is invisible, as if it does not exist. However, it is worth violating the established customs, rules, deviating from the patterns of behavior that are accepted in society, and social control manifests itself.

One person ran across the street in front of a moving vehicle, the second lit a cigarette in the cinema, the third committed theft, the fourth was late for work ... In all these cases, the reaction of other people may follow: comments and other manifestations of discontent from others, the corresponding actions of the administration, police, court ...

Expression of dissatisfaction, reprimand, imposition of a fine, punishment imposed by a court - all these are sanctions; along with social norms, they are an essential element of the mechanism of social control.

Sanctions means either approval and encouragement, or disapproval and punishment, aimed at maintaining social norms.

Formal positive sanctions - public approval from official organizations (government, institution, creative union): government awards, awarded titles, academic degrees and titles, etc.

Informal positive sanctions - public approval that does not come from official organizations: friendly praise, compliments, glory, honor.

Formal negative sanctions - punishments provided for by legal laws, government decrees, administrative instructions, orders: deprivation of civil rights, imprisonment.

Informal negative sanctions - punishments not provided for by the official authorities: censures, remarks, ridicule.

Society evaluates the individual, but the individual also evaluates society, the state, and himself.

Thus, along withexternal control on the part of society, group, state, other people, it is of paramount importanceinternal control , orself-control , which is based on norms, customs, role expectations, assimilated by the individual.

In the process of self-control, an important role is played byconscience , that is, the feeling and knowledge of what is good and what is bad, what is fair and what is unfair, the subjective consciousness of compliance or non-compliance of one's own behavior with moral norms. In a person who has committed in a state of excitement, by mistake or succumbing to the temptation of a bad deed, conscience causes a feeling of guilt, moral feelings, a desire to correct a mistake or atone for guilt.

The ability to exercise self-control is the most valuable quality of a person who independently regulates his behavior in accordance with generally accepted norms. Self-control is one of the most important conditions for the self-realization of a person, for her successful interaction with other people.

So, the most important elements of the mechanism of social control are social norms, public opinion, sanctions, individual consciousness, self-control. By interacting, they ensure the maintenance of socially acceptable patterns of behavior and the functioning of the social system as a whole.

Social stratification - This is the division of society into layers.

Social mobility Is the transition of people from one social group to another.

TOhorizontal mobility include the processes of transition from group to group without changing social status.

Processesvertical mobility associated with the transition up or down the steps of the social ladder. Distinguishascending (pointing up) anddownward (downward) social mobility.

Practical part

Task number 1. Establish a correspondence between concept and definition.

Definitions

1. Social differentiation

A) the division of society into layers.

2. Social stratification

B) conscious actions of a person or groups, caused by their needs, associated with the actions of other people.

3. Social mobility

C) systematic, fairly regular, interdependent social actions of subjects aimed at each other.

4. Social action

D) a special mechanism of social regulation of behavior and maintenance of public order.

5. Social interaction

E) the transition of people from one social group to another.

6. Social relationships

E) a stable system of everyday non-production ties between people regarding the satisfaction of their primary needs.

7. Social control

G) the culture of our place of residence.

8. Household relationships

H) a type of public relations, characterized by duration, stability and characterizing the mutual position of social groups and their people.

9. Deviant behavior

I) the division of society into social groups that occupy different positions in society.

10. Topos culture

K) behavior that does not comply with the norms.

Task number 2. Fill out the diagram:

Task number 3. Chart using the following concepts: biosocial groups, types of social groups, unemployed, small groups, family, marginalized groups, classes, large groups, race.

Task number 4. Arrange the sanctions in the required columns.

Objection, government awards, refusal to maintain relationships, benevolent disposition, defamation, government scholarships, jail time, degrees, unflattering nickname, friendly praise, dismissal, fame, fine, applause, confiscation of property, monument erection, ridicule, disenfranchisement, compliments , demotion, honor, presentation of certificates of honor.

