discussion

discussion Order Description You may be tested on these notes. You may also get credit for criticizing them in the discussions. Post your comments in the discussion. Contact me if you have any questions. Teacher's Notes: As we discussed last week, the family performs in miniature all of the functions that are institutions perform in society. Families perform these functions through a division of labor and assignment of roles. The division of labor and role assignment are related to power, status, division of goods and services, social values, norms, mores, folkways and law with accompanying social control and deviance, and inequalities - all of which exist in families. As family therapists soon become aware, dysfunctional families require therapy for the social structure of the family as much as they do the psychology of the individual members. As we learned last week, in the family this division of labor and role assignment are learned through an informal process of acculturation. However, as societies develop from families to small groups, and from clans and tribes to nations and empires. this division of labor and role assignment becomes more formalized - may I say ?institutionalized.? As societies become more organ - ized, they develop specific organ - izations which, like biological organs, divide labor and create assigned roles and functions. These organizations in turn become parts of the social institutions that carry out specific social functions. For example, in family health care the division of labor may assign the role of health care provider to the mother when there are small children, and to an unmarried daughter when a aged parent is receiving care. In the small community there may be a person who specializes in health care. The training of this person may become formalized and the community grants a special status to those who are recognized as healers. The continued division of labor may result in new roles nurse, nurse-practitioner, para-medic, radiologist, etc. These roles become organized into health organizations such as hospices and hospitals. Eventually, society may decided to organize all health services (the entire institution) into one organization controlled and regulated by the government. In this case, the health institution would become a part of the political institution. Mussolini invented the term totalitarianism to describe the state in which all other institutions were subservient to the political institution, the state. His motto was, ?Everything inside the state, nothing outside the state, and nothing against the state.? Government is not the only institution to attempt to control other institutions. In the 1600s (and today in the Middle East) wars were fought to determine which religion would be the dominant social institution. The wars of the last century were largely waged over economic theories, with governments calling themselves, ?socialist,? ?fascist,? ?national socialist,? ?communist,? and ?free (market), In the United States today, the legal-political argument of forcing companies to pay for contraception is a modern example of the question of what it means to ?give to Caesar what is Caesar?s and to God what is God?s.? IMPORTANT CONCEPT: All social institutions, regardless of their simplicity or complexity, are interrelated because their functions are interrelated. This interdependence leads to competition for power, status, wealth, and the control of social norms. This control of social norms leads in turn to the both the definition and control of social deviance, and the rise of social inequalities that result from the unequal distribution goods and services. There is no society in which all social and material goods are equally distributed. Indeed the very process of division of labor and role assignment requires differences. Structural-functionalists stress the importance of cooperation and harmony of social roles. Conflict theorists stress the inevitable conflict that results from different roles. Specialized institutions can bring capabilities and resources to bear that do not exist within a family. Nonetheless, this does not mean that special institutions can perform these functions "better" or more agreeably than does the family. Indeed, as the movement to home schooling, the rise of charter schools, and the debate over common core suggest problems of acculturation, socialization, and career/occupational preparation are very real and very present. Once again, we are faced with the issue of individual and the state. Just as a multiplicity of roles leads to freedom for the individual in choosing roles, even so society functions to define and limit the roles that are available to any individual. Education serves many functions; preservation of knowledge from one generation to another, preparation to perform societal roles leading to social mobility, certification of qualifications, as well as gate-keeping and preserving the status quo. Because education is primarily concerned with transmitting what is already know, it is inherently conservative. When society is in agreement this conservatism can go unnoticed. When society in undergoing change then political conflict and power will determine what is taught. Universities have a dual function. First, they have the socializing function of passing on knowledges, skills, and attitudes. Second, they have the task of research - expanding the frontiers of what we know, what we can do, and how we should feel (think of the role of psychology in individual, family and group therapy, or the role of sociology in advocating for a better society. Thus there is an institutional conflict between those who maintain (who disagree among themselves on what to maintain) and researchers who would challenge to boundaries of what is acceptable. As an example consider Larry Summers, the former president of Harvard who asked why women were under-represented in engineering and the sciences - and was forced to resign. https://www.harvard.edu/president/speeches/summers_2005/nber.php You may read and cite this source for credit in your posting.