File:Pyramide_à_renverser.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
social structure
Sign in to saveAlso known as social organization, societal structure, structure
aggregate of patterned social arrangements in society
Social structure refers to the established patterns of how people are organized and arranged in society, including their relationships, roles, and institutions. It matters because these patterns shape how individuals interact, what opportunities are available to them, and how society functions as a whole.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Research
51,289 papers- Neural mechanism underlying depressive-like state associated with social status loss.Cell · 2023
- Social network structure as a suicide prevention target.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2024
- Family structure and social vulnerability as risk factors for traumatic dental injuries in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical oral investigations · 2024
- Culture and Social Structure in Comprehensive Case Formulation.The Journal of nervous and mental disease · 2021
- The Prevalence of Social Frailty Among Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2023
via PubMed
~16 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Pyramide à renverser - The poster shows a social stratification pyramid which symbolises class society. At the top we can see King Leopold II.
In the social sciences, social structure is the aggregate of patterned social arrangements in society that are both emergent from and determinant of the actions of individuals. Likewise, society is believed to be grouped into structurally related groups or sets of roles, with different functions, meanings, or purposes. Examples of social structure include family, religion, law, economy, and class. It contrasts with "social system", which refers to the parent structure in which these various structures are embedded. Thus, social structures significantly influence larger systems, such as economic systems, legal systems, political systems, and cultural systems. Social structure can also be said to be the framework upon which a society is established. It determines the norms and patterns of relations between the various institutions of the society.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “social structure” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.