Subject:

Sociology
Submitted by:
Khurram Shahzad
Roll no:
4748
Submitted to:
Mam Yasmeen
Social Institutions
 Social institution is an established and organized system of social behavior
with a recognized purpose.
 Social institutions can be examined from both a macro and a micro level of
analysis.
 From the macro perspective, we examine the functions of the
organization/system for the society.

Industrial societies have five major institutions:

1. Family.

2. Education.

3. Economy.

4. Political institution (or state).

5. Religion.

Around 1949–1951, Levy and Parsons, (functionalists),

identified the following functions of all social institutions:
1. Socialization of new members.

2. Production and distribution of goods and services.

3. Replacement of society’s members.

4. Maintenance of stability and existence.

5. Providing members a sense of purpose.

Family: is the most basic social institution in a society, and is a system of
organized relationship involving workable and dependable ways of meeting basic
social needs.

Functions of the Family

The family fulfills the following functions in society:

a. Procreation – The family contributes to human survival through its

function of reproduction.

b. Socialization – Parents and older members of the family consciously and

unconsciously act as role models, transmitting in the process,
behaviours, values, attitudes, norms, languages and totality of roles
appropriate to one’s social position.

c. Social Control – The family is a foremost agent of social control. It

equips individuals with responsible participation and appropriate ways
of realizing goals without recourse to deviance or threat to public peace
and security.

d. Status Placement – One’s initial social identity and class position in

society is related to the family he or she was born into. Such ascribed
status may however not persist throughout life.

e. Protection/Security – The family undertake the ultimate responsibility

of protection of children and other members. It guarantees them
security needed to realize their potentials even in difficult situations.

f. Love and Companionship – The family provides members with

attention, warmth and intimate relationships. These enable them to feel
 satisfied, have a sense of belonging and emotional stability to surmount
the challenges of life individually and collectively.

g. Economic Support/Sustenance – The family was originally the basic

economic unit. Today, economic survival of the society still derives
energy from the labour contributed by members of the family. There is
enormous complimentary relationship between the family and the
economic institution.

h. Regulation of Sexual Behaviour – Standard of sexual behaviour are

most clearly defined and maintained within the family group. Individuals
are trained to satisfy their sexual urge within limits set by society.

i. Physical Maintenance of the Young and the Aged – The family provide
care, nurture and protection of the young. It also bears substantial
responsibility of caring for aged members until their death.

Economic:
Economy provides basic physical sustenance of the society by meeting
the needs for food, shelter, clothing, and other necessary supply and
services. Economic institutions include agriculture, industry, marketing,
credit and banking system, co-operatives etc.

Functions of the Economic Institution

Irrespective of the economic system in place in a society, the expected functions

could be summarized as follows.
 a. To promote physical wellbeing of members through economic
arrangements that ensure shelter, clothing and prompt satisfaction of
other economic and bio-social needs.

b. To manage the scarce resources of society in the most prudent manner

possible.

c. To distribute goods and services across socio-cultural and geographical

divides with minimal disadvantages to social groups.

d. To strive and maintain smooth, synergistic link with other social

institutions for effective functioning of society.

Political:

Government as political institution, administers the regulatory functions

of Law and order, and maintains security in society. Form of government
and its method of working depends on the accepted patterns of
behaviour in a society. Development work is now-a-days a major
responsibility of the government. For effective implementation of
programmes, government may decentralise its functioning by creating
local self-government like panchayats at different level.

Functions of Political Institution

a. It is responsible for day to day administration and maintenance of law

and order in society.

b. It makes, interprets and enforces rules and regulations/laws in her area

of authority.
 c. It protects lives and properties of members of the society from internal
and external threats.

d. It maintains relations on behalf of members of a society, with other

social groups for mutual benefit of the two groups.

e. It is a veritable tool for harvest of public opinion and decision making in

society.

