real life examples of structuration theory real life examples of structuration theory

")[1]:3 His aim was to build a broad social theory which viewed "[t]he basic domain of study of the social sciences [as] neither the experience of the individual actor, nor the existence of any form of societal totality, but social practices ordered across space and time. He defined "institutions" as "characterized by rules, regulations and conventions of various sorts, by differing kinds and quantities of resources and by hierarchical power relations between the occupants of institutional positions. In M. Warkentin (Ed. Structures often overlap, confusing interpretation (e.g., the structure of capitalist society includes production from both private property and workersolidarity). 7.CRITICISM John B. Thompson (said that Structuration theory needed to be more specific and more consistent both internally and with conventional social structure theory. arrow_forward. Thus, groups which develop stable routines for decision making (e.g., What could go wrong? What else should we consider? What are the pros and cons?) tend to come to better decisions. John Parker built on Archer and Mouzelis's support for dualism to propose a theoretical reclamation of historical sociology and macro-structures using concrete historical cases, claiming that dualism better explained the dynamics of social structures. Unlike the philosophy of action and other forms of interpretative sociology, structuration focuses on structure rather than production exclusively. [1], Agents rationalize, and in doing so, link the agent and the agent's knowledgeability. Conceptualising constraint: Mouzelis, Archer, and the concept of social structure. Sociology, 613(4), pp.613-635. [29], Falkheimer claimed that integrating structuration theory into public relations (PR) strategies could result in a less agency-driven business, return theoretical focus to the role of power structures in PR, and reject massive PR campaigns in favor of a more "holistic understanding of how PR may be used in local contexts both as a reproductive and [transformational] social instrument. Agency is critical to both the reproduction and the transformation of society. Sociology, consumption, and routine. The authors held that technology needs to be aligned and compatible with the existing "trustworthy"[38]:179 practices and organizational and market structure. French social scientist mile Durkheim highlighted the positive role of stability and permanence, whereas philosopher Karl Marx described structures as protecting the few, doing little to meet the needs of the many. The first is signification, where meaning is coded in the practice of language and discourse. They looked beyond technology into organizational structure and practices, and examined the effects on the structure of adapting to new technologies. Appropriations may be faithful or unfaithful, be instrumental and be used with various attitudes. In real-life examples of workplace conflict, leaders can encourage team members to reveal the hidden interests and concerns behind their accusations and demands through active listening. The theory of structuration is a social theory of the creation and reproduction of social systems that is based on the analysis of both structure and agents (see structure and agency ), without giving primacy to either. Monitoring is an essential characteristic of agency. Stage 1: The individual commits the deviant act. Yuan ElaineJ (2011[37])s research focused on a certain demographic of people under the structure. Archer, M. (1995). Location offers are a particular type of capability constraint. The structuration of community-based mental healthcare: A duality analysis of a volunteer groups local agency. Understandings of Technology in Community-Based Organisations: A Structurational Analysis. [19] His central argument was that it needed to be more specific and more consistent both internally and with conventional social structure theory. There is a distinction between Path-Goal Theory and Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory. Structuration theory Structuration theory, developed by Giddens seeks to reconceptualise the dualism of individuals and society as the duality of agency and structure (Giddens 1984, p. 162). In essence, agents experience inherent and contrasting amounts of autonomy and dependence; agents can always either act or not (Stones, 2005). Organization Science, 5(2):121-147. Giddens argues that just as an individuals autonomy is influenced by structure, structures are maintained and adapted through the exercise of agency. These structural features of the language are the medium whereby I generate the utterance. Through action, agents produce structures; through reflexive monitoring and rationalization, they transform them. This theory was adapted and augmented by researchers interested in the relationship betweentechnologyand social structures, such asinformation technology in organizations. [27] Software agents join humans to engage in social actions of information exchange, giving and receiving instructions, responding to other agents, and pursuing goals individually or jointly. It was inspired by Anthony Gidden's concept of structuration. In L.R. Giddens (1984) holds this duality, alongside structure and system, in addition to the concept of recursiveness, as the core of structuration theory. As a theoretically self-conscious social historian, I find Giddens's no-tion of the duality of structure particularly congenial. Memory traces are thus the vehicle through which social actions are carried out. Mental models are the vehicle through which guide everyday social action. Thompson gave the example of a private school which restricts enrollment and thus participation. CMC. [22]:20, The existence of multiple structures implies that the knowledgeable agents whose actions produce systems are capable of applying different schemas to contexts with differing resources, contrary to the conception of a universal habitus (learned dispositions, skills and ways of acting). Desanctis, G. & Poole, M. S. (1994). [1], Structuration theory is centrally concerned with order as "the transcending of time and space in human social relationships". Furthermore, in structuration theory, neither micro- nor macro-focused analysis alone is sufficient. Discursive consciousness is the ability to verbally express knowledge. Stage 3. Explain thoroughly using real-life instances. Frames are groups of rules learned through interaction, past experience, conversation, etc. In C.G.A. