The Hierarchy Of Structure And Agency

“Some Principles of Stratification” by Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore is a great instance of the structural functionalist theory. In the article, it views stratification through the lens of a functionalist and states that stratification doesn’t necessarily lead to conflict, rather we need it in order for society to function. Furthermore, it illustrates the functions of stratification,

Milgram’s agency theory basically states that you the state of mind you are in determines if you’re obedient or not. He argued that normally we operate in the autonomous state, where you assert control over yourself and what we do. An example of this is when faced with danger, most people will turn away to try and avoid conflict. Even if you decide not to walk away, this is still the autonomous state because you’re deciding what to do. There is also the agentic state which says you are subconsciously acting as an agent to some authority figure and that you do what they tell you because you feel as if you are an agent of that person. An example of this would be during the trial of Nazi’s

A private sector is usually composed of organisations which are privately owned and not part of a government; whereas a public sector is composed of organisations that are owned by the government and voluntary sectors are composed of individuals of who seek help in charitable activities. Private sectors include corporations such as partnerships and charities, like the voluntary sectors, and the public sectors include corporations such as federal, provincial, state or municipal governments. An example of a private sector is a retail store or credit unions, and example of a public sector is an educational or

These institutions and social relationship structures, to remain, put in place hierarchies of power, which evolves with a stint of inequality. As systematic means of maintaining order in such society may necessitate the need for control via force or putting in place an ideology. Thus controlling the way the specific society sees the world and current social relationships appearing natural, normative and inevitable.

The structure and agency debate is a common one in the field of sociology and different theorists come up with different ways of accounting for the actions of social actors. This essay takes the position that structuration solves the problem of this much contested debate. Initially key concepts and elements of structuration will be pointed out .These elements include structure, agency, social systems and power amongst many others. Subsequently, there will be engagement of a discussion of different schools of thought and finally it will be demonstrated how structuration prevails over the structure-agency debate.

The structure and design of organizations have drastically changed over the last twenty-five years. Organizations develop new goals at the beginning of the year or after the completion of previous goals, and heavily depend on planning to help achieve these goals. Planning is an integral part of organizational success, as upper management receives substantial information on various needs such as risk uncertainty, available resources, employee development, and unforeseen changes in technology (Daft, 2013). Most importantly, successful planning allows management to make effective decisions when unforeseen events arise within the organization. Not participating in planning is equivalent to taking a road trip across the country without a

The correlation between these two concepts agency and structure can be seen through the impact it has on how people view social issues. For example, a student graduating high school is faced with the decision of whether or not going to college is in his or her future. This choice continuing their educational career can be seen as a completely individual choice which would be an example of agency. On the contrary, if this student knows that their parents expect them to go to college because if they choose to not attend they will be unable to get a job. This influence of the student’s parents, job market, and the current economy make this an example of structure as the influence of many external forces convinced this student to make this decision. This example of structure and agency takes the topic of going to college and shows how choice of school is becoming less and less of an individual choice. The diminishing of individual choices because of societal expectations is what is happening to many different aspects of how people view social issues.

This paper talks about Children’s Crisis treatment Center (CCTC). CCTC as a system is concern with meeting the needs of children and families with mental health and those that have experienced abuse, neglect and trauma. The focus here will be on the School Therapeutic Services component, the connection it has to the system and the environment and attempt to bring to light whether CCTC is functioning in line with its mission statement. I will also be describing my place in the institution as a system.

The relationship between structure and agency is a key discussion point in sociology. The concept was brought to life by the sociologist Georg Simmel, but has been discussed by many other famous theorists, such as Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. The partnership between structure and agency are crucial to the development of society, and the process of individualization.

Structure and agency are two theoretical terms used to explain the capacity at which we as people are able to be individuals, and to what extent those influences limit our individuality. Structure refers to the ways in which a society is organized. Agency refers to the behaviors and actions of the individuals within the social structure. Agency is limited by the structure due to cultural barriers and inequalities within the structure. In this essay, I will present an overview of why critical theorists are concerned with those inequalities, and I will further identify the problems within the system contributing to the unequal access to the public sphere, relating specifically to class and gender inequalities.

Fashion is a form of expression and with its ever changing ideas and trends it explores and creates an array of identities. As Bennett, A. (2005) states “Fashion…provides individuals with a key means through which to manage their identities in the context of everyday life”. I wish to explore how fashion has developed to which identities can be created by oneself and what is around in everyday life and culture that may influence choice in dress. Is fashion a form of agency or structure? I will continue these ideas around gender and in particular fashion photography and how in which gender is represented within the popular mainstream media. Looking at if fashion photography plays a role in challenging gender roles, and therefore creating new ideologies of identity. Or, does fashion photography intertwine with the rest of media in its representation and stereotyping of both genders? Helmut Newton will be used as a case study and the interpretation of his work. This study will also look at the theory behind androgyny and continuing by also looking at dandyism and if these concepts are being constantly played with in the fashion media.

This essay seeks to compare and contrast structural consensus and conflict theories of social action such as Durkheimian, Parsonian, Marxist and Weberian with interpretivist perspectives. The aim is to outline the main features of each theory whilst critically analysing the similarities and differences between them. It will also examine the relevance of these theories within modern day society.

Manager’s of an organization has to use structure to help the company run efficiently. “The five types of organizational structures are functional, divisional, matrix, team-based, and virtual network” (Draft, 2013, p.316). Functional structure in an organization that is developed by grouping departments by the skills, level of knowledge, activities done daily, and the resource used. “This structure places specific departments from the bottom to the top” (Draft, 2013, p.318). For example, specific departments such as: human resources, accounting, engineering, and manufacturing are placed at the top, while there are mostly seen at the bottom in other organizations. While common functions such as; people, facilities, and other resources are combined together as a single department instead of being divided into multiple departments.

The structure of an organisation is built in order to achieve the distinct tasks by the labour and coordination between teams to provide goods and services. Organisational structure is selected in order to have a basic work and consistency according to the situation. The most foremost factors in an organisation are skilled labours, mutual understanding among the fellows and direct control to frame a good result. A good structured organisation results in quality production, which can be taken into peoples consider through marketing. When an organisation tracks in a solid structure, management plans and tasks can be easily constructed and executed. In this essay, I have been explained about the concept of Mintzberg five

When these roles are made available to other members of society to enter into and play out, the reciprocal interactions are said to be institutionalized. In the process of this institutionalization, meaning is embedded in society. The society is formed by certain objectives or norms that they all have in common. This is the reason why they become institutionalized in the first place. It is important to keep in mind that the objectivity of the institutional world, however massive it may appear to the individual, is a humanly produced, constructed objectivity. The process by which the externalized products of human activity attain the character of objectivity is called objectivation. The institutional world is objectivated by human activity, and so is every single institution. In other words, despite the objectivity that marks the social world in human experience, it does not thereby acquire an ontological status apart from the human activity that produced it. At the same point, the institutionalized world also requires legitimation, that is, ways by which it can be “explained” and justified. This is not because it appears less real. As we have seen, the reality of the social