BBA 2nd, GE 103 Social Sciences, W3

How do various Social Sciences / Humanities Explain Societal Structures and Human
Behaviour
In the social sciences, social structure is the aggregate of patterned social arrangements in
society that are both emergent from and determinant of the actions of individuals. Likewise,
society is believed to be grouped into structurally related groups or sets of roles, with different
functions, meanings, or purposes.
It refers to a society's framework, consisting of the various relationships between people and
groups that direct and set limits on human behaviour. The major components of social structure
include culture, social class, social status, roles, groups, and social institutions. Social structure
guides people's behaviours.
The major social institutions recognized by sociologists include family, religion, education,
media, law, politics, and economy. These are understood as distinct institutions that are
interrelated and interdependent and together help compose the overarching social structure of
a society.
Societal Structure and Human Behaviour
Social structure guides people's behaviours. A person's location in the social structure (his or
her social class, social status, the roles he or she plays, and the culture, groups, and social
institutions to which he or she belongs) underlies his or her perceptions, attitudes, and
behaviours.
These causes are characteristics and actions of others, cognitive processes, environmental
variables, culture, and biological causes.
Social structure is the organized set of social institutions and patterns of institutionalized
relationships that together compose society. Social structure is both a product of social
interaction and directly determines it. Social structures are not immediately visible to the
untrained observer, however, they are always present and affect all dimensions of human
experience in society.
Socialization
Socialization is the process whereby an individual's standards, skills, motives, attitudes, and
behaviours change to conform to those regarded as desirable and appropriate for his or her
present and future role in any particular society. From: Encyclopedia of Infant and Early
Childhood Development.
Characteristics of socialization:
• Socialization is a process of learning.
• It is a life-long process.
• It is a process of assimilating one's own culture.
• Characteristics and knowledge of a specific class of people.
 • Culture diffusion takes place due to the socialization, of a person belonging to one
society, to another.
Agents of Socialization Definition
As people go through life, they come into contact with many individuals, groups, and forces
that impact their growth and understanding of the world. All of these factors together are called
agents of socialization and shape people as they grow through childhood and far beyond.
Agents of socialization are therefore defined as the influence of key factors on a person's
development and ability to play a role in society.
So what are the agents of socialization specifically? The primary agents are family, schools and
daycares, peers, and media. Other agents of socialization include religion and ethnicity,
political groups, work, neighbourhoods, social activities, and institutions.
Primary Agents of Socialization
The primary agents of socialization are the most notable and most important socialization
forces in a person's life. They are most formative during childhood, when individuals are still
learning how to interact with the world around them. The four primary agents of socialization
examples are family, schools, peers, and mass media.
Family
Almost all children are raised by biological, adoptive, or foster families who teach them how
to care for themselves and how to interact with the world around them. Of all the agents of
socialization examples, family is the one that is typically the most impactful. Families pass on
many things to their children, including:
Cultural knowledge
• Values
• Religious practices
• World views
These often shape the kinds of families and relationships children will go on to create for
themselves in later life. Families can have both positive and negative influences as agents of
socialization. They can teach children to respect others and to value their own strengths, and
they can also reinforce potentially harmful ideas about gendered expectations, social class, and
other social issues like racism and homophobia.
Schools
When children attend schools and daycares, they receive instruction and socialization outside
the family, sometimes for the first time. While young children are often the centre of attention
at home, they spend time in school learning to respect and value the time and opinions of others.
They also learn a lot of social skills that will eventually prepare them for the work force that
they will enter as adults. Perhaps the most notable thing that children learn in school is to
respect the authority of their teachers.
Other Agents of Socialization
In addition to the four primary agents of socialization, there are a number of other elements
that can function as agents of socialization in people's lives. They are not considered ''primary''
because they may only be a part of someone's life for a short time, do not affect all people, or
are more variable than other agents of socialization.
Religion, Culture, and Ethnicity
An individual's religion, culture, and ethnic group can all hold sway in a person's life. For
instance, religion and ethnicity can:
• Impact an individual's choices and view of society
• Be connected to family socialization
• Inform how individuals approach problems and experiences
• Strongly influence an individual's perception of who they are and their place in the
world, especially as experienced through cultural hegemony, racism, and other factors
For example, an individual who is raised in a white Baptist family is likely to have very
different socialization experiences to an individual who is raised in an Indian Muslim family
when it comes to experiences of discrimination, racism, and religious values.
Political Groups
Political groups or political affiliation can affect socialization in the following ways:
• How individuals see and understand the experiences of those around them
• If or when individuals take specific political action or even seek a political career
• How people feel about their society and the issues facing their world
For example, a person who spends a lot of time in libertarian political spaces will likely have
different social views and socialization to someone who spends a lot of time in leftist spaces.
Lesson Summary
Socialization is a lifelong process through which humans learn about their environment and
about how to interact with others. Agents of socialization are forces in a person's life that teach
them about the world and their place within it. Family, closely followed by school, peers,
and media, are considered the primary agents of socialization in a child's life. School in
particular teaches children about obeying authority in the form of teachers. Mass media can
make some parents nervous because it can expose children to inappropriate material, as can
peer groups.
In addition to these primary agents of socialization, individuals are influenced by
their religion and culture, ethnicity, political affiliations, workplaces, neighbourhoods, social
activities, and in some cases, by institutions like jails. All of these agents of socialization come
together to impact an individual throughout a lifetime.
Human Behaviour
Human behaviour in a social science is a concept that describes a comprehensive view of
people and is fundamental to the study of social sciences. Its concepts apply to all forms of
clinical work, as it integrates concepts from the biological, psychological, and social sciences.
Human behaviour is the potential and expressed capacity (mentally, physically, and socially)
of human individuals or groups to respond to internal and external stimuli throughout their life.
Behaviour is driven by genetic and environmental factors that affect an individual.
Human behaviour provides a framework to understand both individuals and the environment
in which they live. This facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of the individual
presenting for treatment. This can be particularly important in understanding barriers to
adherence, personality structures, interactional styles, irregular follow-ups and no-shows, and
other such clinically-pertinent behaviours. In this way, Human Behaviour in Social Sciences
provides a method to broaden the clinician's view of the patient's life and the challenges and
limitations that exist for the patient. Through this understanding, one can garner an appreciation
for these barriers, which can subsequently facilitate an ability to address some of the barriers
that exist. This is particularly relevant when understanding social determinants of health. Social
determinants of health are considered vital contributors to adherence, response to treatment,
and follow-up.