Social role is a status-role concept that is one of the most popular theories in sociology. Any person is a part of society, society and, in accordance with it, performs a number of functions, in connection with which, in this concept, a person is a subject. Famous American sociologists laid the foundations of the concept of personality, they were R. Minton, J. Mead and T. Parson, of course, each has individual merit for the contribution of his efforts and potential to the development of the status-role concept.

Social status and social role are the main two concepts that describe a person. An individual, occupying a certain place in society, is consolidated by a social position and has certain rights and obligations. It is this position that defines a person. At the same time, a person has several statuses, one of which is the main or basic, that is, the main status is the profession or position of the person.

The social role is that he performs within the framework of his social status in a specific social system. And given that one person has several statuses, then, accordingly, he performs several roles. The general aggregate within the framework of one social status is a social set. A person performs more social roles if he has a much higher status and position in society.

The social role of a person working in a security agency is fundamentally different from the role-playing set of the President of the country, this is all clear and easy. In general, for the first time, the American sociologist T. Parson systematized the roles, thanks to whom five main categories were identified that make it possible to qualify individual social roles:

1. A social role is something that is regulated in some cases. For example, the social role of a civil servant is strictly outlined in a framework, and the role of the fact that this employee is a man is highly blurred and individual.
2. Some roles are extremely emotional, while others require strictness and restraint.
3. Social roles can differ in the way they are acquired. It depends on the social status, which is prescribed or achieved by a person independently.
4. The scope and scope of authority within one social role is clearly defined, while in others it is not even established.
5. The performance of the role is motivated by personal interests or for the sake of a public duty.

It is important to remember that a social role is a model of behavior, balanced between the expectation of the role and the character of the person. That is, it is not an exact mechanism and scheme, as expected from a specific social role, but role behavior is specific depending on the individual characteristics of a person. Let us reaffirm that the social role of a person is determined by a specific social status, expressed by a certain profession, sphere of activity. For example, a teacher, musician, student, salesman, director, accountant, politician. The social role of the individual is always assessed by society, approved or condemned. For example, the role of a criminal or a prostitute is publicly condemned.

A social role is a socially necessary type of social activity and a method of personality behavior. The concept of social role was first proposed by the American sociologists Mead and Linton back in the thirties of the last century.

The main types of social roles

The variety of social groups and relationships in their groups, as well as types of activities became the basis for the classification of social statuses. Currently, the types of social roles are distinguished, such as: formal, interpersonal and socio-demographic. Formal social roles are associated with the position that a person occupies in society. This refers to his occupation and profession. But interpersonal roles are directly related to different types of relationships. This category usually includes pets, outcasts, leaders. As for the socio-demographic roles, these are husband, son, sister, etc.

Characteristics of social roles

The American sociologist Talcott Parsons identified the main characteristics of social roles. These include: scale, method of obtaining, emotionality, motivation and formalization. Typically, the scope of the role is determined by the range of interpersonal relationships. A directly proportional relationship is observed here. For example, the social roles of husband and wife are very significant because a wide range of relationships is established between them.

If we talk about the method of obtaining a role, it depends on the inevitability of this role for the individual. Thus, the roles of a young man or an old man do not require any effort to acquire them. They are determined by the person's age. And other social roles can be won over the course of life when certain conditions are achieved.

Social roles can also differ in terms of the level of emotionality. Each role is characterized by its own manifestation of emotions. Also, some roles involve the establishment of formal relationships between people, others informal, and still others can combine both relationships.

His motivation depends on the needs and motives of a person. Different social roles can be driven by specific motives. For example, when parents take care of their child, they are guided by a sense of care and love for him. The manager, however, works for the benefit of some enterprise. It is also known that all social roles can be subject to public assessment.

A social role is a specific set of actions or a model of human behavior in a social environment, which is determined by his status or position. Depending on the change in the environment (family, work, friends), the social role also changes.

Characteristic

The social role, like any concept in psychology, has its own classification. American sociologist Talcott Parsons identified several characteristics that could be used to describe the social role of a person:

Formation stages

The social role is not created in a minute or overnight. Socialization of the individual must go through several stages, without which normal adaptation in society is simply not possible.

First of all, a person must learn certain basic skills. This includes practical skills that we learn from childhood, as well as thinking skills that are improved along with gaining life experience. The main stages of education begin and take place in the family.

The next stage is education. This is a long-term process and we can say that it does not end throughout life. Education is carried out by educational institutions, parents, the media and much more. A huge number of factors are involved in this process.

