Social institution. Social institution: signs. Examples of social institutions

Institute. Most often, this word is used in the sense of a higher educational institution (pedagogical, medical institute). However, the word "institute" is ambiguous. "Institute" is a Latin word. It means "institution" in translation.

In the social sciences, the term "social institution" is used.

What is a social institution?

There are several definitions of this concept.

Here is one of them, easy to remember and containing the essence of this term.

social institution - This is a historically established, stable form of organizing the joint activities of people who implement certain functions in society, the main of which is the satisfaction of social needs.

EXPLANATION.

A social institution, speaking more accessible, is such formations in society (an institution, a government body, a family, and many, many other formations) that allow you to regulate some kind of relationship, the actions of people in society. Speaking allegorically, this is the door that you will enter in order to resolve some issues.

1. You need to order a passport. You will not go somewhere, namely to the passport office - the institution of citizenship.
2. You got a job and want to know what your specific salary will be. Where are you going? In the accounting department, it is set up to regulate payroll issues. It is also a payroll institute network.

And such social institutions in society great amount. Someone somewhere is responsible for everything, performs certain functions in order to satisfy the social needs of people.

I will give a table in which I will indicate the most important social institutions in each area public relations.

Social institutions, their types

Institutes by spheres of society.	What is regulated	Examples
Economic institutions	Regulate the production and distribution of goods and services.	Ownership, market, production
Political institutions	Regulate social relations using powers of authority.	The main institution is the state. Authorities, parties, law, army, court
Social institutions	Regulate the distribution of social positions and public resources. Provide reproduction and inheritance.	Education, healthcare, leisure, family, social protection
Spiritual institutions	They regulate and develop the continuity of the cultural life of society, spiritual production.	Church, school, university, art

Social institutions are a constantly evolving structure. New ones appear, old ones die. This process is called institutionalization.

Structure of social institutions

Structure, that is, the elements of the whole.

Jan Shchepalsky identified the following elements of social institutions.

• The purpose and scope of the social institution
• Functions
• Social roles and statuses
• Means and institutions that perform the functions of this institution. Sanctions.

Signs of social institutions

• Patterns of behavior, attitudes. So, for example, the institution of education is characterized by the desire to acquire knowledge.
• cultural symbols. So, for a family, these are wedding rings, a marriage ritual; for the state - coat of arms, flag, anthem; for religion, an icon, a cross, etc.
• Oral and written codes of conduct. So, for the state - these are codes, for business - licenses, contracts, for the family - a marriage contract.
• Ideology. For a family, this is mutual understanding, respect, love; for business - freedom of trade, entrepreneurship; for religion - Orthodoxy, Islam.
• Utilitarian cultural traits. So, for religion - places of worship; for healthcare - polyclinics, hospitals, diagnostic rooms; for education - classes, gym, library; for a family - a house, furniture.

Functions of social institutions

• Satisfaction of social needs is the main function of every institution.
• Regulatory function- that is, the regulation of certain types of social relations.
• Consolidation and reproduction of social relations. Each institution has its own norms, rules that allow you to standardize people's behavior. All this makes the society more stable.
• Integrative function, that is, cohesion, the relationship of members of society.
• Broadcasting function- the possibility of transferring experience, knowledge to new people who have come to one or another structure.
• Socialization- the assimilation by the individual of the norms and rules of behavior in society, methods of activity.
• Communicative- this is the transfer of information both within the institution and between social institutions as a result of the interaction of members of society.

Formal and informal social institutions

Formal institutions- in them, activities are regulated within the framework of current legislation(authorities, parties, court, family, school, army, etc.)

Informal institutions- their activities are not established by formal acts, that is, laws, orders, documents.

Material prepared: Melnikova Vera Aleksandrovna

social institution or public institution- a form of organization of joint life activity of people, historically established or created by purposeful efforts, the existence of which is dictated by the need to meet the social, economic, political, cultural or other needs of society as a whole or part of it. Institutions are characterized by their ability to influence people's behavior through established rules.

There are at least two generally accepted paradigms (principled ways) of considering social structure: 1) the theory of social institutions and 2) the theory of social inequality.

E. Durkheim figuratively defined social institutions as “reproduction factories” of social relations and connections, i.e. institutions generally mean certain types of relationships between people that are constantly in demand by society and therefore are reborn again and again. Examples of the reproduction of such indestructible ties are the church, the state, property, family, etc.

Social institutions determine society as a whole, they are depersonalized, impersonal. When the social structure of a society is conceived as an institutional structure, the researcher cannot but stand on evolutionary methodological positions, since it is believed that each institution performs a socially significant function that cannot be thrown out of an integral interconnected system (like a word from a song).

Types of social institutions

• The need for the reproduction of the genus (the institution of family and marriage).
• The need for security and order (the state).
• The need to obtain means of subsistence (production).
• The need for the transfer of knowledge, the socialization of the younger generation (institutions of public education).
• Needs in Solving Spiritual Problems (Institute of Religion).

Spheres of life of society

There are a number of spheres of the life of society, in each of which specific public institutions and social relations

• − Economic- relations in the production process (production, distribution, exchange, consumption of material goods). Institutions related to the economic sphere: private property, material production, market, etc.
• − Social- relations between different social and age groups; activities to ensure social guarantees. Institutes related to social sphere: education, family, health care, social security, leisure, etc.
• − Political- relations between civil society and the state, between the state and political parties, as well as between states. Institutions related to the political sphere: state, law, parliament, government, judiciary, political parties, army, etc.
• − Spiritual- relations that arise in the process of the formation of spiritual values, their preservation, distribution, consumption, as well as transmission to the next generations. Institutions related to the spiritual sphere: religion, education, science, art, etc.
• − Kinship institution (marriage and family)- associated with the regulation of childbearing, relations between spouses and children, the socialization of young people.

If we turn to the revealed differences in interpretations of the nature of society, it turns out that in the "system of relations" the social structure should be represented precisely by relations, and by no means by "groups of people." With all the logical triviality - a rather unexpected conclusion! And it is consistently confirmed in the process of constructing the corresponding theories. Some of them consider social institutions to be the product of inequality relations, others analyze the development of inequality relations due to the work of social institutions. Supporters of economic determinism believe that property (as a system of specific relations) gives rise to power, while cratologists and redistribution theorists, on the contrary, derive property relations from the nature of power institutions. But in principle, all these at first glance alternative approaches are based on the fact that the hierarchy of social groups is a consequence of the institutionalization of a certain structure of social relations.

For example, K. Marx considered production relations to be primary and generative structures of the corresponding social, political and spiritual relations. Since it is believed that the subjects reproducing a certain type of relationship are functionally “fixed” in a stable social disposition, they form a hierarchy according to the significance of the relationship. That is why Marx saw the focus of the structural conflict in the (exploitative, non-equivalent) character economic ties. And the institution of property in his concept predetermined the nature and prospects for the development of the institution of power. The Marxist approach (in a significantly modified form) is still popular, since it reflects the general logic of the social evolution of societies of the "economic era", and also focuses on the development trends of industrial civilization.

Social institutions in public life perform the following functions or tasks:

• provide an opportunity to satisfy individuals, social communities and groups their various needs;
• regulate the actions of individuals within the framework of social relations, stimulating desirable and repressing undesirable behavior;
• determine and maintain the general social order by the system of their social regulators and carry out the reproduction of impersonal social functions (that is, such functions that are always performed in the same way, regardless of the personal traits and interests of mankind);
• produce the integration of aspirations, actions and relationships of individuals and ensure the internal cohesion of the community.

The totality of these social functions develops into the general social functions of social institutions as certain types social system. These features are very versatile. Sociologists different directions sought to somehow classify them, to present them in the form of a certain ordered system. The most complete and interesting classification was presented by the so-called. "institutional school". Representatives of the institutional school in sociology (S. Lipset, D. Landberg and others) identified four main functions of social institutions:

• Reproduction of members of society. The main institution that performs this function is the family, but other social institutions, such as the state, are also involved in it.
• Socialization is the transfer to individuals of patterns of behavior and methods of activity established in a given society - the institutions of the family, education, religion, etc.
• Production and distribution. Provided by the economic and social institutions of management and control - the authorities.
• Management and control functions are carried out through a system of social norms and regulations that implement the appropriate types of behavior: moral and legal norms, customs, administrative decisions, etc. Social institutions control the individual's behavior through a system of sanctions.

In addition to solving its specific tasks, each social institution performs universal functions inherent in all of them.

To the number functions common to all social institutions can include the following:

1. The function of fixing and reproducing social relations. Each institution has a set of norms and rules of conduct, fixed, standardizing the behavior of its members and making this behavior predictable. Social control provides the order and framework in which the activities of each member of the institution must proceed. Thus, the institution ensures the stability of the structure of society. The Code of the Institute of the Family assumes that members of society are divided into stable small groups - families. Social control provides a state of stability for each family, limits the possibility of its collapse.
2. Regulatory function. It ensures the regulation of relationships between members of society by developing patterns and patterns of behavior. All human life takes place with the participation of various social institutions, but each social institution regulates activities. Consequently, a person, with the help of social institutions, demonstrates predictability and standard behavior, fulfills role requirements and expectations.
3. Integrative function. This function ensures cohesion, interdependence and mutual responsibility of the members. This happens under the influence of institutionalized norms, values, rules, a system of roles and sanctions. It streamlines the system of interactions, which leads to an increase in the stability and integrity of the elements of the social structure.
4. Broadcasting function. Society cannot develop without the transfer of social experience. Each institution for its normal functioning needs the arrival of new people who have learned its rules. This happens by changing the social boundaries of the institution and changing generations. Consequently, each institution provides a mechanism for socialization to its values, norms, roles.
5. Communication functions. The information produced by the institution should be disseminated both within the institution (for the purpose of managing and monitoring compliance with social norms) and in interaction between institutions. This function has its own specifics - formal connections. This is the main function of the media institute. Scientific institutions actively perceive information. The communicative capabilities of institutions are not the same: some have them to a greater extent, others to a lesser extent.

