From what need does a social institution arise? Social institutions

1.Plan……………………………………………………………………………………1

2. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..2

3. The concept of "Social institution"……………………………………………..3

4. Evolution of social institutions……………………………………………..5

5. Typology of social institutions………………………………………….…...6

6. Functions and dysfunctions of social institutions……………………….……8

7. Education as a social institution……………………………..….…...11

8. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….13

9. References………………………………………………….……..………15

Introduction.

Social practice shows that it is vital for human society to consolidate certain types social relations, to make them obligatory for members of a certain society or a certain social group. This primarily applies to those social relations, entering into which the members of a social group ensure the satisfaction of the most important needs necessary for the successful functioning of the group as an integral social unit. So, the need for reproduction wealth forces people to consolidate and maintain industrial relations; the need to socialize the younger generation and educate young people on the samples of the culture of the group makes it necessary to consolidate and maintain family relations, the relationship of training young people.

The practice of consolidating relationships aimed at meeting urgent needs consists in creating a rigidly fixed system of roles and statuses that prescribe rules of behavior for individuals in social relations, as well as in determining a system of sanctions in order to achieve strict compliance with these rules of behavior.

Systems of roles, statuses and sanctions are created in the form of social institutions, which are the most complex and important types of social ties for society. It is social institutions that support joint cooperative activities in organizations, determine sustainable patterns of behavior, ideas and incentives.

The concept of "institution" is one of the central ones in sociology, therefore the study of institutional relations is one of the main scientific tasks facing sociologists.

The concept of "social institution".

The term "social institution" is used in a wide variety of meanings.

One of the first detailed definition of a social institution was given by the American sociologist and economist T. Veblen. He viewed the evolution of society as a process of natural selection of social institutions. By their nature, they represent habitual ways of responding to stimuli that are created by external changes.

Another American sociologist, C. Mills, understood the institution as the form of a certain set of social roles. He classified institutions according to the tasks performed (religious, military, educational, etc.) that form the institutional order.

The German sociologist A. Gehlen interprets an institution as a regulatory institution that directs people's actions in a certain direction, just as institutions control the behavior of animals.

According to L. Bovier, a social institution is a system of cultural elements focused on meeting a set of specific social needs or goals.

J. Bernard and L. Thompson interpret the institution as a set of norms and patterns of behavior. This is a complex configuration of customs, traditions, beliefs, attitudes, laws that have a specific purpose and perform specific functions.

In domestic sociological literature, a social institution is defined as the main 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 which brings together significant societal values ​​and procedures that meet the basic needs of society.

According to M.S. Komarov, social institutions are value-normative complexes through which the actions of people in vital areas - the economy, politics, culture, family, etc. are directed and controlled.

If we sum up all the variety of the above approaches, then a 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 governing a particular area

public relations;

A separate set of social actions.

That. we see that the term "social institution" can have different definitions:

A social institution is an organized association 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.

Social institutions- an institution designed to meet the fundamental needs of society.

A social institution is a set of norms and institutions that regulate a certain area of ​​social relations.

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.

The evolution of social institutions.

The process of institutionalization, i.e. formation of a social institution, consists of several successive stages:

The emergence of a need, the satisfaction of which requires joint organized action;

Formation of common goals;

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

The emergence of procedures related to rules and regulations;

Institutionalization of norms and rules, procedures, i.e. their adoption, practical application;

Establishment of a system of sanctions to maintain norms and rules, differentiation of their application in individual cases;

Creation of a system of statuses and roles covering all members of the institute without exception.

The birth and death of a social institution are clearly visible in the example of the institution of noble duels of honor. Duels were an institutionalized method of sorting out relations between nobles in the period from the 16th to the 18th century. This institution of honor arose due to the need to protect the honor of a nobleman and streamline relations between representatives of this social stratum. Gradually, the system of procedures and norms developed and spontaneous quarrels and scandals turned into highly formalized fights and fights with specialized roles (chief manager, seconds, doctors, attendants). This institution supported the ideology of unsullied noble honor, adopted mainly in the privileged strata of society. The institution of duels provided for fairly strict standards for protecting the code of honor: a nobleman who received a challenge to a duel had to either accept the challenge or leave public life with the shameful stigma of cowardly cowardice. But with the development of capitalist relations, the ethical standards in society, which was expressed, in particular, in the uselessness of defending the honor of the nobility with weapons in their hands. An example of the decline of the institution of duels is Abraham Lincoln's absurd choice of dueling weapon: throwing potatoes from a distance of 20 m. So this institution gradually ceased to exist.

Typology of social institutions.

A social institution is divided into main (basic, fundamental) and non-main (non-main, frequent). The latter hide inside the former, being part of them as smaller formations.

In addition to dividing institutions into main and non-main ones, they can be classified according to other criteria. For example, institutions can differ in the time of their emergence and duration of existence (permanent and short-term institutions), the severity of sanctions applied for violations of the rules, the conditions of existence, the presence or absence of a bureaucratic management system, the presence or absence of formal rules and procedures.

