36:070
COMMUNICATION THEORY IN EVERYDAY LIFE
STRUCTURATION THEORY
I. NATURE OF THEORY
A. Structuration Theory (ST) is a product of the work of Anthony Giddens.
Many believe that it was developed as a direct attack on Functional Theory,
particularly as it was presented by Talcott Parsons.
B. Like FT, ST's primary explanatory objective is to account for the existence
of repetive and institutionalized practices and patterns of action.
II. THEORY OF STRUCTURATION
A. The basic unit of analysis and explanation for ST are social practices.
A social practice is an action or series of actions that is recognized as
a coherent whole by group, community, or society.
Ex: Wedding
B. Social practices are characterized by BOTH stability and change.
1. STABILITY -- there are some aspects of a social practice that are reproduced
more-or-less than same way time and time again.
Ex: All weddings tend to have a segment called the "exchange of
vows"
2. CHANGE -- there are some aspects of a social practice that vary across
different repetitions of that social practice.
Ex: All weddings have the "exchange of vows" but the exact
wording of those vows can vary from wedding to wedding.
C. ST accounts for stability and change among social practices by distinguishing
between SYSTEM and STRUCTURE.
1. SYSTEMS are comprised of observable patterns of interaction.
Ex: Wedding vows
2. STRUCTURES are the rules and resources that group members use to produce
and reproduce systems.
Ex: The words that comprise the wedding vows are determined by certain
religous and culture rules and norms.
D. Systems and structures exist in a DUALITY OF RELATIONSHIP.
1. Structures (rules and resources) produce systems (behaviors).
2. Systems (behaviors) reinforce the structures (rules and resources)
that produce them.
E. The duality of relationship among systems and structures with a social
practice bring about repetition of that social practice.
F. Clusters of social practices, in turn, constitute institutions.
Ex: Social practices like weddings and wedding vows constitute the institution
of marriage.
G. Institutions, in turn, provide the milieu (context) for both systems
and structures.
Ex: The institution of marriage places constraints on the actions of those
who are are part of it, or who wish to enter into it.
III. ACCOUNTING FOR CHANGE
G. The process of structuration involves, at various times, observable,
and sometimes rather dramatic, change. This change is shaped and constrained
by a number of factors:
1. Unacknowledged conditions on action.
Ex: Societal norms
2. Reflexive monitoring -- we intermittently examine the outcomes or consequences
of our past actions in light of personal or group goals, plans, reactions,
etc.
Ex: In deciding whether to have a formal church wedding, we think about
the hassles that our sister/brother went through when they got married.
3. Rationalization -- we constantly rationalize (or make sense of our
actions retrospectively) to others in light of acknowledged conditions on
action and intended or unintended consequences.
Ex: We may have gotten married in a church because everyone else in
our family did it, but when asked why we did it, we can provide a very
elaborate, after-the-fact explanation.
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SE/Summer Syllabus
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