Definitions related to social status. Types of social statuses. Social status as a reflection of the individual personality traits of a person

Concept

The concept in a sociological sense was first used by the English historian and lawyer Henry Maine.

Social status- the place or position of the individual, correlated with the position of other people; this is the place of the individual in a hierarchically organized social structure, his objective position in it; it is an inexhaustible human resource that gives a person the opportunity to influence society and receive through it privileged positions in the system of power and distribution of material wealth. Each person occupies a range of positions in society, each of which implies a range of rights and responsibilities. Social statuses are structural elements social organization of society, providing social ties between the subjects of social relations. Society not only creates social positions - statuses, but also provides social mechanisms for the distribution of members of society according to these positions.

Types of statuses

Each person, as a rule, has not one but several social statuses. Sociologists distinguish between:

inborn status- the status received by a person at birth (gender, race, nationality). In some cases, innate status can change: the status of a member of the royal family - from birth until as long as the monarchy exists.
acquired (achieved) status- the status that a person achieves by his own efforts (position, post).
prescribed (attributed) status- the status that a person acquires, regardless of his desire (age, status in the family), over the course of life, it can change. Prescribed status is either innate or acquired.

Status incompatibility

The incompatibility of statuses occurs under two circumstances:

when an individual occupies a high rank in one group, and a low one in the second;
when the rights and obligations of the status of one person contradict or interfere with the fulfillment of the rights and obligations of another.

Examples: a scientist had to go to work as a salesman in a commercial kiosk, an elderly man was used as an errand boy, a police officer had to become racketeers, a minister had to participate in negotiations with terrorists. A high-paid official (high professional rank) is likely to also have a high family rank as a person providing material wealth families. But this does not automatically mean that he will have high ranks in other groups - among friends, relatives, colleagues!

Literature

In English

Warner W.L., Heker M., Cells K. Social Class in America. A Manual co Procedure for Measurement of Social Status. Chicago, 1949.
Linton R. The Study of Man. N.Y., 1936

In Russian

2.2. Social statuses and roles(S. 54-59) in the book: Shkaratan, Ovsey Irmovich. Sociology of inequality. Theory and reality; Nat. issled. University Higher School of Economics. - M .: Publishing house. House of the Higher School of Economics, 2012. - 526 p. - ISBN 978-5-7598-0913-5

Notes (edit)

About social status

The social status of an individual is not only a person's place in the system of social relations, but also the rights and duties dictated by the position held. Thus, the status of a doctor gives the right to diagnose and treat patients, but at the same time obliges the doctor to observe labor discipline and conscientiously do his job.

The concept of social status was first proposed by the American anthropologist R. Linton. The scientist made a great contribution to the study of personality problems, its interaction with other members of society.

There are statuses at an enterprise, family, political party, kindergarten, school, university, in a word, wherever an organized group of people is engaged in socially significant activities and the members of the group have certain relationships with each other.

A person is in several statuses at the same time. For example, a middle-aged man is a son, a father, a husband, an engineer at a factory, a member of a sports club, a holder of a scientific degree, an author of scientific publications, a patient in a clinic, etc. The number of statuses depends on the connections and relationships that a person enters into.

There are several classifications of statuses:

Personal and social. A person occupies a personal status in a family or other small group in accordance with the assessment of his personal qualities. Social status (examples: teacher, worker, manager) is determined by the actions performed by the individual for society.
Basic and episodic. The main status is associated with the main functions in a person's life. Most often, the main statuses are the family man and the worker. Episodic are associated with a moment in time during which a citizen performs certain actions: a pedestrian, a reader in a library, a student of courses, a theater audience, etc.
Prescribed, achievable and blended. The prescribed status does not depend on the desire and capabilities of the individual, since it is given at birth (nationality, place of birth, class). What is achieved is acquired as a result of efforts made (level of education, profession, achievements in science, art, sports). Mixed combines the features of the prescribed and achievable statuses (a person who has received a disability).
Socio-economic status is determined by the amount of income received and the position that an individual occupies in accordance with his well-being.

The collection of all available statuses is called a status set.

Hierarchy

The society constantly evaluates the significance of this or that status and, on the basis of this, builds a hierarchy of positions.

Assessments depend on the usefulness of the business that the person is engaged in, and on the system of values adopted in the culture. Prestigious social status (examples: businessman, director) is highly appreciated. At the top of the hierarchy is the general status, which determines not only the life of a person, but also the position of people close to him (president, patriarch, academician).

If some statuses are unreasonably underestimated, while others, on the contrary, are excessively high, then they speak of a violation of the status balance. The tendency to lose it jeopardizes the normal functioning of society.

The hierarchy of statuses is also subjective. A person himself determines what is more important to him, in what status he feels better, what benefits he derives from being in this or that position.

Social status cannot be something immutable, since people's lives are not static. The movement of a person from one social group to another is called social mobility, which is subdivided into vertical and horizontal.