Ch. Mills counted five institutional orders in modern society, in fact, meaning by this the main institutions:

Economic - institutions that organize economic activity;

Political - institutions of power;

Family - institutions that regulate sexual relations, the birth and socialization of children;

Military - institutions that protect members of society from physical danger;

Religious - institutions that organize the collective worship of the gods.

The purpose of social institutions is to satisfy the most important vital needs of society as a whole. Five such basic needs are known, they correspond to five basic social institutions:

The need for the reproduction of the genus (the institution of family and marriage).

The need for security and social order (the institution of the state and other political institutions).

The need to obtain and produce means of subsistence (economic institutions).

The need for the transfer of knowledge, the socialization of the younger generation, the training of personnel (institute of education).

The need for solving spiritual problems, the meaning of life (Institute of Religion).

Non-core institutions are also called social practices. Each major institution has its own systems of established practices, methods, techniques, procedures. Thus, economic institutions cannot do without such mechanisms and practices as currency conversion, protection of private property,

professional selection, placement and evaluation of the work of employees, marketing,

market, etc. Within the institution of family and marriage there are institutions of paternity and motherhood, naming, family revenge, inheritance of the social status of parents, etc.

Non-principal political institutions include, for example, the institutions of forensic examination, passport registration, legal proceedings, advocacy, juries, judicial control of arrests, the judiciary, the presidency, etc.

Everyday practices that help organize the concerted action of large groups of people bring certainty and predictability to social reality, thereby supporting the existence of social institutions.

Functions and dysfunctions of social institutions.

Function(from Latin - execution, implementation) - the appointment or role that a certain social institution or process performs in relation to the whole (for example, the function of the state, family, etc. in society.)

Function a social institution is the benefit that it brings to society, i.e. it is a set of tasks to be solved, goals to be achieved, services to be rendered.

First and the most important mission social institutions is the satisfaction of the most important vital needs of society, i.e. without which society cannot exist as a current one. Indeed, if we want to understand what the essence of the function of this or that institution is, we must directly connect it with the satisfaction of needs. E. Durheim was one of the first to point out this connection: “To ask what is the function of the division of labor means to investigate what need it corresponds to.”

No society can exist if it is not constantly replenished with new generations of people, earning food, living in peace and order, acquiring new knowledge and passing it on to the next generations, and dealing with spiritual issues.

List of universal, i.e. functions inherent in all institutions can be continued by including in it the function of consolidating and reproducing social relations, regulatory, integrative, broadcasting and communicative functions.

Along with universal, there are specific functions. These are functions that are inherent in some institutions and are not characteristic of others, for example, establishing order in society (the state), discovering and transferring new knowledge (science and education), etc.

Society is arranged in such a way that a number of institutions perform several functions simultaneously, and at the same time, several institutions can specialize in the performance of one function at once. For example, the function of educating or socializing children is performed by such institutions as the family, church, school, state. At the same time, the institution of the family performs not only the function of education and socialization, but also such functions as the reproduction of people, satisfaction in intimacy etc.

At the dawn of its inception, the state performs a narrow range of tasks, primarily related to the establishment and maintenance of internal and external security. However, as society became more complex, so did the state. Today, it not only defends borders, fights crime, but also regulates the economy, provides social security and assistance to the poor, collects taxes and supports health care, science, schools, etc.

The Church was created for the sake of solving important worldview issues and establishing the highest moral standards. But in modern times, she also began to engage in education, economic activity(monastic economy), the preservation and transfer of knowledge, research work(religious schools, gymnasiums, etc.), guardianship.

If an institution, in addition to benefit, brings harm to society, then such an action is called dysfunction. An institution is said to be dysfunctional when some of the consequences of its activities interfere with the performance of another social activity or another institution. Or, as one sociological dictionary defines dysfunction, it is “any social activity that contributes negatively to the maintenance of the effective functioning of the social system.”

For example, economic institutions, as they develop, make more and more demanding requirements for those social functions that the institution of education should perform.

It is the needs of the economy that lead in industrial societies to the development of mass literacy, and then to the need to prepare everything more qualified specialists. But if the institution of education does not cope with its task, if education is put out of hand very badly, or if it does not train the specialists that the economy requires, then society will not receive either developed individuals or first-class professionals. Schools and universities will release into life routines, dilettantes, semi-knowers, which means that the institutions of the economy will not be able to meet the needs of society.

So functions turn into dysfunctions, plus into minus.

Therefore, the activity of a social institution is considered as a function if it contributes to maintaining the stability and integration of society.

The functions and dysfunctions of social institutions are explicit, if they are distinctly expressed, recognized by all and quite obvious, or latent if they are hidden and remain unconscious for the participants of the social system.

The explicit functions of institutions are both expected and necessary. They are formed and declared in codes and fixed in the system of statuses and roles.

Latent functions are the unintended result of the activities of institutions or persons representing them.

