home Credit The concept of a social institution, its elements, features. The process of institutionalization

The concept of a social institution, its elements, features. The process of institutionalization

4.2 Institutionalization

The first, most commonly used meaning of the term "social institution" is associated with the characteristics of any kind of ordering, formalization and standardization of social ties and relations. And the process of streamlining, formalization and standardization is called institutionalization.

Institutionalization - the transformation of a phenomenon or movement into an organized institution, an ordered process with a certain structure of relations, a hierarchy of power, discipline, rules of conduct.

Classical institutionalism originated in the early twentieth century in the United States. Thorstein Veblen is considered its founder. Followers of institutionalism sought to expand the scope economic analysis, involving approaches and methods of related sciences. Representatives of institutionalism were Thorstein Veblen, John Commons, Clarence Ayres, Mitchell, Welsey Clare, John Kennett and others. They believed that the behavior of economic man is formed mainly within and under the influence of social groups and collectives. In the works of institutionalists you will not find enthusiasm for complex formulas and graphs. Their arguments are usually based on experience, logic, statistics. The focus is not on the analysis of prices, supply and demand, but on broader issues. They are not purely concerned economic problems but economic problems in conjunction with social, political, ethical and legal problems. Focusing on the solution of individual, as a rule, significant and urgent problems, the institutionalists did not develop a common methodology, did not create a unified scientific school. This manifested the weakness of the institutional direction, its unwillingness to develop and adopt a general, logically coherent theory.

Behind any social institution there is a history of its institutionalization. Institutionalization can concern any public sphere: economic, political, religious, etc.

Specific examples of institutionalization can be: the transformation of popular assemblies into parliament; sayings, the creative heritage of a thinker - to a philosophical or religious school; passion for any literary genre, direction in music - into a subcultural organization.

The concept of institutionalism includes two aspects: "institutions" - norms, customs of behavior in society, and "institutions" - fixing norms and customs in the form of laws, organizations, institutions.

The meaning of the institutional approach is not to be limited to the analysis of economic categories and processes in its pure form, but to include institutions in the analysis, taking into account non-economic factors.

The process of institutionalization includes a number of points. According to the famous social researcher G. Lenski, social processes give rise to such processes of institutionalization as:

1) the need for communication (language, education, communication, transport);

2) the need for the production of products and services;

3) the need for the distribution of benefits (and privileges);

4) the need for the safety of citizens, the protection of their lives and well-being;

5) the need to maintain a system of inequality (placement of social groups according to positions, statuses depending on various criteria);

6) the need for social control over the behavior of members of society (religion, morality, law, the penitentiary system).

It follows that each social institution is characterized by the presence of a goal of its activity, specific functions that ensure the achievement of such a goal, a set of social positions and roles typical for this institution. Based on the foregoing, one more definition of a social institution can be given. Social institutions are organized associations of people who perform certain socially significant functions that ensure the joint achievement of goals based on the performance of their members. social roles set by social values, norms and patterns of behavior.

4.3 Functions of a social institution

Each institution performs its own characteristic social function.

The function (from the Latin - execution, implementation) of a social institution is the benefit that it brings to society, i.e. it is a set of tasks to be solved, goals to be achieved, services to be rendered. The totality of all social functions is formed into the general social functions of social institutions as certain types of social system. These features are very versatile.

Sociologists of various directions strive to classify these functions, to present them in the form of a certain ordered system. Representatives of the institutional school in sociology (S. Lipset, D. Landberg, and others) distinguish several basic functions of social institutions.

The first and most important function of social institutions is to satisfy the most important vital needs of society, i.e. without which society cannot exist as such. It cannot exist if it is not constantly replenished by new generations of people, acquire means of subsistence, live in peace and order, acquire new knowledge and pass it on to the next generations, deal with spiritual issues.

No less important is the function of socialization of people, carried out by almost all social institutions (the assimilation of cultural norms and the development of social roles). It can be called universal. Also, the universal functions of institutions are: consolidation and reproduction of social relations; regulatory; integrative; broadcasting; communicative.

Along with the universal, there are other functions - specific. These are functions that are inherent in some institutions and are not characteristic of others. For example: establishing, restoring and maintaining order in society (the state); discovery and transfer of new knowledge (science and education); obtaining means of subsistence (production); reproduction of a new generation (the institution of the family); conducting various rituals and worship (religion), etc.

