Chapter 4 Social Structure

Everyday we wake up in the morning brush our teeth, and get ready for wherever we have to go whether it be school, work, anywhere. We do things day by day in a routine because that is what we have learned and grew up knowing.  Those are just the social norms we know and continue to live by.  The world works in an orderly fashion for the most part and we live and are surrounded by "Social Structures".  Basically meaning we do things almost by default. An example chapter 4 used was how we knew what to do on the first day of class because we are familiar with the social structure of the classroom which is true. Everyday I walk into class take out my book and pen and wait for class to begin its just something I am accustomed to.

If someone were to do something that was not apart of the social norms and decided to come into class and start singing loudly or walk into class backwards while moonwalking that would be looked at as abnormal. I would personally think there was something wrong with the person if they would walk into class moonwalking. One way that society keeps everything together is by using SOCIAL CONTROL .  Social Control is a way to input fear into people because if they don't do whats expected or what is normal they they will get fear of being shunned from society as Peter Berger mentioned in "The Meaning of Social Control" he basically spoke about different ways of social control as well as social structure and social institutions. An example I can think of for social control would be a student not cheating on a test with fear they would caught by their teacher and be looked down upon a teacher doesn't have to tell you dont cheat on this test or I will punish you for it, you already know in your mind there will be a negative outcome from cheating. Another form of social control is through violence. For Example a parent may reprimand their child for doing something bad and smack them for it, that it a form of violence to keep social structures normal and balanced.