As we have seen, status is a fundamental element of social structure. As elements of structure, statuses are empty cells. The people who fill them bring variety and fluidity. The same job can be done in different ways. There are not even two identical bureaucrats in the world, although we believe that they are all alike. How a person occupying a given position uses his rights and fulfills prescribed duties is no longer a matter of structure, but of culture, since we're talking about about behavior.
Gradually we moved from structure to culture, from status to role. Strictly speaking, only status is an element of structure, and role refers to culture. Role- dynamic, i.e. behavioral side of status.
Since we have so far considered the role as an element of structure, we can assume that status can be considered as an element of culture. Sometimes they do this. Then the status is like cultural phenomenon furnished with honors, symbols and privileges appropriate to his rank. The higher the rank, the more honors. Status requires a person to behave in a socially approved manner, to implement certain rights and responsibilities, adequate role behavior, and finally, identification, i.e. psychological identification of oneself with one’s status. All this status elements.
Status role
Individual occupying high position in society, as measured by that height, or rank, in terms of the power, income, education and prestige available to him, he is the one who most strives to live up to his status and behave appropriately. The president of the company, senator, professor value the high prestige of their position. A pattern of behavior oriented toward a specific status is called status role or just a role.
From a person with this status, others expect very specific actions and do not expect others that do not fit with their idea of this status. However, the holder of the status himself knows what others expect from him. He understands that others will treat him in accordance with how they see the fulfillment of this status. Those around them build relationships with the status holder that correspond to the correct performance of the status role. They try not to meet with the offender, not to communicate, not to maintain relationships. A president of a country who makes speeches based on paper and obeys his advisers or those behind him in everything will not inspire confidence in people and is unlikely to be perceived by them as a true president capable of governing the country for the benefit of the people.
So, from the holder of a specific status, people expect him to play a very specific role in accordance with the requirements that they place on this role. Society prescribes the requirements and norms of behavior for the status. For the correct performance of his role, the individual is rewarded; for the incorrect performance, he is punished, even if this is done in the form of disapproval or refusal to vote for a given candidate in the election.
The status of a king requires him to lead a completely different lifestyle than that of commoners. The role model corresponding to this status must meet the hopes and expectations of his subjects. In turn, subjects, as dictated by their status and rank, must act in strict accordance with a set of norms and requirements.
Status rights
A status role includes a set of precisely defined right The leader has the right to perform religious ceremonies, punish fellow tribesmen who violate the requirements prescribed for their status, lead military campaigns, and lead community meetings. A university professor has a number of rights that distinguish him from a student who does not have this status. He evaluates students' knowledge, but, in accordance with his academic
position, cannot be penalized for poor student performance. But the officer, according to the military regulations, is punished for violations committed by soldiers.
The academic status of a professor gives him opportunities that other people of the same high status, say, a politician, a doctor, a lawyer, a businessman or a priest, do not have. This is the right to answer some questions with the words: “I don’t know that.” Such entitlement is explained by the nature of academic knowledge and the state of science, and not by his incompetence.
Status range
Since status rights are never strictly defined, and the status role is freely chosen by the person himself, a certain range arises within which behavior and the exercise of one’s rights vary. The status of a professor gives almost identical rights to a biologist, physicist, and sociologist. Most often they are called “academic freedom”: independence of judgment, free choice of topic and lecture plan, etc. But due to tradition and individual characteristics, a professor of sociology uses his rights and behaves completely differently in lectures and seminars than a professor of physics or biology.
In the same way, the status of a neighbor presupposes a free manner of behavior. No strict formal requirements are prescribed to him. If they exist, they are rather informal or optional. The neighbor's role model of behavior includes the exchange of congratulations and greetings, the exchange of household items, and the resolution of conflict situations. But some avoid all communication with neighbors, while others may be overly sociable and intrusive in their friendship.
Status symbols
Society came up with external insignia, allowing to distinguish between holders of different statuses. The military wears a special uniform that sets them apart from the civilian population. But even among the military contingent there are insignia that are determined by the hierarchy of military ranks. Private, major, general are distinguished by badges, shoulder straps, headdress, color and uniform.
Status symbols civilian population not as defined as the military. Nevertheless, intuitively we distinguish between people. We know from experience how a woman of high society dresses and how a laborer dresses. Each estate and class has its own style of clothing and its own attributes. We associate a top hat with an English lord, a sweatshirt with a Russian peasant, shorts and a T-shirt with an athlete; the list of these associations can be continued.
