The main social institutions traditionally include family, state, education, church, science, and law. Below is given brief description of these institutions and their main functions are presented. The family is the most important social institution of kinship, connecting individuals through a commonality of life and mutual moral responsibility. The family performs a number of functions: economic (housekeeping), reproductive (having children), educational (transferring values, norms, models), etc. The state is the main political institution that governs society and ensures its security. The state performs internal functions, including economic (regulating the economy), stabilization (maintaining stability in society), coordination (ensuring public harmony), ensuring the protection of the population (protecting rights, legality, social security) and many others. There are also external functions: defense (in case of war) and international cooperation (to protect the interests of the country in the international arena). Education is a social cultural institution that ensures the reproduction and development of society through the organized transfer of social experience in the form of knowledge, skills, and abilities. The main functions of education include adaptation (preparation for life and work in society), professional (training of specialists), civic (training of citizens), general cultural (introduction to cultural values), humanistic (discovery of personal potential), etc. The Church is a religious institution formed on the basis of a single religion. Church members share common norms, dogmas, rules of behavior and are divided into clergy and laity. The church performs the following functions: ideological (determines views of the world), compensatory (offers consolation and reconciliation), integrating (unites believers), general cultural (introduces cultural values), etc. Science is a special socio-cultural institution for the production of objective knowledge. Among the functions of science are cognitive (promotes knowledge of the world), explanatory (interprets knowledge), ideological (determines views on the world), prognostic (makes forecasts), social (changes society) and productive (determines the production process). Law is a social institution, a system of generally binding norms and relations protected by the state. The state, with the help of law, regulates the behavior of people and social groups, establishing certain relationships as mandatory. The main functions of law: regulatory (regulates social relations) and protective (protects those relations that are useful for society as a whole). All the elements of social institutions discussed above are illuminated from the point of view of social institutions, but other approaches to them are also possible. For example, science can be considered not only as a social institution, but also as a special form cognitive activity or as a system of knowledge; family is not only an institution, but also a small social group.

The foundation on which the entire society is built are social institutions. The term comes from the Latin “institutum” - “charter”.

This concept was first introduced into scientific circulation by the American sociologist T. Veblein in his book “The Theory of the Leisure Class” in 1899.

A social institution in the broad sense of the word is a system of values, norms and connections that organize people to satisfy their needs.

Externally, a social institution looks like a collection of persons and institutions, equipped with certain material resources and performing a specific social function.

Social institutions have historical origins and are in constant change and development. Their formation is called institutionalization.

Institutionalization is the process of defining and consolidating social norms, connections, statuses and roles, bringing them into a system that is capable of acting in the direction of satisfying some social need. This process consists of several stages:

1) the emergence of needs that can only be satisfied as a result joint activities;

2) the emergence of norms and rules governing interaction to meet emerging needs;

3) adoption and implementation in practice of the emerging norms and rules;

4) creation of a system of statuses and roles covering all members of the institute.

Institutes have their own distinctive features:

1) cultural symbols (flag, coat of arms, anthem);

3) ideology, philosophy (mission).

Social institutions in society perform a significant set of functions:

1) reproductive – consolidation and reproduction of social relations, ensuring order and framework of activity;

2) regulatory – regulation of relationships between members of society by developing patterns of behavior;

3) socialization – transfer of social experience;

4) integrative - cohesion, interconnection and mutual responsibility of group members under the influence of institutional norms, rules, sanctions and a system of roles;

5) communicative – dissemination of information within the institute and throughout external environment, maintaining relationships with other institutions;

6) automation – the desire for independence.

The functions performed by an institution can be explicit or latent.

The existence of latent functions of an institution allows us to talk about its ability to bring greater benefits to society than initially stated. Social institutions perform the functions of social management and social control in society.

Social institutions guide the behavior of community members through a system of sanctions and rewards.

The formation of a system of sanctions is the main condition for institutionalization. Sanctions provide for punishment for inaccurate, careless and incorrect performance of official duties.

Positive sanctions (gratitude, material rewards, creation of favorable conditions) are aimed at encouraging and stimulating correct and proactive behavior.

The social institution thus determines the orientation of social activity and social relations through a mutually agreed upon system of purposefully oriented standards of behavior. Their emergence and grouping into a system depend on the content of the tasks being 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 ensure the encouragement of desired behavior and the suppression of deviant behavior.

Social institutions always perform socially significant functions and ensure the achievement of relatively stable social connections and relationships within the framework of the social organization of society.

Dissatisfied with the Institute social needs bring to life new forces and normatively unregulated activities. In practice, the following ways out of this situation can be implemented:

1) reorientation of old social institutions;

2) creation of new social institutions;

3) reorientation of public consciousness.

In sociology, there is a generally accepted system of classifying social institutions into five types, which is based on the needs realized through institutions:

1) family – reproduction of the clan and socialization of the individual;

2) political institutions - the need for security and public order, with their help political power is established and maintained;

3) economic institutions - production and livelihood, they ensure the process of production and distribution of goods and services;

4) institutions of education and science – the need for obtaining and transferring knowledge and socialization;

5) the institution of religion - solving spiritual problems, searching for the meaning of life.