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. For example, a professor can change the class he or she teaches, but has little capability to change the larger university structure. (1993). ISBN978-0-520-05728-9. DeSanctis and Poole proposed an "adaptive structuration theory" with respect to the emergence and use of group decision support systems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Giddens holds this duality, alongside "structure" and "system," in addition to the concept of recursiveness, as the core of structuration theory. The key theoretical inspiration here was the sociologist Anthony Giddens' structuration theory which emphasized the role of regions or 'locales' as settings for social interaction where people are socialized into society through various institutional processes, particularly education. In his own work, Giddens focuses on production and reproduction of social practices in some context. Hitherto, social structures or models were either taken to be beyond the realm of human controlthe positivistic approachor posit that action creates themthe interpretivist approach. [2] Thus, in many ways, structuration was "an exercise in clarification of logical issues. Applied structuration theory may emphasize community-based approaches, storytelling, rituals, and informal communication systems. On a mid-range scale, institutions and social networks (such as religious or familial structures) might form the focus of study, and at the microscale one might consider how community or professional norms constrain agency. Alternatively, through the exercise of reflexivity, agents modify social structures by acting outside the constraints the structures place on them. Structuration theory: Capturing the complexity of business-to-business intermediaries. The interface at which an actor meets a structure is termed structuration.. I take it to be one of the main features of structuration theory that the extension and 'closure' of societies across space and time is regarded as problematic. A structuration agency approach to security policy enforcement in mobile ad hoc networks. [1] Agency, as Giddens calls it, is human action. Giddens (1984) stated, The degree of systemness is very variable. Structure refers to, the structuring properties allowing the binding of time-space in social systems, the properties of which make it possible for To better understand Lewin's change model, a real-life example of its success and failure may be helpful. "[4]:viii Structuration drew on other fields, as well: "He also wanted to bring in from other disciplines novel aspects of ontology that he felt had been neglected by social theorists working in the domains that most interested him. The theory attempts to integrate macrosocial theories and individuals or small groups, as well as how to avoid the binary categorization of either stable or emergentgroups. "[1]:285, Structuration differs from its historical sources. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing. How different people in a group make use of the technology and work dynamically to make use of roles and utilities of the technology comes under AST. Understandings of Technology in Community-Based Organisations: A Structurational Analysis. The author concludes in the relationship between the audience and the TV shows producers, audiences behavior has higher-order patterns. Monash University, Australia. "[19]:163, Thompson proposed several amendments. Many theorists supported Thompson's argument that an analysis "based on structuration's ontology of structures as norms, interpretative schemes and power resources radically limits itself if it does not frame and locate itself within a more broadly conceived notion of social structures. In L.R. Routine persists in society, even during social and political revolutions, where daily life is greatly deformed, "as Bettelheim demonstrates so well, routines, including those of an obnoxious sort, are re-established. Giddens, A. "Knowledgeability" refers to "what agents know about what they do, and why they do it. Structuration theory can also be used in explaining business related issues including operating, managing and marketing. Some "rules" are better conceived of as broad inherent elements that define a structure's identity (e.g., Henry Ford and Harold Macmillan are "capitalistic"). Theories that argue for the preeminence of structure (also called the objectivist view in this context) resolve that the behaviour of individuals is largely determined by their socialization into that structure (such as conforming to a societys expectations with respect to gender or social class). Giddens used concepts from objectivist and subjectivist social theories, discarding objectivism's focus on detached structures, which lacked regard for humanist elements and subjectivism's exclusive attention to individual or group agency without consideration for socio-structural context. Adaptive structuration theory (AST)has been used for a number of years in the information systems discipline to study the use of new technologies in organizations. [1] Institutionalized action and routinization are foundational in the establishment of social order and the reproduction of social systems. The duality of structure emphasizes that they are different sides to the same central question of how social order is created. