The institutions of society are examples. Social institution: concept, types, functions

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.

AT 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 is a historically established, stable form of organization joint activities people who perform certain functions in society, the main of which is satisfaction social needs.

EXPLANATION.

A social institution, speaking more accessible, is such formations in society (an institution, an authority, 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. You where are you going? In the accounting department, it is set up to regulate payroll matters. It is also a payroll institute network.

And there are a huge number of such social institutions in society. 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 regulation certain types public 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 the current legislation (authorities, parties, courts, families, schools, the army, etc.)

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

Material prepared: Melnikova Vera Aleksandrovna

Lecture:

The concept and types of social institutions

Remember that the subsystems of society are the economic, political, social and spiritual spheres of life. Each of us is included in all these areas. How? Let's look at the example of ninth grader Andrei. Before going to school, mother asked Andrey to take out the garbage (social sphere). At the chemistry lesson, he learned a lot of new and interesting things about the types of covalent bonds (spiritual sphere). After school, Andrei went to the department of the passport office of the FMS and received a passport (political sphere). And on the way home I bought fruit in the market (economic sphere). These areas differ from each other in the nature of social relations, activities and social institutions.

In this lesson, we will analyze what a social institution is. What is there to parse? After all, it is clear to everyone that an educational institution is called an institute! In fact, this concept is much broader. Social institutions are organizations (family, party, state), and institutions (school, bank, police), and relationships (purchase - sale, upbringing, education). There are a lot of institutions and each of them has its own significance for the individual and society as a whole. Because each institution performs certain functions to meet human needs, which are very diverse. For example, the institutions of marriage and the family satisfy the need for procreation and the upbringing of children; institution of the state in organizing the life of people and ensuring order. Thus, institutions have developed historically and are in demand by society. Remember the term of the lesson:

social institution is a sustainable form of organization of people's life, aimed at meeting the needs of society and man.

Examples of social institutions by area:

Economic sphere: production, distribution, exchange, consumption, property, market, bank, firm, money, etc.

Political sphere: state, power, party, laws, parliament, government, court, citizen, etc.

Social sphere: family, marriage, motherhood, fatherhood, childhood, nation, school, university, healthcare, etc.

Spiritual sphere: religion, art, science, education, media, morality, etc.

Characteristic features of social institutions

Despite the fact that each social institution performs its specific functions, they are also characterized by common features:

First, any social institution organizes, streamlines and coordinates human activity by establishing rules and patterns of human behavior. For example, a school regulates the relationship of teachers, students and their parents with the help of the Charter.

Secondly, each social institution monitors the observance of rules and models, and applies sanctions to their violators - punishment measures, from legal to moral and ethical. For example, for violation of the norms of the Charter of the school, sanctions can be applied to the student, from a warning to expulsion from school.

The significance of social institutions in the life of society and man is great. In the following topics, you will get to know the main social institutions in detail.

Exercise: Using social science knowledge, formulate your definition of a social institution. Write your answer in the comments 📝

The foundation on which the whole society is built is social institutions. The term comes from the Latin "institutum" - "charter".

For the first time this concept was introduced into scientific circulation by the American sociologist T. Veblein in the book The Theory of the Leisure Class in 1899.

A social institution in the broad sense of the word is a system of values, norms and relationships that organize people to meet their needs.

Outwardly, a social institution looks like a set of individuals, institutions, equipped with certain material resources and performing a specific social function.

Social institutions have historical origin and are in constant change and development. Their formation is called institutionalization.

institutionalization is the process of defining and fixing social norms, connections, statuses and roles, bringing them into a system that is able to act in the direction of satisfying some social need. This process consists of several stages:

1) the emergence of needs that can only be satisfied as a result of joint activities;

2) the emergence of norms and rules governing interaction to meet emerging needs;

3) adoption and implementation in practice of the emerging norms and rules;

4) creation of a system of statuses and roles covering all members of the institute.

Institutes have their own distinctive features:

1) cultural symbols (flag, emblem, anthem);

3) ideology, philosophy (mission).

Social institutions in society perform a significant set of functions:

1) reproductive - consolidation and reproduction of social relations, ensuring the order and framework of activities;

2) regulatory - regulation of relationships between members of society by developing patterns of behavior;

3) socialization - the transfer of social experience;

4) integrative - cohesion, interconnection and mutual responsibility of group members under the influence of institutional norms, rules, sanctions and a system of roles;

5) communicative - dissemination of information within the institution and to the external environment, maintaining relationships with other institutions;

6) automation - the desire for independence.

The functions performed by the institution can be explicit or latent.