The democratic state that was established in Russia in the early 1990s with the help of new institutions of power - parliament, government and president, it would seem, sought to improve the life of the people, create civilized relations in society and instill respect for the law in citizens. These were the explicit goals and objectives declared in all heard goals. In reality, crime has increased in the country, and the standard of living has fallen. Such were the by-products of the efforts of the institutions of power.

Explicit functions testify to what people wanted to achieve within the framework of this or that institution, while latent functions testify to what came of it.

The explicit functions of the school as an institution of education include

acquisition of literacy and a matriculation certificate, preparation for a university, training in professional roles, assimilation of the basic values ​​of society. But the institution of the school also has hidden functions: acquiring a certain social status that will allow a graduate to climb a step above an illiterate peer, establishing strong school friendships, supporting graduates at the time of their entry into the labor market.

Not to mention a whole host of latent functions such as shaping classroom interactions, latent curriculum and student subcultures.

Explicit, i.e. Quite obvious, the functions of the institution of higher education can be considered to be the preparation of young people for the development of various special roles and the assimilation of the value standards, morality and ideology prevailing in society, and the implicit ones are the consolidation of social inequality between those who have higher education and those who do not.

Education as a social institution.

The material and spiritual values ​​and knowledge accumulated by mankind must be passed on to new generations, therefore maintaining the achieved level of development, its improvement is impossible without mastering the cultural heritage. Education is an essential component of the process of socialization of the individual.

In sociology, it is customary to distinguish between formal and non-formal education. The term formal education implies the existence in society of special institutions (schools, universities) that carry out the learning process. The functioning of the formal education system is determined by the cultural standards prevailing in society, political attitudes, which are embodied in public policy in the field of education.

The term non-formal education refers to the unsystematized teaching of a person with knowledge and skills that he spontaneously masters in the process of communicating with the surrounding social environment or through individual assimilation of information. For all its importance, non-formal education plays a supporting role in relation to the formal education system.

The most significant features of the modern education system are:

Transforming it into a multi-stage (elementary, secondary and higher education);

Decisive influence on the personality (essentially education is the main factor of its socialization);

Predestination to a large extent of career opportunities, achieving a high social position.

The Institute of Education ensures social stability and integration of society by performing the following functions:

Transmission and dissemination of culture in society (because it is through education that scientific knowledge, achievements of art, moral standards, etc. are transmitted from generation to generation);

Formation among young generations of attitudes, value orientations and ideals that dominate in society;

Social selection, or a differentiated approach to students (one of the most important functions of formal education, when the search for talented youth in modern society is elevated to the rank of state policy);

Social and cultural change implemented in the process of scientific research and discovery (modern institutions of formal education, primarily universities, are the main or one of the most important scientific centers in all branches of knowledge).

The model of the social structure of education can be represented as consisting of three main components:

students;

teachers;

Organizers and leaders of education.

In today's society, education is the most important means achievement of success and a symbol of a person's social position. The expansion of the circle of highly educated people, the improvement of the formal education system have an impact on social mobility in society, making it more open and perfect.

Conclusion.

Social institutions appear in society as large unplanned products of social life. How does it happen? People in social groups are trying to realize their needs together and are looking for various ways. In the course of social practice, they find some acceptable patterns, patterns of behavior, which gradually, through repetition and evaluation, turn into standardized customs and habits. After some time, these patterns and patterns of behavior are supported by public opinion, accepted and legitimized. On this basis, a system of sanctions is being developed. Thus, the custom of making a date, being an element of the institution of courtship, developed as a means of choosing a partner. Banks - an element of a business institution - developed as a need for saving, moving, borrowing and saving money, and as a result turned into an independent institution. members from time to time. societies or social groups can collect, systematize and give legal confirmation of these practical skills and patterns, as a result of which institutions change and develop.

Proceeding from this, institutionalization is a process of defining and consolidating social norms, rules, statuses and roles, bringing them into a system that is able to act in the direction of satisfying some social need. Institutionalization is the replacement of spontaneous and experimental behavior with predictable behavior that is expected, modeled, regulated. Thus, the pre-institutional phase of the social movement is characterized by spontaneous protests and speeches, disorderly behavior. Appear on short term, and then the leaders of the movement are displaced; their appearance depends mainly on vigorous appeals.

Every day a new adventure is possible, each meeting is characterized by an unpredictable sequence of emotional events in which a person cannot imagine what he will do next.

When institutional moments appear in a social movement, the formation of certain rules and norms of behavior, shared by the majority of its followers, begins. The place of gathering or rally is appointed, a clear time limit for speeches is determined; each participant is given instructions on how to behave in a given situation. These norms and rules are gradually accepted and become self-evident. At the same time, the system begins to take shape social statuses and roles. There are stable leaders who are formalized according to the accepted procedure (for example, they are chosen or appointed). In addition, each member of the movement has a certain status and performs an appropriate role: he can be a member of an organizational asset, be part of a leader's support group, be an agitator or ideologist, and so on. Excitation is gradually weakened under the influence of certain norms, and the behavior of each participant becomes standardized and predictable. There are preconditions for organized joint actions. Eventually social movement more or less institutionalized.