Vertical mobility is said to be when the social status of a person rises or falls (a worker becomes an engineer, a head of a department becomes an ordinary employee, etc.). With horizontal mobility, a person retains his position, but changes his profession (to an equivalent in status), place of residence (becomes an emigrant).

Intergenerational and intragenerational mobility is also distinguished. The first determines how much the children have increased or decreased their status in relation to the status of their parents, and according to the second, they judge how successful the social career of representatives of one generation is (types of social status are taken into account).

The channels of social mobility are the school, family, church, army, public organizations and political parties... Education is a social lift that helps a person achieve the desired status.

A high social status acquired by a person or a decrease in it indicates individual mobility. If the status is changed by a certain community of people (for example, as a result of a revolution), then group mobility takes place.

Social roles

Being in this or that status, a person commits actions, communicates with other people, that is, plays a role. Social status and social role are closely interrelated, but differ from each other. Status is position, and role is socially expected behavior determined by status. If the doctor is rude and swears, and the teacher abuses alcohol, then this does not correspond to the status held.

The term "role" was borrowed from the theater to emphasize the stereotyped behavior of people of similar social groups. A person cannot do what he wants. The behavior of an individual is determined by the rules and norms characteristic of a particular social group and society as a whole.

In contrast to status, the role is dynamic, closely related to the personality traits and moral attitudes of a person. Sometimes role-playing behavior is adhered to only in public, as if putting on a mask. But it also happens that the mask grows together with its bearer, and the person ceases to distinguish between himself and his role. Depending on the situation, this state of affairs has both positive and negative consequences.

Social status and social role are two sides of the same coin.

Variety of social roles

Since there are many people in the world and each person is an individual, there are hardly two identical roles. Some role models require emotional restraint, self-control (lawyer, surgeon, funeral director), and for other roles (actor, educator, mother, grandmother) emotions are very much in demand.

Some roles drive a person into a rigid framework (job descriptions, charters, etc.), others have no framework (parents are fully responsible for the behavior of children).

The performance of roles is closely related to motives, which are also not the same. Everything is determined by social status in society and personal motives. An official is concerned about promotion, a financier is concerned with profit, and a scientist is concerned with the search for truth.

Role-playing set

A role-playing set is understood as a set of roles characteristic of a particular status. Thus, a doctor of sciences is in the role of a researcher, teacher, mentor, supervisor, consultant, etc. Each role implies its own ways of communicating with others. The same teacher behaves differently with colleagues, students, and the rector of the university.

The concept of "role-playing set" describes all the diversity social roles inherent in a specific status. No role is rigidly assigned to its bearer. For example, one of the spouses is left without work and for some time (and maybe forever) loses the role of a colleague, subordinate, leader, becomes a housewife (householder).

In many families, social roles are symmetrical: both husband and wife act equally as breadwinners, owners of the house and educators of children. In such a situation, it is important to adhere to the golden mean: excessive enthusiasm for one role (director of a company, business woman) leads to a lack of energy and time for others (father, mother).

Role expectations

The difference between social roles and mental states and personality traits is that roles represent a historically developed standard of behavior. Requirements are imposed on the bearer of this or that role. So, a child must certainly be obedient, a schoolboy or student - to study well, a worker - to observe labor discipline, etc. Social status and social role oblige to act this way and not otherwise. The system of requirements is also called expectations.

Role expectations act as an intermediate link between status and role. Only such behavior that corresponds to the status is considered role-playing. If the teacher, instead of giving a lecture on higher mathematics, starts singing with a guitar, the students will be surprised, because they expect other behavioral reactions from the assistant professor or professor.

Role expectations consist of actions and qualities. Taking care of the child, playing with him, putting the baby to bed, the mother performs actions, and the successful completion of actions is facilitated by kindness, responsiveness, empathy, and moderate severity.

Compliance with the role played is important not only to those around, but also to the person himself. The subordinate seeks to earn the respect of the boss, receives moral satisfaction from the high assessment of the results of his work. The athlete trains hard to set the record. The writer is working on a bestseller. The social status of a person obliges him to be at his best. If the expectations of an individual do not correspond to the expectations of others, then internal and external conflicts arise.

Role conflict

Inconsistencies between role bearers arise either from a mismatch of expectations or from the fact that one role completely excludes the other. The young man more or less successfully plays the role of son and friend. But friends call the guy to the disco, and his parents demand that he stay at home. An ambulance doctor's child fell ill, and the doctor was urgently called to the hospital, as a natural disaster happened. The husband wants to go to the dacha to help his parents, and the wife books a trip to the sea to improve the health of the children.

Resolving role conflicts is not easy. The participants in the confrontation have to determine which role is more important, but in most cases, compromises are more appropriate. The teenager returns from the party early, the doctor leaves his child with his mother, grandmother or nanny, and the spouses negotiate the terms of participation in summer cottage works and travel time with the whole family.

Sometimes the conflict is resolved by leaving the role: changing jobs, entering university, divorce. Most often, a person realizes that he has outgrown this or that role or it has become a burden to him. Role reversal is inevitable as the child grows and develops: infant, toddler early age, preschooler, pupil primary grades, teenager, boy, adult. The transition to a new age level is provided by internal and external contradictions.