The existence of the latent functions of the institution allows us to talk about its ability to bring more benefits to society than originally stated. Social institutions perform functions in society social management and social control.

Social institutions govern the behavior of community members through a system of sanctions and rewards.

The formation of a system of sanctions is the main condition for institutionalization. Sanctions provide punishment for inaccurate, negligent and incorrect performance of official duties.

Positive sanctions (gratitude, material incentives, creation of favorable conditions) are aimed at encouraging and stimulating correct and proactive behavior.

The social institution thus determines the orientation of social activity and social relations through a mutually agreed upon system of expediently oriented standards of conduct. 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 ensure the promotion of desired and the suppression of deviant behavior.

Social institutions always perform socially significant functions and ensure the achievement of relatively stable social ties and relations within the framework of social organization society.

Social needs unsatisfied by the institution give rise to new forces and normatively unregulated activities. In practice, it is possible to implement the following ways out of this situation:

1) reorientation of old social institutions;

2) creation of new social institutions;

3) reorientation of public consciousness.

In sociology, there is a generally recognized system for classifying social institutions into five types, which is based on the needs realized through institutions:

1) family - reproduction of the genus and socialization of the individual;

2) political institutions - the need for security and public order, with their help political power is established and maintained;

3) economic institutions - production and livelihood, they ensure the process of production and distribution of goods and services;

4) institutions of education and science - the need for obtaining and transferring knowledge and socialization;

5) the institution of religion - the solution of spiritual problems, the search for the meaning of life.

2. Social control and deviant behavior

As already mentioned, one of the main functions of social institutions is to ensure social control. social control is the normative regulation of human behavior in social systems.

It is a maintenance mechanism public order, including norms and sanctions.

So, the main mechanisms of social control are norms and sanctions.

Norm- the rule that exists in a given society and is accepted by an individual, a standard, a pattern of behavior that determines how he should behave in a given situation. Norm - socially approved invariants of behavior.

Norm - the interval of permissible actions. Norms are formal and informal.

Sanctions- rewards and punishments associated with the implementation of norms. Sanctions can also be classified into several types:

1) formal;

2) informal;

3) positive;

4) negative.

Phenomena that do not fit into the framework of social norms are called deviation.

Deviant behavior is the actions, activities of a person, social phenomena that do not correspond to the norms established in this society.

In the sociological study of deviant behavior, the influence of the value orientations of the individual, his attitudes, the features of the formation of the social environment, the state of social relations, and institutional forms of ownership are analyzed.

As a rule, social deviations are associated with a persistent distortion of value orientations typical of society and social groups.

The main direction of the sociological study of the problem of deviation is aimed at identifying its causes.

Within the framework of sociology, the following theories have developed on this issue.

1. Charles Lombarzo, William Sheldon believed that certain physical personality traits predetermine the deviation of the personality from the norm.

So Sheldon divides people into 3 types:

1) endomorphs are overweight, not prone to deviant behavior;

2) mesomorphs - athletic physique, may be characterized by deviant behavior;

3) ectomorphs - thin, hardly prone to deviant behavior.

2. Z. Freud saw the cause of deviations in the fact that conflicts constantly occur within each personality.

It is the internal conflict that is the source of deviant behavior.

In any person there is an “I” (consciousness) and a “super-I” (unconscious). There are constant conflicts between them.

"I" tries to keep the unconscious in a person. If this fails, then the biological, animal essence breaks out.

3. Emile Durkheim. Deviation is determined by the process of socialization of the individual.

This process may or may not succeed.

Success or failure is associated with a person's ability to adapt to the system of social norms of society.

At the same time than more people shows creative activity, the more chances to live your life successfully. Success is influenced by social institutions (family, institute of education, fatherland).

4. R. Merton believed that deviant behavior is a consequence of a mismatch between the generated social structure and culture goals and socially organized means to achieve them.

Goals are something to strive for, a basic component in the lives of all walks of life.

Means are evaluated in terms of the possibility of achieving the goal.

They must be portable and efficient. Based on this premise, deviant behavior occurs only if the balance between goals and means to achieve them is disturbed.

Thus, the main reason for the deviation is the gap between the goals and means of achieving these goals, which occurs due to unequal access to the means of different strata of groups.

On the basis of his theoretical developments, Merton identified five types of deviant behavior depending on the attitude towards goals and means to achieve them.

1. conformism- the agreement of the individual with the goals generally accepted in society and the means to achieve them. The assignment of this type to deviant is not accidental.

Psychologists use the term "conformism" to define a person's blind following of other people's opinions, so as not to create unnecessary difficulties in communicating with others, to achieve their goals, sometimes sinning against the truth.