Informal positive

Formal negative

Informal negative

Task number 5. Specify the type of social mobility (horizontal, vertical ascending, vertical descending):

A) transition from one state-owned enterprise to another;

B) promotion of a person in position;

C) the ruin of the average entrepreneur and his transformation into a hired worker;

D) mastering a more prestigious profession;

D) moving from one city to another.

Task number 6. Read a quote from a famous 19th century philosopher. VS Solovyov and answer the questions after the text.

V.S.Soloviev: “The division of people into tribes and nations, weakened to some extent by the great world religions and replaced by the division into broader and more mobile groups, revived in Europe with renewed vigor and began to assert itself as a conscious and systematic idea from the beginning of the expiring (XIX ) centuries ... After the Napoleonic wars, the principle of nationalities became a common European idea ...

The national idea deserves all respect and sympathy when, in its name, the weak and oppressed nationalities were defended and liberated: in such cases, the principle of nationality coincided with true justice ... But, on the other hand, this is the excitement of national well-being in every people, especially in peoples larger and stronger, favored the development of popular egoism or nationalism, which already has nothing to do with justice ...

Every nationality has the right to live and freely develop its forces, without violating the same rights of other nationalities. "

Questions:

1. Remember the material on the history of the XIX century. What events allowed the author to assert that "the principle of nationalities has become a common European idea"?

2. How, according to the author, does the essence of the national idea change? In which case is it positive and in which negative?

Task number 7. Read statements about marriage and family and answer the questions.

G. Hegel: “The family ends in the following three directions: a) in the image of its immediate concept as marriage; b) in external existence, in the property and property of the family and taking care of it; c) in the upbringing of children and the disintegration of the family. "

F. Adler: “The family is a miniature society, on the integrity of which the safety of the whole large human society depends”.

V. Hugo: “Any social doctrine that tries to destroy the family is useless and inapplicable. The family is the crystal of society. "

SN Parkinson: “When the Victorian family sat around the dinner table, one rule was observed: the elders talk, the younger listen. Some topics were not touched upon in the conversation, some issues were discussed in French, but the younger ones had a lot to learn. Moreover, they had the opportunity to realize their own ignorance and learn to express their thoughts more coherently. Nowadays, children are ranting, and parents are listening - there is no benefit for anyone, and the harm is quite obvious. "

S. Smith: "Marriage is like a pair of scissors - the halves can move in opposite directions, but will teach a lesson to anyone who tries to stand between them."

R. Stevenson: "Marriage is a long conversation interrupted by arguments."

A. Tennyson: "As the husband is, so is the wife."

G. Hegel: “Marriage is legal love; with such a definition, everything that is transitory, capricious and subjective in it is excluded from the latter ”; “The first necessary relationship that an individual enters into with others is family relationships. These relations, however, also have a legal side, but it is subordinated to the moral side, the principle of love and trust ”; “The bond of two persons of different sex, called marriage, is not just a natural, animal union and not just a civil agreement. and above all a moral union that arises on the basis of mutual love and trust and turns spouses into one person. "

I. Kant: "In a married life, a couple must form, as it were, a single moral personality."

K. Marx: “If marriage were not the basis of the family, then it would not be the subject of legislation, like, for example, friendship”; “Almost any dissolution of marriage is a dissolution of the family and ... even from a purely legal point of view, the position of children and their property cannot be made dependent on the arbitrary discretion of the parents ... Thus, only the individual will is taken into account, or rather, the arbitrariness of the spouses, but the will of the marriage, the moral substance of this relationship, is not taken into account. "

L. Feuerbach: “Only husband and wife together form the reality of man; husband and wife together is the being of the clan, for their union is the source of many, the source of other people. "

A. Schopenhauer: "To get married means to halve your rights and double your responsibilities."

Questions:

1. What is the importance of the family in society?

2. What problems of family relations do the authors highlight?

People constantly enter into more or less stable ties with each other. To this they are forced by material and spiritual needs, the satisfaction of which alone is impossible. The variety of social needs leads to the formation of a large number of social strata and communities in society. Some populations of people can be combined into social organizations and institutions. The named elements form a social system.

