The concept of "social institution". Institutionalization of public life


Social institutions - these are historically established stable forms of organization joint activities of people.

The most commonly used meaning of the term "social institution" is associated with the characteristics of any kind of ordering, formalization and standardization of social ties and relations.

social institution - a stable set of rules, norms, guidelines that regulate various areas human activity and organizing their system social roles and statuses.

The process of ordering, formalization and standardization is called institutionalization .

Stages of institutionalization:

1. The emergence of needs, the satisfaction of which requires joint organized action

2. 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. Emergence of procedures related to the implementation of rules and regulations

5. Institutionalization of norms, rules and procedures (adoption, consolidation, practical use)

6. Establishing systems of sanctions to maintain norms and rules; differentiation of their application in specific cases

7. Material and symbolic design of the emergence of institutional systems.

The process of institutionalization includes a number of points:

1. One of necessary conditions the emergence of social institutions serves the corresponding social need. Institutions are designed to organize the joint activities of people in order to meet certain social needs. The emergence of certain social needs, as well as the conditions for their satisfaction, are the first necessary moments of institutionalization.

The variety of institutions corresponds to the variety of human needs:

a) The need for the production of products and services

b) The need for the distribution of goods and privileges

c) The need for security, protection of life and well-being

d) The need for social control over the behavior of human society

e) The need for communication

f) The need for collectivism in collective action, but in a certain situation.

2. A social institution is formed on the basis of social ties, interactions and relationships of specific individuals, individuals, social groups and other communities.. But it, like other social systems, cannot be reduced to the sum of these individuals and their interactions.

Social institutions are supra-individual character, have their own system quality . Hence, social institution is an independent public entity, which has its own logic of development. From this point of view social institutions can be considered as organized social systems characterized by the stability of the structure, the integration of their elements and a certain variability of their functions.

These systems consist of a number of basic elements that are seen in the system of values, norms, ideals, as well as patterns of activity and behavior of people and other elements of the sociocultural process.

This system guarantees similar behavior of people, coordinates and directs their certain aspirations, establishes ways to satisfy their needs, resolves conflicts that arise in the process of Everyday life, provides a state of balance and stability within a particular social community and society as a whole.

In itself, the presence of these socio-cultural elements does not yet ensure the functioning of a social institution. For it to work necessary:

a) For these elements to become the property of the inner world of the individual, to be internalized by them in the process of socialization, to be embodied in the form of social roles and statuses.

b) The internalization by individuals of all socio-cultural elements, the formation on their basis of a system of personality needs, value orientations and expectations is the second most important element of institutionalization.

3. Organizational design of a social institution .

Externally social institution - a set of persons, institutions equipped with certain material resources and performing a certain social function.

Each public sphere corresponds to its social institution:

Economic sphere - bank, stock exchange

Political sphere - parties, power

Spiritual sphere - culture, religion, education

Each social institution is characterized by the presence of the purpose of its activity, specific functions, ensuring the achievement of such a goal, a set of social positions and roles typical for this institution.

Social institutions - these are organized associations of people performing certain socially significant functions, ensuring the joint achievement of goals based on the social roles performed by members, set by social values, norms and patterns of behavior.

The more complex the society, the more developed the system of social institutions.

The history of social institutions, their evolution is subject to the following laws: from institutions traditional society, based on rules of conduct and kinship prescribed by rituals and customs, to modern institutions based on achievement goals, on the basis of competence, independence, personal responsibility, rationality and relatively independent of moral prescriptions.

problem for modern society is contradiction between the institutional complexes of the state, some of which tend to professional activity, which inevitably entails a certain closeness and inaccessibility to others, with other institutions which act as a direct channel for the open expression of the interests of a wide variety of groups in society.

The problem of the interaction of social institutions arises if the system of norms inherent in one institution begins to invade other areas of social life in which other institutions previously functioned. Disorganization may result. public life, growing social tension and even the destruction of any of the institutions.

Changes in social institutions can be caused by internal and external causes.

Internal causes most often associated with a change in cultural orientation in the development of society, with a change in spiritual and moral ideas, which leads to a crisis.

External causes - the inefficiency of social institutions, the contradiction between existing institutions and social motivation.



Social institutions (from the Latin institutum - establishment, institution) are historically established stable forms of organizing the joint activities of people. The term "social institution" is used in a wide variety of meanings. They talk about the institution of the family, the institution of education, health care, the institution of the state, etc. The first, most often used meaning of the term "social institution" is associated with the characteristics of any kind of ordering, formalization and standardization of social relations and relations. And the process of streamlining, formalization and standardization is called institutionalization.