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Workman, M., Ford, R., & Allen, W. (2008). While semantic rules may be relevant to social structure, to study them "presupposes some structural points of reference which are not themselves rules, with regard to which [of] these semantic rules are differentiated"[19]:159 according to class, sex, region and so on. the immediate, visible actions that reveal deeper structuration processes and are enacted with "moves". Cambridge: Polity Press. structuration theory, concept in sociology that offers perspectives on human behaviour based on a synthesis of structure and agency effects known as the duality of structure. Instead of describing the capacity of human action as being constrained by powerful stable societal structures (such as educational, religious, or political institutions) or as a function of the individual expression of will (i.e., agency), structuration theory acknowledges the interaction of meaning, standards and values, and power and posits a dynamic relationship between these different facets of society. The use of "patriot" in political speech reflects this mingling, borrowing from and contributing to nationalistic norms and supports structures such as a police state, from which it in turn gains impact. Mouzelis, N. (1989). Structuration theory seeks to overcome what it sees as the failings of earlier social theory, avoiding both its 'objectivist' and 'subjectivist' extremes by forging new terminology to describe how people both create and are created by social reproduction and transformation. Structure is the result of these social practices. In R.Y. He called these situations "syntagmatic duality". "[24]:13 She compared this to previous models (the technological imperative, strategic choice, and technology as a trigger) and considered the importance of meaning, power, norms, and interpretive flexibility. "Frames" are "clusters of rules which help to constitute and regulate activities, defining them as activities of a certain sort and as subject to a given range of sanctions. Nicos Mouzelis reconstructed Giddens' original theories. ", Mouzelis, N. (1989). Sewell (1992) argues Societies are based on practices that derived from many distinct structures, which exist at different levels, operate in different modalities, and are themselves based on widely varying types and quantities of resources. Functional Theory Functional theory is theory that explains the occurrence of repetitive practices and events in everyday life. "Authoritative resources" allow agents to control persons, whereas "allocative resources" allow agents to control material objects. "[1]:189 His focus on abstract ontology accompanied a general and purposeful neglect of epistemology or detailed research methodology. Thus rulesin this case, restrictions"operate differentially, affecting unevenly various groups of individuals whose categorization depends on certain assumptions about social structures. However, structure and agency are mutually influential. Stones, R. (2005). The "modality" (discussed below) of a structural system is the means by which structures are translated into actions. Stage 2: The deviant act is noticed, and the individual labeled. A structuration agency approach to security policy enforcement in mobile ad hoc networks. In D. Held & J. These properties make it possible for similar social practices to exist across time and space and that lend them systemic form. The concept of abstraction is key to making computers work. This case can also demonstrate one of the major dimensions in the duality of structure, the sense of power from the CEO. Agents call upon their mental models on which they are knowledgeable to perform social actions. "[2]:16 Giddens hoped that a subject-wide "coming together" might occur which would involve greater cross-disciplinary dialogue and cooperation, especially between anthropologists, social scientists and sociologists of all types, historians, geographers, and even novelists. He critically engaged classical nineteenth and early twentieth century social theorists such as Auguste Comte, Karl Marx, Max Weber, mile Durkheim, Alfred Schutz, Robert K. Merton, Erving Goffman, and Jrgen Habermas. class conflict), its theories of societal "adaptation", and its insistence on the working class as universal class and socialism as the ultimate form of modern society. Real life applications of trigonometry Oct 16 . Physical presence: Are other actors physically nearby. "Conceptualising constraint: Mouzelis, Archer, and the concept of social structure. Agents may modify schemas even though their use does not predictably accumulate resources. Structuration theory is centrally concerned with order as the transcending of time and space in human social relationships (Giddens, 1984, p. 87). On Giddens: Interpreting public relations through Anthony Giddens' structuration and late modernity theory. Strong structuration: Margaret Archer objected to the inseparability of structure and agency in structuration theory. Restructuring structuration theory. The Sociological Review, 32(3), pp.509-522. . Researchers must empirically demonstrate the recursivity of action and structure, examine how structures stabilize and change over time due to group communication, and may want to integrate argumentation research. A reply to my critics. Answer. Giddens replied that a structural principle is not equivalent with rules, and pointed to his definition from A Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism: "Structural principles are principles of organisation implicated in those practices most "deeply" (in time) and "pervasively" (in space) sedimented in society",[20]:54 and described structuration as a "mode of institutional articulation"[21]:257 with emphasis on the relationship between time and space and a host of institutional orderings including, but not limited to, rules. "[19]:159 He found the term to be imprecise and to not designate which rules are more relevant for which social structures. Rob Stones argued that many aspects of Gidden's original theory had little place in its modern manifestation. [2], Giddens preferred strategic conduct analysis, which focuses on contextually situated actions. (2002). Critical or positive theory? "[1]:165. . always working together, intertwined. "[1] Therefore, routinized social practices do not stem from coincidence, "but the skilled accomplishments of knowledgeable agents. Examples include: Agents are always able to engage in adialectic of control, able to intervene in the world or to refrain from such intervention, with the effect of influencing a specific process or state of affairs (Giddens, 1979, p. 14). