Society is a complex social formation, and the forces operating within it are so interconnected that it is impossible to foresee the consequences of each individual action. In this regard, institutions have overt functions that are easily recognized as part of the recognized goals of the institution, and latent functions that are carried out inadvertently and may not be recognized or, if recognized, are considered a by-product.
People with significant and high institutional roles often do not realize enough latent effects that can affect their activities and the activities of people associated with them. As a positive example of the use of latent functions in American textbooks, the activities of Henry Ford, the founder of the campaign that bears his name, are most often cited. He sincerely hated labor unions, big cities, large loans and installment purchases, but as he advanced in society, he stimulated their development more than anyone else, realizing that the latent, hidden, side functions of these institutions work for him, for him. business. However, the latent functions of institutions can either support recognized goals or make them irrelevant. They can even lead to significant damage to the norms of the institution.
How does a social institution function? What is its role in the processes taking place in society? Let's consider these questions.
Explicit functions of social institutions. If we consider in the most general form the activity of any social institution, then we can assume that its main function is to satisfy social needs, for which it was created and exists. However, in order to perform this function, each institution performs functions in relation to its participants that ensure the joint activities of people striving to meet needs. These are primarily the following functions.
1. The function of consolidation and reproduction of social relations. Each institution has a system of rules and norms of behavior that fixes, standardizes the behavior of its members and makes this behavior predictable. Appropriate social control provides the order and framework in which the activities of each member of the institution must proceed. Thus, the institution ensures the stability of the social structure of society. Indeed, the code of the institution of the family, for example, implies that members of society should be divided into sufficiently stable small groups - families. With the help of social control, the institution of the family seeks to ensure the stability of each individual family, and limits the possibility of its disintegration. The destruction of the family institution is, first of all, the appearance of chaos and uncertainty, the collapse of many groups, the violation of traditions, the impossibility of ensuring a normal sexual life and high-quality education of the younger generation.
2. Regulatory function is that the functioning of social institutions ensures the regulation of relationships between members of society by developing patterns of behavior. The whole cultural life of a person proceeds with his participation in various institutions. Whatever type of activity an individual engages in, he always encounters an institution that regulates his behavior in this area. Even if some kind of activity is not ordered and regulated, people immediately begin to institutionalize it. Thus, with the help of institutions, a person exhibits predictable and standardized behavior in social life. He fulfills the role requirements-expectations and knows what to expect from the people around him. Such regulation is necessary for joint activities.
3. Integrative function. This function includes the processes of cohesion, interdependence and mutual responsibility of members of social groups, occurring under the influence of institutional norms, rules, sanctions and systems of roles. The integration of people in the institute is accompanied by the streamlining of the system of interactions, an increase in the volume and frequency of contacts. All this leads to an increase in the stability and integrity of the elements of the social structure, especially social organizations.
Any integration in an institution consists of three main elements or necessary requirements: 1) consolidation or combination of efforts; 2) mobilization, when each member of the group invests its resources in achieving goals; 3) the conformity of the personal goals of individuals with the goals of others or the goals of the group. Integrative processes carried out with the help of institutions are necessary for the coordinated activities of people, the exercise of power, and the creation of complex organizations. Integration is one of the conditions for the survival of organizations, as well as one of the ways to correlate the goals of its participants.
4. Broadcasting function. Society could not develop if it were not possible to transfer social experience. Each institution for its normal functioning needs the arrival of new people. This can happen both by expanding the social boundaries of the institution and by changing generations. In this regard, each institution provides a mechanism that allows individuals to socialize to its values, norms and roles. For example, a family, raising a child, seeks to orient him to the values of family life that his parents adhere to. State institutions seek to influence citizens in order to instill in them norms of obedience and loyalty, and the church tries to accustom as many members of society as possible to the faith.
5. Communicative function. Information produced in an institution should be disseminated both within the institution for the purpose of managing and monitoring compliance with regulations, and in interactions between institutions. Moreover, the nature of the institute's communicative links has its own specifics - these are formal links carried out in a system of institutionalized roles. As the researchers note, the communicative capabilities of institutions are not the same: some are specifically designed to transmit information (mass media), others have very limited opportunities for this; some actively perceive information (scientific institutions), others passively (publishing houses).
The explicit functions of institutions are both expected and necessary. They are formed and declared in codes and fixed in the system of statuses and roles. When an institution fails to fulfill its explicit functions, it is bound to face disorganization and change: these explicit, necessary functions can be appropriated by other institutions.
latent functions. Along with the direct results of the actions of social institutions, there are other results that are outside the immediate goals of a person, not planned in advance. These results can be of great importance to society. Thus, the church seeks to consolidate its influence to the greatest extent through ideology, the introduction of faith, and often achieves success in this. However, regardless of the goals of the church, there are people who leave production activities for the sake of religion. Fanatics begin to persecute non-believers, and there may be the possibility of major social conflicts on religious grounds. The family seeks to socialize the child to the accepted norms of family life, but it often happens that family education leads to a conflict between the individual and the cultural group and serves to protect the interests of certain social strata.
The existence of the latent functions of institutions is most prominently shown by T. Veblen, who wrote that it would be naive to say that people eat black caviar because they want to satisfy their hunger and buy a luxurious Cadillac because they want to buy a good car. Obviously, these things are not acquired for the sake of satisfying obvious urgent needs. T. Veblen concludes from this that the production of consumer goods performs a hidden, latent function - it satisfies the needs of people to increase their own prestige. Such an understanding of the actions of the institute for the production of consumer goods radically changes the opinion about its activities, tasks and conditions of functioning.