The process of institutionalization includes a number of points: 1) One of the necessary conditions for the emergence of social institutions is the corresponding social need. Institutions are designed to organize the joint activities of people in order to meet certain social needs. Thus, the institution of the family satisfies the need for the reproduction of the human race and the upbringing of children, implements relations between the sexes, generations, etc. The Institute higher education provides training for the labor force, enables a person to develop his abilities in order to realize them in subsequent activities and ensure his existence, etc. The emergence of certain social needs, as well as the conditions for their satisfaction, are the first necessary moments of institutionalization. 2) A social institution is formed on the basis of social ties, interactions and relationships of specific individuals, individuals, social groups and other communities. But it, like other social systems, cannot be reduced to the sum of these individuals and their interactions. Social institutions are supra-individual in nature, have their own systemic quality. Consequently, a social institution is an independent public entity that has its own logic of development. From this point of view, social institutions can be considered as organized social systems characterized by the stability of the structure, the integration of their elements and a certain variability of their functions.

First of all, it is a system of values, norms, ideals, as well as patterns of activity and behavior of people and other elements of the sociocultural process. This system guarantees similar behavior of people, coordinates and directs certain aspirations into the mainstream, establishes ways to satisfy their needs, resolves conflicts,

arising in the process of everyday life, provides a state of balance and stability within a particular social community and society as a whole. In itself, the presence of these socio-cultural elements does not yet ensure the functioning of a social institution. In order for it to work, it is necessary that they become the property of the inner world of the individual, be internalized by them in the process of socialization, embodied in the form of social roles and statuses. Internalization by individuals of all socio-cultural elements, the formation on their basis of a system of personality needs, value orientations and expectations is the second most important element of institutionalization. 3) The third most important element of institutionalization is the organizational design of a social institution. Outwardly, a social institution is a collection of individuals, institutions, equipped with certain material resources and performing a certain social function. Thus, an institution of higher education consists of a certain set of persons: teachers, attendants, officials who operate within institutions such as universities, the ministry or the State Committee for high school etc., who have certain material assets (buildings, finances, etc.) for their activities.

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

27. Social institutions as elements of the social structure of society.

The concept of a social institution is one of the main ones in sociology. There are even attempts to define sociology as the science of social institutions. Thanks to the interpretation of this concept in sociology, a special institutional approach has been developed.

Concise Dictionary in sociology argues that the term "institution" is of Latin origin and in literal translation in relation to ancient era means establishment, establishment Today, a social institution means historically established, stable forms of organizing the joint activities of people and is used in a wide variety of meanings. social institution main component social structure, integrating and coordinating many individual actions of people, ordering social relations in the most important areas public life.

A social institution is an organized system of connections and social norms that combines significant social values ​​and procedures that satisfy the basic needs of society.

A social institution is a role-playing 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; separate set of social activities.

Thus, the totality of relationships and systems of behavior that is useful to society finds the most complete expression in social institutions. It is known that the most important condition for the existence of mankind is the constant reproduction of material goods. It is social institutions that help to implement it purposefully and effectively. Here is the socialization of the younger generation, and the modernization of society, and its protection from external and internal enemies. Therefore, the importance of social institutions can hardly be overestimated. One thing, and perhaps the most important thing, can be unambiguously said - without them, humanity simply cannot exist in a civilized way. Moreover, the presence of social institutions, the degree of their development and efficiency of functioning is an indicator of the level of civilization of the era. Therefore, the concept of "social institution" in sociology occupies one of the central and extremely significant places.

Social science test Society as a complex dynamic system for 10th grade students. The test consists of 3 parts and is designed to test knowledge on the topic Society. Part 1 - 15 questions, part 2 - 4 questions, part 3 - 1 question (essay).

Part 1 - tasks with a choice of answers
Part 2 - short answer tasks
Part 3 - task with a detailed answer (an essay on one of the proposed topics)

1. The ability of a social system to include new parts, new social formations, phenomena or processes into a single whole is the ability to

1) socialization
2) integration
3) operation
4) diversification

2. The process of adapting the body to environment called

1) adaptation
2) cooperation
3) integration
4) determinism

3. Elements of social and cultural heritage that are transmitted from generation to generation and preserved in certain societies, classes and social groups for a long time are called

