Various social groups that occupy a certain position. Ranking of social statuses Since the social status reflects the level of assessment

social status - The word "status" comes from the Latin status(position, condition). Status - the position of the subject in the system of interpersonal relations, which determines his rights, duties and privileges. In different groups, the same individual may have a different status.

Status refers to an individual's rank, value, or prestige in a group, organization, or society. Status reflects the hierarchical structure of the group and creates vertical differentiation, just as roles separate different occupations. This is another way to reduce uncertainty and clarify what is expected of us.

status characteristics. Like roles and norms, status exists both inside and outside the organizational environment. At the broadest level of analysis, we call it social status.

By dividing people according to their social status, we get social classes.

In addition to the public level, there is also a working level of division into statuses. Professional prestige is the relative status of one's profession. Professional prestige is not the same as social status because it depends on only one variable, while social status includes everything. But here the question arises: why then do not all people strive to get a job associated with high prestige? The answer, based on the results of research, is that the individually perceived prestige of a particular profession depends on the family background.

Another important concept of status related to work is called organizational status. Organizational status refers to the informal divisions that take place within an organization. Like societal status, organizational status includes more than one variable (eg, position in the organizational hierarchy, professional affiliation, and performance).

Status refers to the group's recognized rank of an individual in an organization. Status helps clarify how a person should behave towards others and how they should behave in response.

Status symbols. Status symbols are objects or distinguishing marks that identify someone's status level in a group or organization. Status symbols include the insignia of the military, the special dress of judges and doctors, as well as, for example, the furnishings of the office and the presence or absence of a personal secretary for managers. It should be noted that some symbols can raise the status of a person in some circumstances and lower it in others.

Status and group interaction. As a rule, people with higher status tend to play a dominant role in the organization, seizing more initiative. There is, however, one problem here. Since organizational status is formed by many variables, it is not clear which one causes these differences in behavior.

status changes. During our lifetime, status changes many times. And changes in status imply that a person must sometimes radically change his behavior. At the same time, the question of what exactly should be changed and what should be learned remains open. Situations in which there is no explicit sequence of events are always alarming.

Status mismatch. A condition called status inconsistency occurs when a person satisfies some of his characteristics, and does not meet the requirements of the status in some of his characteristics. The same problem arises when making decisions about career advancement.

People do not like that someone who is lower than them in some characteristics is in a higher position than them. All of this suggests that status inconsistency may lead to motivational and behavioral problems.

Two obvious solutions to this problem are to select or appoint only those people who fully meet the requirements of status, and to change the opinion of the group about what is appropriate for high position and what should lead to its achievement. But it should be recognized that both of these methods are too complicated to be applied in practice.

The concept of "social status" is generally synonymous with the concept of "social position", which also denotes the place or position of an individual or group in the system of relations in society, determined by a number of specific features and regulating the individual's behavior style. However, the word "position" in comparison with "status" has a more active character, that is, "position" seems to be more dependent on the goals and objectives that the person sets for himself, while "status" is also the result of the existing set of circumstances.

Social status is the place in the social system that a particular person occupies.

There are two main meanings of the term "status":

1. Social status can be considered as one's own
its kind of brick, that is, an important element of any social
al system, since the latter is necessarily
is a set of statuses that are in a certain
relationships with each other. Such an understanding of
Tusa was proposed by R. Linton.

2. The concept of "status" can be associated with representation
statements about authority, honor and prestige. In this case
it may underlie the stratification of society, from
personal from stratification based on the concept of class
sa. This use of the concept was
wife M. Weber. He is most attracted to
prescribed statuses like social origin,
confessional or ethnicity, etc.

Usually a person has several statuses, but there is only one that really determines the position of a person in society; as a rule, this is a person’s profession, or rather, the position he holds (for example, teacher, professor). This status is called integrated.

There are the following types of statuses.

Acquired status is a status that a person has due to their own efforts made to achieve it. So, no one can be born the same professor - for this you need to acquire certain knowledge, defend a dissertation, gain authority in a professional environment, have certain social interaction skills, etc.

Prescribed status is the status that a person acquires by the fact of birth. A prime example of prescribed status is the title of nobleman, which,

social status

usually inherited. In addition, the prescribed status is nationality, origin, place of birth, etc.

The boundary between prescribed and acquired statuses cannot be precisely established. On the one hand, a status that is usually prescribed can be acquired by a person for merit (as was the case with the gift of the title of nobleman in Russia). On the other hand, the status, which is usually acquired, can in a certain sense be inherited (as, for example, in Soviet times, when the “prosecutor’s son” could well be equivalent in his capabilities to the prosecutor).

As a rule, an acquired status can not only be acquired, but also lost, while a person loses a prescribed status much less frequently (for example, during significant transformations of the state system).

Society itself establishes the mechanisms for the distribution of statuses. The distinction between prescribed and acquired statuses indicates not so much the types of statuses as the ways in which they are distributed, one of which may predominate. At the same time, in which areas acquired or prescribed statuses prevail and in what proportion they are, is an important indicator characterizing the structure of society, its type.

Natural status is a status that relies on a relatively permanent, usually biological attribute of a person (for example, the status of "male"). He is opposed to professional legal statuses, that is, actually social statuses that exist only in the form of an agreement, as a convention, and do not have any “measurable” biological and, more broadly, natural basis.

If a person has statuses that are difficult to reconcile with each other, they talk about the inconsistency of the status. J. Linsky proposed to single out four main dimensions of status:

b) education;

c) professional prestige and

d) ethnicity.
Status inconsistency occurs when

status measurements do not match. This leads to a feeling of dissatisfaction, which a person seeks to overcome in two ways: either by trying to bring the dimensions of status into line, or by trying to influence the status system itself. Status inconsistency is opposed by status crystallization.

The social structure can be considered as the ratio of prescribed and acquired statuses of a person. In slave-owning, feudal, caste societies, prescribed statuses and roles predominate, and family ties are highly valued. In democratic societies, acquired statuses clearly prevail over prescribed ones, and kinship ties are relatively low valued.

social action

SOCIAL INTERACTION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

£ social action

Max Weber was the first to introduce the concept of social action. He gave the following definition of it: “A social action is such an action that, in accordance with its subjective meaning, includes in the protagonist attitudes about how people will act. other and orients itself in their direction. Weber himself cites the collision of cyclists as an example. The accidental collision of cyclists is not yet a social action: it becomes social if the cyclists at least try to avoid a collision.

Weber included in the concept of social action only direct communication between people. Obviously, this point of view is a significant but unjustified limitation. Naturally, this distinction must be preserved, but not by excluding mediated interaction between individuals.