So, the institution is a kind of form human activity based on a clearly developed ideology, a system of rules and norms, as well as a developed social control for their execution. Institutional activities are carried out by people organized into groups or associations, where the division into statuses and roles is carried out in accordance with the needs of a given social group or society as a whole. Institutions thus support social structures and order in society.

Bibliography:

1. Frolov S.S. Sociology. Moscow: Nauka, 1994
2. Methodical instruction on sociology. SPbGASU, 2002
3. Volkov Yu.G. Sociology. M. 2000

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 its pedigree institutional approach leads 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). Institutions related to the economic sphere: private property, material production, market, etc.
− Social relationships 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— 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.

Goals and functions of social institutions

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

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 of 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 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 norms, 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 models and behavior patterns. 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 social boundaries institutions and generational change. 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. At the Institute of Funds mass media is the main function. 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.

Social institution: what is it

Social institutions act as historically established and sustainable forms of organization joint activities people in the same community. This term is used by authors and researchers in relation to various fields. This includes education, family, healthcare, the state and many others.

The emergence of social institutions and their coverage of the general population and various spheres of human life is associated with a very complex process of formalization and standardization. This process is called institutionalization.

Remark 1

Institutionalization is very multifactorial and structured, and includes a number of key points that cannot be ignored when studying social institutions, their typology and basic functions. One of the key conditions that precedes the emergence of a social institution is the social need on the part of the population. This is due to the fact that social institutions are necessary for organizing the joint activities of people. The main goal of such activities is to meet the basic social, economic, political and spiritual needs of the population.

The diversity of social institutions has been the object of study by many sociologists. All of them tried to find similarities and differences in the functionality of social institutions and their purpose in society. Thus, they came to the conclusion that each social institution is characterized by the presence of a specific goal of its activity, as well as certain functions, the implementation of which is necessary to achieve the goal and implement specific tasks. In addition, a member of each social institution has its own social status and role, which is also important, since in this way a person in one period of his life can have several social statuses and roles at once (father, son, husband, brother, boss, subordinate, and others) .

Types of social institutions

Social institutions have a fairly diverse typology. The authors also offer various approaches to the definition of species and typological features institutions.

Depending on the functional qualities, social institutions can be of the following types:

1. Socio-economic institutions. These include property, exchange, the process of production and consumption, money, banks and various economic associations. Social institutions of this type provide the entire set of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of social and economic resources;
2. . Their activities are aimed at establishing and further supporting certain forms political power. This includes the state, political parties and trade unions that provide political activity, as well as a number of public organizations that pursue political goals. In fact, the totality of these elements constitutes the entire political system that exists in specific societies. ensure the reproduction, as well as the preservation of ideological values, stabilize the social and class structures of society, their interaction with each other;
3. Socio-cultural and educational institutions. Their activity constructs the principles of assimilation and further reproduction of cultural and social values. They are also necessary for individuals to join and be included in a certain subculture. Sociocultural and educational institutions influence the socialization of the individual, and this applies to both primary and secondary socialization. Socialization occurs through the assimilation of basic social and cultural norms and standards, as well as the protection of specific norms and values, their further transmission from the older generation to the younger;
4. Normative-orienting institutions. Their purpose is to motivate the moral and ethical basis of a person's personality. The totality of these institutions affirms imperative universal human values ​​in the community, as well as special codes that regulate behavior and its ethics.

Remark 2

In addition to the above, there are also such as normative-sanctioning (law) and ceremonial-symbolic institutions (otherwise they are called situational-conventional). They define and regulate daily contacts, as well as acts of group and intergroup behavior.

The typology of social institutions is also determined by the scope. Among them are the following:

• Regulatory social institutions;
• Regulatory social institutions;
• Cultural social institutions;
• Integrative social institutions.

Functions of a social institution

The functions of social institutions and their structure has been developed by many authors. For us, the classification of J. Szczepanski is of interest, since it is the most standard and relevant in modern society:

1. Social institutions satisfy the basic needs of the population in general and the individual in particular;
2. Social institutions regulate relations between social groups;
3. Social institutions ensure the continuous process of the individual's life, make it expedient, as well as socially significant;
4. Social institutions connect the actions and relationships of individuals, that is, they contribute to the emergence of social cohesion, which prevents crisis and conflict situations.

Remark 3

Other functions of social institutions include improving and simplifying adaptation processes, fulfilling important strategic tasks of society, regulating the use of significant resources, ensuring public order and structuring Everyday life individuals, harmonization of the interests of each member of society with the interests of the state (stabilization of social relations).

A social institution in the sociological interpretation is considered as historically established, stable forms of organizing the joint activities of people; in a narrower sense, it is an organized system of social ties and norms designed to satisfy the basic needs of society, social groups and individuals.