Social relations are various forms of coexistence of people and their associations. The nature of associations, their position in society, the nature of the activity of individuals and communities is the subject of this section.

Social structure of society

The concept of "social structure" is one of the key concepts in the theory of social relations. The fact is that it describes the fundamental phenomenon of social life. Various communities throughout the history of mankind have always been divided into castes, estates, classes, groups, strata, etc.

In classical sociology, the social structure was understood as a characteristic of the connections between the elements of society, its constituent people in terms of age, gender, profession, national and religious affiliation, territory of residence and other features. Although initially the social structure was understood as the class structure. The concept of "class" was introduced by French historians of the 18th century, then developed in Marxism.

Classes are large groups of people whose main distinguishing feature is their relationship to the means of production.

This implies their place and role in the system of social organization of labor, methods and sizes of obtaining a share of national wealth. Other researchers also referred to this concept, but in the second half of the last century it became clear that the class approach to social structure had significantly exhausted itself.

Therefore, the emergence of new concepts is natural: "Social community", "social group"And others. This topic is devoted to the consideration of these concepts.

Social structure is the totality of all relationships between individual elements of a social system. The elements are individuals, social communities of different types and social institutions.

A social institution is a historically established stable form of organization and regulation of people's common life.

The concept of "social institution" is used in most sociological theories to denote a stable complex of formal and informal norms, rules, principles that regulate various spheres of human life and organize them into a system of social statuses and roles. The structure and essence of social institutions are described in more detail in topics 1.6. and 4.10.

A social community is a collection of individuals characterized by the integrity and independence of social action.

People unite in communities for various reasons, for example:

• similarity of living conditions;
• solidarity based on common needs and interests;
• joint activity and exchange of activity;
• general system of cultural norms;
• joining one organization (for example, students or applicants);
• own assignment of people to certain communities (fans, fishermen, etc.).

Thus, there are many possible commonalities, so they are divided into two broad subclasses: group communities and massive communities.

Group communities are characterized by the following signs: clear structure, boundaries and a clear principle of entering them; stability in the time of emergence and existence; the ability to act as an element of wider communities (for example, family, group of friends, work collective). Mass communities do not possess these characteristics (fans of pop stars, philatelists, passengers of ground transport, etc.). One of the forms of mass communities is the "crowd".

A crowd is a mass community that briefly emerged in one place based on the similarity of needs and emotions.

The crowd has no single behavioral habits or prior interactions. When the need disappears, the crowd dissipates (fans leave the stadium, customers leave the store, passengers leave the vehicle). The concept of the crowd covers a wide range of forms, therefore, there are four main types of crowds.

The random crowd it is a collection of people who have nothing in common with each other, except that they observe the same phenomenon, for example, looking at the window of a department store.

Conventional crowd is a group of people who come together for a specific purpose and usually follow established rules, such as fans at a football match or spectators in a concert hall.

Expressive crowd is a collection of people who come together for personal moral satisfaction, such as at a religious meeting or a rock festival.

Active crowd- it is an excited gathering of people exhibiting forms of aggressive behavior where accepted norms are of no value.

Physical contact, overcrowding causes psychological and physical discomfort. Often there is a crush, which is characterized by negative social interaction - swearing, insults, conflicts, fights. These phenomena, as a rule, refer to unorganized mass actions. Other phenomena that characterize the crowd include mass hysteria, panic, pogroms and others.

Mass hysteria- a state of collective nervousness, increased excitability and fear. It can be triggered by rumors and gossip. Rumors and gossip are a collection of information that arises from anonymous sources and is disseminated through unofficial channels. They differ from each other in that gossip are usually based on fear or apprehension of some event, and gossip- on curiosity, envy, etc.

Panic - it is a form of uncoordinated mass actions of people facing danger. As a result, people prevent each other from getting out of a dangerous situation, often getting injured, and they themselves injure others. A pogrom is a collective act of violence taken by a mob against property or an individual.

