Chapter 2

24 INTRODUCING SOCIOLOGY

CHAPTER 2

TERMS, CONCEPTS AND THEIR USE IN SOCIOLOGY

I

INTRODUCTION

The previous chapter introduced us toan idea both about society as well associology. We saw that a central task ofsociology is to explore the interplay ofsociety and the individual. We also sawthat individuals do not float freely insociety but are part of collective bodieslike the family, tribe, caste, class, clan,nation. In this chapter, we move furtherto understand the kinds of groupsindividuals form, the kinds of unequalorders, stratification systems withinwhich, individuals and groups areplaced, the way social control operates,the roles that individuals have and play,and the status they occupy.

In other words we start exploringhow society itself functions. Is itharmonious or conflict ridden? Arestatus and roles fixed? How is socialcontrol exercised? What kinds ofinequalities exist? The question howeverremains as to why do we need specific

terms and concepts to understand this.Why does sociology need to have aspecial set of terms when we use termslike status and roles or social controlanyway in our everyday life?

For a discipline such as, say,nuclear physics that deals with mattersunknown to most people and for whichno word exists in common speech, itseems obvious that a discipline mustdevelop a terminology. However,terminology is possibly even moreimportant for sociology, just becauseits subject matter is familiar and justbecause words do exist to denote it. Weare so well acquainted with the socialinstitutions that surround us that wecannot see them clearly and precisely(Berger 1976:25).

For example we may feel that sincewe live in families we know all aboutfamilies. This would be conflating orequating sociological knowledgewith common sense knowledge ornaturalistic explanation, which we havediscussed in Chapter 1.

We also found in the previouschapter how sociology as a discipline

25TERMS, CONCEPTS AND THEIR USE IN SOCIOLOGY

has a biography or history. We saw howcertain material and intellectualdevelopments shaped the sociologicalperspective as well as its concerns.Likewise sociological concepts too havea story to tell. Many of the conceptsreflect the concern of social thinkers tounderstand and map the socialchanges that the shift from pre-modernto modern entailed. For instancesociologists observed that simple, smallscale and traditional societies weremore marked by close, often face-to-face interaction. And modern, largescale societies by formal interaction.They therefore distinguished primaryfrom secondary groups, communityfrom society or association. Otherconcepts like stratification reflect theconcern that sociologists had inunderstanding the structuredinequalities between groups in society.

Concepts arise in society. Howeverjust as there are different kinds ofindividuals and groups in society sothere are different kinds of concepts andideas. And sociology itself is marked bydifferent ways of understanding societyand looking at dramatic social changesthat the modern period brought about.

We have seen how even in the earlystage of sociology’s emergence therewere contrary and contestingunderstandings of society. If for KarlMarx class and conflict were keyconcepts to understand society, socialsolidarity and collective consciencewere key terms for Emile Durkheim. Inthe Post-World War II period sociologywas greatly influenced by the structuralfunctionalists who found society

essentially harmonious. They found ituseful to compare society to anorganism where different parts have afunction to play for the maintenance ofthe whole. Others, in particular theconflict theorists influenced by Marxismsaw society as essentially conflictridden.

Within sociology some tried tounderstand human behaviour bystarting with the individual, i.e. microinteraction. Others began with macrostructures such as class, caste, market,state or even community. Conceptssuch as status and role begin with theindividual. Concepts such as socialcontrol or stratification begin from alarger context within which individualsare already placed.

The important point is that theseclassifications and types that wediscuss in sociology help us and are thetools through which we canunderstand reality. They are keys toopen locks to understand society. Theyare entry points in our understanding,not the final answer. But what if the keybecomes rusted or bent or does not fitthe lock, or fits in with effort? In suchsituations we need to change or modifythe key. In sociology we both use andalso constantly interrogate or questionthe concepts and categories.

