“A social institution is an organization that is
critical to the socialization process; it provides a support system for
individuals as they struggle to become members of a larger social network”
(Art Silverblatt, American
Behavioral Scientist, 2004)
Traditional
social institutions such as church, government, school and family once served
the role of providing individuals with the knowledge and communicative tools
needed to successfully integrate into society. It was here we learned what was
right or wrong in the world, and how to communicate to others through language,
appearance or actions, if we were to become upstanding members of society. In
church we learned through religious doctrine and beliefs. In school we were
educated in the ways of the professional world, and how to be part of a
collective of academics. Through government we learn of law and order, justice
and criminality, the repercussions of violating societies written rules. As a
member of a family we learn of love and care for others, close knit bonds, and
the vital knowledge and ways of the world, passed down from a father or mother
to a son or daughter during childhood and adolescence, becoming the scriptures
guiding you for the rest of your life, and passed on again to your own sons and
daughters. For most of modern history, these institutions have played these
roles and educated us as a society, of how things should be and the reasons
behind them, guiding our morality and sense of justice. With the emergence of mass media towards the end
of the 20th century through televised programming, movies and radio, and
accelerated further with the booming growth of the Internet in recent decades;
mass media is now becoming the dominant social institution, catering for the
needs of society and educating its citizens. In a fast-moving and mobile modern
society, mass media provides a medium easily accessed through technology,
making the traditional social institutions of family, church, government or school
redundant in their former roles. Individuals are increasingly looking to the
media for direction in rules of behavior and societal values, while being
provided with a sense of membership through the programmes we watch or media
trends we follow. Order and stability is provided by the media through
scheduled programming, affecting how people arrange their daily routines and
ultimately affecting cultural lifestyle through what we wear, listen to, say
and do day to day. The Internet, a vast source of instantaneous information,
now fulfills an educational role in society, catering an individuals personal
preferences and ideals.
Source: Open sources