Functional qualities

Social institutions differ from each other in their functional qualities:

• Political institutions - the state, parties, trade unions and other kinds public organizations pursuing political goals aimed at establishing and maintaining a certain form of political power. Their totality constitutes the political system of a given society. Political institutions ensure the reproduction and sustainable preservation of ideological values, stabilize the dominant social class structures.
• Sociocultural and educational institutions aim at the development and subsequent reproduction of cultural and social values, the inclusion of individuals in a particular subculture, as well as the socialization of individuals through the assimilation of sustainable sociocultural standards of behavior and, finally, the protection of certain values ​​and norms.
• Normative-orienting - mechanisms of moral and ethical orientation and regulation of the behavior of individuals. Their goal is to give behavior and motivation a moral argument, ethical basis. These institutions assert imperative universal human values, special codes and ethics of behavior in the community.
• Normative-sanctioning - social and social regulation of behavior on the basis of norms, rules and regulations, enshrined in legal and administrative acts. The binding nature of the norms is ensured by the coercive power of the state and the system of appropriate sanctions.
• Ceremonial-symbolic and situational-conventional institutions. These institutions are based on the more or less long-term adoption of conventional (by agreement) norms, their official and unofficial consolidation. These norms regulate everyday contacts, various acts of group and intergroup behavior. They determine the order and method of mutual behavior, regulate the methods of transmission and exchange of information, greetings, addresses, etc., the rules of meetings, sessions, and the activities of associations.

Thus, social institutions are social mechanisms, stable value-normative complexes that regulate various spheres. social life(marriage, family, property, religion), which are not very susceptible to changes in the personal characteristics of people. But they are set in motion by people who carry out their activities, "play" by their rules. Thus, the concept of "the institution of a monogamous family" does not mean a separate family, but a set of norms that is realized in an innumerable set of families of a certain type.

In the works of M. Weber and T. Parsons, the theoretical perspective of the "relationship society" is even more "technologically" written. Structuring the system of public relations creates a matrix of social disposition, in which each cell - the social position of the subject - is colored by the characteristic of "status" and "prestige", i.e. social values ​​and meanings attributed to the "figures" of the carriers of relations, regardless of their specific (functional) qualities. “... An important set of integrative institutions are standards social stratification. We are talking here about the normatively legalized ordering of the units of society in accordance with the criteria of relative prestige, which in turn is the main basis of influence.

However, all of the above does not explain in the most satisfactory way the process of “objective” reproduction of the connections that specific people establish and maintain with each other in the course of their (including private) life. Isn't it true: "as long as no one is watching," we would all try to evade the prescriptions of social institutions and give free rein to our individual manifestations, if something else did not keep us together, within the boundaries of predictable behavior. We may reject the claims of others and stop following the usual rules, but we are unlikely to constantly ignore our own needs and not look after our own interests.

Practice shows that most people are interested in maintaining the stability of their own world. Each person socializes (acquires the basic skills of a hostel) under the influence of the social everyday life surrounding him. In the first period of his life, he perceives the rules of behavior, values ​​and norms uncritically - simply because there is no sufficient knowledge base for comparison and experiment. So many "social suggestions" we carry out until the end of our lives, and it does not even occur to us to question them. By accumulating the experience of "relationships", most people are convinced that getting what they want from others is easiest if you live up to their expectations. For many, this inoculation of social compromise lasts a lifetime, and therefore people maintain the standards of social relations "reflexively" - out of habit not to disturb the harmony of the natural world for them.

In addition, people quite often find themselves in situations that make them feel their own vulnerability. The desire to obtain reliable, fairly universal protection is manifested, among other things, as a need for a corporation (family, when there is a danger between you and the danger of "mother and older brother", friendly, when "your guys" help out, professional, ethnic, civil, etc.) . Solidarity as an informal basis social organization(community) is a form of self-defense through the protection of others - as themselves. It is the status of belonging to a community that modifies personal attitudes and social reactions: concern for the interests of “one’s own” often shows us that a person’s social body (his connections, social needs and values) is much more voluminous than functional.

The best defense is an attack. A social position is constructed by fixing certain relationships, i.e. requires appropriate forms of activity. And activity is always a risk. We take risks all the time, equipping busy “social nests” in our own way, and therefore we carry with us a whole baggage of “tags” that help us out when we make a mistake. Diplomas, titles, credit cards, college (university) tie or badge, special words and expressions, clothing style, demeanor and much more level our private (deviating from general expectations) manifestations and allow us to appear before others within the framework of standard typing. Therefore, people communicate with each other as with representatives of certain corporations, regarding which there are widespread (“generally accepted”) ideas (opinions, stereotypes), and moreover, they strive to present themselves as a social mask (“I am from Ivan Ivanovich”, “we have such not accepted”, “I’ll tell you like a professional...”, etc.).

Getting into certain "nests" - special systems of relations, a person more often changes functional than corporate masks and often brilliantly plays a dozen roles in one day, participating in different scenes: in the family, at work, in transport, at the doctor's, in the store. However, certain circumstances can make him feel and even show solidarity with people who play similar roles (for those who remember how we lived ten years ago, one can cite the solidarity of the Soviet queue as an example).

Since solidarity arises on various occasions, capturing different levels life values ​​of different people, an unambiguous answer to the question "Who am I with?" impossible without specifying “For what reason?” And the value of preserving tribal traditions requires uniting with the same people, developing professional culture- with others, religion - with the third, the implementation of political goals - with the fourth. At the same time, the areas of connections that have arisen move, overlap each other and diverge like a rose, often leaving only yourself in the sphere of complete intersection ... Society as "I myself", apparently, is the lower limit of the semantic threshold of possible definitions. The upper conceptual boundary is defined by solidarities that unite the largest possible number of people: these are nations and peoples, religious denominations, “survival parties” with non-fixed membership (environmental, anti-war, youth), etc.

“Society as a set of relations” in its completed interpretation allows solving a number of theoretical problems, since it recognizes the homogeneity of its own boundaries (after all, people are at least partly spiritual beings and act not only as a subject, but also as an object of relations, broadcasting and perceiving them general character), as well as its more complex spatial configuration. It makes it possible to explain the outward expansion (of empires, civilizations), the processes of social (sociocultural) exchange within and between societies, i.e. the fundamental openness of social systems, along with the ability to implement operational closeness, to interrupt relations in a certain range of exchange channels or in individual segments of society.

The structure of social relations is thus created at the “macro level” of social interactions, in the process of institutionalization (self-reproduction) of society, and is fixed at the “micro level” of interpersonal contacts, in which people appear to each other in social “masks” that facilitate their identification procedure ( definition, recognition) and productive information exchange. The more massive and organized a society becomes, the more “representative” social contacts spread and the more often a person acts either as a bearer of certain functions (due to institutional prescriptions) or as a messenger of certain status groups (“solidarities”).

Introduction

Social institutions occupy an important place in the life of society. Sociologists consider institutions as a stable set of norms, rules, and symbols that regulate various spheres of human life and organize them into a system of roles and statuses, with the help of which basic life and social needs are satisfied.

The relevance of the study of the topic is due to the need to assess the importance of social institutions and their functions in the life of society.

The object of the study is social institutions, the subject is the main functions, types and features of social institutions.

The purpose of the study is to analyze the essence of social institutions.

When writing the work, the following tasks were set:

1. Give a theoretical idea of ​​a social institution;

2. Reveal the signs of social institutions;

3. Consider the types of social institutions;

4. Describe the functions of social institutions.

1 Basic approaches to understanding the structure of social institutions

1.1 Definition of the concept of a social institution

The term "institution" has many meanings. It came to European languages ​​from Latin: institutum - establishment, device. Over time, it acquired two meanings - a narrow technical one (the name of specialized scientific and educational institutions) and a broad social one: a set of legal norms for a certain range of social relations, for example, the institution of marriage, the institution of inheritance.

Sociologists, who borrowed this concept from jurists, endowed it with new content. However, in scientific literature about institutions, as well as on other fundamental issues of sociology, there is no unity of views. In sociology, there is not one, but many definitions of a social institution.

One of the first to give a detailed idea of ​​social institutions was the prominent American sociologist and economist Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929). Although his book The Theory of the Leisure Class appeared in 1899, many of its provisions have not become obsolete to this day. He viewed the evolution of society as a process of natural selection of social institutions, which by their nature do not differ from the usual ways of responding to incentives created by external changes.

