institution |
Working Definition:
An organized group established through interrelated contracts (agreed upon structures of roles & norms) that produces customs, practices, relationships, or behavioral patterns of value for the identity of the group and suitable to the fulfillment of their needs or desires.
Disciplinary Definitions:
"(1) An enduring, complex, integrated, organized behavior pattern through which social control is exerted and by means of which the fundamental social desires or needs are met. (2) An organizaiton of a public, or semipublic, character involving a directive body, and usually a building or physical establishment of some sort, designated to serve some socially recognized and authorized end." Fairchild, H. P. (1977). Dictionary of Sociology. Totowa, N.J.: Littlefield, Adams, & Co.
"The term is widely used to describe social practices that are regularly and continuously repeated, are sanctioned and maintained by social norms, and have a major significance in the social structure. Abercrombie, N., Hill, S., & Turner, B. S. (1986). The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Penguin Books.
Sociology: An interrelated system of social roles and norms organized about the satisfaction of an important social need or desire. The social roles and norms comprising the social institution define proper and expected behavior oriented to the fulfillment of the particular social need, such as the provision of food and other material goods, or desires such as the provision of art and entertainment. (Many groups are involved in a social institution.) Theodorson and Theodorson, A Modern Dictionary of Sociology
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last revised:
June 13, 2007
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