2. Social control and deviant behavior

As already indicated, one of the main functions of social institutions is to ensure social control. Social control is the normative regulation of people's behavior in social systems.

It is a mechanism for maintaining social order, including norms and sanctions.

So, the main mechanisms of social control are norms and sanctions.

Norm- a rule, standard, pattern of behavior existing in a given society and accepted by an individual that determines how he should behave in a given situation. Norms are socially approved invariants of behavior.

Norm is the range of acceptable actions. Norms can be formal or informal.

Sanctions– rewards and punishments associated with compliance with norms. Sanctions can also be classified into several types:

1) formal;

2) informal;

3) positive;

4) negative.

Phenomena that do not fit within the framework of social norms are called deviation.

Deviant behavior is the actions, activities of a person, social phenomena that do not correspond to established norms in a given society.

In the sociological study of deviant behavior, the influence of value orientations personality, its attitudes, features of the formation of the social environment, the state of social relations, institutional forms of ownership.

As a rule, social deviations are associated with a persistent distortion of value orientations typical of society and social groups.

The main direction of sociological research into the problem of deviation is aimed at identifying its causes.

Within sociology there have been following theories on this issue.

1. Charles Lombarzo, William Sheldon believed that certain physical personality traits predetermine personality deviation from the norm.

So Sheldon divides people into 3 types:

1) endomorphs – overweight, not prone to deviant behavior;

2) mesomorphs - athletic build, can be characterized by deviant behavior;

3) ectomorphs are thin and are unlikely to be prone to deviant behavior.

2. Z. Freud saw the reason for deviations in the fact that conflicts constantly occur within each personality.

It is internal conflict that is the source of deviant behavior.

In any person there is an “I” (conscious beginning) and a “super-ego” (unconscious). Conflicts constantly arise between them.

The “I” tries to keep the unconscious in a person. If this fails, then the biological, animal essence breaks through.

3. Emile Durkheim. Deviation is determined by the process of socialization of the individual.

This process can be successful or unsuccessful.

Success or failure is associated with a person’s ability to adapt to the system of social norms of society.

Moreover, what more people shows creative activity, the greater the chances of living your life successfully. Social institutions (family, educational institution, fatherland) influence success.

4. R. Merton believed that deviant behavior is a consequence of a mismatch between the goals generated by the social structure and culture and the socially organized means of achieving them.

Goals are something to strive for, a basic component in the life of all segments of society.

Means are assessed from the point of view of the possibility of achieving the goal.

They must be portable and efficient. Based on this premise, deviant behavior occurs only if the balance between goals and means of achieving them is disturbed.

Thus, main reason Deviation is the gap between the goals and means of achieving these goals, which occurs due to unequal access to the means of different segments of groups.

Based on his theoretical developments, Merton identified five types of deviant behavior depending on the attitude towards goals and means of achieving them.

1. Conformism– an individual’s agreement with the generally accepted goals and means of achieving them in society. The classification of this type as deviant is not accidental.

Psychologists use the term “conformism” to define a person’s blind following of someone else’s opinion, so as not to create unnecessary difficulties in communicating with others, to achieve the assigned goals, sometimes sinning against the truth.

On the other hand, conformist behavior makes it difficult to assert one's own independent behavior or opinion.

2. Innovation– the individual’s acceptance of goals, but a preference to use non-standard means to achieve them.

3. Ritualism– rejection of generally accepted goals, but the use of standard means for society.

4. Retreatism– complete rejection of social attitudes.

5. Mutiny– changing social goals and means in accordance with one’s will and elevating them to the rank of socially significant ones.

Within the framework of other sociological theories, the following types are distinguished as the main types of deviant behavior:

1) cultural and mental deviations - deviations from cultural norms. May be dangerous or non-hazardous;

2) individual and group deviations - an individual person, an individual rejects the norms of his subculture. Group – illusory world;

3) primary and secondary. Primary – prank, secondary – deviant deviation;

4) culturally acceptable deviations;

5) superintelligence, supermotivation;

6) culturally condemned deviations. Violation of moral standards and violation of the law.

The economy as a social institution is a set of institutionalized modes of activity, patterns of social actions that form various types of economic behavior of people and organizations to satisfy their needs.

The core of the economy is work. Job- this is the solution of problems associated with the expenditure of mental and physical effort, with the goal of producing goods and services that satisfy human needs. E. Giddens identifies six main characteristics of work.

1. Money. Salary or salary for most people is the main source of satisfaction of their needs.

2. Activity level. Professional activities often forms the basis for the acquisition and implementation of knowledge and capabilities.

Even if the work is routine, it offers some structured environment in which the person's energy can be realized.

Without work, the ability to realize knowledge and abilities may decrease.

3. Variety. Employment gives access to situations outside of the everyday environment. In a work environment, even when tasks are relatively monotonous, an individual may derive satisfaction from performing duties that are not similar to those at home.

4. Structuring time. For people with regular jobs, the day is usually organized around the rhythm of work. Although this can be overwhelming at times, it provides a sense of direction in daily activities.

For those who are deprived of work, boredom is a big problem; such people develop apathy towards time.