On the other hand, conforming behavior makes it difficult to assert one's own independent behavior or opinion.

2. Innovation- acceptance by the individual of goals, but a preference to use non-standard means to achieve them.

3. ritualism- rejection of generally accepted goals, but the use of standard means for society.

4. retreatism- complete rejection of social attitudes.

5. rebellion- changing social goals and means in accordance with one's will and raising them to the rank of socially significant ones.

Within the framework of other sociological theories, the following types are distinguished as the main types of deviant behavior:

1) cultural and psychical deviations- Deviations from cultural norms. May be hazardous or non-hazardous;

2) individual and group deviations - an individual, an individual rejects the norms of his subculture. Group - illusory world;

3) primary and secondary. Primary - prank, secondary - deviant deviation;

4) culturally acceptable deviations;

5) over-intellectuality, over-motivation;

6) culturally condemned deviations. Violation moral standards and breaking the law.

The economy as a social institution is a set of institutionalized modes of activity, models of social actions that form various types of economic behavior of people and organizations to meet their needs.

The core of the economy is work. Work is the solution of problems associated with the expenditure of mental and physical effort, with the goal of producing goods and services that satisfy human needs. E. Giddens identifies six main characteristics of the work.

1. Money. The salary or salary for most people is main source meeting their needs.

2. Activity level. Professional activity is often the basis for the acquisition and implementation of knowledge and capabilities.

Even if the work is routine, it offers some structured environment in which the energy of a given person can be realized.

Without work, the possibility of realizing knowledge and abilities may decrease.

3. Variety. Employment gives access to situations beyond the domestic environment. In a work setting, even when the tasks are relatively monotonous, an individual may derive satisfaction from performing duties that are not like household chores.

4. Structuring time. For people who have a regular job, the day is usually organized around the rhythm of work. Although it can sometimes be depressing, it gives a sense of direction in daily activities.

For those who are unemployed, boredom is a big problem, and such people develop an apathy towards time.

5. Social contacts. The work environment often engenders friendship and the opportunity to engage in collaborative activities with others.

In the absence of contacts at work, the circle of friends and acquaintances of a person decreases.

6. Personal identity. Busyness is usually valued for that sense of personal social stability which she gives.

In historical retrospect, the following main types are distinguished economic activity:

1) in a primitive society - hunting, fishing, gathering;

2) in slave-owning and feudal societies - farming;

3) in an industrial society - commodity-industrial production;

4) in a post-industrial society - information technology.

There are three sectors in the modern economy: primary, secondary and tertiary.

The primary sector of the economy includes agriculture, mining and timber industry, fishing, etc. The secondary sector includes enterprises that convert raw materials into manufactured goods.

Finally, the tertiary sector is associated with the service industry, with those activities that, without directly producing material goods, offer the rest of any services.

There are five primary types of economic systems or types of economic activity.

The state economy is a set of public enterprises and organizations working for the benefit of the entire population.

Every modern society has a public sector of the economy, although its specific gravity different.

World practice shows that the total nationalization of the economy is ineffective, since it does not give the proper economic effect, as well as the general privatization of enterprises.

The private economy dominates in modern developed countries.

It arose as a result of the industrial revolution at the stage of industrial society.

Initially, the private economy developed independently of the state, but economic cataclysms raised the question of strengthening state regulation of the private sector in the economy.

barrack economy- this is the economic behavior of military personnel, prisoners and all other people living in a confined space, "barracks" form (hospitals, boarding schools, prisons, etc.).

All these forms are characterized by the “camp collectivity” of their life, the obligatory and compulsory performance of functions, dependence on funding, as a rule, from the state.

The shadow (criminal) economy exists in all countries of the world, although it refers to criminal activity. This type of economic behavior is deviant, but it is closely related to the private economy.

The English sociologist Duke Hobbes, in his book Bad Business, develops the idea that it is impossible to draw a clear line between professional economic behavior and everyday business activity.

In particular, banks are sometimes rated as "elegant robbers". Among the traditional forms of mafia economic activity: trafficking in weapons, drugs, live goods, etc.

A mixed (additional) economy is the work of a person outside the scope of his professional employment.

Sociologist E. Giddens calls it "informal", noting the "bifurcation" of labor into professional and "additional", for example, the work of a doctor on personal plot conducted at a non-professional level.

Additional work sometimes requires a huge investment of time and energy from a person, and the result is low.

The economy as a social institution is designed to satisfy primarily the material needs of man.

