Social Institutio

nsChapter VI

What is Social Institution?In any human society are social structures and social mechanisms of social order and cooperation that govern the behavior of its members.

Five Essential TasksReplacing members or procreation

Teaching new membersProducing , distributing and consuming goods and services

Preserving orderProviding and maintaining a sense of purpose

Social InstitutionIs a group of social positions, connected by social relations, performing a social role.

Any institution in a society that works to socialize the groups of people in it.

Common examplesuniversitiesgovernmentsfamiliesany people or groups

that you have socialinteractions

It is a major sphere of social life organized to meet some human need

Characteristics and Functions of an Institution-Palispis (1996)1. Institutions are purposive.2. They are relatively

permanent in their content.3. Institutions are structured.4. Institutions are a unified

structure.5. Institutions are necessarily

value-laden.

Institutions have various functions as follows:

1. Institutions simplify social behavior for the individual person.

2. Institutions, therefore, provide ready-made forms of social relations and social roles for individual.

3. Institutions also act as agencies of coordination and stability for the total culture.

4. Institutions tend to control behavior.

Major Social InstitutionsFamilyEducationReligionEconomicsGovernment

FamilyThe family is the smallest social institution with the unique function or producing and rearing the young.

It is the basic unit of the Philippine society and the educational system where the child begins to learn his ABC.

The family also the basic agent of socialization because it is here where the individual develops values, behaviors, and ways of life through interaction with members of the family. (Vega, 2004)

Characteristics of the Filipino Family

The family is closely knit and has strong family ties.

The Filipino family is usually an extended one and therefore, big.

In the Filipino family, kinship ties are extended to include the “compadre” or sponsors.

In the Asian family, a great difference exists in the roles of man and woman. A woman’s position in the home and society is much lower than that of man. A much higher regard is attributed to the Filipino woman, especially with the changing roles and functions of the family.

What are the functions of the family?

1. Reproduction of the race and rearing of the young.

2. Cultural transmission or enculturation.

3. Socialization of the child

4. Providing affection and a sense of security.

5. Providing the environment for personality development and the growth of self-concept in relation to others.

6. Providing social status.

Kinds of Family PatternsMembers

hipResidenc

e Authority Descent

Nuclear Neolocal Patriarchal Bilineal

Extended Matrilocal Matriarchal Patrilineal

Patrilocal Equalitarian matrilineal

According to structure:a) Conjugal or nuclear family This is the primary or elementary family consisting of husband, wife and children

b) Consanguine or extended family

It consists of married couple, their parents, siblings, grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins.

According to terms of marriage:a) Monogamyb) Polygamy Polyandry- where one woman

is married to two or more men at the same time;

Polygamy- where one man is married to two or more women at the same time;

Cenogamy- where two or more men mate with two or more women in group marriage.

As to line of descenta) Patrilineal- when the descent

is recognized through the father’s line.

b) Matrilineal- when the descent is recognized through the mother’s line

c) Bilineal- when the descent is recognized through both the father’s and mother’s line.

According to place of residencea) Patrilocal- when the newly married couple lives with the parents of the husband;

b) Matrilocal- when the newly married couple lives with the parent of the wife;

c) Neolocal- when the newly married pair maintains a separate household and live by themselves.

With reference to authority or who is considered head:a) Patriarchal- when the father is

considered the head and plays a dominant role;

b) Matriarchal- when the mother or female is the head and makes the major decisions;

c) Equalitarian- when both father and mother share in making decisions and are equal in authority.

EducationThe basic purpose of education is the transmission of knowledge.

McNergey and Herbert (2001)Described the school as first and foremost a social institution, that is an established organization having a identifiable structure and a set of functions meant to preserve and extend social order.

Intellectual Purpose of Schooling include the following:

To teach basic cognitive skill such as reading, writing and mathematics

To transmit specific knowledge

Political Purposes of Schooling

To inculcate allegiance to the existing political order (patriotism)

To prepare citizens who will participate in the political order

To help assimilate diverse cultural groups into a common political order

Social Purpose of SchoolingSocialize children into the various roles, behaviors and values of the society

Enables members to help solve social problems

By participating in socialization, schools work along with other institutions

Ensure social cohesion

Economic Purposes of SchoolingPrepare students for their later occupational roles and to select, train, and allocate individuals into the dimension of labor.