Thus, it is obvious that only by studying the latent functions of institutions can we determine the true picture of social life. For example, very often sociologists are faced with a phenomenon that is incomprehensible at first glance, when an institution continues to successfully exist, even if it not only does not fulfill its functions, but also prevents their implementation. Such an institution obviously has hidden functions by which it satisfies the needs of certain social groups. A similar phenomenon can be observed especially often among political institutions, in which latent functions are developed to the greatest extent.
Latent functions, therefore, are the subject that should primarily interest the student of social structures. The difficulty in recognizing them is compensated by the creation of a reliable picture of social connections and features of social objects, as well as the ability to control their development and manage the social processes that take place in them.
Relationships between institutions. There is no social institution that would operate in a vacuum, in isolation from other social institutions. The action of any social institution cannot be understood until all of its interrelations and relationships are explained from the standpoint of the general culture and subcultures of groups. Religion, government, education, production and consumption, trade, family - all these institutions are in multiple interaction. Thus, the conditions of production must take into account the formation of new families in order to meet their needs for new apartments, household items, childcare facilities, etc. At the same time, the education system largely depends on the activities of government institutions that maintain the prestige and possible prospects for the development of educational institutions. Religion can also affect the development of education or government agencies. The teacher, the father of the family, the priest, or the functionary of a voluntary organization are all subject to the influence of the government, since the actions of the latter (for example, issuing regulations) can lead to both success and failure in achieving vital goals.
An analysis of the numerous interconnections of institutions can explain why institutions are rarely able to fully control the behavior of their members, to combine their actions and attitudes with institutional ideas and norms. For example, schools may apply standard curricula to all students, but student response to them depends on many factors beyond the teacher's control. Children whose families encourage and carry out interesting conversations and who join reading books that develop them acquire intellectual interests more easily and to a greater extent than those children whose families prefer watching TV and reading entertainment literature. Churches preach high ethical ideals, but parishioners often feel the need to neglect them under the influence of business ideas, political allegiances, or the desire to leave the family. Patriotism glorifies self-sacrifice for the good of the state, but it is often inconsistent with the many individual desires of those raised in families, business institutions, or some political institutions.
The need to harmonize the system of roles assigned to individuals can often be satisfied by agreement between individual institutions. Industry and commerce in any civilized country depend on the support of the government, which regulates taxes and arranges exchange between the individual institutions of industry and commerce. In turn, government depends on industry and commerce to economically support regulations and other government actions.
In addition, given the importance of some social institutions in public life, other institutions are trying to seize control over their activities. Since, for example, education plays a very significant role in society, attempts to fight for influence on the institution of education are observed among political organizations, industrial organizations, churches, etc. Politicians, for example, contribute to the development of the school, confident that by doing so they support attitudes towards patriotism and national identity. Church institutions are trying, with the help of the education system, to instill in students loyalty to church doctrines and a deep faith in God. Industrial organizations are trying to orient students from childhood to the development of industrial professions, and the military - to raise people who can successfully serve in the army.
The same can be said about the influence of other institutions on the institution of the family. The state is trying to regulate the number of marriages and divorces, as well as the birth rate. In addition, it establishes minimum standards for the care of children. Schools are looking for cooperation with the family by creating teachers' councils with the participation of parents and parents' committees. Churches create ideals for family life and try to hold family ceremonies within a religious framework.
Many institutional roles begin to conflict because the person who performs them belongs to several institutions. An example is the well-known conflict between career and family orientations. In this case, we are dealing with clashes of norms and rules of several institutions. Sociological research shows that each institution seeks to the greatest extent possible to “disconnect” the individuals included in it from playing roles in other institutions. Enterprises try to include the activities of the wives of their employees in their sphere of influence (a system of benefits, orders, family vacations, etc.). Army institutional rules can also be bad for family life. And here they find ways to include wives in army life, so that the husband and wife are related to uniform institutional norms. The problem of fulfillment by the individual of the exclusively role of this institution is most definitely solved in some institutions of the Christian church, where the clergy are released from family responsibilities by taking a vow of celibacy.
The appearance of institutions is constantly adapting to changes in society. Changes in one institution tend to lead to changes in others. After changing family customs, traditions and rules of conduct, a new social security system for such changes is created with the participation of many institutions. When peasants come from the countryside to the city and create their own subculture there, the actions of political institutions, legal organizations, etc. must change. We are accustomed to the fact that any change in the political organization affects all aspects of our daily lives. There are no institutions that would be transformed without change into other institutions or would exist separately from them.
institutional autonomy. The fact that institutions are interdependent in their activities does not mean that they are ready to give up internal ideological and structural control. One of their main goals is to exclude the influence of the leaders of other institutions and to keep their institutional norms, rules, codes and ideologies intact. All major institutions develop patterns of behavior that help maintain a certain degree of independence and resist the dominance of people grouped in other institutions. Enterprises and businesses strive for independence from the state; educational institutions also try to achieve the greatest independence and prevent the penetration of the norms and rules of foreign institutions. Even the institution of courtship achieves independence in relation to the institution of the family, which leads to some mystery and secrecy in its rituals. Each institution tries to carefully sort the attitudes and rules brought in from other institutions in order to select those attitudes and rules that can least affect the independence of this institution. Social order is a successful combination of the interaction of institutions and their respect for independence in relation to each other. This combination avoids serious and destructive institutional conflicts.
