The concept and characteristics of the main types of social institutions. Social institutions and their types

Social institutions are classified according to different criteria. The most common classification is by goals (content of tasks) and field of activity. In this case, it is customary to single out economic, political, cultural and educational, social complexes of institutions:

- economic institutions - the most stable, subject to strict regulation of social ties in the field of economic activity - these are all macro-institutions that ensure the production and distribution of social wealth and services, regulate money circulation, organize and division of labor (industry, agriculture, finance, trade). Macro-institutions are built from institutions such as ownership, governance, competition, pricing, bankruptcy, and so on. Satisfy the needs for the production of means of subsistence;

- political institutions (the state, the Verkhovna Rada, political parties, the court, the prosecutor's office, etc.) - their activities are associated with the establishment, execution and maintenance of a certain form of political power, the preservation and reproduction of ideological values. Satisfy the need for security of life and ensuring social order;

- institutions of culture and socialization (science, education, religion, art, various creative institutions) are the most stable, clearly regulated forms of interaction in order to create, strengthen and disseminate culture (value system), scientific knowledge, socialization of the younger generation;

- Institute of family and marriage- contribute to the reproduction of the human race;

- social- organizing voluntary associations, the vital activity of collectives, i.e. regulating everyday social behavior of people, interpersonal relationships.

Hidden within the main institutions are non-main or non-main institutions. For example, within the institution of family and marriage, non-basic institutions are distinguished: paternity and motherhood, tribal revenge (as an example of an informal social institution), naming, inheritance of the social status of parents.

By the nature of the objective functions social institutions are divided into:

- normative-oriented, carry out the moral and ethical orientation of the behavior of individuals, affirm universal human values, special codes and ethics of behavior in society;

- regulatory, carry out the regulation of behavior on the basis of norms, rules, special additions, enshrined in legal and administrative acts. The guarantor of their implementation is the state, its representative bodies;

- ceremonial-symbolic and situational-conventional, define the rules of mutual behavior, regulate the ways of information exchange, communicative forms of informal subordination (appeal, greeting, affirmations/non-confirmations).

Depending on the number of functions performed, there are: monofunctional (enterprise) and polyfunctional (family).

According to the criteria of the method of regulation of behavior people are singled out formal and informal social institutions.

Formal social institutions. They base their activities on clear principles (legal acts, laws, decrees, regulations, instructions), carry out managerial and control functions on the basis of sanctions related to rewards and punishments (administrative and criminal). These institutions include the state, the army, and the school. Their functioning is controlled by the state, which protects the accepted order of things by the power of its power. Formal social institutions determine the strength of society. They are regulated not only by written rules - most often we are talking about the interweaving of written and unwritten rules. For example, economic social institutions operate on the basis of not only laws, instructions, orders, but also such an unwritten norm as loyalty to a given word, which often turns out to be stronger than dozens of laws or regulations. In some countries, bribery has become an unwritten norm, so widespread that it is a fairly stable element in the organization of economic activity, although it is punishable by law.

When analyzing any formal social institution, it is necessary to investigate not only formally fixed norms and rules, but also the entire system of standards, including moral standards, customs, traditions that are steadily involved in the regulation of institutionalized interactions.

informal social institutions. They do not have a clear regulatory framework, that is, interactions within these institutions are not formally fixed. They are the result of social creativity based on the will of citizens. Social control in such institutions is established with the help of norms enshrined in civil thought, traditions, and customs. These include various cultural and social funds, associations of interest. An example of informal social institutions can be friendship - one of the elements that characterizes the life of any society, an obligatory stable phenomenon of the human community. The regulation in friendship is quite complete, clear and sometimes even cruel. Resentment, quarrel, termination of friendships are peculiar forms of social control and sanctions in this social institution. But this regulation is not framed in the form of laws, administrative codes. Friendship has resources (trust, liking, duration of acquaintance, etc.) but no institutions. It has a clear delimitation (from love, relationships with colleagues, fraternal relations), but does not have a clear professional consolidation of the status, rights and obligations of partners. Another example of informal social institutions is the neighborhood, which is a significant element of social life. An example of an informal social institution is the institution of blood feud, which has been partially preserved among some peoples of the east.

All social institutions, to varying degrees, are united in a system that provides them with guarantees for a uniform, conflict-free process of functioning and reproduction of social life. All members of the community are interested in this. However, we must remember that in any society there is a certain amount of the anomic, i.e. behavior of the population that does not obey the normative order. This circumstance can serve as the basis for the destabilization of the system of social institutions.

There is a dispute among scientists about which social institutions have the most significant impact on the nature of social relations. A significant part of scientists believe that the institutions of economics and politics have the most significant impact on the nature of changes in society. The first creates a material basis for the development of social relations, since a poor society is not able to develop science and education, and, consequently, to increase the spiritual and intellectual potential of social relations. The second creates laws and implements power functions, which allows you to prioritize and finance the development of certain areas of society. However, the development of educational and cultural institutions that will stimulate the economic progress of society and the development of its political system can lead to no less social changes.

The institutionalization of social ties, the acquisition by the latter of the properties of an institution leads to the deepest transformations of social life, which acquires a fundamentally different quality.

The first group of consequences are obvious consequences.

· Formation of the institution of education on the site of sporadic, spontaneous and, perhaps, experimental attempts to transfer knowledge leads to a significant increase in the level of mastery of knowledge, enrichment of the intellect, abilities of the individual, its self-realization.

The result is an enrichment of all social life and an acceleration of social development as a whole.

In fact, every social institution, on the one hand, contributes to a better, more reliable satisfaction of the needs of individuals, and on the other hand, to the acceleration of social development. Therefore, the more social needs are satisfied by specially organized institutions, the more multifaceted society is developed, the richer it is qualitatively.

· The wider the area of ​​the institutionalized, the greater the predictability, stability, orderliness in the life of society and the individual. The zone in which the person is free from willfulness, surprises, hopes for "maybe" is expanding.

It is no coincidence that the degree of development of a society is determined by the degree of development of social institutions: firstly, what type of motivation (and therefore norms, criteria, values) forms the basis of institutionalized interactions in a given society; secondly, how developed is the system of institutionalized systems of interactions in a given society, how wide is the range of social tasks solved within the framework of specialized institutions; thirdly, how high is the level of orderliness of certain institutional interactions, the entire system of institutions of society.