So, according to Weber, social action is characterized by two main features:

1) it has a subjective meaning, that is, it is associated with
subjective, personal, individual sense
understanding possible behaviors;

2) when performing an action, the subject consciously orients
etsya on the response of others, that is, it has
place to expect this reaction.

T. Parsons singled out the following features of social action:

1) normativity (depends on generally accepted values
tei and norms);

2) voluntarism (connection with the will of the subject, ensuring
some independence from the environment);

3) sign mechanisms of regulation.

In Parsons' concept, the analysis of action involves two approaches: action is considered as a single act and as a system of action.

Action as a single act is associated with the allocation
actor (doer) and the environment, which includes the physical
some objects, cultural images and other individuals.

Action as a system is seen as open
a system that supports exchange with the external environment
doy, the existence of which is associated with the formation
I eat the corresponding subsystems that provide
performing a number of functions.

The following functions of the system are distinguished, each of which corresponds to a specific subsystem:

a) adaptive function, which corresponds to biological
geic organism;

b) personal, which corresponds to the assimilation of valuable
stey and norms;

c) social, that is, a set of social roles
lei (patterns of behavior);

d) cultural, which corresponds to the learned goals
and ideals.

You can show what social action is by almost any example, including how you read this text. Reading any text is a certain mental and physiological activity, which is not the subject of sociology. However, any phenomenon of reality is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon, and there are many different points of view from which it can be considered.

The social aspects of such simple action as reading this text are as follows:

1. Reading the text, you experience certain motives, have certain motives. Perhaps this is the need to prepare for the exam, perhaps simple curiosity. This side can be considered as psycho-

social action

logical. However, the Russian philosopher M.M. Bakhtin argued that psychology and sociology are two complementary disciplines, two sides of the same coin. Indeed, motivation, needs are not only psychological categories, since behind them are the values fixed by society. It does not matter for what reason you are reading this text. It is important that values such as the knowledge or approval of others stand behind this process. In the first case, if you read for curiosity, then you are interested in knowledge; if you just want to prepare for the exam, then you are most likely interested in encouraging in the form of a positive assessment.

2. You know it's good to be a specialist, free
but possessing certain knowledge, and it’s good when
Yes, a man gets what he does. These values
you received in the process of socialization, as part of the primary
groups (in the family, school, when communicating with friends).

3. The reading process must have been preceded by another
process - decision-making process: to which exam
Well, is it better to prepare? Or maybe take a break?
And in making this decision, you will no doubt take into account
social factors, that is, possible reactions
those around you and the consequences of your choice, just before
judgments about what is good and what is bad, etc.

4. This text is included! into a complex process because
what has an addressee (that is, you) and an addressee (that is, an author).
Therefore, this process can be considered as
an exchange that takes place between two (or more)
people who know what they want and understand that
does the other side. Whatever motives motivate
author, they will be clear to the reader.

5. Behind this interaction between author and reader
lem are worth much more complex structures. Yes, at
In preparing this manual, the author tried to make it
as complete as possible and at the same time not over
laden. On the one hand, there is a social
institution of education that defines those rules

on which all participants act educational process. Due to this, this manual will be useful not only in a particular university where the author teaches, but in the whole country in which the publishing house that published this book sells. And because of this, the author not only satisfies his own need for writing this book, but also fulfills the norms by which the institution of education operates in our society, and also satisfies the needs that the readers of this book have (and they need to pass a test or exam, for what you need to have a certain amount of knowledge).

As psychoanalysis has shown, even such natural and seemingly entirely physiological acts as the administration of natural needs, as well as sexual activity, are strictly regulated by social norms. Thus, prematurely or too rudely accustoming a child to "correct" defecation can leave a significant imprint on his personality, namely, the need for constant control and the need for a kind of constant silent sabotage. 3. Freud noted that traits such as punctuality, cleanliness, stubbornness, a tendency to restrain and withhold, which are inherent in some types of personality, reflect the scenario in which toilet training occurs.

The fact that any action is always carried out within the framework of society is relevant to another category of sociology - social interaction. It is from the social actions that subjects direct at each other that social interaction is formed. Therefore, social action is a simpler category. However, this does not mean that the structure of the action is simple.

From point of view structural plan any action includes two mandatory elements: a subject and an object (the one who performs the action and the one to whom this action is directed). Depending on the type of action subject

social action

actions can be single (individual) and collective. Individual the subject is integral and therefore can act as a subject. In this capacity, he enters into interactions with other subjects and communities of people, and his interactions can be both constructive and conflict. However, he may also be part of some community with which he will identify himself. Collective various communities (groups, organizations) act as subjects. Being part of a collective subject, the individual acts on its behalf both in the case of cooperation and in the case of confrontation.

IN functional aspect stand out action steps: firstly, the stage at which the subject sets himself target, and, secondly, the stage at which he achieves (or tries to achieve) the result.

The ability to set goals is an important ability that distinguishes human nature. The goal can be defined as an image of the process and the result to which the action should lead.

To achieve the goal, a person needs means, understood very broadly, that is, objects, modes of action, skills, etc. The selection of means can be subject to both rational and value criteria, and also be carried out on the basis of tradition.

In the first case, a person acts according to the principle “the means that help to achieve the goal are good” (according to M. Weber, this is a goal-oriented type of action).

In the second case, a person tries to determine how good the means at his disposal are, whether they can harm other people, etc. In this case, they speak of a value-rational type of action (this term was also proposed by M. Weber ). Such actions are determined by what the subject must do.

In the third case, a person will be guided by the principle “everyone does it”, and therefore, according to the Web

ru, its action will be traditional. In this case, its action will be determined by the norm.

Finally, a person can act and choose means under the pressure of feelings. Such actions Weber called affective.

The process of implementing an action includes several important components that are described by the "general functional formula of action": needs - their reflection in the (collective) consciousness, development of ideal action programs - their operational implementation in the course of activity coordinated by certain means, creating a product that can satisfy the needs subjects and inducing new needs.

There is an urgent need for such a view. If science did not have it, we could not see anything in common behind all the variety of actions. Consequently, science, including sociology, simply could not exist, since any science presupposes a description of the general in abstraction from the particular.

The contact of the subject with the environment of his existence generates needs- a special state of the subject, generated by the need for means of subsistence, objects necessary for his life and development, and acting as a source of the subject's activity. There are various classifications of needs. Common features of all classifications are the variety of needs, as well as the phased nature of their satisfaction. So, like every living being, a person needs food and shelter - this refers to physiological needs. But recognition and self-affirmation are just as necessary for him - these are already social needs.

TO important features the subject of action also includes the total life resource, the level of claims and value orientations. Total Life Resource includes energy, time, natural and social benefits. People have different

social action

life resources depending on their social position. Individual or collective subjects have different sets of needs.