The dual function of intellectuals in relation to institutions. In all complex societies, institutions require constant ideological and organizational support and strengthening of the ideology, the system of norms and rules on which the institution relies. This is carried out by two role groups of members of the institution: 1) bureaucrats who monitor institutional behavior; 2) intellectuals who explain and comment on the ideology, norms and rules of behavior of social institutions. In our case, intellectuals are those who, regardless of education or occupation, devote themselves to the serious analysis of ideas. The importance of ideology lies in maintaining loyalty to institutional norms, through which the heterogeneous attitudes of those people who are able to manipulate ideas are developed. Intellectuals are called upon to satisfy urgent needs for explaining social development, and to do so in terms consistent with institutional norms.
For example, intellectuals associated with political communist institutions set themselves the task of showing that modern history is indeed developing in accordance with the predictions of K. Marx and V. Lenin. At the same time, intellectuals who study US political institutions argue that real history is built on the development of the ideas of free enterprise and democracy. At the same time, the leaders of the institutions understand that intellectuals cannot be completely trusted, since in studying the basic foundations of the ideology they support, they also analyze its imperfections. In this regard, intellectuals can begin to develop a competitive ideology that is more suited to the needs of the times. Such intellectuals become revolutionary and attack traditional institutions. That is why in the course of the formation of totalitarian institutions, first of all, they seek to protect ideology from the actions of intellectuals.
The 1966 campaign in China, which destroyed the influence of the intellectuals, confirmed Mao Zedong's fear that the intellectuals would refuse to support the revolutionary regime. Something similar happened in our country in the prewar years. If we turn to history, we will undoubtedly see that any power based on faith in the ability of leaders (charismatic power), as well as power that uses violence, non-democratic methods, seeks to protect the actions of the institution of power from the participation of intellectuals or completely subordinate them to its influence. . Exceptions only emphasize this rule.
So, it is often difficult to use the activities of intellectuals, because if today they can support institutional norms, then tomorrow they become their critics. Nevertheless, there are no institutions in the modern world that have escaped the constant influence of intellectual criticism, and there are no features of institutions that can continue to exist for a long time without intellectual protection. It becomes clear why some totalitarian political regimes are torn between a certain freedom and the repression of intellectuals. The intellectual most capable of defending fundamental institutions is the person who does so out of a desire for truth, regardless of obligations to institutions. Such a person is both useful and dangerous for the well-being of the institution - useful because he skillfully achieves the protection of institutional values, respect for the institution, and dangerous because, in search of truth, he is able to become an opponent of this institution. This dual role forces fundamental institutions to deal with the problem of ensuring discipline in society and the problem of conflict and loyalty for intellectuals.
People tend to live in groups that exist for a long time. However, despite the advantages of collective life, it does not in itself ensure the automatic preservation of societies. For the preservation and reproduction of society as an integral system, it is necessary to find and use certain forces and resources. This aspect of the existence of societies is studied in the context of social needs or social functions.
J. Lenski singled out six basic conditions for the existence of society:
Communication between its members;
- production of goods and services;
- distribution;
- protection of members of society;
- replacement of retiring members of the society;
- control of their behavior.
The elements of social organization that regulate the use of society's resources and direct the joint efforts of people to meet social needs are social institutions (economic, political, legal, etc.).
social institution(lat. institutum - establishment, device) - a historically established, relatively stable form of organization and regulation of social relations, ensuring the realization of the needs of society as a whole. By creating social institutions and participating in their activities, people affirm and consolidate the relevant social norms. From the content side, social institutions are a set of standards of behavior in certain situations. Thanks to social institutions, the stability of the forms of behavior of people in society is maintained.
Any social institution includes:
The system of roles and statuses;
- rules governing human behavior;
- a group of individuals undertaking organized social action;
- material resources (buildings, equipment, etc.).
Institutions arise spontaneously. institutionalization is the ordering, standardization and formalization of people's activities in the relevant sphere of social relations. Although this process may be perceived by people, its essence is determined by objective social conditions. A person can only correct it with competent management activities based on scientific comprehension of this process.
The variety of social institutions is determined by the differentiation of types of social activity. Therefore, social institutions are divided into economic(banks, stock exchanges, corporations, consumer and service enterprises), political(the state with its central and local authorities, parties, public organizations, foundations, etc.), institutes of education and culture(school, family, theater) and social in the narrow sense(institutions of social security and guardianship, various amateur organizations).
The nature of the organization varies formal(based on strict prescriptions and bureaucratic in spirit) and informal social institutions (setting their own rules and exercising social control over their implementation through public opinion, tradition or custom).
Functions of social institutions:
- meeting the needs of society: organization of communication between people, production and distribution of material goods, setting and achieving common goals, etc.;
- regulation of the behavior of social subjects with the help of social norms and rules, bringing people's actions into line with more or less predictable patterns of social roles;
- stabilization of social relations, consolidation and maintenance of sustainable social ties and relationships;
- social integration, rallying individuals and groups throughout society.
The conditions for the successful functioning of institutions are:
Clear definition of functions;
- rational division of labor and organization;
- depersonalization, the ability to function regardless of the personal qualities of people;
- the ability to effectively reward and punish;
- involvement in a larger system of institutions.
The mutual connection and integration of institutions in society is based, firstly, on the regularity in the manifestations of the personal properties of people, the homogeneity of their needs, secondly, on the division of labor and the substantive connection of the functions performed, and thirdly, on the dominance in society of institutions of one specific type , which is due to the peculiarities of its culture.