The second group of consequences- perhaps the most profound consequences.

We are talking about the consequences that are generated by the impersonality of the requirements for someone who claims a certain function (or already performs it). These demands are presented in the form of clearly fixed, unambiguously interpreted patterns of behavior - norms supported by sanctions.

social organizations.

Society as a social reality is ordered not only institutionally, but also organizationally.

The term "organization" is used in three senses.

In the first case, an organization can be called an artificial association of an institutional nature that occupies a certain place in society and performs a certain function. In this sense, the organization acts as a social institution. In this sense, an “organization” can be called an enterprise, an authority, a voluntary union, etc.

In the second case, the term "organization" may refer to a specific organization activity (distribution of functions, establishing stable relationships, coordination, etc.). Here, the organization acts as a process associated with a targeted impact on the object, with the presence of the organizer and those organized. In this sense, the concept of "organization" coincides with the concept of "management", although it does not exhaust it.

In the third case, "organization" can be understood as a characteristic of the degree of order in any social object. Then this term denotes a certain structure, structure and type of connections that act as a way of connecting parts into a whole. With this content, the term "organization" is used when it comes to organized or unorganized systems. It is this meaning that is implied in the terms "formal" and "informal" organization.

Organization as a process of ordering and coordinating the behavior of individuals is inherent in all social formations.

social organization- a social group focused on achieving interrelated specific goals and the formation of highly formalized structures.

According to P. Blau, only social formations, which in the scientific literature are usually referred to as "formal organizations", can be classified as organizations.

Features (signs) of social organization

1. A clearly defined and declared goal that brings individuals together on the basis of a common interest.

2. It has a clear obligatory order, a system of its statuses and roles - a hierarchical structure (vertical division of labor). High level of formalization of relations. According to the rules, regulations, routines cover the entire sphere of behavior of its participants, whose social roles are clearly defined, and relations imply power and subordination.

3. Must have a coordinating body or management system.

4. Perform fairly stable functions in relation to society.

The importance of social organizations lies in the fact that:

First, any organization is made up of people involved in activities.

Secondly, it is focused on the performance of vital functions.

Thirdly, it initially involves control over the behavior and activities of people who are part of organizations.

Fourthly, it uses the means of culture as a tool for this regulation, it is focused on achieving the set goal.

Fifth, in the most concentrated form it focuses some basic social processes and problems.

Sixthly, the person himself uses a variety of services of organizations (kindergarten, school, clinic, shop, bank, trade union, etc.).

A necessary condition for the functioning of the organization is: firstly, connection of heterogeneous activities into a single process, synchronization of their efforts in order to achieve the set common goals and objectives dictated by the needs of a wider society. Secondly, the interest of individuals (groups) in cooperation as a means of realizing their own goals and solving their problems. This, in turn, implies establishment of a certain social order, vertical division of labor, which is the third prerequisite for the formation of an organization. The performance of a managerial function implies the empowerment of persons specializing in this activity with certain powers - power and formal authority, i.e. the right to give instructions to subordinates and demand their implementation. From this moment on, the persons performing the basic activities and the person performing managerial functions enter into a leadership-subordination relationship, which implies the restriction of part of the freedom and activity of the former and the transfer of part of sovereignty to them in favor of the latter. Recognition of the need for an employee to alienate part of his freedom and sovereignty in favor of another person in order to ensure the necessary level of coordination of actions and social order is a condition and prerequisite for the formation of an organization and its activities. In this regard, it is mandatory to single out in a group of people endowed with power and authority. This type of worker is called leader, and the type of specialized activity performed by him - leadership. Managers take on the functions of setting goals, planning, programming the connection, synchronizing and coordinating basic activities, and monitoring their results. Establishment and recognition of the power of one person over another is one of the important components of the formation of the organization.

The next component of the formation of organizational relations, complementing and at the same time limiting the power of the leader, is formation of general universal rules and social norms, socio-cultural standards, prescriptions regulating activities and organizational interactions. The formation and internalization of uniform rules and social norms that regulate the behavior of people in an organization makes it possible to increase the stability of social interactions between the behavior of participants in an activity. It is associated with the formation of predictable and stable relationships, ensuring a certain level of stability in people's behavior. It involves the consolidation of power, a system of rights, duties, subordination and responsibility in a system of impersonal positions (official statuses) - official and professional, supported by a system of legally fixed norms that create grounds for the legitimacy of the power of a particular official. At the same time, the power of the norm limits the power and arbitrariness of the leader, allows you to ensure the level of social order without the intervention of the leader.

Consequently, we can name two interrelated, but fundamentally different sources of regulation of people's behavior: the power of man and the power of the social norm. At the same time, the power of the social norm opposes the power of the individual and limits his arbitrariness in relation to others.

The main criterion for structuring social organizations is the degree of formalization of the relations existing in them. With this in mind, a distinction is made between formal and informal organizations.

Formal organization - it is the basic subsystem of an organization. Sometimes the term "formal organization" is used as a synonym for the concept of organization. The term "formal organization" was introduced by E. Mayo. formal organization is an artificially and rigidly structured impersonal system of regulation of business interactions, oriented towards achieving corporate goals, enshrined in regulatory documents.

Formal organizations build social relations on the basis of the regulation of connections, statuses, and norms. These include, for example, industrial enterprises, firms, universities, municipal authorities (mayor's office). The basis of formal organization is the division of labor, its specialization according to functional characteristics. The more developed the specialization, the more versatile and complex the administrative functions, the more multifaceted the structure of the organization. The formal organization resembles a pyramid in which tasks are differentiated at several levels. In addition to the horizontal distribution of labor, it is characterized by coordination, leadership (hierarchy of official positions) and various vertical specializations. Formal organization is rational, it is characterized by exclusively service connections between individuals.

The formalization of relations means narrowing the range of choice, limiting, even subordinating the will of the participant to an impersonal order. Following the established order means: the initial restriction of freedom, activity of each participant in the activity; the establishment of certain rules governing interaction and creating a field for their standardization. As a result of following a clear order, the concept of "bureaucracy" arises.