Socialization

From birth, a person learns the norms, patterns of behavior and cultural values characteristic of a particular society. This is how socialization takes place, the social status of the individual is acquired. Without socialization, a person cannot become a full-fledged person. Socialization is influenced by the media, cultural traditions of the people, social institutions (family, school, labor collectives, public associations, etc.).

Purposeful socialization occurs as a result of education and upbringing, but the efforts of parents and teachers are adjusted by the street, the economic and political situation in the country, television, the Internet and other factors.

The further development of society depends on the effectiveness of socialization. Children grow up and take the status of parents, take on certain roles. If the family and the state did not pay enough attention to the upbringing of the younger generation, then in public life degradation and stagnation set in.

Members of society agree on their behavior with certain standards. These can be prescribed norms (laws, regulations, rules) or unspoken expectations. Any non-compliance with the standards is considered a deviation, or deviation. Examples of deviation are drug addiction, prostitution, alcoholism, pedophilia, etc. Deviation is individual, when one person deviates from the norm, and group (informal groups).

Socialization occurs as a result of two interrelated processes: internalization and social adaptation. A person adapts to social conditions, masters the rules of the game, which are obligatory for all members of society. Over time, norms, values, attitudes, ideas about what is good and what is bad become part of the inner world of the individual.

People are socialized throughout their lives, and at each age stage, statuses are acquired and lost, new roles are mastered, conflicts arise and are resolved. This is how personality develops.

R. Merton

Social status is:

2) achieved (attainable), that is, the one that a person himself achieves during his life, making certain efforts (profession, material wealth, political influence, etc.)

etc.). Sometimes a person can have a mixed social status, but most often a person has several statuses, since he is a subject of different social groups (for example, a man is a boss at work, and at home he is a kind and caring father). But still, basically, the social status of a person and his position in society are determined by one, the most basic status. In most cases, it is determined by the place of work.

It is important to learn the following:

Social statuses, their types

In everyday conversation, the word “status” is used to refer to an individual's position as determined by his economic position, influence and prestige. A person is social, he interacts with various social groups. Entering simultaneously about many social groups, he occupies a different position in each of them. To analyze the degree of inclusion of an individual in various groups, as well as, provisions, cat. he takes in each of them, use the concept of social status. Status is understood as the social position of a person within a group or society, associated with certain of his rights and responsibilities, this is the rank or position of an individual in this group. ... It is with the help of statuses that we identify each other in various social structures. Mother, mayor, priest, friend, boss, man, captain, child, Yakut, customer, professor and convict - all these are statuses.

Social status is a characteristic of a social position, the presence of an internally meaningful side of status means that the SS characterizes which rights, duties, privileges, powers are assigned to those who perform a particular function. The presence of an external nominational form means that the SS has its own nomination: teacher, doctor, president, cleaner, grandfather, daughter, etc. In sociology, it is important that the status of a daughter is not just the status of family ties, but also a certain subordination to parents, the obligation to listen to their opinion, material, legal dependence on them. The total sum of all statuses - a status set - illustrates the individuality of a person and his place in the system of social relations, the totality of all statuses is organized in hierarchical rows (they are in communication and subordination to each other). Types of statuses: 1. congenital acquired, congenital - attributed (nationality, gender, race), i.e. status inherited from birth, innate is called ascribable (ascriptive). The generally accepted criteria for attributed status are age and gender. For example, it is illegal to obtain a driver's license, get married, vote or receive a pension before reaching the required age. Race, religion, family and socioeconomic background are also generally accepted grounds for determining the status of a person.

We obtain other statuses through individual choice and competition, these are 2.

achieved (acquired) The status acquired by an individual in society through his own efforts is called achieved. No society can ignore the difference in individuality, so the success or failure of an individual is reflected in giving him a certain status based on a specific achievement. Professor, choir conductor, doctor, actor, university student, priest, police officer, pickpocket, company president, coach and scuba diver are all examples of the status achieved. There are statuses 3. statuses associated with the kinship system, some kinship statuses are acquired (adoption, baptism). Statuses can be formalized and non-formalized: formalized ones are protected by law (plant director, regional governor), such a status arises within the framework of formal institutions, groups, therefore a person seeks to "defend himself" by a formal status, non-formalized statuses are not based on laws (the leader of a company of friends, informal team leader). In addition to the main status associated with the profession, it is appropriate to say about the generalized status, otherwise called. social position index - a holistic assessment of the social positions of both one's own and others in the system of social coordinates.

