 Welcome dear learners, welcome to the LMS platform introduced by Krishnakanta Handings Tirupan University. Today we will discuss the Unit 8 meant for the BA for Semester which is titled as Social Structure, Social System and Social Organization. In this unit we will be able to understand the meaning of social structure, the meaning of social system, the various features of a social system, the meaning of social organization, the types of social organization and the different features of social organization. So let us begin. Now before trying to know the meaning of a social structure, let us try to understand what is a structure. We may have heard about this word many times in our daily lives that the structure of Taj Mahal is so beautiful. The structure of this new latest bike is so beautiful. The structure of a building is so beautiful. So what does this structure mean? Now suppose if we look at the building of KKHSOU, we will see that the building consists of different floors, each floor consists of different rooms and together this forms the structure of the KKHSOU building, isn't it? Accordingly, a structure is an arrangement of different parts to form a whole. Similarly if we look into our body, if somebody says the structure of a human body or the structure of a particular animal, say suppose the structure of a peacock, it's different when we say the structure of a human body what we mean? We have internal and external organs, we have the hands, eyes, nose and then we will have the internal organs, all these parts contribute to form the structure of human body and each part contributes to the proper functioning of the individual body. Similarly, a society consists of different parts. For example, in a society, suppose this is a diagrammatic representation of a society, in a society we will have the quality, the economy, the family and the religion. These are all parts of society which makes the society a complete and this whole arrangement of the different parts is called social structure. Now why these parts exist? For example, why economy exists in a particular society? For example, in the animal world to have food we do not need an economic organization, a bank or a marketplace but why do we require a separate entity like the economy or the quality to look after our society? This is because if we go back to our first unit, we have learned that human beings are social beings and we need to cooperate with one another to exist but who will cooperate whom? To remove this confusion, the human society has created different parts like the economic part, the political part and each part is integrated to one another to contribute towards the survival of the whole society. For example, a society requires the members to recruit in the economic and other spheres and it is the family that through procreation provides the members or provide the human resource that is required to recruit in the different organizations. Now in order to cooperate with one another, we must interact with one another. In different situations, we are required or we are expected to interact differently. For example, when you are going to a marketplace, you interact with the shopkeeper differently but when you are in an educational institute, when you are interacting with your teacher or when you are interacting with your students, you interact differently. So we require an institutionalized pattern of interaction to follow during different situations and this is known as social system. Now let us try to understand what Telkan person has explained about social system. Now according to Telkan person, Telkan person is a very famous sociologist. According to him, every individual is oriented towards a particular goal and that person while pursuing to achieve that goal, that person is guided by certain values, rules and regulation. At the same time, he or she is constrained by certain external factors. Now let us take an example. Suppose during the lockdown phase, perhaps everyone of us were required to go to the market. So let us take that going to the market is our goal. Suppose the goal is going to the market. During the pandemic, we were required to go to the market to buy the vegetables. But while pursuing our goal, we were guided by certain values. Like what were our values? Many of us will not steal. Even though we need the food, we were not getting enough food. Still we were guided by certain values. What values that we will not steal the food? And then we were constrained by certain external factors. What is the external factors? External factor means those factors that is beyond our control. Now in this context, the pandemic is the external factor that is not in our control. So the external situation is there. We are guided by certain values. At the same time, we were required to achieve that goal. We were required to bring food for our family. Now in order to achieve that goal, we were required to interact with another person. Suppose the shopkeeper. Now even the shopkeeper had a certain goal. What goal did he have? His goal was to sell the things at a maximum profit. Again, he also would have been guided by certain kind of values. And he would also have been constrained by the external factors. So both these two persons were required to interact with one another to fulfill their goals. So each goal according to Talcat person is called the unit 8. But in order to achieve our goals, we were required to cooperate with one another. And we need an institutionalized pattern of interaction, which according to Talcat person is social system. Now what is known as an institutionalized pattern of interaction? It is that type of interaction that has been agreed by all. For example, we cannot interact informally in an interview situation. That has been agreed by all, isn't it? Again, when we interact with our family members, we do not require a prior permission or we are not required to apply a prior application to talk to them. That kind of interaction is also accepted by society. So institutionalized pattern of interaction means that kind of interaction, which has been agreed by all. Now let us move on to understand the features of a social system. The first feature would be it involves a plurality of individuals interacting with one another at the same time to fulfill each other's needs. The second feature is it is an integrated unit consisting of or guided by different rules and regulations. For example, in India, while interacting with an elderly person, we are expected to interact differently even though that elderly person in a lower ranking job. Then in the previous section, we have already discussed that in a