The function of status symbols is also performed by housing, language, gestures, and behavior patterns. They are different for each estate, class, people. Status symbols serve a wide variety of purposes. In formal organizations, for example, in the army, they serve as an indicator of reward (promotion in rank), the need to perform official duties (salute to a senior in rank). In addition, they mark the type of military service.
In informal organizations, in small groups, there are no visible differences in status symbols. They are present only for outsiders. Thus, the title “professor” is significant for students, but not for academic colleagues, who respect him rather for his personal qualities and knowledge. It is also of little significance to a ticket inspector in the subway or a salesperson in a store. But among his colleagues, the professor demonstrates signs of personal status, not social status: competence, kindness, sociability, hospitality. For the seller, neither the personal nor social status of the professor matters, since when entering the store, the latter ceases to be a teacher and acquires a different status - a buyer, and is treated accordingly.
Status responsibilities
Rights are inextricably linked with responsibilities. The higher the status, the greater the rights its owner is endowed with and the greater the range of responsibilities assigned to him. The status of a laborer does not oblige you to anything. The same can be said about the status of a neighbor, a beggar or a child. But the status of a prince of the blood or a famous television commentator obliges you to lead a lifestyle that meets the expectations and meets the social standards of the same circle of people.
In a closed society - caste or class - control over compliance with status obligations is more stringent than in an open one. There are differences not only between societies, but also between social strata. Thus, the upper classes exercise invisible control over compliance with status obligations to a greater extent than the lower ones. Failure to fulfill one's status responsibilities may be minor and not cross the boundaries of tolerance (or tolerance). If the violation is significant, the community applies formal sanctions to the culprit, not limited to informal ones, for example, a light conviction. Thus, the court of officer honor can deprive the offender of his rank and demand expulsion from his midst. The ancient Greeks ostracized and expelled unworthy rulers who violated the status responsibilities of the country's leaders. In pre-revolutionary Russia, there was a special institution - the court of noble honor, which performed punitive and at the same time educational functions. One of the means of defending noble honor was a duel, which often ended in the death of one or another opponent.
Thus, the higher the rank of status and the more prestigious it is, the stricter the requirements for status duties and the more severely their violations are punished. In Polynesia, until recently, there was a custom according to which the tribesmen could execute or eat a leader who had committed a crime.
Status image
Status symbols, rights, responsibilities and roles create statusimage. It is often called image. Image- a set of ideas that have developed in public opinion about how a person should behave in accordance with his status, how rights and responsibilities in this status should relate to each other.
The idea of what a lawyer, doctor, or professor should be like regulates and guides the behavior of those involved in legal proceedings, medical practice, and teaching. The expression “not allowing yourself too much” accurately describes the image and sets the boundaries within which each of us strives to remain in order to look appropriate in the eyes of others. In other words, to match the image of your social or personal status. The teacher is unlikely to come to class dressed in a sweatshirt, although he works only in it in the garden. The doctor, even after retirement, does not allow himself to look sloppy. After all, he is used to being in public all the time. Those who act differently do not live up to their status image.
Status identification
Status identification- this word, as we have already agreed, simply means identifying oneself with something or someone - indicates the extent to which a person brings himself closer to his status and status image. In Victorian England, a professor who entered the classroom wore only a robe. Today his behavior is more free, however, certain requirements are met in relation to him. So, a suit and tie should be a mandatory attribute. However, many teachers wear a sweater and jeans to lectures, doing so completely intentionally. Thus, they show that they do not want to distance themselves too much from the students, inviting them to behave more relaxed and trusting. The modern education system is characterized more by a partnership between students and teachers, free academic dialogue and mutual criticism of positions, rather than by the mentoring teaching of an indisputable authority who has ascended to the department.
Reducing the inter-status distance is sometimes called familiarity. But it arises only in those cases when such a distance is reduced to minimal. The desire to stand “on an equal footing” with a person of a different rank is what leads to familiarity. Young men who speak disrespectfully to their elders or address them on a first-name basis are being over-familiar. If a subordinate does the same in a relationship with his boss, then he is also being familiar, but a boss who addresses his subordinates on “you” is not being familiar, but is rude. Cases when a person is equally tolerant of familiarity and rudeness indicate a low level of identification with his status.