Of the many statuses, first of all, it is necessary to determine the main status, what exactly self-determines a person socially. Of particular importance in this is the status of the individual associated with work, profession, property status is of considerable importance. However, in the conditions of an informal company of friends, these signs may be of secondary importance - here the cultural level, education, sociability can play a decisive role. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between the basic, general hierarchy of personality statuses, cat. works in most situations in a given society, and specific, used in special conditions, for special people. So, the main status is a key status that determines the social position and value of a person, associated with certain of his rights and obligations. For children, the main status is age; likewise, in many societies, gender is the main status. The main status forms the framework within which our goals are formulated and our training takes place. Statuses in society are hierarchical, the accepted hierarchy of statuses is the basis of social stratification, social prestige (respect, recognition) of statuses and there is a hierarchy of statuses shared by society and enshrined in culture, public opinion... The prestige of the status is shared by society, any restructuring social institutions associated with changes in the status hierarchy.

Each person in society has a certain relationship, performs certain duties and has certain rights. All this is an indicator of the position in society that a person occupies and his social status that she possesses. Social status determines the position of the group and its members in certain areas of human life.

A person's position in society is determined by his profession, nationality, age, marital status... (All these defining R. Merton called "status set.") One person has many statuses, as he participates in many groups and organizations. He is a man, father, husband, son, teacher, professor, doctor of science, middle-aged man, member of the editorial board, Orthodox, etc. One person can hold two opposite statuses, but in relation to different people: for his children he is a father , but for his mother a son.

Social status is:

1) prescribed (attributed), that is, the one that a person receives regardless of his desire and most often from birth (gender, nationality, age);

2) achieved (attainable), that is, the one that a person himself achieves during his life, making certain efforts (profession, material wealth, political influence, etc.). Sometimes a person can have a mixed social status, but most often a person has several statuses, since he is a subject of different social groups (for example, a man is a boss at work, and at home he is a kind and caring father).

Social role and social status.

But still, basically, the social status of a person and his position in society are determined by one, the most basic status. In most cases, it is determined by the place of work.

To determine the social status of a person great importance have an assessment of existing positions in the society in which a person lives, determination of the prestige and authority of these positions.

Social status is a certain position in the social structure of a group or society, linked to other positions through a system of rights and obligations. The status "teacher" is only meaningful in relation to the status "student", but not in relation to the seller, pedestrian or engineer. For them, he is just an individual.

With the help of social status, relations in a group are regulated, norms and rules of behavior for representatives of groups are established, which correspond to a certain status.

In different epochs of our society, the defining indicator was: under capitalism - income, money, under socialism - the labor contribution of the worker. Fulfilling certain duties, a person occupies a certain status in society and begins to fulfill those social roles in society that correspond to this social status.

It is important to learn the following:

1) social statuses are interconnected with each other, but do not interact with each other;

2) only subjects (owners, carriers) of statuses interact with each other, that is, people;

3) it is not statuses that enter into social relations, but their carriers;

4) social relations link statuses among themselves, but these relations are realized through people - bearers of statuses.

Status group and lifestyle

In reviewing the various definitions of status, I have so far focused on status as an individual's position in society. However, from a sociological point of view, status is much more interesting as an attribute of social groups or collectives. Therefore, we need to move from the definition of individual statuses to the notion of group status, community status and collective lifestyles. While the American sociological tradition has often focused on individual status, the Weber tradition has been more concerned with the origins, maintenance, and social consequences of status groups and status communities as cohesive and militant social collectives. In Economics and Society, Weber recognized the different meanings of status and prestige, but, in my opinion, only two aspects of status he considered particularly seriously. First, the concept of status as a system of "estates" through which society (especially the feudal system) was divided on the basis of legal, social and cultural privileges that gave rise to different caste-like groups divided among themselves. Status groups transform into estates when their privileges crystallize into a system of legal and economic immunities arising from external control or regulation protected by custom, religion and law.

Secondly, Weber was interested in the analysis of historical and social functions status groups or status communities, which are collectives that have a similar lifestyle, a common moral system, a common language or culture, and religious differences. As a result, these common cultural traits give rise to isolated, internally solidarity communities organized to protect or enhance their opportunities to enjoy cultural and social benefits and privileges. From this point of view, social stratification creates, maintains and distributes various forms of power in society through the mechanisms of political monopoly, cultural reproduction and social exclusion. The idea that status differences are maintained through cultural exclusivity has been particularly developed in the sociology of culture by Pierre Bourdieu. From the point of view of these sociological approaches, we can deduce two corresponding concepts of status: status as a lifestyle (cultural status) and status as political and legal rights (civilian component of status).

Weber defined the status position (Stadische Lage) as an effective social claim to nobility (honor) or respect in the form of positive and negative privileges. Status is usually based on a specific lifestyle, formal training, or formal prestige arising from a particular occupation. Moreover, status is maintained and expressed through the ranking of living conditions and food, through the monopoly of privileged access to power and wealth, through social solidarity generated by marriage, and, finally, through certain customs and status conventions. By the status group, he understood many social actors(actors) who, in a wider social environment, successfully claim a specific honor and enjoy certain social privileges. Status groups are communities that have privileged access to limited resources, especially if those resources carry cultural, moral, or symbolic attributes.

