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Author: haroonkhan

  • BIOLOGICAL BASES OF THE FAMILY

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    by

    haroonkhan
    in

    Family may not be indispensable, in the sense that the functions performed by it can be taken over by other agencies of the social system, or a special agency created for them in society—such as the Israeli Kibbutz or the Soviet Kolhos, which take care of the socialization of the young. Children can be produced by surrogate mothers,3 or through…

  • OMNIPRESENCE OF THE INSTITUTION OF FAMILY

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    haroonkhan
    in

    Recruitment by birth as the principal mode of enlisting membership is common to all societies. It is this aspect of recruitment that has given prominence to the institution of the family. Apart from religion, family is the only institution that is universally found in all societies. It is the family towards which every individual seems to be…

  • THE REPLACEMENT AND RECRUITMENT DIMENSION

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    haroonkhan
    in

    In all inclusive social systems such as society, replacement is mainly through the process of sexual reproduction. This implies that such a social system has to be heterosexual (that is, consisting of both males and females) in demographic composition. We may recall Marion J. Levy’s definition of society, discussed at length in which he says that…

  • Introduction

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    haroonkhan
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    The difference between a living and a dead social system—of whatever size, be it the largest or the smallest—is the presence, or the disappearance (due to death or migration), of its members. A social system lives through its membership. Individuals who belong to it may die or withdraw; their replacement is a must if a…

  • INPUT-OUTPUT MODEL

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    haroonkhan
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    The linkage between different sub-systems can also be shown through an input-output model. Any sub-system receives ‘inputs’ from the wider social system, which are then ‘processed’ within the sub-system. The process is technically known as ‘through-put’, and is delivered to the wider social system as ‘outputs’. Take the example of a college as a sub-system…

  • HANDLING FUNCTIONAL PROBLEMS: THE AGIL MODEL

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    haroonkhan
    in

    Consolidating all the ideas mentioned above, Parsons talks of four functional problems or requisites, namely (i) Adaptation, (ii) Goal attainment, (iii) Integration, and (iv) Latency2 or Pattern maintenance—abbreviated as the AGIL paradigm.   Parsons subscribes to the view that the action generated within any given social system is in part directed toward its external situation and in part toward its internal situation …. The external-internal dichotomy is one axis. Consistent with his…

  • FUNCTIONAL PREREQUISITES AND REQUISITES

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    haroonkhan
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    For any system to function—that is, to become operational—there are some requirements to be fulfilled. They may be called preconditions. What are they? A social system consists of interacting individuals. For a system to operate, therefore, it is essential that it have a regular supply of individuals to serve as actors. The first prerequisite for…

  • INTRODUCTION

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    haroonkhan
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    As a study of the social sphere, sociology is concerned with those empirical systems that involve interactions of a plurality of individuals. These interactions—between two or more individuals (regular or casual), or between individual/s and a group, or between groups—follow a pattern governed by a society’s culture. Individuals interacting with each other in diverse settings…

  • STATUS CONFLICT AND ROLE CONFLICT

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    haroonkhan
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    We have already alluded to the conflicts relative to statuses and roles earlier. Following Merton, it is suggested that a distinction be made between status conflict and role conflict. Quite often role conflict is illustrated by the example of a judge in whose court his son appears as a convict. Such a situation creates a…

  • STATUS SEQUENCE AND ROLE SEQUENCE

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    haroonkhan
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    Within a particular organization an individual climbs the ladder and goes on to assume more and different responsibilities. Such promotions represent changes in designation. A movement from a lecturer to a reader and on to professor, and then to Dean and to Vice Chancellor represents a sequence of statuses. There are also statuses that come…