M. Weber considered the organization as a system of power and developed the theoretical foundations of its management. In his opinion, the requirements of a specialized and multifaceted organization are best met by a bureaucratic system. The advantages of bureaucracy are most noticeable when, during the performance of official duties, it manages to exclude personal, irrational, emotional elements. According to this, bureaucracy is characterized by: rationality, reliability, economy. Efficiency, neutrality, hierarchy, legitimacy of actions, centralization of power. The main disadvantage of bureaucracy is the lack of flexibility, stereotyped actions.

However, as practice shows, it is impossible to build the activities of organizations entirely on the principles of formalizing relations, since:

First, the real activity of the bureaucracy is not so idyllic and generates a number of dysfunctions.

Secondly, the activity of the organization implies not only a strict order, but also the creative activity of the employee.

Thirdly, there are many restrictions on the total formalization of relations:

The whole sphere of human interactions cannot be reduced to business;

formalization of business relations is possible only if the methods of activity and tasks are repeated;

There are a lot of problems in the organization that require innovative solutions;

a high level of formalization of relations is possible only in an organization in which the situation is relatively stable and defined, which makes it possible to clearly distribute, regulate and standardize the duties of employees;

For the establishment and legalization of norms, it is necessary that these norms be observed in an informal sphere

There are different classifications of formal organizations: by form of ownership; the type of the goal being realized and the nature of the activity performed; the ability of employees to influence organizational goals; the scope and scope of organizational control; the type and degree of rigidity of organizational structures and the degree of formalization of relations; the degree of centralization of decision-making and the rigidity of organizational control; the type of technology used; size; the number of functions performed; the type of environment and the way of interacting with it. For various reasons of organization classified into societal and local; scalar (rigidly structured) and latent (less rigidly structured); administrative and public; business and charitable; private, joint-stock, cooperative, state, public, etc. Despite significant differences, they all have a number of common features and can be considered as an object of study.

Often, service relations do not fit into purely formal ties and norms. To solve a number of problems, employees sometimes have to enter into relations with each other that are not provided for by any rules. Which is completely natural, because. the formal structure cannot provide for the full complexity of the relationship.

Informal organizations- this is an alternative, but no less effective subsystem of social regulation of behavior, spontaneously arising and operating in an organization at the level of small groups. This type of regulation of behavior is focused on the implementation of the common goals and interests of a small group (often not coinciding with the general goals of the organization) and maintaining social order in the group.

Informal organizations appear not by order or decision of the administration, but spontaneously or consciously to address social needs. An informal organization is a spontaneously formed system of social connections and interactions. They have their own norms of interpersonal and intergroup communication that are different from the formal structures. They arise and operate where formal organizations do not perform any functions important to society. Informal organizations, groups, associations compensate for the shortcomings of formal structures. As a rule, these are self-organized systems created to implement the common interests of the subjects of the organization. A member of an informal organization is more independent in achieving individual and group goals, has more freedom in choosing a form of behavior, interaction with other individuals of the organization. These interactions are more dependent on personal attachments, sympathies.

Informal organizations operate according to unwritten rules; their activities are not strictly regulated by orders, management guidelines, or instructions. Relations between participants in informal organizations are formed on the basis of oral agreements. The solution of organizational, technical and other problems is most often distinguished by creativity and originality. But in such organizations or groups there is no rigid discipline, therefore they are less stable, more plastic and subject to change. Structure and relationships largely depend on the current situation.

Arising in the process of activity, an informal organization can operate both in the sphere of business and non-business relations.

The relationship between formal and informal organizations is complex and dialectical.

Obviously, the discrepancy between goals and their functions often provokes conflicts between them. On the other hand, these subsystems of social regulation complement each other. If a formal organization, objectively focused on achieving corporate goals, often provokes conflicts between participants in joint activities, then an informal organization removes these tensions and strengthens the integration of the social community, without which the organization's activities are impossible. In addition, according to Ch. Barnadr, the connection between these systems of regulation is obvious: firstly, the formal organization arises from the informal, i.e. patterns of behavior and norms created in the process of informal interactions are the basis for constructing a formal structure; secondly, an informal organization is a testing ground for testing the created samples, in the absence of which the legal consolidation of social norms in the formal subsystem of regulation leads to their invalidity; thirdly, the formal organization, filling only a part of the organizational space, inevitably gives rise to an informal organization. The informal organization has a significant impact on the formal, and seeks to change the existing relations in it according to its needs.

Thus, each type of organization has its advantages and disadvantages. A modern manager, lawyer, entrepreneur must have a meat idea about this in order to skillfully use their strengths in practical work.

conclusions

Modern society cannot exist without complex social connections and interactions. Historically, they expand and deepen. A special role is played by interactions and connections that provide the most important needs of the individual, social groups, and society as a whole. As a rule, these interactions and connections are institutionalized (legalized, protected from the influence of accidents), and have a stable self-renewable character. Social institutions and organizations in the system of social ties and interactions are a kind of pillars on which society rests. They ensure the relative stability of social relations within society.

Determining the role of social institutions in social change and development can be reduced to two interrelated activities:

First, they provide a transition to a qualitatively new state of the social system, its progressive development.

Secondly, they can contribute to the destruction or disorganization of the social system.

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3. Sociology / As edited by V. G. Gorodyanenko. - K., 2002.

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Similar information.

Social institutions are stable forms of organization and regulation of public life. They can be defined as a set of roles and statuses designed to meet certain social needs.

The term "social institution" in sociology, as well as in everyday language or in other humanities, has several meanings. The combination of these values ​​can be reduced to four main ones:

1) a certain group of persons called to perform tasks that are important for living together;

2) certain organizational forms of a set of functions performed by some members on behalf of the entire group;

3) a set of material institutions and means of activity that allow certain authorized individuals to perform social impersonal functions aimed at satisfying the needs or regulating the behavior of group members;

4) some social roles that are especially important for the group are sometimes called institutions.

For example, when we say that a school is a social institution, then by this we can mean a group of people working in a school. In another meaning - the organizational forms of the functions performed by the school; in the third sense, the most important for the school as an institution will be the institutions and means that it has at its disposal in order to fulfill the functions entrusted to it by the group, and finally, in the fourth sense, we will call the social role of the teacher an institution. Therefore, we can talk about different ways of defining social institutions: material, formal and functional. In all these approaches, however, we can identify certain common elements that form the main component of the social institution.