1) civilization
2) formation
3) tradition
4) morality

4. The process of streamlining, formalization and standardization is called

1) institutionalization
2) cooperation
3) consolidation
4) denomination

5. The main element of society is

1) state
2) social group
3) political system
4) man

6. Progressive development from a lower state to a higher one

1) revolution
2) regression
3) paradigm
4) progress

7. The process of gradual change, development is called

1) evolution
2) revolution
3) regression
4) adaptation

8. An irreversible process aimed at changing material and spiritual objects in order to improve them is called

1) development
2) socialization
3) adaptation
4) regression

9. Radical, fundamental, deep, qualitative change, a leap in the development of society, an open break with the previous state

1) evolution
2) revolution
3) progress
4) regression

10. The socialist revolution, in which there was a transition from capitalism to socialism, was called by Soviet science the events

1) January 1905
2) February 191 7
3) October 1917
4) September 1939

11. The events of 1989-1991 in Eastern Europe, as a result of which the political regimes Soviet type, received the name

1) velvet revolutions
2) color revolutions
3) national liberation revolutions
4) socialist revolutions

12. The restoration of the previously existing political system in the scientific literature is called

1) restoration
2) emancipation
3) revolution
4) regression

13. An action that has been ingrained in a society for a long time

1) custom
2) right
3) institute
4) habit

14. A small group of people connected by ties of marriage or blood relationship, common life, interests, mutual assistance and responsibility is called

1) company
2) team
3) family
4) marriage

15. A well-established order of social life in the main spheres of life is called

1) socialization
2) adaptation
3) institutional interaction
4) social consensus

1. Below are a number of terms. All of them, with the exception of one, characterize the concept social norms . Permission, morality, society, prohibition, traditions, law.
Find and indicate a term that refers to another concept.

2. Insert the missing concept: "Historically established forms of organization of joint activities, regulated by norms, traditions, customs and aimed at meeting the fundamental needs of society, are called __________."

3. Find in the list below the concepts that characterize the main types of human activity. Write down the numbers under which they are indicated.

1) game
2) education
3) labor
4) communication
5) teaching
6) thinking

4. Find in the list below the concepts related to the political institutions of society. Write down the numbers under which they are indicated.

1) family
2) state
3) parties
4) banks
5) trade unions
6) church

Part 3 (essay topics)

1. “Progress is not an accident, but a necessity” (G. Spencer).

2. “A person can do without much, but not without a person” (L. Berne).

3. “Society is a set of stones that would collapse if one did not support the other” (Seneca).

Answers to the social science test Society as a complex dynamic system
Part 1
1-2, 2-1, 3-3, 4-1, 5-4, 6-4, 7-1, 8-1, 9-2, 10-3, 11-1, 12-1, 13-1, 14-3, 15-3.
Part 2
1-society
2-social institutions
3-1345
4-235

The first, most commonly used meaning of the term "social institution" is associated with the characteristics of any kind of ordering, formalization and standardization of social ties and relations. And the process of streamlining, formalization and standardization is called institutionalization. The process of institutionalization, that is, the formation of a social institution, consists of several successive stages:

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

formation of common goals;

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

the emergence of procedures related to norms and rules;

· 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;

· So, the end of the process of institutionalization can be considered the creation in accordance with the norms and rules of a clear status-role structure, socially approved by the majority of participants in this social process.

The process of institutionalization thus involves a number of points.

One of the necessary conditions for the emergence of social institutions is the corresponding social need. Institutions are designed to organize the joint activities of people in order to meet certain social needs. Thus, the institution of the family satisfies the need for the reproduction of the human race and the upbringing of children, implements relations between the sexes, generations, etc. The institution of higher education provides training for the workforce, enables a person to develop his abilities in order to realize them in subsequent activities and ensure his own existence, etc. The emergence of certain social needs, as well as the conditions for their satisfaction, are the first necessary moments of institutionalization.

A social institution is formed on the basis of social ties, interactions and relationships of specific individuals, social groups and communities. But it, like other social systems, cannot be reduced to the sum of these individuals and their interactions. Social institutions are supra-individual in nature, have their own systemic quality. Consequently, a social institution is an independent public entity that has its own logic of development. From this point of view, social institutions can be considered as organized social systems characterized by the stability of the structure, the integration of their elements and a certain variability of their functions.

First of all, we are talking about a system of values, norms, ideals, as well as patterns of activity and behavior of people and other elements of the sociocultural process. This system guarantees similar behavior of people, coordinates and directs their certain aspirations, establishes ways to satisfy their needs, resolves conflicts that arise in the process of everyday life, provides a state of balance and stability within a particular social community and society as a whole.

