The word institution conjures many different images: a stark building
surrounded by a high metal fence; a town hall; a church; the building that houses the college
president’s office. To sociologists, however, an institution isn’t a building; an institution is
what goes on inside the building. An institution is a set of norms
surrounding the carrying out of a function necessary for the survival of a
society.
People in every society must fulfill certain functions in order to survive. They must
set up processes for rearing and educating children. They must develop a system for maintaining
order and managing relations with other societies. They must agree on methods for producing and
exchanging goods and services. Societies differ in how they carry out these functions, but they
all must somehow accomplish the same tasks in order to survive as a social unit. Institutions
may seem abstract, but they are part of a world that is very real.
payment page