Multiple Functions of SchoolsTechnical/economic functionsThey refer to the contributions of schools to the technical or economic development and needs of the individual, the institution, the local community, the society and the international community.

Human/social functionsThey refer to the contribution of schools, to human development and social relationships at different levels of the society.

Political FunctionsThey refer to the contribution of schools to the political development at different levels of society.

Cultural functionsThey refer to the contribution of schools to the cultural transmission and development at different levels of society.

Education functionsThey refer to the contribution of schools to the development and maintenance of education at the different levels of the society.

Are you aware of the manifest and latent functions of education?

The manifest functions of education are defined as the open and intended goals or consequences of activities within organization or institution.

1. Socialization2. Social Control3. Social Placement4. Transmitting culture5. Promoting social and

political integration6. Agent of change

SocializationFrom kindergarten through college, schools teach students the student role, specific academic subjects, and political socialization.

Social ControlSchools are responsible for

teaching and values such as discipline, respect, obedience and perseverance.Transmitting Culture

As a social institution, education performs a rather conservable function- transmitting the dominant culture.

Promoting social and political integration

Education serves the latent function of promoting political and social integration by transforming its population composed of diverse ethnic and religious groups into a society whose members share- to some extent at least- a common identity.

Agent of ChangeEducation can stimulate or bring about desired social change.

Latent functions, the hidden, unstated and sometimes unintended consequences of activities within an organization or institutions.

1. Restricting some activities2. Matchmaking and

production of social networks

3. Creation of generation gap.

1. Restricting some activities.

In our society there are laws that require children to attend school or complete a primary and secondary education.

2. Matchmaking and production of social networks.

Because school brings together people of similar ages, social class, and race, young people often meet future marriage partners and develop social networks that may last for many years .

3. Creation of generation gap.

Students may learn information in school that contradicts beliefs held by their parents or their religion.

Functions of Schools as stated by Calderon ( 1998)

1. Conservation function2. Instructional function3. Research Function4. Social Service Function

1. Conservation functionThe school conserves and preserves

through its libraries and other devices recorded accumulated experiences of the past generations such as:Knowledge, Inventions, Mathematics, Science, Historical facts, Skills, Customs, Traditions, Language, Literature, Music,Writing, andArts

2. Instructional function

This function, the main concern of the school, is to pass on the accumulated experiences of the past generations to the incoming generations.

3. Research functionThis is also an important function of the school

4. Social service function

One justification for a particular school to exist is to render some kind of social service in the place where it is located.

ReligionMay be defined as any set of coherent answers to the dilemmas of human existence that makes the world meaningful.

Religion is how human beings express their feelings about such ultimate concerns as sickness or death.

Religion is also defined in terms of its social function.

It is a system of beliefs and rituals that serves to bind people together through shared worship, thereby creating a social group.

Religion is a set of beliefs and practices that pertain to a sacred or supernatural realm that guides human behavior and gives meaning to life among a community of believers.

Travers and Rebore (1990)1. A belief about the meaning of

life2. A commitment by the

individual and the group to this belief

3. A system of moral practices resulting from a commitment to this belief, and

4. A recognition by the proponents of this belief that is supreme or absolute.

Characteristics of Religion1. Belief in a deity or in a

power beyond the individual.2. A doctrine (accepted

teaching) of salvation.3. A code of conduct4. The use of sacred stories,

and5. Religious rituals (acts and

ceremonies)

Belief in a deity.There are three main philosophical views regarding the existence of a deity.A doctrine of salvation

The major religious- Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism- teach a doctrine of Salvation.

Religious ritualsThey include the acts and ceremonies by which believers appeal to and serve God, deities, or other sacred powers.

What are the functions of Religion?-Calderon (1998)

1. Religion serves as a means of social control.

2. It exerts a great influence upon personality development.

3. Religion allays fear of the unknown.

4. Religion explains events or situations which are beyond the comprehension of man.

5. It gives man comfort, strength and hope in times of crisis and despair.

6. It preserves and transmits knowledge, skills, spiritual and cultural values and practices.

7. It serves as an instrument of change.

8. It promotes closeness, love, cooperation, friendliness and helpfulness.

9. Religion alleviates sufferings from major calamities.

10.It provides hope for a blissful life after death.

What is the difference among churches, sects and cults?

Church tends to be large, wit h inclusive membership, in low tension with surrounding society.

Sect has a small, exclusive membership, high tension with society.

