Social Institutions: Church and Religion

SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS: CHURCH AND RELIGION

What is a social institution?

Social institutions are established sets of norms and subsystems that support each society's survival. Each sector carries out certain tasks and has different responsibilities that contribute to the overall functioning and stability of a society. This helps to decrease chaos and increase structure. While societies may differ in how they establish these responsibilities, they all include the family, education, religion, and economic and political institutions.

Major Perspectives of social institutions

Marx

* Social institutions are determined by their society’s mode of production.

* Social institutions serve to maintain the power of the dominant class.

Weber

* Social institutions are interdependent but no single institution determines the rest.

* The causes and consequences of social institutions cannot be assumed in advance.

Durkheim

* Set the stage for later functionalist analyses of institutions by concluding that religion promotes social solidarity and collective conscience.

Functionalist theory

* The social institutions listed in this section (along with other social institutions) fulfill functional prerequisites and are essential.

Conflict theory

* Social institutions tend to reinforce inequalities and uphold the power of dominant groups.

* Emphasizes divisions and conflicts within social institutions.

Symbolic interactionism

* Focuses on interactions and other symbolic communications within social institutions.

The Church as a Social Institution

The church must be considered as a social institution in much the same manner as we consider the school or local government. Functions of the church include teaching, exhortation, provision for communal religious activities, welfare and recreation, personal counseling of members, and acting as one of the agencies of social control. There are three general forms of church organization: the...