Get summaries, questions, answers, solutions, notes, extras, PDF and guide of chapter 7, Social structure and function: NBSE Class 11 Sociology textbook, which is part of the syllabus for students studying under the Nagaland Board. These solutions, however, should only be treated as references and can be modified/changed.
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Summary
People need things like food and shelter. They also have other needs. People usually get these needs met by living and working in groups, not alone. When people interact, they follow certain patterns of behavior. These patterns create social structures. Think of structure like how a building is put together with different parts, or how a clock has many pieces arranged to work as one unit. Social structure is how society is organized. It helps life run smoothly and gives society stability. It’s like the invisible framework that guides how we relate to each other.
The basic parts of social structure are status, roles, norms, and values. Status is a person’s position in a group, like being a student, a parent, or a doctor. Some statuses are ascribed, meaning they are given at birth, like your family’s social standing or being male or female. Other statuses are achieved, meaning you earn them through effort, like becoming a doctor. A person usually has many statuses, called a status set. The most important one is the master status.
A role is the behavior expected from someone with a certain status. If your status is ‘student’, your roles include studying and interacting with teachers. A role set includes all the roles linked to one status. Since people have many statuses, they also have multiple roles. Sometimes, the demands of one role are hard to meet, causing role-strain. Other times, the demands of different roles clash, leading to role-conflict.
Norms are the rules society uses to guide behavior. Prescriptive norms tell us what we should do, like respecting elders. Proscriptive norms tell us what we should not do, like stealing. Norms include folkways, which are everyday customs like how we eat or dress. They also include mores, which are more serious moral rules. Customs are accepted ways people do things together.
Values are shared ideas about what is good or bad, right or wrong, like honesty or fairness. Values guide our choices and give society a direction. They provide stability because people share them. Norms are specific rules based on general values. For example, the norm of not cheating in exams comes from the value of honesty.
Social function refers to the contribution that a part of society makes to the whole system. For instance, the family has functions that help society continue. Functions can be manifest, meaning they are intended and obvious, like a school’s function to educate. Functions can also be latent, meaning they are unintended and hidden, like a school keeping young people out of the job market. Some functions are positive (eufunctions), while others can be negative (dysfunctions), harming the system’s stability. Some actions might have no real effect (non-functions).
Textbook solutions
Very Short Answer Type Questions
1. What is social structure? (’06)
Answer: Social structure is the way in which various elements or parts of a society or group are organised and follow stable patterns of collective rules, roles and activities. Social structure is the way in which the units of a group or society are related to one another.
2. What is meant by status? (’07)
Answer: Status is the position occupied by an individual in a group or society.
3. What is an ascribed status? (’09)
Answer: Ascribed status is given by society on the basis of birth or biological characteristics like sex and age.
4. What is role?
Answer: A role is the behaviour expected of an individual who holds a certain status.
5. What is status-set?
Answer: The totality of the statuses of an individual is known as status set.
6. What is role-set? (’08)
Answer: A role-set is the array or collection of different roles attached to one status.
7. What are multiple roles?
Answer: Multiple-roles are the roles of an individual who performs different roles because he has different statuses.
8. Give the meaning of role-strain. (’14)
Answer: When conflicting demands are made into a role, the person performing the role may undergo role-strain.
9. What is role-conflict? (’09,’10)
Answer: Role-conflict is the situation when the fulfilment of one role may lead to the violation of another role.
10. Give the meaning of social norms.
Answer: Norms are the rules or standards of behaviour which are accepted and shared by the people. Norms are shared standards of desirable behaviour which people follow while interacting with others.
11. What are norms? (’07, ’09)
Answer: Norms are the rules or standards of behaviour which are accepted and shared by the people. Norms are shared standards of desirable behaviour which people follow while interacting with others.
12. Who used the term ‘social norms’ for the first time?
Answer: The term ‘social norms’ was used for the first time by M. Sherif in his book The Psychology of Social Norms.
13. What are folkways?
Answer: Folkways are approved standards of behaviour passed on from one generation to the next. Folkways are behavioural patterns of everyday life, which generally arise unconsciously in a group.
14. Who introduced the term ‘folkways’? (’13)
Answer: The concept of ‘folkways’ was introduced by William Graham Sumner in his book Folkways in 1906.
15. Give one example of folkways.
Answer: An example of folkways is the ways of eating.
16. What are mores?
Answer: Mores are norms that cover moral and ethical behaviour more crucial to social order than those covered by folkways, and are therefore more strictly enforced.
17. Define custom.
Answer: Customs are socially accepted ways in which people do things together in personal contacts.
18. What are social values?
Answer: Social values are shared ideas about what is right or wrong, good and bad, desirable and undesirable.
19. What are social functions? (’09)
Answer: According to R. K. Merton, social functions are the consequences which make for the adaptation and adjustment of a given system.
20. What is manifest function?
Answer: A manifest function refers to “open, stated or intended goals”. Manifest functions are those functions of which we are aware, and which can be clearly seen or are evident. Thus, manifest functions are those objective consequences which are intended and expected, and which contribute to the adjustment or adaptation of the system.
21. What is latent function?
Answer: A latent function refers to “unexpected and unintended consequences”. Latent functions are those functions of which we are not aware, and are not seen or which remain hidden. Thus, latent functions are those consequences which are neither intended nor recognised by the society.
22. What are dysfunctions? (’08, ’14)
Answer: Dysfunctions are negative consequences for the adaptation of the system or the stability of the system.
23. What are ‘eufunctions’?
Answer: Functions (or eufunctions) are positive in their consequences for the adaptation of the system.