Very often there is considerableunease about the coexistence ofdifferent kinds of definitions or conceptsor even just different views about thesame social entity. For example conflicttheory versus the functionalist theory.This multiplicity of approaches isparticularly acute in sociology. And it


II

SOCIAL GROUPS AND SOCIETY

Sociology is the study of human sociallife. A defining feature of human life isthat humans interact, communicateand construct social collectivities. Thecomparative and historical perspectiveof sociology brings home two appa-rently innocuous facts. The first that inevery society whether ancient or feudalor modern, Asian or European orAfrican human groups and collectivitiesexist. The second that the types ofgroups and collectivities are different indifferent societies.

Any gathering of people does notnecessarily constitute a social group.Aggregates are simply collections ofpeople who are in the same place at thesame time, but share no definiteconnection with one another.Passengers waiting at a railway stationor airport or bus stop or a cinemaaudience are examples of aggregates.Such aggregates are often termed asquasi groups.

What kind of groups are these?

cannot but be otherwise. For societyitself is diverse.

In our discussion on the variousterms you will notice how there isdivergence of views. And how this verydebate and discussion of differenceshelps us understand society.

Activity 1

Choose any one of the followingtopics for class discussion :

´ democracy is a help or hind-rance to development

´ gender equality makes for amore harmonious or moredivisive society

´ punishments or greater dis-cussion are the best way toresolve conflicts.

Think of other topics.

What kind of differences emerged?Do they reflect different visions ofwhat a good society ought to be like?Do they reflect different notions ofthe human being?


A quasi group is an aggregate orcombination, which lacks structure ororganisation, and whose membersmay be unaware, or less aware, of theexistence of groupings. Social classes,status groups, age and gender groups,crowds can be seen as examples ofquasi groups. As these examplessuggest quasi groups may wellbecome social groups in time and inspecific circumstances. For example,individuals belonging to a particularsocial class or caste or community maynot be organised as a collective body.They may be yet to be infused with asense of “we” feeling. But class andcaste have over a period of time givenrise to political parties. Likewisepeople of different communities inIndia have over the long anti-colonialstruggle developed an identity as acollectivity and group — a nation witha shared past and a common future.The women’s movement brought aboutthe idea of women’s groups andorganisation. All these examples draw

attention to how social groups emerge,change and get modified.

A social group can be said to haveat least the following characteristics :

(i) persistent interaction to providecontinuity;

(ii) a stable pattern of these inter-actions;

(iii) a sense of belonging to identifywith other members, i.e. eachindividual is conscious of thegroup itself and its own set ofrules, rituals and symbols;

(iv) shared interest;(v) acceptance of common norms and

values;(vi) a definable structure.

Social structure here refers topatterns of regular and repetitiveinteraction between individuals orgroups. A social group thus refers to acollection of continuously interactingpersons who share common interest,culture, values and norms within agiven society.

Activity 2

Find out a name that is relevant under each heading.

Caste An anti caste movement A caste based political party

Class A class based movement A class based political partyWomen A women’s movement A women’s organisation

Tribe A tribal movement A tribe/tribes based political partyVillagers An environmental movement An environmental organisation

Discuss whether they were all social groups to start with and if some were not,then at what point can one apply the term social group to them, using the termas sociologically understood.


TYPES OF GROUPS

As you read through this section ongroups you will find that differentsociologists and social anthropologistshave categorised groups into differenttypes. What you will be struck withhowever is that there is a pattern in thetypology. In most cases they contrastthe manner in which people formgroups in traditional and small scalesocieties to that of modern and largescale societies. As mentioned earlier,they were struck by the differencebetween close, intimate, face-to-faceinteraction in traditional societies andimpersonal, detached, distantinteraction in modern societies.

However a complete contrast isprobably not an accurate descriptionof reality.