Politics as a social institution is a set of certain organizations (authorities and administrations, political parties, social movements) that regulate the political behavior of people in accordance with accepted norms, laws, and rules.

Each of the political institutions carries out a certain type of political activity and includes a social community, layer, group, specializing in the implementation of political activities to manage society. These institutions are characterized by:

1) political norms governing relations within and between political institutions, and between political and non-political institutions of society;

2) material resources necessary to achieve the goals.

Political institutions ensure the reproduction, stability and regulation of political activity, the preservation of the identity of the political community even with a change in composition, strengthen social ties and intra-group cohesion, exercise control over political behavior.

The focus of politics is power and control in society.

Main carrier political power the state acts, which, relying on law and law, exercises compulsory regulation and control over social processes in order to ensure the normal and stable functioning of society.

The universal structure of state power is:

1) legislative bodies (parliaments, councils, congresses, etc.);

2) executive bodies(government, ministries, state committees, law enforcement agencies, etc.);

3) judicial authorities;

4) army and state security agencies;

5) state information system, etc.

The sociological nature of the activities of the state and others political organizations related to the functioning of society as a whole.

Policies should help solve public problems At the same time, politicians tend to use state power and representative bodies to meet certain pressure groups.

The state as the core of the sociological system provides:

1) social integration of society;

2) safety of life of people and society as a whole;

3) distribution of resources and social benefits;

4) cultural and educational activities;

5) social control over deviant behavior.

The basis of politics is power associated with the use of force, coercion in relation to all members of society, organizations, movements.

The subordination of power is based on:

1) traditions and customs (traditional domination, for example, the power of a slave owner over a slave);

2) devotion to a person endowed with some higher power (the charismatic power of leaders, for example, Moses, Buddha);

3) conscious conviction in the correctness of formal rules and the need to comply with them (this type of subordination is typical for most modern states).

The complexity of sociopolitical activity is associated with differences in social status, interests, positions of people and political forces.

They influence the differences in the types of political power. N. Smelser cites the following types of states: democratic and non-democratic (totalitarian, authoritarian).

In democratic societies, all political institutions are autonomous (power is divided into independent branches - executive, legislative, judicial).

All political institutions influence the formation of state and power structures, form the political direction of the development of society.

Democratic states are associated with representative democracy, when the people for a certain period of time transfer power to their representatives in the elections.

These states, mostly Western, are characterized by the following features:

1) individualism;

2) constitutional form board;

3) the general agreement of those who are controlled;

4) loyal opposition.

In totalitarian states, leaders seek to retain power, keeping the people under complete control, using a unified mono-party system, control over the economy, the media, and the family, conducting terror against the opposition. In authoritarian states, approximately the same measures are carried out in milder forms, in the conditions of the existence of the private sector and other parties.

The sociopolitical subsystem of society is a spectrum of different vectors of power, control, and political activity.

In an integral system of society, they are in a state of constant struggle, but without the victory of any one line. Crossing the border of measure in the struggle leads to deviant forms of power in society:

1) totalitarian, in which the military-administrative method of government dominates;

2) spontaneous market, where power passes to corporate groups that merge with the mafia and wage war with each other;

3) stagnant, when a relative and temporary balance of opposing forces and control methods is established.

in the Soviet and Russian society one can find a manifestation of all these deviations, but totalitarianism under Stalin and stagnation under Brezhnev were especially pronounced.

The education system is one of the most important social institutions. It ensures the socialization of individuals, through which they develop the qualities necessary for indispensable life processes and transformations.

The Institute of Education has a long history from primary forms transfer of knowledge from parents to children.

Education serves the development of the individual, contributes to its self-realization.

At the same time, education is of crucial importance for the society itself, ensuring the fulfillment of the most important tasks of a practical and symbolic nature.

The education system makes a significant contribution to the integration of society and contributes to the formation of a sense of common historical destiny, belonging to this single society.

But the education system has other functions as well. Sorokin notes that education (especially higher education) is a kind of channel (elevator) through which people improve their social status. At the same time, education exercises social control over the behavior and worldview of children and adolescents.

The education system as an institution includes the following components:

1) educational authorities and institutions and organizations subordinate to them;

2) network educational institutions(schools, colleges, gymnasiums, lyceums, universities, academies, etc.), including institutes for advanced training and retraining of teachers;

3) creative unions, professional associations, scientific and methodological councils and other associations;

4) educational and scientific infrastructure institutions, design, production, clinical, medical and preventive, pharmacological, cultural and educational enterprises, printing houses, etc.;

5) textbooks and teaching aids for teachers and students;

6) periodicals, including journals and yearbooks reflecting the latest achievements of scientific thought.