The level of claims is determined by the social position and individual qualities of the subject: the higher the level of claims, the more complex tasks the subject sets for himself, the higher will be the result that he is guided by in his actions.

These orientations of the subject in relation to any sphere of life act as his value orientations, that is, the ways in which the subject distinguishes the value of social phenomena, distributes them according to the degree of significance for himself. Such value orientations are a reflection of society's values and constantly correlate with them.

To describe the relationship of the actor to the social object, the concept is also used interest. It can be both conscious and unconscious. In a narrow sense, interest implies such an attitude to reality, in which emotions play an important role. In the broad sense of this concept, the state of the environment, the needs of the subject, as well as the conditions for their satisfaction are taken into account. Interest is inherent not only to the individual, but also to the collective figure.

Needs, interests and value orientations are factors motivation actions, i.e. formation of his motives as direct motives for action. motive- a conscious impulse to action, arising from the awareness of needs.

Being an internal drive, a motive can be opposed to a stimulus as an external drive. Incentives are additional links between need and motive; they are material and moral incentives for certain actions.

There are three main groups of motives:

1. The first group of motives is associated with socio-economic aspects of the existence of the individual. This:

A) motives for providing life's blessings, b) calling motives and c) prestige motives. Each of these motives determines the type of behavior that an individual chooses: it can be the desire for material benefits, for a certain occupation, and for positive evaluation from other people.

2. The second group of motives involves implementation
prescribed and assimilated by the individual social
norms.

3. The third group consists of motives associated with
life optimization. Here they can replace each other
striving for accelerated social mobility and
overcoming role conflict.

Any activity involves many motives that are organized hierarchically. This means that there is always one among them. dominant, which is "contrasted secondary motives.

social interaction and social attitude

Social action within the framework of sociology can be singled out as a separate act and thus become a unit of analysis, but it is extremely rare that it occurs as a truly independent act. Social action cannot be imagined without social interaction.

Interaction (interaction) is the process of interaction of subjects on each other, in which each action is conditioned both by the previous action and the expected result from the other. Any interaction involves at least two participants - interactants. Therefore, interaction is a kind of action, the distinguishing feature of which is the focus on another person.

Social interaction is characterized by such a feature as feedback. Feedback implies a reaction, and therefore, social interaction should be directed to another person.

P. Sorokin singled out two mandatory conditions for social interaction:

a) participants in the interaction must have psi
hika and sense organs, that is, by means, I allow
who want to know how the other person feels through their
actions, facial expressions, gestures, voice intonations, etc.;

b) the participants in the interaction must have the same
express their feelings and thoughts at once, that is, use
use the same symbols for self-expression.

Interaction can be considered both at the micro level and at the macro level. Interaction at the micro level is the interaction in Everyday life eg within a family, a small work group, a student group, a group of friends, etc. Interaction at the macro level unfolds within social structures, institutions, and even society as a whole.

Social interaction and social relation

A person builds interaction at the micro level taking into account significant others- people (including relatives, relatives, but not only them), whose opinion about his actions is considered valuable to him. As a rule, significant others include people who embody authority for the figure, as well as representatives of his circle and people with the same position in society.

As for the typology of interactions, several independent classifications can be proposed here. So, there are three main types of social interaction:

1) verbal, that is, verbal, interaction;

2) physical interaction (transfer of one or another
object, a handshake, a pat on the shoulder,
kiss);

3) non-verbal interaction, which includes
use of gestures, facial expressions.

However, one should not equate interaction with communication, communication. This concept is much broader, since it involves not only a direct exchange of information, but also an indirect exchange of meanings. And indeed, two people may not say a word and not seek to communicate anything to each other by other means, but the mere fact that one can observe the actions of the other, and the other knows about it, makes any of their activity a social interaction. A person who is alone will behave at least a little differently than a person who is in the company of other people.

In addition, we can distinguish 1) indirect and 2) direct interactions. Direct interactions take place when individuals interact face to face, are in direct contact, which implies the possibility of very close connections and the use of several channels of communication at once (verbal, non-verbal, physical interactions) that characterize face-to-face communication, and

Social interaction and social relation

also an active bilateral exchange of views and assessments. As an example of direct interaction, any communication can be cited, including more formalized than the usual conversation of friends, for example, communication between a seller and a buyer, a teacher and a student.

An interaction is considered mediated when such opportunities are not found, and the possibility of feedback is limited. Indirect interaction always takes place with the help of some special, artificial channel of communication, for example, printed text, television, etc. Therefore, the communication of the president with the citizens of the country, the writer with readers, etc. will be indirect.

Types of interaction can be distinguished in accordance with the division of society into spheres. In this case they are talking about:

1) economic interaction;

2) political interaction;

3) religious interaction;

4) family interaction;

5) labor interaction, etc.

Finally, types of interaction can also be distinguished on the basis of a system of roles and statuses.

Interaction is always specific. This means that from the point of view of this concept, it is essential what exactly one individual did and how the other reacted to it. Obviously, if we move a little away from this process, it becomes clear that such interactions as a whole have a somewhat chaotic, disordered, irregular, random character.

However, over time, any interactions can turn into social relationships. Social relations are interactions that, to one degree or another, are perceived by individuals as repetitive, and therefore stable.

There are two main (not mutually exclusive) understandings of social relations.

Social interaction and social relation

1. As a rule, speaking of social relations,
mean meaningfully defined and to a greater extent
or at least regulated (permanent or
temporary) connections between people, for example, love, not
hate, exchange, etc.

2. In addition, social relations are called
as well as the bonds that arise between individuals in
the process of interaction of social groups, communities
and institutions.

£ Theories of social interaction

exchange theory. The exchange theory was created by George Homans based on the psychological concept of behaviorism. The main position of behaviorism is the following: the more often this or that behavior of a person is rewarded, the more often a person will reproduce this behavior.

According to the exchange theory, a person's behavior is determined by the expected result, namely, the reward that he expects to receive. This theory as a whole is a sociological application of the behavioral approach developed in psychology to the explanation of human actions. The founder of behaviorism, F. Skinner, believed that any human actions can be explained using the “stimulus-response” scheme.

Homans identified four principles of social exchange:

1) the greater the reward for a certain type
behavior, the more often this behavior will be repeated;

2) if the reward depends on some conditions,
then man "will strive to reproduce these conditions,
to receive a reward;

3) if the reward from the point of view of the person was
ko, then he will be ready to expend efforts to overcome
obstacles to get rewarded;

4) if a person has satisfied (or almost satisfied)
ril) his needs, then his desire to receive
rewards will decrease.

