Basic Concepts in Sociology and Cultural Anthropology

Running head: SOCIOLOGY AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY CONCEPTS 1
BASIC CONCEPTS IN SOCIOLOGY AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Name
Institution

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SOCIOLOGY AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY CONCEPTS
Introduction
The study of social sciences entails studying human being which includes their behavior ,
the society in which they live and their culture over a period of time. Anthropology and
sociology fall into the category of social sciences. Cultural Anthropology is one of the five
disciplines of Anthropology (Cicourel, 2017). It involves the study of human cultures, what they
believe their practices, values, ideas and other aspects of social and cognitive organization
(Weber, 2017). It normally identifies the similarities and differences between different groups of
people. On the other hand Sociology is normally concerned in how the human society operates,
where they come from, how they are organized in the context of formal setup like schools and
churches or hospitals.
Social institutions play a vital role in shaping the behavior of people in the society. This
is due to the fact at least every person belongs to at least one social institution such as a church.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the basic concepts as used in Sociology and Cultural
Anthropology (Rapport, 2014). In this paper, social institutions and the functions that they play
in the society and the social structures will be discussed. Culture and its element is also going to
be discussed in details.
Definition of social institutions
A social institution is a term used in sociology to refer to a set of social norms that are
compound and organized so as to preserve the fundamental values that guides the society. The
rise and survival of institutions is attributed to the necessity that may exist in the family (Powell
& Oberg, 2017). Despite the universal agreement of the origin of institution by sociologists,
there are varied suggestions given to the specific driving factors. Institutions are categorized into
five primary institutions. Primary institutions includes: family, economics, religion, education
and the state. These primary institutions are universal and are found in every culture in the world.
They form part of humanity. Each primary institution gives rise to several secondary institutions.
The family institution gives rise to monogamy, polygamy, divorce and marriage while
economics gives rise to banking, credit, trading and property. The institution of religion gives
rise to church, temple, mosque, totem and taboo. From education, we get university, school and
college. The institution of state gives rise to party system, interest groups and democracy.

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SOCIOLOGY AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY CONCEPTS
Of the five institutions, the state has power and authority to control the other four
institutions. It accomplishes it role through enactment of laws and regulations.
Something notable about institution is that they have a perpetual existence. Norms
governing the institution are changed as per the needs of the time.
Functions of institutions
There are two kinds of social institution functions. The first function of social institution
is the primary purpose for which it was formed. This primary purpose is known as manifest
functions. There is other kind of function that an organization fulfills which is not its primary
reason for existence. These functions are known as latent functions (Wilson, 2017). Latent
functions are as a result of the manifest functions. Latent functions can liken to hide obtained
from a cow. When a butcher slaughters a cow, his main purpose is to get meat. In the process of
slaughtering a cow to get meat, hide is also obtained and becomes a source of revenue.
The primary function of education is to develop skills for labor market, improve literacy
level of the society, and promote critical thinking while its latent functions include socialization
among students, learning different cultures, keep the children busy among other things.
Religion’s main function is to worship God and inculcate religious beliefs to members whereas it
latent function is to develop close association among members. Economics’ main function is
seen to be production and distribution of goods while at the same time it promotes urbanization
and development of social classes.
Inter- relations of institutions
The success of any social institution is greatly influenced by the kind of relationship
developed with other institutions. Just as the proverb say that no man is an island, it can also be
said that no institution is an island and therefore cannot operate by itself (Thompson, 2017).
Action by one institution can either influence the activities of the other positively or negatively.
A mutual interaction and relation is therefore necessary to all these social institutions.
Religion focuses at teaching people matters related to their faith. It therefore requires the
help of educational institution to improve the literacy of the people so that they understand faith.
Economics requires skilled workforce to work in the production sector (Fortes, 2018). These