There are various concepts of social institutions, the totality of all available interpretations of the concept of "social institution" can be reduced to the following four grounds:

1. A group of persons performing certain social functions that are important for everyone.

2. Specific organized forms of complexes of functions that some members of the group perform on behalf of the entire group.

3. The system of material institutions and forms of action that allow individuals to perform public impersonal functions aimed at meeting the needs or regulating the behavior of members of the community (group).

4. Social roles that are especially important for a group or community.

The concept of "social institution" in domestic sociology is given a significant place. A social institution is defined as a leading component of the social structure of society, integrating and coordinating many individual actions of people, streamlining social relations in certain areas of public life.

According to S. S. Frolov, "a social institution is an organized system of connections and social norms that combines significant social values ​​and procedures that meet the basic needs of society."

under the system social connections this definition refers to the interweaving of roles and statuses through which behavior in group processes is carried out and kept within certain limits, under public values ​​- shared ideas and goals, and under public procedures - standardized patterns of behavior in group processes. The institution of the family, for example, includes: 1) the interweaving of roles and statuses (statuses and roles of husband, wife, child, grandmother, grandfather, mother-in-law, mother-in-law, sisters, brothers, etc.), with the help of which family life is carried out; 2) a set of social values ​​(love, attitude towards children, family life); 3) public procedures (concern for the upbringing of children, their physical development, family rules and obligations).

If we sum up the whole set of approaches, then they can be divided into the following. The social institution is:

Role system, which also includes norms and statuses;

A set of customs, traditions and rules of conduct;

Formal and informal organization;

A set of norms and institutions that regulate a certain area of ​​public relations;

A separate set of social actions.

Understanding social institutions as a set of norms and mechanisms that regulate a certain area of ​​social relations (family, production, state, education, religion), sociologists have deepened their understanding of them as the basic elements on which society rests.

Culture is often understood as the form and result of adaptation to the environment. Kees J. Hamelink defines culture as the sum of all human efforts aimed at mastering environment and the creation of the tangible and intangible means necessary for this. By adapting to the environment, society throughout history develops tools suitable for solving many problems and satisfying the most important needs. These tools are called social institutions. The institutions typical of a given society reflect the cultural makeup of that society. Institutes different societies as different from each other as their cultures. For example, the institution of marriage different peoples contains peculiar rituals and ceremonies, relies on the norms and rules of behavior accepted in each society. In some countries, the institution of marriage allows, for example, polygamy, which in other countries is strictly prohibited according to their institution of marriage.

Within the totality of social institutions, a subgroup of cultural institutions can be distinguished as a type of private social institutions. For example, when they say that the press, radio and television represent the “fourth power”, they are essentially understood as a cultural institution. Communication institutions are part of cultural institutions. They are the organs through which society through social structures produces and distributes information expressed in symbols. Communication institutions are the main source of knowledge about the accumulated experience, expressed in symbols.

However one defines a social institution, in any case it is clear that it can be characterized as one of the most fundamental categories of sociology. It is no coincidence that special institutional sociology arose quite a long time ago and took shape as a whole direction, which includes a number of branches of sociological knowledge (economic sociology, political sociology, sociology of the family, sociology of science, sociology of education, sociology of religion, etc.).

1.2 The process of institutionalization

Social institutions arise as a kind of response to the needs of society, individual societies. They are associated with guarantees of uninterrupted social life, the protection of citizens, the maintenance of social order, the cohesion of social groups, the implementation of communications between them, the "placement" of people in certain social positions. Of course, the emergence of social institutions is based on the primary needs associated with the production of products, goods and services, their distribution. The process of emergence and formation of social institutions is called institutionalization.

In detail the process of institutionalization, i.e. the formation of a social institution, considered by S.S. Frolov. This process consists of several successive stages:

1) the emergence of a need, the satisfaction of which requires joint organized actions;

2) formation of common goals;

3) the emergence of social norms and rules in the course of spontaneous social interaction carried out by trial and error;

4) the emergence of procedures related to rules and regulations;

5) institutionalization of norms and rules, procedures, I.e. their adoption, practical application;

6) the establishment of a system of sanctions to maintain norms and rules, the differentiation of their application in individual cases;

7) creation of a system of statuses and roles covering all members of the institute without exception.

People united in social groups to realize their needs, first together look for various ways to achieve it. In the process of social practice, they develop the most acceptable patterns and patterns of behavior, which over time, through repeated repetition and evaluation, turn into standardized habits and customs. After some time, the developed models and patterns of behavior are accepted and supported by public opinion, and eventually legalized, and a certain system of sanctions is developed. The end of the institutionalization process is the creation, in accordance with the norms and rules, of a clear status-role structure, which is socially approved by the majority of participants in this social process.

1.3 Institutional features

Each social institution has both specific features and common features with other institutions.

To perform its functions, a social institution must take into account the abilities of various functionaries, form standards of behavior, adherence to basic principles, and develop interaction with other institutions. It is not surprising, therefore, that similar ways and methods of action exist in institutions pursuing quite different aims.

Features common to all institutions are presented in Table. 1. They are grouped into five groups. Although an institution must necessarily possess, for example, utilitarian cultural traits, it also has new specific qualities depending on the needs it satisfies. Some institutions, unlike developed ones, may not have a complete set of features. It only means that the institution is imperfect, has not fully developed, or is in decline. If most institutions are underdeveloped, then the society in which they function is either in decline or in the early stages of cultural development.

Table 1 . Signs of the main institutions of society

A family	State	Business	Education	Religion
1. Attitudes and patterns of behavior
Affection Loyalty Respect	Obedience Loyalty Subordination	Productivity Economical Profit production	Knowledge Attendance	Reverence Loyalty Worship
2. Symbolic cultural signs
wedding ring marriage ritual	Flag Seal Coat of arms National anthem	Brand name Patent mark	School emblem School songs	Holy Icon Cross
3. Utilitarian cultural traits
House Apartment	Public Buildings Public Works Forms and Forms	Shop Factory Equipment Blanks and Forms	Classes Libraries Stadiums	Church buildings Church props Literature
4. Oral and written code
Family prohibitions and assumptions	Constitution Laws	Contracts Licenses	Student Rules	Faith Church prohibitions
5. Ideology
Romantic Love Compatibility Individualism	State law Democracy Nationalism	Monopoly Free trade Right to work	Academic freedom Progressive education Equality in learning	Orthodoxy Baptism Protestantism

2 Types and functions of social institutions

2.1 Characteristics of the types of social institutions

For a sociological analysis of social institutions and the peculiarities of their functioning in society, their typology is essential.

G. Spencer was one of the first who drew attention to the problem of the institutionalization of society and stimulated interest in institutions in sociological thought. Within his "organismic theory" of human society, based on the structural analogy between society and the organism, he distinguishes three main types of institutions:

1) continuing the race (marriage and family) (Kinship);

2) distribution (or economic);

3) regulating (religion, political systems).

This classification is based on the allocation of the main functions inherent in all institutions.

R. Mills counted five institutional orders in modern society, implying the main institutions:

1) economic - institutions organizing economic activity;

2) political - institutions of power;

3) family - institutions that regulate sexual relations, the birth and socialization of children;

4) military - institutions that organize legal heritage;

5) religious - institutions that organize the collective worship of the gods.

The classification of social institutions proposed by foreign representatives of institutional analysis is arbitrary and peculiar. Thus, Luther Bernard proposes to distinguish between "mature" and "immature" social institutions, Bronislav Malinovsky - "universal" and "particular", Lloyd Ballard - "regulatory" and "sanctioned or operational", F. Chapin - "specific or nucleating" and "basic or diffuse-symbolic", G. Barnes - "primary", "secondary" and "tertiary".

Foreign representatives of functional analysis, following G. Spencer, traditionally propose to classify social institutions based on the main social functions. For example, K. Dawson and W. Gettys believe that the whole variety of social institutions can be grouped into four groups: hereditary, instrumental, regulatory and integrative. From the point of view of T. Parsons, three groups of social institutions should be distinguished: relative, regulatory, cultural.

Seeks to classify social institutions depending on the functions they perform in various spheres and branches of public life and J. Shchepansky. Dividing social institutions into "formal" and "informal", he proposes to distinguish the following "main" social institutions: economic, political, educational or cultural, social or public in the narrow sense of the word, and religious. At the same time, the Polish sociologist notes that the classification of social institutions he proposed is "not exhaustive"; in modern societies, one can find social institutions that are not covered by this classification.

Despite the wide variety of existing classifications of social institutions, this is largely due to different division criteria, almost all researchers distinguish two types of institutions as the most important - economic and political. This is due to the fact that a significant part of scientists believe that the institutions of economics and politics have the most significant impact on the nature of changes in society.

It should be noted that a very important, highly necessary, social institution brought to life by enduring needs, in addition to the two above, is the family. This is historically the first social institution of any society, and for most primitive societies it is the only really functioning institution. The family is a social institution of a special, integrative nature, in which all spheres and relations of society are reflected. Other social and cultural institutions are also important in society - education, health care, upbringing, etc.

Due to the fact that the essential functions performed by institutions are different, the analysis of social institutions allows us to distinguish the following groups of institutions:

1. Economic - these are all institutions that ensure the process of production and distribution of material goods and services, regulate money circulation, organize and division of labor, etc. (banks, exchanges, corporations, firms, joint-stock companies, factories, etc.).

