The components of the social structure of society are. Social structure of society: concept, elements and their characteristics

The social structure of a society is not rigid; vibrations and movements constantly occur in it, i.e. it is characterized by social mobility. Social mobility is a change by a social group or individual in its social position. The term “social mobility” was introduced into sociology by P. A. Sorokin, who considered social mobility as movement along the social ladder in two directions: vertical - movement up and down, horizontal - movement at the same social level. During periods social change there is mass group mobility. In stable periods, social mobility increases at the time of economic restructuring. In this case, education is an important “social elevator” that ensures vertical upward mobility. Social mobility is a fairly reliable indicator of the level of openness or closedness of a society. In modern society, social mobility gives rise to the phenomenon of social marginality. Marginality is a concept that characterizes borderline, intermediate, cultural phenomena, social actors and statuses... Marginalization implies a break, a loss of objective belonging to a certain social community without subsequent entry into another community or without complete adaptation to it. A marginalized person is a person who is related to two different groups without completely belonging to either of them... The marginalized person’s subjective idea of ​​himself and his objective position are contradictory: he is placed in a situation of struggle for survival. Therefore, a marginal personality has a number of characteristic features: anxiety, aggressiveness, unjustified ambition. The social behavior of a marginalized person creates difficulties both for the person himself and for the people communicating with him. For a long time in sociology, marginality was assessed negatively. IN Lately sociologists changed their attitude towards it, seeing in this social phenomenon positive side. (Minaev V.V., Arkhipova N.I., S1. Based on the text, indicate the feature that defines the essence social mobility. What are (according to P.A. Sorokin) the main directions of social mobility? C2. Under what two social conditions, according to the authors, does education act as an important “social elevator”? Explain any of these conditions.C3. Who do the authors call marginalized? Give a definition and give it based on knowledge of the social science course and facts public life three examples of marginality.C4. Recently, as the authors note, sociologists have seen the positive side of marginality. Please indicate three manifestations

1. The social structure of society determines the relationship between: a) members of society and the state;
b) owners of production and the state; c) different segments of the population; d) members of various societies.
2. The reason for the appearance of marginalized people is: a) transition modern society to the stage of post-industrial development;
b) poverty, unemployment, lack of employment; c) universal literacy of the population.
3. The assessment that society gives to a status or position is: a) the authority of the individual;
b) social prestige; c) normal.
4. Social role is: a) actions that a person occupying a certain place in society must perform;
b) interaction between man and society; c) both statements are true; d) both statements are incorrect.
5. An authoritative person can be: a) a specific person;
b) profession; c) position.
6. Change social status: a) impossible;
b) more possibilities in a civilized society; c) it is easier in a country that is less developed.
7. A person’s social status is determined by his attitude towards: a) other people;
b) Homeland; c) property.
8. Expression social stratification is a) the difference between types of economic systems
b) variety cultural traditions c) class division of society d) ideological pluralism

Being structurally complex social system, society consists of interconnected and relatively independent parts. Social structure is a set of elements that make up a social system, as well as connections, relationships, interactions between and within them.

Essential elements, social structure, of interest to sociological science are the following:

Social groups that form the basis of the social structure of society;

Social organizations and social institutions interacting with each other and society as a whole;

Social norms and values ​​that govern relationships within and between groups;

Social activity within which social relationships are formed;

Social statuses and social roles to which the subjects of this activity correspond.

Social group as the most important component social structure - a way of relatively stable interaction of individuals with each other over a long period of time. A group is not just a certain number of people, but a set of relationships between them that have developed on the basis common interests and needs in the process of joint activities.

Every social group has its own distinctive characteristics:

Boundaries - it is known who is a member of the group, what its size is;

Identity - group members know how they differ from representatives of another group, feel their own uniqueness, have their own spiritual atmosphere, their own values ​​and norms within the framework of joint activities;

Symbols, badges, uniforms, identification cards and other insignia;

Activity - joint actions of group members aimed at common interests;

Roles - for example, the role of a leader.

Each group has a “core”, which consists of those members who most closely correspond to the characteristics of this group.

The social structure of society is made up of various group communities of people:

1. Social classes and layers. These include workers, peasants, entrepreneurs, intellectuals, office workers and other groups of people with a large number of members.

2. Ethnic communities. Among them are various nations, nationalities, multinational communities integrated into large groups with common interests and needs.

