University of Delaware



Status and Role Handout: Sociology 201

Please print a copy and bring to class on Tuesday (7th) and Thursday (9th) as well as the film screening on the 7th at 6pm in 140 Smith.

• Status

– Any of the full range of socially defined positions within a large group or society

• Ascribed Status

– A social position that is assigned to a person by society without regard for the person’s unique talents or characteristics

• Achieved Status

– Social position that is attained by a person largely through his or her own efforts

• Master status

– Status that dominates others and thereby determines a person’s general position in a society

• Status symbols

– Material signs that inform others of a person’s specific status

• Role

– Set of expectations for people who occupy a give social position or status (whether ascribed or achieved)

Role expectation

- A group or society’s definition of how a specific role ought to be played

Role performance

- The way a person actually plays a role

Role conflict

- The situation that occurs when incompatible expectations arise from two or more social positions held by the same person

Role strain

- The difficulty that arises when the same social position imposes conflicting demands and expectations

Role ambiguity

- Expectations associated with a particular role are unclear

Role exit

- The process of disengagement from a role that is central to one’s self-identity and establishment of a new role and identity

Ebaugh’s four stages of role exit

1.

2.

3.

4.

Film Guide for Boyz in the Hood: Sociology 201-010 Fall 2005

1. Thinking back to what you learned in Chapter 4 on the agents of socialization. What are some of the agents of socialization at work in the lives of the film’s characters and what influence to they have?

2. What are the definitions of ascribed, achieved, and master status?

Ascribed:

Achieved:

Master:

3. What are examples of:

a. Ascribed status shown in the film?

b. Achieved status shown in the film?

c. Master status shown in the film?

4. What are the definitions of:

Social structure

Social institution

Social interaction

Negotiated order

5. What are examples of social institutions in the film?

6. How does the social structure influence the live of 1) the children at the beginning of the film; 2) the teenagers in the film; 3) the adults in the film?

7. What examples of the negotiated order are presented in the film?

Additional notes for class discussion:

Anthony Giddens:

• Structuration:

– Both structure (the rules and resources that govern social systems) and agency (the power of human action to enact on the system) are at play in the constitution or the formation of social relations, with neither accorded primacy.

Perspectives on Social Structure

• Functionalist

– Give sense of ______________

– Easier to develop _______________because of __________________

– Ability to interpret _________________________

• Conflict

– May limit our ___________and place us in _________________________

______________________________________

– Marx: reflects ____________________________ among categories of people (owner vs non-owner)

• Interactionist

– How we create _____________________ in that structure

– How to _________________ that social structure

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