Another type of mass community is public. Unlike the crowd, whose unity is created by physical contact, the audience is a spiritual community. Its representatives may not physically be together. This community is based on similarity of beliefs, rational views. If in the crowd a person becomes poorer, regresses, then in the public she gets the opportunity to enrich herself and progress. Thanks to the media, millions of people can have similar opinions without ever contacting each other. Any advertisement, including political, is addressed to the public.

As noted above, the main form of social communities is social groups.

Society acts as a set of many social groups. The number of groups on earth exceeds the number of individuals. This is possible because one person is able to belong to several social groups at once. The whole life of an individual takes place in these groups: family, school, college, company, friends, etc. A social group is an intermediary between an individual and the whole of society. There are many economic, demographic, ethnic groups that are formed objectively, regardless of the will and consciousness of members of society. They are divided for various reasons. Distinguish, for example, primary and secondary, large and small, formal and informal, etc.

Primary group- a social community, which is formed on the basis of emotional closeness. They are called primary because it is in them that individuals get the first experience of social unity.

Secondary group- a social community, the interaction in which is impersonal, functional. In these groups, individual personality traits do not really matter, the main thing is the ability to perform certain functions and achieve certain goals. This is how production teams and other organizations are formed. Emotional connections (friendship, love) can arise here, but all this should be set aside for the sake of the cause ("friendship is friendship, and service is service").

Secondary groups by the number of people are divided into large and small.

Small group- the social community in which individuals are v personal contact. The minimum number of such a group is two people. The maximum can be up to three dozen (team or training class). However, in sociology, it is believed that the optimal composition is a small group of five to seven people. Optimality lies in the fact that with sufficient resources of the group, stable social contact is maintained. The larger the number of people in a group, the less likely it is to be stable joint activity; even a dozen people begin to split into small groups.

There are two initial forms of the small group - a dyad and a triad. The basis of interactions in a dyad (a group of two) is an equivalent exchange. Exchange can be values ​​of the same quality (for example, physical actions), or it can be different (physical actions instead of spiritual activity, feelings, ideas). In such relationships, subjective predilections can dominate. In a triad, two can oppose one, then one is dealing with the opinion of the majority. Here the basis for an objective attitude to events arises. Thus, truly social relations arise in the triad.

Outwardly, it may seem that small groups and primary are one and the same. However, in a small group there may not be emotional unity (for example, an unfriendly class), but at the same time it may have a very specific practical purpose (training, watch, concert, etc.). Thus, a small group can be either primary or secondary.

A large group is a stable collection of people working together, but not in direct contact. They can include millions of people who are separated in time and space. Therefore, large groups can only be secondary.

Depending on the availability of an official legal status, social groups are divided into formal and informal.

Formal group is a social community, the attitude of individuals of which is regulated by legal norms. Such groups are created to solve certain problems in which society is interested. (For example, a school is for the training and socialization of the younger generation; the army is for the defense of the country; a factory is for the production of some product, etc.). These groups have a strict structure, ordered hierarchy, distribution of functions. The formal group is a secondary group. It can be either large (army) or small (pharmacy).

An informal group is a social community formed on the basis of trusting relationships. There is no strict separation of functions in these groups. Cohesion factors are the sympathies, habits and interests of its members. Relationships are built on respect and authority. The informal group is the primary group; it can only be small. These groups often arise within formal groups and influence their functioning.

All groups have similar features. First of all, it is group solidarity. The group has its own identity from the point of view of outsiders. Associated with this is a certain way of relations between group members between themselves and other people. Group members tend to communicate with “friends” in a manner that is different from communicating with other people. The group influences its member, and his actions are carried out under the pressure of other members of the group.