Social institutions (insitutum - institution) - value-normative complexes (values, rules, norms, attitudes, samples, standards of behavior in certain situations), as well as bodies and organizations that ensure their implementation and approval in society.

All elements of society are interconnected by social relations - connections that arise between social groups and within them in the process of material (economic) and spiritual (political, legal, cultural) activities.

In the process of the development of society, some ties may die off, others may appear. Relationships that have proven to be beneficial to society are streamlined, become universally valid patterns, and are then repeated from generation to generation. The more stable these ties that are useful for society, the more stable the society itself.

Social institutions (from lat. institutum - device) are called elements of society, representing stable forms of organization and regulation of social life. Such institutions of society as the state, education, family, etc., streamline social relations, regulate the activities of people and their behavior in society.

The main social institutions traditionally include family, state, education, church, science, and law. Below is a brief description of these institutions and their main functions.

Family- the most important social institution of kinship, connecting individuals with a common life and mutual moral responsibility. The family performs a number of functions: economic (housekeeping), reproductive (childbirth), educational (transfer of values, norms, samples), etc.

State- the main political institution that manages society and ensures its security. The state performs internal functions, including economic (regulation of the economy), stabilization (maintaining stability in society), coordination (ensuring public harmony), ensuring the protection of the population (protection of rights, legality, social security) and many others. There are also external functions: defense (in case of war) and international cooperation (to protect the interests of the country in the international arena).

Education is a social institution of culture that ensures the reproduction and development of society through the organized transfer of social experience in the form of knowledge, skills and abilities. The main functions of education include adaptation (preparation for life and work in society), professional (training of specialists), civil (training of a citizen), general cultural (introduction to cultural values), humanistic (disclosure of personal potential), etc.

The Church is a religious institution formed on the basis of a single religion. Church members share common norms, dogmas, rules of conduct and are divided into priesthood and laity. The Church performs the following functions: ideological (defines views on the world), compensatory (offers consolation and reconciliation), integrating (unites believers), general cultural (attaches to cultural values), and so on.

TYPES OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

The activity of a social institution is determined by:

 firstly, a set of specific norms and regulations governing the relevant types of behavior;

 secondly, the integration of a social institution into the socio-political, ideological and value structures of society;

 thirdly, the availability of material resources and conditions that ensure the successful implementation of regulatory requirements and the exercise of social control.

The most important social institutions are:

 state and family;

 economics and politics;

 production;

 culture and science;

 education;

 Mass media and public opinion;

 law and education.

Social institutions contribute to the consolidation and reproduction of certain social relations that are especially important for society, as well as the stability of the system in all the main areas of its life - economic, political, spiritual and social.

Types of social institutions depending on their field of activity:

 relational;

 Regulatory.

Relational institutions (for example, insurance, labor, production) determine the role structure of society based on a certain set of features. The objects of these social institutions are role groups (insurers and insurers, manufacturers and employees, etc.).

Regulatory institutions define the boundaries of the independence of the individual (se independent actions) to achieve their own goals. This group includes institutions of the state, government, social protection, business, health care.

In the process of development, the social institution of the economy changes its form and can belong to the group of either endogenous or exogenous institutions.

Endogenous (or internal) social institutions characterize the state of moral obsolescence of an institution, requiring its reorganization or in-depth specialization of activities, for example, institutions of credit, money, which become obsolete over time and need to introduce new forms of development.

Exogenous institutions reflect the impact on the social institution of external factors, elements of culture or the nature of the personality of the head (leader) of the organization, for example, changes occurring in the social institution of taxes under the influence of the level of tax culture of taxpayers, the level of business and professional culture of the leaders of this social institution.

FUNCTIONS OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

The purpose of social institutions is to satisfy the most important needs and interests of society.

Economic needs in society are simultaneously satisfied by several social institutions, and each institution, through its activities, satisfies a variety of needs, among which are vital (physiological, material) and social (personal needs for work, self-realization, creative activity and social justice). A special place among social needs is occupied by the need of the individual to achieve - an attainable need. It is based on McLelland's concept, according to which each individual shows a desire to express, to manifest himself in specific social conditions.

In the course of their activities, social institutions perform both general and individual functions that correspond to the specifics of the institution.

General Features:

 The function of consolidation and reproduction of social relations. Any institution consolidates, standardizes the behavior of members of society through its rules, norms of behavior.

 Regulatory function ensures the regulation of relationships between members of society by developing patterns of behavior, regulation of their actions.

 The integrative function includes the process of interdependence and mutual responsibility of members of social groups.

 Broadcasting function (socialization). Its content is the transfer of social experience, familiarization with the values, norms, roles of this society.

Individual functions:

 The social institution of marriage and the family implements the function of reproducing members of society together with the relevant departments of the state and private enterprises (antenatal clinics, maternity hospitals, a network of children's medical institutions, family support and strengthening agencies, etc.).

 The social institution of health is responsible for maintaining the health of the population (polyclinics, hospitals and other medical institutions, as well as state bodies organizing the process of maintaining and strengthening health).