Following Frank Parkin, we can note that status groups or communities tend to emerge from social and political usurpation, causing collective struggles to expand access to scarce resources and thereby strengthen the collective position of honor. Weber went on to compare economic classes and communities in terms of their internal solidarity and militancy. In contrast to economic classes, status groups are characteristic social collectives of a communal nature, which presupposes the reproduction of a typical lifestyle and cultural heritage. On the other hand, economic classes are simply aggregates of individuals linked together by exchange and other economic relations.

Social statuses and social roles

Consequently, status communities are organized as communities with the aim of protecting and strengthening their social privileges and rights.

The meaning of these formal definitions allowed Weber to undertake a series of comparative historical studies of social structure and social change. Weber wanted to show that economic wealth is not the only criterion for social power and influence. In addition, he wanted to explore societies in which prestige gained through education or culture was greater than power based on ownership of the means of production. For example, in his study of Chinese society, Weber emphasized the political and cultural status of the educated. He wrote that “for twelve centuries, social rank in China was determined more by professional qualifications than wealth. This qualification, in turn, was determined by education and especially by exam. China made education literally the only measure of social prestige, giving it a greater role than it did in Europe during the humanist period or in Germany. "

From Weber's point of view, this cultural stratum contributed to the strengthening of social stability and traditionalism in China, as there was a similarity between the Confucian ethics of the stratum and the lifestyle of civilian officials. In The Religion of India, Weber showed how religious beliefs about pollution played an important role in the organization and maintenance of the caste system. These examples highlight the fact that Weber preferred to conduct historical research power relations in human society rather than engage in formal development of conceptual distinctions between class, status and party. In subsequent sociology, Weber's emphasis on the importance of history was lost. But static categorization of different strata or segments is not a substitute for historical sociology.

Weber's development of the idea of status groups was used to contrast the Marxist analysis of the economic class. Weber wanted to show that status groups are more cohesive, socially and politically more conscious than economic classes, which Weber defined as aggregates operating in the market. Status groups are critically dependent on the maintenance of an exceptional lifestyle aimed at maintaining certain cultural monopolies. Status groups seek to reproduce themselves through educational mechanisms in order to prevent social mobility of outsiders and to emphasize their exclusivity and particularism. It is useful to compare T. Weblen's book "The Leisure Class Theory" with Weber's interpretation of status groups:

“For Weber, as for Veblen, the function of prestigious consumption, that is to emphasize a pragmatically meaningless style of consumption requiring many years of study, was to prevent mobility and institutionalize the privileges of those who rose to the top in previous years or eras. ... Therefore, status groups are determined by a specific lifestyle. "

Thus, a status group is a community of individuals who have organized themselves to maintain or expand their social privileges through a mechanism of social closure in order to protect existing monopoly privileges from outsiders. ... The existence of status groups inevitably causes social conflict and social strife, although these forms of social strife can often be disguised or hidden.

Conflict Sociology

One major controversy in sociology has arisen over the question of whether social relations are primarily characterized by agreement or conflict. Social consent theories seek to explain how social order is formed, they usually argue that social stability is created by shared values and expectations. Conflict sociologists, on the other hand, are more impressed by the prevalence of conflict, tension and disorder than by spheres of agreement and consensus. If you look from our time, then many of these disputes now seem to be something unproductive, since at the level common sense it is clear that all social relationships generate both agreement and conflict at the same time. However, in the analysis of status groups and status struggles, there are strong arguments for the conflict sociology approach, since in this paper I argue that status, by its very nature, entails an endless struggle over the allocation of limited resources, especially cultural ones. Conflict sociology in its most elaborated form provides a general and theoretically important approach to social relations.

... The historical development of status stratification in the United States differed from the development of class systems in Europe in a number of important ways. First of all, the United States did not inherit the feudal nobility, and migration played a key role in the formation of a sense of individual success as the main component of the value system, while the social system was organized into separate competing ethnic communities. These historical differences partly explain the difference in approaches to social stratification in American and European sociology. While European social theory was primarily interested in the role of economic classes in industrial society, American sociologists were more interested in studying the social mobility of individuals, analyzing the structure of occupations, and subjective perception of prestige.

In the American context, Weber's conflictual approach to status privilege has been transformed and overridden by the Warner School of Sociology. The concepts of "status" and "class" were merged, and the importance of conflict in shaping consciousness was ignored. Social stratification was now seen as a continuous gradation of positions that equated to ranking in prestige. Individuals were seen as moving through these ranked positions through their personal efforts; the notion of socially closed status groups seeking to monopolize resources was abandoned in favor of the image of America as a classless society with great opportunities for social mobility. The emphasis on class conflict and the competition of status groups, which are essential elements in the dynamic process of historical transformations of society (as we noted in the sociology of both Marx and Weber), was supplanted by the emphasis of consensus in the studies of communities by Warner's school and the structural-functionalist theory of stratification L Davis and W. Moore. Of course, these approaches to social stratification in American sociology ultimately came under wide criticism for, for example, the functionalist approach to status ignored significant inequalities, the role of interests generated by it, resource monopolization, and large-scale intergroup conflicts that take place in American life.