In itself, the presence of these socio-cultural elements does not yet ensure the functioning of a social institution. In order for it to work, it is necessary that they become the property of the inner world of the individual, be internalized by them in the process of socialization, embodied in the form of social roles and statuses. The internalization by individuals of all sociocultural elements, the formation on their basis of a system of personality needs, value orientations and expectations is the second most important element of institutionalization.

The third most important element of institutionalization is the organizational design of a social institution. Outwardly, a social institution is a set of organizations, institutions, individuals equipped with certain material resources and performing a certain social function. Thus, the institution of higher education is put into action by the social corps of teachers, service personnel, officials who operate within the framework of institutions such as universities, the ministry or the State Committee for Higher Education, etc., who for their activities have certain material values ​​(buildings, finance, etc.).

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

Institutionalization, as shown by P. Berger and T. Luckman, is preceded by the process of habitualization, or “accustoming” of everyday actions, leading to the formation of patterns of activity that are later perceived as natural and normal for a given occupation or solving typical problems in these situations. Patterns of action are, in turn, the basis for the formation of social institutions, which are described in the form of objective social facts and are perceived by the observer as a "social reality" (or social structure). These trends are accompanied by signification procedures (the process of creating, using signs and fixing meanings and meanings in them) and form a system social meanings, which, developing into semantic connections, are fixed in natural language. Signification serves the purposes of legitimation (recognition as legitimate, socially recognized, legal) social order, that is, justifications and substantiations of habitual ways to overcome the chaos of destructive forces that threaten to undermine the stable idealizations of everyday life.

The emergence and existence of social institutions is associated with the formation in each individual of a special set of socio-cultural dispositions (habitus), practical schemes of action that have become for the individual his internal “natural” need. Thanks to habitus, individuals are included in the activities of social institutions. Therefore, social institutions are not just mechanisms, but “a kind of“ factory of meanings ”, setting not only patterns of human interactions, but also ways of comprehending, understanding social reality and the people themselves."

Introduction

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

2. Types of social institutions.

3. Functions and structure of social institutions.

Conclusion

List of used literature


Introduction

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

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

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

3) The third essential element of institutionalization

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Social institutions and social organizations are closely linked. Not among sociologists consensus about how they relate to each other. Some believe that there is no need to distinguish between these two concepts at all, they use them as synonyms, since many social phenomena, such as the social security system, education, the army, the court, the bank, can be simultaneously considered both as a social institution and as social organization, while others give a more or less clear distinction between them. The difficulty of drawing a clear “watershed” between these two concepts is due to the fact that social institutions in the process of their activity act as social organizations - they are structurally designed, institutionalized, have their own goals, functions, norms and rules. The difficulty lies in the fact that when trying to isolate social organization as an independent structural component or social phenomenon, one has to repeat those properties and features that are also characteristic of a social institution.

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

2. Types of social institutions

Social institutions differ from each other in their functional qualities: 1) Economic and social institutions - property, exchange, money, banks, business associations different type- provide the totality of the production and distribution of social wealth, at the same time connecting economic life with other areas of social life.

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

Violation of the normative interaction with the social environment, which is the society or community, is called the dysfunction of a social institution. As noted earlier, the basis for the formation and functioning of a particular social institution is the satisfaction of a particular social need. Under the conditions of intensive social processes, the acceleration of the pace of social change, a situation may arise when the changed social needs are not adequately reflected in the structure and functions of the relevant social institutions. As a result, dysfunction may occur in their activities. From a substantive point of view, dysfunction is expressed in the ambiguity of the goals of the institution, the uncertainty of functions, in the fall of its social prestige and authority, the degeneration of its individual functions into "symbolic", ritual activity, that is, activity not aimed at achieving a rational goal.

One of the clear expressions of the dysfunction of a social institution is the personalization of its activities. A social institution, as you know, functions according to its own, objectively operating mechanisms, where each person, on the basis of norms and patterns of behavior, in accordance with his status, plays certain roles. The personalization of a social institution means that it ceases to act in accordance with objective needs and objectively set goals, changing its functions depending on interests. individuals, their personal qualities and properties.

An unsatisfied social need can bring to life the spontaneous emergence of normatively unregulated activities that seek to make up for the dysfunction of the institution, but at the cost of violating existing norms and rules. In its extreme forms, activity of this kind can be expressed in illegal activities. Thus, the dysfunction of some economic institutions is the reason for the existence of the so-called "shadow economy", resulting in speculation, bribery, theft, etc. Correction of dysfunction can be achieved by changing the social institution itself or by creating a new social institution that satisfies a given social need.

