In the social sciences, social structure is the patterned social arrangements in society
that are both emergent from and determinant of the actions of the individuals. On the
macro scale, social structure is the system of socioeconomic stratification, social institutions,
or, other patterned relations between large social groups. On the meso scale, it is the
structure of social network ties between individuals or organizations. On the micro scale, it can
be the way norms shape the behavior of actors within the social system.
These scales are not always kept separate. For example, recent scholarship by John Levi
Martin has theorized that certain macro-scale structures are the emergent properties of
micro-scale cultural institutions. Marxist sociology also has a history of mixing different
meanings of social structure, though it has done so by simply treating the cultural aspects
of social structure as epiphenomena of its economic ones.
Since the 1920s, the term has been in general use in social science, especially as a variable
whose sub-components needed to be distinguished in relationship to other sociological variables.
Overview The notion of social structure as relationship
between different entities or groups or as enduring and relatively stable patterns of
relationship emphasises the idea that society is grouped into structurally related groups
or sets of roles, with different functions, meanings or purposes. One example of social
structure is the idea of "social stratification", which refers to the idea that society is separated
into different strata, guided by the underlying structures in the social system. This approach
has been important in the academic literature with the rise of various forms of structuralism.
It is important in the modern study of organizations, because an organization's structure may determine
its flexibility, capacity to change, and many other factors. Therefore, structure is an
important issue for management. Social structure may be seen to influence
important social systems including the economic system, legal system, political system, cultural
system, and others. Family, religion, law, economy and class are all social structures.
The "social system" is the parent system of those various systems that are embedded in
it. History
The early study of social structures has informed the study of institutions, culture and agency,
social interaction, and history. Alexis de Tocqueville was apparently the first to use
the term social structure; later, Karl Marx, Herbert Spencer, Max Weber, Ferdinand Tönnies,
and Émile Durkheim all contributed to structural concepts in sociology. Weber investigated
and analyzed the institutions of modern society: market, bureaucracy, and politics.
One of the earliest and most comprehensive accounts of social structure was provided
by Karl Marx, who related political, cultural, and religious life to the mode of production.
Marx argued that the economic base substantially determined the cultural and political superstructure
of a society. Subsequent Marxist accounts, such as that by Louis Althusser, proposed
a more complex relationship that asserted the relative autonomy of cultural and political
institutions, and a general determination by economic factors only "in the last instance".
In 1905, the German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies first published his study The Present
Problems of Social Structure in the U.S.A, arguing that only the constitution of a multitude
into a unity creates a "social structure". Émile Durkheim introduced the idea that diverse
social institutions and practices played a role in assuring the functional integration
of society through assimilation of diverse parts into a unified and self-reproducing
whole. In this context, Durkheim distinguished two forms of structural relationship: mechanical
solidarity and organic solidarity. The former describes structures that unite similar parts
through a shared culture; the latter describes differentiated parts united through social
exchange and material interdependence. As did Marx and Weber, more generally, Georg
Simmel developed a wide-ranging approach that provided observations and insights into domination
and subordination, competition, division of labor, formation of parties, representation,
inner solidarity coupled with exclusiveness toward the outside, and many similar features
in the state, in a religious community, in an economic association, in an art school,
and in family and kinship networks). The notion of social structure was extensively
developed in the 20th century, with key contributions from structuralist perspectives drawing on
the theories of Claude Lévi-Strauss, Feminist or Marxist perspectives, from functionalist
perspectives such as those developed by Talcott Parsons and his followers, or from a variety
of analytic perspectives. Some follow Marx in trying to identify the basic dimensions
of society that explain the other dimensions, most emphasizing either economic production
or political power. Others follow Lévi-Strauss in seeking logical order in cultural structures.
Still others, notably Peter Blau, follow Simmel in attempting to base a formal theory of social
structure on numerical patterns in relationships—analyzing, for example, the ways in which factors like
group size shape intergroup relations. The notion of social structure is intimately
related to a variety of central topics in social science, including the relation of
structure and agency. The most influential attempts to combine the concept of social
structure with agency are Anthony Giddens' theory of structuration and Pierre Bourdieu's
practice theory. Giddens emphasizes the duality of structure and agency, in the sense that
structures and agency cannot be conceived apart from one another. This permits him to
argue that structures are neither independent of actors nor determining of their behavior,
but rather sets of rules and competencies on which actors draw, and which, in the aggregate,
they reproduce. Giddens's analysis, in this respect, closely parallels Jacques Derrida's
deconstruction of the binaries that underlie classic sociological and anthropological reasoning.