Having outlined the variety of definitions and approaches to status, I would now like to articulate my own approach more clearly. First, I especially emphasize the political and legal features of the concept of status. As I have already noted, in Latin this word originally meant a legal position or position in society, according to which a citizen could claim various forms of getting rid of political and tax obligations. Therefore, by status I mean, first of all, a complex of socio-political claims to society, which gives an individual (or, more sociologically speaking, a group) certain benefits and privileges, distinguishing him from other individuals or groups. These socio-political claims are about limited resources, especially education, culture and symbolic resources. This cultural aspect of status gives rise to a second dimension: the concept of status as a culturally specific lifestyle that distinguishes a status group with a special identity in society. In feudal societies, access to privileges was organized exclusively through the estates (clergy, nobility and ordinary people), which had their own cultural and value systems. In a modern society, the struggle over social privileges and distinctive symbols is more mobile and open, it involves innumerable groups, collectives and strata.

By emphasizing the socio-political aspect, it is easier to maintain a clearer line between the status and the idea of the economic class, since the class touches the system of economic inequality in society, using the categories of production, property and consumption. Therefore, I would prefer to use the concept of "economic class" as the equivalent of "social class". ... On the one hand, I want to distinguish between economic classes and status communities, and on the other hand, I believe that class and status analyzes are far from mutually exclusive things, they are most effectively used in combination ... My analysis of social stratification shows the economic structure of society (classes) , the distribution of legal rights (citizenship) and the organization of prestige and honor in terms of "cultural capital" (status as a culturally distinctive lifestyle).

Although the reader has probably already sensed that the idea of status is surrounded by rather complex terminological complexities, for the sake of analysis, I introduce another distinction in this work: between status communities and status columns or blocks. A status community is, so to speak, the true form of a strong community (or, in sociological terms, the Gemeinschaft relationship); these are communities where individuals share common attributes such as language, culture or ethnicity over a relatively long period of time. For example, the Welsh community in South Australia or the Irish community in New York are, in my terminology, status communities of established, internally solidary collectives. Conversely, status columns or blocks are rather associations or organizations (Gesellschaft relationships) in which individuals create organizational structures for specific purposes, such as receiving benefits or tax benefits. An example of a status column is all persons belonging to incomplete households (with one parent) who claim benefits or other benefits in the welfare state. Other examples are associations of retirees, consumer advocacy groups, charities for disabled soldiers ... These are lobbying groups that are often in the name of protection civil rights create associations to put pressure on local or national governments. Thus, status columns appear to achieve very limited and possibly short-term political and social goals, while status communities tend to be stable, multidimensional, complex, primary groups.

Status columns or blocs become involved in status politics, which includes claims of social rights against the state by groups experiencing some discrimination and appealing to modern, universalist legislation. Since egalitarian universalism is the main criterion of modern democracies, citizens will experience different shapes inequality in terms of such characteristics of status as age, gender or nationality. Where these status columns become recipients of state aid, we have a status policy ... In the political and legal sense, I mean by status (a complex of social requirements for the public economy or the state) modern citizenship ...

B. Turner. Status (From the book: Bryan S. Turner. Status. Open University, Milton Keynes, 1988). / Translated from English. and edited by V.I. Ilyin. Available from URL: http://www.socnet.narod.ru/library/authors/Ilyin/hrest/terner.htm

L. Warner
Social class and social structure

A person, being a part of society, is inevitably covered with a persistent touch of social statuses that determine his duties and privileges. You can get rid of some of them by replacing them with more suitable ones, while others will pursue their owner until death. For example, having been born a boy, a child cannot somehow change this fact, remaining a male individual all his life. Each person has a whole heap of social statuses that belong to different groups and can vary depending on the situation. The role of these "labels" is fundamental in modern society.

Social status. Concept. Views

Naturally, labeling is done in different ways. Therefore, social statuses are divided into prescribed and achieved. A person receives the prescribed status at birth, having almost no opportunity to change it during his life. The individual does not make any effort to obtain such a social status. Examples: gender, race, title of nobility, age, etc. From early childhood, a person is taught to comply with the prescribed status: "a man should not cry", "a girl must be beautiful" and other stereotypes of behavior are designed to grow a harmonious member of society.

Personality status is the result of efforts to obtain it. Often, any kind of social status reflects a person's merits in a particular area. For example: master of sports, candidate of sciences, professor, husband, alcoholic, ballerina, etc. Often it is one of the achieved statuses that is fundamental in a person's life, most fully reflects his aspirations and talents.

Group social status

Not only individual people have their status in society, but also whole groups of people. Castes, estates, all kinds of associations and professions are by no means equal to each other - each of them occupies its own unique niche in the hierarchy. No matter how much modern cultural and political figures shout about equality, this is just a sweet lie designed to hide the harsh reality. After all, no one will argue that the social status of miners is immeasurably lower than that of politicians or businessmen.