Primary and SecondarySocial Groups

The groups to which we belong are notall of equal importance to us. Somegroups tend to influence many aspectsof our lives and bring us into personalassociation with others. The termprimary group is used to refer to asmall group of people connected byintimate and face-to-face associationand co-operation. The members ofprimary groups have a sense ofbelonging. Family, village and groups

Contrast the two types of group

Activity 3

Discuss the age group of teenagers. Is it a quasi group or social group? Wereideas about ‘teenage’ and ‘teenagers’ as a special phase in life always there? Intraditional societies how was the entry of children into adulthood marked? Incontemporary times do marketing strategies and advertisement have anythingto do with the strengthening or weakening of this group/quasi group? Identifyan advertisement that targets teenagers or pre-teens? Read the section onstratification and discuss how teenage may mean very different life experiencesfor the poor and rich, for the upper and lower class, for the discriminated andprivileged caste.


of friends are examples of primarygroups.

Secondary groups are relativelylarge in size, maintain formal andimpersonal relationships. The primarygroups are person-oriented, whereasthe secondary groups are goal oriented.Schools, government offices, hospitals,students’ association etc. are examplesof secondary groups.

Community and Societyor Association

The idea of comparing and contrastingthe old traditional and agrarian way oflife with the new modern and urban onein terms of their different andcontrasting social relationships andlifestyles, dates back to the writings ofclassical sociologists.

The term ‘community’ refers tohuman relationships that are highlypersonal, intimate and enduring, thosewhere a person’s involvement isconsiderable if not total, as in thefamily, with real friends or a close-knitgroup.

‘Society’ or ‘association’ refers toeverything opposite of ‘community’, inparticular the apparently impersonal,superficial and transitory relationshipsof modern urban life. Commerce andindustry require a more calculating,rational and self-interesting approachto one’s dealings with others. We makecontracts or agreements rather thangetting to know one another. You maydraw a parallel between the communitywith the primary group and theassociation with the secondary group.

In-Groups and Out-Groups

A sense of belonging marks an in-group. This feeling separates ‘us’ or ‘we’from ‘them’ or ‘they’. Childrenbelonging to a particular school mayform an ‘in-group’ as against those whodo not belong to the school. Can youthink of other such groups?

An out-group on the other hand isone to which the members of an in-group do not belong. The members ofan out-group can face hostile reactionsfrom the members of the in-group.Migrants are often considered as anout-group. However, even here the

Activity 4

Collect a copy of a memorandum ofany association that you know of orcan find out about for example aResident Welfare Association, awomen’s association (MahilaSamiti), a Sports Club. You will findclear information about its goals,objectives, membership and otherrules that govern it. Contrast thiswith a large family gathering.

You may find that many a timesthat interaction among members ofa formal group over time becomesmore close and ‘just like family andfriends.’ This brings home the pointthat concepts are not fixed, frozenentities. They are indeed keys ortools for understanding society andits changes.


actual definition of who belongs andwho does not, changes with time andsocial contexts.

The well known sociologist M.N.Srinivas observed while he was carryingout a census in Rampura in 1948 howdistinctions were made between recentand later migrants. He writes:

I heard villagers use two expressionswhich I came to realise weresignificant: the recent immigrantswere almost contemptuously des-cribed as nenne monne’ bandavartu(‘came yesterday or the day before;)while old immigrants were des-cribed as arsheyinda bandavaru( ‘came long ago’) or khadeemkulagalu (‘old lineages’), (Srinivas1996:33).

but we do identify ourselves with thatgroup. Reference groups areimportant sources of informationabout culture, life style, aspirationand goal attainments.

In the colonial period many middleclass Indians aspired to behave likeproper Englishman. In that sense theycould be seen as a reference group forthe aspiring section. But this processwas gendered, i.e. it had differentimplications for men and women. OftenIndian men wanted to dress and dinelike the British men but wanted theIndian women to remain ‘Indian’ intheir ways. Or aspire to be a bit like theproper English woman but also notquite like her. Do you still find this validtoday?

Peer Groups

This is a kind of primary group,usually formed between individualswho are either of similar age or who arein a common professional group. Peerpressure refers to the social pressureexerted by one’s peers on what oneought to do or not.

