Social institutions perform functions. Social institutions

The concepts of "social institution" and "social role" belong to the central sociological categories, allowing you to introduce new angles into the consideration and analysis of social life. They draw our attention primarily to normativity and rituals in social life, to social behavior organized according to certain rules and following established patterns.

Social institution (from lat. institutum - device, establishment) - sustainable forms of organization and regulation of public life; a stable set of rules, norms, and attitudes that regulate various spheres of human activity and organize them into a system of social roles and statuses.

Events, actions or things that seem to have nothing in common with each other, such as a book, a wedding, an auction, a meeting of parliament or the celebration of Christmas, at the same time have an essential similarity: they are all forms of institutional life, that is, all organized in accordance with certain rules, norms, roles, although the goals that are achieved in this case may be different.

E. Durkheim figuratively defined social institutions as "reproduction factories" social relations and connections. The German sociologist A. Gehlen interprets the institution as a regulatory institution that directs people's actions in a certain direction, just as instincts guide the behavior of animals.

According to T. Parsons, society appears as a system of social relations and social institutions, moreover, institutions act as "nodes", "bundles" of social relations. Institutional aspect of social action- such an area in which the operating in social systems ah normative expectations, rooted in culture and determining what should be done by people in various statuses and roles.

Thus, a social institution is a space in which an individual is accustomed to consistent behavior, living by the rules. Within the framework of a social institution, the behavior of each member of society becomes quite predictable in terms of its orientations and forms of manifestation. Even in the case of violations or significant variations in role behavior, the main value of the institution remains precisely the normative framework. As P. Berger noted, institutions encourage people to follow the beaten paths that society considers desirable. The trick will succeed because the individual is convinced that these paths are the only possible ones.

The institutional analysis of social life is the study of the most repetitive and most stable patterns of behavior, habits, and traditions that are passed down from generation to generation. Accordingly, non-institutionalized or non-institutional forms of social behavior are characterized by randomness, spontaneity, and less controllability.

The process of the formation of a social institution, the institutionalization of norms, rules, statuses and roles, which makes it possible to satisfy a particular social need, is called "institutionalization".

Well-known American sociologists P. Berger and T. Luckman singled out the psychological, social, and cultural sources of institutionalization.

Psychological ability human addictive memorization precedes any institutionalization. Thanks to this ability, people narrow the field of choice: out of hundreds possible ways only a few actions are fixed, which become a model for reproduction, thereby ensuring the focus and specialization of activities, saving decision-making efforts, freeing up time for careful thinking and innovation.

Further, institutionalization takes place wherever there is mutual typing of habitual actions on the part of actors, i.e. the emergence of a specific institution means that actions of type X must be performed by agents of type X (for example, the institution of the court establishes that heads will be cut off in a specific way under certain conditions and that certain types of individuals will be engaged in this, namely executioners or members of an impure caste, or those who the oracle will point to). The use of typifications is in the ability to predict the actions of another, which relieves the tension of uncertainty, saving time and energy both for other actions and in a psychological sense. The stabilization of individual actions and relationships will create the possibility of a division of labor, opening the way for innovations that require a higher level of attention. The latter lead to new habits and typifications. This is how the roots of the developing institutional order emerge.

Institute assumes historicity, i.e. the corresponding typings are created in the course of a common history, they cannot arise instantly. The most important moment in the formation of an institution - the opportunity to pass on habitual actions to the next generation. As long as nascent institutions are still created and maintained only through the interaction of specific individuals, the possibility of changing their actions always remains: these and only these people are responsible for constructing this world, and they are able to change or cancel it.

Everything changes in the process of transferring one's experience to a new generation. The objectivity of the institutional world is strengthened, that is, the perception of these institutions as external and coercive, not only by children, but also by parents. The formula "we do it again" is replaced by the formula "this is how it's done". The world becomes stable in consciousness, becomes much more real and cannot be easily changed. It is at this point that it becomes possible to speak of the social world as a given reality opposed to the individual, like the natural world. It has a history which precedes the birth of the individual and is beyond the reach of his memory. It will continue to exist even after his death. An individual biography is understood as an episode placed in the objective history of a society. Institutions exist, they resist attempts to change or circumvent them. Their objective reality does not become less because the individual can

ns understand their purpose or mode of action. A paradox arises: a person creates a world, which he later perceives as something different from a human product.

Development of special mechanisms social control turns out to be necessary in the process of passing on the world to new generations: it is more likely that someone will deviate from the programs set for him by others than from the programs he himself helped to create. Children (however, like adults) must "learn to behave" and, having learned, "adhere to the existing rules."

With the advent of a new generation, there is a need for legitimation social world, i.e. in the ways of its "explanation" and "justification". Children cannot comprehend this world based on memories of the circumstances under which this world was created. There is a need to interpret this meaning, to give the meaning of history and biography. So, the dominance of a man is explained and justified either physiologically (“he is stronger and therefore can provide his family with resources”), or mythologically (“God created a man first, and only then a woman from his rib”).

The developing institutional order develops a canopy of such explanations and justifications that the new generation is introduced to in the process of socialization. Thus, the analysis of people's knowledge of institutions turns out to be an essential part of the analysis of the institutional order. It could be knowing how to theoretical level in the form of a collection of maxims, teachings, sayings, beliefs, myths, and in the form of complex theoretical systems. It does not really matter whether it corresponds to reality or is illusory. More significant is the agreement it brings to the group. The significance of knowledge for the institutional order causes the need for special institutions involved in the development of legitimations, therefore, for specialist ideologists (priests, teachers, historians, philosophers, scientists).

The fundamental point of the institutionalization process is giving the institution an official character, its structuring, technical and material organization: legal texts, premises, furniture, cars, emblems, forms, personnel, administrative hierarchy, etc. Thus, the institute is endowed with the necessary material, financial, labor, organizational resources so that it can actually fulfill its mission. Technical and material elements give the institute a tangible reality, demonstrate it, make it visible, declare it to everyone. Officiality, as a declaration to everyone, essentially means that everyone is taken as a witness, called to control, invited to communicate, thereby making an application for stability, solidity of the organization, its independence from a particular case.

Thus, the process of institutionalization, i.e. the formation of a social institution, involves several successive stages:

• 1) the emergence of a need, the satisfaction of which requires joint organized actions;
• 2) the formation of common ideas;
• 3) the emergence of social norms and rules in the course of spontaneous social interaction carried out by trial and error;
• 4) the emergence of procedures related to rules and regulations;
• 5) institutionalization of norms and rules, procedures, i.e. their adoption, practical application;
• 6) the establishment of a system of sanctions to maintain norms and rules, the differentiation of their application in individual cases;
• 7) material and symbolic design of the emerging institutional structure.

