F.
Cultural, Social and Political
Institutions
Social institution is a group of social
positions, connected by social relations,
performing a social role.
Any institution in a society that works to
socialize the groups of people in it.
And any people or groups that you have
social interactions with.
It is a major sphere of social life organized to
meet some human need.
are a system of behavioral and
relationship patterns that are
densely interwoven and enduring,
and function across an entire
society. They order and structure
the behavior of individuals by
means of their normative
character. It regulate the behavior
of individuals in core areas of
society:
a. family and relationship networks carry out social
reproduction and socialization;
b. institutions in the realm of education and training
ensure the transmission and cultivation of knowledge,
abilities and specialized skills;
c. institutions in the labor-market and economy provide
for the production and distribution of goods and
services;
d. institutions in the realm of law, governance and politics
provide for the maintenance of the social order;
e. while cultural, media and religious institutions further the
development of contexts of meaning, value orientations
and symbolic codes
Functionalist Approaches
Conflict Theory
Neo- institutionalist
approaches
social
institutions are important for the
maintenance of social systems
Socialintegration is only possible when
institutions perform core functions.
functions can be distinguished:
a. institutions structure human social
relationships and serve as a catalyst for
the role expectations with which
individuals are confronted in their
everyday actions.
b. institutions regulate the distribution of
gratifications and the allocation of
suitable persons to positions of power.
c. by means of symbols, policies and ideologies,
certain social institutions represent and
stabilize the value canons and contexts of
meaning of social systems.
Conflict Theory (Horton&Hunt cited by Vega
et,al) focuses on the heterogenous nature
of society and the different distribution of
political and social power.
its discourse is on the emergence of conflict and
what causes conflict within a particular society.
Neo-institutionalist theory (Powell, DiMaggio,
Williamson) argues that institutions are
important for the enactment of action
routines.
institutions unburden individuals and make their
social environments more predictable.
individuals adapts to the situational and role
expectations of their social environment.
trust and transparency is the essential element
in the functioning of social institutions
1. Institutions are purposive. Each of them
has the satisfaction of social needs as
its own goal or objective.
2. Relatively permanent in their content.
The pattern roles and relations that
people enact in a particular culture
become traditional enduring. Although
institutions are subject to change, the
change is relatively slow.
3. Institutions are structured. The components
tend to band together, reinforce one another.
This is because social roles and social relations
are in themselves structured combinations of
behavior patterns.
4. Institutions are a unified structure. They
function as a unit.
5. Institutions are necessarily value-laden. Their
repeated uniformities, patters and trends become
codes of conduct. Most of these codes
subconsciously exert social pressures. However,
others are in form of rules and laws.
1. Institutions simplify social behavior for the
individual person. The social institutions
provide every child with all the needed
social and cultural mechanisms through
which he can grow socially.
2. Institutions provide ready-made forms of social
relations and social roles for the individual. The
principal roles are not invented by the
individuals, they are provided by the
institutions.
3. Institutions
also act as agencies of
coordination and stability for total
culture. The ways of thinking and
behaving that are institutionalized
“make sense” to people.
4. Institutions tend to control behavior.
They contain the systematic
expectations of the society.
• Social Institutions can take many
forms, depending on a social
context.
• It may be a family, business,
educational, or
political institution.
1. THE FAMILY
• The smallest social institution with the unique
function.
• It is the basic unit of Philippine society and the
educational system where the child begins
to learn his ABC.
• The basic agent of socialization because it is
here where the individual develops values,
behaviors, and ways of life through
interaction with members of the family.
• The Filipino family is usually an extended
one and therefore, big.
• In spite of the family planning programs and
population efforts promoted all over the
country, many Filipinos have more
children than would be justified by those
who are concerned with population
growth.
• In the Filipino family, kinship ties are
extended to include the “compadre’
or sponsors. Compadres and comadres
are regarded as relatives and closer
ties are formed.
• Parents gets sponsors (ninong and ninang)
in the baptism of their child and
wedding of a son or daughter.
• In the Asian family, a great difference
exists in the roles of man and woman.
A woman’s position in the home and
society are much lower than that of
man.
• A much higher regard is attributed to the
Filipino woman, especially with the
changing roles and functions of the
family.
• Of all the institutions, the family is the most
important. It performs the following
functions:
1. Reproduction of the race and rearing of the
young – a unique function cannot be done by
any other institution.
2. Cultural transmission of enculturation – the
culture of the family is acquired from the
father and the mother.
3. Socialization of the child – in the family, the
child learns his role and status.
4. Providing affection and sense of security.
5. Providing the environment for personality
development and growth of self-
concept in relation to others.
6. Providing social status – each individual in
the family inherits both material goods
and social recognition defined by
ascribed status.
KINDS OF FAMILY PATTERNS
Membership Residence Authority Descent
Nuclear Neolocal Patriarchal Bilineal
extended Matrilocal Matriarchal Patrilineal
patrilocal equalitarian matrilineal
Conjugal or Polyandry
nuclear family
STRUCTURE FAMILY MARRIAGE Polygamy
Consanguine or Cenogamy
extended family
Technical/Economic Intellectual
Human/Social
Political
Political FUNCTION SCHOOLS PURPOSE
Social
Cultural
Education Economic
MANIFEST According to
Calderon
.Socialization
.Social Control
.Conservation
.Social
EDUCATION .Instructional
Placement F
.Research
.Transforming U
N .Social Service
Culture C
.Social political T
I
Integration O
.Agent of N
Change
LATENT
.Matchmaking and
Production of Networks
.Creation of Generation
Gap
M M
A I
C C
R R
O O
E E
C C
O ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS O
N N
O O
M M
I I
C C
S S
EXECUTIVE
GOVERNMENT
AS SOCIAL LEGISLATIVE
INSTITUTION
JUDICIARY
References; Books
Kottak, Conrad Phillip; Anthropology The Exploration of Human Diversity
10th ed.; McGraw-HillCompanies, Inc., USA
Kottak, Conrad Phillip, Anthropology The Exploration of
Human Diversity 7th ed.
McGraw-HillCompanies, Inc., USA
Giddens,Anthony; Duneir, M.L.;Appelbaum, R.A.
Introduction to Sociology 6th edition; W.W. Norton &
company,Inc.New York,N.Y.
Vega, Violeta A. Ph.D. et al.
Social Dimensions of Education ,Lorimar Publishing ,Inc. Q. C.
Manila
Lanuza, Gerry M. & Raymundo S. S.
Understanding Culture, Society and Politics, Rex
Bookstore,Manila,Philippines
Internet;
WWW.Youtube.com.
Social Institutions in Encyclopedia of Quality of Life Research
https://www.soz.univie.ac.at/.../Social_Institutions_in_Encyclopedia_o
f_Quality_of_Life..
Rider University
https://www.rider.edu/academics/colleges-schools/college-liberal-arts-
education-sciences/liberal-arts-programs/sociology/why-study-sociology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociology_of_culture
http://www.sociologyguide.com/gender/index.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociology_of_culture
T.K. Venkatasubramanian Department of History Delhi University
MEANING, PERSPECTIVES AND APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF CULTURE