Homans' theory makes it possible to analyze almost any interaction and makes them largely predictable. At the same time, it contains contradictions. Harriet Zuckerman has shown that Nobel Prize-winning scientists are less active. According to Zuckerman, this fact indicates that too much reward leads to a loss of interest in activities. However, most likely, this fact simply indicates a contradiction between the 1st and 4th principles.

Theories of social interaction

Homans formulated other principles that can also be applied in the analysis of social interaction. In particular, he proposed the "principle of least interest", according to which the participant in the interaction, the least interested in it, gets the right to dictate the forms of this interaction.

According to the "principle of distributive justice", any exchange relationship implies the desire for a proportional reward to its participants (that is, a reward in accordance with the effort expended). Homans used this principle to explain the emergence of social inequality.

symbolic interactionism. The theory of social interaction, proposed by symbolic interactionists, primarily J. G. Mead, G. Bloomer, and others, makes adjustments to Homans' theory of exchange. From the point of view of symbolic interactionism, action cannot be reduced to a stimulus-response chain, since a person must interpret a stimulus before responding to it. To put it simply, a stimulus is not enough to explain human activity, since a person in most cases more or less consciously decides how to respond to a stimulus.

Therefore, a symbol must be placed between the stimulus and the response. First of all, a symbol refers to linguistic signs, although the meaning of this word is not limited to this. Almost any thing, any phenomenon, that is, everything that we attach some meaning to, is a symbol. For example, facial expressions, actions are always interpreted in the process of interaction: we need to understand what a person wants, what he experiences, what intentions he has, etc. Without this, interaction is impossible.

From the point of view of symbolic interactionism, human society consists of individuals who share

Theories of social interaction

have a "personal self". These individuals form meanings themselves; therefore, individual action is not just the performance of an action, but also the construction of a certain meaning. From this point of view, the formation of meanings turns out to be a set of actions during which an individual notices an object, relates it to his values, gives it a meaning, and, based on this meaning, decides how it will act.

This scheme can be extended to both inanimate objects and other people. Consequently, the interpretation of the actions of another is the definition for oneself of the meanings that certain actions of others carry.

J. G. Mead distinguished between meaningful and non-meaningful gestures. Insignificant gestures are reflexes, that is, movements that a person makes involuntarily. For example, if someone covers their face with their hands, we can assume that this person is ashamed. The gesture itself will be involuntary, but for the observer it will be filled with meaning, and therefore, it will become a significant gesture, or, more broadly, a symbol.

Ethnomethodology. This approach was developed by G. Garfinkel. From his point of view, interactions between people are governed by rules that people take for granted. Such rules usually do not stand up to scrutiny, because they are violated too often in reality. Nevertheless, individuals constantly resort to them. So, for example, when visiting, it is customary not to steal things from the house, and therefore the owner will behave as if this cannot happen - even if he knows that this happens.

Dramaturgical theory of I. Hoffman. Goffman builds his theory on the concept of “impression management”. In his opinion, people are interested in others to treat them well, and therefore they themselves create situations in which they can produce good things.

neck impression on others. Since in this case the actor resembles an actor who plays a certain role in front of others ("spectators"), and his activity itself turns out to be a kind of theatrical performance, Hoffman's theory was called the dramatic approach. An elementary example is intentionally late for a party or event: a latecomer may thus seek to be the center of attention; if a significant person is late, then her action can be aimed at reinforcing the impression of her significance.

And, accordingly, the owner of a set various statuses. The whole set of human statuses is called status set. The status that the person himself or those around him consider the main one is called main status. This is usually professional or family status, or status in the group where the person has achieved the greatest success.

Statuses are divided into prescribed(obtained by virtue of birth) and achieved(which are acquired purposefully). The freer the society, the less important are the statuses prescribed and the more important are the achieved ones.

A person can have different statuses. For example, his status set may be as follows: male, unmarried, candidate of technical sciences, computer programming specialist, Russian, city dweller, Orthodox, etc. A number of statuses (Russian, male) were received by him from birth - these are prescribed statuses. A number of other statuses (candidate of sciences, programmer) he acquired, having made certain efforts for this, these are achieved statuses. Suppose this person identifies primarily as a programmer; therefore, the programmer is his main status.

The social prestige of a person

The concept of status is usually associated with the concept of prestige.

social prestige - this is a public assessment of the significance of the position that a person occupies in.

The higher the prestige of a person's social position, the higher his social status is estimated. For example, the professions of an economist or a lawyer are considered prestigious; education received in a good educational institution; high post; a specific place of residence (capital, city center). If they talk about the high importance not of a social position, but of a particular person and his personal qualities, in this case they mean not prestige, but authority.

social role

Social status is a characteristic of a person's inclusion in the social structure. IN real life the status of a person is manifested through the roles that he plays.

social role is a set of requirements that are imposed by society on persons occupying a specific social position.

In other words, if someone occupies a certain position in society, they will be expected to behave accordingly.

A priest is expected to behave in accordance with high moral standards, from a rock star - scandalous acts. If a priest begins to behave scandalously, and a rock star begins to preach sermons, this will cause bewilderment, discontent and even condemnation of the public.

In order to feel comfortable in society, we must expect people to play their roles and act within the rules prescribed by society: a teacher in a university will teach us scientific theories, not; the doctor will think about our health, not his earnings. If we did not expect others to fulfill their roles, we would not be able to trust anyone and our lives would be filled with hostility and suspicion.

Thus, if social status is a person's position in the social structure of society with certain rights and duties, then a social role is the functions performed by a person in accordance with his status: the behavior that is expected from the owner of this status.

Even with the same social status, the nature of the roles performed can vary significantly. This is due to the fact that the performance of roles has a personal coloring, and the roles themselves can have different versions of performance. For example, with r. the owner of such a social status as the father of the family, may be demanding and strict with the child (play his role in an authoritarian manner), may build relationships in the spirit of cooperation and partnership (democratic behavior), or may let events take their course, giving the child a wide degree of freedom (permissive style). In exactly the same way, different theater actors will play the same role in completely different ways.

Throughout life, a person's position in the social structure may change. As a rule, these changes are associated with the transition of a person from one social group to another: from unskilled workers to specialists, from villagers to city dwellers, and so on.

Features of social status

Status - is a social position that includes a profession of this type, economic situation, political preferences, demographic features. For example, the status of a citizen I.I. Ivanov is defined as follows: “salesman” is a profession, “a wage worker with an average income” is economic traits, “LDPR member” is a political characteristic, “a man aged 25” is a demographic quality.