Some institutions perform the function of stabilizing the social order, while others support and develop the culture of society. All universal and specific functions can be represented in the following combination of functions:

1) Reproduction - Reproduction of members of society. The main institution that performs this function is the family, but other social institutions are also involved in it, such as the state, education, and culture.

2) Production and distribution. Provided by economic - social institutions of management and control - authorities.

3) Socialization - the transfer to individuals of the patterns of behavior and methods of activity established in a given society - the institutions of the family, education, religion, etc.

4) The functions of management and control are carried out through a system of social norms and regulations that implement the appropriate types of behavior: moral and legal norms, customs, administrative decisions, etc. Social institutions control the individual's behavior through a system of rewards and sanctions.

5) Regulation of the use of and access to power - political institutions

6) Communication between members of society - cultural, educational.

7) Protection of members of society from physical danger - military, legal, medical institutions.

Each social institution can have a number of sub-functions that this institution performs and other institutions cannot have. For example: the institution of the family has the following subfunctions: reproductive, status, economic satisfaction, protective, etc.

In addition, each institution can perform several functions at the same time, or several social institutions specialize in performing one function. For example: the function of raising children is performed by such institutions as the family, the state, the school, etc. At the same time, the institution of the family performs several functions at once, as noted earlier.

Functions performed by one institution change over time and can be transferred to other institutions or distributed among several. So, for example, the function of education, together with the family, was previously carried out by the church, and now schools, the state and other social institutions. In addition, in the days of gatherers and hunters, the family was still engaged in the function of obtaining means of subsistence, but at present this function is performed by the institution of production and industry.

In addition to the above functions, there are explicit and latent functions of social institutions. These functions are not only characteristics of the social structure of society, but also indicators of its overall stability.

The explicit functions of social institutions are written down in statutes, formally declared, accepted by the community of people involved, declared. Since explicit functions are always announced and in every society this is accompanied by a rather strict tradition or procedure (from anointing to the king or the presidential oath to constitutional records and the adoption of special sets of rules or laws: on education, health care, prosecutors, social security, etc.) , they turn out to be necessary, more formalized and controlled by society.

The latent functions of institutions are those that are hidden, not announced. Sometimes they are quite identical to the application functions, but usually there is a discrepancy between the formal and real activities of institutions.

From this we can conclude that the explicit functions testify to what people wanted to achieve within the framework of this or that institution, and the latent ones indicate what came of it.

The activity of an institution is considered functional if it contributes to the preservation of society. If any institution causes harm to society by its activities, there is a dysfunction of the institution.

Need. Functions and dysfunctions of social institutions The function of a social institution can be defined as a set of tasks it solves, goals achieved, services provided. The first and most important function of social institutions is to satisfy the most important vital needs of society, that is, without which society cannot exist as such. It cannot exist unless...

1994 social institutions. Another type of social systems is formed on the basis of communities, the social ties of which are determined by associations of organizations. Such social ties are called institutional, and social systems are called social institutions. The latter act on behalf of society as a whole. Institutional ties can also be called normative, since their nature and ...

... "[v]. However, the separation of information law from common system law is not associated only with the satisfaction of social and state tasks or needs. The process of formation of information law is also associated with the presence of the following constructions in this industry: 1. an independent subject legal regulation; 2. methods of information law; 3. a conceptual apparatus inherent only in this ...

It is not public at all, but only the desires of the “powerful ones of this world”. But this problem deserves more serious study. (See Ch. II. P 2.5.) Chapter II. Sociology of public opinion. 2.1. Public opinion as a social institution. Before proceeding to the study of public opinion as a social institution, it is necessary to define ...

The process of institutionalization includes a number of points.

§ One of necessary conditions the emergence of social institutions serves the corresponding social need. Institutions are designed to organize the joint activities of people in order to meet certain social needs. Thus, the institution of the family satisfies the need for the reproduction of the human race and the upbringing of children, implements relations between the sexes, generations, etc. The Institute higher education provides training work force, enables a person to develop his abilities in order to realize them in subsequent activities and ensure his existence, etc. The emergence of certain social needs, as well as the conditions for their satisfaction, are the first necessary moments of institutionalization.

