Master status

Transcription

Today we're going to talk about two terms that you can find in nearly any introduction to Sociology textbook, our status and roles. Statuses are socially defined positions that people carry. For example, being a father or a mother, being a son or a daughter. Each one of these is a status that an individual holds. Each of one of these are social positions that people occupy. We don't just have one status, we have multiple statuses. An individual can have the status of being a father, but also have the status of being a son. An individual can have the status of being a mother, but also have the status of being a daughter. That's because we each have multiple statuses at any given time. At any given time, we each have dozens of statuses. We might be a father, and a husband, and an employee, a partier, a friend, and a student. At any given time, we can have all of these statuses, and many, many more. We can also divide the type of status we have into two categories: those that we work for and those that are given to us. Those statuses that we work for are called achieved statuses. While those are placed upon us or given to us are ascribed statuses. Achieved statuses are the result of some individual action. Achieved statuses are statuses that we have achieved, statuses that we have worked for. While ascribed statuses are placed upon the individual. These are statuses that are given to us, statuses that we do not have to work for. They were simply placed upon us. Being a nurse, a father, or a counselor, each of these are achieved statuses, because each of these requires effort. Each of these requires individual action. You can't simply walk into a hospital and say, "Hey, I want to become a nurse," and then become a nurse. Of course not. To become a nurse, you have to earn it. You have to go to school, study hard, pass exams, get your license, and then become a nurse. Likewise, to be a counselor. Can you simply buy a couch and open up a practice? Of course not. In order to become a counselor, you have to go to school, get your license, and earn it that status of being a counselor. While achieved statuses, we work for, ascribed statuses, we do not. For example, our gender is ascribed to us. We don't get to choose whether we'll be male or female. We aren't asked if we are born, "Hey, do you want to be a boy or a girl?" It is placed upon us. It is beyond our control. Making it an ascribed status. Likewise, our race is an ascribed status. We don't decide what our race will be. It is again placed upon us. In some cases, a wealth might also be ascribed. Not our income, because income we work for, but our wealth, especially at a young age. If we our born into a wealthy family, well then we might have a high wealth status that was given to us, that was ascribed to us. Or if we're born into poverty, well again that's another status that we don't necessarily have a say over, it was ascribed to us, especially if we're young. Now clearly, we all have multiple statuses. We all have many, many achieved statuses and many ascribed statuses. But the one status that holds special meaning for an individual's life is the master status. The one status that affects us the most is our master status. This is not necessarily in our control. Think of it this way. Consider the master status, the once status that other people focus on. When people come in contact with you, which one of your dozens of statuses do others focus on? They focus on you being a father, a son, a student, an employee, which of your one status they focus on is the master status. For example, let's say you have a son by the name of Tom, and everywhere you go, people know you as Tom's father. Go to the good store, you are Tom's father. Go to the soccer practice, you are Tom's father. Or in that case, your master status is being a father. In that case, it's an achieved status of being a father. Or let's say you're a doctor, and everywhere you go, people know you as Dr. Bob. Well in that case, your master status is being a doctor. Those two examples: the master status is achieved, something we work for. But that's not always the case. Our master status might also be ascribed. For example, let's say you're a doctor but you're female, and your co-workers and you have patients, see you as a female doctor, then we'll focus on you being a doctor. But instead of focus on you being a doctor who is female, well in that case, our master status might be being female. Again, we don't decide our self what our master status will be. Our master status might be achieved, but then might be ascribed. It is not up to us. It is bases on mostly others, what status do others emphasize, what status do other focus on. Next are roles. Roles are the rules of behavior associated with a particular status. Roles are the norms, unexpected behaviors of a particular status. Each status we have comes with it: a set of roles, a set of expectations of how we are to behave. For example, being an employee is a status, and with that status are multiple roles, with that status are multiple rules of how we should behave. As an employee, we are expected to come to work on time. We are expected to stay until the work is completed. We are expected not to leave early. Of course, there are many other roles associated with that status of being an employee. Another status that we met in before is being a parent. With that status of being a parent comes with it, many roles. With that status of being a parent comes many expected behaviors. I'm sure you cannot name several expected behaviors of being a parent. Some examples of what we expect from parents is to be loving, nurturing, providing, but also would necessary to discipline the child. Again, each status has multiple roles which can create a problem. Not only do we have multiple statuses, we have multiple roles for each status. This might create role strain. Role strain is when a single status contains conflicting roles. For example, being a parent. Of that list of four roles of being a parent, being loving, nurturing, providing, a disciplinarian, are any of those roles conflicting? Well, possibly. Imagine you have a son named Billy, and the little Billy loves to play baseball. Little Billy loves to play baseball in the house. Well, what's about to happen? Eventually something is going to break. In many kids, when they break something, when they're in trouble, they cry. It becomes a defensive mechanism. In that situation, what do you do? As a parent, it's supposed to be nurturing. Do you comfort Billy so that he doesn't cry? Or do you discipline Billy to teach him a lesson about not playing baseball in the house? It would be very difficult, very challenging to discipline Billy, which is one of your roles as a parent, or also being loving and nurturing to Billy, which are another set of roles of being a parent. Many of our statuses have roles that we can't complete all at one time. We sometimes have to choose which role will we focus on in this moment. Will we focus on being loving? Or will we focus on disciplining? Another issue that may arise is role conflict. This is when two or more statuses contain conflicting roles. Note this. Role strain is when a single status contains conflicting roles. Role conflict is when two or more statuses contain conflicting roles. For example, being a parent and being an employee. Each one of these statuses has multiple roles. Being an employee means we must be at work on time, complete our work and not leave early. But being a parent means we have to be nurturing, and therefore a child. What do we do if our son or daughter gets out to school early? Has to be picked up at noon, but we have to be on work and in fact on that day, there's a meeting that we cannot skip. Our role attached to being an employee says we have to be at work. But the role attached to that status of being a parent says, "No, you have to pick up your child." We can't do do both at the same time. We have to choose one over the other. This is role conflict. When the roles are two different statuses conflict with one another. We all experience this. I'm sure we've all experience this already, either will in the future. We've all had that situation and in which we have to be at two places at once because two different statuses of ours required two different roles, required conflicting roles. For example, have you ever been in class when you're also supposed to be at work? Or at work when you should be in class? Again, two statuses with conflicting demands. Now, we all were experience role strain and role conflict, that is a given. What important here is how we deal with role strain and role conflict. Now hopefully, we can prioritize and decide which status is more important at any given moment and obey that role. But other times it's not as easy. Other times, it's a little bit more complicated, which is one of the challenges of life. Now, with these, I hope you understand what status and roles are, as well as the sub-components such as achieved status, ascribed status, master status, role strain and role conflict.