Every human society has its own structure, by which is meant a set of classes, strata of the population, diversifiable on different grounds.
social structure of society is able to change over time when changing mode of production, and other influencing factors.So, a few centuries ago, the majority of the society has a clear gradation of the population belonging to a particular caste, ethnicity and religious denomination.
social community - a stable set of people who have similar living conditions and interests.Subdivided according to the generality of the following characteristics:
- real - those that actually exist;
- Static - nominal (those that are recorded in the registers);
- Mass - a collection of people who share similar behavioral responses;
- Group - large and small groups;
The following types of social communities:
- manufacturing classes - differ in the level of development of society and on the basis of the relationship to the instruments of labor;
- professional community;
- demographics (age and sex);
- ethno-national, regional;
- territorial;
- industry
- racial and religious groups;
- production teams;
- family;
Social Stratification - is hierarchically distributed social stratification of people by certain characteristics in the initial conditions of inequality between each other.
There are also mixed stratification schemes which are especially characteristic of modern society, which is constantly in motion.That is why one of the signs of our times is the high social mobility - personality change their place in society.To a greater degree of social mobility characteristic of Europeans, Americans and residents of the developed countries in Asia, some countries of Africa and Latin America.Social mobility is uncommon in traditional societies.
social structure of society involves the following types of social mobility:
vertical mobility - the movement of social groups or individuals from one social class to another, thus greatly changing social position (downward or upward);
horizontal mobility - the transition from the previous individual social group to another, which are on the same social level (moving from one professional team to another, a change of marital status, religious denomination, etc.);
Geographic mobility - change of residence;
concept of social structure - why do it in sociology?
social structure of society - this is the group to which researchers share an interest in the sample.They provide the following functions:
- studied social groups are the engine of progress and development of society;
- the nature of the most numerous and active social groups may depend on the situation in a particular society at a particular historical period in which cases it can even lead to a change in social relations in the world (as, for example, in the case of the October Revolution of 1917);
- type of society, the level and pace of development depends on the structural division of the society into groups and which of them occupy key positions and have real power.
study in detail the subject of "social structure" sociology can provide an answer to the following questions:
- identification of the most promising strategies for the development of this social group and society in general;
- clarify issues vnutrisotsialnyh conflicts, finding ways to their most efficient and effective solutions;
- solution of the "ideal society" in which the real needs of the maximum number of the population can be met.