Social institutions stabilize people's activities. However, the institutions themselves are diverse and changeable.
The activities of social institutions are carried out through social organizations. The basis for the emergence of the organization is people's awareness of the need to achieve common goals and carry out joint activities.
social institution or public institution- a form of organization of joint life activity of people, historically established or created by purposeful efforts, the existence of which is dictated by the need to meet the social, economic, political, cultural or other needs of society as a whole or part of it. Institutions are characterized by their ability to influence people's behavior through established rules.
There are at least two generally accepted paradigms (principled ways) of considering social structure: 1) the theory of social institutions and 2) the theory of social inequality.
E. Durkheim figuratively defined social institutions as “reproduction factories” of social relations and connections, i.e. institutions generally mean certain types of relationships between people that are constantly in demand by society and therefore are reborn again and again. Examples of the reproduction of such indestructible ties are the church, the state, property, family, etc.
Social institutions determine society as a whole, they are depersonalized, impersonal. When the social structure of a society is conceived as an institutional structure, the researcher cannot but stand on evolutionary methodological positions, since it is believed that each institution performs a socially significant function that cannot be thrown out of an integral interconnected system (like a word from a song).
Types of social institutions
- The need for the reproduction of the genus (the institution of family and marriage).
- The need for security and order (the state).
- The need to obtain means of subsistence (production).
- The need for the transfer of knowledge, the socialization of the younger generation (institutions of public education).
- Needs in Solving Spiritual Problems (Institute of Religion).
Spheres of life of society
There are a number of spheres of the life of society, in each of which specific social institutions and social relations are formed:
- − Economic- relations in the production process (production, distribution, exchange, consumption of material goods). Institutions related to the economic sphere: private property, material production, market, etc.
- − Social- relations between different social and age groups; activities to ensure social guarantees. Institutions related to the social sphere: education, family, health care, social security, leisure, etc.
- − Political- relations between civil society and the state, between the state and political parties, as well as between states. Institutions related to the political sphere: state, law, parliament, government, judiciary, political parties, army, etc.
- − Spiritual- relations that arise in the process of the formation of spiritual values, their preservation, distribution, consumption, as well as transmission to the next generations. Institutions related to the spiritual sphere: religion, education, science, art, etc.
- − Kinship institution (marriage and family)- associated with the regulation of childbearing, relations between spouses and children, the socialization of young people.
If we turn to the revealed differences in interpretations of the nature of society, it turns out that in the "system of relations" the social structure should be represented precisely by relations, and by no means by "groups of people." With all the logical triviality - a rather unexpected conclusion! And it is consistently confirmed in the process of constructing the corresponding theories. Some of them consider social institutions to be the product of inequality relations, others analyze the development of inequality relations due to the work of social institutions. Supporters of economic determinism believe that property (as a system of specific relations) gives rise to power, while cratologists and redistribution theorists, on the contrary, derive property relations from the nature of power institutions. But in principle, all these seemingly alternative approaches are based on the fact that the hierarchy of social groups is a consequence of the institutionalization of a certain structure of social relations.
For example, K. Marx considered production relations to be primary and generative structures of the corresponding social, political and spiritual relations. Since it is believed that the subjects reproducing a certain type of relationship are functionally “fixed” in a stable social disposition, they form a hierarchy according to the significance of the relationship. That is why Marx saw the focus of the structural conflict in the (exploitative, non-equivalent) nature of economic ties. And the institution of property in his concept predetermined the nature and prospects for the development of the institution of power. The Marxist approach (in a significantly modified form) is still popular, since it reflects the general logic of the social evolution of societies of the "economic era", and also focuses on the development trends of industrial civilization.
Social institutions in public life perform the following functions or tasks:
- provide an opportunity to satisfy individuals, social communities and groups their various needs;
- regulate the actions of individuals within the framework of social relations, stimulating desirable and repressing undesirable behavior;
- determine and maintain the general social order by the system of their social regulators and carry out the reproduction of impersonal social functions (that is, such functions that are always performed in the same way, regardless of the personal traits and interests of mankind);
- produce the integration of aspirations, actions and relationships of individuals and ensure the internal cohesion of the community.
The totality of these 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 different directions tried to somehow classify them, to present them in the form of a certain ordered system. The most complete and interesting classification was presented by the so-called. "institutional school". Representatives of the institutional school in sociology (S. Lipset, D. Landberg and others) identified four main functions of social institutions:
- Reproduction of members of society. The main institution that performs this function is the family, but other social institutions, such as the state, are also involved in it.
- Socialization is the transfer to individuals of patterns of behavior and methods of activity established in a given society - the institutions of the family, education, religion, etc.
- Production and distribution. Provided by the economic and social institutions of management and control - the authorities.
- Management and control functions 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 sanctions.
In addition to solving its specific tasks, each social institution performs universal functions inherent in all of them.
To the number functions common to all social institutions can include the following:
- The function of fixing and reproducing social relations. Each institution has a set of norms and rules of conduct, fixed, standardizing the behavior of its members and making this behavior predictable. Social control provides the order and framework in which the activities of each member of the institution must proceed. Thus, the institution ensures the stability of the structure of society. The Code of the Institute of the Family assumes that members of society are divided into stable small groups - families. Social control provides a state of stability for each family, limits the possibility of its collapse.
