Social Institutions and Their Importance

Institutions are called social when they deal with the social issues and the ways the society functions. Actually, such establishments form the foundation of the society as without them it becomes hard or even close to impossible to achieve success in social interaction, politics, economics, and other spheres. If the society is devoid of specific rules and regulations, people are more prone to be involved in misconduct and criminal behavior. Therefore, social institutions serve a regulatory role in the society to ensure that people follow norms needed for proper functioning and interaction.

Major Social Institutions

Politics

Politics is one of the fundamental social institutions and it entails the delegation of power to a specific group of people chosen by citizens. Therefore, selecting these representatives and voting for them is an ultimate responsibility of every citizen as it signifies that they put trust in these people. As a rule, this political body is the government, whose obligations and responsibilities are to draft and adopt laws, regulate the law enforcement, and manage the economy.

One of the negative effects people in power might be prone to is corruption. Actually, it can have a deteriorating impact on the society and even prevent it from growth and development.

Economy

This social institution is involved into the production and distribution of goods and services to the consumers and the subsequent monitoring of consumption rates. Products and services are significant for a prosperous functioning of the society on the whole and its each and every member in particular. Over the last few years, the economy has been strikingly developing and has thus introduced such new trends as workplace diversity, self-employment, globalization in the workplace, etc.

Education

Education regulates the overall development of the society and its members in particular. Education is what makes a person intelligent and competitive among others. With enough opportunities to broaden one’s outlook, a person can be a more successful professional and citizen who uses the acquired knowledge to make the society better.

Family

Family plays a supporting role in each individual’s life. The traditional perception of a family is a mother, father, and a child. However, a family is generally a unity of people who relate to each other by blood, marriage or adoption.

Marriage

Marriage was introduced to help a person regulate his/ her life in an ecological and healthy way. Marriage is the pre-step of the family as a social institution. Actually, it is just a process of legal regulation of the bond between two people via a special ceremony.

Religion

Religion helps establish a relationship between a person and God. Actually, it greatly differs from faith, which is merely a set of beliefs without any regulations. On the contrary, one of the instruments of religion is to control and regulate the society and interaction within it. It helps to introduce some norms, ethical and moral standards, and thus it can also prevent some illegal and immoral behavior among people.

The provided above social institutions play their important roles in contributing to the well-being of each individual separately and the society on the whole.