Human Social Structures and the Role of Norms

The Concept of the Person and Socialization

Concept of the person: Unlike animals, people are helpless when born and need continuing adequate care from adults. They are born with a predisposition to be sociable; we need others to survive, and we learn to participate in the group through a long process of learning to live in society.

Why Living in Society is Essential

Living in society is important because we need others to survive.

Defining What a Society Is

A society is a group of human beings who associate in the realization of different interests.

Comparing Ancient and Modern Societies

Millions of years ago, people were seeking to stay together to find food, defend against the danger of other animals, and protect themselves from the cold. Today, we live in numerous and more complex societies that are organized through complicated political systems and manufacturing techniques used to produce food.

Necessary Conditions for a Society to Exist

For a society to exist, it must meet most of the following conditions:

• Share a space or territory.
• Have common goals.
• Establish cooperative relations to achieve those goals.
• Develop continuous and complex relations (and therefore should not be confused with a group of people who are related by chance or unexpectedly).

Characteristics of Society in Argentina

What characterizes a society in Argentina is that we share a territory, some common goals, and strive to improve our living conditions.

The Importance of Social Standards and Rules

The rules are important because if there were no rules, everything would be chaos and people would do as they pleased.

Anthony Giddens on Social Behavior and Sanctions

The sociologist Anthony Giddens believes that our activities would result in chaos if we did not have rules that define certain behaviors as appropriate and others as inappropriate, and if we did not establish sanctions for those that are not fulfilled.

Different Types of Social Sanctions

As you see, there are many standards and not all are equal. It is not the same to occupy a partner's seat as it is to hit someone; the sanction will be different in each case. Social norms differ according to the role, and the types of sanctions that can be distinguished are: customs and social norms.

Defining Social Uses and Customs

Usually, we respect certain types of rules or social norms as we learn them from a very young age. They have become something habitual—a habit. For example, the way in which we welcome others, the clothes we wear, how we behave at the table, manners, and customs are expected and desirable behaviors that people perform for the rest of a relationship.