§ A social institution is formed on the basis of social ties, interactions and relationships of specific individuals, individuals, social groups and other communities. But it, like other social systems, cannot be reduced to the sum of these individuals and their interactions. Social institutions are supra-individual in nature, have their own systemic quality. Consequently, a social institution is an independent public entity that has its own logic of development. From this point of view, social institutions can be considered as organized social systems characterized by the stability of the structure, the integration of their elements and a certain variability of their functions.

First of all, we are talking about a system of values, norms, ideals, as well as patterns of activity and behavior of people and other elements of the sociocultural process. This system guarantees similar behavior of people, coordinates and directs their certain aspirations, establishes ways to satisfy their needs, resolves conflicts that arise in the process of everyday life, provides a state of balance and stability within a particular social community and society as a whole.

In itself, the presence of these socio-cultural elements does not yet ensure the functioning of a social institution. In order for it to work, it is necessary that they become the property of the inner world of the individual, be internalized by them in the process of socialization, embodied in the form of social roles and statuses. The internalization by individuals of all sociocultural elements, the formation on their basis of a system of personality needs, value orientations and expectations is the second essential element institutionalization.

§ The third most important element of institutionalization is the organizational design of a social institution. Outwardly, a social institution is a collection of persons, institutions, equipped with certain material resources and performing a certain social function. Thus, an institution of higher education consists of a certain set of persons: teachers, attendants, officials who operate within institutions such as universities, the ministry or the State Committee for high school etc., which for their activities have certain material values (buildings, finances, etc.).

Thus, each social institution is characterized by the presence of a goal of its activity, specific functions that ensure the achievement of such a goal, a set of social positions and roles typical for this institution. Based on the foregoing, we can give the following definition of a social institution. Social institutions are organized associations of people performing certain socially significant functions, ensuring the joint achievement of goals based on the social roles performed by members, set by social values, norms and patterns of behavior.

Social institutions (from lat. institutum - establishment, institution) are historically established stable forms of organization joint activities of people. The term "social institution" is used in a wide variety of meanings. They talk about the institution of the family, the institution of education, health care, the institution of the state, etc. The first, most often used meaning of the term "social institution" is associated with the characteristics of any kind of ordering, formalization and standardization of social relations and relations. And the process of streamlining, formalization and standardization is called institutionalization.

The process of institutionalization includes a number of points: 1) One of the necessary conditions for the emergence of social institutions is the corresponding social need. Institutions are designed to organize the joint activities of people in order to meet certain social needs. Thus, the institution of the family satisfies the need for the reproduction of the human race and the upbringing of children, implements relations between the sexes, generations, etc. The institution of higher education provides training for the workforce, enables a person to develop his abilities in order to realize them in subsequent activities and ensure his own existence, etc. The emergence of certain social needs, as well as the conditions for their satisfaction, are the first necessary moments of institutionalization. 2) A social institution is formed on the basis of social ties, interactions and relationships of specific individuals, individuals, social groups and other communities. But it, like other social systems, cannot be reduced to the sum of these individuals and their interactions. Social institutions are supra-individual in nature, have their own systemic quality. Consequently, a social institution is an independent public entity that has its own logic of development. From this point of view, social institutions can be considered as organized social systems characterized by the stability of the structure, the integration of their elements and a certain variability of their functions.

First of all, it is a system of values, norms, ideals, as well as patterns of activity and behavior of people and other elements of the sociocultural process. This system guarantees similar behavior of people, coordinates and directs certain aspirations into the mainstream, establishes ways to satisfy their needs, resolves conflicts,

arising in the process of everyday life, provides a state of balance and stability within a particular social community and society as a whole. In itself, the presence of these socio-cultural elements does not yet ensure the functioning of a social institution. In order for it to work, it is necessary that they become the property of the inner world of the individual, be internalized by them in the process of socialization, embodied in the form of social roles and statuses. The internalization by individuals of all sociocultural elements, the formation on their basis of a system of personality needs, value orientations and expectations is the second most important element of institutionalization. 3) The third most important element of institutionalization is the organizational design of a social institution. Outwardly, a social institution is a collection of individuals, institutions, equipped with certain material resources and performing a certain social function. Thus, an institution of higher education consists of a certain set of persons: teachers, attendants, officials who operate within the framework of institutions such as universities, the ministry or the State Committee for Higher Education, etc., who for their activities have certain material assets (buildings , finance, etc.).