The process of institutionalization can be considered complete if all of the above steps have been completed. If the rules of social interaction in any area of ​​activity have not been worked out, are subject to change (for example, the rules for holding elections to local authorities in a number of regions of Russia could change already during the election campaign), or do not receive proper social approval, in these cases they say, that these social ties have an incomplete institutional status, that this institution has not fully developed or is even in the process of dying out.

We live in a highly institutionalized society. Any sphere of human activity, be it the economy, art or sports, is organized according to certain rules, the observance of which is more or less tightly controlled. Diversity of Institutions Corresponds to Diversity human needs, such as, for example, the need for the production of products and services; the need for the distribution of benefits and privileges; the need for security, protection of life and well-being; the need for social control over the behavior of members of society; the need for communication, etc. Accordingly, the main institutions include: economic (the institution of the division of labor, the institution of property, the institution of taxation, etc.); political (state, parties, army, etc.); institutions of kinship, marriage and family; education, mass communications, science, sports, etc.

Thus, the central purpose of such institutional complexes that provide economic functions in society, such as contract and property, is the regulation of exchange relations, as well as the rights related to the exchange of goods, including money.

If property is the central economic institution, then in politics the central place is occupied by the institution state power designed to ensure the fulfillment of obligations in the interests of achieving collective goals. Power is associated with the institutionalization of leadership (the institution of the monarchy, the institution of the presidency, etc.). The institutionalization of power means that the latter moves from ruling persons to institutional forms: if earlier the rulers exercised power as their own prerogative, then with the development of the institution of power they appear as agents of the highest power. From the point of view of the governed, the value of the institutionalization of power is in limiting arbitrariness, subordinating power to the idea of ​​law; from the point of view of the ruling groups, institutionalization provides stability and continuity to their advantage.

The institution of the family, historically emerging as a means of limiting the total competition of men and women for each other, provides a number of important human burials. To consider the family as a social institution means, having singled out its main functions (for example, regulation of sexual behavior, reproduction, socialization, attention and protection), to show how, in order to perform these functions, the family union is formalized into a system of rules and norms of role behavior. The institution of the family is accompanied by the institution of marriage, which involves documenting sexual and economic rights and obligations.

Most religious communities are also organized into institutions, namely, they function as a network of relatively stable roles, statuses, groups, and values. Religious institutions vary in size, doctrine, membership, origin, connection with the rest of society; accordingly, the church, sects, and cults are singled out as forms of religious institutions.

Functions of social institutions. If considered in the general view activity of any social institution, then we can assume that its main function is to satisfy the social need for which it was created and exists. These expected and necessary functions are called in sociology explicit functions. They are written down and declared in codes and charters, constitutions and programs, fixed in the system of statuses and roles. Since the explicit functions are always announced and in every society this is accompanied by a fairly strict tradition or procedure (for example, the oath of the president upon taking office; mandatory annual meetings of shareholders; regular elections of the president of the Academy of Sciences; adoption of special sets of laws: on education, health, prosecutors, social provision, etc.), they turn out to be more formalized and controlled by society. When an institution fails to fulfill its explicit functions, it is in danger of disorganization and change: its explicit functions can be transferred or appropriated by other institutions.

Along with the direct results of the actions of social institutions, there may be other results that are not planned in advance. The latter are called in sociology latent functions. Such results can be of great importance for society.

The existence of the latent functions of institutions was most conspicuously shown by T. Veblen, who wrote that it would be naive to say that people eat black caviar because they want to satisfy their hunger and buy a luxurious Cadillac because they want to buy a good car. Obviously, these things are not acquired for the sake of satisfying obvious urgent needs. T. Veblen concludes that the production of consumer goods can perform a hidden, latent function, for example, to satisfy the needs of certain social groups and individuals in raising their own prestige.

Often one can observe, at first glance, an incomprehensible phenomenon when some kind of social institution continues to exist, although it not only does not fulfill its functions, but even prevents their implementation. Obviously, in this case, there are hidden functions that make it possible to satisfy the undeclared needs of certain social groups. Examples might be trade organizations without buyers; sports clubs that do not demonstrate high sports achievements; scientific publications that do not enjoy the reputation of a quality publication in the scientific community, etc. By studying the latent functions of institutions, one can present a picture of social life in a more voluminous way.

Interaction and development of social institutions. The more complex the society, the more developed the system of institutions it has. The history of the evolution of institutions follows the following pattern: from the institutions of traditional society, based on the rules of behavior and family ties prescribed by ritual and custom, to modern institutions based on achievement values ​​(competence, independence, personal responsibility, rationality), relatively independent of moral prescriptions. In general, the general trend is institutional segmentation, i.e., the multiplication of their number and complexity, which is based on the division of labor, the specialization of activities, which, in turn, causes the subsequent differentiation of institutions. At the same time, in modern society there are so-called total institutions, that is, organizations covering the full daily cycle of their charges (for example, the army, the penitentiary system, clinical hospitals, etc.) that have a significant impact on their psyche and behavior.

One of the consequences of institutional segmentation can be called specialization, reaching such a depth that special role knowledge becomes understandable only to the initiated. The result may be increased social disunity and even social conflicts between so-called professionals and non-professionals due to the latter's fear of being manipulated.

A serious problem of modern society is the contradiction between the structural components of complex social institutions. For example, the executive structures of the state strive for the professionalization of their activities, which inevitably entails their certain closeness and inaccessibility for persons who do not have special education in the field of government controlled. At the same time, the representative structures of the state are called upon to provide an opportunity to engage in state activities representatives of the most diverse groups society without taking into account their special training in public administration. As a result, conditions are created for an inevitable conflict between the bills of deputies and the possibility of their implementation by the executive power structures.

The problem of interaction between social institutions also arises if the system of norms inherent in one institution begins to spread to other areas of social life. For example, in medieval Europe the church dominated not only in the spiritual life, but also in the economy, politics, family, or in the so-called totalitarian political systems, the state tried to play a similar role. The consequence of this may be the disorganization of public life, the growing social tension, the destruction, the loss of any of the institutions. For example, scientific ethos requires members of the scientific community to be organized skeptics, intellectually independent, free and open to distribute new information, the formation of a scientist's reputation depending on his scientific achievements, and not on his administrative status. Obviously, if the state seeks to turn science into a branch of the national economy, centrally controlled and serving the interests of the state itself, then the principles of behavior in the scientific community must inevitably change, i.e. the institute of science will begin to regenerate.