The higher the rank of status, the stronger the identification with it and the less often its bearer allows familiarity or rudeness towards himself, the stricter the inter-status distance is maintained. The higher the status, the more often its owners resort to symbolic paraphernalia - orders, regalia, uniforms, certificates. The lower the personal status, the more often the advantages are emphasized social status. The official's arrogant treatment of visitors indicates that he identifies himself with social status rather than personal status. Identification with status is stronger the less talent a person has.
Status identification may or may not coincide with professional and job identification. An executioner who knows no mercy, and an official who literally follows official
instructions - examples of high professional and job identification. An official who takes bribes is an example of low identification with the position. If he occupies a high government position, but does without an official car, then this is an example of low identification with social status.
The author, with his statement, touches on the problem of the relationship between social status and role freedom. The author wanted to tell us with his statement that social status and role freedom are closely interrelated. The author notes that the higher a person’s status, the greater his role freedom.
Before understanding my opinion on this issue, I would like to understand the terms. Thus, social status refers to a person’s place in the system public relations. An abundant role is an expected behavior of a person, associated with his social status. Consequently, a social role is assigned to a certain social status. And if social status changes, then the social role also changes.
I agree with this statement.
As an example, we can cite the provisions of the current Constitution of the Russian Federation. So, if you turn to the highest citizen of the Russian Federation, then. If you go to the president of the country, we will see that he has a lot of powers, and very serious ones. His role freedom covers the appointment of the Chairman of the Government, representation State Duma candidate for the position of Chairman of the Central Bank, presentation to the Federation Council of candidates for the positions of judges of the constitutional and supreme courts, as well as the Attorney General.
Let's turn to history. Status and role freedom were still closely linked in Ancient Rus'. So the landowner had more developed role freedom than the peasants, which they practically did not have. So the landowner could sell the peasant, exchange him, or even kill him.
Thus, the problem is very relevant. After all, there is no such society in which there would be no power. Well, the presence of power will always give rise to differentiation of society and different social role freedom.
Status, especially high status, imposes certain obligations on its bearer - a set of restrictions that relate primarily to behavior. Why exactly by conduct? Doesn't high status express itself in special signs differences, privileges, dress code or size of real estate?
Sometimes it is behavior that becomes the most striking sign of the manifestation of a particular status, its distinctive feature. Clothes, badges, privileges, property - all these can be transferred from one person to another, but refined behavior cannot be put on or taken off. They are a product of a lifetime of upbringing and characterize the inner nobility of a person. Even a modestly dressed person, but refined in manners, has more high status than rich and rude. In the USA and Europe top class He dresses even more modestly than the average person. The higher the status, the more stringent restrictions are imposed on a person's behavior. It is no coincidence that they say: position obliges.
Status behavior manifests itself in three areas:
1. acquisition of status;
2. behavior in a status position;
3. loss of status.
Gaining and losing status affects people differently. A newly achieved status requires a stricter conformity from a person than a status acquired long ago. An experienced professor, who has long been recognized by students and colleagues, can dress very freely, but a doctor of science who has just received a professorship strives to look like a brand new person.
A person who feels that his standard of living has fallen and it is difficult for him to maintain his previous status will clutch at the slightest opportunity to remain in his former position than to allow himself to act in accordance with a lower status, in which he may have already found himself thanks to the blows of fate. This can be considered the dynamics of status inconsistency.
Impoverished aristocrats or poor officials try with all their might to maintain the standard of living of the previous class. Similar behavior is typical for workers. A highly qualified worker, even in moments of lack of money, rarely takes on unskilled work. Taking on an unprestigious job means losing social dignity. This is exactly what English workers did in the 19th century: “In the worst years of industry, when thousands of mechanics or boilermakers, masons or plumbers wander the streets in search of work, even the most greedy employer knows that he cannot offer them work at their specialties for ten or fifteen shillings a week. Rather than agree to such an offensive reduction in their normal, in their opinion, social position, these people are more likely to work as unskilled workers or perform any odd jobs for the same or even lower wages compared to the one for which they , as specialist workers, refused work" .