As soon as a person becomes a member of a group, he immediately receives a lot of rights and responsibilities inherent in it. For example, joining the police force, an employee receives a number of privileges that are not available to ordinary citizens, but this status obliges him to act if he sees an offense, even if he is not on duty. To this he is obliged by the status of a social group. Many groups are at the same level in the hierarchical ladder, while some are unattainably high for mere mortals. At the same time, the benefits that representatives of a profession or association bring to society do not in any way affect their rank in it.

Individual social status

It is not only groups and associations of people that have their own rank and weight. Each of them has its own ranking system, which determines the relationship between people. School experience teaches us that every class has its own bully, its own nerd, an excellent student, a joker, a leader - all this is the social status of an individual. However, each of the students has more than one status. Coming to school, children are primarily students, but at home each of them also becomes a son, sister, nephew, etc. which the person turned out to be, and his personal qualities.

In different circles, the same individual may occupy a different position. A strict and domineering boss, holding his subordinates in an iron fist, can be under the thumb of a strict wife. It also happens the other way around, when a weak and indecisive person, unable to stand up for himself in a team, turns into a ruthless tyrant, as soon as he crosses the threshold of his home. If the statuses of a person in different groups differ significantly, then an internal contradiction arises, which often becomes the cause of conflicts.

Role conflict

In cases where a person occupies a high rank in one group, and in another is at the very bottom of the hierarchical ladder, conflict is inevitable. It can be internal, when the individual is silently experiencing discomfort, or it can develop into a collision with colleagues. Examples of role conflicts are ubiquitous, such as when old man is an errand boy for a young boss. Or when this boss is resting with friends who treat him with some disdain, not at all like his subordinates.

If a person's social status is high, then he will try with all his might to preserve it. Naturally, there will always be people who are not satisfied with their rank, who want to rise higher and gain more weight in society. This creates competition within the group, which allows the fittest and strongest members of society to climb to the top.

Resolution of internal conflicts

Often, contradictions between roles lead to internal confrontation, which takes a lot of time and effort. For example, during a natural disaster, the first rescuer will go to save his own family, obeying the role of parent and spouse. And only after he is convinced that his family is safe, the time will come to carry out his official duties.

It is the same with dealers who sell alcohol or other drugs. As a parent, he does not want his child to be poisoned by this filth, but as a businessman, this person is unable to resist the sweet call of profit. The types of social statuses differ in their importance for the owner. The main thing is to choose the role that is the main one for this moment, thereby completely destroying the impending internal contradictions.

Family social status

Not only does a single individual occupy his own rank in the social hierarchy, each family also has its own status. Usually the position of a social unit depends on material well-being, but this is not always the case. The family of a military man or official occupies a special position in society, even if they are not burdened with wealth. In those countries where titles of nobility or castes have been preserved, belonging to a noble dynasty decides a lot.

In ancient times, wealthy merchants often entered into marriages with representatives of a poor, but titled clan, in order to share with them the high social status of the family. Such a far-sighted move opened many doors for a wealthy merchant, which were closed to commoners.

Influence of social status on personality

Roles in society are rarely superficial. Such can be only those types of social statuses that are assigned for a short period of time: a passer-by, a patient, a buyer.

Basically, belonging to a certain role leaves a deep imprint on a person's entire life. Particularly influenced by the status that the subject gives greatest value... For example, a professor, musician, athlete, serial killer, etc. Having taken on a serious role, a person gradually begins to change, acquiring the character traits and skills necessary to fulfill it.

A doctor, if he has worked in this area for a long time, evaluates people in a completely different way than a policeman. The surgeon will evaluate a person according to his parameters, formed by his professional activity. Likewise, the investigator, having worked for years among hardened criminals, will never be the same again.

Expectations of others

Taking on a certain role, we in some way become its hostages. Since the social status of a person is fixed, those around him know what to expect from this person. The stereotype clings like a tick, not allowing you to take a step to the side. After all, as soon as your behavior goes beyond what is expected, pressure will begin to return the lost sheep to the flock. A great tool to keep people on track is a system of rewards and punishments.

Unfortunately, some types of social statuses are inevitable. There is no way to get rid of the status of a child, old man, man or woman. From childhood, girls are taught to clean, cook, run a household, take care of themselves, instill the idea that she can only become a person by successfully marrying. If a young lady dreams of becoming a star of boxing or auto racing, then she will immediately face misunderstanding or ridicule, few will take her dream seriously. The same is true with age. No one will take seriously a child's attempts to go into business, and an old man trying to get to know a young girl will cause disapproval from those around him.

The meaning of social status

Nowadays it is very fashionable to talk about how everyone is equal, that everyone has the same rights and responsibilities. Of course, this is not true. Until now, the determining factor in the life of every member of society is social status. Examples of this are ubiquitous.

Therefore, all types of social statuses - both group and personal - are as relevant today as they were a thousand years ago. However, do not forget that the labels on you hangs society, so they are valid only where there are people. Compliance with social status is just one of the quirks of the modern world, and not a monumental law of the universe. You can only play your role without getting used to it. From childhood, we are taught that achieving prestige and high status in society is a matter of paramount importance. But it is not at all necessary to accept such rules of the game. A person of low social standing will go to jail for trifling theft, while a banker can rob millions of people with only a formal warning.