Some problems may be caused by different rates of change in social institutions. Examples are a feudal society with a modern army, or the coexistence in one society of supporters of the theory of relativity and astrology, traditional religion and scientific worldview. As a result, difficulties arise in the general legitimization of both the institutional order as a whole and specific social institutions.

Changes in social institutions can be caused internal and external reasons. The former, as a rule, are associated with the inefficiency of existing institutions, with a possible contradiction between existing institutions and social motivations various social groups; the second - with a change in cultural paradigms, a change in cultural orientation in the development of society. In the latter case, one can speak of transitional societies experiencing a systemic crisis, when their structure and organization change, and social needs change. Accordingly, the structure of social institutions is changing, many of them are endowed with previously uncharacteristic functions. Contemporary Russian society gives many examples of such processes of the loss of former institutions (for example, the CPSU or Goskomplan), the emergence of new social institutions that did not exist in the Soviet system (for example, the institution of private property), a serious change in the functions of institutions that continue their work. All this determines the instability of the institutional structure of society.

Thus, social institutions perform contradictory functions on the scale of society: on the one hand, they represent "social knots" thanks to which society is "connected", the division of labor is streamlined in it, social mobility organized social transmission of experience to new generations; on the other hand, the emergence of ever new institutions, the complication of institutional life means segmentation, fragmentation of society, which can lead to alienation and mutual misunderstanding between participants in social life. At the same time, the growing need for cultural and social integration of the modern post-industrial society can only be satisfied by institutional means. This function is associated with the activity of funds mass media; with the revival and cultivation of national, city, state holidays; with the advent of special professions focused on negotiating, reconciling interests between different people and social groups.

People tend to live in groups that exist for a long time. However, despite the advantages of collective life, it does not in itself ensure the automatic preservation of societies. For the preservation and reproduction of society as an integral system, it is necessary to find and use certain forces and resources. This aspect of the existence of societies is studied in the context of social needs or social functions.

J. Lenski singled out six basic conditions for the existence of society:

Communication between its members;
- production of goods and services;
- distribution;
- protection of members of society;
- replacement of retiring members of the society;
- control of their behavior.

The elements of social organization that regulate the use of society's resources and direct the joint efforts of people to meet social needs are social institutions (economic, political, legal, etc.).

social institution(lat. institutum - establishment, device) - historically established, relatively stable form of organization and regulation public relations ensuring the realization of the needs of society as a whole. By creating social institutions and participating in their activities, people affirm and consolidate the relevant social norms. From the content side, social institutions are a set of standards of behavior in certain situations. Thanks to social institutions, the stability of the forms of behavior of people in society is maintained.

Any social institution includes:

The system of roles and statuses;
- rules governing human behavior;
- a group of individuals undertaking organized social action;
- material resources (buildings, equipment, etc.).

Institutions arise spontaneously. institutionalization is the ordering, standardization and formalization of people's activities in the relevant sphere of social relations. Although this process may be perceived by people, its essence is determined by objective social conditions. A person can only correct it competently management activities based on scientific understanding of this process.

The variety of social institutions is determined by the differentiation of species social activities. Therefore, social institutions are divided into economic(banks, stock exchanges, corporations, consumer and service enterprises), political(state with its central and local authorities, parties, public organizations, funds, etc.), institutes of education and culture(school, family, theater) and social in the narrow sense(institutions of social security and guardianship, various amateur organizations).

The nature of the organization varies formal(based on strict prescriptions and bureaucratic in spirit) and informal social institutions (setting their own rules and exercising social control over their implementation through public opinion, tradition or custom).

Functions of social institutions:

- meeting the needs of society: organization of communication between people, production and distribution of material goods, setting and achieving common goals, etc.;

- regulation of the behavior of social subjects with the help of social norms and rules, bringing people's actions into line with more or less predictable patterns of social roles;

- stabilization of social relations, consolidation and maintenance of sustainable social ties and relationships;

- social integration, rallying individuals and groups throughout society.

The conditions for the successful functioning of institutions are:

Clear definition of functions;
- rational division of labor and organization;
- depersonalization, the ability to function independently of personal qualities people;
- the ability to effectively reward and punish;
- involvement in a larger system of institutions.

The mutual connection and integration of institutions in society is based, firstly, on the regularity in the manifestations of the personal properties of people, the homogeneity of their needs, secondly, on the division of labor and the subject connection of the functions performed, and thirdly, on the dominance in society of institutions of one specific type , which is due to the peculiarities of its culture.

Social institutions stabilize people's activities. However, the institutions themselves are diverse and changeable.
The activities of social institutions are carried out through social organizations. The basis for the emergence of the organization is people's awareness of the need to achieve common goals and carry out joint activities.

social institution or public institution- a form of organization of joint life activity of people, historically established or created by purposeful efforts, the existence of which is dictated by the need to meet the social, economic, political, cultural or other needs of society as a whole or part of it. Institutions are characterized by their ability to influence people's behavior through established rules.

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Subtitles

History of the term

Types of social institutions

• The need for the reproduction of the genus (the institution of family and marriage).
• The need for security and order (the state).
• The need to obtain means of subsistence (production).
• The need for the transfer of knowledge, the socialization of the younger generation (institutions of public education).
• Needs in Solving Spiritual Problems (Institute of Religion).

Basic information

The peculiarities of its word usage are further complicated by the fact that in the English language, traditionally, an institution is understood as any well-established practice of people that has the sign of self-reproducibility. In such a broad, not highly specialized, sense, an institution can be an ordinary human queue or English language as a centuries-old social practice.

Therefore, in Russian, a social institution is often given a different name - “institution” (from Latin institutio - custom, instruction, instruction, order), understanding by it the totality of social customs, the embodiment of certain habits of behavior, way of thinking and life, passed down from generation to generation, changing depending on the circumstances and serving as an instrument of adaptation to them, and under the "institution" - the consolidation of customs and orders in the form of a law or institution. The term "social institution" has absorbed both "institution" (customs) and the "institution" itself (institutions, laws), as it combines both formal and informal "rules of the game".