2. Political - these are the institutions that establish, execute and maintain power. In a concentrated form, they express the political interests and relations existing in a given society. The totality of political institutions makes it possible to determine the political system of society (the state with its central and local authorities, political parties, police or police, justice, the army, and also various public organizations, movements, associations, funds and clubs pursuing political goals). The forms of institutionalized activity in this case are strictly defined: elections, rallies, demonstrations, election campaigns.

3. Reproduction and kinship are institutions that maintain the biological continuity of society, satisfy sexual needs and parental aspirations, regulate relations between the sexes and generations, etc. (institute of family and marriage).

4. Socio-cultural and educational - these are institutions whose main goal is to create, develop, strengthen culture for the socialization of the younger generation and transfer to it the accumulated cultural values ​​of the whole society as a whole (family as an educational institution, education, science, cultural and educational and art institutions, etc.).

5. Socio-ceremonial - these are institutions that regulate everyday human contacts, facilitating mutual understanding. Although these social institutions are complex systems and most often informal, they determine and regulate the ways of greetings and congratulations, the organization of solemn weddings, holding meetings, etc., which we ourselves usually do not think about. These are institutions organized by a voluntary association (public organizations, comradely associations, clubs, etc., not pursuing political goals).

6. Religious - institutions that organize a person's connection with transcendental forces. The other world for believers really exists and in a certain way affects their behavior and social relations. The institution of religion plays a prominent role in many societies and has a strong influence on numerous human relationships.

In the above classification, only the so-called "main institutions" are considered, the most important, highly necessary institutions, brought to life by enduring needs that regulate basic social functions and are characteristic of all types of civilization.

Depending on the severity and methods of regulation of their activities, social institutions are divided into formal and informal.

Formal social institutions, with all their significant differences, are united by one common feature: the interaction between the subjects in a given association is carried out on the basis of formally agreed regulations, rules, norms, regulations, etc. The regularity of activity and self-renewal of such institutions (state, army, church, education system, etc.) is ensured by strict regulation of social statuses, roles, functions, rights and obligations, distribution of responsibility between participants in social interaction, as well as impersonal requirements for who is included in activities of a social institution. The fulfillment of a certain range of duties is associated with the division of labor and the professionalization of the functions performed. To perform its functions, a formal social institution has institutions within which (for example, a school, university, technical school, lyceum, etc.) a well-defined professionally oriented activity of people is organized; management of social actions, control over their implementation, as well as the resources and means necessary for all this.

Although informal social institutions are regulated in their activities by certain norms and rules, they do not have strict regulation, and the normative-value relationships in them are not clearly formalized in the form of prescriptions, regulations, charters, etc. Friendship is an example of an informal social institution. It has many features of a social institution, such as, say, the presence of certain norms, rules, requirements, resources (trust, sympathy, devotion, loyalty, etc.), but the regulation of friendly relations is not formal, and social control is carried out with the help of informal sanctions - moral norms, traditions, customs, etc.

2.2 Functions of social institutions

The American sociologist R. Merton, who has done a lot for the development of the structural-functional approach, is the first to propose a distinction between "explicit" and "hidden (latent)" functions of social institutions. This difference in functions was introduced by him to explain certain social phenomena, when it is necessary to take into account not only the expected and observable consequences, but uncertain, side, secondary ones. The terms "manifest" and "latent" he borrowed from Freud, who used them in a completely different context. R. Merton writes: “The distinction between explicit and latent functions is based on the following: the former refer to those objective and intended consequences of social action that contribute to the adaptation or adaptation of some specific social unit (individual, subgroup, social or cultural system); the latter refer to unintended and unconscious consequences of the same order.

The explicit functions of social institutions are deliberate and understood by people. Usually they are formally declared, written down in statutes or declared, enshrined in the system of statuses and roles (for example, the adoption of special laws or sets of rules: on education, health care, social security, etc.), therefore, they are more controlled by society.

Basic, common function any social institution is to meet the social needs for which it was created and exists. To perform this function, each institution has to perform a number of functions that ensure the joint activities of people striving to meet needs. These are the following features; the function of consolidation and reproduction of social relations; regulatory function; integrative function; broadcasting function; communicative function.

The function of fixing and reproducing social relations

Each institution has a system of rules and norms of behavior that fixes, standardizes the behavior of its members and makes this behavior predictable. Appropriate social control provides the order and framework in which the activities of each member of the institution must proceed. Thus, the institution ensures the stability of the social structure of society. Indeed, the code of the institution of the family, for example, implies that members of society should be divided into sufficiently stable small groups - families. With the help of social control, the institution of the family seeks to ensure the stability of each individual family, and limits the possibility of its disintegration. The destruction of the family institution is, first of all, the appearance of chaos and uncertainty, the collapse of many groups, the violation of traditions, the impossibility of ensuring a normal sexual life and high-quality education of the younger generation.

The regulatory function is that the functioning of social institutions ensures the regulation of relationships between members of society by developing patterns of behavior. The whole cultural life of a person proceeds with his participation in various institutions. Whatever type of activity an individual engages in, he always encounters an institution that regulates his behavior in this area. Even if some kind of activity is not ordered and regulated, people immediately begin to institutionalize it. Thus, with the help of institutions, a person exhibits predictable and standardized behavior in social life. He fulfills the role requirements-expectations and knows what to expect from the people around him. Such regulation is necessary for joint activities.

Integrative function. This function includes the processes of cohesion, interdependence and mutual responsibility of members of social groups, occurring under the influence of institutionalized norms, rules, sanctions and systems of roles. The integration of people in the institute is accompanied by the streamlining of the system of interactions, an increase in the volume and frequency of contacts. All this leads to an increase in the stability and integrity of the elements of the social structure, especially social organizations.

Any integration in an institution consists of three main elements or necessary requirements: 1) consolidation or combination of efforts; 2) mobilization, when each member of the group invests its resources in achieving goals; 3) the conformity of the personal goals of individuals with the goals of others or the goals of the group. Integrative processes carried out with the help of institutions are necessary for the coordinated activities of people, the exercise of power, and the creation of complex organizations. Integration is one of the conditions for the survival of organizations, as well as one of the ways to correlate the goals of its participants.

Broadcasting function. Society could not develop if it were not possible to transfer social experience. Each institution for its normal functioning needs the arrival of new people. This can happen both by expanding the social boundaries of the institution, and by changing generations. In this regard, each institution provides a mechanism that allows individuals to socialize to its values, norms and roles. For example, a family, raising a child, seeks to orient him to the values ​​of family life that his parents adhere to. State institutions seek to influence citizens in order to instill in them norms of obedience and loyalty, and the church tries to bring as many new members to the faith as possible.

Communicative function. Information produced at the institute should be disseminated both within the institute for the purpose of managing and monitoring compliance with the norms, and in interactions between institutions. Moreover, the nature of the institute's communicative links has its own specifics - these are formal links carried out in a system of institutionalized roles. As the researchers note, the communicative capabilities of institutions are not the same: some are specifically designed to transmit information (mass media), others have very limited opportunities for this; some actively perceive information ( scientific institutes), others passively (publishers).

Latent functions. Along with the direct results of the actions of social institutions, there are other results that are outside the immediate goals of a person, not planned in advance. These results may have great importance for society. Thus, the church seeks to consolidate its influence to the greatest extent through ideology, the introduction of faith, and often achieves success in this. However, regardless of the goals of the church, there are people who leave production activities for the sake of religion. Fanatics begin to persecute non-Christians, and the possibility of major social conflicts on religious grounds. The family seeks to socialize the child to the accepted norms of family life, but it often happens that family education leads to a conflict between the individual and the cultural group and serves to protect the interests of certain social strata.

The existence of the latent functions of institutions was most conspicuously shown by T. Veblen, who wrote that it would be naive to say that people eat black caviar because they want to satisfy their hunger and buy a luxurious Cadillac because they want to buy a good car. Obviously, these things are not acquired for the sake of satisfying obvious urgent needs. T. Veblen concludes from this that the production of consumer goods performs a hidden, latent function - it satisfies the needs of people to increase their own prestige. Such an understanding of the actions of the institute for the production of consumer goods radically changes the opinion about its activities, tasks and conditions of functioning.

Thus, it is obvious that only by studying the latent functions of institutions can sociologists determine the true picture of social life. For example, very often sociologists are faced with a phenomenon that is incomprehensible at first glance, when an institution continues to successfully exist, even if it not only does not fulfill its functions, but also interferes with their implementation. Such an institution obviously has hidden functions by which it satisfies the needs of certain social groups. A similar phenomenon can be observed especially often among political institutions, in which latent functions are developed to the greatest extent.

Latent functions, therefore, are the subject that should primarily interest the student of social structures. The difficulty in recognizing them is compensated by the creation of a reliable picture of social connections and features of social objects, as well as the ability to control their development and to manage the social processes taking place in them.

Conclusion

Based on the work done, I can conclude that I managed to achieve my goal - to summarize the main theoretical aspects social institutions.

The paper describes the concept, structure and functions of social institutions in as much detail and as versatile as possible. In the process of revealing the meaning of these concepts, I used the opinions and arguments of various authors who used different methodology from each other, which made it possible to more deeply reveal the essence of social institutions.