The institution of education includes a certain area of ​​activity, groups of persons authorized to perform certain managerial and other functions on the basis of established rights and obligations, organizational norms and principles of relations between officials.

The set of norms that regulate the interaction of people about learning indicates that education is a social institution.

A harmonious and balanced education system that meets the modern needs of society is the most important condition for the preservation and development of society.

Science, along with education, can be regarded as a social macro-institution.

Science, like the education system, is a central social institution in all modern societies and is the most complex area of ​​human intellectual activity.

More and more, the very existence of society depends on advanced scientific knowledge. Not only the material conditions for the existence of society, but also the ideas of its members about the world depend on the development of science.

The main function of science is the development and theoretical systematization of objective knowledge about reality. The purpose of scientific activity is the acquisition of new knowledge.

Purpose of education- transfer of new knowledge to new generations, i.e. youth.

If there is no first, then there is no second. That is why these institutions are considered in close relationship and as a single system.

In turn, the existence of science without education is also impossible, since it is in the process of education that new scientific personnel are formed.

The formulation of the principles of science has been proposed Robert Merton in 1942

Among them: universalism, communalism, disinterest and organizational skepticism.

The principle of universalism means that science and its discoveries are of a single, universal (universal) character. None personal characteristics individual scientists (sex, age, religion, etc.) do not matter when assessing the value of their work.

Research results should be judged solely on their scientific merit.

According to the principle of communalism, no scientific knowledge can become the personal property of a scientist, but should be available to any member of the scientific community.

The principle of disinterest means that the pursuit of personal interests does not meet the requirements for the professional role of a scientist.

The principle of organized skepticism means that the scientist must refrain from formulating conclusions until the facts are fully consistent.

The religious institution belongs to a non-secular culture, but plays a very important role in the lives of many people as a system of norms of cultural behavior, i.e. serving God.

The social significance of religion in the world is evidenced by the following statistics on the number of believers at the beginning of the 21st century: out of 6 billion people the globe more than 4 billion are believers. And about 2 billion profess Christianity.

Orthodoxy within Christianity ranks third after Catholicism and Protestantism. Islam is practiced by a little more than 1 billion, Judaism - more than 650 million, Buddhism - more than 300 million, Confucianism - about 200 million, Zionism - 18 million, the rest profess other religions.

Among the main functions of religion as a social institution are the following:

1) an explanation of the past, present and future of man;

2) regulation of moral behavior from birth to death of a person;

3) approval or criticism of social orders in society;

4) uniting people and support in difficult times.

The sociology of religion pays great attention to clarifying the social functions that religion performs in society. As a result, sociologists have formulated different points of view on religion as a social institution.

So, E. Durkheim believed that religion- the product of a person or social group, necessary for moral unity, an expression of a collective ideal.

God is a reflection of this ideal. Functions of religious ceremonies Durkheim sees in:

1) rallying people - a meeting to express common interests;

2) revitalization - revival of the past, connection of the present with the past;

3) euphoria - general acceptance of life, distraction from the unpleasant;

4) order and training - self-discipline and preparation for life.

M. Weber paid special attention to the study of Protestantism and highlighted its positive impact on the development of capitalism, which determined its values ​​such as:

1) hard work, self-discipline and self-restraint;

2) multiplying money without waste;

3) personal success as the key to salvation.

The religious factor influences the economy, politics, state, interethnic relations, family, to the area of ​​culture through the activities of believing individuals, groups, organizations in these areas.

There is an "imposition" of religious relations on other social relations.

The core of the religious institution is the church. The Church is an organization that uses a variety of means, including religious morality, rites and rituals, with the help of which it obliges, makes people act accordingly.

Society needs the Church, as it is a spiritual support for millions of people, including those seeking justice, distinguishing between good and evil, gives them guidelines in the form of moral norms, behavior and values.

In Russian society most of The population professes Orthodoxy (70%), a significant number of believers are Muslims (25%), the rest are representatives of other religious denominations (5%).

Almost all types of beliefs are represented in Russia, and there are many sects.

It should be noted that in the 1990s, the religiosity of the adult population had a positive trend due to the socio-economic transformations in the country.

However, at the beginning of the third millennium, a decrease in the rating of trust in relation to religious organizations was revealed, including the Russian Orthodox Church, which enjoys the greatest trust.

This decline is in line with the decline in confidence in other public institutions as a reaction to unfulfilled hopes for reforms.

He prays every day, visits the temple (mosque) at least once a month, about a fifth, that is, about a third of those who consider themselves believers.