A social institution is a mechanism that provides a set of constantly repeating and reproducing social relations and social practices of people (for example: the institution of marriage, the institution of the family). E. Durkheim figuratively called social institutions "factories for the reproduction of social relations." These mechanisms are based both on codified codes of laws and on non-thematized rules (non-formalized “hidden” ones that are revealed when they are violated), social norms, values ​​and ideals that are historically inherent in a particular society. According to the authors of the Russian textbook for universities, “these are the strongest, most powerful ropes that decisively determine the viability [of the social system]”

Spheres of life of society

There are a number of spheres of the life of society, in each of which specific social institutions and social relations are formed:
− Economic- relations in the production process (production, distribution, exchange, consumption of material goods). Institutions related to the economic sphere: private property, material production, market, etc.
− Social- relations between different social and age groups; activities to ensure social guarantee. Institutes related to social sphere: education, family, health care, social security, leisure, etc.
− Political- relations between civil society and the state, between the state and political parties, as well as between states. Institutions related to the political sphere: state, law, parliament, government, judicial system, political parties, army, etc.
− Spiritual- relations that arise in the process of the formation of spiritual values, their preservation, distribution, consumption, as well as transmission to the next generations. Institutions related to the spiritual sphere: religion, education, science, art, etc.

− Kinship institution (marriage and family)- associated with the regulation of childbearing, relations between spouses and children, the socialization of young people.

institutionalization

The first, most commonly used meaning of the term "social institution" is associated with the characteristics of any kind of ordering, formalization and standardization of social ties and relations. And the process of streamlining, formalization and standardization is called institutionalization. The process of institutionalization, that is, the formation of a social institution, consists of several successive stages:

1. the emergence of a need, the satisfaction of which requires joint organized actions;
2. formation of common goals;
3. the emergence of social norms and rules in the course of spontaneous social interaction carried out by trial and error;
4. the emergence of procedures related to rules and regulations;
5. institutionalization of norms and rules, procedures, that is, their adoption, practical application;
6. the establishment of a system of sanctions to maintain norms and rules, the differentiation of their application in individual cases;
7. creation of a system of statuses and roles covering all members of the institute without exception;

So, the end of the process of institutionalization can be considered the creation in accordance with the norms and rules of a clear status-role structure, socially approved by the majority of participants in this social process.

The process of institutionalization thus involves a number of points.

• One of the necessary conditions for the emergence of social institutions is the corresponding social need. Institutions are designed to organize the joint activities of people in order to meet certain social needs. Thus, the institution of the family satisfies the need for the reproduction of the human race and the upbringing of children, implements relations between the sexes, generations, etc. The Institute higher education provides training work force, enables a person to develop his abilities in order to realize them in subsequent activities and ensure his existence, etc. The emergence of certain social needs, as well as the conditions for their satisfaction, are the first necessary moments of institutionalization.
• A social institution is formed on the basis of social ties, interactions and relationships of specific individuals, social groups and communities. But it, like other social systems, cannot be reduced to the sum of these individuals and their interactions. Social institutions are supra-individual in nature, have their own systemic quality. Consequently, a social institution is an independent public entity that has its own logic of development. From this point of view, social institutions can be considered as organized social systems characterized by the stability of the structure, the integration of their elements and a certain variability of their functions.

First of all, we are talking about a system of values, norms, ideals, as well as patterns of activity and behavior of people and other elements of the sociocultural process. This system guarantees similar behavior of people, harmonizes and directs their certain aspirations, establishes ways to satisfy their needs, resolves conflicts that arise in the process of everyday life, provides a state of balance and stability within one or another social community and society as a whole.

In itself, the presence of these socio-cultural elements does not yet ensure the functioning of a social institution. In order for it to work, it is necessary that they become the property of the inner world of the individual, be internalized by them in the process of socialization, embodied in the form of social roles and statuses. Internalization by individuals of all socio-cultural elements, the formation on their basis of a system of personality needs, value orientations and waiting is the second essential element institutionalization.

• The third most important element of institutionalization is the organizational design of a social institution. Outwardly, a social institution is a set of organizations, institutions, individuals equipped with certain material resources and performing a certain social function. Thus, the institute of higher education is put into action by the social corps of teachers, service personnel, officials who operate within the framework of such institutions as universities, the ministry or the State Committee for high school etc., which for their activities have certain material values(buildings, finances, etc.).

Thus, social institutions are social mechanisms, stable value-normative complexes that regulate different areas social life (marriage, family, property, religion), which are little susceptible to changes in the personal characteristics of people. But they are set in motion by people who carry out their activities, "play" by their rules. Thus, the concept of "the institution of a monogamous family" does not mean a separate family, but a set of norms that is realized in an innumerable set of families of a certain type.

Institutionalization, as shown by P. Berger and T. Luckman, is preceded by the process of habitualization, or “accustoming” of everyday actions, leading to the formation of patterns of activity that are later perceived as natural and normal for a given occupation or solving problems typical in these situations. Action patterns, in turn, serve as the basis for the formation of social institutions, which are described in the form of objective social facts and are perceived by the observer as a "social reality" (or social structure). These tendencies are accompanied by signification procedures (the process of creating, using signs and fixing meanings and meanings in them) and form a system of social meanings, which, developing into semantic connections, are fixed in natural language. Signification serves the purposes of legitimation (recognition as legitimate, socially recognized, legal) of the social order, that is, justification and justification habitual ways overcoming the chaos of destructive forces that threaten to undermine the stable idealizations of everyday life.

With the emergence and existence of social institutions, the formation in each individual of a special set of sociocultural dispositions (habitus), practical schemes of action that have become for the individual his internal "natural" need is connected. Thanks to habitus, individuals are included in the activities of social institutions. Therefore, social institutions are not just mechanisms, but "a kind of" factory of meanings "that set not only patterns of human interactions, but also ways of comprehending, understanding social reality and the people themselves" .

Structure and functions of social institutions

Structure

concept social institution suggests:

• the presence of a need in society and its satisfaction by the mechanism of reproduction of social practices and relations;
• these mechanisms, being supra-individual formations, act in the form of value-normative complexes that regulate social life as a whole or its separate sphere, but for the benefit of the whole;

Their structure includes:

• role models of behavior and statuses (prescriptions for their execution);
• their justification (theoretical, ideological, religious, mythological) in the form of a categorical grid that defines a "natural" vision of the world;
• means of transmitting social experience (material, ideal and symbolic), as well as measures that stimulate one behavior and repress another, tools to maintain institutional order;
• social positions - the institutions themselves represent a social position (“empty” social positions do not exist, so the question of the subjects of social institutions disappears).