Also, the socialization of a person is not possible without education. In this process, the main thing is the person himself. It is the individual who consciously chooses the knowledge and skills that he wants to possess.

The next important stages of socialization: protection and adaptation. Protection is a set of processes that are primarily aimed at reducing the significance of any traumatic factors for the subject. A person intuitively tries to protect himself from moral discomfort by resorting to various mechanisms of social protection (denial, aggression, repression, and others). Adaptation is a kind of mimicry process, thanks to which an individual adapts to communicate with other people and maintain normal contacts.

Views

Socialization of a person is a long-term process, during which a person acquires not only his own personal experience, but also observes the behavior and reactions of the people around him. Naturally, the process of socialization is more active in childhood and adolescence, when the psyche is most susceptible to environmental influences, when a person is actively looking for his place in life and himself. However, this does not mean that changes do not occur at an older age. New social roles appear, the environment changes.

Allocate primary and secondary socialization. The process of formation of the personality itself and its qualities is called primary, and the secondary already refers to professional activity.

Socialization agents are groups of people, individuals who have a direct impact on the search and formation of social roles. They are also called socialization institutions.

Accordingly, the agents of socialization are primary and secondary. The first group includes family members, friends, collective (kindergarten and school), as well as many other people who influence the formation of personality throughout the entire conscious life. They play the most important role in every person's life. This can be explained not only by the informative and intellectual influence, but also by the emotional background of such a close relationship. It is during this period that those qualities are laid that in the future will affect the conscious choice of secondary socialization.

Parents are rightfully considered one of the most important agents of socialization. A child, even at an irresponsible age, begins to copy the behavior and habits of his parents, becoming like him. Then dad and mom become not only an example, but they themselves actively influence the formation of personality.

Secondary agents of socialization are members of society who participate in the growth and development of a person as a professional. These include employees, managers, customers, and people who are associated with an individual for the purpose of his service.

Processes

Socialization of an individual is a rather complicated process. It is customary for sociologists to distinguish between two phases, which are equally important for the search and development of each of the social roles.

1. Social adaptation is a period during which a person gets acquainted with the rules of behavior in society. A person adapts, learns to live according to new laws for him;
2. The phase of interiorization is no less important, since this time is necessary for the full acceptance of new conditions and their inclusion in the value system of each individual person. It must be remembered that in this phase there is a denial or leveling of certain old rules and foundations. This is an inevitable process, as often some norms and roles contradict the already existing ones.

If at any of the phases there was a "failure", then in the future, role conflicts may appear. This is due to the inability or unwillingness of the individual to fulfill his chosen role.

44.Social status and social role.

Social status- the social position occupied by a social individual or social group in society or a separate social subsystem of society. It is determined according to the characteristics specific to a particular society, which can be economic, national, age and other characteristics. Social status is divided by skills, skills, education.

Each person, as a rule, has not one, but several social statuses. Sociologists distinguish between:

inborn status- the status received by a person at birth (gender, race, nationality, biological stratum). In some cases, innate status can change: the status of a member of the royal family - from birth until the monarchy exists.

acquired (achieved) status- the status that a person achieves thanks to his mental and physical efforts (work, connections, position, post).

prescribed (attributed) status- the status that a person acquires, regardless of his desire (age, status in the family), over the course of life, it can change. Prescribed status is either innate or acquired.

Social role Is a set of actions that must be performed by a person holding a given status in the social system. Each status usually includes a number of roles. The set of roles resulting from a published status is called a role set.

The social role should be considered in two aspects: role expectation and role-playing... There is never a complete overlap between the two. But each of them is of great importance in the behavior of the individual. Our roles are determined primarily by what others expect of us. These expectations are associated with the status that the person has. If someone does not play a role in accordance with our expectations, then he enters into a certain conflict with society.

For example, a parent should take care of children, a close friend should be partial to our problems, etc.

Role requirements (prescriptions, positions and expectations of appropriate behavior) are embodied in specific social norms grouped around social status.

The main link between role expectations and role behavior is the character of the individual.

Since each person plays several roles in many different situations, conflict can arise between the roles. A situation in which a person is faced with the need to satisfy the requirements of two or more incompatible roles is called role conflict. Role conflicts can arise both between roles and within the same role.