Imagine what determines a person's choice of his main status. Using the text and facts of public life, make two assumptions and briefly explain each of them.

Read the text and complete assignments 21-24.

Each person occupies several positions in society. For example, a woman can be a musician, teacher, wife and mother. Each of these social positions, associated with certain rights and responsibilities, is called a status. Although a person can have a number of statuses, one of them, which can be called the main status, determines his social position ...

Some statuses are given from birth ... Such statuses are called assigned (prescribed).

On the contrary, the achieved (acquired) status is determined by what a person has accomplished in his life. The status of a writer is acquired as a result of the publication of a book; husband status - after obtaining permission to marry and marry. Nobody is born an author or a husband. Some statuses combine prescribed and achieved elements. Obtaining a Ph.D. is undoubtedly an achievement. But once received, the new status remains forever, becomes a permanent part of the personality and social role of a person, defining all his intentions and goals as a prescribed status.

Role is the expected behavior due to a person's status ...

Each status usually includes a number of roles. A person with the status of a teacher behaves differently with students, other faculty members, representatives of the Ministry of Education or the rector. The set of roles corresponding to a given status is called a role set.

How do we internalize roles? Assimilation of various roles is a significant part of the socialization process. Our roles are determined by what others expect of us. In our society (and most others), it is expected that parents should take care of their children, that the employee should do the work assigned to him, that close friends are not indifferent to our problems. If they do not "fulfill" their roles according to our expectations, we are surprised, angry or resentful, and our relationship changes.

A distinction can be made between formal and informal role expectations. The most striking example of the former are laws. When we sign a contract to buy a house, we are expected to buy it; if we do not do this, we may be sued for breach of contract. Marriage is another type of contract that can be terminated through divorce. Criminal laws prohibit murder, rape, and other acts that harm others. Other expectations may be less formal - such as table behavior, dress code, and courtesy - but they also have a big impact on our behavior.

The reactions that may be elicited by our actions that do not meet the role expectations can also be classified as formal and informal ... When a person's actions meet the role expectations, he receives social rewards such as money and respect. Taken together, these rewards and punishments are called sanctions. When applied by one or more interacting individuals or by someone else, sanctions reinforce rules that determine what behavior is appropriate in a given situation.

Explanation.

Two questions must be answered:

1) the answer to the first question:

Social position associated with certain rights and responsibilities;

2) the answer to the second question:

Prescribed, achieved and statuses combining prescribed and achieved elements.

How, according to the author, are social status and social roles related? How is the assimilation of social roles? What is the place of social control in this process? Based on social science knowledge, explain the meaning of the concept of "socialization".

Explanation.

The correct answer should contain the following elements:

1) the answer to the first question:

Each status includes a number of roles;

2) the answer to the second question:

Roles are learned in the process of socialization;

3) the answer to the third question:

It is an indicator of how the performance of the role meets social expectations.

4) an explanation of the concept is given, for example:

Socialization is the process of assimilation by an individual of socio-cultural experience, norms, models of behavior, values, which ensures his successful integration into society, the formation of his worldview.

Answers to questions can be given in other, similar formulations.

Using the role of a student in a school as an example, illustrate two role expectations (formal and informal) and two sanctions (formal and informal).

Explanation.

The correct answer should provide examples:

1) formal role expectations from the student: the school administration and teachers expect that the student will not be late for classes, will wear a school uniform, observe discipline in the classroom, and do homework;

2) informal role expectations from the student: classmates expect that the student will be a reliable friend or just a pleasant interlocutor, play partner;

3) formal sanctions against the student: the student received an A for a good answer in history;

4) informal sanctions in relation to the student: the student received a comment from the teacher after he began to talk with a neighbor on the desk during the lesson.

For each item, other examples can be given.

Explanation.

The correct answer should contain assumptions and explanations, for example:

1) the choice of the main status may depend on life circumstances of force majeure (for example, a woman became a mother, and this status became the main one for her, since she is vital for her child);

2) the choice of the main status can be determined by the life goals of a person (for example, a person seeks to find a prestigious job and make a career, & therefore first the status of a student, and then an employee of the organization is the main one for him).

Other assumptions may be made, other explanations given

Definitions related to social status. Types of social statuses. Social status as a reflection of the individual personality traits of a person

Concept

Types of statuses

Status incompatibility

Literature

In English

In Russian

Notes (edit)

see also

See what "Social status" is in other dictionaries:

Books

About social status

Hierarchy

Social roles

Variety of social roles

Role-playing set

Role expectations

Role conflict

Socialization

Social statuses, their types

Social role and social status.

Status group and lifestyle

Social statuses and social roles

Social status. Concept. Views

Group social status

Individual social status

Role conflict

Resolution of internal conflicts

Family social status

Influence of social status on personality

Expectations of others

The meaning of social status