Religion:

is belief in supernatural. Religion constitutes a set of beliefs regarding the

ultimate power in the universe, the ideal and proper pattern of behaviour, and
ceremonial ways to expressing these beliefs. Religion also provides a foundation
for the mores of the society. Taboos in various cultures have religious sanction.
Religion provides a means by which individuals can face crises and ups and downs
in life with strength and fortitude

Functions of Religion in Society

a. Religion serves integrative roles in society by offering people the

meaning and purpose for their lives. It promotes solidarity and social
cohesion.

b. It is instrumental for achievement of social control of members of the

society. This is because religious injunctions bear much relationship to
secular laws which prohibit theft, rape, stealing, murder etc.

c. Religion defines the spiritual world and gives meaning to why man exists
and his ultimate fate thereafter.
 d. Religion performs the latent function of serving as meeting points for
unattached members and expanding social contacts /associations of
attached members.

e. Religion is a veritable source of social support, control of stress and for

psychological stability. Births, deaths, marriages, calamities or disasters
are normally responded to with religious rituals. Such rituals enable
individuals understand, accept and cope with realities of such events.

f. Religion could also promote social change. This depends on which

values, norms and aspirations that are being propagated by religious
groups. The protestant ethics was identified by Weber (1956) to have
propelled the spirit capitalism.

Education:

is the process of socialisation, which begins informally at home and

then

formally in educational institutions. Education as an institution helps

develop knowledge, skill, attitude and understanding of the people and
strive to make them competent members of the society. Education
widens the mental horizon of the people and make them receptive to
new ideas. .

Functions of Education in Society

a. Education fulfills socialization and cultural transmission functions. It

serves as a bridge that link younger and older generations.
b. Formal education is a very useful instrument for social and indeed,
national integration. In plural societies like Nigeria, teaching of history,
geography and shared cultural beliefs could foster sense of oneness
among her heterogeneous peoples.

c. Education serves as a tool for manpower development and for screening

and selection of individuals for positions in society.

d. The educational system is a custodian of children. It protects them

during work hours thus enabling parents to commit their energies to
other profitable ventures.

e. Education serves society as a forum for citizenship training of future

leaders.

f. Educational institutions are the engine houses for innovation in society.

They develop new knowledge and skills that benefit society.
 Review of the novel “Raja Gid”

This story passes you from various states. While reading you will feel like
you are walking on road sometimes in ground sometimes in forest. On one
side where extremeness of love is found on the other hand depression and
hopelessness is visible. Narrator tries to depict negative side of human
character. Where man due to his own mistakes and sins falls in hell. Plot of
the story revolves around a question. In Government College Lahore this
topic is under discussion that what is real reason of men insaneness? What
are the things that take human beyond the limits of humanity and he
commits to do something that does not suit his glory .After some time of
debate, they come to this conclusion that man's madness is the cause of
inaccessible love, unfullfilled desires leads to insanity. In the class, a boy
Aftab gives his evidence about argument by saying, a culture in which a
person cannot marry her cousin, her cousin’s inaccessible love may lead to
insaneness. This story revolves around 4 people where 1 is the professor
and his few students. The turning point in this story comes where they
present the theory that, when human beings take illicit means to fulfill their
forbidden desires, that illicit provision enters the body and produce negative
chargers which cause genetic mutation. One body which grows on illicit
provision is completely different from body grown on permissible provision.
The nature of vulture (gid) is same like human being, who crosses all
boundaries to overcome his unfulfilled desires and physical appetite.
Vulture’s appetite never ends. Whatever he feeds on is dead. The section
of society which is growing on Prohibition will result same as Raja Gid illicit
provision every time, it lefts negative impacts which passes from
generations to generations. Illness starting from one person effect whole
society.
 Review of the movie “Homeless to Harvard”

This is the best movie since I ever seen which is positive and fantastic. The
girl's father is an intemperate and her mother is a woman who doesn't care
about her own daughter, so at first the girl went out to play and enjoy every
day. She studied very careless and had no hope about her life. But after
her mother died, everything changed. She began to leave her bad friends
far away and studied hard. When she told her friends that she wants to go
into college and the college is Harvard, almost everyone said, "You are
crazy!" She didn't care about the query, she just kept studying hard. She is
homeless but full of hope, she just has one dream that she wants to go into
Harvard. She has no money to pay for the tuition and finally she got a
special scholarship because of her hard working. Yes, finally she succeeds
and she changed her life by her own.

After watching this movie, I think maybe everyone can change their life
themselves, even no parents affording. There are too much things that we
don't like or don't want, but we can't choose by ourselves. Anyway you can
make your life to be the shape like your imagination. It's a fantastic movie.
Every time you face some difficulties you cannot stand, then you will think
about this movie, to make you cheer up.