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rules differently affect variously situated individuals. On the contrary, as Goffman (together with ethnomethodology) has helped to demonstrate, the routinized character of most social activity is something that has to be 'worked at' continually by those who sustain it in their day-to-day conduct. Anthony Giddens: An introduction to a social theorist(S. Sampson, Trans.). (1996). Presence: Do other actors participate in the action? Coming to terms with Anthony Giddens. Thompson theorized that these traits were not rules in the sense that a manager could draw upon a "rule" to fire a tardy employee; rather, they were elements which "limit the kinds of rules which are possible and which thereby delimit the scope for institutional variation. Social actions create structures, and only social actions are capable of producing structures. ),Ordinary Consumption(pp. "In that case, syntagmatic duality gives way to syntagmatic dualism. (2000). London: Macmillan. In order to interpret and understand a range of social phenomena, it is crucial to consider the social role of mathematics. Poole, M.S., Seibold, D.R., & McPhee, R.D. Reflexive monitoring occurs at the level of practical consciousness. Explain thoroughly using real-life instances. American Journal of Sociology,91(4), 969-977. Thus, for example, he enlisted the aid of geographers, historians and philosophers in bringing notions of time and space into the central heartlands of social theory. Structuration theory is not only deeply processual, highlighting not only the interplay of action and structure as a duality; it similarly emphasizes the role of social systems, like projects or . Stage 3: The behavior spreads to other individuals in a social group. Cultivating a Supportive Group Climate. In this way, structuration theory prioritizes ontology over epistemology. The cycle of structuration is not a defined sequence; it is rarely a direct succession of causal events. These properties make it possible for similar social practices to exist across time and space and that lend them "systemic" form. Authors found out that the process follows the theory of duality of structure: under the circumstances of CEO is overconfident, and the company is the limitation of resources, the process of cross-border acquisition is likely to be different than before. [25] While Orlikowski's work focused on corporations, it is equally applicable to the technology cultures that have emerged in smaller community-based organizations, and can be adapted through the gender sensitivity lens in approaches to technology governance.[26]. Decision rules support decision-making, which produces a communication pattern that can be directly observable. Before conditioning (or learning) - The bell does not produce salivation. B. Thompson (Eds. Appropriations may be faithful or unfaithful, be instrumental and be used with various attitudes. Giddenss final structural element is domination, concerned with how power is applied, particularly in the control of resources. Cognitive dissonance is an essential theory in psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. With its conceptual- Structure enters simultaneously into the constitution of the agent and social practices, and exists in the generating moments of this constitution. It employs detailed accounts of agents' knowledgeability, motivation, and the dialectic of control. As agents, people coordinate ongoing projects, goals, and contexts while performing actions. Kaspersen (2000) explained Giddens conceptualization of monitoring as what occurs as a result of routinized activity. Thus, he distinguishes between overall structures-within-knowledgeability and the more limited and task-specific modalities on which these agents subsequently draw when they interact. ),Communication and group decision making(pp.114-146). After analyzing four countries framework, Oliver and his research team concluded All our case studies show a number of competing information sources from traditional media and official websites to various social media platforms used by both the government and the general public that complicate the information landscape in which we all try to navigate what we know, and what we do not yet know, about the pandemic., In the research of interpreting how remote work environment change during COVID-19 in South Africa, Walter (2020)[33] applied structuration theory because it addresses the relationship between actors (or persons) and social structures and how these social structures ultimately realign and conform to the actions of actors Plus, these social structures from Giddens's structuration theory assist people to navigate through everyday life., Zvokuomba (2021)[34] also used Giddens' theory of structuration to reflect at the various levels of fragilities within the context of COVID-19 lockdown measures. One example in the research is that theory of structuration and agency point to situations when individuals and groups of people either in compliance or defiance of community norms and rules of survival adopt certain practices. And during pandemic, researched pointed out reverting to the traditional midwifery became a pragmatic approach to a problem. One