 Social institution for the production of means of subsistence, which performs the most important creative function.

 Political institutions in charge of organizing political life.

 The social institution of law, which performs the function of developing legal documents and is in charge of the observance of laws and legal norms.

 Social institution of education and norms with appropriate function of education, socialization of members of society, familiarization with its values, norms, laws.

 Social institution of religion, helping people in solving spiritual problems.

Social institutions realize all their positive qualities only under the condition of their legitimacy, i.e., recognition of the expediency of their actions by the majority of the population. Sharp shifts in class consciousness, reassessment of fundamental values ​​can seriously undermine the population's trust in the existing governing and managing bodies, disrupt the mechanism of regulatory influence on people.

The concepts of "social institution" and "social role" belong to the central sociological categories, allowing you to introduce new angles into the consideration and analysis of social life. They draw our attention primarily to normativity and rituals in social life, to social behavior organized according to certain rules and following established patterns.

Social institution (from lat. institutum - device, establishment) - sustainable forms of organization and regulation of public life; a stable set of rules, norms, and attitudes that regulate various spheres of human activity and organize them into a system of social roles and statuses.

Events, actions or things that seem to have nothing in common with each other, such as a book, a wedding, an auction, a meeting of parliament or the celebration of Christmas, at the same time have an essential similarity: they are all forms of institutional life, that is, all organized in accordance with certain rules, norms, roles, although the goals that are achieved in this case may be different.

E. Durkheim figuratively defined social institutions as "factories of reproduction" of social relations and connections. The German sociologist A. Gehlen interprets the institution as a regulatory institution that directs people's actions in a certain direction, just as instincts guide the behavior of animals.

According to T. Parsons, society appears as a system of social relations and social institutions, and the institutions act as "nodes", "bundles" of social relations. Institutional aspect of social action- such an area in which the operating in social systems normative expectations that are rooted in culture and determine what people in various statuses and roles should do.

Thus, a social institution is a space in which an individual is accustomed to consistent behavior, living by the rules. Within the framework of a social institution, the behavior of each member of society becomes quite predictable in terms of its orientations and forms of manifestation. Even in the event of violations or significant variations in role behavior, the main value of the institution remains precisely the normative framework. As P. Berger noted, institutions encourage people to follow the beaten paths that society considers desirable. The trick will succeed because the individual is convinced that these paths are the only possible ones.

The institutional analysis of social life is the study of the most repetitive and most stable patterns of behavior, habits, and traditions that are passed down from generation to generation. Accordingly, non-institutionalized or extra-institutional forms social behavior characterized by randomness, spontaneity, less controllability.

The process of formation of a social institution, organizational formalization of norms, rules, statuses and roles, due to which it becomes possible to satisfy one or another social need, is called "institutionalization".

Well-known American sociologists P. Berger and T. Lukman identified psychological, social, and cultural sources of institutionalization.

Psychological ability human addictive memorization precedes any institutionalization. Thanks to this ability, people narrow the field of choice: out of hundreds possible ways only a few actions are fixed, which become a model for reproduction, thereby ensuring the focus and specialization of activities, saving decision-making efforts, freeing up time for careful thinking and innovation.

Further, institutionalization takes place wherever there is mutual typing of habitual actions on the part of actors, i.e. the emergence of a specific institution means that actions of type X must be performed by agents of type X (for example, the institution of the court establishes that heads will be cut off in a specific way under certain conditions and that certain types of individuals will be engaged in this, namely executioners or members of an impure caste, or those who the oracle will point to). The use of typifications is in the ability to predict the actions of another, which relieves the tension of uncertainty, saving time and energy both for other actions and in a psychological sense. The stabilization of individual actions and relationships will create the possibility of a division of labor, opening the way for innovations that require a higher level of attention. The latter lead to new habits and typifications. This is how the roots of the developing institutional order emerge.

Institute assumes historicity, i.e. the corresponding typings are created in the course of a common history, they cannot arise instantly. The most important moment in the formation of an institution - the opportunity to pass on habitual actions to the next generation. As long as nascent institutions are still created and maintained only through the interaction of specific individuals, the possibility of changing their actions always remains: these and only these people are responsible for constructing this world, and they are able to change or cancel it.

Everything changes in the process of transferring one's experience to a new generation. The objectivity of the institutional world is strengthened, that is, the perception of these institutions as external and coercive, not only by children, but also by parents. The formula "we do it again" is replaced by the formula "this is how it's done". The world becomes stable in consciousness, becomes much more real and cannot be easily changed. It is at this point that it becomes possible to speak of social world as a given reality opposed to the individual, like the natural world. It has a history which precedes the birth of the individual and is beyond the reach of his memory. It will continue to exist even after his death. An individual biography is understood as an episode placed in the objective history of a society. Institutions exist, they resist attempts to change or circumvent them. Their objective reality does not become less because the individual can

ns understand their purpose or mode of action. A paradox arises: a person creates a world, which he later perceives as something different from a human product.

