Social Institutions
Social institutions comprise pillars in maintaining order and addressing universal problems. Importantly, the authorities play a fundamental role in regulating the behavior of the individuals in the society. Typical establishments, in this case, include the family, economy, government, education, and religion. Indeed, the economy determines and controls the production of goods and services. In this aspect, two philosophical mainstreams including capitalism and socialism are applied. Therefore, the government plays a role in establishing rules and decides on how to relate with other societies. Through the economic regulations, the internal and external peace is maintained. As a matter of fact, the family tenet serves the purpose of nurturing and socializing the young ones as well as passing the traditions. Consequently, individuals acquire the sense of belonging and identity. Education is used in enlightening the people to be valuable and reliable members of the society. Lastly, religion provides a guideline on the supernatural beliefs and defines what constitute the norms and rights. In addition, religious conviction is the source of social solidarity and collective conscience on how to conduct oneself in the interest of others and ultimately an endeavor to please the supernatural.
The three social institutions addressed in the video are the family, religion, and education. In the first video, the prominence is on the increasing number of Americans living alone. Traditionally, families consist of parents and children and their relatives who live close to them. Contrarily, a large number of people live solely as students, unmarried, divorced, widowed, and bachelors. In fact, the lifestyle has been intensified due to demands in education, career, and economic hardship. Additionally, it is articulated that living in an urban center with the modern technology is not a problem as people can live life alone at home but not lonely due to constant access to the internet.
Secondly, a video tells about religion enunciation where the individuals in a society can broadly be divided among the believers and non-believers. Therefore, the religious institution plays a unifying role to the people from diverse background. Although religious doctrines and beliefs seem different, their objectives are similar and aim at encouraging acceptable behavior among the people in communities. It is worth noting that people from various affiliations should uphold each other and learn from the best practices to have a united society.
Thirdly, one of the videos analyses education in depth. Particularly, the clip articulates that it is not easy to access education due to the increased demand for the limited supply. In fact, the cost of high education has escalated significantly making it unaffordable to many individuals. Specifically, the new technology is identified as a powerful tool assisting in enhancing access to global education through the online courses. To emphasize it, the cost of offering the education has reduced drastically while the outcome would be better because of the diversity of students and the active role they play in the learning process.
It is worth noting that the Elite and Pluralist models of power and politics have become influential in many societies. Under the Elite model, a few individuals control the social, economic, and political systems. Therefore, the small group uses the control to acquire political power or influence government officials and the armed forces. On the other hand, the pluralist scheme is practiced when all people or interest groups influence policy and economic decisions, hence diluting the concentration of power in a particular region. For instance, instead of the government officials having the ultimate forces, it is advisable to have farm groups, labor unions, and professional associations among others groups which would make considerable contributions in how the society is run.
To enumerate it, functionalism, conflict, and interactions are the fundamental social perspectives of the family, education, and religion. According to functionalism perspective, the society is made of interconnected parts working collectively to achieve social equilibrium. Specifically, the videos about family and education bring out this scheme considerably. Therefore, as families strive in nurturing and socializing children, education transmits social skills and knowledge to the young and makes them integral members, while religions offer the moral guidance. Contrarily, the conflict perspective views the society as a system made up of groups competing for power, resources, and influence. In the video on education, individuals are seen battling for chances to access better education. Additionally, different religious beliefs are said to be a source of conflict in societies as each group tries to demonstrate their perfection of their affiliations over the others. Finally, interactionism refers to the dynamic of individuals influenced by the interaction with others. Besides, the perspective also suggests that the social interaction shapes identity or sense of belonging. Notably, in the video on education, students learning through the online platforms acquire better skills and deeper knowledge because of the high level of communication among them. Again, the video on religions articulates that atheists could learn and apply best practices from various religions and become emulated due to their mix behaviors in the society.
As it is evident from the discussion, it is important to note that the social institutions play different roles in shaping the society. Indeed, the education, economy, family, religions, and politics, are the pillars upon which a society can be defined. In fact, the family, education, and religious beliefs are highly interconnected and take up the functionalism perspective altogether. Nevertheless, there are some indications that conflicts may exist though at some reserved levels. As an individual, the family has nurtured and influenced my socialization level while educations have empowered me through skills and career development. In addition, the religion gives the guidelines on moral conduct. Therefore, it is important for country leaders to strike a balance between the functionality of the social functions to have a stable society.