Bourdieu's practice theory also seeks a more supple account of social structure as embedded
in, rather than determinative of, individual behavior.
Other recent work by Margaret Archer, Tom R. Burns and collaborators, and Immanuel Wallerstein
provided elaborations and applications of the sociological classics in structural sociology.
Definitions and concepts As noted above, social structure has been
identified as the relationship of definite entities or groups
to each other, enduring patterns of behaviour by participants
in a social system in relation to each other, and
institutionalised norms or cognitive frameworks that structure the actions of actors in the
social system. Lopez and Scott distinguish between institutional
structure and relational structure, where in the former:
whereas in the latter: Social structure can also be divided into
microstructure and macrostructure. Microstructure is the pattern of relations between most basic
elements of social life, that cannot be further divided and have no social structure of their
own. Macrostructure is thus a kind of 'second level' structure, a pattern of relations between
objects that have their own structure. Some types of social structures that modern sociologist
differentiate are relation structures, communication structures and sociometric structures.
Social rule system theory reduces the structures of to particular rule system arrangements,
that is, the types of basic structures of. It shares with role theory, organizational
and institutional sociology, and network analysis the concern with structural properties and
developments and at the same time provides detailed conceptual tools needed to generate
interesting, fruitful propositions and models and analyses.
Sociologists also distinguish between: normative structure — pattern of relations
in given structure between norms and modes of operations of people of varying social
positions ideal structure — pattern of relations between
beliefs and views of people of varying social positions
interest structure — pattern of relations between goals and desires of people of varying
social positions interaction structure — forms of communications
of people of varying social positions Origins and development
Some believe that social structure is naturally developed. It may be caused by larger system
needs, such as the need for labour, management, professional and military classes, or by conflicts
between groups, such as competition among political parties or among elites and masses.
Others believe that this structuring is not a result of natural processes, but is socially
constructed. It may be created by the power of elites who seek to retain their power,
or by economic systems that place emphasis upon competition or cooperation.
The most thorough account of the evolution of social structure is perhaps provided by
structure and agency accounts that allow for a sophisticated analysis of the co-evolution
of social structure and human agency, where socialised agents with a degree of autonomy
take action in social systems where their action is on the one hand mediated by existing
institutional structure and expectations but may, on the other hand, influence or transform
that institutional structure. Critical implications
The notion of social structure may mask systematic biases, as it involves many identifiable subvariables,
for example, gender. Some argue that men and women who have otherwise equal qualifications
receive different treatment in the workplace because of their gender, which would be termed
a "social structural" bias, but other variables might be masked. Modern social structural
analysis takes this into account through multivariate analysis and other techniques, but the analytic
problem of how to combine various aspects of social life into a whole remains.
See also
References
Further reading Abercrombie, N., S. Hill and B. S. Turner,
'Social structure' in The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology, 4th edition, London: Penguin,
pp. 326–327. Archer, M.S. 1995. Realist Social Theory:
The Morphogenetic Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Blau, P. M.. Approaches to the Study of Social Structure, New York: The Free Press A Division
of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. Burns, T. R. and H. Flam The Shaping of Social
Organization: Social Rule System Theory with Applications London: Sage.
Calhoun, Craig, Dictionary of the Social Sciences Oxford University Press
Crothers, Charles, Social Structure, London: Routledge
Flam, H. and M. Carson Rule System Theory: Applications and Explorations Peter Lang Publishers,
Berlin/New York, 2008 Jary, D. and J. Jary.. 'Social structure',
in The Harper Collins Dictionary of Sociology, New York: Harper Collins.
Lopez, J. and J. Scott, Social Structure, Buckingham and Philadelphia: Open University
Press. Murdock, George. Social Structure. New York:
MacMillan. Porpora, D. V., The Concept of Social Structure,
New York, Wetport and London: Greenwood Press. Porpora, D. V.. 'Four Concepts of Social Structure',
Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 19, pp. 195–211.
Smeeser, N. J.. 'Social structure', in N. J. Smeeser, The Handbook of Sociology, London:
Sage, pp. 103–209. Tönnies, Ferdinand. The Present Problems
of Social Structure, American Journal of Sociology, 10, p. 569–588
Wallerstein, I. World-Systems Analysis:An Introduction. Durham/London: Duke University
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