In general, it can be summarized that social institutions play an important role in society, the study of social institutions and their functions allows sociologists to create a picture of social life, makes it possible to control the development of social ties and social objects, as well as manage the processes taking place in them.

List of sources used

1 Babosov E.M. General sociology: Proc. allowance for universities. - 2nd ed., Rev. and additional - Minsk: TetraSystems, 2004. 640 p.

2 Glotov M.B. Social institution: definitions, structure, classification /Socis. No. 10 2003. S. 17-18

3 Dobrenkov V.I., Kravchenko A.I. Sociology: Textbook for universities. – M.: INFRA-M, 2001. 624 S.

4 Z Borovsky G.E. General Sociology: A Textbook for High Schools of Higher Education. – M.: Gardariki, 2004. 592 S.

5 Novikova S.S. Sociology: history, foundations, institutionalization in Russia - M .: Moscow Institute of Psychology and Socialism, 2000. 464 p.

6 Frolov S.S. Sociology. M.: Nauka, 1994. 249 S.

7 Encyclopedic Sociological Dictionary / Ed. ed. G.V. Osipov. M.: 1995.

Introduction

1. The concept of "social institution" and "social organization".

2. Types of social institutions.

3. Functions and structure of social institutions.

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

The term "social institution" is used in a wide variety of meanings. They talk about the institution of the family, the institution of education, health care, the institution of the state, etc. The first, most often used meaning of the term "social institution" is associated with the characteristics of any kind of ordering, formalization and standardization of social relations and relations. And the process of streamlining, formalization and standardization is called institutionalization.

The process of institutionalization includes a number of points: 1) One of necessary conditions the emergence of social institutions serves the corresponding social need. Institutions are designed to organize the joint activities of people in order to meet certain social needs. Thus, the institution of the family satisfies the need for the reproduction of the human race and the upbringing of children, implements relations between the sexes, generations, etc. The institution of higher education provides training for the workforce, enables a person to develop his abilities in order to realize them in subsequent activities and ensure his own existence, etc. The emergence of certain social needs, as well as the conditions for their satisfaction, are the first necessary moments of institutionalization. 2) A social institution is formed on the basis of social ties, interactions and relationships of specific individuals, individuals, social groups and other communities. But it, like other social systems, cannot be reduced to the sum of these individuals and their interactions. Social institutions are supra-individual in nature, have their own systemic quality.

Consequently, a social institution is an independent public entity that has its own logic of development. From this point of view, social institutions can be considered as organized social systems characterized by the stability of the structure, the integration of their elements and a certain variability of their functions.

3) The third essential element of institutionalization

is the organizational design of a social institution. Outwardly, a social institution is a collection of individuals, institutions, equipped with certain material resources and performing a certain social function.

So, each social institution is characterized by the presence of a goal of its activity, specific functions that ensure the achievement of such a goal, a set of social positions and roles typical for this institution. Based on the foregoing, we can give the following definition of a social institution. Social institutions are organized associations of people performing certain socially significant functions, ensuring the joint achievement of goals based on the social roles performed by members, set by social values, norms and patterns of behavior.

It is necessary to distinguish between such concepts as “social institution” and “organization”.

1. The concept of "social institution" and "social organization"

Social institutions (from Latin institutum - establishment, establishment) are historically established stable forms of organizing joint activities of people.

Social institutions govern the behavior of community members through a system of sanctions and rewards. In social management and control, institutions play a very important role. Their task is not only to coercion. In every society there are institutions that guarantee freedom in certain activities - freedom of creativity and innovation, freedom of speech, the right to receive a certain form and amount of income, housing and free medical care, etc. For example, writers and artists have guaranteed freedom creativity, search for new artistic forms; scientists and specialists are obliged to investigate new problems and search for new technical solutions, etc. Social institutions can be characterized in terms of both their external, formal (“material”) structure, and their internal, content.

Outwardly, a social institution looks like a collection of individuals, institutions, equipped with certain material resources and performing a specific social function. From the content side, it is a certain system of expediently oriented standards of behavior of certain individuals in specific situations. So, if there is justice as a social institution, it can outwardly be characterized as a set of persons, institutions and material means administering justice, then from a substantive point of view, it is a set of standardized patterns of behavior of eligible persons providing this social function. These standards of conduct are embodied in certain roles characteristic of the justice system (the role of a judge, prosecutor, lawyer, investigator, etc.).

The social institution thus determines the orientation of social activity and social relations through a mutually agreed system of expediently oriented standards of behavior. Their emergence and grouping into a system depend on the content of the tasks solved by the social institution. Each such institution is characterized by the presence of an activity goal, specific functions that ensure its achievement, a set of social positions and roles, as well as a system of sanctions that encourage the desired and suppress deviant behavior.

Consequently, social institutions perform functions in society social management and social control as one of the elements of management. Social control enables society and its systems to enforce normative conditions, the violation of which is detrimental to the social system. The main objects of such control are legal and moral norms, customs, administrative decisions, etc. The effect of social control is reduced, on the one hand, to the application of sanctions against behavior that violates social restrictions, on the other hand, to the approval of desirable behavior. The behavior of individuals is conditioned by their needs. These needs can be met different ways, and the choice of means to satisfy them depends on the value system adopted by a given social community or society as a whole. The adoption of a certain system of values ​​contributes to the identity of the behavior of members of the community. Education and socialization are aimed at conveying to individuals the patterns of behavior and methods of activity established in a given community.

Scientists understand a social institution as a complex, covering, on the one hand, a set of normative and value-conditioned roles and statuses designed to meet certain social needs, and on the other hand, social education, created to use the resources of society in the form of interaction to meet this need.

Social institutions and social organizations are closely linked. There is no consensus among sociologists about how they relate to each other. Some believe that there is no need to distinguish between these two concepts at all, they use them as synonyms, since many social phenomena, such as the social security system, education, the army, the court, the bank, can be simultaneously considered both as a social institution and as social organization, while others give a more or less clear distinction between them. The difficulty of drawing a clear “watershed” between these two concepts is due to the fact that social institutions in the process of their activity act as social organizations - they are structurally designed, institutionalized, have their own goals, functions, norms and rules. The difficulty lies in the fact that when trying to single out a social organization as an independent structural component or a social phenomenon, one has to repeat those properties and features that are also characteristic of a social institution.

It should also be noted that, as a rule, there are much more organizations than institutions. For the practical implementation of the functions, goals and objectives of one social institution, several specialized social organizations are often formed. For example, on the basis of the institute of religion, various church and religious organizations, churches and confessions (Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Islam, etc.)

2. Types of social institutions

Social institutions differ from each other in their functional qualities: 1) Economic and social institutions - property, exchange, money, banks, economic associations of various types - provide the entire set of production and distribution of social wealth, combining, at the same time, economic life with other areas of social life.

2) Political institutions - the state, parties, trade unions and other kinds of public organizations pursuing political goals aimed at establishing and maintaining a certain form of political power. Their totality constitutes the political system of a given society. Political institutions ensure the reproduction and sustainable preservation of ideological values, stabilize the social class structures that dominate in society. 3) Sociocultural and educational institutions aim at the development and subsequent reproduction of cultural and social values, the inclusion of individuals in a certain subculture, as well as the socialization of individuals through the assimilation of stable sociocultural standards of behavior and, finally, the protection of certain values ​​and norms. 4) Normative-orienting - mechanisms of moral and ethical orientation and regulation of the behavior of individuals. Their goal is to give behavior and motivation a moral argument, an ethical basis. These institutions assert imperative universal human values, special codes and ethics of behavior in the community. 5) Normative-sanctioning - social and social regulation of behavior on the basis of norms, rules and regulations enshrined in legal and administrative acts. The binding nature of the norms is ensured by the coercive power of the state and the system of appropriate sanctions. 6) Ceremonial-symbolic and situational-conventional institutions. These institutions are based on the more or less long-term adoption of conventional (by agreement) norms, their official and unofficial consolidation. These norms regulate everyday contacts, various acts of group and intergroup behavior. They determine the order and method of mutual behavior, regulate the methods of transmission and exchange of information, greetings, addresses, etc., the rules of meetings, meetings, the activities of some associations.

Social institutions

The concepts of "social institution" and "social organization".

Types and functions of social institutions.

The family as a social institution.

Education as a social institution.

The concepts of "social institution" and "social organization"

Society as a social system has the property of dynamics. Only constant variability can guarantee him self-preservation in a constantly changing environment. external environment. The development of society is accompanied by a complication of its internal structure, a qualitative and quantitative change in its elements, as well as their connections and relationships.

At the same time, the change of society cannot be absolutely continuous. Moreover, as the history of mankind testifies, the priority characteristic of specific social systems is their relative immutability. It is this circumstance that makes it possible for successive generations of people to adapt to this particular social environment and determines the continuity of the development of the material, intellectual and spiritual culture of society.

Given the need to preserve those basic social ties and relationships that are guaranteed to ensure its stability, society takes measures to secure them fairly rigidly, excluding accidental spontaneous change. To do this, society fixes the most important types of social relations in the form of normative prescriptions, the implementation of which is mandatory for all members. At the same time, a system of sanctions is being developed and, as a rule, legitimized to ensure the unconditional execution of these instructions.