In total, there are five fundamental needs and five basic social institutions:

1) the need for the reproduction of the genus (the institution of the family);

2) needs for security and order (state);

3) the need to obtain means of subsistence (production);

4) the need for the transfer of knowledge, the socialization of the younger generation (institutions of public education);

5) the need for solving spiritual problems (the institute of religion). Consequently, social institutions are classified according to public spheres:

1) economic (property, money, regulation of money circulation, organization and division of labor), which serve the production and distribution of values ​​and services. Economic social institutions provide the entire set of production relations in society, connecting economic life with other areas of social life. These institutions are formed on the material basis of society;

2) political (parliament, army, police, party) regulate the use of these values ​​and services and are associated with power. Politics in the narrow sense of the word is a set of means, functions, based mainly on the manipulation of the elements of power to establish, execute and maintain power. Political institutions (state, parties, public organizations, court, army, parliament, police) in a concentrated form express the political interests and relations existing in a given society;

3) the institutions of kinship (marriage and family) are associated with the regulation of childbearing, relations between spouses and children, and the socialization of young people;

4) institutions of education and culture. Their task is to strengthen, create and develop the culture of society, to pass it on to the next generations. These include schools, institutes, art institutions, creative unions;

5) religious institutions organize a person's attitude to transcendent forces, i.e., to supersensitive forces acting outside the empirical control of a person, and the attitude to sacred objects and forces. Religious institutions in some societies have a strong influence on the course of interactions and interpersonal relations, creating a system of dominant values ​​and becoming dominant institutions (the influence of Islam on all aspects of public life in some countries of the Middle East).

Social institutions perform the following functions or tasks in public life:

1) create an opportunity for members of society to satisfy various kinds of needs;

2) regulate the actions of members of society within the framework of social relations, i.e., ensure the implementation of desirable actions and carry out repressions in relation to undesirable actions;

3) ensure the stability of public life by supporting and continuing impersonal public functions;

4) carry out the integration of the aspirations, actions and relationships of individuals and ensure the internal cohesion of the community.

Taking into account E. Durkheim's theory of social facts and proceeding from the fact that social institutions should be considered the most important social facts, sociologists have deduced a number of basic social characteristics that social institutions should have:

1) institutions are perceived by individuals as an external reality. In other words, the institution for any individual person is something external, existing separately from the reality of thoughts, feelings or fantasies of the individual himself. In this characteristic, the institution resembles other entities of external reality—even trees, tables, and telephones—each of which is outside the individual;

2) institutions are perceived by the individual as an objective reality. Something is objectively real when any person agrees that it really exists, and independently of his consciousness, and is given to him in his sensations;

3) institutions have coercive power. To some extent, this quality is implied by the two previous ones: the fundamental power of the institution over the individual is precisely that it exists objectively, and the individual cannot wish it to disappear at his will or whim. Otherwise, negative sanctions may occur;

4) institutions have moral authority. Institutions proclaim their right to legitimation - that is, they reserve the right not only to punish the violator in any way, but also to issue a moral reprimand to him. Of course, institutions vary in their degree of moral strength. These variations are usually expressed in the degree of punishment imposed on the offender. The state in an extreme case can deprive him of his life; neighbors or co-workers may boycott him. In both cases, punishment is accompanied by a sense of indignant justice in those members of society who are involved in this.

The development of society goes largely through the development of social institutions. The wider the institutionalized sphere in the system of social ties, the more opportunities society has. The diversity of social institutions, their development is, perhaps, the most accurate criterion for the maturity and reliability of a society. The development of social institutions manifests itself in two main variants: first, the emergence of new social institutions; secondly, the improvement of already established social institutions.

The formation and formation of an institution in the form in which we observe it (and take part in its functioning) takes a rather long historical period. This process is called institutionalization in sociology. In other words, institutionalization is the process by which certain social practices become sufficiently regular and long-lasting to be described as institutions.

The most important prerequisites for institutionalization - the formation and establishment of a new institution - are:

1) the emergence of certain social needs for new types and types of social practice and the socio-economic and political conditions corresponding to them;

2) development of the necessary organizational structures and related norms and rules of conduct;

3) internalization by individuals of new social norms and values, the formation on this basis of new systems of individual needs, value orientations and expectations (and, therefore, ideas about the patterns of new roles - their own and correlated with them).

The completion of this process of institutionalization is the emerging new kind of social practice. Thanks to this, a new set of roles is formed, as well as formal and informal sanctions for the implementation of social control over the corresponding types of behavior. Therefore, institutionalization is the process by which a social practice becomes sufficiently regular and continuous to be described as an institution.

Introduction

Social institutions occupy an important place in the life of society. Sociologists consider institutions as a stable set of norms, rules, and symbols that regulate various spheres of human life and organize them into a system of roles and statuses, with the help of which basic life and social needs are satisfied.

The relevance of the study of the topic is due to the need to assess the importance of social institutions and their functions in the life of society.

The object of the study is social institutions, the subject is the main functions, types and features of social institutions.

The purpose of the study is to analyze the essence of social institutions.

When writing the work, the following tasks were set:

1. Give a theoretical idea of ​​a social institution;

2. Reveal the signs of social institutions;

3. Consider the types of social institutions;

4. Describe the functions of social institutions.

1 Basic approaches to understanding the structure of social institutions

1.1 Definition of the concept of a social institution

The term "institution" has many meanings. It came to European languages ​​from Latin: institutum - establishment, device. Over time, it acquired two meanings - a narrow technical one (the name of specialized scientific and educational institutions) and a broad social one: a set of legal norms for a certain range of social relations, for example, the institution of marriage, the institution of inheritance.

Sociologists, who borrowed this concept from jurists, endowed it with new content. However, in the scientific literature on institutions, as well as on other fundamental issues of sociology, there is no unity of views. In sociology, there is not one, but many definitions of a social institution.

One of the first to give a detailed idea of ​​social institutions was the prominent American sociologist and economist Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929). Although his book The Theory of the Leisure Class appeared in 1899, many of its provisions have not become obsolete to this day. He viewed the evolution of society as a process of natural selection of social institutions, which by their nature do not differ from the usual ways of responding to incentives created by external changes.