At present, the problem with the unification of all Christian denominations, which was vigorously discussed during the celebration of the 2000th anniversary of Christianity, has not been resolved.

The Orthodox Church believes that this is possible only on the basis of the faith of the ancient, indivisible Church, of which Orthodoxy feels itself to be the successor.

Other branches of Christianity, on the contrary, believe that Orthodoxy needs to be reformed.

Various points of view testify to the impossibility of uniting Christianity on a world scale, at least at the present time.

The Orthodox Church is loyal to the state and maintains friendly relations with other confessions in order to overcome interethnic tensions.

Religious institutions and society should be in a state of harmony, interacting with each other in the formation of universal values, preventing social problems from developing into inter-ethnic conflicts on religious grounds.

Family is a social-biological system of society that ensures the reproduction of members of the community. This definition contains the main goal of the family as a social institution. In addition, the family is called upon to perform the following functions:

1) socio-biological - satisfaction of sexual needs and needs for procreation;

2) upbringing, socialization of children;

3) economic, which is manifested in the organization of the household life of all family members, including the provision of housing and the necessary infrastructure;

4) political, which is associated with power in the family and the management of its life;

5) sociocultural - regulation of the entire spiritual life of the family.

The above functions testify to the need for a family for all its members and the inevitability of uniting people living outside the family.

The selection of types of families and their classification can be carried out for various reasons:

1) according to the form of marriage:

a) monogamous (marriage of one man with one woman);

b) polyandry (a woman has several spouses);

c) polygyny (marriage of one man with two or more wives);

2) by composition:

a) nuclear (simple) - consist of a husband, wife and children (full) or with the absence of one of the parents (incomplete);

b) complex - include representatives of several generations;

3) by number of children:

a) childless;

b) one-child;

c) small children;

d) large families (from three or more children);

4) by stages of civilizational evolution:

a) patriarchal family traditional society with the authoritarian power of the father, in whose hands is the solution of all issues;

b) egalitarian-democratic, based on equality in relations between husband and wife, on mutual respect and social partnership.

According to the forecasts of American sociologists E. Giddens and N. Smelzer in a post-industrial society, the institution of the family is undergoing significant changes.

According to Smelser, 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 regulation intimate relationships, childbearing and caring for young children will continue into the future.

At the same time, even relatively stable functions will partially decay.

Thus, the function of childbearing 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 obtained 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 also be noted that the family is a carrier of contradictions, both with society and between its members.

Family life is connected with the solution of contradictions between husband, wife, 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, sexual dissatisfaction, etc.

The strong severity of violations in metabolic processes leads to the disintegration of the family.

In 1916, Sorokin identified the trend of the crisis of the modern family, which is characterized by: an increase in the number of divorces, a decrease in the number of marriages, an increase in civil marriages, an increase in prostitution, a drop in the birth rate, the release of wives from the custody of their husbands and a change in their relationship, the destruction of the religious basis of marriage, weakening the protection of the institution of marriage by the state.

Problems of modern Russian family are generally consistent with global ones.

All these reasons allow us to talk about a certain family crisis.

Causes of the crisis include:

1) reduced dependence of wives on husbands in the economic sense;

2) increased mobility, especially migration;

3) changes in family functions under the influence of social, economic, cultural, religious and ethnic traditions, as well as a new technical and environmental situation;

4) cohabitation of a man and a woman without registration of marriage;

5) a decrease in the number of children in a family, as a result of which even a simple reproduction of the population does not occur;

6) the process of nuclearization of families leads to a weakening of ties between generations;

7) the number of women in the labor market is increasing;

8) the growth of the public consciousness of women.

The most acute problem is dysfunctional families that arise for socio-economic, psychological or biological reasons. The following types of dysfunctional families are distinguished:

1) conflict - the most common (about 60%);

2) immoral - oblivion of moral standards (mostly drunkenness, drug use, fights, foul language);

3) pedagogically untenable - a low level of general culture and the absence of a psychological and pedagogical culture;

4) antisocial family - an environment of disregard for generally accepted social norms and requirements.

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.

To support the family, the state forms a family policy, which includes a set of practical measures that give families and children certain social guarantees in order to ensure the functioning of the family in the interests of society. Thus, in a number of countries, family planning is carried out, special marriage and family consultations are created to reconcile conflicting couples, the conditions of the marriage contract are changed (if before the spouses had to take care of each other, now they must love each other, and failure to comply with this condition is one of most compelling reasons for divorce).

For solutions existing problems of the family institution, it is necessary to increase spending on social support for families, increase the efficiency of their use, improve legislation to protect the rights of the family, women, children and youth.