5. Social contacts. The work environment often breeds friendships and opportunities to participate in collaborative activities with others.

In the absence of contacts at work, a person’s circle of friends and acquaintances decreases.

6. Personal identity. Employment is generally valued for the sense of personal social stability it provides.

In historical retrospect, the following main types of economic activity are distinguished:

1) in primitive society– hunting, fishing, gathering;

2) in slave-owning and feudal societies - farming;

3) in an industrial society – commodity and industrial production;

4) in post-industrial society - information technology.

In the modern economy, three sectors can be distinguished: primary, secondary and tertiary.

The primary sector of the economy includes agriculture, mining and forestry industries, fishing, etc. The secondary sector unites enterprises that convert raw materials into industrial goods.

Finally, the tertiary sector is associated with the service industry, with those activities that, without directly producing material goods, offer others some services.

Five primary types of economic systems or types of economic activity can be distinguished.

The state economy is a set of national enterprises and organizations working for the benefit of the entire population.

Every modern society has a public sector of the economy, although its share varies.

World practice shows that total nationalization of the economy is ineffective, since it does not give the desired economic effect, just like the general privatization of enterprises.

The private economy dominates in modern developed countries.

It arose as a result of the industrial revolution at the stage of industrial society.

Initially, the private economy developed independently of the state, but economic disasters raised the question of strengthening state regulation of the private sector in the economy.

Barracks economy- this is the economic behavior of military personnel, prisoners and all other people living in a confined space, “barracks” form (hospitals, boarding schools, prisons, etc.).

All these forms are characterized by the “camp collectivity” of their life, mandatory and compulsory performance of functions, dependence on funding, usually from the state.

The shadow (criminal) economy exists in all countries of the world, although it refers to criminal activity. This type of economic behavior is deviant, but it is closely related to the private economy.

The English sociologist Duke Hobbes in his book “Bad Business” develops the idea that it is impossible to draw a clear line between professional economic behavior and everyday business activity.

Banks in particular are sometimes rated as "elegant robbers." Among the traditional forms of mafia economic activity: trade in weapons, drugs, live goods, etc.

Mixed (additional) economy is a person’s work outside the scope of his professional employment.

Sociologist E. Giddens calls it “informal,” noting the “bifurcation” of labor into professional and “additional,” for example, the work of a doctor on a personal plot, which is carried out at a non-professional level.

Additional work sometimes requires a person to spend a huge amount of time and energy, but the result is low.

The economy as a social institution is designed to satisfy, first of all, the material needs of man.

Politics as a social institution is a set of certain organizations (authorities of government and administration, political parties, social movements) that regulate the political behavior of people in accordance with accepted norms, laws, and rules.

Each of the political institutions carries out a certain type of political activity and includes a social community, layer, group specializing in the implementation of political activities to manage society. These institutions are characterized by:

1) political norms governing relations within and between political institutions, and between political and non-political institutions of society;

2) material resources necessary to achieve the goals.

Political institutions ensure reproduction, stability and regulation of political activity, preservation of the identity of a political community even when its composition changes, strengthen social ties and intra-group cohesion, and exercise control over political behavior.

The focus of politics is on power and control in society.

The main bearer of political power is the state, which, based on law and law, carries out forced regulation and control over social processes in order to ensure the normal and stable functioning of society.

The universal structure of state power is:

1) legislative bodies (parliaments, councils, congresses, etc.);

2) executive bodies (government, ministries, state committees, law enforcement agencies, etc.);

3) judicial authorities;

4) army and state security agencies;

5) state information system, etc.

The sociological nature of the activities of the state and other political organizations is associated with the functioning of society as a whole.

Politics should help solve public problems; at the same time, politicians tend to strive to use state power and representative bodies to satisfy certain pressure groups.

The state as the core of the sociological system provides:

1) social integration of society;

2) life safety of people and society as a whole;

3) distribution of resources and social benefits;

4) cultural and educational activities;

5) social control over deviant behavior.

The basis of politics is power associated with the use of force and coercion in relation to all members of society, organizations, movements.

The basis of subordination to power is:

1) traditions and customs (traditional domination, for example, the power of a slave owner over a slave);

2) devotion to a person endowed with some higher power (charismatic power of leaders, for example, Moses, Buddha);

3) conscious conviction in the correctness of formal rules and the need to implement them (this type of subordination is characteristic of most modern states).

The complexity of sociopolitical activity is associated with differences in social status, interests, positions of people and political forces.

They influence differences in types of political power. N. Smelser gives the following types of states: democratic and non-democratic (totalitarian, authoritarian).

In democratic societies, all political institutions are autonomous (power is divided into independent branches - executive, legislative, judicial).

All political institutions influence the formation of state and government structures and shape the political direction of the development of society.

Democratic states are associated with representative democracy when the people certain period transfers power to its representatives in elections.

These states, mostly Western, are characterized by the following features:

1) individualism;

2) constitutional form of government;

3) the general consent of those who are governed;

4) loyal opposition.