There are various concepts of social institutions, the totality of all available interpretations of the concept of "social institution" can be reduced to the following four grounds:

1. A group of persons performing certain social functions that are important for everyone.

2. Specific organized forms of complexes of functions that some members of the group perform on behalf of the entire group.

3. The system of material institutions and forms of action that allow individuals to perform public impersonal functions aimed at meeting the needs or regulating the behavior of members of the community (group).

4. Social roles that are especially important for a group or community.

The concept of "social institution" in domestic sociology is given a significant place. A social institution is defined as a leading component of the social structure of society, integrating and coordinating many individual actions of people, streamlining social relations in certain areas of public life.

According to S. S. Frolov, "a social institution is an organized system of connections and social norms that combines significant social values ​​and procedures that meet the basic needs of society."

Under the system of social relations in this definition is understood the interweaving of roles and statuses through which behavior in group processes is carried out and maintained within certain limits, under public values ​​- shared ideas and goals, and under public procedures - standardized patterns of behavior in group processes. The institution of the family, for example, includes: 1) the interweaving of roles and statuses (statuses and roles of husband, wife, child, grandmother, grandfather, mother-in-law, mother-in-law, sisters, brothers, etc.), with the help of which family life is carried out; 2) a set of social values ​​(love, attitude towards children, family life); 3) public procedures (concern for the upbringing of children, their physical development, family rules and obligations).

If we sum up the whole set of approaches, then they can be divided into the following. The social institution is:

Role system, which also includes norms and statuses;

A set of customs, traditions and rules of conduct;

Formal and informal organization;

A set of norms and institutions that regulate a certain area of ​​public relations;

A separate set of social actions.

Understanding social institutions as a set of norms and mechanisms that regulate a certain area of ​​social relations (family, production, state, education, religion), sociologists have deepened their understanding of them as the basic elements on which society rests.

Culture is often understood as the form and result of adaptation to the environment. Kees J. Hamelink defines culture as the sum of all human efforts aimed at developing the environment and creating the necessary material and non-material means for this. By adapting to the environment, society throughout history develops tools suitable for solving many problems and satisfying the most important needs. These tools are called social institutions. The institutions typical of a given society reflect the cultural makeup of that society. The institutions of different societies are as different from each other as their cultures. For example, the institution of marriage among different nations contains peculiar rituals and ceremonies, based on the norms and rules of behavior accepted in each society. In some countries, the institution of marriage allows, for example, polygamy, which in other countries is strictly prohibited according to their institution of marriage.

Within the totality of social institutions, a subgroup of cultural institutions can be distinguished as a type of private social institutions. For example, when they say that the press, radio and television represent the “fourth power”, they are essentially understood as a cultural institution. Communication institutions are part of cultural institutions. They are the organs through which society, through social structures, produces and disseminates information expressed in symbols. Communication institutions are the main source of knowledge about the accumulated experience, expressed in symbols.

However one defines a social institution, in any case it is clear that it can be characterized as one of the most fundamental categories of sociology. It is no coincidence that special institutional sociology arose quite a long time ago and took shape as a whole direction, which includes a number of branches of sociological knowledge (economic sociology, political sociology, sociology of the family, sociology of science, sociology of education, sociology of religion, etc.).

1.2 The process of institutionalization

Social institutions arise as a kind of response to the needs of society, individual societies. They are associated with guarantees of uninterrupted social life, the protection of citizens, the maintenance of social order, the cohesion of social groups, the implementation of communications between them, the "placement" of people in certain social positions. Of course, the emergence of social institutions is based on the primary needs associated with the production of products, goods and services, their distribution. The process of emergence and formation of social institutions is called institutionalization.

In detail the process of institutionalization, i.e. the formation of a social institution, considered by S.S. Frolov. This process consists of several successive stages:

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

2) formation of common goals;

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

4) the emergence of procedures related to rules and regulations;

5) institutionalization of norms and rules, procedures, I.e. their adoption, practical application;

6) the establishment of a system of sanctions to maintain norms and rules, the differentiation of their application in individual cases;

7) creation of a system of statuses and roles covering all members of the institute without exception.

People united in social groups to realize their needs, first together look for various ways to achieve it. In the process of social practice, they develop the most acceptable patterns and patterns of behavior, which over time, through repeated repetition and evaluation, turn into standardized habits and customs. After some time, the developed models and patterns of behavior are accepted and supported by public opinion, and eventually legalized, and a certain system of sanctions is developed. The end of the institutionalization process is the creation, in accordance with the norms and rules, of a clear status-role structure, which is socially approved by the majority of participants in this social process.

1.3 Institutional features

Each social institution has both specific features and common features with other institutions.

To perform its functions, a social institution must take into account the abilities of various functionaries, form standards of behavior, adherence to basic principles, and develop interaction with other institutions. It is not surprising, therefore, that similar ways and methods of action exist in institutions pursuing quite different aims.

Features common to all institutions are presented in Table. 1. They are grouped into five groups. Although an institution must necessarily possess, for example, utilitarian cultural traits, it also has new specific qualities depending on the needs it satisfies. Some institutions, unlike developed ones, may not have a complete set of features. It only means that the institution is imperfect, has not fully developed, or is in decline. If most institutions are underdeveloped, then the society in which they function is either in decline or in the early stages of cultural development.

Table 1 . Signs of the main institutions of society

2 Types and functions of social institutions

2.1 Characteristics of the types of social institutions

For a sociological analysis of social institutions and the peculiarities of their functioning in society, their typology is essential.

G. Spencer was one of the first who drew attention to the problem of the institutionalization of society and stimulated interest in institutions in sociological thought. Within his "organismic theory" of human society, based on the structural analogy between society and the organism, he distinguishes three main types of institutions:

1) continuing the race (marriage and family) (Kinship);

2) distribution (or economic);

3) regulating (religion, political systems).

This classification is based on the allocation of the main functions inherent in all institutions.

R. Mills counted five institutional orders in modern society, implying the main institutions:

1) economic - institutions organizing economic activity;

2) political - institutions of power;

3) family - institutions that regulate sexual relations, the birth and socialization of children;

4) military - institutions that organize legal heritage;

5) religious - institutions that organize the collective worship of the gods.