LECTURE No. 17. Social institutions

1. The concept of a social institution
2. Types of social institutions
3. Functions of social institutions
4. Basic characteristics social institutions
5. Development of social institutions and institutionalization

1. The concept of a social institution

Social institutions are sustainable forms of organization and regulation public life. They can be defined as a set of roles and statuses designed to meet certain social needs.
The term "social institution" in sociology, as well as in everyday language or in other humanities, has several meanings. The combination of these values ​​can be reduced to four main ones:
1) a certain group of persons called to perform tasks that are important for living together;
2) certain organizational forms a set of functions performed by some members on behalf of the entire group;
3) a set of material institutions and means of activity that allow certain authorized individuals to perform public impersonal functions aimed at satisfying the needs or regulating the behavior of group members;
4) some social roles that are especially important for the group are sometimes called institutions. For example, when we say that a school is a social institution, then by this we can mean a group of people working in a school. In another sense, the organizational forms of the functions performed by the school; in the third sense, the most important for the school as an institution will be the institutions and means that it has at its disposal in order to fulfill the functions entrusted to it by the group, and finally, in the fourth sense, we will call the social role of the teacher an institution. Therefore, we can talk about different ways of defining social institutions: material, formal and functional. In all these approaches, however, we can highlight certain common elements, which form the main component of the social institution.

2. Types of social institutions

In total, there are five fundamental needs and five basic social institutions:
1) the need for the reproduction of the genus (the institution of the family);
2) needs for security and order (state);
3) the need to obtain means of subsistence (production);
4) the need for the transfer of knowledge, the socialization of the younger generation (institutions public education);
5) the need for solving spiritual problems (the institute of religion).
Consequently, social institutions are classified according to public spheres:
1) economic (property, money, regulation monetary circulation, organization and division of labor) that serve the production and distribution of values ​​and services. Economic social institutions provide the entire set of production relations in society, connecting economic life with other areas of social life. These institutions are formed on the material basis of society;
2) political (parliament, army, police, party) regulate the use of these values ​​and services and are associated with power. Politics in the narrow sense of the word is a set of means, functions, based mainly on the manipulation of the elements of power to establish, execute and maintain power. Political institutions (state, parties, public organizations, court, army, parliament, police) in a concentrated form express the existing in a given society political interests and relationships;
3) the institutions of kinship (marriage and family) are associated with the regulation of childbearing, relations between spouses and children, and the socialization of young people;
4) institutions of education and culture. Their task is to strengthen, create and develop the culture of society, to pass it on to the next generations. These include schools, institutes, art institutions, creative unions;
5) religious institutions organize a person's attitude to transcendental forces, i.e., to supersensitive forces acting outside the empirical control of a person, and the attitude to sacred objects and forces. Religious institutions in some societies have a strong influence on the course of interactions and interpersonal relations, creating a system of dominant values ​​and becoming dominant institutions (the influence of Islam on all aspects of public life in some countries of the Middle East).

3. Functions of social institutions

Social institutions perform the following functions or tasks in public life:
1) create an opportunity for members of society to satisfy various kinds of needs;
2) regulate the actions of members of society within the framework of social relations, i.e. ensure the implementation of desirable actions and carry out repressions in relation to undesirable actions;
3) ensure the stability of public life by supporting and continuing impersonal public functions;
4) carry out the integration of the aspirations, actions and relationships of individuals and ensure the internal cohesion of the community.

4. Basic characteristics of social institutions

Taking into account E. Durkheim's theory of social facts and proceeding from the fact that social institutions should be considered the most important social facts, sociologists have deduced a number of basic social characteristics that social institutions should have:
1) institutions are perceived by individuals as an external reality. In other words, the institution for any individual person is something external, existing separately from the reality of thoughts, feelings or fantasies of the individual himself. In this characteristic, the institution resembles other entities of external reality—even trees, tables, and telephones—each of which is outside the individual;
2) institutions are perceived by the individual as an objective reality. Something is objectively real when any person agrees that it really exists, and independently of his consciousness, and is given to him in his sensations;
3) institutions have coercive power. To some extent, this quality is implied by the two previous ones: the fundamental power of the institution over the individual is precisely that it exists objectively, and the individual cannot wish it to disappear at his will or whim. Otherwise, there may be negative sanctions;
4) institutions have moral authority. Institutions proclaim their right to legitimation—that is, they reserve the right not only to punish the violator in some way, but also to issue a moral reprimand to him. Of course, institutions vary in their degree of moral strength. These variations are usually expressed in the degree of punishment imposed on the offender. The state in an extreme case can deprive him of his life; neighbors or co-workers may boycott him. In both cases, punishment is accompanied by a sense of indignant justice in those members of society who are involved in this.