- Regulatory function. It ensures the regulation of relationships between members of society by developing patterns and patterns of behavior. All human life takes place with the participation of various social institutions, but each social institution regulates activities. Consequently, a person, with the help of social institutions, demonstrates predictability and standard behavior, fulfills role requirements and expectations.
- Integrative function. This function ensures cohesion, interdependence and mutual responsibility of the members. This happens under the influence of institutionalized norms, values, rules, a system of roles and sanctions. It streamlines the system of interactions, which leads to an increase in the stability and integrity of the elements of the social structure.
- Broadcasting function. Society cannot develop without the transfer of social experience. Each institution for its normal functioning needs the arrival of new people who have learned its rules. This happens by changing the social boundaries of the institution and changing generations. Consequently, each institution provides a mechanism for socialization to its values, norms, roles.
- Communication functions. The information produced by the institution should be disseminated both within the institution (for the purpose of managing and monitoring compliance with social norms) and in interaction between institutions. This function has its own specifics - formal connections. This is the main function of the media institute. Scientific institutions actively perceive information. The communicative capabilities of institutions are not the same: some have them to a greater extent, others to a lesser extent.
Functional qualities
Social institutions differ from each other in their functional qualities:
- Political institutions - the state, parties, trade unions and other kinds of public organizations pursuing political goals, aimed at establishing and maintaining a certain form of political power. Their totality constitutes the political system of a given society. Political institutions ensure the reproduction and sustainable preservation of ideological values, stabilize the social class structures that dominate in society.
- Sociocultural and educational institutions aim at the development and subsequent reproduction of cultural and social values, the inclusion of individuals in a particular subculture, as well as the socialization of individuals through the assimilation of sustainable sociocultural standards of behavior and, finally, the protection of certain values and norms.
- 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.
- 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.
- Ceremonial-symbolic and situational-conventional institutions. These institutions are based on a 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, sessions, and the activities of associations.
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 an innumerable set of families of a certain type.
In the works of M. Weber and T. Parsons, the theoretical perspective of the "relationship society" is even more "technologically" written. Structuring the system of public relations creates a matrix of social disposition, in which each cell - the social position of the subject - is colored by the characteristic of "status" and "prestige", i.e. social values and meanings attributed to the "figures" of the carriers of relations, regardless of their specific (functional) qualities. “... An important set of integrative institutions are the standards of social stratification. We are talking here about the normatively legalized ordering of the units of society in accordance with the criteria of relative prestige, which in turn is the main basis of influence.
However, all of the above does not explain in the most satisfactory way the process of “objective” reproduction of the connections that specific people establish and maintain with each other in the course of their (including private) life. Isn't it true: "as long as no one is watching," we would all try to evade the prescriptions of social institutions and give free rein to our individual manifestations, if something else did not keep us together, within the boundaries of predictable behavior. We may reject the claims of others and stop following the usual rules, but we are unlikely to constantly ignore our own needs and not look after our own interests.
Practice shows that most people are interested in maintaining the stability of their own world. Each person socializes (acquires the basic skills of a hostel) under the influence of the social everyday life surrounding him. In the first period of his life, he perceives the rules of behavior, values and norms uncritically - simply because there is no sufficient knowledge base for comparison and experiment. So many "social suggestions" we carry out until the end of our lives, and it does not even occur to us to question them. By accumulating the experience of "relationships", most people are convinced that getting what they want from others is easiest if you live up to their expectations. For many, this inoculation of social compromise lasts a lifetime, and therefore people maintain the standards of social relations "reflexively" - out of habit not to disturb the harmony of the natural world for them.
In addition, people quite often find themselves in situations that make them feel their own vulnerability. The desire to obtain reliable, fairly universal protection is manifested, among other things, as a need for a corporation (family, when there is a danger between you and the danger of "mother and older brother", friendly, when "your guys" help out, professional, ethnic, civil, etc.) . Solidarity as an informal basis of social organization (community) is a form of self-defense through the protection of others - as themselves. It is the status of belonging to a community that modifies personal attitudes and social reactions: concern for the interests of “one’s own” often shows us that a person’s social body (his connections, social needs and values) is much more voluminous than functional.
The best defense is an attack. A social position is constructed by fixing certain relationships, i.e. requires appropriate forms of activity. And activity is always a risk. We take risks all the time, equipping busy “social nests” in our own way, and therefore we carry with us a whole baggage of “tags” that help us out when we make a mistake. Diplomas, titles, credit cards, college (university) tie or badge, special words and expressions, clothing style, demeanor and much more level our private (deviating from general expectations) manifestations and allow us to appear before others within the framework of standard typing. Therefore, people communicate with each other as with representatives of certain corporations, regarding which there are widespread (“generally accepted”) ideas (opinions, stereotypes), and moreover, they strive to present themselves as a social mask (“I am from Ivan Ivanovich”, “we have such not accepted”, “I’ll tell you like a professional...”, etc.).
Getting into certain "nests" - special systems of relations, a person often changes functional, rather than corporate, masks and often brilliantly plays a dozen roles in one day, participating in different scenes: in the family, at work, in transport, at the doctor's, in the store. However, certain circumstances can make him feel and even show solidarity with people who play similar roles (for those who remember how we lived ten years ago, one can cite the solidarity of the Soviet queue as an example).