The classification of social institutions proposed by foreign representatives of institutional analysis is arbitrary and peculiar. Thus, Luther Bernard proposes to distinguish between "mature" and "immature" social institutions, Bronislav Malinovsky - "universal" and "particular", Lloyd Ballard - "regulatory" and "sanctioned or operational", F. Chapin - "specific or nucleating" and "basic or diffuse-symbolic", G. Barnes - "primary", "secondary" and "tertiary".

Foreign representatives of functional analysis, following G. Spencer, traditionally propose to classify social institutions based on the main social functions. For example, K. Dawson and W. Gettys believe that the whole variety of social institutions can be grouped into four groups: hereditary, instrumental, regulatory and integrative. From the point of view of T. Parsons, three groups of social institutions should be distinguished: relative, regulatory, cultural.

Seeks to classify social institutions depending on the functions they perform in various spheres and branches of public life and J. Shchepansky. Dividing social institutions into "formal" and "informal", he proposes to distinguish the following "main" social institutions: economic, political, educational or cultural, social or public in the narrow sense of the word, and religious. At the same time, the Polish sociologist notes that the classification of social institutions he proposed is "not exhaustive"; in modern societies, one can find social institutions that are not covered by this classification.

Despite the wide variety of existing classifications of social institutions, this is largely due to different division criteria, almost all researchers distinguish two types of institutions as the most important - economic and political. This is due to the fact that a significant part of scientists believe that the institutions of economics and politics have the most significant impact on the nature of changes in society.

It should be noted that a very important, highly necessary, social institution brought to life by enduring needs, in addition to the two above, is the family. This is historically the first social institution of any society, and for most primitive societies it is the only really functioning institution. The family is a social institution of a special, integrative nature, in which all spheres and relations of society are reflected. Other social and cultural institutions are also important in society - education, health care, upbringing, etc.

Due to the fact that the essential functions performed by institutions are different, the analysis of social institutions allows us to distinguish the following groups of institutions:

1. Economic - these are all institutions that ensure the process of production and distribution of material goods and services, regulate money circulation, organize and division of labor, etc. (banks, stock exchanges, corporations, firms, joint-stock companies, factories, etc.).

2. Political - these are the institutions that establish, execute and maintain power. In a concentrated form, they express the political interests and relations existing in a given society. The totality of political institutions makes it possible to determine the political system of society (the state with its central and local authorities, political parties, police or police, justice, the army, and also various public organizations, movements, associations, funds and clubs pursuing political goals). The forms of institutionalized activity in this case are strictly defined: elections, rallies, demonstrations, election campaigns.

3. Reproduction and kinship are institutions that maintain the biological continuity of society, satisfy sexual needs and parental aspirations, regulate relations between the sexes and generations, etc. (institute of family and marriage).

4. Socio-cultural and educational - these are institutions whose main goal is to create, develop, strengthen culture for the socialization of the younger generation and transfer to it the accumulated cultural values ​​of the whole society as a whole (family as an educational institution, education, science, cultural and educational and art institutions, etc.).

5. Socio-ceremonial - these are institutions that regulate everyday human contacts, facilitating mutual understanding. Although these social institutions are complex systems and most often informal, they determine and regulate the ways of greetings and congratulations, the organization of solemn weddings, holding meetings, etc., which we ourselves usually do not think about. These are institutions organized by a voluntary association (public organizations, comradely associations, clubs, etc., not pursuing political goals).

6. Religious - institutions that organize a person's connection with transcendental forces. The other world for believers really exists and in a certain way affects their behavior and social relations. The institution of religion plays a prominent role in many societies and has a strong influence on numerous human relationships.

In the above classification, only the so-called "main institutions" are considered, the most important, highly necessary institutions, brought to life by enduring needs that regulate basic social functions and are characteristic of all types of civilization.

Depending on the severity and methods of regulation of their activities, social institutions are divided into formal and informal.

Formal social institutions, with all their significant differences, are united by one common feature: the interaction between the subjects in a given association is carried out on the basis of formally agreed regulations, rules, norms, regulations, etc. The regularity of activity and self-renewal of such institutions (state, army, church, education system, etc.) is ensured by strict regulation of social statuses, roles, functions, rights and obligations, distribution of responsibility between participants in social interaction, as well as impersonal requirements for who is included in activities of a social institution. The fulfillment of a certain range of duties is associated with the division of labor and the professionalization of the functions performed. To perform its functions, a formal social institution has institutions within which (for example, a school, university, technical school, lyceum, etc.) a well-defined professionally oriented activity of people is organized; management of social actions, control over their implementation, as well as the resources and means necessary for all this.

Although informal social institutions are regulated in their activities by certain norms and rules, they do not have strict regulation, and the normative-value relationships in them are not clearly formalized in the form of prescriptions, regulations, charters, etc. Friendship is an example of an informal social institution. It has many features of a social institution, such as, say, the presence of certain norms, rules, requirements, resources (trust, sympathy, devotion, loyalty, etc.), but the regulation of friendly relations is not formal, and social control is carried out with the help of informal sanctions - moral norms, traditions, customs, etc.

2.2 Functions of social institutions

The American sociologist R. Merton, who has done a lot for the development of the structural-functional approach, is the first to propose a distinction between "explicit" and "hidden (latent)" functions of social institutions. This difference in functions was introduced by him to explain certain social phenomena, when it is necessary to take into account not only the expected and observable consequences, but uncertain, side, secondary ones. The terms "manifest" and "latent" he borrowed from Freud, who used them in a completely different context. R. Merton writes: “The distinction between explicit and latent functions is based on the following: the former refer to those objective and intended consequences of social action that contribute to the adaptation or adaptation of some specific social unit (individual, subgroup, social or cultural system); the latter refer to unintended and unconscious consequences of the same order.

The explicit functions of social institutions are deliberate and understood by people. Usually they are formally declared, written down in statutes or declared, enshrined in the system of statuses and roles (for example, the adoption of special laws or sets of rules: on education, health care, social security, etc.), therefore, they are more controlled by society.