Reference Group

For any group of people there arealways other groups whom they lookup to and aspire to be like. Thegroups whose life styles are emulatedare known as reference groups. We donot belong to our reference groups

Activity 5

Find out about the experience ofimmigrants in other countries. Ormay be even from different parts ofour own country.

You will find that relationshipsbetween groups change and modify.People once considered members ofan out-group become in-groupmembers. Can you find out aboutsuch processes in history?

Activity 6

Do your friends or others of yourage group influence you? Are youconcerned with their approval ordisapproval about the way youdress, behave, the kind of musicyou like to listen to or the kind offilms you prefer? Do you considerit to be social pressure? Discuss.


SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

Social stratification refers to theexistence of structured inequalitiesbetween groups in society, in terms oftheir access to material or symbolicrewards. Thus stratification can mostsimply be defined as structuralinequalities between differentgroupings of people. Often socialstratification is compared to thegeological layering of rock in the earth’ssurface. Society can be seen asconsisting of ‘strata’ in a hierarchy, withthe more favoured at the top and theless privileged near the bottom.

Inequality of power and advantageis central for sociology, because of thecrucial place of stratification in theorganisation of society. Every aspect ofthe life of every individual and house-hold is affected by stratification.Opportunities for health, longevity,security, educational success, fulfillmentin work and political influence are allunequally distributed in systematic ways.

Historically four basic systems ofstratification have existed in humansocieties: slavery, caste, estate andclass. Slavery is an extreme form ofinequality in which some individualsare literally owned by others. It hasexisted sporadically at many times andplaces, but there are two majorexamples of a system of slavery; ancientGreece and Rome and the SouthernStates of the USA in the 18th and 19thcenturies. As a formal institution,slavery has gradually been eradicated.But we do continue to have bondedlabour, often even of children. Estatescharacterised feudal Europe. We do not

enter into details about estates here butvery briefly touch upon caste and classas systems of social stratification. Weshall be dealing in greater detail withclass, caste, gender as bases of socialstratification in the book, Under-standing Society (NCERT, 2006).

Caste

In a caste stratification system anindividual’s position totally depends onthe status attributes ascribed by birthrather than on any which are achievedduring the course of one’s life. This isnot to say that in a class society thereis no systematic constraint onachievement imposed by statusattributes such as race and gender.However, status attributes ascribed bybirth in a caste society define anindividual’s position more completelythan they do in class society.

In traditional India different castesformed a hierarchy of social precedence.Each position in the caste structure wasdefined in terms of its purity orpollution relative to others. Theunderlying belief was that those whoare most pure, the Brahmin priestlycastes, are superior to all others andthe Panchamas, sometimes called the‘outcastes’ are inferior to all othercastes. The traditional system isgenerally conceptualised in terms of thefour fold varna of Brahmins, Kshatriyas,Vaishyas and Shudras. In reality there areinnumerable occupation-based castegroups, called jatis.

The caste system in India hasundergone considerable changes overthe years. Endogamy and ritual


avoidance of contact with members ofso-called lower castes were consideredcritical for maintaining purity by the so-called upper castes. Changes broughtin by urbanisation inevitablychallenged this. Read well knownsociologist A.R. Desai’s observationsbelow.

Other social consequences ofurbanisation in India are commentedupon by sociologist A.R. Desai as:

Modern industries brought intobeing modern cities honey-combed with cosmopolitan hotels,restaurants, theatres, trams,buses, railways. The modest hotelsand restaurants catered for theworkers and middle classes becamecrowded in cities with personsbelonging to all castes and evencreeds... In trains and buses oneoccasionally rubbed shoulders withmembers of the depressed classes...should not, however be supposedthat caste had vanished (Desai1975:248).

While change did take place,discrimination was not so easy to doaway with, as a first person narrativesuggests.

