When thinking about the concept of society, it is essential to understand something intrinsic to it: its structure. According to Raymond Firth, in an article published in the book Homem e Sociedade, organized by Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Octavio Ianni, a social structure is considered to be the connection of the parts that make up the whole, "the arrangement in which the elements of social life are connected" (IANNI, 1973, p. 35). Thus, they are relationships that overlap and interconnect, and have a certain degree of complexity, not being momentary, but having a certain constancy and continuity. More directly, we can say that social structure concerns the way society is organized - as well as certain functions are necessary for that group -, and the way the status (social positions) and social roles are arranged, according to privileges and duties.
In addition, it is possible to state that social structure has to do with the expectation of behavior among individuals, the which assume social roles and have social status, facts that would allow us to organize our lives as actors social. This means that there is an expectation for the social role played by the father, the mother, the child, the teacher, by the police, in short, by all those who are in society and interact all the time through relationships social. More than that, if we think only about the teacher's role, at the same time there is an expectation of their students in relation to his role, he also expects a behavior from his students, as well as from his superiors, between others.
More specifically, “the concept of social structure is an analytical resource that serves to understand how men behave socially” (ibidem, p. 36). We need to consider that if the expectations of social norms are important, on the other hand, these same norms can be changed by social actors in their daily lives. This means that social roles can change. If those kinds of social relationships that characterize a society did not exist, then that society would not be the same. A rural society, like that which prevailed in feudalism, had its own peculiar relationships. With the economic and political transformations that occurred with the emergence of industrial society, the field also changed.
Another important point is to think that several aspects are part of the social structure, including kinship relationships, as they relate to social relationships per se. Roughly speaking, kinship relationships are marked by a model of family relationship, a model that it marks a pattern of functioning of the family, an important social institution that plays its role in life Social.
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Thus, to think about social structure, we must also consider the idea of social function, which concerns the relationship between a social action and the system in which this action is inserted. In other words, the social function is given by the result (consequence or expectation) of an individual's action (behavior) in relation to other people who are part of a society. Thus, actions have social functions within a social structure. Social functions serve to meet the needs of the man who lives in society (in addition to the biological ones). The social function of marriage would be to form a family and thus reproduce men. Another important example would be to think about the social function of the prohibition of incest.
We cannot think only about the social functions of men's actions, but also about the social function that certain customs or practices have within society. There is a system of interactions that guarantee the social structure, in which each social action, each practice, each custom plays a role. For example, parties have a social function, as it is not just about bringing people together, but that this meeting celebrates or has a certain purpose and meaning. The social structure would be marked not only by the actions of men, but also by the so-called institutions - such as the example quoted from the family - considering that "the institution is the set of values and principles traditionally established" (ibid., p. 39).
In general terms, an analysis of society should not do without these concepts that are so important to the understanding of social reality - structure, function and social institutions, trying to apprehend the characteristics and peculiarities of each era, of each context. Thus, when studying social structures, it is necessary to examine how variations in the basic forms of social relations occur. In this way, we have to study both social adaptation in transformations and social continuity.
Paulo Silvino Ribeiro
Brazil School Collaborator
Bachelor in Social Sciences from UNICAMP - State University of Campinas
Master in Sociology from UNESP - São Paulo State University "Júlio de Mesquita Filho"
Doctoral Student in Sociology at UNICAMP - State University of Campinas
