Formal Institutions

(noun)

They are those that are created with the intention of governing human behavior.

Related Terms

Examples of Formal Institutions in the following topics:

  • Social Institutions

    • Institutions can be either formal or informal.
    • Formal institutions are those that are created with the intention of governing human behavior.
    • However, formal institutions do not have to have the force of the law at their disposal.
    • The United States Congress, housed in the Capitol Building, is one example of a formal institution.
    • Discuss how the development of social institutions, both formal and informal, acts a guide for the rules and expectation of people within society

  • Social Control

    • formal social control refers to components of society that are designed for the resocialization of individuals who break formal rules; examples would include prisons and mental health institutions
    • Some researchers have outlined some of the motivations underlying the formal social control system.
    • rehabilitation - some argue that formal social controls should work to rehabilitate criminals, eventually turning them into productive members of society
    • societal protection - finally, some argue that the motivation for formal social controls is nothing more than removing the deviant members of society from the non-deviant members

  • Religious Denominations

    • In Christianity, non-denominational institutions or churches are those not formally aligned with an established denomination or those that remain otherwise officially autonomous.
    • Non-denominational congregations may establish a functional denomination via mutual recognition by other congregations with commonly held doctrine, policy, and worship—without formalizing external direction or oversight in such matters.
    • Some non-denominational churches explicitly reject the idea of a formalized denominational structure as a matter of principle, holding that each congregation is better off being autonomous.
    • At a broader level, the term "interfaith dialogue" refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and spiritual or humanistic beliefs—at both an individual and institutional level.

  • Resocialization and Total Institutions

    • A total institution is a place of work and residence where a great number of similarly situated people, cut off from the wider community for a considerable time, lead an enclosed, formally administered life together.
    • Within a total institution, the basic needs of a entire bloc of people are under bureaucratic control.
    • Institutions established to care for harmless or incapable people, including orphanages, poor houses and nursing homes
    • First, the staff of the institution tries to erode the residents' identities and independence.
    • Review Goffman's five types of social institutions and their functions, including their processes of resocialization

  • The Hidden Curriculum

    • For example, students may adopt a strategy of selective negligence. within the first month of classes, many students discover they cannot conceivably complete all the work assigned them; consequently, they must selectively neglect portions of the formal schoolwork.
    • In 1970, Benson Snyder, a dean at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, published a book called The Hidden Curriculum.
    • According to Snyder, the hidden curriculum goes beyond the explicit demands of the formal curriculum.
    • Within the first month of classes, many students discover they cannot conceivably complete all the work assigned them; consequently, they must selectively neglect portions of the formal schoolwork.
    • The professors, too, are distracted and pressured, whether by the need to maintain institutional prestige or by the sheer frenzy of activity interrupting their creative cycles.

  • Bureaucracies and Formal Groups

    • A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials who implements the rules, laws, and functions of their institution.
    • A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a government or organization who implements the rules, laws, and functions of their institution.
    • A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can comprise the administration of any organization of any size, though the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government.
    • Red tape is excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant or bureaucratic and hinders or prevents action or decision-making.
    • As opposed to bureaucrats carrying out "desk jobs," street-level bureaucracy is the subset of a public agency or government institution containing the individuals who carry out and enforce the actions required by laws and public policies.

  • Formal Means of Control

    • Formal means of social control are generally state-determined, through the creation of laws and their enforcement.
    • By the "monopoly on violence," Weber means the state is the only institution within a society who can legitimately exercise violence on society's members.
    • Our understanding of formal control is enhanced by social theorist Max Weber's work on the state's use of violence.
    • By this, Weber means that the state is the only institution within a society who can legitimately exercise violence on society's members.
    • Explain the relationship between formal means of social control and state authority

  • The Conflict Perspective on Deviance

    • Foucault theorized that institutions control people through the use of discipline.
    • Deviance, in a sociological context, describes actions or behaviors that violate social norms, including formally-enacted rules, as well as informal violations of social norms.
    • In conflict theory, deviant behaviors are actions that do not comply with social institutions.
    • He also theorized that institutions control people through the use of discipline.
    • Institutions of knowledge, norms, and values, are in place to categorize and control humans.

  • Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft

    • Familial ties represent the purest form of Gemeinschaft, although religious institutions are also a classic example of this type of group classification.
    • Familial ties represent the purest form of gemeinschaft, although religious institutions are also a classic example of this type of relationship.
    • Characteristics of these groups include slight specialization and division of labor, strong personal relationships, and relatively simple social institutions.
    • The specialization of professional roles holds them together, and often formal authority is necessary to maintain structures.
    • Characteristics of these groups include highly calculated divisions of labor, impersonal secondary relationships, and strong social institutions.

  • Homeschooling

    • Homeschooling is the education of children at home, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school.
    • "Homeschooling Achievement," a study conducted by National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), a homeschooling advocacy group, supported the academic integrity of homeschooling.
    • They concluded that, "where possible, children should be withheld from formal schooling until at least ages eight to ten. "
    • Homeschooling is the education of children at home, rather than in the formal settings of public or private school.
    • "Homeschooling Achievement," a study conducted by National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), an advocacy group, revealed the academic integrity of homeschooling.