3. Territorial entities. These are residents of a city or village, region or administrative district, federal subject or country as a whole.

4. Professional groups. These include groups of doctors, teachers, lawyers, car drivers, machine operators, and representatives of other professions and specialties.

5. Socio-demographic groups. For example, youth, women, pensioners.

6. Political groups. These are mass movements political parties, other socio-political formations.

7. Sociocultural groups. Among them: movie lovers, rock music lovers, collectors, and other fans of culture or subculture.

8. Family and household communities. These include family and everyday life in their various types and forms.

9. Religious groups. This includes various sects, groups of people who visit temples or only observe certain rituals, etc.

The groups listed above do not exhaust all the diversity of existing group communities. However, it is precisely these social formations that most often come to the attention of a sociologist and are the object of sociological research.

Social groups are also divided according to the nature of connections between their members:

Primary groups - connected with each other by emotional, spiritual, family relationships, capable of providing strong influence Each other;

Secondary groups - impersonal relationships predominate: structural and functional divisions of the enterprise, various clubs, committees, etc.

Groups are usually classified according to the level of formality of their formation:

Formal ones are created and regulated by special laws, instructions, orders, regulations;

Informal ones develop spontaneously, based on common interests and the authority of leaders.

Relations in society are coordinated by social organizations. Every organization usually strives to ensure that its members can satisfy their basic needs. This desire results in a certain practice, which is consolidated through specific social institutions.

Social organizations- these are large associations of people, a set of interacting individuals, social groups, statuses, roles, norms aimed at achieving certain social results.

The purpose of an organization is the expected end result of its activities. This is what the organization was created for.

Hierarchy is the distribution of power within an organization. Assumes the presence of leaders and subordinates interacting with each other. Leadership in an organization can be formal (official) and informal (based only on authority).

Management involves a conscious and purposeful influence on the organization, encouraging its members to effective solution challenges. Among the objects of management there can be both structural elements of the organization itself (for example, objects and means of labor), and external factors(interaction with other organizations).

Formalization requires limiting the behavior of organization members within an official framework - internal regulations, charters, norms, rules.

Organizations are often divided into types according to the methods of their formation:

Voluntary (public) organizations - are created to protect the interests of their members and require free withdrawal from the organization;

Official (formal) organizations - are created to achieve certain socially significant goals within the framework of bureaucratic systems that have a stable, clearly organized system management.

Bureaucracy is the rule of officials. Initially, government representatives were called bureaucracy, and then officials in other large organizations began to be called this.

Official organizations have different kinds. These include business (commercial) organizations and so-called total organizations (created by state, religious and other government institutions to solve important social problems). Total organizations are hospitals, sanatoriums, prisons, barracks, monasteries and other similar objects.

Sometimes isolated simple organizations(have one goal) and complex organizations (have several interrelated goals).

Every social organization strives to ensure that its members can satisfy their basic needs. This desire results in a certain practice, which is consolidated through social institutions. The process of creating new social institutions is called institutionalization.

Social institutions- a stable set of organizations, social roles, technologies and rules of behavior, norms and values, focused on meeting the needs of people and regulating relations in society.

We can name the characteristics common to all social institutions:

1) specially created institutions (organizations) within which the activities of social institutions develop;

2) availability material resources, with the help of which the functioning of a social institution is ensured;

3) set social norms, rules, regulations, with the help of which the compliance of citizens' behavior with the interests of society is monitored;

4) the existence of a system of values ​​adopted for the ideological justification of the desired behavior of citizens;

5) the use of sanctions and incentives to regulate relations within a social institution.

There are main groups of needs on the basis of which social institutions are formed:

Reproduction and education of new members of society;

Development of the social and professional structure of society;

Preserving life and maintaining people's health;

Production and distribution of goods and services;

Regulation of political relations in society;

Preservation cultural values and norms;

Satisfying religious needs.

According to the needs listed above, social institutions are formed: family, education, health care, economic institutions, political institutions, socio-cultural institutions, religious institutions.

There are many social institutions in any society. They are often divided into formal (created officially, usually within the state, with strictly defined boundaries) and informal (do not have strict regulation, presuppose a certain freedom of choice from possible behavior options).