24. What is social system?
Answer: The relationship between various structures and functions in a society is called social system.
Short Answer Type Questions
1. Differentiate achieved status from ascribed status. (’06)
Answer: Ascribed status is given by society on the basis of birth or biological characteristics like sex and age; for example, in India an individual gets his caste status by birth. Achieved status is a position which an individual attains through personal efforts; thus, the status of a doctor or engineer is an example of achieved status.
12. Distinguish eufunctions, dysfunctions and non-functions. (’10)
Answer: While functions (or eufunctions) are positive in their consequences for the adaptation of the system, dysfunctions are negative consequences for the adaptation of the system or the stability of the system. For example, sending a son to college at a great cost can bring economic hardship to the family thus making college education dysfunctional for the family. Non-functions are those consequences which have neither positive nor negative consequence for the adaptation of the system.
Essay Type Questions
1. What is social structure? Describe its various elements. (’08)
Answer: Social structure is the way in which various elements or parts of a society or group are organised and follow stable patterns of collective rules, roles and activities. It is the way in which the units of a group or society are related to one another. Social structure is real, but is invisible.
The basic elements of social structure which guides our actions are: i) social statuses, ii) social roles, iii) social norms and iv) social values.
- Social Status: Status is the position occupied by an individual in a group or society. Every individual who is a member of a group occupies a position or status. Status may be ascribed (given by society on the basis of birth or biological characteristics) or achieved (attained through personal efforts).
- Social Roles: A role is the behaviour expected of an individual who holds a certain status. Thus, role is the dynamic aspect of status. Sometimes an individual holding a status has several roles, constituting a role set. An individual usually has several statuses and therefore, several roles, known as multiple roles.
- Social Norms: Norms are the rules or standards of behaviour which are accepted and shared by the people. Norms are shared standards of desirable behaviour which people follow while interacting with others. Norms can be prescriptive (requiring certain behaviour) or proscriptive (forbidding certain behaviour). William Graham Sumner classified social norms into folkways (approved standards of everyday behaviour) and mores (norms covering crucial moral and ethical behaviour). Customs are also socially accepted ways of doing things together.
- Social Values: Social values are shared ideas about what is right or wrong, good and bad, desirable and undesirable. They are considered as general standards of behaviour. Values define social preference, specify societal choice, and provide a vision for future action. Social structure, social institution as well as social interaction and behaviour are all based upon values.
9. Discuss any four functions as identified by R.K. Merton. (’12)
Answer: R.K. Merton classifies functions into manifest functions and latent functions. He further classifies functions into eufunctions, dysfunctions and non-functions. Four functions identified by R.K. Merton are:
- Manifest functions: A manifest function refers to “open, stated or intended goals”. Manifest functions are those functions of which we are aware, and which can be clearly seen or are evident. Thus, manifest functions are those objective consequences which are intended and expected, and which contribute to the adjustment or adaptation of the system. For example, the manifest function of a college is to provide higher education.
- Latent Functions: A latent function refers to “unexpected and unintended consequences”. Latent functions are those functions of which we are not aware, and are not seen or which remain hidden. Thus, latent functions are those consequences which are neither intended nor recognised by the society. For example, a latent function of a college is to prevent young people from seeking employment at an early age, thus reducing unemployment.
- Eufunctions: Eufunctions or ‘good’ functions are positive in their consequences for the adaptation of the system. They contribute to the adjustment or adaptation of the system.
- Dysfunctions: Dysfunctions are negative consequences for the adaptation of the system or the stability of the system. For example, sending a son to college at a great cost can bring economic hardship to the family thus making college education dysfunctional for the family.
Problem Solving
A family has a social structure because the father, mother, sons and daughters have different roles. In a family if the mother or father dies, what happens to the structure of that family?
Answer: When a parent dies, the family’s social structure undergoes a significant change. Social structure is the way the component parts (family members) are arranged and related to each other based on their statuses (like mother, father, son, daughter) and roles (expected behaviours). The death removes a key component part and disrupts the established pattern of interactions and expected relationships. The roles performed by the deceased parent (like providing income, childcare, emotional support) must either cease or be redistributed among the remaining members, or potentially taken on by external support. This forces a reorganisation of the family unit, potentially affecting its stability and how it performs its functions. The arrangement of the remaining parts changes, thus altering the structure.
Think and Answer
A family is a social group with a structure with its manifest and latent functions. Identify some of these manifest and latent functions.
Answer: A family, as a social group, has both manifest and latent functions:
Manifest Functions: These are the open, stated, intended, and recognised consequences of the family structure. Examples include:
(i) Reproduction: Creating new members of society.
(ii) Socialisation: Teaching children the norms, values, and behaviours appropriate to their society.
(iii) Providing basic needs: Offering food, shelter, and protection to its members.
(iv) Emotional support and affection: Providing a stable environment for psychological well-being.
Latent Functions: These are the unexpected, unintended, or unrecognised consequences of family life. Examples include:
(i) Social placement: Conferring social status (like class, ethnicity, religion) onto children based on the parents’ position.
(ii) Economic consumption unit: Families act as primary consumers of goods and services in the economy.
(iii) Reinforcement of social norms: Daily interactions within the family subtly reinforce broader societal rules and expectations.
(iv) Limiting social mobility: In some cases, family background and expectations might unintentionally limit an individual’s opportunities or choices.
Ron’e Dutta is a journalist, teacher, aspiring novelist, and blogger who manages Online Free Notes. An avid reader of Victorian literature, his favourite book is Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. He dreams of travelling the world. You can connect with him on social media. He does personal writing on ronism.
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