Development special arrangements social control turns out to be necessary in the process of passing on the world to new generations: it is more likely that someone will deviate from the programs set for him by others than from the programs he himself helped to create. Children (however, like adults) must "learn to behave" and, having learned, "adhere to the existing rules."

With the advent of a new generation, there is a need for legitimation social world, i.e. in the ways of its "explanation" and "justification". Children cannot comprehend this world based on memories of the circumstances under which this world was created. There is a need to interpret this meaning, to give the meaning of history and biography. So, the dominance of a man is explained and justified either physiologically (“he is stronger and therefore can provide his family with resources”), or mythologically (“God created a man first, and only then a woman from his rib”).

The developing institutional order develops a canopy of such explanations and justifications that the new generation is introduced to in the process of socialization. Thus, the analysis of people's knowledge of institutions turns out to be an essential part of the analysis of the institutional order. It could be knowing how to theoretical level in the form of a collection of maxims, teachings, sayings, beliefs, myths, and in the form of complex theoretical systems. At the same time, it does not have special significance whether it corresponds to reality or is illusory. More significant is the agreement it brings to the group. The significance of knowledge for the institutional order causes the need for special institutions involved in the development of legitimations, therefore, for specialist ideologists (priests, teachers, historians, philosophers, scientists).

The fundamental point of the institutionalization process is giving the institution an official character, its structuring, technical and material organization: legal texts, premises, furniture, machines, emblems, forms, personnel, administrative hierarchy, etc. Thus, the institute is endowed with the necessary material, financial, labor, organizational resources so that he can actually fulfill his mission. Technical and material elements give the institution a tangible reality, demonstrate it, make it visible, declare it to everyone. Officiality, as a statement to everyone, essentially means that everyone is taken as a witness, called to control, invited to communicate, thereby making an application for stability, solidity of the organization, its independence from a particular case.

Thus, the process of institutionalization, i.e. the formation of a social institution, involves several successive stages:

• 1) the emergence of a need, the satisfaction of which requires joint organized actions;
• 2) the formation of common ideas;
• 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) material and symbolic design of the emerging institutional structure.

The process of institutionalization can be considered complete if all of the above steps have been completed. If the rules of social interaction in any area of ​​activity have not been worked out, are subject to change (for example, the rules for holding elections to local authorities in a number of regions of Russia could change already during the election campaign), or do not receive proper social approval, in these cases they say, that these social ties have an incomplete institutional status, that this institution has not fully developed or is even in the process of dying out.

We live in a highly institutionalized society. Any sphere of human activity, be it the economy, art or sports, is organized according to certain rules, the observance of which is more or less tightly controlled. The diversity of institutions corresponds to the diversity of human needs, such as the need to produce goods and services; the need for the distribution of benefits and privileges; the need for security, protection of life and well-being; the need for social control over the behavior of members of society; the need for communication, etc. Accordingly, the main institutions include: economic (the institution of the division of labor, the institution of property, the institution of taxation, etc.); political (state, parties, army, etc.); institutions of kinship, marriage and family; education, mass communications, science, sports, etc.

Thus, the central purpose of such institutional complexes that provide economic functions in society, as a contract and property, - the regulation of exchange relations, as well as rights related to the exchange of goods, including money.

If the property is central economic institute, then in politics the central place is occupied by the institution state power designed to ensure the fulfillment of obligations in the interests of achieving collective goals. Power is associated with the institutionalization of leadership (the institution of the monarchy, the institution of the presidency, etc.). The institutionalization of power means that the latter moves from ruling persons to institutional forms: if earlier rulers exercised power as their own prerogative, then with the development of the institution of power they appear as agents supreme power. From the point of view of the governed, the value of the institutionalization of power is in limiting arbitrariness, subordinating power to the idea of ​​law; from the point of view of the ruling groups, institutionalization provides stability and continuity to their advantage.

The institution of the family, historically emerging as a means of limiting the total competition of men and women for each other, provides a number of important human burials. Considering the family as a social institution means highlighting its main functions (for example, regulation of sexual behavior, reproduction, socialization, attention and protection), and showing how to perform these functions family union formed into a system of rules and norms of role behavior. The institution of the family is accompanied by the institution of marriage, which involves documenting sexual and economic rights and responsibilities.

Most religious communities are also organized into institutions, namely, they function as a network of relatively stable roles, statuses, groups, and values. Religious institutions vary in size, doctrine, membership, origin, connection with the rest of society; accordingly, the church, sects, and cults are singled out as forms of religious institutions.

Functions of social institutions. If we consider in the most general form the activity of any social institution, then we can assume that its main function is to satisfy the social need for which it was created and exists. These expected and necessary functions are called in sociology explicit functions. They are written down and declared in codes and charters, constitutions and programs, fixed in the system of statuses and roles. Since the explicit functions are always announced and in every society this is accompanied by a fairly strict tradition or procedure (for example, the oath of the president upon taking office; mandatory annual meetings of shareholders; regular elections of the president of the Academy of Sciences; adoption of special sets of laws: on education, health, prosecutor's office, social security etc.), they turn out to be more formalized and controlled by society. When an institution fails to fulfill its explicit functions, it is in danger of disorganization and change: its explicit functions can be transferred or appropriated by other institutions.