Each status as an element of the social division of labor contains a set of rights and obligations. Rights refer to what a person can freely allow or allow in relation to other people. Duties prescribe some necessary actions to the status holder: in relation to others, at their workplace, etc. Responsibilities are strictly defined, fixed in rules, instructions, regulations, or enshrined in custom. Responsibilities limit behavior to certain limits, make it predictable. For example, the status of a slave in the ancient world assumed only duties and did not contain any rights. In a totalitarian society, rights and obligations are asymmetrical: the ruler and senior officials have maximum rights and minimum duties; ordinary citizens have many duties and few rights. In our country in Soviet times, many rights were proclaimed in the constitution, but not all of them could be realized. In a democratic society, rights and obligations are more symmetrical. It can be said that the level of social development of a society depends on how the rights and obligations of citizens are correlated and observed.

It is important that the duties of the individual presuppose his responsibility for their qualitative fulfillment. So, the tailor is obliged to sew a suit on time and with high quality; if this is not done, he should be punished somehow - pay a penalty or be fired. The organization is obliged under the contract to deliver products to the customer, otherwise it incurs losses in the form of fines and penalties. Even in Ancient Assyria there was such an order (fixed in the laws of Hammurabi): if an architect built a building, which subsequently collapsed and crushed the owner, the architect was deprived of his life. This is one of the early and primitive forms of responsibility. Nowadays, the forms of manifestation of responsibility are quite diverse and are determined by the culture of society, the level of social development. In modern society, rights, freedoms and obligations are determined by social norms, laws, and traditions of society.

Thus, status- the position of the individual in , which is connected with other positions through a system of rights, duties and responsibilities.

Since each person participates in many groups and organizations, he can have many statuses. For example, the mentioned citizen Ivanov is a man, a middle-aged person, a resident of Penza, a salesman, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, an Orthodox, a Russian, a voter, a football player, a regular visitor to a beer bar, a husband, a father, an uncle, etc. In this set of statuses that any person has, one is the main one, the key one. The main status is the most characteristic for a given individual and is usually associated with the main place of his work or occupation: "salesman", "entrepreneur", "scientist", "bank director", "worker in an industrial enterprise", "housewife", etc. P. The main thing is the status that determines the financial situation, and hence the lifestyle, circle of acquaintances, demeanor.

Given(innate, prescribed) status determined by sex, nationality, race, i.e. biologically predetermined characteristics inherited by a person in addition to his will and consciousness. The achievements of modern medicine make some statuses changeable. Thus, the concept of biological sex, socially acquired, appeared. With the help of surgical operations, a man who played with dolls from childhood, dressed like a girl, thought and felt like a girl, can become a woman. He finds his true gender, to which he was psychologically predisposed, but did not receive at birth. What gender - male or female - should be considered innate in this case? There is no single answer. Sociologists also find it difficult to determine what nationality a person belongs to whose parents are persons of different nationalities. Often, moving to another country in childhood, emigrants forget the old customs, their native language and practically do not differ from the indigenous inhabitants of their new homeland. In this case, the biological nationality is replaced by the socially acquired one.

Acquired Status is a status that a person receives under certain conditions. So, the eldest son of an English lord after his death inherits this status. The kinship system has a whole set of acquired statuses. If innate statuses express consanguinity ("son", "daughter", "sister", "brother", "nephew", "uncle", "grandmother", "grandfather", "aunt", "cousin"), then non-blood relatives have an acquired status. So, having married, a person can get all his wife's relatives as relatives. “Mother-in-law”, “father-in-law”, “sister-in-law”, “brother-in-law” are acquired statuses.

Achieved status - socially acquired by a person through his own efforts, desire, luck. Thus, a person acquires the status of a manager through education and perseverance. The more democratic the society is, the more statuses are achieved in the society.

Different statuses have their own insignia (symbols). In particular, the uniform of the military distinguishes them from the mass of the civilian population; in addition, each military rank has its own differences: a private, major, general has different badges, shoulder straps, headgear.

status image, or image, is a set of ideas about how a person should behave in accordance with his status. In order to match the status image, a person must “not allow himself too much”, in other words, look the way others expect from him. For example, the president cannot sleep through a meeting with the leader of another country, university professors cannot sleep drunk in the stairwell, as this does not correspond to their status image. There are situations when a person undeservedly tries to be “on an equal footing” with a person who has a different status in terms of rank, which leads to the manifestation of familiarity (amikoshonstvo), i.e. unceremonious, cheeky attitude.

Differences between people, due to assigned status, are noticeable to one degree or another. Usually each person, as well as a group of people, tends to occupy a more advantageous social position. Under certain circumstances, a flower seller can become a vice-premier of the country, a millionaire. Others do not succeed, because the assigned status (sex, age, nationality) interferes.

At the same time, some social strata are trying to raise their status by uniting in movements (women's movements, organizations like the "union of entrepreneurs", etc.) and lobbying their interests everywhere. However, there are factors that hinder the attempts of individual groups to change their status. Among them are ethnic tensions, attempts by other groups to maintain the status quo, lack of strong leaders, and so on.

Thus, under social status in sociology is understood the position that a person (or social group) occupies in society. Since each person is a member of various, he is the owner of many statuses (i.e., the bearer of some status set). Each of the available statuses is associated with a set of rights that determine what the holder of the status can afford, and obligations that prescribe the implementation of specific actions. In general, status can be defined as the position of an individual in the social structure of society, associated with other positions through a system of rights, duties and responsibilities.

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on the topic "The social structure of society, its elements"

1. The concept of the social structure of society

The concept of social structure refers to the social sphere of society. In the broad sense of the word, the concept of "social" is used as a synonym for the concept of "social" when it comes to opposing biological, natural phenomena. In this case, everything that covers the life of human society is social. In the narrow sense of the word, the concept of "social" means a special sphere of social relations that characterize different groups of people as carriers of different types of activity. The social sphere of society's life acts as a set of social relations and conditions that affect the content and nature of activities, people's behavior and covers the interests of people, social groups, the relationship between society and the individual. Social relations are relations between people (or groups of people) that are carried out in accordance with the laws of the social organization of society.

In the structure of any relationship, there are:

subjects (parties between which relations arise);

object (what causes relations between subjects);

needs (subject-object relations);

interests (relations subject - subject);

values (relationships between the ideals of interacting subjects).

Social relations develop between groups of people, and even when individuals enter into social relations, or relations arise between an individual and a group, an individual and society, we cannot consider this individual separately, outside the community or society that prompted certain motives, social interests and influenced the formation of its values.

Associations of people in joint activities, during which they acquire similar characteristics and social qualities, are called social communities. The totality of social communities and the system of interconnections and relations between them constitute the social structure of society. Relations between social groups are regulated and ordered by social institutions operating in all spheres of society. Thus, we can say that the social structure of society is a set of interconnected and interacting social groups and institutions.