Depending on the sign of division in the social system, various communities can be distinguished:

• demographic (segregation by sex, age, family);
• economic (peasants, industrial workers, entrepreneurs, etc.);
• professional (teachers, doctors, lawyers, law enforcement officers, etc.);
• territorial (residents of cities, villages, suburbs, rotational camps and other settlements);
• national (Russians, Armenians);
• confessional (parishioners of the Orthodox Church, Muslims).

Currently, there is a complication of the social structure, fragmentation of traditional and the emergence of new communities.

Review questions:

• 1. What is the content of the concept of "social structure"?
• 2. What is a social community?
• 3. What is the difference between a group and a mass community?
• 4. What are the types of group and mass communities?
• 5. What is the difference between primary and secondary groups?
• 6. What is the difference between large and small groups?

Social relationships are relationships between social groups or their members.

Social relationships are subdivided into one-sided and reciprocal. One-sided social relations are characterized by the fact that their participants put different meanings into them.

For example, love on the part of an individual may stumble upon contempt or hatred from the object of his love.

Types of social relations: industrial, economic, legal, moral, religious, political, aesthetic, interpersonal

Industrial relations are concentrated in a variety of professional-labor roles-functions of a person (for example, engineer or worker, manager or performer, etc.).

Economic relations are realized in the sphere of production, ownership and consumption, which is a market for material and spiritual products. Here, a person acts in two interrelated roles - a seller and a buyer. Economic relations are planned and distributive and market.

Legal relations in society are consolidated through legislation. They establish the measure of individual freedom as a subject of industrial, economic, political and other social relations.

Moral relations are consolidated in the corresponding rituals, traditions, customs and other forms of ethnocultural organization of people's lives. These forms are the moral norm of behavior

Religious relations reflect the interaction of people, which develops under the influence of ideas about the place of a person in the universal processes of life and death, etc. These relationships grow out of a person's need for self-knowledge and self-improvement, from the consciousness of the higher meaning of being

Political relations are centered around the problem of power. The latter automatically leads to the domination of those who possess it, and the subordination of those who are deprived of it.

Aesthetic relationships arise on the basis of the emotional and psychological attractiveness of people to each other and the aesthetic reflection of material objects of the external world. These relationships are distinguished by high subjective variance.

Among interpersonal relationships, there are relationships of acquaintance, friendship, companionship, friendship and relationships that turn into intimate-personal: love, matrimonial, kinship.

18. Social group

Social a group, according to Merton, is a collection of people who interact with each other in a certain way, are aware of their belonging to a given group and are considered members of this group from the point of view of others.

Signs of a social group:

Awareness of membership

Interaction methods

Consciousness of oneness

KulI divided social groups into primary and secondary:

Family, peer group, as they provide the individual with the earliest and most complete experience of social cohesion

Formed from people between whom there are almost no emotional connections (due to the achievement of certain goals)

Social groups are divided into real and quasigroups, large and small, conditional, experimental and reference

Real groups- a community of people limited in size, united by real relationships or activities

Quasigroups characterized by randomness and spontaneity of education, instability of relationships, short-term interaction. As a rule, they exist for a short time, after which they either disintegrate or turn into a stable social group - a crowd (for example, fans) - a community of interests, an object of attention

Small group - a relatively small number of individuals who directly interact with each other and are united by common goals, interests, value orientations. Small groups can be formal or informal

Formal groups - the positions of the group members are clearly reflected, the vertical interactions between the group members are defined - the department at the university.

Informal the group arises and develops spontaneously, in it there are no positions, no statuses, no roles. There is no structure of power relations. Family, group of friends, peers

Big a group is a real, significant in size and complexly organized community of people involved in social activities and the system of corresponding relations and interactions. The staff of the university, enterprise, school, firm. Group norms of behavior, etc.

Reference group - a group in which individuals are not really included, but with which they relate themselves as a standard and are guided in their behavior by the norms and values ​​of this group.

Conditional group - a group united according to certain criteria (gender, age, level of education, profession) - they are created by sociologists to conduct sociological analysis (students of Altai).

Variety conditional group is experimental, which is created to conduct social and psychological experiments.