In addition, they assume the existence of certain social positions of "professionals" who are able to put this mechanism into action, playing by its rules, including a whole system of their preparation, reproduction and maintenance.

In order not to denote the same concepts by different terms and to avoid terminological confusion, social institutions should be understood not as collective subjects, not social groups and not organizations, but as special social mechanisms that ensure the reproduction of certain social practices and social relations. And collective subjects should still be called "social communities", "social groups" and "social organizations".

• “Social institutions are organizations and groups in which the life activity of community members takes place and which, at the same time, perform the functions of organizing and managing this life activity” [Ilyasov F. N. Dictionary social studies http://www.jsr.su/dic/S.html].

Functions

Every social institution has main function, defining its "face", associated with its main social role to consolidate and reproduce certain social practices and relationships. If this is an army, then its role is to ensure the military-political security of the country by participating in hostilities and demonstrating its military power. In addition to it, there are other explicit functions, to some extent characteristic of all social institutions, ensuring the implementation of the main one.

Along with explicit, there are also implicit - latent (hidden) functions. Thus, the Soviet Army at one time carried out a number of hidden state tasks unusual for it - national economic, penitentiary, fraternal assistance to "third countries", pacification and suppression of riots, popular discontent and counter-revolutionary putsches both within the country and in the countries of the socialist camp. Explicit functions of institutions are necessary. They are formed and declared in codes and fixed in the system of statuses and roles. Latent functions are expressed in unforeseen results of the activities of institutions or persons representing them. Thus, the democratic state that was established in Russia in the early 1990s, through the parliament, the government and the president, sought to improve the life of the people, create civilized relations in society and inspire citizens with respect for the law. Those were the clear goals and objectives. In fact, the crime rate has increased in the country, and the standard of living of the population has fallen. These are the results of the latent functions of the institutions of power. Explicit functions testify to what people wanted to achieve within the framework of this or that institution, and latent ones indicate what came of it.

The identification of the latent functions of social institutions allows not only to create an objective picture of social life, but also makes it possible to minimize their negative and enhance their positive impact in order to control and manage the processes taking place in it.

Social institutions in public life perform the following functions or tasks:

The totality of these social functions is formed into general social functions social institutions as certain types of social system. These features are very versatile. Sociologists different directions sought to somehow classify them, to present them in the form of a certain ordered system. The most complete and interesting classification was presented by the so-called. "institutional school". Representatives of the institutional school in sociology (S. Lipset, D. Landberg and others) identified four main functions of social institutions:

• Reproduction of members of society. The main institution that performs this function is the family, but other social institutions, such as the state, are also involved in it.
• Socialization is the transfer to individuals of patterns of behavior and methods of activity established in a given society - the institutions of the family, education, religion, etc.
• Production and distribution. Provided by the economic and social institutions of management and control - the authorities.
• The functions of management and control are carried out through a system of social norms and regulations that implement the corresponding types of behavior: moral and legal norms, customs, administrative decisions, etc. Social institutions control the individual's behavior through a system of sanctions.

In addition to solving its specific tasks, each social institution performs universal functions inherent in all of them. The functions common to all social institutions include the following:

1. The function of fixing and reproducing social relations. Each institution has a set of norms and rules of conduct, fixed, standardizing the behavior of its members and making this behavior predictable. Social control provides the order and framework in which the activities of each member of the institution must proceed. Thus, the institution ensures the stability of the structure of society. The Code of the Institute of the Family assumes that members of society are divided into stable small groups - families. Social control provides a state of stability for each family, limits the possibility of its collapse.
2. Regulatory function. It ensures the regulation of relationships between members of society by developing patterns and patterns of behavior. All human life takes place with the participation of various social institutions, but each social institution regulates activities. Consequently, a person, with the help of social institutions, demonstrates predictability and standard behavior, fulfills role requirements and expectations.
3. Integrative function. This function ensures cohesion, interdependence and mutual responsibility of the members. This happens under the influence of institutionalized norms, values, rules, a system of roles and sanctions. It streamlines the system of interactions, which leads to an increase in the stability and integrity of the elements of the social structure.
4. Broadcasting function. Society cannot develop without the transfer of social experience. Each institution for its normal functioning needs the arrival of new people who have learned its rules. This happens by changing social boundaries institutions and generational change. Consequently, each institution provides a mechanism for socialization to its values, norms, roles.
5. Communication functions. The information produced by the institution should be disseminated both within the institution (for the purpose of managing and monitoring compliance with social norms) and in interaction between institutions. This function has its own specifics - formal connections. This is the main function of the media institute. Scientific institutions actively perceive information. The communicative capabilities of institutions are not the same: some have them to a greater extent, others to a lesser extent.

Functional qualities

Social institutions differ from each other in their functional qualities:

• Political institutions - the state, parties, trade unions and other kinds of public organizations pursuing political goals, aimed at establishing and maintaining a certain form of political power. Their totality constitutes the political system of a given society. Political institutions ensure the reproduction and sustainable preservation of ideological values, stabilize the social class structures that dominate in society.
• Sociocultural and educational institutions aim at the development and subsequent reproduction of cultural and social values, the inclusion of individuals in a particular subculture, as well as the socialization of individuals through the assimilation of sustainable sociocultural standards of behavior and, finally, the protection of certain values ​​and norms.
• Normative-orienting - mechanisms of moral and ethical orientation and regulation of the behavior of individuals. Their goal is to give behavior and motivation a moral argument, ethical basis. These institutions assert imperative universal human values, special codes and ethics of behavior in the community.
• Normative-sanctioning - social and social regulation of behavior on the basis of norms, rules and regulations, enshrined in legal and administrative acts. The binding nature of the norms is ensured by the coercive power of the state and the system of appropriate sanctions.
• Ceremonial-symbolic and situational-conventional institutions. These institutions are based on the more or less long-term adoption of conventional (by agreement) norms, their official and unofficial consolidation. These norms regulate everyday contacts, various acts of group and intergroup behavior. They determine the order and method of mutual behavior, regulate the methods of transmission and exchange of information, greetings, addresses, etc., the rules of meetings, sessions, and the activities of associations.

