Social Institutional System
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A Social Institution System is a system pattern that governs social behavior through institutional structures (establishing social order and normative behavior within communitys).
- AKA: Social Institution, Societal Institution, Social Framework System, Social Structure, Social Mechanism.
- Context:
- It can establish Social Framework through behavioral norms.
- It can maintain Social Order through rule systems.
- It can shape Normative Behavior through social expectations.
- It can coordinate Social Roles through institutional structures.
- It can manage Social Resources through allocation mechanisms.
- It can function as Core Framework for shaping normative behavior and establishing social roles.
- ...
- It can often demonstrate Institutional Persistence through temporal stability.
- It can often require Governance Structure through control mechanisms.
- It can often maintain Social Functions through institutional processes.
- It can often evolve with Societal Changes through adaptation mechanisms.
- It can often integrate with Cultural Patterns through social practices.
- ...
- It can range from being a Formal Social Institution to being an Informal Social Institution, depending on its formalization level.
- It can range from being a Meta Institution to being a Specialized Institution, depending on its functional scope.
- It can range from being a Traditional Institution to being a Modern Institution, depending on its evolutionary stage.
- It can range from being a Local Institution to being a Global Institution, depending on its geographic reach.
- It can range from being a Simple Institution to being a Complex Institution, depending on its structural complexity.
- ...
- It can interact with Social Technology through institutional adaptation.
- It can connect with Cultural Systems through value integration.
- It can influence Social Development through institutional impact.
- It can shape Social Behavior through normative control.
- It can be characterized by an Institution Ontology through element categorization.
- ...
- Examples:
- Core Social Institutions, such as:
- Family Institutions, such as:
- Extended Family System organizing kinship networks.
- Nuclear Family Structure supporting family units.
- Family and Kinship Institutions encompassing collectivist structures.
- Religious Institutions, such as:
- Organized Religion System maintaining belief structures.
- Spiritual Practice Network facilitating religious observance.
- Family Institutions, such as:
- Governance Institutions, such as:
- Political Institutions, such as:
- Democratic System enabling political participation.
- Traditional Governance Structure managing community decisions.
- Legal Institutions, such as:
- Common Law System administering justice.
- Indigenous Justice Practice resolving community conflicts.
- Political Institutions, such as:
- Economic Institutions, such as:
- Market Institutions, such as:
- Market Economy System facilitating economic exchange.
- Traditional Exchange Network managing resource distribution.
- Labor Institutions, such as:
- Modern Employment System organizing work relations.
- Traditional Labor Structure managing work practices.
- Market Institutions, such as:
- Cultural Institutions, such as:
- Educational Institutions, such as:
- Formal Education System providing structured learning.
- Traditional Knowledge System transmitting cultural wisdom.
- Artistic Institutions, such as:
- Cultural Heritage Organization preserving artistic traditions.
- Creative Practice Network supporting artistic expression.
- Educational Institutions, such as:
- Healthcare Institutions, such as:
- Public Health System maintaining community health.
- Traditional Medicine Practice providing cultural healing.
- Media Institutions, such as:
- Mass Media Organization facilitating information flow.
- Digital Platform Network enabling social communication.
- Scientific Institutions, such as:
- Research Organization advancing knowledge production.
- Innovation Network supporting technological development.
- Environmental Institutions, such as:
- Conservation System protecting natural resources.
- Traditional Ecological Practice maintaining environmental balance.
- Gender Institutions, such as:
- Gender Role System structuring social identity.
- LGBTQ+ Community Network supporting identity expression.
- Digital Institutions, such as:
- Digital Governance System managing online interaction.
- Virtual Community Network facilitating digital participation.
- ...
- Core Social Institutions, such as:
- Counter-Examples:
- Technical System, which implements technological solutions rather than social order.
- Natural System, which follows natural laws rather than social rules.
- Physical Infrastructure, which provides material structures rather than institutional frameworks.
- Information System, which manages data flows rather than social processes.
- Individual Behavior, which represents personal actions rather than institutional patterns.
- Institutional Policy, which defines specific rules rather than institutional frameworks.
- Government Regulation, which enforces specific requirements rather than social patterns.
- See: Institution Theory, Social System, Organizational System, Social Structure, Social Order, Institution Ontology, Social Science, Political Science, Society, Government, Public Institution, Social Purpose.
A Social Institution System is a Social Structure/Social Mechanism that governs the behavior of a set of individuals within a given community.
- Context:
- It can (typically) function as a framework for shaping normative behavior, establishing the rules, expectations, and social roles within a community.
- ...