So, each social institution is characterized by the presence of the goal of its activity, specific functions that ensure the achievement of such a goal, a set of social positions and roles typical for this institution. Based on the foregoing, we can give the following definition of a social institution. Social institutions are organized associations of people performing certain socially significant functions, ensuring the joint achievement of goals based on the social roles performed by members, set by social values, norms and patterns of behavior.

27. Social institutions as elements of the social structure of society.

The concept of a social institution is one of the main ones in sociology. There are even attempts to define sociology as the science of social institutions. Thanks to the interpretation of this concept in sociology, a special institutional approach has been developed.

Concise Dictionary according to sociology, claims that the term "institution" is of Latin origin and, in a literal translation in relation to the ancient era, means an establishment, an institution. Today, a social institution means historically established, stable forms of organizing the joint activities of people and is used in a wide variety of meanings. The social institution is the main component of the social structure, integrating and coordinating many individual actions of people, streamlining social relations in the most important areas. public life.

A social institution is an organized system of connections and social norms that combines significant social values and procedures that satisfy the basic needs of society.

A social institution is a role-playing system, which also includes norms and statuses, a set of customs, traditions and rules of conduct; formal and informal organization; a set of norms and institutions that regulate a certain area of social relations; separate set of social activities.

Thus, the totality of relationships and systems of behavior that is useful to society finds the most complete expression in social institutions. It is known that the most important condition for the existence of mankind is the constant reproduction of material goods. It is social institutions that help to implement it purposefully and effectively. Here is the socialization of the younger generation, and the modernization of society, and its protection from external and internal enemies. Therefore, the importance of social institutions can hardly be overestimated. One thing, and perhaps the most important thing, can be unambiguously said - without them, humanity simply cannot exist in a civilized way. Moreover, the presence of social institutions, the degree of their development and efficiency of functioning is an indicator of the level of civilization of the era. Therefore, the concept of "social institution" in sociology occupies one of the central and extremely significant places.

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the emergence of a need, the satisfaction of which requires joint organized actions;

formation of common goals;

the emergence of social norms and rules in the course of spontaneous social interaction, carried out by trial and error;

the emergence of procedures related to norms and rules;

institutionalization of norms and rules, procedures, that is, their adoption, practical use;

Establishment of a system of sanctions to maintain norms and rules, differentiation of their application in individual cases;

· creation of a system of statuses and roles covering all members of the institute without exception;

· Thus, the end of the process of institutionalization can be considered the creation in accordance with the norms and rules of a clear status-role structure, socially approved by the majority of participants in this social process.

The process of institutionalization thus involves a number of points.

One of the necessary conditions for the emergence of social institutions is the corresponding social need. Institutions are designed to organize the joint activities of people in order to meet certain social needs. Thus, the institution of the family satisfies the need for the reproduction of the human race and the upbringing of children, implements relations between the sexes, generations, etc. The institution of higher education provides training for the workforce, enables a person to develop his abilities in order to realize them in subsequent activities and ensure his own existence, etc. The emergence of certain social needs, as well as the conditions for their satisfaction, are the first necessary moments of institutionalization.

A social institution is formed on the basis of social ties, interactions and relationships of specific individuals, social groups and communities. But it, like other social systems, cannot be reduced to the sum of these individuals and their interactions. Social institutions are supra-individual in nature, have their own systemic quality. Consequently, a social institution is an independent public entity that has its own logic of development. From this point of view, social institutions can be considered as organized social systems characterized by the stability of the structure, the integration of their elements and a certain variability of their functions.

The third most important element of institutionalization is the organizational design of a social institution. Outwardly, a social institution is a set of organizations, institutions, persons provided with certain material resources and performing a certain social function. Thus, the institute of higher education is put into action by the social corps of teachers, service personnel, officials who operate within the framework of such institutions as universities, the ministry or the State Committee for Higher Education, etc., who for their activities have certain material values (buildings, finance, etc.).

Thus, social institutions are social mechanisms, stable value-normative complexes that regulate various areas of social life (marriage, family, property, religion), which are not very susceptible to changes in people's personal characteristics. But they are set in motion by people who carry out their activities, "play" by their rules. Thus, the concept of "the institution of a monogamous family" does not mean a separate family, but a set of norms that is realized in countless families of a certain kind.