IN totalitarian states leaders strive to retain power by keeping the people under complete control, using a unified mono-party system, control over the economy, the media, the family, and carrying out terror against the opposition. In authoritarian states, approximately the same measures are carried out in softer forms, in the context of the existence of the private sector and other parties.

The sociopolitical subsystem of society represents a spectrum of different vectors of power, management, and political activity.

In the entire system of society, they are in a state of constant struggle, but without the victory of any one line. Crossing the limit of measure in struggle leads to deviant forms of power in society:

1) totalitarian, in which the military-administrative method of management dominates;

2) spontaneously market, where power passes to corporate groups that merge with the mafia and wage war on each other;

3) stagnant, when a relative and temporary balance of opposing forces and control methods is established.

In Soviet and Russian society You can find manifestations of all these deviations, but totalitarianism under Stalin and stagnation under Brezhnev were especially clearly manifested.

The education system is one of the most important social institutions. It ensures the socialization of individuals, through which they develop the qualities necessary for essential life processes and transformations.

The Institute of Education has a long history of primary forms of knowledge transfer from parents to children.

Education serves the development of personality and contributes to its self-realization.

At the same time, education is crucial for society itself, ensuring the fulfillment of the most important tasks of a practical and symbolic nature.

The education system makes a significant contribution to the integration of society and contributes to the formation of a sense of common historical destiny, belonging to a given single society.

But the education system also has other functions. Sorokin notes that education (especially higher education) is a kind of channel (elevator) through which people improve their social status. At the same time, education exercises social control over the behavior and worldview of children and adolescents.

The education system as an institution includes the following components:

1) educational authorities and institutions and organizations subordinate to them;

2) network educational institutions(schools, colleges, gymnasiums, lyceums, universities, academies, etc.), including institutes for advanced training and retraining of teachers;

3) creative unions, professional associations, scientific and methodological councils and other associations;

4) educational and scientific infrastructure institutions, design, production, clinical, medical and preventive, pharmacological, cultural and educational enterprises, printing houses, etc.;

5) textbooks and teaching aids for teachers and students;

6) periodicals, including magazines and yearbooks reflecting the latest achievements of scientific thought.

The Institute of Education includes a certain field of activity, groups of persons authorized to perform certain managerial and other functions on the basis of established rights and responsibilities, organizational norms and principles of relations between officials.

The set of norms regulating the interaction of people regarding learning indicates that education is a social institution.

Harmonious and balanced system education, ensuring the satisfaction of modern needs of society, is the most important condition for the preservation and development of society.

Science, along with education, can be considered as a social macroinstitution.

Science, like the education system, is a central social institution in all modern societies and represents the most complex area of ​​human intellectual activity.

Increasingly, the very existence of society depends on advanced scientific knowledge. Not only the material conditions of society’s existence, but also its members’ ideas about the world depend on the development of science.

The main function of science is the development and theoretical systematization of objective knowledge about reality. The purpose of scientific activity is to obtain new knowledge.

Purpose of Education– transfer of new knowledge to new generations, i.e. youth.

If there is no first, then there is no second. That is why these institutions are considered in close connection and as a single system.

In turn, the existence of science without training is also impossible, since it is in the process of training that new scientific personnel are formed.

A formulation of the principles of science has been proposed Robert Merton in 1942

These include: universalism, communalism, disinterest and organizational skepticism.

The principle of universalism means that science and its discoveries are of a single, universal (universal) nature. None personal characteristics individual scientists (gender, age, religion, etc.) do not matter when assessing the value of their work.

Research results should be judged solely on their scientific merit.

According to the principle of communalism, no scientific knowledge can become the personal property of a scientist, but must be available to any member of the scientific community.

The principle of disinterest means that the pursuit of personal interests is not a requirement of the professional role of a scientist.

The principle of organized skepticism means that a scientist should refrain from formulating conclusions until the facts fully correspond.

A religious institution belongs to a non-secular culture, but plays a very important role in the lives of many people as a system of norms of cultural behavior, that is, serving God.

ABOUT social significance religions in the world show the following statistics on the number of believers in beginning of XXI century: out of 6 billion population globe more than 4 billion are believers. Moreover, about 2 billion profess Christianity.

Orthodoxy within Christianity ranks third after Catholicism and Protestantism. Islam is professed by a little more than 1 billion, Judaism by more than 650 million, Buddhism by more than 300 million, Confucianism by about 200 million, Zionism by 18 million, and the rest profess other religions.

Among the main functions of religion as a social institution are the following:

1) an explanation of the past, present and future of a person;

2) regulation moral behavior from birth to death of a person;

3) approval or criticism of social orders in society;

4) uniting people and supporting them in difficult times.

The sociology of religion pays great attention to clarifying social functions that religion performs in society. As a result, sociologists have formulated different views on religion as a social institution.

Thus, E. Durkheim believed that religion- a product of a person or social group, necessary for moral unity, an expression of a collective ideal.

God is a reflection of this ideal. Durkheim sees the functions of religious ceremonies in:

1) bringing people together - a meeting to express common interests;

2) revitalization - revitalizing the past, connecting the present with the past;

3) euphoria – general acceptance of life, distraction from the unpleasant;

4) order and training - self-discipline and preparation for life.