- It can range from being a Formal Social Institutions like legal systems to an Informal Social Instutitions like social conventions.
- It can range from being Meta-institutions like language and money, which underpin multiple social functions, and specialized institutions like school systems or healthcare networks.
- ...
- It can demonstrate persistence over time, maintaining stability and continuity in society.
- It can be characterized by an Institution Ontology that categorizes and defines its elements and relationships.
- ...
- Example(s):
- an Institution of Marriage.
- an Institution of Family/Family and Kinship Institutions, encompassing diverse structures such as extended family networks in collectivist societies, nuclear families in individualist cultures, and emerging forms like chosen families in LGBTQ+ communities. These institutions evolve in response to societal changes, such as increased mobility and changing gender roles, such as an extended family or a nuclear family.
- a Political Institution.
- an Economic Institution.
- Educational Institutions, ranging from formal systems (e.g., public schools, universities) to informal practices (e.g., apprenticeships, mentoring). This category includes both global trends in education and localized practices like indigenous knowledge transmission, reflecting the tension between standardization and cultural preservation.
- Economic Institutions, including various systems such as market economies, planned economies, and mixed systems. This category also covers informal economic practices like bartering and gift economies, as well as emerging forms like platform economies and cryptocurrencies, illustrating the dynamic nature of economic institutions.
- Political and Governance Institutions, spanning democratic systems, authoritarian regimes, and traditional governance structures (e.g., tribal councils). This category also includes supranational bodies like the United Nations, highlighting the complex interplay between local, national, and global governance.
- Legal and Justice Institutions, encompassing diverse systems such as common law, civil law, religious law (e.g., Sharia), and indigenous justice practices. These institutions often intersect with and are influenced by political and cultural institutions.
- Religious and Belief Institutions, including organized religions (e.g., Christianity, Islam, Hinduism), spiritual practices, and secular ideologies. These institutions often play a significant role in shaping other social institutions and can be sites of both social cohesion and conflict.
- Healthcare Institutions, covering a spectrum from Western medical practices to traditional and alternative medicine systems. This category includes public health infrastructures and community-based healing practices, reflecting diverse approaches to health and wellbeing across cultures.
- Media and Communication Institutions, encompassing traditional mass media, digital platforms, and evolving forms of social media. This category also includes norms of interpersonal communication and emerging issues like digital literacy and misinformation, highlighting the rapidly changing nature of these institutions.
- Scientific and Technological Institutions, including research organizations, innovation ecosystems, and systems for knowledge production and dissemination. This category also covers the ethical frameworks governing scientific research and technological development, reflecting the growing importance of these institutions in shaping society.
- Cultural and Artistic Institutions, ranging from formal organizations (e.g., museums, theaters) to informal practices (e.g., folk traditions, street art). These institutions play a crucial role in preserving heritage, fostering creativity, and negotiating cultural identity in a globalizing world.
- Language and Linguistic Institutions, including formal language structures, dialects, sign languages, and evolving forms of digital communication. This category reflects how language shapes and is shaped by other social institutions, including power dynamics and cultural identities.
- Marriage and Partnership Institutions, encompassing diverse forms such as monogamous marriages, polygamous practices, civil unions, and cultural variations in courtship and partnership. These institutions are often sites of significant social change, reflecting evolving norms around gender, sexuality, and family.
- Work and Labor Institutions, ranging from traditional employment structures to gig economy platforms, as well as unpaid labor and traditional occupations. This category reflects ongoing changes in the nature of work, including automation, remote work, and changing labor rights.
- Environmental Management Institutions, including formal conservation practices, resource management systems, and traditional ecological knowledge. This category increasingly intersects with other institutions as societies grapple with climate change and sustainability.
- Social Stratification Institutions, such as class systems, caste structures, and meritocracies. This category explicitly addresses power dynamics within societies and how they intersect with other institutions like education and economics.
- Property Rights and Ownership Institutions, covering systems of private property, communal ownership, and intellectual property rights. This category reflects cultural variations in concepts of ownership and ongoing debates about digital and genetic property rights.
- Temporal Institutions, including diverse calendar systems, cultural concepts of time, and structures governing work-leisure balance. This category reflects how societies organize and understand time, which impacts numerous other institutions.
- Sports and Recreation Institutions, ranging from organized professional sports to traditional games and emerging e-sports. This category reflects cultural values, economic systems, and changing notions of health and competition.
- Gender and Sexuality Institutions, encompassing societal norms around gender roles, expressions of sexuality, and LGBTQ+ identities. This category intersects with numerous other institutions and is often a site of significant social change and conflict.