The main, general function of any social institution is to meet the social needs for which it was created and exists. To perform this function, each institution has to perform a number of functions that ensure the joint activities of people striving to meet needs. These are the following features; the function of consolidation and reproduction of social relations; regulatory function; integrative function; broadcasting function; communicative function.

The function of fixing and reproducing 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.

The 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.

Integrative function. This function includes the processes of cohesion, interdependence and mutual responsibility of members of social groups, occurring under the influence of institutionalized 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.

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 bring as many new members to the faith as possible.

Communicative function. Information produced at the institute should be disseminated both within the institute for the purpose of managing and monitoring compliance with the norms, 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).

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 was most conspicuously 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 sociologists 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 interferes with 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 to manage the social processes taking place in them.

Conclusion

Based on the work done, I can conclude that I have succeeded in fulfilling my goal - to briefly outline the main theoretical aspects of social institutions.

The paper describes the concept, structure and functions of social institutions in as much detail and as versatile as possible. In the process of revealing the meaning of these concepts, I used the opinions and arguments of various authors who used different methodology from each other, which made it possible to more deeply reveal the essence of social institutions.

In general, it can be summarized that social institutions play an important role in society, the study of social institutions and their functions allows sociologists to create a picture of social life, makes it possible to control the development of social ties and social objects, as well as manage the processes taking place in them.

List of sources used

1 Babosov E.M. General sociology: Proc. allowance for universities. - 2nd ed., Rev. and additional - Minsk: TetraSystems, 2004. 640 p.

2 Glotov M.B. Social institution: definitions, structure, classification /Socis. No. 10 2003. S. 17-18

3 Dobrenkov V.I., Kravchenko A.I. Sociology: Textbook for universities. – M.: INFRA-M, 2001. 624 S.

4 Z Borovsky G.E. General Sociology: A Textbook for High Schools of Higher Education. – M.: Gardariki, 2004. 592 S.

5 Novikova S.S. Sociology: history, foundations, institutionalization in Russia - M .: Moscow Institute of Psychology and Socialism, 2000. 464 p.

6 Frolov S.S. Sociology. M.: Nauka, 1994. 249 S.

7 Encyclopedic Sociological Dictionary / Ed. ed. G.V. Osipov. M.: 1995.

a form of organization and regulation of human activity that ensures the sustainability of social life, consisting of institutions and organizations, a set of norms and patterns of behavior, a hierarchy of social roles and statuses. Depending on the spheres of social relations, there are economic institutions (bank, stock exchange), political institutions (parties, state), legal institutions (court, prosecutor's office, notaries, advocacy, etc.), scientific institutions (academy), educational institutions, etc.

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

SOCIAL INSTITUTE

a relatively stable form of organization of social life, ensuring the stability of ties and relationships within society. SI. should be distinguished from specific organizations and social groups. Thus, the concept of "the institution of a monogamous family" does not mean a separate family, but a set of norms that is realized in countless families of a certain type. The main functions performed by the SI: 1) create an opportunity for the members of this institution to satisfy their needs and interests; 2) regulates the actions of members of society within the framework of social relations; 3) ensure the sustainability of public life; 4) ensures the integration of aspirations, actions and interests of individuals; 5) exercise social control. SI activities. is determined by: 1) a set of specific social norms that regulate the corresponding types of behavior; 2) its integration into the socio-political, ideological, value structures of society, which makes it possible to legitimize the formal legal basis of activity; 3) the availability of material resources and conditions that ensure the successful implementation of regulatory proposals and the exercise of social control. SI. can be characterized not only with t. sp. their formal structure, but also meaningfully, from the standpoint of the analysis of their activities. SI. - this is not only a set of persons, institutions equipped with certain material means, a system of sanctions and performing a specific social function. Successful functioning of S.I. associated with the presence within the institute of a coherent system of standards for the behavior of specific individuals in typical situations. These standards of behavior are normatively regulated: they are enshrined in the rules of law and other social norms. In the course of practice, certain types of social activity arise, and the legal and social norms that regulate this activity are concentrated into a certain legitimized and sanctioned system that ensures this type of social activity in the future. Such a system is the SI. Depending on the scope and their functions, I. are divided into a) relational - determining the role structure of society in the system of relations; b) regulatory, defining the permissible framework for independent actions in relation to the norms of society for the sake of personal goals and sanctions punishing for going beyond this framework (this includes all mechanisms of social control); c) cultural, associated with ideology, religion, art, etc.; d) integrative, associated with social roles responsible for ensuring the interests of the social community as a whole. The development of a social system is reduced to the evolution of the SI. The sources of such evolution can be both endogenous, i.e. occurring within the system itself, as well as exogenous factors. Among the exogenous factors, the most important are the impacts on the social system of cultural and personal systems associated with the accumulation of new knowledge, etc. Endogenous changes occur mainly because one or another SI. ceases to effectively serve the goals and interests of certain social groups. The history of the evolution of social systems is a gradual transformation of the SI. traditional type into modern SI. Traditional SI. characterized primarily by ascriptiveness and particularism, i.e. is based on the rules of behavior strictly prescribed by ritual and customs and on family ties. In the course of its development, SI. becomes more specialized in its functions and less rigorized in terms of rules and frameworks of behavior.

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

As you know, social relations are the main element of social communication, which ensures the stability and cohesion of groups. Society cannot exist without social connections and interactions. A special role is played by interactions that ensure the satisfaction of the most important needs of society or the individual. These interactions are institutionalized (legalized) and have a stable, self-defying character.

In everyday life, social ties are achieved precisely through social institutions, that is, through the regulation of relationships; a clear distribution (of the functions, rights, duties of the participants in the interaction and the regularity of their actions. Relationships last as long as its partners fulfill their duties, functions, roles. To ensure the stability of social relations on which the existence of society depends, people create a kind of system of institutions, institutions that control the behavior of their members. Passed down from generation to generation, the norms and rules of behavior and activity in various social spheres became a collective habit, tradition. They directed the way of thinking and way of life of people in a certain direction. All of them were institutionalized (established, consolidated) over time. in the form of laws and institutions).All this formed a system of social institutions - the basic mechanism for regulating society.It is they who lead us to an understanding of the essence of human society, its constituent elements, signs and stages of evolution.