M. Weber paid special attention to the study of Protestantism and highlighted its positive influence on the development of capitalism, which determined its values ​​such as:

1) hard work, self-discipline and self-restraint;

2) increasing money without waste;

3) personal success as the key to salvation.

The religious factor influences the economy, politics, the state, interethnic relations, the family, and the field of culture through the activities of religious individuals, groups, and organizations in these areas.

There is an “overlay” of religious relations on other social relations.

The core of a religious institution is the church. The church is an organization that uses a variety of means, including religious morality, rites and rituals, through which it obliges and forces people to act accordingly.

The Church is needed by society, as it is a spiritual support for millions of people, including those seeking justice, distinguishing between good and evil, giving them guidelines in the form of moral norms, behavior and values.

In Russian society, the majority of the population professes Orthodoxy (70%), a significant number of Muslim believers (25%), the rest are representatives of other religious faiths (5%).

Almost all types of beliefs are represented in Russia, and there are also many sects.

It should be noted that in the 1990s, the religiosity of the adult population had a positive trend due to socio-economic transformations in the country.

However, at the beginning of the third millennium, a decrease in the trust rating in relation to religious organizations was revealed, including the Russian Orthodox Church, which enjoys the greatest trust.

This decline is coupled with a decline in trust in other public institutions as a reaction to unfulfilled hopes for reform.

About a fifth pray daily, visit a temple (mosque) at least once a month, i.e. about a third of those who consider themselves believers.

At present, the problem of unifying all Christian movements, which was heatedly discussed during the celebration of the 2000th anniversary of Christianity, has not been resolved.

The Orthodox Church believes that this is possible only on the basis of the faith of the ancient, indivisible church, of which Orthodoxy considers itself to be the successor.

Other branches of Christianity, on the contrary, believe that Orthodoxy needs to be reformed.

Various points of view indicate the impossibility of uniting Christianity on a global scale, at least at the present time.

The Orthodox Church is loyal to the state and maintains friendly relations with other faiths to overcome interethnic tensions.

Religious institutions and society must be in a state of harmony, interacting with each other in the formation of universal human values, preventing social problems from escalating into interethnic conflicts on religious grounds.

Family is a social-biological system of society that ensures the reproduction of community members. This definition contains the main purpose of the family as a social institution. In addition, the family is called upon to perform the following functions:

1) socio-biological – satisfaction of sexual needs and needs for procreation;

2) education, socialization of children;

3) economic, which manifests itself in the organization of the economic and everyday life of all family members, including the provision of housing and the necessary infrastructure;

4) political, which is associated with power in the family and management of its life activities;

5) sociocultural - regulation of the entire spiritual life of the family.

The above functions indicate the need for a family for all its members and the inevitability of uniting people living outside the family.

The identification of types of families and their classification can be carried out on various grounds:

1) according to the form of marriage:

a) monogamous (marriage of one man with one woman);

b) polyandry (a woman has several spouses);

c) polygyny (marriage of one man with two or more wives);

2) by composition:

a) nuclear (simple) - consisting of a husband, wife and children (complete) or with the absence of one of the parents (incomplete);

b) complex – include representatives of several generations;

3) by number of children:

a) childless;

b) single children;

c) small children;

d) large families (three or more children);

4) by stages of civilizational evolution:

a) a patriarchal family of a traditional society with the authoritarian power of the father, in whose hands is the solution to all issues;

b) egalitarian-democratic, based on equality in the relationship between husband and wife, on mutual respect and social partnership.

According to the forecasts of American sociologists E. Giddens And N. Smelzer In post-industrial society, the institution of family is undergoing significant changes.

According to Smelser, there will be no return to the traditional family. The modern family will change, partially losing or changing some functions, although the family’s monopoly on regulation intimate relationships, childbearing and caring for young children will continue into the future.

At the same time, there will be a partial disintegration of even relatively stable functions.

Thus, the function of childbearing will be carried out by unmarried women.

Child education centers will be more involved in socialization.

Friendly disposition and emotional support will be available not only in the family.

E. Giddens notes a steady trend of weakening the regulatory function of the family in relation to sexual life, but believes that marriage and family will remain strong institutions.

The family as a socio-biological system is analyzed from the perspective of functionalism and conflict theory. The family, on the one hand, is closely connected with society through its functions, and on the other, all family members are interconnected by consanguinity and social relations.

It should also be noted that the family is a bearer of contradictions, both with society and between its members.

Family life is associated with resolving contradictions between husband, wife, children, relatives, and surrounding people regarding the performance of functions, even if it is based on love and respect.

In a family, as in society, there is not only unity, integrity and harmony, but also a struggle of interests.

The nature of conflicts can be understood from the perspective of exchange theory, which implies that all family members should strive for equal exchange in their relationships. Tension and conflict arise because someone does not receive the expected “reward.”

The source of conflict may be low wages one of the family members, drunkenness, sexual dissatisfaction, etc.

A severe disturbance in metabolic processes leads to family disintegration.