5. Development of social institutions and institutionalization

The development of society goes largely through the development of social institutions. The wider the institutionalized sphere in the system of social ties, the more opportunities society has. The diversity of social institutions and their development is perhaps the most accurate criterion for the maturity and reliability of a society. The development of social institutions manifests itself in two main variants: first, the emergence of new social institutions; secondly, the improvement of already established social institutions.
The formation and formation of an institution in the form in which we observe it (and take part in its functioning) takes quite a long time. historical period. This process is called institutionalization in sociology. In other words, institutionalization is the process by which certain social practices become sufficiently regular and long-lasting to be described as institutions.
The most important prerequisites for institutionalization - the formation and establishment of a new institution - are:
1) the emergence of certain social needs for new types and types of social practice and the corresponding socio-economic and political conditions;
2) development of the necessary organizational structures and related norms and rules of conduct;
3) internalization by individuals of new social norms and values, the formation on this basis of new systems of individual needs, value orientations and expectations (and, therefore, ideas about the patterns of new roles - their own and correlated with them). The completion of this process of institutionalization is the emerging the new kind public practice. Thanks to this, a new set of roles is formed, as well as formal and informal sanctions for the implementation of social control over the corresponding types of behavior. Therefore, institutionalization is the process by which a social practice becomes sufficiently regular and continuous to be described as an institution.

social 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.

Giambattista Vico (1668-1744), an Italian philosopher and historian, and a forerunner of modern sociology, is believed to have first used the term "institute" in the social sciences. In 1693 he wrote several works on civil institutions. In sociological literature, the concept of "institution" has been used since the formation of sociology as a science, and the institutional approach traces its pedigree from the founders of sociology - Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer. Representing society as a social organism in social statics, O. Comte names such as the family, cooperation, church, law, and the state as its most important organs. The institutional approach to the study of social phenomena was continued in the works of G. Spencer. In his work “Basic Principles” (1860-1863), he emphasizes that “in the state, as in a living body, a regulatory system inevitably arises ... With the formation of a more stable community, higher centers of regulation and subordinate centers appear.”

In modern society, there are dozens of social institutions, among which are key: inheritance, power, property, family.

• The need for the reproduction of the genus (the institution of the family)
• Need for security and order (state)
• Need for sustenance (production)
• The need for the transfer of knowledge, the socialization of the younger generation (institutions of public education)
• Needs for 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 social institutions and social relations are formed:
− Economic- relations in the production process (production, distribution, consumption of material goods). Institutes related to economic sphere: private property, material production, market, etc.
− Social— relations between different social and age groups; activities to ensure social guarantees. Institutions related to the social sphere: education, family, health care, social Security, leisure, etc.
− Political- relationship between civil society and the state, between the state and political parties, and 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.

Goals and functions of social institutions

Each social institution is characterized by the presence activity goals and specific functions, ensuring its achievement.

Functions	Key institutions	Spheres of society	Main roles	physical traits	Symbolic features	Other institutions of this sphere of society
Caring, raising children	Family, Inheritance	Social (family and marriage relations)	Child	Situation	betrothal Contract	Marriage, blood feud, motherhood, fatherhood, etc.
Procurement of food, clothing, shelter	Own	Economic sphere	Employer hired worker Buyer Salesman		Money Trade	Money, exchange, economic relations, etc.
Maintaining laws, regulations and standards	Power State	Political sphere	Legislator Subject of law	Public buildings and places		Power, state, separation of powers, parliamentarism, local self-government, etc.
Promoting conciliar relations and attitudes, deepening faith	Religion	spiritual realm	Priest parishioner
Socialization of people, introduction to basic values ​​and practices	Education	spiritual realm	Teacher Student			Public opinion, media, etc.

Within the fundamental social institutions there are very distinct divisions into small institutions. For example, economic institutions, along with the basic institution of property, include many stable systems of relations - financial, production, marketing, organizational and managerial institutions. In the system of political institutions modern society, along with the key institution of power, there are institutions of political representation, presidency, separation of powers, local self-government, parliamentarism, etc.

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 public 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 is formed into the general social functions of social institutions as certain types. social system. These features are very versatile. Sociologists of different directions tried 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.
• The functions of management and control are carried out through a system of social norms and regulations that implement the corresponding types of behavior: moral and legal regulations, customs, administrative decisions etc. Social institutions govern 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. The functions common to all social institutions 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 the 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 commutative possibilities of institutions are not the same: some have them to a greater extent, others to a lesser extent.