In the mill there may be no opendiscrimination of the kind that existsin the villages, but experience of privateinteractions tells another story. Parmarobserved…

They will not even drink water fromour hands and they sometimes useabusive language when dealing

with us. This is because they feeland believe they are superior. It hasbeen like that for years. No matterhow well we dress they are notprepared to accept certain things(Franco et. al. 2004:150).

Even today acute castediscrimination exists. At the same timethe working of democracy has affectedthe caste system. Castes as interestgroups have gained strength. We havealso seen discriminated castes assertingtheir democratic rights in society.

Class

There have been many attempts toexplain class. We mention here, verybriefly just the central ideas of Marx,Weber and that of, functionalism. Inthe Marxist theory social classes aredefined by what relation they have tothe means of production. Questionscould be asked as to whether groupsare owners of means of production suchas land or factories? Or whether theyare owners of nothing but their ownlabour? Weber used the term life-chances, which refers to the rewardsand advantages afforded by marketcapacity. Inequality, Weber arguedmight be based on economic relations.But it could also be based on prestigeor on political power.

The functionalist theory of socialstratification begins from the generalpresupposition or belief of function-alism that no society is “classless” orunstratified. The main functionalnecessity explains the universalpresence of social stratification in


requirements faced by a societyof placing and motivating individualsin the social structure. Socialinequality or stratification is thus anunconsciously evolved device by whichsocieties ensure that the mostimportant positions are deliberatelyfilled by the most qualified persons. Isthis true?

In a traditional caste system socialhierarchy is fixed, rigid and transmittedacross generations in these societies.Modern class system in contrast isopen and achievement based. Indemocratic societies there is nothing tolegally stop a person from the mostdeprived class and caste from reachingthe highest position.

Tribes population lives below thepoverty line. This proportion is onlyslightly less for the Schedule Castes atabout 43 per cent, and lesser still forthe Other Backward Classes at about34 per cent (Deshpande 2003:114).

Status and Role

The two concepts ‘status’ and ‘role’ areoften seen as twin concepts. A status issimply a position in society or in agroup. Every society and every grouphas many such positions and everyindividual occupies many suchpositions.

Status thus refers to the socialposition with defined rights and dutiesassigned to these positions. Toillustrate, the mother occupies a status,which has many norms of conduct aswell as certain responsibilities andprerogatives.

A role is the dynamic or thebehavioural aspect of status. Status isoccupied, but roles are played. We maysay that a status is an institutionalisedrole. It is a role that has becomeregularised, standardised and forma-lised in the society at large or in any ofthe specific associations of society.

It must be apparent that eachindividual in a modern, complex societysuch as ours occupies many differentkinds of status during the course ofhis/her life. You as a school studentmay be a student to your teacher, acustomer to your grocer, a passengerto the bus driver, a brother or sister toyour sibling, a patient to the doctor.Needless to say we could keep addingto the list. The smaller and simpler the

Such stories of achievement do existand are sources of immense inspiration.Yet for the most part the structure ofthe class system persists. Sociologicalstudies of social mobility, even inwestern societies are far removed fromthe ideal model of perfect mobility.Sociology has to be sensitive to both thechallenges to the caste system as wellas the persistence of discrimination.Significantly those, at the lower levelsof the system are not just disadvantagedsocially but also economically. In ruralIndia, more than half of the Schedule

Activity 7

Find out more about the life ofthe late President K. R. Naraynan.Discuss the concept of ascriptionand achieved status, caste andclass in this context.


society, the fewer the kinds of statusthat an individual can have.

In a modern society an individualas we saw occupies multiple statuswhich is sociologically termed as statusset. Individuals acquire different statusat various stages of life. A son becomesa father, father becomes a grandfatherand then great grandfather and so on.This is called a status sequence for itrefers to the status, which is attainedin succession or sequence at thevarious stages of life.