Researchers distinguish two forms of the existence of social institutions: simple and complex. Simple social institutions are organized associations of people who perform certain socially significant functions that ensure the joint achievement of goals based on the fulfillment by the members of the institution of their social roles, due to social values, ideals, norms. At this level control system did not stand out in independent system. Social values, ideals, norms themselves ensure the sustainability of the existence and functioning of a social institution.

The most important social institutions are political ones. With their help, political power is established and maintained. Economic institutions provide the process of production and distribution of goods and services. The family is also one of the important social institutions. Its activities (relations between parents, parents and children, methods of education, etc.) are determined by a system of legal and other social norms. Along with these institutions, such socio-cultural institutions as the education system, health care, social Security, cultural and educational institutions, etc. The institution of religion continues to play a significant role in society

3.Functions and structure of social institutions

The sociological approach focuses on social functions institute and its normative structure. In particular, the implementation of socially significant functions by the institution is ensured by the presence within the framework of the social institution complete system standardized patterns of behavior, i.e. value-normative structure.

The most important functions that social institutions perform in society include:

Regulation of the activities of members of society within the framework of social relations;

Creating opportunities to meet the needs of members of society;

Ensuring social integration, sustainability of public life;

Socialization of individuals.

The structure of social institutions most often includes a certain set of constituent elements, acting in a more or less formalized form, depending on the type of institution. Here we can highlight the following structural elements social institution:

The purpose and scope of the institute;

Functions provided to achieve the goal;

Normatively determined social roles and statuses presented in the structure of the institute;

Means and institutions to achieve the goal and implement functions.

Of all the possible criteria for the classification of social institutions, it is advisable to dwell on two: subject (substantive) and formalized. Based on the subject criterion, i.e. the nature of the substantive tasks performed by institutions, the following are distinguished: political institutions (state, parties, army); economic institutions (division of labor, property, taxes, etc.); institutions of kinship, marriage and family; institutions operating in the spiritual sphere (education, culture, mass communications, etc.)

Based on the second criterion, i.e. nature of the organization, institutions are divided into formal and informal. The activities of the former are based on strict, normative and, possibly, legally fixed prescriptions, rules, instructions, etc. in informal institutions, there is no such regulation of social roles, functions, means and methods of activity and sanctions for non-normative behavior. It is replaced by informal regulation through traditions, customs, social norms, etc.

Each social institution is included in a historically specific social structure, corresponds to the interests of a particular social group, performs a number of interrelated functions, such as: 1) reproduction of representatives of a particular social group; 2) the socialization of specific individuals in the form of the transfer of socially significant norms and values ​​to them; 3) maintaining stability and moral order of an intra-institutional nature, and also has an external justification, which is realized in the processes of social exchange. At the same time, it is important to emphasize that individual organizations and specific social groups in themselves do not constitute a social institution, in connection with which the description, analysis of functions and forecast of development trends of a well-defined social institution cannot be reduced to considering only its “visible incarnations” and require a reasonable combination of a systemic and interdisciplinary approach with a specific historical and empirical approach.

Conclusion

Thus, social institutions are specific formations that ensure the relative stability of ties and relations within the framework of the social organization of society, some historically determined forms of organization and regulation of public life. Institutions arise in the course of the development of human society, the differentiation of activities, the division of labor, the formation of specific types of social relations.

Common features of a social institution include:

Identification of a certain circle of subjects entering into relationships that acquire a stable character in the process of activity;

A certain (more or less formalized) organization;

The presence of specific norms and regulations governing the behavior of people within the framework of a social institution;

The presence of socially significant functions of the institution, integrating it into the social system and ensuring its participation in the process of integration of the latter.

These signs are not normatively fixed, they rather follow from the generalization of analytical materials about various social institutions of modern society. But in general, they are a convenient tool for analyzing the processes of institutionalization of social formations.

Social practice shows that for human society it is necessary to consolidate certain types of social relations, to make them mandatory.

Social institutions are the pillars of society, symbols of order and organization.

Institutional ties, like other forms of social ties on the basis of which social communities are formed, represent an ordered system, a certain social organization. This is the system accepted species activities of social communities, norms and values ​​that guarantee similar behavior of their members, coordinate and direct the aspirations of people in a certain direction, establish ways to meet their needs, resolve conflicts that arise in the process of everyday life, provide a state of balance between the aspirations of various individuals and groups of a given social community and society as a whole. In the case when this balance begins to fluctuate, one speaks of social disorganization, of the intensive manifestation of undesirable phenomena (for example, such as crimes, alcoholism, aggressive actions, etc.).

List of used literature

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