Since solidarity arises for different reasons, capturing different levels of life values of different people, an unambiguous answer to the question “Who am I with?” impossible without specifying “For what reason?” And the value of preserving tribal traditions requires uniting with some people, developing a professional culture with others, religion with others, and implementing political goals with others. At the same time, the areas of connections that have arisen move, overlap each other and diverge like a rose, often leaving only yourself in the sphere of complete intersection ... Society as "I myself", apparently, is the lower limit of the semantic threshold of possible definitions. The upper conceptual boundary is defined by solidarities that unite the largest possible number of people: these are nations and peoples, religious denominations, “survival parties” with non-fixed membership (environmental, anti-war, youth), etc.
“Society as a set of relations” in its completed interpretation allows solving a number of theoretical problems, since it recognizes the homogeneity of its own boundaries (after all, people are at least partly spiritual beings and act not only as a subject, but also as an object of relations, broadcasting and perceiving their general character), as well as its more complex spatial configuration. It makes it possible to explain the outward expansion (of empires, civilizations), the processes of social (sociocultural) exchange within and between societies, i.e. the fundamental openness of social systems, along with the ability to implement operational closeness, to interrupt relations in a certain range of exchange channels or in individual segments of society.
The structure of social relations is thus created at the “macro level” of social interactions, in the process of institutionalization (self-reproduction) of society, and is fixed at the “micro level” of interpersonal contacts, in which people appear to each other in social “masks” that facilitate their identification procedure ( definition, recognition) and productive information exchange. The more massive and organized a society becomes, the more “representative” social contacts spread and the more often a person acts either as a bearer of certain functions (due to institutional prescriptions) or as a messenger of certain status groups (“solidarities”).
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 characteristic 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 development logic. 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.
So, 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.
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 types of activity - freedom of creativity and innovation, freedom of speech, the right to receive a certain form and amount of income, housing and free medical care, etc. For example, writers and artists have guaranteed freedom creativity, 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 of social activity 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 encourage the desired and suppress deviant behavior.
Consequently, social institutions perform in society the functions of social management and social control as one of the elements of management. 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 satisfied in various ways, and the choice of means to satisfy them depends on the value system 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 single out a social organization as an independent structural component or a 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, economic associations of various types - 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 of public organizations pursuing political goals aimed at establishing and maintaining a certain form of political power. Their totality constitutes the political system of a given society. Political institutions ensure the reproduction and sustainable preservation of ideological values, 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 a 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.
D.P. Le Havre
doctor of sociological sciences
The concept of "institution" (from Latin institutum - establishment, institution) was borrowed by sociology from jurisprudence, where it was used to characterize a separate set of legal norms that regulate social and legal relations in a certain subject area. In legal science, such institutions were considered, for example, inheritance, marriage, property, etc. In sociology, the concept of "institution" retained this semantic coloring, but acquired a broader interpretation in terms of denoting some special type of stable regulation of social relations and various organizational forms of social regulation of behavior of subjects.
The institutional aspect of the functioning of society is a traditional area of interest for sociological science. He was in the field of view of thinkers, whose names are associated with its formation (O. Comte, G. Spencer, E. Durkheim, M. Weber, etc.).
O. Comte's institutional approach to the study of social phenomena stemmed from the philosophy of the positive method, when one of the objects of the sociologist's analysis was the mechanism for ensuring solidarity and consent in society. “For a new philosophy, order is always a condition for progress, and vice versa, progress is a necessary goal of order” (Comte O. A course in positive philosophy. SPb., 1899. S. 44). O. Comte considered the main social institutions (family, state, religion) from the standpoint of their inclusion in the processes of social integration and the functions performed at the same time. By contrasting the functional characteristics and nature of ties between family association and political organization, he acted as a theoretical predecessor of the concepts of dichotomization of the social structure of F. Tennis and E. Durkheim (“mechanical” and “organic” types of solidarity). The social statics of O. Comte was based on the position that the institutions, beliefs and moral values of society are functionally interconnected, and the explanation of any social phenomenon in this integrity implies finding and describing the patterns of its interaction with other phenomena. O. Comte's method, his appeal to the analysis of the most important social institutions, their functions, and the structure of society had a significant impact on the further development of sociological thought.
The institutional approach to the study of social phenomena was continued in the works of G. Spencer. Strictly speaking, it was he who first used the concept of "social institution" in sociological science. G. Spencer considered the struggle for existence with neighboring societies (war) and with the natural environment to be the determining factors in the development of the institutions of society. The task of the survival of the social organism in its conditions. According to Spencer, the evolution and complexity of structures give rise to the need to form a special kind of regulatory institution: “In the state, as in a living body, a regulatory system inevitably arises ... When a stronger community is formed, higher centers of regulation and subordinate centers appear” (Spencer H. First principles. N. Y., 1898. P. 46).
Accordingly, the social organism consists of three main systems: regulatory, producing means of life and distribution. G. Spencer distinguished such types of social institutions as institutions of kinship (marriage, family), economic (distributive), regulatory (religion, political organizations). At the same time, much of his reasoning about institutions is expressed in functional terms: “In order to understand how an organization arose and develops, one must understand the need that manifests itself in the beginning and in the future” (Spencer H. The principles of ethics. N.Y., 1904. Vol. 1. P. 3). Thus, every social institution takes shape as a stable structure of social actions that performs certain functions.
The consideration of social institutions in a functional way was continued by E. Durkheim, who adhered to the idea of the positivity of public institutions, which are the most important means of human self-realization (see: Durkheim E. Les formes elementaires de la vie religieuse. Le systeme totemique en Australie. P., 1960) .