Dysfunction of a social institution

Violation of normative interaction with the social environment, which is a society or community, is called a dysfunction of a social institution. As noted earlier, the basis for the formation and functioning of a particular social institution is the satisfaction of a particular social need. Under the conditions of intensive social processes, the acceleration of the pace of social change, a situation may arise when the changed social needs are not adequately reflected in the structure and functions of the relevant social institutions. As a result, dysfunction may occur in their activities. From a substantive point of view, dysfunction is expressed in the ambiguity of the goals of the institution, the uncertainty of functions, in the fall of its social prestige and authority, the degeneration of its individual functions into “symbolic”, ritual activity, that is, activity not aimed at achieving a rational goal.

One of the clear expressions of the dysfunction of a social institution is the personalization of its activities. A social institution, as you know, functions according to its own, objectively operating mechanisms, where each person, on the basis of norms and patterns of behavior, in accordance with his status, plays certain roles. The personalization of a social institution means that it ceases to act in accordance with objective needs and objectively established goals, changing its functions depending on the interests of individuals, their personal qualities and properties.

An unsatisfied social need can bring to life the spontaneous emergence of normatively unregulated activities that seek to make up for the dysfunction of the institution, but at the expense of violating existing norms and rules. In its extreme forms, activity of this kind can be expressed in illegal activities. Thus, the dysfunction of some economic institutions is the reason for the existence of the so-called "shadow economy", resulting in speculation, bribery, theft, etc. The correction of dysfunction can be achieved by changing the social institution itself or by creating a new social institution that satisfies this social need.

Formal and informal social institutions

Social institutions, as well as the social relations they reproduce and regulate, can be formal and informal.

Classification of social institutions

In addition to the division into formal and informal social institutions, modern researchers distinguish conventions (or “strategies”), norms and rules. Convention is a generally accepted prescription: for example, “in the event of a break telephone connection the caller calls back." Conventions support the reproduction of social behavior. A norm implies a prohibition, requirement or permission. The rule provides for sanctions for violations, therefore, the presence in society of monitoring and control over behavior. The development of institutions is connected with the transition of a rule into a convention, i.e. with the expansion of the use of the institution and the gradual rejection in society of coercion to its execution.

Role in the development of society

According to American researchers Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson (English) Russian it is the nature of the public institutions that exist in a particular country that determines the success or failure of the development of this country, their book Why Nations Fail, published in 2012, is devoted to proving this statement.

Having considered examples of many countries of the world, scientists came to the conclusion that the defining and necessary condition development of any country is the presence of public institutions, which they called public (eng. Inclusive institutions). Examples of such countries are all developed democratic countries of the world. Conversely, countries where public institutions are closed are doomed to fall behind and decline. Public institutions in such countries, according to researchers, they serve only to enrich the elites that control access to these institutions - this is the so-called. "extractive institutions" (eng. extractive institutions). According to the authors, economic development society is impossible without advancing political development, that is, without the formation public political institutions. .

a form of organization and regulation of human activity that ensures the sustainability of social life, consisting of institutions and organizations, a set of norms and patterns of behavior, a hierarchy of social roles and statuses. Depending on the spheres of public relations, there are economic institutions (bank, stock exchange), political institutions (parties, state), legal institutions (court, prosecutor's office, notaries, advocacy, etc.), scientific institutions (academy), educational institutions, etc.

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

SOCIAL INSTITUTE

a relatively stable form of organization of social life, ensuring the stability of ties and relationships within society. SI. should be distinguished from specific organizations and social groups. Thus, the concept of "the institution of a monogamous family" does not mean a separate family, but a set of norms that is realized in countless families of a certain type. The main functions performed by the SI: 1) create an opportunity for the members of this institution to satisfy their needs and interests; 2) regulates the actions of members of society within the framework of social relations; 3) ensure the sustainability of public life; 4) ensures the integration of aspirations, actions and interests of individuals; 5) exercise social control. SI activities. is determined by: 1) a set of specific social norms that regulate the corresponding types of behavior; 2) its integration into the socio-political, ideological, value structures of society, which makes it possible to legitimize the formal legal basis of activity; 3) the availability of material resources and conditions that ensure the successful implementation of regulatory proposals and the exercise of social control. SI. can be characterized not only with t. sp. their formal structure, but also meaningfully, from the standpoint of the analysis of their activities. SI. is not only a set of persons, institutions equipped with certain material means, a system of sanctions and carrying out a specific public function. Successful functioning of S.I. associated with the presence within the institute of a coherent system of standards of conduct for specific individuals in typical situations. These standards of behavior are normatively regulated: they are enshrined in the rules of law and other social norms. During practice, there are certain types social activity, and the legal and social norms that regulate this activity are concentrated in a certain legitimized and sanctioned system that ensures this type of social activity in the future. Such a system is the SI. Depending on the scope and their functions, I. are divided into a) relational - determining the role structure of society in the system of relations; b) regulatory, defining the permissible framework for independent actions in relation to the norms of society for the sake of personal goals and sanctions punishing for going beyond this framework (this includes all mechanisms of social control); c) cultural, associated with ideology, religion, art, etc.; d) integrative, associated with social roles responsible for ensuring the interests of the social community as a whole. The development of a social system is reduced to the evolution of the SI. The sources of such evolution can be both endogenous, i.e. occurring within the system itself, as well as exogenous factors. Among the exogenous factors, the most important are the impacts on the social system of cultural and personal systems associated with the accumulation of new knowledge, etc. Endogenous changes occur mainly because one or another SI. ceases to effectively serve the goals and interests of certain social groups. The history of the evolution of social systems is a gradual transformation of the SI. traditional type into modern SI. Traditional SI. characterized primarily by ascriptiveness and particularism, i.e. is based on the rules of behavior strictly prescribed by ritual and customs and on family ties. In the course of its development, SI. becomes more specialized in its functions and less rigorized in terms of rules and frameworks of behavior.

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

Society is a complex social formation, and the forces operating within it are so interconnected that it is impossible to foresee the consequences of each individual action. In this regard, institutions have overt functions that are easily recognized as part of the recognized purposes of the institution, and latent functions that are carried out inadvertently and may not be recognized or, if recognized, are considered a by-product.

People with significant and high institutional roles often do not realize enough latent effects that can affect their activities and the activities of people associated with them. As a positive example of the use of latent functions in American textbooks, the activities of Henry Ford, the founder of the campaign that bears his name, are most often cited. He truly hated the unions big cities, large loans and installment purchases, but as he advanced in society, he stimulated their development more than anyone else, realizing that the latent, hidden, side functions of these institutions work for him, for his business. However, the latent functions of institutions can both support recognized goals and turn them into irrelevant ones. They can even lead to significant damage to the norms of the institution.