Cults are referred to by Stark and Brainbridge (1985) as the more innovative institutions and are formed when people create new religious beliefs and practices.

1. Audience cults, which are characterized by doctrines delivered to consumers via TV, radio or in printed materials.

2. Client cults which have religious leaders who offer specific services to the followers.

3. Cult movements which are client cults that have been enlarged because of closely-knit organization (San Juan, et.al 2007)

The Elements of Religion 1. Sacred refers to phenomena

that are regarded as extraordinary, transcendent and outside the everyday course of events- that is, supernatural.

2. Legitimation norms. Religious sanctions and beliefs reinforce the legitimacy of many rules and norms in the community.

Rituals are formal patterns of activity that express symbolically a set of shared meanings, in the case of rituals such as baptism or communion, the shared meanings are sacred.

Religious Community. Religion establishes a code of behavior for the members, who belong and who does not.

Economics InstitutionsHuman behavior is mainly concerned with the satisfaction of material wants. It is centered on the task of making a living, the most absorbing interest of man. To that end, man in all ages and among all classes struggle to bring about changes in the environment

Our mode of living centers on the acquisition of wealth in order to satisfy our wants and this aspect of man’s activity constitutes the field of economics.

Examples of economic activity are earning money, buying goods and services, putting up a business, or saving money in a bank.

Microeconomics versus

MacroeconomicsMicroeconomics—is concerned with the specific economic units of parts that makes an economic system and the relationship between those parts. In microeconomic, emphasis is placed on understanding the behaviour of individual firms, industries, households, and ways in which such entities interact.( Spencer,1980 as cited by Javier et al, 2002)

Macroeconomics-- is concerned with the economy as a whole, or large segments of it. It focuses on such problems as the role of unemployment, the changing level of prices, the nation’s total output of goods and services, and the ways in which government raises and spends money.

Microeconomics looks at the trees, while macroeconomics looks at the forest.

Both categories involve the construction of theories and formulation of policies- activities that are the heart of economics.

THREE BASIC ECONOMIC PROBLEMS

First—what goods and services to produce and how much.

In business, a feasibility study determines whether certain goods and services becomes profitable or not in a given market. Investors are only willing to produce goods and services which will give them good profit.

Second—how to produce good and services.

This is a problem of production technology or methods of production. As a general rule, goods and services must be produced in the most efficient manner. This means minimum input without sacrificing quality.

Third-- for whom are the goods and services.

This is the problem of distribution. Who gets the good like rice, clothes, shoes, books, and the services such as education, health services, and other social services. In most countries, those who have more money acquire more goods and services then the poor.

Government

The institution which resolves conflicts that are public in nature and involve more than a few people is called GOVERNMENT. Government can be city, provincial, national or even international.

Supreme Court of the Philippines defines government as “ that institution by which an independent society makes and carries out those rules of action which are necessary to enable men to live in a social state, ore which are imposed upon the people for that society by those who possess the power or authority of prescribing them.”

Three branches of government:

Executive—which proposes and enforces rules and laws

Legislative—which makes rules and laws

Judicial—which adjudicates rules and laws.

POLITICS—is the pattern of human interaction that serves to resolve conflicts between peoples, institutions and nations.

ADMINISTRATION—refers to the aggregate of persons in whose hands the reigns of government are for the time being. The government is aimed at maintaining a good social order where the people enjoy the political and economic blessings of life in an atmosphere of justice, freedom, and equality.

FUNCTIONS of GOVERNMENTDivided into two: 1. The constituent functions2. The ministrant functions

The Constituent functions contribute to the very bonds of society and are therefore compulsory.

a. The keeping of order and providing for the protections of persons and property from violence and robbery;

b. The fixing of the legal relations between husband and wife, and between parents and children;

c. The regulation of the holding, transmission, and interchange of property, and the determination of its liabilities for the debt or for crime;

d. The determination of contractual rights between individuals;

e. The definition and punishment for crimes;

f. The administration of justice in civil cases;

g. The administration of political duties, privileges, and relations of citizen; and

h. The dealings of the State with the foreign growers, the preservation of the state from external danger or encroachment and the advancement of its international affairs and interests.

The MINISTRANT functionsAre those undertaken to advance the general interest of society, such as public works, public charity, and regulation of trade and industry. These functions are merely optional.

The end.

Sources:

Vega, V. , et. Al (2009). Social Dimensions of Education. Lorimar Publishing, Inc: Metro Manila. Pp.110-127

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