In 1916, Sorokin identified a trend of crisis in the modern family, which is characterized by: an increase in the number of divorces, a decrease in the number of marriages, an increase in civil marriages, an increase in prostitution, a drop in the birth rate, the release of wives from the guardianship of their husbands and a change in their relationships, the destruction religious basis marriage, weakening of protection of the institution of marriage by the state.

The problems of the modern Russian family generally coincide with global problems.

All of these reasons allow us to talk about a certain family crisis.

Among the causes of the crisis are:

1) reducing the dependence of wives on husbands in an economic sense;

2) increased mobility, especially migration;

3) changes in family functions under the influence of social, economic, cultural, religious and ethnic traditions, as well as the new technical and environmental situation;

4) cohabitation of a man and a woman without marriage;

5) a decrease in the number of children in a family, as a result of which even simple population reproduction does not occur;

6) the process of nuclearization of families leads to a weakening of ties between generations;

7) the number of women in the labor market is increasing;

8) growth of social consciousness of women.

The most acute problem is dysfunctional families arising for socio-economic, psychological or biological reasons. The following types of dysfunctional families are distinguished:

1) conflict – the most common (about 60%);

2) immoral - oblivion of moral standards (mainly drunkenness, drug use, fights, foul language);

3) pedagogically unsound – low level general culture and lack of psychological and pedagogical culture;

4) asocial family - an environment of disregard for generally accepted social norms and requirements.

Dysfunctional families deform the personalities of children, causing anomalies in both the psyche and behavior, for example, early alcoholism, drug addiction, prostitution, vagrancy and other forms of deviant behavior.

To support the family, the state forms a family policy, which includes a set of practical measures that provide families and children with certain social guarantees for the purpose of family functioning in the interests of society. Thus, in a number of countries, family planning is carried out, special marriage and family consultations are created to reconcile conflicting couples, the terms of the marriage contract are changed (if before the spouses had to take care of each other, now they must love each other, and failure to fulfill this condition is one of the most compelling reasons for divorce).

To solve the existing problems of the family institution, it is necessary to increase spending on social support for families, increase the efficiency of their use, and improve legislation to protect the rights of the family, women, children and youth.

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

The term “social institution”, both in sociology and in everyday language or in other humanities, has several meanings. The totality of these values ​​can be reduced to four main ones:

1) a certain group of persons called to perform matters 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 some authorized individuals to perform public impersonal functions aimed at satisfying the needs or regulating the behavior of group members;

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

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

There are five fundamental needs and five basic social institutions:

1) needs for reproduction of the family (family institution);

2) needs for security and order (state);

3) needs for obtaining means of subsistence (production);

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

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

1) economic (property, money, regulation of monetary 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 connections in society, connecting economic life with other spheres 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 and functions based mainly on the manipulation of elements of force to establish, exercise and maintain power. Political institutions (state, parties, public organizations, courts, army, parliament, police) express in a concentrated form the political interests and relations existing in a given society;

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

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

5) religious institutions organize a person’s attitude to transcendental forces, i.e., to supersensitive forces operating outside of a person’s empirical control, and 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 the opportunity for members of society to satisfy various types 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 repression in relation to undesirable actions;

3) ensure the sustainability 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 based on the fact that social institutions should be considered the most important social facts, sociologists have derived a number of basic social characteristics that social institutions must have:

1) institutions are perceived by individuals as external reality. In other words, an institution for any individual person is something external, existing separately from the reality of the thoughts, feelings or fantasies of the individual himself. In this characteristic, the institution has similarities with other entities of external reality - even trees, tables and telephones - each of which is located 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, regardless 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 previous two: the fundamental power of an institution over the individual consists precisely in the fact 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 some way, but also to impose moral censure on him. Of course, institutions vary in the degree of their moral force. These variations are usually expressed in the degree of punishment imposed on the offender. In extreme cases, the state can take his life; neighbors or co-workers may boycott him. In both cases, the punishment is accompanied by a sense of indignant justice among those members of society who are involved in it.

The development of society occurs largely through the development of social institutions. The wider the institutionalized sphere in the system of social connections, the greater opportunities society has. The diversity of social institutions and their development is perhaps the most reliable criterion of the maturity and reliability of a society. The development of social institutions is manifested in two main options: 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 quite a long time. 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 corresponding socio-economic and political conditions;

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

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

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

The most important elements of society are social institutions (Latin - establishment) - stable collections of people, groups, institutions, whose activities are aimed at performing certain social functions and are based on certain norms and standards of behavior.
The fundamental institutions of society include family, school (education), industry, church and state. This is explained by the presence of five types of essential life needs, the satisfaction of which human activity is aimed at:
1) in the reproduction of the species;
2) in safety and social order;
3) in the means of subsistence;
4) in acquiring knowledge, socializing the younger generation, training;
5) in solving spiritual problems, searching for the meaning of life.
Each of these institutions brings together large masses of people to satisfy one or another need and achieve a specific goal of a personal, group or social nature. The emergence of social institutions led to the consolidation of specific types of interaction, making them permanent and mandatory for all members of a given society.
Characteristics social institutions are:
1) an association of all persons engaged in a certain type of activity and ensuring, in the process of this activity, the satisfaction of a certain need that is significant for society;
2) consolidation by a system of social norms regulating relevant types of behavior;
3) the presence of institutions equipped with certain material resources necessary for any type of activity;
4) a clear delineation of the functions of each of the subjects of interaction, consistency of their actions, a high level of regulation and control;
5) integration into the socio-political, legal, value structure of society, which makes it possible to legitimize the activities of this institution and exercise control over it.
In addition to the main social institutions, there are also non-basic ones. Thus, if the main political institution is the state, then the minor ones are individual government bodies and officials.
A social institution makes connections between people not random or chaotic, but constant, reliable and sustainable. Institutional interaction is a well-established order of social life in the main spheres of people's lives. The more social needs are satisfied by social institutions, the more developed the society is.
As new needs and conditions arise in the course of the historical process, new types of activities and corresponding connections appear. Society is interested in giving them order and a normative character, that is, in their institutionalization.
2. Knowledge of the world. The role of knowledge in human life and society.