In sociology, there are many interpretations, definitions of social institutions.

Social institutions - (from lat. Institutum - institution) - historically established forms of organization of joint activities of people. The concept of "social institution" is borrowed from legal science, where it defines a set of legal norms that regulate social and legal relations.

Social institutions- these are relatively stable and integrated (historically established) sets of symbols, beliefs, values, norms, roles and statuses, thanks to which various spheres of social life are controlled: family, economy, politics, culture, religion, education, etc. this is a kind of , powerful tools, tools that help to fight for existence and successfully survive both the individual and society as a whole. their purpose is to satisfy the important social needs of the group.

The most important feature of the institutional connection (the basis of a social institution) is the obligation, the obligation to comply with the duties, functions, and roles assigned to the individual. Social institutions, as well as organizations in the system of social ties, are nothing more than a kind of fastener on which society rests.

The first who started the term "social institution" and introduced into scientific circulation and developed the corresponding theory was G. Spencer, an English sociologist. He studied and described six types of social institutions: industrial (economic), political, trade union, ritual (cultural and ceremonial), church (religious), home (family). Any social institution, according to his theory, is a stable structure of social actions.

One of the first attempts to explain the nature of a social institution in "domestic" sociology was made by Professor Yu. Levada, interpreting it as a center (node) of people's activities that maintains its stability for a certain time and ensures the stability of the entire social system.

There are many interpretations and approaches to understanding the social institution in the scientific literature. Often it is seen as a stable set of formal and informal rules, principles, norms, and guidelines that regulate various areas of human activity.

Social institutions are organized associations of people who perform certain socially significant functions that ensure the joint achievement of goals based on the fulfillment of their social roles within the framework of values ​​and patterns of behavior.

It includes:

■ a specific group of people who perform public functions;

■ an organizational set of functions performed by individuals, group members on behalf of the entire group;

■ set of institutions, organizations, means of activity;

■ some social roles that are especially important for the group - that is, everything that is aimed at satisfying the needs and regulating people's behavior.

For example, the court - as a social institution - acts as:

■ a group of people who perform certain functions;

■ organizational forms of functions that the court performs (analyzes, judges, analyzes)

■ institutions, organizations, means of functioning;

■ the social role of a judge or prosecutor, lawyer.

One of the necessary conditions for the emergence of social institutions is certain social needs that have always arisen, existed and changed. The history of the development of social institutions shows the constant transformation of institutions of the traditional type into a modern social institution. Traditional (in the past) institutions are characterized by strict rituals, circulars, fanned by centuries of tradition, as well as family ties and relationships. Historically, the clan and the family community were the first leading institutions. Then there appeared institutions that regulate relations between clans - institutions for the exchange of products (economic). Subsequently, the so-called political institutions (regulation of the security of peoples), etc. appeared. During the course of historical development, certain social institutions dominated the life of society: tribal leaders, the council of elders, the church, the state, etc.

Institutions should organize the joint activities of people in order to meet certain social needs.

Each institution is characterized by the presence of the goal of its activity, specific functions that ensure the achievement of this goal, a set of social positions, roles typical for this institution, a system of norms, sanctions, and incentives. These systems determine the normalization of the behavior of people, all subjects of social action, coordinate their aspirations, establish forms, ways to meet their needs and interests, resolve conflicts, and temporarily provide a state of equilibrium within a particular society.

The process of formation of a social institution (institutionalization) is quite complex and lengthy, it consists of several successive stages:

Any institution has functions and a range of tasks in public life, which are of a different nature, but the main ones are:

■ enabling group members to meet their needs;

■ regulating the actions of group members within certain limits;

■ ensuring the sustainability of public life.

Each person uses the services of many structural components of social institutions, it:

1) is born and brought up in a family;

2) studies in schools, institutions of various kinds;

3) works at various enterprises;

4) use the services of transport, housing, distribution and exchange of goods;

5) draws information from newspapers, TV, radio, cinema;

6) realizes his leisure, uses his free time (entertainment)

7) uses security guarantees (police, medicine, army), etc.

During life, satisfying his needs, a person is included in the network of social institutions, performing in each of his specific role, duty, functions. A social institution is a symbol of order and organization in society. People, during historical development, have always sought to institutionalize (regulate) their relations related to actual needs in various fields of activity, therefore, according to the type of activity, social institutions are divided into:

Such a typology is not complete and unique, but includes the main ones that determine the regulation of basic social functions. However, it is impossible to assert that all these institutions are separate. In real life, their functions are closely intertwined.

On economic social institutions, the economy as a social institution has a complex structure. it can be represented as a set of more specific institutional elements of production, distribution, exchange and consumption, as a set of institutionalized sectors of the economy: state, collective, individual, as a set of elements of economic consciousness, economic regulations and economic relations, organizations and institutions. The economy as a social institution performs a number of functions:

■ distribution (support and development of forms of social division of labor);

■ stimulating (providing increased incentives to work, economic interest)

■ integration (ensuring the unity of interests of employees);

■ innovative (updating the forms and organizations of production).

Depending on the formalization and legalization of social institutions, they are divided into: formal and informal.

Formal - those in which functions, means, methods of action are expressed [in formal rules, norms, laws, have a guarantee of a stable organization.

Informal - those in which functions, means, methods of action have not found expression in formal rules, regulations, etc. (a group of children who play in the yard, temporary groups, interest clubs, protest groups).

The diversity of social relations and the versatility of human nature modify both the structure of social institutions and dynamize their development (withering away, liquidation of some, emergence of others). Social institutions, constantly developing, change their forms. The sources of development are internal (endogenous) and external (exogenous) factors. Therefore, the modern development of social institutions takes place according to two main options:

1) the emergence of new social institutions in new social conditions;

2) development and improvement of already established social institutions.

The effectiveness of social institutions depends on a large number of factors (conditions), including:

■ a clear definition of the goals, objectives and scope of functions of the social institution;

■ strict observance of the performance of functions by each member of the social institution;

■ conflict-free inclusion and further functioning in the system of public relations.

However, a situation may arise when changes in social needs are not reflected in the structure and functions of a social institution, and disharmony, dysfunction may arise in its activities, expressed in the ambiguity of the goals of the institution, uncertain functions, and a decrease in its social authority.