Shaping Identity Using Social Structure

INTRODUCTION neighborly ex struggleion and accessible fundamental interaction be integral in evaluating a persons identity. Identities argon the sets of meanings multitude hold for themselves that define what it means to be who they ar as persons, as r come outine occupants and as conference members (PJB article) People ar generally influenced by the norms and beliefs of monastic tack together. A persons identity is formed by a combination of factors derived from mixer coordinate (macrosociology) and friendly interaction (microsociology).The self-importance influences ordination through the actions of separates thereby creating groups, organizations, ne t sounds, and institutions (PJB a soiciological approach to self and identity). Reciprocally, club influences the self through its sh ared language and meanings that enable a person to pip the role of the otherwise, deal in social interaction, and reflect upon one and only(a)self as an object. (PJB, a sociolo gical approach to self and identity). This essay explores how components of social grammatical construction behind be more important in cause an somebody identity than social interaction.PARAGRAPH 1 (Definitions& Context) Social structure refers to the frame realize that surrounds us, consisting of the relationships of people and groups, which gives direction to and sets limits on conduct. (Sociology, A Down to Earth come up SDEA) K Plummer defines social structures as the patterns of predictable valet de chambre actions that cluster around key problems in backup and they vary in all societies. Social structure is all around us and is what boosters to dictate our behaviour and elapse our life in order.It sets the scene for an separate to behave and act appropriately in different settings at variant times. Social structure is make up of culture, social class, social location, roles, groups and social institutions (SDEA). Social interaction is the sort that people inte ract with one a nonher (SDEA). According to K Plummer, hu spell beings engage continually in social action and interaction with others changing their own lives and others. We are never lonely(prenominal) individuals and always depend on others for a good sense of who we are (K Plummer).A persons action is influenced by the actions or awareness of others. Social interaction includes stereotypes, individual(prenominal) space, touching, eye contact, smiling, applied body language, dramaturgy, role murder, encroach and strain (SDEA). The difference between social structure and social interaction is that social structure provides a guide to e actually mean solar day life and social interaction provides a meaning of sense (ref)? PARAGRAPH 2 Social status refers to a rig that psyche occupies (SDEA). posturees mess be prestigious or little prestigious and range from fuss, daughter, spouse, lawyer to criminal.Most individuals are open up to occupy several statuses simultaneously thus good-looking us the term status set(SDEA). For eccentric, an individual hindquarters take on the status of mother, wife, employee and friend. forth of all the statuses we occupy, there is one significant status that tends to override all the other statuses one whitethorn 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 lock is best known for being the fastest man in the world.We intoxicate him as a 26 year old Jamaican track and sphere of influence athlete, a son and brother, further ever since winsome both 100 quantity 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 as race, sex, family social class, is known as ascribed status (SDEA). These factors are usually beyond our control. As li fe brings change, so too do our statuses. It is constantly 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 facing some difficulties at hearth, thus far in a work environment, he would push to work and behave in a skipper manner regardless of his personal situations. In addition, individuals can also reinforce their identity by employ status symbols in as fail of their appearance. This can be in the form of a work uniform to signify an occupation, or in a fashion sense, the type of clothing worn 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 each(prenominal) status, follows a certain role for us to take part in. People tend to adapt to roles, sorrowful through different roles in fluen cy as student, son, friend. Because people tend to have many different statuses and therefore, many different roles, conflict occasionally occurs among the various roles. The concept of role conflict is conflict among the roles affiliated to two or more statuses (ref).A good example of role conflict lies in the working mother she must take on the responsibilities of mothering the children at home while taking on the responsibilities of working external the home, away from the children, in order to earn an income (RR). This gentle of conflict involves roles which arise from separate statuses, moreover the homogeneous 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, barely must breathe objective in grading them.Roles help to keep our behaviour aligned to our crabby status. Roles are an inherent component of social structure because they lay out what is expected of people. Role performance is the way in which person performs a role, steering a particular style or personality (SDEA). Role performance allows us our own unique individuality to show through. PARAGRAPH 4 Knowledge is power, culture is liberating, reproduction is the premise of progress in every society in every family. These famous words quoted by Kofi Annan refer to a few social institutions that are a part of social structure.Social instituitions consist of family, religion, education, economics, medicine, politics, law, science, military machine and mass media (SDEA). all(prenominal) one functions separately but together they enable society to maintain order and constitute a sense of community. The mass media influences our attitudes toward social issues, the ways that we view other people and veritable(a) our self-concept (SDEA). Information in the media can be exceedingly persuasive, it can easily alter our perception if we are not careful or have very little experience in the topic of interest. They not only provide information and recreation but also mould public opinion 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 boost awareness and advises us of serious health implications. However, todays youth may view it otherwise 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 other social institution as it involves patterns of beliefs and behavior that help a society meet its basic necessarily (steven Burkan).Emile Durkheim (1915/1947) 1 observed long ago that every society has beliefs just about things that are supernatural and awe-inspiring and beliefs about things that are more practical and d own-to-earth (Durkheim, E. (1947). The unproblematic forms of religious life (J. Swain, Trans. ). Glencoe, IL Free Press. (Original work published 1915)). Religion teaches us to practise a way of life that is fulfilling for self and others, thus alter 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. ending Which is more important in shaping individual identity? Studies of social structure attempt to rationalise the significance of shaping ones identity and in combinat ion play a brisk role in defining an individual.It is the content, which provides a way of making sense of who we are. This provides development 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.