Institutionalization, as shown by P. Berger and T. Lukman, is preceded by the process of habitualization, or “accustoming” of everyday actions, leading to the formation of patterns of activity that are later perceived as natural and normal for a given occupation or solving typical problems in these situations. Action patterns, in turn, serve as the basis for the formation of social institutions, which are described in the form of objective social facts and are perceived by the observer as a "social reality" (or social structure). These trends are accompanied by signification procedures (the process of creating, using signs and fixing meanings and meanings in them) and form a system social meanings, which, developing into semantic connections, are fixed in natural language. Signification serves the purposes of legitimation (recognition as legitimate, socially recognized, legal) social order, that is, justifications and substantiations of habitual ways to overcome the chaos of destructive forces that threaten to undermine the stable idealizations of everyday life.

The emergence and existence of social institutions is associated with the formation in each individual of a special set of sociocultural dispositions (habitus), practical schemes of action that have become for the individual his internal “natural” need. Thanks to habitus, individuals are included in the activities of social institutions. Therefore, social institutions are not just mechanisms, but "a kind of" factory of meanings "that set not only patterns of human interactions, but also ways of comprehending, understanding social reality and the people themselves."

Introduction

1. The concept of "social institution" and "social organization".

2. Types of social institutions.

3. Functions and structure of social institutions.

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

The term "social institution" is used in a wide variety of meanings. They talk about the institution of the family, the institution of education, health care, the institution of the state, etc. The first, most often used meaning of the term "social institution" is associated with the characteristics of any kind of ordering, formalization and standardization of social relations and relations. And the process of streamlining, formalization and standardization is called institutionalization.

Consequently, a social institution is an independent public entity that has its own logic of development. From this point of view, social institutions can be considered as organized social systems characterized by the stability of the structure, the integration of their elements and a certain variability of their functions.

3) The third essential element of institutionalization

is the organizational design of a social institution. Outwardly, a social institution is a collection of individuals, institutions, equipped with certain material resources and performing a certain social function.

It is necessary to distinguish between such concepts as “social institution” and “organization”.

1. The concept of "social institution" and "social organization"

Social institutions (from Latin institutum - establishment, establishment) are historically established stable forms of organizing joint activities of people.

Social institutions govern the behavior of community members through a system of sanctions and rewards. In social management and control, institutions play a very important role. Their task is not only to coercion. In every society there are institutions that guarantee freedom in certain activities - freedom of creativity and innovation, freedom of speech, the right to receive a certain form and amount of income, housing and free medical service etc. For example, writers and artists have guaranteed freedom of creativity, the search for new artistic forms; scientists and specialists are obliged to investigate new problems and search for new technical solutions, etc. Social institutions can be characterized in terms of both their external, formal (“material”) structure, and their internal, content.

Outwardly, a social institution looks like a collection of individuals, institutions, equipped with certain material resources and performing a specific social function. From the content side, it is a certain system of expediently oriented standards of behavior of certain individuals in specific situations. So, if there is justice as a social institution, it can outwardly be characterized as a set of persons, institutions and material means administering justice, then from a substantive point of view, it is a set of standardized patterns of behavior of eligible persons providing this social function. These standards of conduct are embodied in certain roles characteristic of the justice system (the role of a judge, prosecutor, lawyer, investigator, etc.).

The social institution thus determines the orientation social activities and social relations through a mutually agreed system of expediently oriented standards of behavior. Their emergence and grouping into a system depend on the content of the tasks solved by the social institution. Each such institution is characterized by the presence of an activity goal, specific functions that ensure its achievement, a set of social positions and roles, as well as a system of sanctions that ensure the promotion of desired and the suppression of deviant behavior.

Consequently, social institutions perform functions in society social management and social control as one of the controls. Social control enables society and its systems to enforce normative conditions, the violation of which is detrimental to the social system. The main objects of such control are legal and moral norms, customs, administrative decisions, etc. The effect of social control is reduced, on the one hand, to the application of sanctions against behavior that violates social restrictions, on the other hand, to the approval of desirable behavior. The behavior of individuals is conditioned by their needs. These needs can be met different ways, and the choice of means to satisfy them depends on the system of values adopted by a given social community or society as a whole. The adoption of a certain system of values contributes to the identity of the behavior of members of the community. Education and socialization are aimed at conveying to individuals the patterns of behavior and methods of activity established in a given community.

Scientists understand a social institution as a complex, covering, on the one hand, a set of normatively value-conditioned roles and statuses designed to meet certain social needs, and on the other hand, a social entity created to use society's resources in the form of interaction to meet this need.