Social institutions- these are historically established stable forms of organization and regulation of the joint life of people. This is a legally fixed system of social ties and relations. The process and result of their consolidation is denoted by the term "institutionalization". So, for example, we can talk about the institutionalization of marriage, the institutionalization of education systems, etc.

Marriage, the family, moral standards, education, private property, the market, the state, the army, the courts, and other similar forms in society are all clear examples of institutions already established in it. With their help, communications and relations between people are streamlined and standardized, their activities and behavior in society are regulated. This ensures a certain organization and stability of public life.

Structure of social institutions often represents a very complex system, since each institution covers a number of sociocultural elements. These elements can be grouped into five main groups. Consider them on the example of such an institution as the family:

1) spiritual and ideological elements, i.e. such feelings, ideals and values ​​as, say, love, mutual fidelity, the desire to create your own cozy family world, the desire to raise worthy children, etc.;

2) material elements- house, apartment, furniture, cottage, car, etc.;

3) behavioral elements- sincerity, mutual respect, tolerance, willingness to compromise, trust, mutual assistance, etc.;

4) cultural and symbolic elements- marriage ritual, wedding rings, wedding anniversary celebrations, etc.;

5) organizational and documentary elements- civil registration system (ZAGS), marriage and birth certificates, alimony, social security system, etc.

No one "invents" social institutions. They grow gradually, as if by themselves, from this or that specific need of people. For example, from the need to protect public order at one time, the institution of the police (militia) arose and established itself. The process of institutionalization consists in streamlining, standardizing, organizing and legislative regulation those connections and relations in society that "claim" to be transformed into a social institution.

The peculiarity of social institutions is that they, being formed on the basis of social ties, relations and interaction of specific people and specific social communities, are individual and supra-group in nature. A social institution is a relatively independent social entity that has its own internal logic of development. From this point of view, a social institution should be considered as an organized social subsystem, characterized by the stability of the structure, the integration of its elements and functions.

The main elements of social institutions are, first of all, systems of values, norms, ideals, as well as patterns of activity and behavior of people in life. different situations. Social institutions coordinate and direct the aspirations of individuals into a single channel, establish ways to meet their needs, contribute to the expansion of social conflicts, and ensure the stability of the existence of specific social communities and society as a whole.

The existence of a social institution is associated, as a rule, with its organizational design. A social institution is a set of persons and institutions that have certain material resources and perform a certain social function. Thus, the institute of education includes heads and employees of state and regional educational authorities, teachers, teachers, students, pupils, service personnel, as well as institutions of education management and educational establishments: universities, institutes, colleges, technical schools, colleges, schools and kindergartens.

By itself, the fixation of socio-cultural values ​​in the form of social institutions does not yet ensure their effective functioning. In order for them to "work", it is necessary that these values ​​become the property of a person's inner world and be recognized by social communities. The assimilation of sociocultural values ​​by the members of society is the content of the process of their socialization, in which a huge role is assigned to the institution of education.

In addition to social institutions in society, there are also social organizations, which are one of the forms of ordering connections, relationships and interactions of individuals and social groups. Social organizations have a number of characteristics:

they are created to achieve certain goals;

social organization gives a person the opportunity to satisfy his needs and interests within the limits that are established by the norms and values ​​​​accepted in this social organization;

social organization helps to increase the efficiency of the activities of its members, since its emergence and existence is based on the division of labor and on its specialization according to a functional basis.

A characteristic feature of most social organizations is their hierarchical structure, in which the governing and managed subsystems are quite clearly distinguished, which ensures its stability and functioning efficiency. As a result of the combination of various elements of social organization into a single whole, a special organizational, or cooperative effect arises. Sociologists call its three main components:

1) the organization unites the efforts of many of its members, i.e. the simultaneity of many efforts of each;

2) the participants of the organization, being included in it, become different: they turn into its specialized elements, each of which performs a very specific function, which significantly increases the effectiveness and effect of their activities;

3) the managing subsystem plans, organizes and harmonizes the activities of the members of the social organization, and this also serves as a source of increasing the effectiveness of its actions.

The most complex and most significant social organization is the state (public-authoritative social organization), the central place in which is occupied by state machine. In a democratic society, along with the state, there is also such a form of social organization as civil society. We are talking about such social institutions and relations as voluntary associations of people with the same interests, folk art, friendship, the so-called “unregistered marriage”, etc. At the center of civil society is a sovereign person who has the right to life, personal freedom and property. Other important values ​​of civil society are: democratic freedoms, political pluralism, the rule of law.

Types and functions of social institutions

Among the huge variety of institutional forms, one can single out the following main groups of social institutions.

Each of these groups, as well as each institution separately, fulfill their own certain functions.

Economic institutions are called upon to ensure the organization and management of the economy for the purpose of its effective development. For example, property relations assign material and other values ​​to a certain owner and enable the latter to receive income from these values. Money is called upon to serve as a universal equivalent in the exchange of goods, and wage- compensation to the employee for his work. Economic institutions provide the entire system of production, distribution of social wealth, at the same time connecting purely economic sphere life of society with its other spheres.

Political institutions establish a certain power and govern society. They are also designed to ensure the protection of the sovereignty of the state and its territorial integrity, state ideological values, taking into account the political interests of various social communities.

Spiritual institutions associated with the development of science, education, art, maintaining in society moral values. Sociocultural institutions aim to preserve and enhance the cultural values ​​of society.

As for the institution of the family, it is the primary and key link in the entire social system. From the family people come into society. It brings up the main personality traits of a citizen. The family sets the daily tone of all social life. Societies thrive when there is prosperity and peace in the families of its citizens.

The grouping of social institutions is very conditional, and does not mean that they exist in isolation from each other. All institutions of society are closely interconnected. For example, the state acts not only in “its own” political area, but also in all other areas: economic activity, contributes to the development of spiritual processes, regulates family relations. And the institution of the family (as the main cell of society) is literally at the center of the intersection of the lines of all other institutions (property, wages, the army, education, etc.).

Formed over the centuries, social institutions do not remain unchanged. They develop and improve along with the movement of society forward. At the same time, it is important that the governing bodies of society should not be late with the organizational (and especially with the legislative) formalization of the overdue changes in social institutions. Otherwise, the latter perform their functions worse and hinder social progress.

Each social institution has its own social functions, goals of activity, means and methods to ensure its achievement. The functions of social institutions are diverse. However, all their diversity can be reduced to four major:

1) reproduction of members of society (the main social institution that performs this function is the family);

2) socialization of members of society and, above all, new generations - the transfer to them of the accumulated by society in its historical development production, intellectual and spiritual experience, established patterns of behavior and interactions (Institute of Education);

3) production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods, intellectual and spiritual values ​​(State Institute, Institute of Mass Communications, Institute of Art and Culture);

4) management and control over the behavior of members of society and social communities (the institution of social norms and regulations: moral and legal norms, customs, administrative decisions, the institution of sanctions for non-compliance or for improper compliance established norms and rules).

In the conditions of intensive social processes, the acceleration of the pace of social change, a situation may arise when the changed social needs are not adequately reflected in the structure and functions of the relevant social institutions, resulting in, as they say, their dysfunction. The essence of the dysfunction of a social institution lies in the "degeneration" of the goals of its activity and in the loss social significance the functions they perform. Outwardly, this is manifested in the fall of his social prestige and authority and in the transformation of his activity into a symbolic, “ritual” one, not aimed at achieving socially significant goals.

Correction of the dysfunction of a social institution can be achieved by changing it or creating a new social institution whose goals and functions would correspond to the changed social relations, connections and interactions. If this is not done in an acceptable way and in a proper way, an unmet social need can bring to life the spontaneous emergence of normative non-compliance. regulated species social ties and relationships that can be destructive for society as a whole or for its individual areas. For example, the partial dysfunction of some economic institutions is the reason for the existence of the so-called "shadow economy" in our country, resulting in speculation, bribery, theft.

Family as a social institution

The family is the initial structural element of society and its most important social institution. From the point of view of sociologists, a family is a group of people based on marriage and consanguinity, connected by common life and mutual responsibility. At the same time, under marriage the union of a man and a woman is understood, giving rise to their rights and obligations in relation to each other, to their parents and to their children.

marriage may be registered and actual (unregistered). Here, apparently, one should turn Special attention to the fact that any form of marriage, including unregistered marriage, differs significantly from extramarital (disordered) sexual relations. Their fundamental difference from the marriage union is manifested in the desire to avoid the conception of a child, in the evasion of moral and legal responsibility for the onset of an unwanted pregnancy, in the refusal to support and raise a child in the event of his birth.

Marriage is a historical phenomenon that arose in the era of mankind's transition from savagery to barbarism and developed in the direction from polygamy (polygamy) to monogamy (monogamy). Basic forms polygamous marriage, passing successively to replace each other and preserved up to the present time in a number of "exotic" regions and countries of the world, are group marriage, polyandry ( polyandry) and polygamy ( polygamy).

In a group marriage, there are several men and several women in the marriage relationship. Polyandry is characterized by the presence of several husbands for one woman, and for polygamy - several wives for one husband.

Historically, the last and currently most common form of marriage, the essence of which is a stable marriage union of one man and one woman. The first form of the family based on monogamous marriage was the extended family, also called the kinship or patriarchal (traditional). This family was built not only on marital relations, but also on consanguinity. Such a family was characterized by having many children and living in the same house or in the same farmstead for several generations. In this regard, patriarchal families were quite numerous, and therefore well adapted for relatively independent subsistence agriculture.