E. Durkheim called for the creation of special institutions to maintain solidarity in the conditions of the division of labor - professional corporations. He argued that corporations, unjustifiably considered anachronistic, are in fact useful and modern. Corporations E. Durkheim calls institutions of the type of professional organizations, including employers and workers, standing close enough to each other to be for everyone a school of discipline and a beginning with prestige and power (see: Durkheim E. O division of social labor. Odessa, 1900).
K. Marx paid notable attention to the consideration of a number of social institutions, who analyzed the institution of majorat, the division of labor, the institutions of the tribal system, private property, etc. He understood institutions as historically formed, conditioned by social, primarily industrial, relations, forms of organization and regulation of social activity.
M. Weber believed that social institutions (state, religion, law, etc.) should “be studied by sociology in the form in which they become significant for individual individuals, in which the latter are actually guided by them in their actions” (History sociology in Western Europe and the USA, Moscow, 1993, p. 180). Thus, discussing the question of the rationality of the society of industrial capitalism, he considered it (rationality) at the institutional level as a product of the separation of the individual from the means of production. The organic institutional element of such a social system is the capitalist enterprise, considered by M. Weber as a guarantor of the individual's economic opportunities and thus turning into a structural component of a rationally organized society. A classic example is M. Weber's analysis of the institution of bureaucracy as a type of legal domination, conditioned primarily by purposeful rational considerations. At the same time, the bureaucratic mechanism of management appears as a modern type of administration, acting as the social equivalent of industrial forms of labor and "as related to previous forms of administration, as machine production is to home-tire" (Weber M. Essays on sociology. N. Y., 1964. p. 214).
The representative of psychological evolutionism is an American sociologist of the early 20th century. L. Ward considered social institutions as a product of mental rather than any other forces. “Social forces,” he wrote, “are the same psychic forces operating in the collective state of man” (Ward L.F. The physical factors of civilization. Boston, 1893. P. 123).
In the school of structural-functional analysis, the concept of "social institution" plays one of the leading roles, T. Parsons builds a conceptual model of society, understanding it as a system of social relations and social institutions. Moreover, the latter are interpreted as specially organized "nodes", "bundles" of social relations. In the general theory of action, social institutions act both as special value-normative complexes that regulate the behavior of individuals, and as stable configurations that form the status-role structure of society. The institutional structure of society is given the most important role, since it is it that is designed to ensure social order in society, its stability and integration (see: Parsons T. Essays on sociological theory. N. Y., 1964. P. 231-232). It should be emphasized that the normative-role representation of social institutions that exists in structural-functional analysis is the most common not only in Western, but also in Russian sociological literature.
In institutionalism (institutional sociology), the social behavior of people is studied in close connection with the existing system of social normative acts and institutions, the need for which is equated with a natural historical pattern. The representatives of this trend include S. Lipset, J. Landberg, P. Blau, Ch. Mills, and others. Social institutions, from the point of view of institutional sociology, imply “a consciously regulated and organized form of activity of a mass of people, the reproduction of repetitive and most stable patterns behavior, habits, traditions passed down from generation to generation. “Each social institution that is part of a certain social structure is organized to fulfill certain socially significant goals and functions (see; Osipov G. V., Kravchenko A. I. Institutional Sociology//Modern Western Sociology. Dictionary. M., 1990. S. 118).
Structural-functionalist and institutionalist interpretations of the concept of "social institution" do not exhaust the approaches to its definition presented in modern sociology. There are also concepts based on the methodological foundations of a phenomenological or behavioral plan. So, for example, W. Hamilton writes: “Institutions are a verbal symbol for the best description of a group of social customs. They signify a permanent way of thinking or acting which has become a habit for a group or a custom for a people. The world of customs and habits to which we adapt our lives is an interweaving and continuous fabric of social institutions. (Hamilton W. lnstitution//Encyclopedia of social sciences. Vol. VIII. P. 84).
The psychological tradition in line with behaviorism was continued by J. Homans. He gives the following definition of social institutions: “Social institutions are relatively stable models of social behavior, the maintenance of which is aimed at the actions of many people” (Homans G.S. The sociological relevance of behaviorism//Behavioral sociology. Ed. R. Burgess, D. Bushell. N. Y., 1969, p. 6). In essence, J. Homans builds his sociological interpretation of the concept of "institution" based on the psychological foundation.
Thus, in sociological theory there is a significant array of interpretations and definitions of the concept of "social institution". They differ in their understanding of both the nature and functions of institutions. From the point of view of the author, the search for an answer to the question of which of the definitions is correct and which is erroneous is methodologically unpromising. Sociology is a multi-paradigm science. Within the framework of each of the paradigms, it is possible to build its own consistent conceptual apparatus that obeys the internal logic. And it is up to the researcher working within the framework of the theory of the middle level to decide on the choice of the paradigm within which he intends to seek answers to the questions posed. The author adheres to the approaches and logic that lie in line with system-structural constructions, this also determines the concept of a social institution that he takes as a basis,
An analysis of foreign and domestic scientific literature shows that within the framework of the chosen paradigm in the understanding of a social institution, there is a wide range of versions and approaches. Thus, a large number of authors consider it possible to give the concept of "social institution" an unambiguous definition based on one key word (expression). L. Sedov, for example, defines a social institution as “a stable complex of formal and informal rules, principles, guidelines, regulating various spheres of human activity and organizing them into a system of roles and statuses that form a social system” (cited in Modern Western Sociology, p. 117). N. Korzhevskaya writes: “A social institution is community of people performing certain roles based on their objective position (status) and organized through social norms and goals (Korzhevskaya N. Social institution as a social phenomenon (sociological aspect). Sverdlovsk, 1983, p. 11). J. Shchepansky gives the following integral definition: “Social institutions are institutional systems*, in which certain individuals, elected by group members, are empowered to perform social and impersonal functions in order to satisfy essential individual and social needs and to regulate the behavior of other members of the groups" (Schepansky Ya. Elementary concepts of sociology. M., 1969. S. 96-97).