Contemporary American anthropologist Julian Steward, in his book “The Theory of Cultural Change,” moved away from Spencer’s classical social evolutionism, based on the differentiation of labor. Each society, according to Steward, consists of several cultural fields:

• technical and economic;
• socio-political;
• legislative;
• artistic, etc.

Each cultural field has its own laws of evolution, and the whole society as a whole is in unique natural and social conditions. As a result, the development of each society is unique and does not obey any economic-formational linearity. But most often the leading reason for the development of local societies is the technical and economic sphere.

Marsh (1967), in particular, indicated the signs under which a social community can be considered society:

• permanent territory having a state border;
• replenishment of the community as a result of childbearing and immigration;
• developed culture (concepts of experience, concepts of the connection between elements of experience, values-beliefs, norms of behavior that correspond to values, etc.);
• political (state) independence.

As can be seen, the economy is among listed signs absent.

The structure of society in Parsons' sociology

The most famous, complex and used in modern sociology— understanding of society proposed by . He views society as a type of social system, which in turn is structural element of the action system. As a result, a chain arises:

• action system;
• social system;
• society as a form of social system.

The action system includes the following structural subsystems:

• social a subsystem whose function is to integrate people into a social connection;
• cultural a subsystem consisting of the preservation, reproduction and development of a pattern of human behavior;
• personal a subsystem consisting in the implementation of goals and execution of the action process inherent in the cultural subsystem;
• behavioral organism whose function is to carry out physical (practical) interactions with external environment.

The external environment of the action system is, on the one hand, the “highest reality”, the problem of the meaning of life and action, contained in the cultural subsystem, and on the other hand, the physical environment, nature. Social systems are open systems in constant exchange with the external environment, “formed by states and processes social interaction between acting subjects."

Society is "type of social system in the entire set of social systems that has reached highest degree self-sufficiency in relation to one’s environment.” It consists of four subsystems - bodies that perform certain functions in the structure of society:

• the societal subsystem is the subject of social action, it consists of a set of norms of behavior that serve the integration of people and groups into society;
• the cultural subsystem of preserving and reproducing a model, consisting of a set of values ​​and serving for people to reproduce a model of typical social behavior;
• a political subsystem that serves to set and achieve goals by the societal subsystem;
• economic (adaptive) subsystem, which includes a set of people’s roles and interactions with the material world (Table 1).

The core of society is the societal community - a unique people, and the remaining subsystems act as tools for preserving (stabilizing) this community. It is a complex network of interpenetrating groups (families, businesses, churches, government agencies etc.), within which people have common values ​​and norms and are distributed between statuses and roles. “Society,” writes Parsons, “is that type of social system in the totality of social systems that has achieved the highest degree of self-sufficiency in relations with its environment.” Self-sufficiency includes the ability of society to control both the interaction of its subsystems and external processes interactions.

Table 1. Structure of society according to T. Parson

The main social problem, according to Parsons, is the problem of order, stability and adaptation of society to changing internal and external conditions. He pays special attention to the concept of “norm” as the most important element of a social connection, institution, organization. In reality, not a single social system (including society) is in a state of complete integration and correlation with other systems, because destructive factors are constantly at work, as a result of which constant social control and other corrective mechanisms.

Parsons's concept of social action, social system, society has been criticized from various sociological points of view. Firstly, his society turned out to be squeezed between the cultural and anthropological (personality and behavioral organism) subsystems, while the cultural subsystem remained outside of society. Secondly, the societal community is not part of the political, economic, cultural subsystems, therefore societal statuses, values, and norms turn out to be functionally undifferentiated in relation to social systems. Thirdly, the main element of society is the societal community, which is formed by values ​​and norms, and not the process of activity leading to a certain result.

In my opinion, the structure of society proposed by Parsons can be significantly changed. It makes sense to add demosocial to the subsystems of society, associated with the reproduction and socialization of people. It is not covered by the personal and behavioral subsystems, playing a fundamental role in society. Need to split cultural subsystem on spiritual And mental, since their confusion in the cultural subsystem interferes with Parsons himself when analyzing individual cultural subsystems - for example, the church and the religious worldview. Should be included in all social systems of society - societal parts (functional societal communities).