Social institutions and social organizations are closely linked. There is no consensus among sociologists about how they relate to each other. Some believe that there is no need to distinguish between these two concepts at all, they use them as synonyms, since many social phenomena, such as the social security system, education, the army, the court, the bank, can be simultaneously considered both as a social institution and as social organization, while others give a more or less clear distinction between them. The difficulty of drawing a clear “watershed” between these two concepts is due to the fact that social institutions in the process of their activity act as social organizations - they are structurally designed, institutionalized, have their own goals, functions, norms and rules. The difficulty lies in the fact that when trying to isolate social organization as an independent structural component or social phenomenon, one has to repeat those properties and features that are also characteristic of a social institution.

It should also be noted that, as a rule, there are much more organizations than institutions. For the practical implementation of the functions, goals and objectives of one social institution, several specialized social organizations are often formed. For example, on the basis of the institute of religion, various church and religious organizations, churches and confessions (Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Islam, etc.)

2. Types of social institutions

Social institutions differ from each other in their functional qualities: 1) Economic and social institutions - property, exchange, money, banks, business associations different type- provide the entire set of production and distribution of social wealth, at the same time connecting economic life with other areas of social life.

2) Political institutions - the state, parties, trade unions and other kinds public organizations pursuing political goals aimed at establishing and maintaining a certain form of political power. Their totality is political system of this society. Political institutions ensure the reproduction and sustainable preservation of ideological values, and stabilize the social class structures that dominate in society. 3) Sociocultural and educational institutions aim at the development and subsequent reproduction of cultural and social values, the inclusion of individuals in a certain subculture, as well as the socialization of individuals through the assimilation of stable sociocultural standards of behavior and, finally, the protection of certain values and norms. 4) Normative-orienting - mechanisms of moral and ethical orientation and regulation of the behavior of individuals. Their goal is to give behavior and motivation a moral argument, an ethical basis. These institutions assert imperative universal human values, special codes and ethics of behavior in the community. 5) Normative-sanctioning - social and social regulation of behavior on the basis of norms, rules and regulations enshrined in legal and administrative acts. The binding nature of the norms is ensured by the coercive power of the state and the system of appropriate sanctions. 6) Ceremonial-symbolic and situational-conventional institutions. These institutions are based on the more or less long-term adoption of conventional (by agreement) norms, their official and unofficial consolidation. These norms regulate everyday contacts, various acts of group and intergroup behavior. They determine the order and method of mutual behavior, regulate the methods of transmission and exchange of information, greetings, addresses, etc., the rules of meetings, meetings, the activities of some associations.

Violation of the normative interaction with the social environment, which is the society or community, is called the dysfunction of a social institution. As noted earlier, the basis for the formation and functioning of a particular social institution is the satisfaction of a particular social need. Under the conditions of intensive social processes, the acceleration of the pace of social change, a situation may arise when the changed social needs are not adequately reflected in the structure and functions of the relevant social institutions. As a result, dysfunction may occur in their activities. From a substantive point of view, dysfunction is expressed in the ambiguity of the goals of the institution, the uncertainty of functions, in the fall of its social prestige and authority, the degeneration of its individual functions into "symbolic", ritual activity, that is, activity not aimed at achieving a rational goal.

One of the clear expressions of the dysfunction of a social institution is the personalization of its activities. A social institution, as you know, functions according to its own, objectively operating mechanisms, where each person, on the basis of norms and patterns of behavior, in accordance with his status, plays certain roles. The personalization of a social institution means that it ceases to act in accordance with objective needs and objectively established goals, changing its functions depending on the interests of individuals, their personal qualities and properties.

An unsatisfied social need can bring to life the spontaneous emergence of normatively unregulated activities that seek to make up for the dysfunction of the institution, but at the cost of violating existing norms and rules. In its extreme forms, activity of this kind can be expressed in illegal activities. Thus, the dysfunction of some economic institutions is the reason for the existence of the so-called "shadow economy", resulting in speculation, bribery, theft, etc. Correction of dysfunction can be achieved by changing the social institution itself or by creating a new social institution that satisfies a given social need.

Researchers distinguish two forms of the existence of social institutions: simple and complex. Simple social institutions are organized associations of people who perform certain socially significant functions that ensure the joint achievement of goals based on the members of the institution fulfilling their social roles, determined by social values, ideals, and norms. At this level, the control system did not stand out as an independent system. Social values, ideals, norms themselves ensure the sustainability of the existence and functioning of a social institution.