The social structure of a society is often considered in terms of the division of society along class, demographic, and territorial lines. In this case, we are talking about the socio-class, socio-demographic, socio-territorial structure of society.

The social class structure of society is an ordered and stable relationship between the elements of the social system, due to the relations of social groups, which are characterized by a certain place and role in material, spiritual production and in political life. Traditionally, the class division of society was considered the core of the social class structure. The definition of the concept of "class" is given in the work of V. I. Lenin "The Great Initiative". The classes are named large groups people who differ in their place in a historically determined system of social production, in their attitude to the means of production, in their role in the social organization of labor, and, consequently, in the methods of obtaining and the size of the share of social wealth that they dispose of. It should be noted that some scholars consider the class approach to be outdated, inapplicable to modern society, the social structure of which has become much more complicated.

The basis of the socio-demographic structure of society is its division into groups, according to age, gender. First of all, these are groups such as youth, pensioners, women, men, etc. Each of these groups faces serious social problems. In particular, the problems of employment, crime, drug addiction, and AIDS are very acute for young people.

The socio-territorial structure of society is based on its division into territorial communities of various types (urban, rural, settlement, etc.). Territorial communities operate in different conditions of the natural and artificial environment, their historical past is different. All this creates unequal conditions for the life and development of people, especially if we compare life in the countryside and the metropolis. Territorial communities differ in the social composition of the population, the level of its education, general culture and professional training. Many social problems arise from the uneven development of territorial structures, such as uneven provision of the population with housing, hospitals, clubs, theaters, different opportunities for education and decent work, different accessibility to socio-economic infrastructure.

2. Social groups

The social group is one of the main components of the social structure. The social structure consists of a wide variety of social groups. The people who make up these groups participate in intra- and intergroup interactions, which characterizes the sociality of the individual, which can be defined as the involvement of the individual in social interaction through determining their place in the activities of various groups.

In its most general form, a social group can be defined as a collection of people characterized by some common features. Among these features may be similarity, closeness of the living conditions of people, the commonality of their needs, the presence of joint activities, an interconnected exchange of activities, the social identification of members of the community, their self-assignment to this community, etc. The American sociologist R. Merton defines a social group as a set of people defined by interacting with each other in a way, aware of their belonging to this group, and recognized as members of this group from the point of view of others. In modern sociology, one can find a large number of criteria for dividing into groups, for example, according to the time of existence of the group, the basics of formation, the nature of organization, the content of the activity, the principle of communication between group members, etc.

Depending on the density, the form of the implementation of connections and their constituent members, there are large and small, primary and secondary social groups. The main object of sociological research is small social groups, including from a few people to several dozen people, since the results of these studies can be extrapolated to ever larger social communities. A small social group is small in composition, its members are united by common activities and are in direct personal contact. A variety of small social groups are primary groups. The term "primary groups" was introduced into sociology by the American scientist C. Cooley. The distinguishing features of these groups are the direct interpersonal contact of their members, characterized by high level emotionality. These groups are primary in the sense that it is through them that individuals receive their first experience of social unity. Through the primary group, individuals are socialized, they master patterns of behavior, social norms, values and ideals. Through it, a person realizes his belonging to certain social communities. An example of primary social groups is a family, a school class, a group of friends, a sports team, etc.

The secondary group is formed from people between whom there is not necessarily an emotional relationship. Their interaction is subject to the achievement of certain goals, individually unique personality traits do not matter, the main thing is to perform certain functions. The main type of secondary social group is a large social group formed to achieve certain goals, for example, a political party, a large production team, etc. Large social groups are collections of people who are united, as a rule, by one socially significant sign (belonging to any religion, professional affiliation, etc.). Members of a large group may never come into contact with each other. This means that a particular member of the group never comes into contact with all the members of the group, although, undoubtedly, he has contacts with some members of the group, which can be quite intense and wide in scope.

3. Formal and informal groups

Depending on the presence or absence of an official socio-legal status, social groups are divided into formal (official) and informal.

Formal groups are such associations of people that are built on the basis of official documents: charters, service instructions, regulations, etc. Members of a formal group are aimed at performing some type of activity and are in hierarchical subordination (for example, a production team, a sports team , military unit, etc.). The formality of groups is manifested not only in the presence of a more or less rigid hierarchy, it usually manifests itself in a clear specialization of members who perform their special functions. The formal group is rational, that is, it is based on the principle of expediency, conscious movement towards a known goal. It is fundamentally impersonal, that is, it is designed for abstract individuals, between whom no relations are provided, except for service ones, passing according to a certain program.

Informal groups arise and function spontaneously, on the basis of common Interests, goals and values, personal sympathies. Relations within such a group are largely determined by the individual characteristics of its members. A spontaneously emerging informal group (for example, a yard group of children, a friendly company, etc.) does not have special documents regulating its functioning. As a rule, the behavior of members of such a group is regulated by special unwritten rules. The consolidation of an informal group is carried out mainly due to the authority of its leader. A formal group can have two leaders, both formal and informal. An informal group has only an informal leader, who stands out due to personal characteristics, the ability to organize and direct its activities, to influence its members.

The division of groups into formal and informal is, to a certain extent, conditional. In any formal group, informal relations arise between its members, and such a group breaks up into several informal groups. In some cases, formal and informal relations reinforce and support each other, while in other cases, on the contrary, they contradict each other and undermine the overall unity.

4. Social role and social status of a person

Each person living in society is included in various social groups (family, school class, friendly company, etc.). In each of these groups, he occupies a certain position, certain actions are expected of him. The same person must behave differently in different situations. In one case he behaves like a father, in another like a friend, in a third like a worker, in a fourth like a customer, and so on, that is, he acts in different roles. A person, being in a society, is a reflection of the totality of the relations of this society. Therefore, a person has not one, but a whole set of social roles that he plays in society. The main social roles include the roles of a citizen, family member, worker, owner, consumer, etc.

There are many different definitions of the concept of "social role". According to the definition of the well-known Russian sociologist I. S. Kon, "a social role is what is expected in a given society from any person occupying a certain place in the social system." Social roles are usually considered in two aspects: role expectation and role performance. Our roles are defined primarily by what others expect of us. If someone does not play a certain role in accordance with our expectation, then he comes into conflict with society. For example, parents must take care of their children, a policeman must stop violations of public order. If they don't, they cause our indignation. In the normative structure of a social role, 4 elements are usually distinguished: 1) a description of the type of behavior corresponding to this role; 2) the requirements associated with this behavior; 3) assessment of the performance of the prescribed role; 4) sanction - the social consequences of an action within the framework of the requirements of the social system. Social sanctions to their nature can be moral, legal, political, etc. The meaning of social sanctions is to induce a person to a certain type of behavior. They are one of the most important elements of social regulation.