Modern ideas about the structure of society

From my point of view, society consists of the following main system-spheres:

• geographical (natural basis of existence and subject of production);
• demosocial (demographic and social) - reproduction and socialization of people;
• economic (production, distribution, exchange, consumption of material goods);
• political (production, distribution, exchange, consumption of power-order, ensuring integration);
• spiritual (artistic, legal, educational, scientific, religious, etc.) - production, distribution, exchange, consumption of spiritual values ​​(knowledge, artistic images, moral standards, etc.), spiritual integration;
• mental, conscious, subjective (a set of instincts, feelings, views, values, norms, beliefs inherent in a given society).

Each of the listed systems includes subsystems that can be considered as relatively independent parts of society. These representations can be shown schematically as follows (Scheme 1).

Scheme 1. Basic systems of society

The systems of society, firstly, are arranged in such a “ladder”, primarily depending on the ratio of the material (objective) and mental (subjective) in them. If in the geographical sphere the subjective component (worldview, mentality, motivation) is absent, then in the conscious sphere it is fully present. When moving from a geographical (unconscious) to a mental (conscious) system, the role of meanings constructing society, i.e., the conscious component of people’s life, increases. At the same time, there is an increase mismatch everyday (empirical) and scientific (theoretical) knowledge and beliefs. Secondly, demosocial, economic, political, spiritual systems are focused on satisfying functional needs (demosocial, economic, etc.). Therefore, the concept of social connection (sociality) acts as a methodological basis for the analysis of these systems of society. Thirdly, these systems are complementary, complement one another and build on one another. Various cause-and-effect, essentially-phenomenal and functional-structural connections arise between them, so that the “end” of one public sphere is at the same time the “beginning” of another. They form a hierarchy, where the result of the functioning of one system is the beginning of another. For example, the demosocial system is the source of the economic system, and the latter is the source of the political system, etc.

The same person acts as a subject of different social systems, and therefore societal communities, implements different motivational mechanisms in them (needs, values, norms, beliefs, experience, knowledge), performs different roles (husband, worker, citizen, believer and etc.), forms various social connections, institutions, organizations. This, on the one hand, enriches the status and role set of people, and on the other hand, preserves the unity of social systems and societies. The individual, his activities, and motivation are ultimately one of the main integrators of the population into the society-people. In understanding sociology, Parsons' sociology and
In phenomenological sociology, individual social action is the main element of the social.

Public, social, societal existence - it is a set of demosocial, economic, political, spiritual systems and connections between them. The listed terms express essentially the same thing. Systems of social communication, social existence, social systems are processes of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of some social goods (goods, order, truths, etc.).

Society - This is a set of social systems with the exception of the geographical one. In sociology textbooks, as a rule, there is a section culture of society, which in the narrow sense of the word is understood as a system of values, norms, thoughts, and actions characteristic of a given society. IN in a broad sense words society and culture society - identical concepts, therefore in the present textbook I excluded the “culture” section: it is considered in different topics due to the great vagueness of the very concept of “culture”. Culture person has been discussed before.

Society - it is the totality of all social systems and connections between them, its main metasystems are people, formation and civilization. In social systems ( social life) can be divided into three main parts to simplify their understanding and role in society. Firstly, this initial, subjective, societal part of social systems includes functional communities (demosocial, economic, etc.) that have functional subjectivity(needs, values, knowledge), abilities to act, as well as roles.

Secondly, this basic, activity part - the process of producing some public goods - which represents the coordinated actions of individuals with different roles, their mutual communication, the use of objects and tools (activity situation). An example would be managers, engineers and workers, together with the means of production, in the activities of an industrial enterprise. This part is basic because this social system depends on it.

Thirdly, this effective, auxiliary part that includes produced social goods: for example, cars, their distribution, exchange and consumption (use) by other social systems. The effective part of the social system also includes reinforcement initial and basic parts, confirmation of their adequacy for their purpose. Like this realistic, the point of view softens the extremes of subjectivist, understanding, positivist and Marxist sociology.

Unlike Parsons, the functional societal community in this interpretation is the initial element of each social system, and does not act as a separate system. It also includes the status and role structure that characterizes a given social system. It, and not the cultural subsystem, acts as a specific functional cultural part of the social system.

Further, not only the economic and political, but also the demosocial and spiritual systems are social, that is, they have their own functional societal communities, with their own needs, mentality, abilities, as well as actions, norms, institutions and results.