There are other attempts to give an unambiguous definition, based, for example, on norms and values, roles and statuses, customs and traditions, etc. From our point of view, approaches of this kind are not fruitful, since they narrow the understanding of such a complex phenomenon as social institution, fixing attention only on one aspect, which seems to this or that author to be its most important side.
Under the social institution, these scientists understand a complex, covering, on the one hand, a set of normative-value determined roles and statuses designed to meet certain social needs, and on the other hand, a social education created to use society's resources in the form of interaction to meet this need ( cm.: Smelzer N. Sociology. M., 1994. S. 79-81; Komarov M.S. On the concept of a social institution// Introduction to sociology. M., 1994. S. 194).
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. Their occurrence is due to the objective needs of society in the regulation of socially significant areas of activity and social relations. In the nascent institution, a certain type of social relations is essentially objectified.
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 social norms and regulations that regulate the behavior of people within the framework of a social institution;
The presence of socially significant functions of the institution, integrating it into the 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 about the various institutions of modern society. In some of them (formal - the army, the court, etc.), signs can be fixed clearly and in full, in others (informal or just emerging) - less clearly. But in general, they are a convenient tool for analyzing the processes of institutionalization of social formations.
The sociological approach focuses on the social functions of the institution and its normative structure. M. Komarov writes that the implementation of socially significant functions by the institution “is ensured by the presence within the social institution of an integral system of standardized patterns of behavior, i.e., a value-normative structure” (Komarov M.S. O the concept of a social institution//Introduction to sociology. S. 195).
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. J. Shchepansky identifies the following structural elements of a social institution: - the purpose and scope of the institution; - functions provided to achieve the goal; - normatively determined social roles and statuses presented in the structure of the institute;
Means and institutions for achieving the goal and realizing functions (material, symbolic and ideal), including appropriate sanctions (see: Shchepansky Ya. Decree. op. S. 98).
Various criteria for classifying social institutions are possible. Of these, we consider it appropriate to focus 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.), etc.
Based on the second criterion, i.e. the 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, and instructions. These are the state, the army, the court, 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. From this, the informal institution does not cease to be an institution and perform the corresponding regulatory functions.
Thus, when considering a social institution, its features, functions, structure, the author relied on an integrated approach, the use of which has a developed tradition within the framework of the system-structural paradigm in sociology. It is a complex, but at the same time sociologically operational and methodologically rigorous interpretation of the concept of "social institution" that allows, from the point of view of the author, to analyze the institutional aspects of the existence of social education.
Let us consider the possible logic of substantiation of the institutional approach to any social phenomenon.
According to the theory of J. Homans, in sociology there are four types of explanation and justification of social institutions. The first is the psychological type, proceeding from the fact that any social institution is a psychological formation in its genesis, a stable product of the exchange of activities. The second type is historical, considering institutions as the final product of the historical development of a certain field of activity. The third type is structural, proving that "each institution exists as a consequence of its relationship with other institutions in the social system." The fourth is functional, based on the position that institutions exist because they perform certain functions in society, contributing to its integration and the achievement of homeostasis. The last two types of explanations for the existence of institutions, which are mainly used in structural-functional analysis, are declared by Homans to be unconvincing and even erroneous (see: Homans G.S. The sociological relevance of behaviorism//Behavioral sociology. P. 6).
Without rejecting the psychological explanations of J. Homans, I do not share his pessimism regarding the last two types of argumentation. On the contrary, I consider these approaches to be convincing, working for modern societies, and I intend to use both functional, structural, and historical types of substantiation of the existence of social institutions in the study of the chosen social phenomenon.
If it is proved that the functions of any phenomenon under study are socially significant, that their structure and nomenclature are close to the structure and nomenclature of functions that social institutions perform in society, this will be an important step in substantiating its institutional nature. Such a conclusion is based on the inclusion of a functional feature among the most important features of a social institution and on the understanding that it is social institutions that form the main element of the structural mechanism by which society regulates social homeostasis and, if necessary, implements social changes.
The next step in substantiating the institutional interpretation of the hypothetical object we have chosen is b: "analysis of the ways of its inclusion in various spheres of social life, interaction with other social institutions, proof that it is an integral element of any one sphere of society (economic, political, cultural, etc.), or a combination of them, and ensures its (their) functioning. This logical operation is advisable to do for the reason that the institutional approach to the analysis of social system, but at the same time, the specificity of the main mechanisms of its functioning depends on the internal patterns of development of the corresponding type of activity.Therefore, consideration of an institution is impossible without correlating its activities with the activities of other institutions, as well as systems of a more general order.
The third stage, following the functional and structural justification, is the most important. It is at this stage that the essence of the institution under study is determined. An appropriate definition is formulated here, based on an analysis of the main institutional features. affects the legitimacy of its institutional representation. Then its specificity, type and place in the system of institutions of society are singled out, the conditions for the emergence of institutionalization are analyzed.
At the fourth and final stage, the structure of the institution is revealed, the characteristics of its main elements are given, and the patterns of its functioning are indicated.