An ascribed status is a socialposition, which a person occupiesbecause of birth, or assumesinvoluntarily. The most common basesfor ascribed status are age, caste, raceand kinship. Simple and traditionalsocieties are marked by ascribed status.An achieved status on the other handrefers to a social position that a personoccupies voluntarily by personalability, achievements, virtues andchoices. The most common bases forachieved status are educationalqualifications, income, and professionalexpertise. Modern societies arecharacterised by achievements. Itsmembers are accorded prestige on thebasis of their achievements. How oftenyou would have heard the phrase “youhave to prove yourself”. In traditionalsocieties your status was defined andascribed at birth. However, asdiscussed above, even in modernachievement based societies, ascribedstatus matters.

Status and prestige areinterconnected terms. Every status isaccorded certain rights and values.Values are attached to the social

position, rather than to the person whooccupies it or to his/her performanceor to his/her actions. The kind of valueattached to the status or to the office iscalled prestige. People can rank statusin terms of their high or low prestige.The prestige of a doctor may be high incomparison to a shopkeeper, even if thedoctor may earn less. It is importantto keep in mind that ideas of whatoccupation is considered prestigiousvaries across societies and acrossperiods.

People perform their roles accordingto social expectations, i.e. role takingand role playing. A child learns tobehave in accordance with how herbehaviour will be seen and judged byothers.

Role conflict is the incompatibilityamong roles corresponding to one ormore status. It occurs when contraryexpectations arise from two or moreroles. A common example is that of the

Activity 8

What kinds of jobs are consi-dered prestigious in your society?Compare these with your friends.Discuss the similarities anddifferences. Try and understand thecauses for the same.

Activity 9

Find out how a domestic worker ora construction labourer faces roleconflict.


middle class working woman who hasto juggle her role as mother and wifeat home and that of a professional atwork.

It is a common place assumptionthat men do not face role conflict.Sociology being both an empirical andcomparative discipline suggestsotherwise.

Khasi matriliny generates intenserole conflict for men. They are tornbetween their responsibilities totheir natal house on the one handand to their wife and children onthe other. They feel deprived ofsufficient authority to commandtheir children’s loyalty and lack thefreedom to pass on after death, eventheir self-acquired property to theirchildren…The strain affects Khasi women, ina way more intensely. A woman cannever be fully assured that herhusband does not find his sister’shouse more congenial place thanher own house (Nongbri 2003:190).

Role stereotyping is a process ofreinforcing some specific role for somemember of the society. For examplemen and women are often socialised instereotypical roles, as breadwinner andhomemaker respectively. Social rolesand status are often wrongly seen asfixed and unchanging. It is felt thatindividuals learn the expectations thatsurround social positions in theirparticular culture and perform theseroles largely as they have been defined.Through socialisation, individualsinternalise social roles and learn howto carry them out. This view, however,

is mistaken. It suggests thatindividuals simply take on roles, ratherthan creating or negotiating them. Infact, socialisation is a process in whichhumans can exercise agency; they arenot simply passive subjects waiting tobe instructed or programmed.Individuals come to understand andassume social roles through an ongoingprocess of social interaction. Thisdiscussion perhaps will make youreflect upon the relationship betweenthe individual and society, which wehad studied in Chapter 1.

Roles and status are not given andfixed. People make efforts to fightagainst discrimination roles and statusfor example those based on caste orrace or gender. At the same time thereare sections in society who oppose suchchanges. Likewise individual violationof roles are often punished. Society thusfunctions not just with roles and statusbut also with social control.

SOCIETY AND SOCIAL CONTROL

Social control is one of the mostgenerally used concepts in sociology.It refers to the various means used bya society to bring its recalcitrant orunruly members back into line.

Activity 10

Collect newspaper reports wheredominant sections of society seek toimpose control and punish thosewhom they consider to havetransgressed or violated sociallyprescribed roles.


You will recall how sociology hasdifferent perspectives and debatesabout the meaning of concepts. Youwill also recall how functionalistsociologists understood society asessentially harmonious and conflicttheorists saw society as essentiallyunequal, unjust and exploitative. Wealso saw how some sociologistsfocussed more on the individual andsociety, others on collectivities likeclasses, races, castes.