example to support this point is that As medical centers were partly closed, with no basic medication and health staff, the only alternative was seek traditional medical services. The Theory of Structuration In the theory, Anthony Giddens is determined to prevent the separation of structure and action. Anthony Giddens' theory of structuration is a theory of social action, which claims that society should be understood in terms of action and structure; a duality rather than two separate entities. It can be understood as the fitful yet routinized occurrence of encounters, fading away in time and space, yet constantly reconstituted within different areas of time-space (Giddens, 1984, p. 86). The authors employed structuration theory to re-examine outcomes such as economic/business success as well as trust, coordination, innovation, and shared knowledge. In the social sciences there is a standing debate over the primacy of structure or agency in shaping human behaviour. Agency is critical to both the reproduction and the transformation of society. Computers only understand 1s and 0s, otherwise known as binary or machine code. Another way to explain this concept is by what Giddens calls the "reflexive monitoring of actions. Retrieved from: Workman, M., Ford, R., & Allen, W. (2008). Two social scientists, Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann, led the way in this emphasis on constructivism by identifying the "social constructions of reality." (Berger and Luckmann, 1967). As they navigate real-life conflict scenarios, team members may come to view their differing preferences as opportunities for value-creating tradeoffs. Mouzelis also criticised Giddens' lack of consideration for social hierarchies. In contrast, proponents of agency theory (also called the subjective view in this context) consider that individuals possess the ability to exercise their own free will and make their own choices. Focuses on the meso-level at the temporal and spatial scale. Communication rules serve as both the medium and guideline for an outcome of interactions. He argued that Giddens' concept of rule was too broad. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Structuration theory is centrally concerned with order as "the transcending of time and space in human social relationships". They proposed that social systems are particularly effective (and important) in the creation and reinforcement of specific constructions in any society. New York, NY: Routledge. Giddens, A. "If, in so doing, the institutions continue to satisfy certain structural conditions, both in the sense of conditions which delimit the scope for institutional variation and the conditions which underlie the operation of structural differentiation, then the agents may be said to reproduce social structure. B. Thompson (Eds.). The relation between moment and totality for social theory [involves] a dialectic of presence and absence which ties the most minor or trivial forms of social action to structural properties of the overall society, and to the coalescence of institutions over long stretches of historical time. (2000). Giddens, A. Frames are necessary for agents to feel ontological security, the trust that everyday actions have some degree of predictability. Structuration theory seeks to overcome what it sees as the failings of earlier social theory, avoiding both its 'objectivist' and 'subjectivist' extremes by forging new terminology to describe how people both create and are created by social reproduction and transformation. Here, social structures are viewed as products of individual action that are sustained or discarded, rather than as incommensurable forces. The cycle of structuration is not a defined sequence; it is rarely a direct succession of causal events. "[19]:159 The isolated analysis of rules does not incorporate differences among agents. The American Journal of Sociology, 98(1):1-29. [1]:17 Agentsgroups or individualsdraw upon these structures to perform social actions through embedded memory, called memory traces. concluded that the theory needs to better predict outcomes, rather than merely explaining them. Bandura had different children watch a video of an adult playing with a Bobo doll. When I utter a sentence I draw upon various syntactical rules (sedimented in my practical consciousness of the language) in order to do so. Frames are clusters of rules which help to constitute and regulate activities, defining them as activities of a certain sort and as subject to a given range of sanctions (Giddens, 1984, p. 87). Critical or positive theory? However, in other contexts, the relationship between structure and agency can resemble dualism more than duality, such as systems that are the result of powerful agents. In O. Ihlen, B. van Ruler, & M. Frederiksson (Eds. https://www.britannica.com/topic/structuration-theory, University of Twente - Structurational Theory. The key to Giddens' explanation is his focus on the knowledgeability of the agent and the fact that the agency cannot exist or be analysed . However, communicating its importance to students can be challenging. ), New directions in group communication(pp.3-25). Social theory proposed by Giddens that attempts to resolve the structure-agent debate. First published Wed Nov 14, 2007; substantive revision Fri Jan 10, 2014. Believing that "literary style matters", he held that social scientists are communicators who share frames of meaning across cultural contexts through their work by utilising "the same sources of description (mutual knowledge) as novelists or others who write fictional accounts of social life. [14] Mouzelis reexamined human social action at the "syntagmatic" (syntactic) level. Unlike Saussure's production of an utterance, structuration sees language as a tool from which to view society, not as the constitution of societyparting with structural linguists such as Claude Lvi-Strauss and generative grammar theorists such as Noam Chomsky.