And finally, in all social systems the cultural, societal, personal, behavioral subsystems are in unity, and individual(elementary) action is part of the basic part of every social system, including: a) situation (objects, tools, conditions); b) orientation (needs, goals, norms); c) operations, results, benefits.

Thus, society can be defined as a natural-social organism consisting of mental, social, geographical systems, as well as connections and relationships between them. Society has different levels: villages, cities, regions, countries, systems of countries. Humanity includes both the development of individual countries and the slow formation of a universal superorganism.

In this textbook, society is depicted in the form of a hierarchical structure, which includes: 1) the basic elements of society; 2) systems (subsystems), spheres, organs; 3) metasystems ( peoples, characterizing the “metabolic” structure of society; formations, characterizing the “social body” of society; civilization characterizing his “soul”).

Saint-Simon, Comte, Hegel and others believed that driving force changes in societies is in the sphere of consciousness, in those ideas, methods of thinking and projects with the help of which Man tries to explain and predict his practical activities, control her, and through her the world. Marxists saw driving force historical changes in the sphere of struggle between the poor and rich classes, productive forces and economic relations, that is, in the economic system. In my opinion, driving force development of societies are also the contradictions of mental, societal, objective within social systems, between social systems within society, between different societies.

Sociology studies society at its various scales. It is not limited social entities, operating within the boundaries of modern nation-states, but studies everything social, from the individual to humanity as a whole. At the middle levels of social order, located between the individual and the global, sociology deals with individual elements of the social structure.

Social structure of society- this is a stable set of its elements, as well as connections and relationships into which groups and communities of people enter regarding the conditions of their life. The structure of society is represented by a complex interconnected system of statuses and roles. Although social structure is formed through the functioning of social institutions, it is not the entire social organization, but only its form. The social structure is based on the social division of labor, property relations, and other factors of social inequality. The advantages of social inequality include opportunities for professional specialization and prerequisites for increased labor productivity. The disadvantages of social inequality are associated with social conflicts which it generates. An empirical indicator of social inequality is decile coefficient of income differentiation, or the ratio of the income of the richest 10% to the income of the poorest 10% of society. In highly developed industrial countries it ranges from 4 to 8. Today in Belarus it is in the range of 5.6-5.9. For comparison: in Kazakhstan the decile coefficient is 7.4, in Ukraine - 8.7, in Poland - 16.5, in Russia - 16.8.

The starting element of the social structure of society as an integral system is the individual and diverse social communities in which people are united by family, economic, ethnic, religious, political and other ties. Integration and coordination of the actions of many people and various types of groups is carried out through social institutions.

The concept of “social structure” reflects social inequality in all its manifestations, and the concept of “social stratification” - only in a vertical section.

The characteristics by which people are united into strata are, first of all, income level, level of education and qualifications, prestige of the profession and access to power. In accordance with their place in the social hierarchy, various social strata can be grouped into classes. An indicator of a person’s position in the class structure of society is life style- a set of actions and items of property that are perceived by the individual and others as symbols of him social status.

In Marxist theory classes - these are large groups of people who differ:

By place in a historically defined system social production;
- in relation to the means of production ( for the most part, enshrined and formalized in laws);
- by role in public organization labor;
- according to the methods of obtaining and the size of the share of social wealth that they have.

Highlight basic(dominant within a certain socio-economic formation) and non-core classes(the existence of which is due to the preservation in a given socio-economic formation of the remnants of previous ones or the emergence of the beginnings of new production relations). This understanding represents the class structure of society less rigidly and brings the analysis of social structure closer to stratification analysis. However, the identification of excessively large groups of the population within the social structure makes social analysis too abstract and does not allow for quite significant intra-class differences to be taken into account. In part, this shortcoming of class analysis was overcome by M. Weber, who Class - is a collection of individuals who have a relatively equal share of power, wealth and prestige. Social structure is presented in more detail in the theory of social stratification. A class can also be defined as a group that is united by professional, property and socio-legal interests.

Weber's interpretation of classes was developed within the framework of the functional (status) concept of classes (R. Aron, D. Bell, T. Parsons, W. Warner, X. Shelsky, etc.), which identifies the following class-forming characteristics: income level, level of education and qualifications, prestige of the profession, access to power.