The transition of society from subsistence farming to industrial production was accompanied by the destruction of the patriarchal family, which was replaced by the married family. Such a family in sociology is also called nuclear(from lat. - core). A married family consists of a husband, wife and children, the number of which, especially in urban families, is becoming extremely small.

The family as a social institution goes through a number of stages, the main ones are:

1) marriage - formation of a family;

2) the beginning of childbearing - the birth of the first child;

3) the end of childbearing - the birth of the last child;

4) "empty nest" - marriage and separation of the last child from the family;

5) termination of the existence of the family - the death of one of the spouses.

Any family, regardless of what form of marriage underlies it, has been and remains a social institution, designed to perform a system of specific and unique social functions inherent in it. The main ones are: reproductive, educational, economic, status, emotional, protective, as well as the function of social control and regulation. Let's consider in more detail the content of each of them.

The most important thing for any family is its reproductive function, which is based on the instinctive desire of a person (individual) to continue his kind, and society - to ensure the continuity and succession of successive generations.

Considering the content of the reproductive function of the family, it should be borne in mind that in this case we are talking about the reproduction of the biological, intellectual and spiritual essence of a person. A child passing into this world must be physically strong, physiologically and mentally healthy, which would provide him with the opportunity to perceive the material, intellectual and spiritual culture accumulated by previous generations. Obviously, apart from the family, no “social incubator” like the “Baby House” is able to solve this problem.

Fulfilling its reproductive mission, the family is "responsible" not only for the qualitative, but also for the quantitative growth of the population. It is the family that is that kind of birth rate regulator, by influencing which one can avoid or initiate a demographic decline or a demographic explosion.

One of the most important functions of the family is educational function. For the normal full development of the child, the family is vital. Psychologists note that if a child is deprived of maternal warmth and care from birth to 3 years, then its development slows down significantly. The primary socialization of the younger generation is also carried out in the family.

essence economic function The family consists in the maintenance by its members of a common household and in the economic support of minors who are temporarily unemployed, as well as those who are unable to work due to illness or age of family members. "Outgoing" totalitarian Russia has contributed to the economic function of the family. The wage system was built in such a way that neither a man nor a woman could live separately from each other on wages. And this circumstance served as an additional and very significant incentive for their marriage.

From the moment of his birth, a person receives citizenship, nationality, social position in society inherent in the family, becomes an urban or villager etc. Thus, it is carried out status function families. The social statuses inherited by a person at his birth can change over time, however, they largely determine the “starting” capabilities of a person in his final destiny.

Satisfying the inherent human need for family warmth, comfort and intimate communication is the main content emotional function families. It is no secret that in families in which an atmosphere of participation, goodwill, sympathy, empathy has developed, people get sick less, and when they get sick, they endure illness more easily. They also turn out to be more resistant to stress, for which our life is so generous.

One of the most significant is protective function. It manifests itself in the physical, material, mental, intellectual and spiritual protection of its members. In a family, violence, the threat of violence or infringement of interests shown in relation to one of its members, cause a response of opposition, in which the instinct of its self-preservation is manifested. The most acute form of such a reaction is revenge, including blood, associated with violent actions.

One of the forms of the defensive reaction of the family, which contributes to its self-preservation, is a solidary feeling of guilt or shame by the whole family for the illegal, immoral or immoral actions and deeds of one or more of its members. A deep awareness of one's moral responsibility for what happened contributes to the spiritual self-purification and self-improvement of the family, and thereby strengthening its foundations.

The family is the main social institution through which society carries out primary social control over the behavior of people and the regulation of their mutual responsibility and mutual obligations. At the same time, the family is that informal “court instance” that has the right to apply moral sanctions to family members for non-compliance or for improper observance of the norms of social and family life. It seems quite obvious that the family, as a social institution, performs its functions not in a "soulless space", but in a well-defined political, economic, social, ideological and cultural environment. At the same time, the existence of the family in a totalitarian society, which seeks to penetrate into all pores of civil society and, above all, into the family and family relations, turns out to be the most unnatural.

It is easy to verify the validity of this statement by looking more closely at the process of the post-revolutionary transformation of the Soviet family. Aggressive foreign and repressive domestic politics of the Soviet state, the essentially inhumane economy, the total ideologization of society and, especially, the education system led to the degradation of the family, to its transformation from normal to “Soviet”, with a corresponding deformation of its functions. The state limited its reproductive function to the reproduction of "human material", having appropriated to itself the monopoly right of its subsequent spiritual duping. The beggarly level of wages gave rise to sharp conflicts between parents and children on an economic basis, shaped both these and others a sense of their own inferiority. In a country in which class antagonism, spy mania and total denunciation were planted, there could be no question of any protective function of the family, especially the function of moral satisfaction. And the status role of the family has become completely life-threatening: the fact of belonging to one or another social stratum, to one or another ethnic group was often tantamount to a sentence for a grave crime. Control and regulation social behavior people were invested in by the punitive bodies, the party and party organizations, having connected their faithful assistants to this process - the Komsomol, the pioneer organization and even the Octoberites. As a result, the control function of the family degenerated into peeping and eavesdropping, followed by denunciation to state and party parties or with a public discussion of compromising material at "comradely" courts, at party and Komsomol meetings of the October "stars"

in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. the patriarchal family prevailed (about 80%), in the 1970s. more than half of Russian families adhered to the principles of equality and mutual respect. The forecasts of N. Smelser and E. Giddens about the post-industrial future of the family are interesting. According to N. Smelzer, there will be no return to the traditional family. The modern family will change, partially losing or changing some functions, although the family's monopoly on the regulation of intimate relationships, childbearing and caring for young children will continue into the future. At the same time, there will be a partial decay of even relatively stable functions. So, the reproduction function will be carried out by unmarried women. Centers for the upbringing of children will be more involved in socialization. Friendship and emotional support can be found not only in the family. E. Giddens notes a steady trend of weakening the regulatory function of the family in relation to sexual life, but believes that marriage and the family will remain strong institutions.

The family as a socio-biological system is analyzed from the standpoint of functionalism and conflict theory. The family, on the one hand, is closely connected with society through its functions, and on the other hand, all family members are interconnected by consanguinity and social relations. It should be noted that the family is also a carrier of contradictions both with society and between its members. Family life is connected with the solution of contradictions between husband, wife and children, relatives, surrounding people regarding the performance of functions, even if it is based on love and respect.

In the family, as in society, there is not only unity, integrity and harmony, but also a struggle of interests. The nature of conflicts can be understood from the standpoint of the exchange theory, which implies that all family members should strive for an equal exchange in their relationship. Tensions and conflicts arise from the fact that someone does not receive the expected "reward". The source of the conflict may be the low wages of one of the family members, drunkenness, violence, sexual dissatisfaction, etc. The strong severity of disturbances in metabolic processes leads to the breakup of the family.

The problems of the modern Russian family as a whole coincide with the global ones. Among them:

an increase in the number of divorces and an increase in single families (mainly with a “single mother”);

a decrease in the number of registered marriages and an increase in the number of civil marriages;

reduction in the birth rate;

an increase in the number of children born out of wedlock;

changes in the distribution of family responsibilities due to the growing involvement of women in labor activity requiring the joint participation of both parents in the upbringing of children and the organization of everyday life;

an increase in the number of dysfunctional families.

The most pressing problem is dysfunctional families arising from socio-economic, psychological, pedagogical or biological (for example, disability) reasons. stand out the following types of dysfunctional families:

Dysfunctional families deform the personality of children, causing anomalies both in the psyche and in behavior, for example, early alcoholization, drug addiction, prostitution, vagrancy and other forms of deviant behavior.

One more topical issue family is an increase in the number of divorces. In our country, along with the freedom of marriage, there is also the right of spouses to divorce. According to statistics, currently 2 out of 3 marriages break up. But this figure varies depending on the place of residence and age of people. So in big cities there are more divorces than in countryside. The peak number of divorces falls at the age of 25-30 years and 40-45 years.

As the number of divorces increases, the possibility that they will be compensated by remarriage becomes less and less. Only 10-15% of women with children remarry. As a result, the number of incomplete families is increasing. So what is divorce? Some say - evil, others - getting rid of evil. In order to find out this, it is necessary to analyze a wide range of questions: how does a divorced person live? Is he happy with the divorce? How have housing conditions and health changed? How did your relationship with the children develop? Is he thinking of remarrying? It is very important to find out the fate of a divorced woman and a man, as well as a child from a broken family. It is not for nothing that they say that divorce is like an iceberg in the sea: only a small part of the reasons are visible on the surface, but their main mass is hidden in the depths of the souls of the divorced.

According to statistics, a divorce case is initiated mainly at the request of women, because. a woman in our time has become independent, she works, she can support her family herself and does not want to put up with the shortcomings of her husband. At the same time, a woman does not think that she herself is not perfect and whether she deserves a perfect man. Imagination draws her such a perfect ideal, which in real life does not occur.