How does a social institution function? What is its role in the processes taking place in society? Let's consider these questions.

Explicit functions of social institutions. If we consider in the most general form the activity of any social institution, then we can assume that its main function is to satisfy social needs, for which it was created and exists. However, in order to perform this function, each institution performs functions in relation to its participants that ensure the joint activities of people striving to meet needs. These are primarily the following functions.
1. The function of consolidation and reproduction of social relations. Each institution has a system of rules and norms of behavior that fixes, standardizes the behavior of its members and makes this behavior predictable. Appropriate social control provides the order and framework in which the activities of each member of the institution must proceed. Thus, the institution ensures the stability of the social structure of society. Indeed, the code of the institution of the family, for example, implies that members of society should be divided into sufficiently stable small groups - families. With the help of social control, the institution of the family seeks to ensure the stability of each individual family, and limits the possibility of its disintegration. The destruction of the family institution is, first of all, the appearance of chaos and uncertainty, the collapse of many groups, the violation of traditions, the impossibility of ensuring a normal sexual life and high-quality education of the younger generation.
2. Regulatory function is that the functioning of social institutions ensures the regulation of relationships between members of society by developing patterns of behavior. The whole cultural life of a person proceeds with his participation in various institutions. Whatever type of activity an individual engages in, he always encounters an institution that regulates his behavior in this area. Even if some kind of activity is not ordered and regulated, people immediately begin to institutionalize it. Thus, with the help of institutions, a person exhibits predictable and standardized behavior in social life. He fulfills the role requirements-expectations and knows what to expect from the people around him. Such regulation is necessary for joint activities.
3. Integrative function. This function includes the processes of cohesion, interdependence and mutual responsibility of members of social groups, occurring under the influence of institutional norms, rules, sanctions and systems of roles. The integration of people in the institute is accompanied by the streamlining of the system of interactions, an increase in the volume and frequency of contacts. All this leads to an increase in the stability and integrity of the elements of the social structure, especially social organizations.
Any integration in an institution consists of three main elements or necessary requirements: 1) consolidation or combination of efforts; 2) mobilization, when each member of the group invests its resources in achieving goals; 3) the conformity of the personal goals of individuals with the goals of others or the goals of the group. Integrative processes carried out with the help of institutions are necessary for the coordinated activities of people, the exercise of power, and the creation of complex organizations. Integration is one of the conditions for the survival of organizations, as well as one of the ways to correlate the goals of its participants.
4. Broadcasting function. Society could not develop if it were not possible to transfer social experience. Each institution for its normal functioning needs the arrival of new people. This can happen both by expanding the social boundaries of the institution and by changing generations. In this regard, each institution provides a mechanism that allows individuals to socialize to its values, norms and roles. For example, a family, raising a child, seeks to orient him to the values ​​of family life that his parents adhere to. Government agencies seek to influence citizens in order to instill in them the norms of obedience and loyalty, and the church tries to accustom as many members of society to the faith as possible.
5. Communicative function. Information produced in an institution should be disseminated both within the institution for the purpose of managing and monitoring compliance with regulations, and in interactions between institutions. Moreover, the nature of the institute's communicative links has its own specifics - these are formal links carried out in a system of institutionalized roles. As the researchers note, the communicative capabilities of institutions are not the same: some are specifically designed to transmit information (mass media), others have very limited opportunities for this; some actively perceive information (scientific institutions), others passively (publishing houses).

The explicit functions of institutions are both expected and necessary. They are formed and declared in codes and fixed in the system of statuses and roles. When an institution fails to fulfill its explicit functions, it is bound to face disorganization and change: these explicit, necessary functions can be appropriated by other institutions.

latent functions. Along with the direct results of the actions of social institutions, there are other results that are outside the immediate goals of a person, not planned in advance. These results can be of great importance to society. Thus, the church seeks to consolidate its influence to the greatest extent through ideology, the introduction of faith, and often achieves success in this. However, regardless of the goals of the church, there are people who leave production activities for the sake of religion. Fanatics begin to persecute non-believers, and there may be the possibility of major social conflicts on religious grounds. The family seeks to socialize the child to the accepted norms of family life, but it often happens that family education leads to a conflict between the individual and the cultural group and serves to protect the interests of certain social strata.

The existence of the latent functions of institutions is most prominently shown by T. Veblen, who wrote that it would be naive to say that people eat black caviar because they want to satisfy their hunger and buy a luxurious Cadillac because they want to buy a good car. Obviously, these things are not acquired for the sake of satisfying obvious urgent needs. T. Veblen concludes from this that the production of consumer goods performs a hidden, latent function - it satisfies the needs of people to increase their own prestige. Such an understanding of the actions of the institute for the production of consumer goods radically changes the opinion about its activities, tasks and conditions of functioning.

Thus, it is obvious that only by studying the latent functions of institutions can we determine the true picture of social life. For example, very often sociologists are faced with a phenomenon that is incomprehensible at first glance, when an institution continues to successfully exist, even if it not only does not fulfill its functions, but also prevents their implementation. Such an institution obviously has hidden functions by which it satisfies the needs of certain social groups. A similar phenomenon can be observed especially often among political institutions, in which latent functions are developed to the greatest extent.

Latent functions, therefore, are the subject that should primarily interest the student of social structures. The difficulty in recognizing them is compensated by the creation of a reliable picture of social connections and features of social objects, as well as the ability to control their development and manage the social processes that take place in them.

Relationships between institutions. There is no social institution that would operate in a vacuum, in isolation from other social institutions. The action of any social institution cannot be understood until all of its interrelations and relationships are explained from the standpoint of the general culture and subcultures of groups. Religion, government, education, production and consumption, trade, family - all these institutions are in multiple interaction. Thus, the conditions of production must take into account the formation of new families in order to meet their needs for new apartments, household items, childcare facilities, etc. At the same time, the education system largely depends on the activities of government institutions that maintain the prestige and possible prospects for the development of educational institutions. Religion can also affect the development of education or government agencies. The teacher, the father of the family, the priest or the functionary of a voluntary organization are all affected by the government, since the actions of the latter (for example, issuing regulations) can lead to both success and failure in achieving vital goals.