- Childhood and Youth Institutions, including diverse child-rearing practices, educational structures, and youth cultures. This category reflects changing notions of childhood and youth across cultures and over time.
- Digital Governance Institutions, a rapidly evolving category encompassing issues of online privacy, digital rights, cybersecurity, and the governance of virtual spaces. This emerging institution intersects with numerous traditional institutions, reshaping them in the process.
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- …
- Counter-Example(s):
- See: Institution-Level Organization, Social Order, Social Purpose, Society, Government, Social Sciences, Political Science, Public Institution.
References
2014
- (Wikipedia, 2014) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institution Retrieved:2014-4-29.
- An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order governing the behaviour of a set of individuals within a given community; may it be human or a specific animal one. Institutions are identified with a social purpose, transcending individuals and intentions by mediating the rules that govern living behavior. [1] The term "institution" is commonly applied to customs and behavior patterns important to a society, as well as to particular formal organizations of government and public services. As structures and mechanisms of social order among certain species, institutions are one of the principal objects of study in the social sciences, such as political science, anthropology, economics, and sociology (the latter being described by Durkheim as the "science of institutions, their genesis and their functioning"). [2] Institutions are also a central concern for law, the formal mechanism for political rule-making and enforcement.
- ↑ Stanford Encyclopaedia: Social Institutions
- ↑ Durkheim, Émile [1895] "The Rules of Sociological Method" 8th edition, trans. Sarah A. Solovay and John M. Mueller, ed. George E. G. Catlin (1938, 1964 edition), pp. 45
- (Wikipedia, 2014) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institution#Examples_of_Institutions Retrieved:2014-4-29.
- Marriage and the family - sociology of the family.
- Religion and religious institutions - see sociology of religion; civil religion.
- Educational institutions - schools (preschool, primary/elementary, secondary, and post-secondary/higher - see Sociology of education)
- Research community - Academia and universities; research institutes - see sociology of science.
- Medicine - hospitals and other health care institutions - see sociology of health and illness, medical sociology.
- Law and legal system - courts; judges; the legal profession (bar) - see jurisprudence, philosophy of law, sociology of law.
- Criminal justice or penal systems - prisons - see sociology of punishment.
- Military or paramilitary forces - see military sociology.
- Police forces
- Mass media - including the news media (television, newspapers) and the popular media - see media studies.
- Industry - businesses, including corporations - see financial institution, factory, capitalism, division of labour, social class, industrial sociology.
- Civil society or NGOs - Charitable organizations; advocacy groups; political parties; think tanks; virtual communities
** In an extended context:
- Art and culture (See also: Culture industry, Critical theory, Cultural studies, Cultural sociology)
- Language (See also: Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Sociology of language)
- The nation-state - Social and political scientists often speak of the state as embodying all institutions such as schools, prisons, and so on. However, these institutions may be considered private or autonomous, whilst organised religion and family life certainly pre-date the advent of the nation state. In the Neo-Marxist thought of Antonio Gramsci, for instance, a distinction may be felt between the institutions of political society (the police, the army, legal system, etc.) which dominates directly and coercively, and civil society (the family, the education system, etc.)n Schenck v. United States, what circumstance made this speech case special
- In some circumstances, individuals can be considered institutions if they are responsible for creating motifs or worldwide phenomena. Examples of this include Stanley Kubrick, Nelson Mandela, and Gandhi.
2013
- http://mirror.undp.org/magnet/policy/glossary.htm
- Institution and institution building
- Institution - an organisation or group of related organisations created to serve a specific purpose.
- Institution building - the creation, development and linking of certain functions to accomplish specific tasks within institutions.
- Institution and institution building
2005
- (Searle, 2005) ⇒ John R. Searle. (2005). “What is An Institution.” In: Journal of Institutional Economics, 1(1).
- QUOTE: Economics as a subject matter, unlike physics or chemistry, is largely concerned with institutional facts. Facts about money and interest rates, exchange and employment, corporations and the balance of payments, form the very heart of the subject of economics. When Lionel Robbins, in a classic work, tells us that “Economics is a study of the disposal of scarce commodities,” he takes for granted a huge invisible institutional ontology. Two dogs fighting over a bone or two school boys fighting over a ball are also engaged in the “disposal of scarce commodities, ” but they are not central to the subject matter of economics. For economics, the mode of existence of the “commodities” and the mechanisms of “disposal” are institutional. Given the centrality of institutional phenomena, it is somewhat surprising that institutional economics has not always been at the center of mainstream economics.