society, there are different parts like the economy, the polity, the family and the religion. Now each part consists of different institutionalized pattern of interaction to fulfill the needs. For example, the economy would contain the economic system, the polity consists of the political system. These institutionalized systems perhaps in facilitating the goals of each of the parts. So a social structure means the totality of the various parts of a society and a social system means the institutionalized pattern of interaction between and among different parts. Now finally, we will be discussing about the third topic in this unit and that is social organization. Now in the previous part, we have already discussed that in a society, we have different parts like the economy, the polity, etc. But when we say economy, it is a huge part and within the economy, there are other parts that contribute towards the proper functioning of this aspect of society. So a social organization is a unit of people constructed and administered to pursue some collective goals. For example, the bank, the industries or even when we talk about a educational institute, when we are looking how it is catering to the employment needs of the people, then we are looking it from an economic angle. So even an educational institute can be understood as an economic organization from a certain angle and then we have already have the banks, then other institutes. Then we will discuss about the features of social organization. So the first feature is it has some specific purpose. Like we have already discussed, the bank as an organization was created because it was required to provide finances to the people to carry out other economic activities. So every organization or every social organization for that matter has a certain purpose. When people have similar goal to achieve, they come together and form an organization. The second point is mutual understanding among the members. Now for the smooth functioning of an organization, mutual understanding and cooperation among all the members is very essential. Then the third point is synchronization between the status and role. Within an organization, the members will have different status and different roles to perform. So an organization is a place which brings different people together under one roof. And synchronization amongst them is very important. The third feature is the control of the organization over the behavior of the individuals. Now to perform the functions smoothly, all the members of the organization has to work efficiently. But sometimes what we see, some of the members are working efficiently while others are not working. So in that case, the organization can make use of different formal and informal mechanisms to control the behavior of the members. Then we have the types of organization. Now we have two types of social organization. First is formal social organization, second is informal social organization. Now what about formal organization? These are those organizations which are characterized by certain specific rules, regulations, division of labor, hierarchy, authority. Again the example of the bank would make it very clear or for that matter the example of an educational institute. Every responsibility has been clearly stated in the rules and regulation of that organization. Then we have the informal social organization. In case of informal social organization, it plays a very important role in any society. But in informal social organization, the rules and regulations are not written down, but it has passed on from one person, one generation to another orally. Now family would be the perfect example of an informal social organization. Then coming to the features of a formal organization. So it has the first, the very first feature of a formal social organization would be that it has a specific function. A school has a specific function. It is defined that it exists primarily to give impart education to the students, but for a bank it has a totally different purpose. Then another very important feature of a formal social organization is the existence of bureaucracy. Now what is bureaucracy? Bureaucracy refers to the administrative aspect of an organization to carry or to coordinate the day-to-day activities. Then in a formal social organization, the interaction between the members is very formal. How? If today if I am required or if you are required to meet the vice-chancellor of this university, we need to ask for a prior permission. Again every member within the family, the communication is passed on formally. Oral communication takes place very rarely. Most of the communications are through formal interaction, through the notices, through the circulars, etc. Then fourth feature of a formal social organization is rationality, which means that every action is based on reason. Decisions are not taken on the basis of emotions. There has to be certain logic and reason to take a particular decision. Then finally, every formal social organization has a particular name and symbol. For example, KKHSOU has a particular symbol. Then State Bank of India has a particular symbol. Result Bank of India has a particular symbol. WHO has a particular name which defines its purpose and then also it has a symbol. Then finally, coming to the characteristics of an informal social organization. It is just opposite to the formal social organization. In an informal social organization, the members share a very personal relationship with one another. For example, we can share our intimate feelings, beliefs with one another, and we can talk very informally. Again, in informal social organizations, members perform different roles, their different status, but it is not very clearly defined. Then thirdly, in the informal social groups, some norms are required to be followed. But again, they are not written down. Again, due to the absence of the bureaucratic mechanism, the interaction between the members are direct. As I have already mentioned that while interacting or while if we go to our family members, we are not required to take a prior permission. So, the informal social organizations are more flexible. The norms get changed with time in terms of the attitude of the members. The changing norms is relatively easier here because the number of members is smaller etc. So, it is not very complex as it is in case of the formal social organization. So, from today's discussion, we have tried to understand what is a social structure. These are some of the basic concepts in sociology. So, those are what is social structure, what is social system, and what is a social organization. Thank you.