Signs of prestigious behavior and observance of status decency are observed in the 20th century. With an abundance of available jobs in Moscow in the 90s of the 20th century, the unemployed - former engineers, teachers, doctors - did not agree to unprestigious jobs. They either waited for the right opportunity when their specialty would be needed, or they retrained for occupations that they considered worthy. Earn your daily bread at any cost, sacrificing socially meaningful symbols and status decency, the majority of modern unemployed people do not want to.
Assignment of social status in traditional and modern society varies greatly. In the chiefdom, statuses were assigned based on the principle of seniority. Because the high position in society, prestige and access to resources were inherited by the senior branch family tree, Polynesian chiefs have an unusually long genealogy. Some of them trace their ancestry back to the fiftieth generation of their ancestors. It was believed that all the people in the chiefdom were relatives of each other, since the entire clan originated from one group of common ancestors who founded this settlement.
The leader (usually a man) is the eldest in the family. As for the degrees of seniority, they are calculated as follows: in a complicated way, especially on some islands, that their number is equal to the total number of members of the genus. For example, the position of the third son is lower than the position of the second, who in turn is lower than the first son. The children of the eldest brother are higher in status than the children of the next brother, whose children in turn are superior in status to the children younger brothers. Yet even the person with the lowest status in the chiefdom is related to the chief. In such a system of clan relations, everyone, including the leader, must share with his relatives.
An example of loss of status is the demotion of an officer to the rank and file or the dismissal of an employee, especially a high-ranking one.
Freytag considers in his statement the problem of the essence of status and role, namely the relationship between social status and role expectations of society. This problem is relevant in conditions of strict differentiation of society.
The publicist is convinced that in modern society, abuse of power has become a constant phenomenon. The author talks about the importance of following role requirements.
It is important that society does not take this fact for granted; it is necessary to develop social disapproval of such behavior, all kinds of censure, in order to eliminate it.
Status is directly related to role. Status - . Role -.
I believe that it is necessary to tighten responsibility for committing crimes related to corruption: I believe that imprisonment should be a priority when sentencing under Articles 290, 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (regardless of the amount), and complete confiscation of property should be carried out. This is the only way we can ensure that officials and other persons do not go beyond their powers.
Thus, many examples from life can be cited to show that in Russia this problem is very a common occurrence and we need to fight it. So, rich parents, through connections, get their children jobs.
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Useful material on the topic
- “The higher a person’s position, the more strict should be the framework that restrains the willfulness of his character” (G. Freytag)
Give the position of the text that reflects the relationship between the status of an individual, on the one hand, and the range and scope of rights and responsibilities that he or she has, on the other. Based on social science knowledge, give two arguments to substantiate this position.
Read the text and complete tasks 21-24.
Any person occupying a high social position in society, strives to correspond to his status and behave properly. From a person with the status of a banker, others expect very specific actions and do not expect others that do not correspond to their ideas about this status. Therefore, the status and social role bind people's expectations. If expectations are formally expressed and recorded in any acts (laws) or in customs, traditions, rituals, they have the character of social norms.
Although expectations may not be fixed, this does not make them cease to be expectations. Despite this, people expect a holder of a specific status to play a very specific role in accordance with the requirements that they place on this role. Society prescribes the requirements and norms of behavior for the status. For the correct performance of the role the individual is rewarded, for the wrong one he is punished.
A model of behavior focused on a certain status includes a set of status rights and responsibilities. Rights mean the ability to do certain actions conditioned by status. The higher the status, the more rights its owner is endowed with and the more larger circle responsibilities are assigned to him.
A model of behavior focused on a certain status also has external insignia. Clothing is a social symbol that serves three primary functions: comfort, decorum, and conspicuous expression.
The function of status symbols is also performed by housing, language, behavior, and leisure.
(R.T. Mukhaev)
Explanation.
The correct answer must contain the following elements:
1) the position of the text: the higher the status, the greater the rights its owner is endowed with and the greater the range of responsibilities assigned to him; (The position of the text can be given in another form, similar in meaning.)
2) arguments, for example:
− a person who occupies a high social status has the right to make decisions concerning other people (hire and fire, propose a bill for consideration or veto an existing project, etc.);
− people of high social status are usually assigned a wide range of responsibilities, taking into account their rights and capabilities (in the case of emergency it is the head of the enterprise who must make decisions and organize work to eliminate negative consequences; The captain of the ship, in the event of a threat of destruction of the ship, must leave it last).
Other arguments may be given