Top class (usually 1-2% of the population) are the owners of large capital, the industrial and financial elite, the highest political elite, the highest bureaucracy, the generals, the most successful representatives of the creative elite. They usually own a significant portion of property (in industrialized countries - about 20% of public wealth) and have a serious influence on politics, economics, culture, education and other areas of public life.

Lower class - low-skilled and unskilled workers with low levels of education and income, marginal and lumpen groups, many of whom are characterized by significant discrepancies between relatively high expectations, social aspirations and a low assessment of their real capabilities and personal results achieved in society. Representatives of such strata integrate into market relations and achieve middle-class living standards with great difficulty.

Middle class - a set of groups of independent and hired labor, occupying a “middle”, intermediate position between the higher and lower strata in most status hierarchies (property, income, power) and having a common identity.

BASIC ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF SOCIETY

Before moving on to the topic of our essay, let us understand the concept of “social structure of society.”

So, the social structure of society means the objective division of society into separate layers, groups, different in their social status, in their relation to the method of production. This is a stable connection of elements in a social system.

Social structure as a kind of framework of the entire system of social relations, that is, as a set of economic, social and political institutions organizing public life. On the one hand, these institutions define a certain network of role positions and normative requirements in relation to specific members of society. On the other hand, they represent certain fairly stable ways of socialization of individuals.

The main principle of determining the social structure of society should be the search for real subjects of social processes. Subjects can be both individuals and social groups of various sizes, distinguished for different reasons: youth, working class, religious sect, and so on. From this point of view, the social structure of society can be represented as a more or less stable relationship between social layers and groups.

In a broad sense, social structure is the structure of society as a whole, a system of connections between all its main elements. With this approach, social structure characterizes all the numerous types of social communities and the relationships between them. In a narrow sense, the term “social structure of society” is most often applied to social-class and social-group communities. Social structure in this sense is a set of interconnected and interacting classes, social strata and groups.

The main elements of the social structure are such social communities as classes and class-like groups, ethnic, professional, socio-demographic groups, socio-territorial communities (city, village, region). Each of these elements, in turn, is a complex social system with its own subsystems and connections. The social structure of society reflects the characteristics of social relations of classes, professional, cultural, national-ethnic and demographic groups, which are determined by the place and role of each of them in the system of economic relations. Social aspect of any community is concentrated in its connections and mediations with production and class relations in society.

There are two generally accepted paradigms for considering social structure: 1) theories of social institutions and 2) theories of social inequality.

E. Durkheim figuratively defined social institutions as “factories of reproduction” of social relations and connections, i.e. Institutions generally mean certain types of relationships between people that are constantly in demand by society and therefore are revived again and again. Social institutions are specific formations that ensure the relative stability of connections and relationships within the boundaries of the social organization of society, historically determined forms of organization and regulation of social life. Social institutions are historically established persistent forms of organizing the joint activities of people. They must ensure reliability and regularity of meeting the needs of individuals, cereals, and society as a whole. Social institutions determine the functioning of any society. Using the concepts " social institution", most often mean various kinds of ordering, formalization of social connections and relationships, mastery of such features as:

1.consistency and degree of interactions between participants in connections and relationships;

2. a clear definition of the functions, rights and responsibilities that ensure the interaction of each of the communication participants;

3. regulation and control over the interaction of subjects, the presence of specially trained personnel who ensure the functioning of social institutions.

In order for such a structural element of society as a social institution to arise and develop, special conditions are needed:

1. a certain need must arise and spread in society, which, being recognized by many members of society (as a general social or societal one), becomes the main prerequisite for the formation of a new institution;

2. operational means must be available to satisfy this need, i.e. the established system of functions, actions, operations, private goals necessary for society, realizing a new need;

3. in order for the institute to actually fulfill its mission, it is endowed with the necessary resources (material, financial, labor, organizational), which society must steadily replenish;

4. To ensure the self-reproduction of an institution, a special cultural environment is also necessary, i.e. a subculture unique to it must be formed (a special system of signs, actions, rules of behavior that distinguish people belonging to this institution).

Social institutions are diverse:

Political institutions (state, party, army);

Economic institutions (distribution of labor, property, taxes, etc.)

Institutes of kinship, marriage, family;

Institutions operating in the spiritual sphere (education, culture, mass communications), etc.

Social inequality in society is most often understood as stratification - the distribution of social groups in a hierarchically ordered rank (in ascending or descending order of some characteristic).

