Social structure is the patterned
social relationships of society in the social sciences that both arise from and
decide the behavior of individuals. Similarly, it is assumed that culture is
grouped into structurally-related classes or collections of positions with
varying tasks, meanings, or motives. Family, faith, law, culture, and class
provide examples of social order. It contrasts with the "social
system" which refers to the structure of the parent in which these
different systems are integrated. Thus, broader systems such as economic
systems, legal systems, government systems, cultural systems, etc. are greatly
affected by social constructs. It may also be claimed that the social system is
the basis upon which a society is founded. It describes the rules and patterns
of relationships between society's different institutions.
Sociology aims to discover within the social system the values of harmony and order, the forms in which it roots and evolves within an environment, the shifting equilibrium of evolving structure and changing environment, the major patterns of incessant transition, the factors that at every moment decide its course, the harmonies and disagreements, the changes and maladjustments within the structure. The concept has been commonly used in social science since the 1920s, especially as a variable whose sub-components had to be separated as a result of the increasing effect of structuralism in relation to other sociological variables, as well as in academic literature. For example, the principle of 'social stratification' uses the notion of social hierarchy to illustrate that most cultures are divided into separate strata (levels), driven (if only partially) by the social system's underlying mechanisms.
The major modes of social organization,
i.e. the categories of communities, alliances and organizations and the
complexes of those which constitute societies, are concerned with social
structure. Demography that is, the field of research dealing with different
facets of the human society and how they impact or are shaped by social
interactions, should be included in the study of social structure. If
sociologists use the word "social structure" they usually apply to
social forces at the macro level, including social organizations and institutionalized
interaction patterns. Family, religion, education, the media, law, politics,
and economics are the main social structures identified by sociologists. These
are understood as separate interrelated and interdependent entities that
together help compose a society's overall social framework.
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These institutions arrange our
intimate interactions with others and, when presented on a wide scale,
establish patterns of social ties. The family organization, for example,
organizes individuals into distinct social relationships and responsibilities, including
mother, father, son, daughter, husband, wife, etc., and these relationships
usually have a hierarchy, resulting in a disparity in authority. For religion,
education, law, and politics, the same goes.
It is assumed that social norms affect
the social system through interactions between the majority and the minority.
Most minority relationships produce a systemic stratification within social
systems that advantages the majority in all facets of society, as those who
identify with the majority are considered 'natural' and those who align with
the minority are considered 'abnormal'.
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