The most important social institutions are political ones. With their help, political power is established and maintained. Economic institutions provide the process of production and distribution of goods and services. The family is also one of the important social institutions. Its activities (relations between parents, parents and children, methods of education, etc.) are determined by a system of legal and other social norms. Along with these institutions, such socio-cultural institutions as the education system, health care, social security, cultural and educational institutions, etc., are also of significant importance. The institution of religion continues to play a significant role in society.

3.Functions and structure of social institutions

The sociological approach focuses on the social functions of the institution and its regulatory structure. In particular, the implementation of socially significant functions by the institution is ensured by the presence within the framework of the social institution of an integral system of standardized patterns of behavior, i.e. value-normative structure.

The most important functions that social institutions perform in society include:

Regulation of the activities of members of society within the framework of social relations;

Creating opportunities to meet the needs of members of society;

Ensuring social integration, sustainability of public life;

Socialization of individuals.

The structure of social institutions most often includes a certain set of constituent elements that appear in a more or less formalized form, depending on the type of institution. Here we can distinguish the following structural elements of a social institution:

The purpose and scope of the institute;

Functions provided to achieve the goal;

Normatively determined social roles and statuses presented in the structure of the institute;

Means and institutions to achieve the goal and implement functions.

Of all the possible criteria for the classification of social institutions, it is advisable to dwell on two: subject (substantive) and formalized. Based on the subject criterion, i.e. the nature of the substantive tasks performed by institutions, the following are distinguished: political institutions (state, parties, army); economic institutions(division of labor, property, taxes, etc.); institutions of kinship, marriage and family; institutions operating in the spiritual sphere (education, culture, mass communications, etc.)

Based on the second criterion, i.e. nature of the organization, institutions are divided into formal and informal. The activities of the former are based on strict, normative and, possibly, legally fixed prescriptions, rules, instructions, etc. in informal institutions there is no such regulation of social roles, functions, means and methods of activity and sanctions for non-normative behavior. It is replaced by informal regulation through traditions, customs, social norms etc.

Each social institution is included in a historically specific social structure, corresponds to the interests of a particular social group, performs a number of interrelated functions, such as: 1) reproduction of representatives of a particular social group; 2) the socialization of specific individuals in the form of the transfer of socially significant norms and values to them; 3) maintaining stability and moral order of an intra-institutional nature, and also has an external justification, which is realized in the processes of social exchange. At the same time, it is important to emphasize that individual organizations and specific social groups in themselves do not constitute a social institution, and therefore the description, analysis of functions and forecast of development trends of a well-defined social institution cannot be reduced to considering only its “visible incarnations” and require a reasonable combination of a systemic and interdisciplinary approach with a specific historical and empirical approach.

Conclusion

Thus, social institutions are specific formations that ensure the relative stability of ties and relations within the framework of the social organization of society, some historically determined forms of organization and regulation of public life. Institutions arise in the course of the development of human society, the differentiation of activities, the division of labor, the formation of specific types of social relations.

Common features of a social institution include:

Identification of a certain circle of subjects entering into relationships that acquire a stable character in the process of activity;

A certain (more or less formalized) organization;

The presence of specific norms and regulations governing the behavior of people within the framework of a social institution;

The presence of socially significant functions of the institution, integrating it into social system and ensuring its participation in the process of integration of the latter.

These signs are not normatively fixed, they rather follow from the generalization of analytical materials on various social institutions. modern society. But in general, they are a convenient tool for analyzing the processes of institutionalization of social formations.

Social practice shows that for human society it is necessary to consolidate certain types of social relations, to make them mandatory.

Social institutions are the pillars of society, symbols of order and organization.

Institutional ties, like other forms of social ties on the basis of which social communities are formed, represent an ordered system, a certain social organization. This is a system of accepted activities of social communities, norms and values that guarantee similar behavior of their members, coordinate and direct people's aspirations in a certain direction, establish ways to meet their needs, resolve conflicts that arise in the process of everyday life, provide a state of balance between the aspirations of various individuals. and groups of a given social community and society as a whole. In the case when this balance begins to fluctuate, one speaks of social disorganization, of the intensive manifestation of undesirable phenomena (for example, such as crimes, alcoholism, aggressive actions, etc.).

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