Theories of social inequality are divided into two fundamental directions: functionalist and conflictological.

Functionalism, in the tradition of E. Durkheim, derives social inequality from the division of labor: mechanical (natural, gender and age) and organic (arising as a result of training and professional specialization).

Marxism focuses on issues of class inequality and exploitation. Accordingly, conflict theories usually emphasize the dominant role of differentiating relations of property and power in the system of social reproduction.

So, the social structure of society is the totality of those connections and relationships that social groups and communities of people enter into among themselves regarding the economic, social, political and spiritual conditions of their life, and its main elements are:

1.social communities (large and small groups);

2.professional groups;

3.socio-demographic groups;

4.socio-territorial communities.

The types of social structures vary depending on the level of development of the division of labor and socio-economic relations.

Thus, the social structure of a slave-owning society was made up of classes of slaves and slave owners, as well as artisans, traders, landowners, free peasants, representatives of mental activity - scientists, philosophers, poets, priests, teachers, doctors, etc.

The social structure of feudal society was the interrelation of the main classes - feudal lords and serfs, as well as classes and various groups of the intelligentsia. These classes, wherever they arise, differ from each other in their place in the system of social division of labor and socio-economic relations. Estates occupy a special place in it. Estates are social groups whose place in society is determined not only by their position in the system of socio-economic relations, but also by established traditions and legal acts.

In Russia, for example, there were such classes as the nobility, clergy, peasantry, merchants, and petty bourgeoisie.

Capitalist society, especially modern society, has a complex social structure. Within the framework of its social structure, primarily various groups of the bourgeoisie, the so-called middle class and workers interact.

The main elements of a socialist society are the working class, the cooperative peasantry, the intelligentsia, professional and demographic groups and national communities.

Almost all elements of the social structure are heterogeneous in composition and, in turn, are divided into separate layers and groups, which appear as independent elements of the social structure with their inherent interests, which they realize in interaction with other subjects.

Social groups are relatively stable, historically established communities of people who differ in their role and place in the system of social connections of a historically defined society.

Sociologists distinguish social groups from aggregations in that the former are united on the basis of objective circumstances and belonging to a group is associated with the objective position of people in the system of social connections, the fulfillment of certain social roles, and the latter are a certain number of people who have gathered in a certain physical space and are not carries out conscious interactions. In order for a collection of people to be recognized as a group, there must be interaction between its members and the existence of expectations shared by each member of the group regarding its other members.

There are formal and informal groups:

A formal group is “a social group that has legal status, is part of a social institution, organization, and has the goal of achieving a certain result within the division of labor in a given institution or organization.” It is important that a formal group is characterized by a certain hierarchical structure of subordination.

An informal group is a social community that is formed on the basis of interpersonal relationships and does not have an official, legally fixed, approved status. The form of existence of informal groups can be different; they can function as relatively isolated, closed social communities and can develop within official groups and be an integral part of the official group.

Based on the individual's affiliation, one can distinguish between an ingroup and an outgroup.

Ingroups are those groups to which an individual feels that he belongs and in which he is identified with other members, that is, he understands the members of the ingroup as “we”. Other groups to which the individual does not belong are outgroups for him, that is, “they”.

In addition to the ingroup and outgroup, a reference group is also distinguished, which means a real or conditional social community with which an individual relates himself as a standard and to the norms, views, values ​​and assessments of which he is guided in his behavior and self-esteem. There are normative and comparative referent functions of the group.

The first is manifested in the fact that the group acts as a source of norms of behavior, social attitudes and value orientations of the individual.

The other (comparative function) is manifested in the fact that the reference group acts as a standard by which an individual can evaluate himself and others.

Based on the nature of the relationships between group members, primary and secondary groups are distinguished. In a primary group, each member sees the other group members as individuals and individuals. Members of groups such as friends and family tend to make social relationships informal and relaxed.

In secondary groups, social contacts are impersonal and have a utilitarian, one-sided nature. All contacts are functional according to social roles.

To analyze the social structure of society, we use such an elementary part of society that contains all types of social connections - this is a small social group whose social relations manifest themselves in the form of direct personal contacts. Small group can be either primary or secondary, depending on what type of relationship exists between its members. A large group can only be secondary. When studying small groups, one can trace the emergence of social processes, mechanisms of cohesion, the emergence of leadership, and role relationships.