Social status is the position of a person in society, which he occupies in accordance with gender, age, profession, origin, family ties, marital status, income level, education, etc. Varieties of social status are assigned and achieved statuses. Attributable is the status in which a person is born (natural status), but which is later necessarily recognized as such by a society or group. It includes gender, race. In the strict sense, ascribed is any status acquired against one's will, over which the individual has no control. The achieved or acquired status depends on the profession, education, place of work. This status is acquired as a result of a person's choice, his personal efforts and is under his control. Such are the statuses of a student, professor, manager, member of a political party, and so on.

It is necessary to distinguish between social and personal status. If the social status is associated with the position of a person, which he occupies in society as a representative of a large social group, then the personal status is the position of a person in a small social group, depending on how he is assessed and perceived by members of this group (acquaintances, relatives) in accordance with his personal qualities. To be a leader, the soul of a company or an expert means to occupy a certain place in the structure of interpersonal relations, to have a certain personal status.

One person has many statuses, as he participates in many groups and organizations. The set of all statuses occupied by one person is called a status set. In a status set, there must be a main status. This is the most characteristic status for a given person, with which other people identify him or with which he identifies himself. Most often, this is a status associated with the main place of work (engineer, professor, lawyer, etc.). In modern society, a person has the opportunity to change his status by getting an education, showing business and scientific activity.

Since social status reflects the level of assessment of a person's position in society, this concept is closely related to the concepts of "prestige" and "authority". Prestige is a specific category used to denote the social significance of the positions held by various groups or individuals in society. Prestigious in society can be professions, residential areas and streets, individual houses, resorts, car brands, shops, educational establishments, clothes from famous fashion designers, other consumer goods. Signs that characterize prestige do not always adequately reflect the position of a person in certain groups of society. For example, a situation may arise when a person has a prestigious profession, but it does not allow him to provide himself and his family with a decent standard of living, or, conversely, low-prestige professions and occupations allow a person to receive high incomes or any benefits, providing him with most access to prestigious commodities. The concept of "authority" has a different meaning. It means recognition by a group or society as a whole of the personal and business qualities of members of a group or society. Authority usually reflects the degree of influence of an individual in a group or society. This is a personal characteristic that is always related to a well-defined specific person and is far from always associated with prestige. So, in politics or public activity, an academician, an engineer, and a worker can become authoritative.

The concept of social status is very close to the concept of social role. The difference between them lies mainly in the context in which they are used. If the concept of "social role" is applied mainly to how a person behaves, that is, to his behavior, then the concept of "social status" refers mainly to the social system. The social role is a more subdivisional unit of analysis, since behavior within the framework of this or that interaction depends not only on the context of this interaction, but also on the status that a person has in this society.

5. Ethnic communities

One of the significant types of communities in modern world are ethnic communities. The word "ethnos" (Greek) means a tribe, people, clan. Ethnic groups are one of the oldest types of social communities of people. Grouping people according to ethnic principle is based on:

unity of language, norms of behavior, self-consciousness, customs;

the same food preferences, forms of housing, clothing style;

common origin and culture;

settlement area.

An ethnic group, as a community, has specific social institutions - an endogamous family (formed when representatives of one ethnic group marry), the institution of elders, and a cult organization. Ethnic groups act as associations of people, their union, solidarity.

Ethnic culture includes the following social institutions: custom, ritual, religion, morality, law. Culture creates special mechanisms for the accumulation and transmission from generation to generation of the created ethno-cultural information. Language, printing, libraries, museums, television, education and other channels of information transmission act as such mechanisms. By their means, the most significant information for the ethnic group is transmitted - ideals, values, symbols, norms of behavior, etc.

Thus, an ethnos can be defined as a community that is distinguished by specific cultural features that have developed over many centuries and are transmitted through generations.

Within the framework of an industrial society, two types of ethnic processes caused by interethnic contacts are distinguished - those that occur without a change in ethnic self-consciousness (ethno-unifying); and those that cause its changes (ethno-divisive). Ethnic consolidation, ethnic assimilation and inter-ethnic integration are among the most common unifying processes at present.

Ethnic consolidation is a process of internal cohesion of an ethnos that is quite significant in number, in which the differences between the local groups that exist in it are smoothed out or the previously territorially disparate parts are united. Several neighboring ethnic groups close in culture and language can also be consolidated, uniting into one, often turning into parts of this new ethnic group - subethnoi.

Ethnic assimilation is a process in which a previously independent ethnic group (or part of it) dissolves in the environment of a larger ethnic group. For the assimilated people, this process proceeds with a change in ethnic self-consciousness, the loss of language and traditions. Ethnic assimilation is most characteristic of modern developed countries.

Ethno-separation processes are of two types. This may be the division of a previously single ethnic group into several parts, each of which is aware of itself as a kind of new community. This process is called ethnic divergence. But even with the preservation of the ethnos, some part can break away from it, potentially capable of developing into an independent ethnos. This process is more common today and is called ethnic separation.

The most widespread in the world and all-encompassing are ethnic groups, which are also called different types ethnic groups. They are characterized by such features as a common gene pool, a long history of coexistence, self-assignment of the subject to a given ethnic group. Thus, we are dealing with both biological and social factors, which is why ethnic groups are also called socio-ethnic or ethno-social.

The first ethnic group that replaced the primitive horde was the clan - a consanguineous association of people connected by collective labor and joint protection of their interests. The union of several clans constituted a tribe - a type of ethnic community and social organization of people in a pre-class society.

The formation of tribal unions, accompanied by the strengthening of intertribal ties, military clashes, population migration, the emergence of classes and states led to a gradual mixing of tribes, to the replacement of former kinship ties with territorial ones and to the emergence of a new ethnic community - nationality. Nationality is a territorial, linguistic, economic and cultural community of people that has developed on the basis of slave-owning and feudal modes of production.

With the beginning of the New Age in Europe, with the promotion of commodity-money relations, the formation of the market, the transition to capitalism, nationalities turned into nations. Unlike a nationality, a nation is a more stable community of people, and deep economic factors give stability to it. Nations arose both from tribes and nationalities related to each other, and from people of unrelated tribes and nationalities. The historical features of the formation and development of a nation, the originality of its economic system, culture, way of life, traditions, geographical environment leave an imprint on the spiritual image of the nation, form specific features of the national character and national self-consciousness. Each historically established nation rises to the realization of its national interests, the peculiarities of its culture, traditions, development prospects. It has its own special way of thinking and form of manifestation of feelings, its own sense of national dignity. All this makes the nation a unique historical formation.