There are no words that a drunken husband is a misfortune for the family, wife, children. Especially when he beats his wife and children, takes money from the family, does not take care of the upbringing of children, etc. Divorce in these cases is necessary to protect the family from moral and material devastation. In addition to drunkenness, the reasons why wives file for divorce can be cheating on their husbands, male selfishness. Sometimes a man simply forces his wife to file for divorce by his behavior. He treats her disdainfully, does not tolerate her weaknesses, does not help in household chores, etc. Of the reasons why husbands file for divorce, we can highlight the betrayal of his wife or his love for another woman. But the main reason for divorce is the unpreparedness of spouses for family life. Domestic, financial problems pile on young spouses. In the first years of married life, the young people get to know each other more, the shortcomings that they tried to hide before the wedding are revealed, and the spouses adapt to each other.

Young spouses often unnecessarily hastily resort to divorce as a way to resolve any conflicts, including those that can be overcome at first. Such a “light” attitude towards the breakup of a family is formed due to the fact that divorce has already become commonplace. At the time of marriage, there is a clear set for divorce if at least one of the spouses is not satisfied living together. The reason for divorce can also be the unwillingness of one of the spouses to have a child. These cases are rare, but they do happen. According to sociological surveys, more than half of men and women would like to remarry. Only a small part preferred loneliness. American sociologists Carter and Glick report that 10 times more unmarried men than married men go to the hospital, the death rate of unmarried men is 3 times more, and unmarried women are 2 times more than married ones. Many men, like many women, easily go through with a divorce, but then experience its consequences very hard. In divorces, in addition to spouses, there are also interested parties - children. They suffer psychological trauma that parents often do not think about.

In addition to the moral disadvantages of divorce, there are also negative material aspects. When the husband leaves the family, the wife and child face financial difficulties. There is also a problem with housing. But the possibility of a family reunion is a real possibility for many couples who have broken up in the heat of the moment. Deep down, each spouse wants to have their own good family. And for this, those who have entered into marriage need to learn mutual understanding, overcome petty egoism, and improve the culture of family relations. At the state level, in order to prevent divorce, it is necessary to create and expand a system for preparing young people for marriage, as well as a socio-psychological service for helping families and single people.

To support the family, the state forms family policy, which includes a set of practical measures that give families with children certain social guarantees for the purpose of the functioning of the family in the interests of society. In all countries of the world, the family is recognized as the most important social institution in which new generations are born and raised, where their socialization takes place. World practice includes a range of social support measures:

provision of family allowances;

payment maternity leave women;

medical care for women during pregnancy and childbirth;

monitoring the health of infants and young children;

granting parental leave;

benefits for single-parent families;

tax incentives, loans at low interest (or subsidies) for the purchase or rental of housing and some others.

Assistance to families from the state can be different and depends on a number of factors, including the economic well-being of the state. The Russian state provides basically similar forms of assistance to families, but their scale is modern conditions insufficient.

Russian society faces the need to solve a number of priority tasks in the field of family relations, including:

1) overcoming negative trends and stabilizing the financial situation of Russian families; reducing poverty and increasing assistance to disabled family members;

2) strengthening the support of the family by the state as a natural environment for the life support of children; ensuring safe motherhood and protecting the health of children.

To solve these problems, it is necessary to increase the cost of social support families, increasing the efficiency of their use, improving legislation to protect the rights and interests of the family, women, children and youth.

the following elements :

1) a network of educational institutions;

2) social communities (teachers and students);

3) educational process.

Allocate the following types of educational institutions(state and non-state):

1) preschool;

2) general education (primary, basic, secondary);

3) professional (primary, secondary and higher);

4) postgraduate professional education;

5) special (correctional) institutions - for children with developmental disabilities;

6) institutions for orphans.

As far as before school education, then sociology proceeds from the fact that the foundations of a person's upbringing, his industriousness, and many other moral qualities are laid in early childhood. Overall value preschool education underestimated. It is too often overlooked that this is an extremely important step in a person's life, on which the fundamental foundation of a person's personal qualities is laid. And the point is not in quantitative indicators of "coverage" of children or satisfaction of the desires of parents. Kindergartens, nurseries, factories are not just a means of "looking after" children, here their mental, moral and physical development takes place. With the transition to teaching children from the age of 6, kindergartens faced new problems for themselves - the organization of activities preparatory groups so that children can normally enter the school rhythm of life, have self-service skills.

From the point of view of sociology, the analysis of the orientation of society towards supporting preschool forms of education, the readiness of parents to resort to their help to prepare children for work and rational organization his public and private life. To understand the specifics of this form of education, the position and value orientations of those people who work with children - educators, service personnel- as well as their readiness, understanding and desire to fulfill the duties and hopes assigned to them.

Unlike pre-school education and upbringing, which does not cover every child, the secondary general education school is aimed at preparing the entire younger generation for life, without exception. In the conditions of the Soviet period, starting from the 1960s, the principle of universality of complete secondary education was implemented in order to provide young people with an equal start when entering an independent working life. There is no such provision in the new Constitution of the Russian Federation. And if in the Soviet school, because of the requirement to give every young person a secondary education, percentage mania, postscripts, and artificial overestimation of academic performance flourished, then in Russian school the number of school dropouts is growing, which will eventually affect the intellectual potential of society.

But even in this situation, the sociology of education is still aimed at studying the values general education, on the guidelines of parents and children, on their reaction to the introduction of new forms of education, because the completion of a general education school is for young man at the same time, the moment of choosing the future life path, profession, occupation. Stopping on one of the options, the graduate of the school thereby prefers one or another type vocational education. But what drives him in choosing the trajectory of his future life path, what influences this choice and how it changes throughout life is one of the most important problems of sociology.

A special place is occupied by the study of vocational education - vocational, secondary special and higher. Vocational education is most directly connected with the needs of production, with an operative and comparatively rapid form of bringing young people into life. It is directly carried out within the framework of large production organizations or state system education. Emerging in 1940 as a factory apprenticeship (FZU), vocational education has gone through a complex and winding path of development. And despite the various costs (attempts to transfer the entire system to a combination of full and special education in the preparation necessary professions, weak consideration of regional and national characteristics), vocational training remains the most important channel for obtaining a profession. For the sociology of education, it is important to know the motives of students, the effectiveness of training, its role in improving the skills of real participation in solving national economic problems.

At the same time, sociological studies still record a relatively low (and for a number of professions, low) prestige of this type of education, because the orientation of school graduates to receive secondary specialized and higher education continues to prevail.

As for secondary specialized and higher education, it is important for sociology to identify social status these types of youth education, assessment of opportunities and roles in future adult life, compliance with the subjective aspirations and objective needs of society, the quality and effectiveness of training.

Particularly acute is the question of the professionalism of future specialists, that the quality and level of their modern training meet the realities of today. However, sociological studies show that many problems have accumulated in this regard. The stability of the professional interests of young people continues to be low. According to research by sociologists, up to 60% of university graduates change their profession.

In addition to those already mentioned, Russian education also faces the following problems:

the problem of optimizing the interaction between the individual and society as a search for a balance between social and normative pressure and the desire of the individual for socio-psychological autonomy, overcoming the inconsistency of the "needs" of the social order and the interests of the individual (student, teacher, parent);

the problem of overcoming the disintegration of the content of school education in the process of creating and implementing a new socio-educational paradigm that can become a starting point in the formation of a holistic picture of the world in a student;

problems of harmonization and integration of pedagogical technologies;

the formation of the development of problem thinking in students through a gradual departure from monologue communication to dialogical communication in the classroom;

the problem of overcoming the irreducibility of learning outcomes in various types of educational institutions through the development and introduction of unified educational standards based on a comprehensive systematic analysis of the educational process.

In this regard, modern Russian education faces following tasks.

In the Russian Federation are implemented two types educational programs :

1) general education (basic and additional) - aimed at the formation common culture personality and its adaptation to life in society;

2) professional (basic and additional) - aimed at training specialists of appropriate qualifications.

Law of the Russian Federation "On Education" guarantees:

1) general availability and free of charge of primary general (4 grades), basic general (9 grades), secondary (complete) general (11 grades) and primary vocational education;

2) on a competitive basis, free secondary and higher professional and postgraduate education (postgraduate studies) in state and municipal educational institutions if a person receives education for the first time.

Education performs in society essential functions:

1) humanistic- identification and development of the intellectual, moral and physical potential of the individual;

2) professional and economic- training of qualified specialists;

3) socio-political- acquisition of a certain social status;

4) cultural - the assimilation by the individual of the culture of society, the development of his creative abilities;

5) adaptive - preparing the individual for life and work in society.

The current system of education in Russia still poorly forms high spiritual demands and aesthetic tastes, strong immunity to lack of spirituality, "mass culture". The role of social science disciplines, literature, art lessons remains insignificant. Study of the historical past, truthful coverage of complex and controversial stages national history are weakly combined with an independent search for their own answers to the questions that life puts forward. Global socio-cultural changes in the world, the so-called civilizational shifts, are increasingly revealing the discrepancy between the established education system and emerging social needs on the eve of a new anthropogenic reality. This discrepancy causes in our country from time to time attempts to reform the educational system.

test questions

Describe the concept of "social institution".

What is the main difference between a social organization and a social institution?

What are the elements of a social institution?

What types of social institutions do you know?

Name the functions of social institutions.

List the functions of the family.

What types of families can you name?

What are the main problems of the modern family?

Describe education as a social institution.

What are the problems facing Russian education at the present time?