For example, a working wife finds that the demands of her main job may conflict with her domestic responsibilities; or a married student must reconcile the requirements for him as a husband with the requirements for him as a student; or the police officer sometimes has to choose between doing his job and arresting a close friend. An example of a conflict that occurs within one role is the position of a leader or a public figure who publicly proclaims one point of view, and in a narrow circle declares himself to be a supporter of the opposite, or an individual who, under pressure of circumstances, plays a role that does not meet either his interests or his internal installations.

As a result, we can say that every person in modern society, due to inadequate role training, as well as constantly occurring cultural changes and the multiplicity of roles played by her, experiences role tension and conflict. However, it has mechanisms of unconscious protection and conscious involvement of social structures to avoid the dangerous consequences of social role conflicts.

45. Social inequality. Ways and means of overcoming it Inequality in society can have 2 sources: natural and social. People differ in physical strength, endurance, etc. These differences lead to the fact that they achieve results and thus occupy different positions in society. But over time, natural inequality is complemented by social inequality, which consists in the possibility of obtaining social benefits, unrelated to the contribution to the public domain. For example, unequal pay for equal work. Ways to overcome: due to the conditional nature of the social. inequality, it can and must be abolished in the name of equality. Equality is understood as personal equality before God and the law, equality of opportunities, living conditions, health, etc. Currently, supporters of the theory of functionalism believe that social. inequality is a tool to help ensure that the most important and responsible tasks are accomplished by talented and prepared people. Proponents of the theory of conflicts believe that the views of functionalists are an attempt to justify the statuses that have developed in society and the situation in which people, under whose control are social values, had the opportunity to receive benefits for themselves. The question of social. inequality is closely intertwined with the concept of social. justice. This concept has 2 interpretations: objective and subjective. Subjective interpretation comes from the attribution of social. justice to legal categories, with the help of which a person gives an assessment, approving or condemning the processes taking place in society. The second position (objective) is based on the principle of equivalence, i.e. mutual retribution in relationships between people.

behavior expected from someone who has a certain social status. It is limited to a set of rights and obligations corresponding to this status.

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ROLE SOCIAL

a set of requirements for the general public to persons holding certain social services. position. These requirements (prescriptions, wishes and expectations of appropriate behavior) are embodied in specific social services. norms. Social system sanctions of a positive and negative nature is aimed at ensuring the proper fulfillment of the requirements related to R.C. Arising in connection with a specific social. position given in societies. structure, R.S. at the same time, it is a specific (normatively approved) way of behavior that is obligatory for individuals who perform the appropriate R.s. Rings performed by an individual become a decisive characteristic of his personality, without losing, however, its socially derived and, in this sense, objectively inevitable character. In the aggregate, the rituals performed by people personify the dominant societies. relationship. Social In terms of their genesis, the requirements for a role become a structural element of the human personality in the course of the socialization of individuals and as a result of the internalization (deep internal assimilation) of the norms that characterize socialism. To internalize a role means to give it its own, individual (personal) definition, to evaluate and develop a certain attitude towards social services. the position that forms the corresponding R.s.In the course of the internalization of the role, socially developed norms are assessed through the prism of attitudes, beliefs, and principles shared by the individual. Society imposes on the individual R.S., but its acceptance, rejection, or performance always leaves an imprint on the real behavior of a person. Depending on the nature of the requirements contained in the regulatory structure of the R. s, the latter are subdivided into at least three categories: norms of proper (obligatory), desirable, and possible behavior. Compliance with the mandatory regulatory requirements of R. s is ensured by the most serious negative sanctions, embodied most often in laws or other legal prescriptions. character. Role norms that embody desirable (from the sp. Society) behavior are most often provided with negative extra-legal sanctions (non-observance of the charter of a public organization entails exclusion from it, etc.). In contrast, role standards, which formulate possible behavior, are provided primarily with positive sanctions (voluntary fulfillment of the duties of those who need help, entails an increase in prestige, approval, etc.). In the normative structure of a role, four constructive elements can be distinguished - a description (of the type of behavior that is required from a person in a given role); prescription (requirement in connection with such behavior); assessment (of cases of fulfillment or non-fulfillment of the instructions of the role); sanction (favorable or unfavorable social. consequences of action within the framework of the requirements of R. c). See also: Role theory of personality, Role theory. Lit .: Yakovlev A.M. Sociology of economic crime. M., 1988; Soloviev E.Yu. Personality and law // The past interprets us. Essays on the history of philosophy and culture. M, 1991. C, 403-431; Smelzer N. Sociology M., 1994. A.M. Yakovlev.

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