For a functionalist perspective socialcontrol refers to: (i) the use of force toregulate the behaviour of the individualand groups and also refers to the (ii)enforcing of values and patterns formaintaining order in society. Socialcontrol here is directed to restraindeviant behaviour of individuals or

groups on the one hand, and on theother, to mitigate tensions and conflictsamong individuals and groups tomaintain social order and socialcohesion. In this way social control isseen as necessary to stability in society.

Conflict theorists usually would seesocial control more as a mechanism toimpose the social control of dominantsocial classes on the rest of society.Stability would be seen as the writ ofone section over the other. Likewise lawwould be seen as the formal writ of thepowerful and their interests on society.

Social control refers to the socialprocess, techniques and strategies bywhich the behaviours of individual ora group are regulated. It refers both tothe use of force to regulate thebehaviour of the individual and groups

The ultimate and, no doubt, the oldest means of social control is physicalviolence... even in the politely operated societies of modern democracies theultimate argument is violence. No state can exist without a police force or itsequivalent in armed might... In any functioning society violence is usedeconomically and as a last resort, with the mere threat of this ultimate violencesufficing for the day-to-day exercise of social control... Where human beings liveor work in compact groups, in which they are personally known and to whichthey are tied by feelings of personal loyalty (the kind that sociologists call primarygroups), very potent and simultaneously very subtle mechanisms of control areconstantly brought to bear upon the actual or potent deviant... One aspect ofsocial control that ought to be stressed is the fact that it is frequently based onfraudulent claims... A little boy can exercise considerable control over his peergroup by having a big brother who, if need be, can be called upon to beat up anyopponents. In the absence of such a brother, however it is possible to inventone. It will then be a question of the public-relations talents of the little boy as towhether he will succeed in translating his invention into actual control (Berger84-90).

Have you ever seen or heard a young child threaten another with “ I will tellmy elder brother.”

Can you think of other examples?


and also refers to the enforcing of valuesand patterns for maintaining order insociety.

Social control may be informal orformal. When the codified, systematic,and other formal mechanism of controlis used, it is known as formal socialcontrol. There are agencies andmechanism of formal social control, forexample, law and state. In a modernsociety formal mechanisms andagencies of social control areemphasised.

In every society there is another typeof social control that is known asinformal social control. It is personal,unofficial and uncodified. They includesmiles, making faces, body languagefrowns, criticism, ridicule, laughter etc.There can be great variations in theiruse within the same society. In day-to-day life they are quite effective.

However, in some cases informalmethods of social control may not beadequate in enforcing conformity orobedience. There are various agenciesof informal social control e.g. family,religion, kinship, etc. Have you heardabout honour killing? Read the

newspaper report which is given belowand identify the different agencies ofsocial control involved.

A sanction is a mode of reward orpunishment that reinforces sociallyexpected forms of behaviour. Socialcontrol can be positive or negative.Members of societies can be rewardedfor good and expected behaviour. Onthe other hand, negative sanctions arealso used to enforce rules and torestrain deviance.

Deviance refers to modes of action,which do not conform to the norms or

Activity 11

Can you think of examples drawnfrom your life how this ‘unofficial’social control operates? Have you inclass or in your peer group noticedhow a child who behaves a bitdifferently from the rest is treated?Have you witnessed incidents wherechildren are bullied by their peergroup to be more like the otherchildren?