Cognition can be defined as a process of human activity, the main content of which is the reflection of objective reality in his consciousness, and the result is the acquisition of new knowledge about the world around him. Scientists distinguish the following types of knowledge: everyday, scientific, philosophical, artistic, social. None of these types of cognitive activity is isolated from the others; they are all closely interrelated with each other.
In the process of cognition there are always two sides: the subject and the object of cognition. The subject of cognition in the narrow sense usually means a cognizing person, endowed with will and consciousness; in the broad sense, the entire society. The object of knowledge in the narrow sense is the cognizable object, and in the broad sense the entire surrounding world within the boundaries with which individuals and society as a whole interact with it. The object of knowledge can be the person himself: almost every person is capable of making himself an object of knowledge. In such cases they say that self-knowledge takes place. It represents both self-knowledge and the formation of a certain attitude towards oneself: towards one’s qualities, states, capabilities, i.e. self-esteem. The process of a subject analyzing his consciousness and his attitude to life is called reflection. This is not just the subject’s knowledge or understanding of himself, but also finding out how other members of society listen to and understand the “reflector,” his personal characteristics, emotional reactions and cognitive (i.e., related to cognition) representations.
The result of the cognition process is human knowledge. Knowledge is information about the world around us, accumulated during the life of mankind. The forms of knowledge are depending on:

1) expressions of public consciousness - mythology, religion, science, morality;
2) methods of consolidation - conceptual, symbolic, artistic and figurative;
3) degrees of scientificity - scientific (generalized systematized knowledge operating with laws, corresponding to the existing scientific picture of the world), non-scientific (scattered, unsystematic knowledge that is not formalized and not described by laws and is in conflict with the existing scientific picture of the world), pre-scientific
(base scientific knowledge), anti-scientific (utopian, deliberately distorting ideas about reality).
The role of knowledge in human life is best reflected by the aphorism of the famous English thinker and political figure F. Bacon (1581-1626): “Knowledge is power,” that is, in all types of activities a person needs knowledge about the world around him.
3. Indicate which of the list below, in your opinion, characterizes democracy:

Freedom of expression; +

Freedom of thought and freedom of choice; +

Equality of people before the law; +

Fair, good relationship between people;

Participation in management, in the exercise of power of the entire people; +

Lack of bureaucracy;

Publicity. +

Justify your choice. What other significant manifestations of democracy could you point to?

Since democracy is understood as a political and legal regime based on the recognition of the people as the source and subject of power, it is obvious that from the proposed list democracy is characterized by: freedom of expression, freedom of thought and freedom of choice. These freedoms relate to fundamental human rights and freedoms; without their recognition, guarantee and protection by the state, the existence of a political regime based on the recognition of the will of the people as the source of power and the implementation of this will is impossible. Participation in management, in the exercise of power of the entire people - main feature democracy. The power of the people is based on the country's constitution and laws. With their help, all conflicts and contradictions are resolved, regardless of who appeared before the court. Thus, equality of all before the law is an integral property of a democratic regime. Glasnost, i.e. maximum openness in the activities of government and public organizations, is necessary for the functioning of power based on the will of the people.
Other significant manifestations of democracy include:
1) making the most important government decisions based on the majority principle;
2) the right of the minority to oppose, with sub- | disagreement with the decisions of the majority;
3) political pluralism;
4) a system of separation of powers, in which the various branches of government are sufficiently independent and balance each other, and also prevent the establishment of a dictatorship;
5) election of the main state bodies to the whip on the basis of universal, direct, equal suffrage by secret ballot;
6) a developed system of local government bodies that are closest to the people and competent in solving local problems.

One of the factors characterizing society as a whole is the totality of social institutions. Their location seems to be on the surface, which makes them particularly suitable objects for observation and control.

In turn, a complex organized system with its own norms and rules is a social institution. Its signs are different, but classified, and it is they that are to be considered in this article.

The concept of a social institution

A social institution is one of the forms of organization. This concept was first used. According to the scientist, the whole variety of social institutions creates the so-called framework of society. The division into forms, Spencer said, is made under the influence of the differentiation of society. He divided the whole society into three main institutions, including:

• reproductive;
• distribution;
• regulating.