A nation was usually defined as a historically stable community of people, characterized by a common economic life, territory, language, mental makeup. At present, many "scientists conclude that this definition no longer fully corresponds to modern realities. These scientists consider it necessary to introduce such a feature as spiritual culture as the basis for developing a new definition of a nation. It is a key feature of a nation, the core that determines its essence. What concerns the community of the mental warehouse, it is a derivative of the community of spiritual culture.Another most important component of the national community of people is their self-consciousness, which also belongs to the sphere of spiritual culture.National self-consciousness is the core of the national spiritual culture.It is in self-consciousness that a nation determines its common fundamental interests, goals and ideals, its face in a multinational world, its attitude towards other nations and states.

A nation is not only an objective, but also a subjective given, the representatives of which say in relation to themselves: “this is us”, and in relation to others: “this is they”. In most countries of the world, a person himself determines his nationality, that is, belonging to a particular nation. The entire course of the historical development of ethnic groups testifies to the growing role of sociocultural factors in their functioning. A modern nation can hardly be attributed to ethnic groups at all.

6. Interethnic relations

The development of interethnic relations in the modern world is associated with two objectively existing and contradictory tendencies: the tendency towards the unification of nations - interethnic integration - and the tendency towards the independent functioning of each of the nations - national differentiation. The objective reasons for interethnic integration lie in the development of economic ties and relations, the deployment of globalization processes. In the course of these processes, nations overcome their isolation and enter into ever closer interaction with each other. Currently, integration processes have acquired visible forms in Europe, where 25 states are already members of the European Union. At the same time, the second trend also makes itself felt.

These two tendencies operate constantly, but not in conflict. The contradiction between them is the main contradiction in the sphere of interethnic relations. Other contradictions follow from the main contradiction, for example, the contradiction between the interests of individual nations and the interests of society as a whole. The aggravation of the national question is connected with the contradictions between the growing scientific and technological revolution, which requires maximum cooperation, the international division of labor, and the national identity of states and peoples. Contradictions arise between the nation states themselves due to the presence of specific interests: the use of natural resources, transport communications. Contradictions arise between representatives of different nationalities in labor and other multinational collectives. The reasons for the aggravation of national interests can be political, economic, demographic.

Where there are national conflicts, the ideology of nationalism and chauvinism always flourishes. Nationalism is the psychology and ideology of national superiority, which are based on the hypertrophy of national feeling. Nationalism often merges with the ideas of the chosenness of a given people, the predestination of its fate by the Higher powers. At the same time, in order to substantiate the idea of national superiority, the facts of the actual history of a given people and the specific properties of its culture are interpreted in a special way. The nationalism of large nations in its most extreme form manifests itself in the form of chauvinism (named after the French grenadier Chauvin, an enthusiastic admirer of Napoleon's aggressive policy, a satirical character in the Cognard brothers' vaudeville popular in the 19th century, The Tricolor Cockade). Chauvinism is expressed in the political, economic, spiritual suppression of other peoples, disregard for their rights and national values. The ways of resolving interethnic problems turn out to be difficult, but they cannot be resolved solely by forceful, military methods. Nothing can replace the political way of resolving conflicts, no matter how complicated and long such a way may be in each specific case.

When people interact in a multinational society, it is easiest in a conflict situation to place the blame for all the troubles on the national minority, and that, in turn, on the indigenous nation. Apparently, the harmonization of relations between people in a multinational society requires compliance with such conditions as the existence of a rule of law, the rejection of separatism by national minorities, the granting of broad autonomy and self-government to compactly settled minorities, the right to decide their own local affairs, and recognition of the cultural autonomy of territorially dispersed national minorities. The basic principles of modern national policy are as follows.

A harmonious combination of national and international interests, finding the optimal forms of correlation between national and international.

This means, firstly, the prevention of legal norms and laws that reinforce national inequality; Secondly, respect for cultural traditions and interests of all national groups; thirdly, the condemnation of violence in solving national issues; fourthly, the restoration of the rights of the repressed peoples.

The rejection of any form of national chauvinism, special sensitivity and discretion in everything related to interethnic communication, affects the national feelings of people.

A multinational society is, as a rule, also multi-confessional (the Latin word "confession" means religion). People can live peacefully and interact in such a society only guided by the principles of religious tolerance and freedom of conscience. More. in the 17th century the English philosopher D. Locke, in his famous letters on religious tolerance, put forward the requirements that the state should recognize freedom of religion, grant people the right to religious self-determination, and should not deprive their subjects of civil and political rights depending on their belonging to a particular confession. In the XVIII century. the French writer and philosopher Voltaire proclaimed that freedom of conscience is a right that a person received from nature, and no one can force him in matters of faith, everyone should be allowed to pray in his own way, everyone has the right to profess this or that faith in agreement only with his conscience . The principle of freedom of conscience is recognized by all modern democratic states, including Russia. It is important to actually realize the freedom of conscience in relations between people. From an early age, it is necessary to cultivate feelings of mutual tolerance and respect between citizens who profess a religion and those who do not, between followers of different religions.

Bibliography

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Formal and informal groups

Depending on the presence or absence of an official socio-legal status, social groups are divided into formal (official) and informal.

Social role and social status of a person

Each person living in society is included in various social groups (family, school class, friendly company, etc.). In each of these groups, he occupies a certain position, certain actions are expected of him. The same person should behave differently in different situations. In one case he behaves like a father, in another like a friend, in a third like a worker, in a fourth like a customer, and so on, that is, he acts in different roles. A person, being in a society, is a reflection of the totality of the relations of this society. Therefore, a person has not one, but a whole set of social roles that he plays in society. The main social roles include the roles of a citizen, family member, worker, owner, consumer, etc.

Since social status reflects the level of assessment of a person's position in society, this concept is closely related to the concepts of "prestige" and "authority". Prestige is a specific category used to denote the social significance of the positions held by various groups or individuals in society. Professions, residential neighborhoods and streets, individual houses, resorts, car brands, shops, educational institutions, clothes from famous fashion designers, and other consumer goods can be prestigious in society. Signs that characterize prestige do not always adequately reflect the position of a person in certain groups of society. For example, a situation may arise when a person has a prestigious profession, but it does not allow him to provide himself and his family with a decent standard of living, or, conversely, low-prestige professions and occupations allow a person to receive high incomes or any benefits, providing him with most access to prestigious commodities. The concept of "authority" has a different meaning. It means recognition by a group or society as a whole of the personal and business qualities of members of a group or society. Authority usually reflects the degree of influence of an individual in a group or society. This is a personal characteristic that is always related to a well-defined specific person and is far from always associated with prestige. So, in politics or public activity, an academician, an engineer, and a worker can become authoritative.

Various social groups that occupy a certain position. Ranking of social statuses Since the social status reflects the level of assessment

The social prestige of a person

social role

Features of social status

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