An analysis of the numerous interconnections of institutions can explain why institutions are rarely able to fully control the behavior of their members, to combine their actions and attitudes with institutional ideas and norms. For example, schools may apply standard curricula to all students, but student response to them depends on many factors beyond the teacher's control. Children whose families encourage and carry out interesting conversations and who join the reading of books that develop them acquire intellectual interests more easily and to a greater extent than those children whose families prefer watching TV and reading entertainment literature. Churches preach high ethical ideals, but parishioners often feel the need to neglect them under the influence of business ideas, political allegiances, or the desire to leave the family. Patriotism glorifies self-sacrifice for the good of the state, but it is often inconsistent with the many individual desires of those raised in families, business institutions, or some political institutions.

The need to harmonize the system of roles assigned to individuals can often be satisfied by agreement between individual institutions. Industry and commerce in any civilized country depend on the support of the government, which regulates taxes and arranges exchange between the individual institutions of industry and commerce. In turn, the government depends on industry and trade, which economically support regulations and other government actions.

In addition, given the importance of some social institutions in public life, other institutions are trying to seize control over their activities. Since, for example, education plays a very significant role in society, attempts to fight for influence on the institution of education are observed among political organizations, industrial organizations, churches, etc. Politicians, for example, contribute to the development of the school, confident that by doing so they support attitudes towards patriotism and national identity. Church institutions are trying, with the help of the education system, to instill in students loyalty to church doctrines and a deep faith in God. Manufacturing organizations they are trying to orient students from childhood to the development of industrial professions, and the military - to raise people who can successfully serve in the army.

The same can be said about the influence of other institutions on the institution of the family. The state is trying to regulate the number of marriages and divorces, as well as the birth rate. In addition, it establishes minimum standards for the care of children. Schools are looking for cooperation with the family by creating teachers' councils with the participation of parents and parents' committees. Churches create ideals for family life and try to hold family ceremonies within a religious framework.

Many institutional roles begin to conflict because the person who performs them belongs to several institutions. An example is the well-known conflict between career and family orientations. In this case, we are dealing with clashes of norms and rules of several institutions. Sociological research shows that each institution seeks to the greatest extent possible to “disconnect” the individuals included in it from playing roles in other institutions. Enterprises try to include the activities of the wives of their employees in their sphere of influence (a system of benefits, orders, family vacations, etc.). Army institutional rules can also be bad for family life. And here they find ways to include wives in army life, so that the husband and wife are related to uniform institutional norms. The problem of fulfillment by the individual of the exclusively role of this institution is most definitely solved in some institutions of the Christian church, where the clergy are released from family responsibilities by taking a vow of celibacy.

The appearance of institutions is constantly adapting to changes in society. Changes in one institution tend to lead to changes in others. After changing family customs, traditions and rules of conduct, a new system social security of such changes involving many institutions. When peasants come from the countryside to the city and create their own subculture there, the actions of political institutions, legal organizations, etc. must change. We are accustomed to the fact that any change in the political organization affects all aspects of our daily lives. There are no institutions that would be transformed without change into other institutions or would exist separately from them.

institutional autonomy. The fact that institutions are interdependent in their activities does not mean that they are ready to give up internal ideological and structural control. One of their main goals is to exclude the influence of the leaders of other institutions and to keep their institutional norms, rules, codes and ideologies intact. All major institutions develop patterns of behavior that help maintain a certain degree of independence and resist the dominance of people grouped in other institutions. Enterprises and businesses strive for independence from the state; educational institutions also try to achieve the greatest independence and prevent the penetration of the norms and rules of foreign institutions. Even the institution of courtship achieves independence in relation to the institution of the family, which leads to some mystery and secrecy in its rituals. Each institution tries to carefully sort the attitudes and rules brought in from other institutions in order to select those attitudes and rules that can least affect the independence of this institution. Social order is a successful combination of the interaction of institutions and their respect for independence in relation to each other. This combination avoids serious and destructive institutional conflicts.

The dual function of intellectuals in relation to institutions. In all complex societies, institutions require constant ideological and organizational support and strengthening the ideology, the system of norms and rules on which the institution relies. This is carried out by two role groups of members of the institution: 1) bureaucrats who monitor institutional behavior; 2) intellectuals who explain and comment on the ideology, norms and rules of behavior of social institutions. In our case, intellectuals are those who, regardless of education or occupation, devote themselves to the serious analysis of ideas. The importance of ideology lies in maintaining loyalty to institutional norms, through which the heterogeneous attitudes of those people who are able to manipulate ideas are developed. Intellectuals Are Called to Satisfy Urgent Needs for Explanation social development and to do so in terms consistent with institutional norms.

For example, intellectuals associated with the political communist institutions set themselves the task of showing that modern history really develops in accordance with the predictions of K. Marx and V. Lenin. At the same time, intellectuals who study US political institutions argue that real history is built on the development of the ideas of free enterprise and democracy. At the same time, the leaders of the institutions understand that intellectuals cannot be completely trusted, since in studying the basic foundations of the ideology they support, they also analyze its imperfections. In this regard, intellectuals can begin to develop a competitive ideology that is more suited to the needs of the times. Such intellectuals become revolutionary and attack traditional institutions. That is why in the course of the formation of totalitarian institutions, first of all, they seek to protect ideology from the actions of intellectuals.

The 1966 campaign in China, which destroyed the influence of the intellectuals, confirmed Mao Zedong's fear that the intellectuals would refuse to support the revolutionary regime. Something similar happened in our country in the prewar years. If we turn to history, we will undoubtedly see that any power based on faith in the ability of leaders (charismatic power), as well as power that uses violence, non-democratic methods, seeks to protect the actions of the institution of power from the participation of intellectuals or completely subordinate them to its influence. . Exceptions only emphasize this rule.

So, it is often difficult to use the activities of intellectuals, because if today they can support institutional norms, then tomorrow they become their critics. Nevertheless, there are no institutions in the modern world that have escaped the constant influence of intellectual criticism, and there are no features of institutions that can continue to exist for a long time without intellectual protection. It becomes clear why some totalitarian political regimes are torn between a certain freedom and the repression of intellectuals. The intellectual most capable of defending fundamental institutions is the person who does so out of a desire for truth, regardless of obligations to institutions. Such a person is both useful and dangerous for the well-being of the institution - useful because he skillfully achieves the protection of institutional values, respect for the institution, and dangerous because, in search of truth, he is able to become an opponent of this institution. This dual role forces fundamental institutions to deal with the problem of ensuring discipline in society and the problem of conflict and loyalty for intellectuals.