Opinion of E. Durkheim

E. Durkheim was convinced that a person as an individual can realize himself only with the help of social institutions. They are also called upon to establish responsibility between interinstitutional forms and the needs of society.

Karl Marx

The author of the famous "Capital" assessed social institutions from the point of view of production relations. In his opinion, a social institution, the signs of which are present both in the division of labor and in the phenomenon of private property, was formed precisely under their influence.

Terminology

The term "social institution" comes from the Latin word "institution", which means "organization" or "order". In principle, all the features of a social institution are reduced to this definition.

The definition includes the form of consolidation and the form of implementation of specialized activities. The purpose of social institutions is to ensure the stability of the functioning of communications within society.

This is also acceptable short definition term: an organized and coordinated form of social relations, aimed at meeting the needs that are significant to society.

It is easy to notice that all of the definitions provided (including the above-mentioned opinions of scientists) are based on “three pillars”:

• society;
• organization;
• needs.

But these are not yet full-fledged features of a social institution; rather, they are supporting points that should be taken into account.

Conditions for institutionalization

The process of institutionalization - a social institution. This occurs under the following conditions:

• social need as a factor that will be satisfied by the future institution;
• social connections, that is, the interaction of people and communities, as a result of which social institutions are formed;
• expedient and rules;
• material and organizational, labor and financial resources required.

Stages of institutionalization

The process of establishing a social institution goes through several stages:

• the emergence and awareness of the need for an institute;
• development of norms of social behavior within the framework of the future institution;
• creating your own symbols, that is, a system of signs that will indicate the social institution being created;
• formation, development and definition of a system of roles and statuses;
• creation of the material basis of the institute;
• integration of the institute into the existing social system.

Structural characteristics of a social institution

The features of the concept of “social institution” characterize it in modern society.

Structural features include:

• Scope of activity, as well as social relations.
• Institutions that have specific powers to organize people's activities and perform various roles and functions. For example: public, organizational and performing control and management functions.
• Those specific rules and norms that are designed to regulate the behavior of people in a particular social institution.
• Material means to achieve the goals of the institute.
• Ideology, goals and objectives.

Types of social institutions

The classification that systematizes social institutions (the table below) divides this concept into four separate types. Each of them includes at least four more specific institutions.

What social institutions exist? The table shows their types and examples.

Spiritual social institutions in some sources are called cultural institutions, and the family sphere, in turn, is sometimes called stratification and kinship.

General characteristics of a social institution

The general, and at the same time the main, features of a social institution are as follows:

• a circle of subjects who, in the course of their activities, enter into relationships;
• the sustainable nature of these relationships;
• a specific (and this means, to one degree or another formalized) organization;
• behavioral norms and rules;
• functions that ensure the integration of the institution into the social system.

It should be understood that these signs are informal, but logically follow from the definition and functioning of various social institutions. With the help of them, among other things, it is convenient to analyze institutionalization.

Social institution: signs using specific examples

Each specific social institution has its own characteristics - characteristics. They closely overlap with roles, for example: the main roles of the family as a social institution. That is why it is so instructive to consider examples and the corresponding signs and roles.

Family as a social institution

A classic example of a social institution is, of course, the family. As can be seen from the table above, it belongs to the fourth type of institutions, covering the same sphere. Therefore, it is the basis and ultimate goal for marriage, fatherhood and motherhood. Besides, family is what unites them.

Signs of this social institution:

• ties by marriage or consanguinity;
• general family budget;
• living together in the same living space.

The main roles boil down to the well-known saying that she is a “unit of society.” Essentially, everything is exactly like that. Families are particles from the totality of which society is formed. In addition to being a social institution, the family is also called small social group. And it is no coincidence, because from birth a person develops under its influence and experiences it throughout his life.

Education as a social institution

Education is a social subsystem. It has its own specific structure and characteristics.

Basic elements of education:

• social organizations and social communities (educational institutions and division into groups of teachers and students, etc.);
• sociocultural activity in the form of an educational process.

The characteristics of a social institution include:

1. Norms and rules - in an educational institute, examples include: thirst for knowledge, attendance, respect for teachers and classmates/classmates.
2. Symbolism, that is, cultural signs - hymns and coats of arms educational institutions, the animal symbol of some famous colleges, emblems.
3. Utilitarian cultural traits such as classrooms and offices.
4. Ideology - the principle of equality between students, mutual respect, freedom of speech and the right to vote, as well as the right to one’s own opinion.

Signs of social institutions: examples

Let's summarize the information presented here. The characteristics of a social institution include:

• a set of social roles (for example, father/mother/daughter/sister in the family institution);
• sustainable models of behavior (for example, certain models for a teacher and a student at an educational institute);
• norms (for example, codes and the Constitution of the state);
• symbolism (for example, the institution of marriage or religious community);
• basic values ​​(i.e. morals).

The social institution, the features of which were discussed in this article, is designed to guide the behavior of each individual person, directly being part of his life. At the same time, for example, an ordinary high school student belongs to at least three social institutions: family, school and state. It is interesting that, depending on each of them, he also owns the role (status) that he has and according to which he chooses his model of behavior. She, in turn, sets his characteristics in society.