Along with the direct results of the actions of social institutions, there may be other results that are not planned in advance. The latter are called in sociology latent functions. Such results may be great importance for society.

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 that the production of consumer goods can perform a hidden, latent function, for example, to satisfy the needs of certain social groups and individuals to increase their own prestige.

Often one can observe, at first glance, an incomprehensible phenomenon when some kind of social institution continues to exist, although it not only does not fulfill its functions, but even prevents their implementation. Obviously, in this case, there are hidden functions that make it possible to satisfy the undeclared needs of certain social groups. Examples would be sales organizations without customers; sports clubs that do not demonstrate high sports achivments; scientific publications that do not enjoy the reputation of a quality publication in the scientific community, etc. By studying the latent functions of institutions, one can present a picture of social life in a more voluminous way.

Interaction and development of social institutions. The more complex the society, the more developed the system of institutions it has. The history of the evolution of institutions obeys the following pattern: from institutions traditional society based on ritual and custom rules of conduct and family ties, to modern institutions based on achievement values ​​(competence, independence, personal responsibility, rationality), relatively independent of moral precepts. In general, the general trend is institutional segmentation, i.e., the multiplication of their number and complexity, which is based on the division of labor, the specialization of activities, which, in turn, causes the subsequent differentiation of institutions. At the same time, in modern society there are so-called total institutions, that is, organizations covering the full daily cycle of their charges (for example, the army, the penitentiary system, clinical hospitals, etc.) that have a significant impact on their psyche and behavior.

One of the consequences of institutional segmentation can be called specialization, reaching such a depth that special role knowledge becomes understandable only to the initiated. The result may be increased social disunity and even social conflicts between so-called professionals and non-professionals due to the latter's fear of being manipulated.

A serious problem of modern society is the contradiction between the structural components of complex social institutions. For example, the executive structures of the state strive for the professionalization of their activities, which inevitably entails their certain closeness and inaccessibility for persons who do not have special education in the field of government controlled. At the same time, the representative structures of the state are called upon to provide an opportunity to engage in state activities representatives of the most diverse groups of society, without regard to their special training in the field of public administration. As a result, conditions are created for an inevitable conflict between the bills of deputies and the possibility of their implementation by the executive power structures.

The problem of interaction between social institutions also arises if the system of norms inherent in one institution begins to spread to other areas of social life. For example, in medieval Europe the church dominated not only in the spiritual life, but also in the economy, politics, family, or in the so-called totalitarian political systems, the state tried to play a similar role. The consequence of this may be the disorganization of public life, the growing social tension, the destruction, the loss of any of the institutions. For example, scientific ethos requires members of the scientific community to be organized skeptics, intellectually independent, free and open to distribute new information, the formation of a scientist's reputation depending on his scientific achievements, and not on his administrative status. Obviously, if the state seeks to turn science into a branch of the national economy, centrally managed and serving the interests of the state itself, then the principles of behavior in the scientific community must inevitably change, i.e. the institute of science will begin to regenerate.

Some problems may be caused by different rates of change in social institutions. An example would be a feudal society with modern army, or coexistence in one society of supporters of the theory of relativity and astrology, traditional religion and scientific worldview. As a result, difficulties arise in the general legitimization of both the institutional order as a whole and specific social institutions.

Changes in social institutions can be caused internal and external reasons. The former, as a rule, are associated with the inefficiency of existing institutions, with a possible contradiction between existing institutions and the social motivations of various social groups; the second - with a change in cultural paradigms, a change in cultural orientation in the development of society. In the latter case, we can speak of transitional societies that are experiencing a systemic crisis, when their structure and organization change, and social needs change. Accordingly, the structure of social institutions is changing, many of them are endowed with previously uncharacteristic functions. Modern Russian society provides many examples of such processes of loss of former institutions (for example, the CPSU or Goskomplan), the emergence of new social institutions that did not exist in the Soviet system (for example, the institution of private property), a serious change in the functions of institutions that continue their work. All this determines the instability of the institutional structure of society.

Thus, social institutions perform contradictory functions on the scale of society: on the one hand, they represent “social knots” thanks to which society is “connected”, the division of labor is streamlined in it, social mobility is directed, social transmission of experience is organized to new generations; on the other hand, the emergence of new institutions, the complication of institutional life means segmentation, fragmentation of society, which can lead to alienation and mutual misunderstanding between participants in social life. At the same time, the growing need for cultural and social integration of the modern post-industrial society can only be satisfied by institutional means. This function is associated with the activities of the media; with the revival and cultivation of national, city, state holidays; with the advent of special professions focused on negotiating, coordinating interests between different people and social groups.