Man kills sister for marrying from outside the caste

... The elder brother of a 19-year-old girl here carried out an apparent ‘honourkilling’ by allegedly beheading her while she was asleep at a hospital ... policesaid on Monday.The girl... was undergoing treatment at ... Hospital for stab wounds after her

brother... attacked her on December 16 for marrying outside the caste, theysaid. She and her lover eloped on December 10 and returned to their houseshere on December 16 after getting married, which was opposed by her parents,they said. The Panchayat also tried to pressurise the couple but they refused to be swayed.


values held by most of the members ofa group or society. What is regarded as‘deviant’ is as widely variable as thenorms and values that distinguishdifferent cultures and subcultures.Likewise ideas of deviance arechallenged and change from one periodto another. For example, a womanchoosing to become an astronaut may

be considered deviant at one time, andbe applauded at another time even inthe same society. You are alreadyfamiliar with how sociology is differentfrom common sense. The specificterms and concepts discussed in thischapter will help you further to movetowards a sociological understandingof society.

GLOSSARY

Conflict Theories : A sociological perspective that focuses on the tensions,divisions and competing interests present in human societies. Conflicttheorists believe that the scarcity and value of resources in society producesconflict as groups struggle to gain access to and control those resources.Many conflict theorists have been strongly influenced by the writings ofMarx.

Functionalism : A theoretical perspective based on the notion that socialevents can best be explained in terms of the function they perform — that isthe contribution they make to the continuity of a society. And on a view ofsociety as a complex system whose various parts work in relationship toeach other in a way that needs to be understood.

Identity : The distinctive characteristic of a person’s character or thecharacter of a group which relate to who they are and what is meaningful tothem. Some of the main sources of identity include gender, nationality orethnicity, social class.

Means of Production : The means whereby the production of material goodsis carried on in a society, including not just technology but the socialrelations between producers.

Microsociology and Macrosociology : The study of everyday behaviour insituations of face-to-face interaction is usually called microsociology. Inmicrosociology, analysis occurs at the level of individuals or small groups. Itdiffers from macrosociology, which concerns itself with large-scale socialsystems, like the political system or the economic order. Though they appearto be distinct, they are closely connected.

Natal : It relates to the place or time of one’s birth. R

Norms : Rules of behaviour which reflect or embody a culture’s values, eitherprescribing a given type of behaviour, or forbidding it. Norms are always


backed by sanctions of one kind or another, varying from informal disapprovalto physical punishment or execution.

Sanctions : A mode of reward or punishment that reinforce socially expectedforms of behaviour.

EXERCISES

1. Why do we need to use special terms and concepts in sociology?

2. As a member of society you must be interacting with and in differentgroups. How do you see these groups from a sociological perspective?

3. What have you observed about the stratification system existing in yoursociety? How are individual lives affected by stratification?

4. What is social control? Do you think the modes of social control in differentspheres of society are different? Discuss.

5. Identify the different roles and status that you play and are located in.Do you think roles and status change? Discuss when and how theychange.

READINGS

BERGER, L. PETER. 1976. Invitation to Sociology : A Humanistic Perspective.Penguin, Harmondsworth.

BOTTOMORE, TOM. and ROBERT, NISBET. 1978. A History of Sociological Analysis.Basic Books, New York.

BOTTOMORE, TOM. 1972. Sociology. Vintage Books, New York.

DESHPANDE, SATISH. 2003. Contemporary India : A Sociological View. Viking, Delhi.

FERNANDO, FRANCO. MACWAN, JYOTSNA. and RAMANATHAN, SUGUNA. 2004. Journeysto Freedom Dalit Narratives. Samya, Kolkata.

GIDDENS, ANTHONY. 2001. Sociology. Fourth Edition. Polity Press, Cambridge.

JAYARAM, N. 1987. Introductory Sociology. Macmillan India Ltd, Delhi.

NONGBRI, TIPLUT. 2003. ‘Gender and the Khasi Family Structure : The MeghalayaSuccession to Self-Acquired Property Act’, 1984, in ed. REGE, SHARMILA.Sociology of Gender The Challenge of Feminist Sociological Knowledge,pp.182-194. Sage Publications, New Delhi.

SRINIVAS, M.N. 1996. Village, Caste, Gender and Method. Oxford UniversityPress, New Delhi.

Education

Chapter 2