Question

Describe the similarities and differences between social institutions and social structure and how that might affect income and wealth distribution

Answer 1

Social institutions arise when people come together for a common purpose such as law, police, education, science, military. All these are formed by a group of people who have aligned interests in those fields.

Social structures are the strata which has been formed to divide people into various classes, such as farmers, craftsmen, servants, there is often a hierarchy in such structures.

The similarities between the two are that both of them have groups which have similar interests and alignments. The main difference between the two is that social structures are rigid, one is forced into such a structure since birth and it is not by choice. Social institutions are formed because people genuinely have an interest to be a part of such institutions.

Income and wealth distribution is much more equal between different groups of social institutions as they are often governed by a set of rules. On the other hand income distribution is fairly unequal on social structures and there is also a huge gap between the income earned by a particular group and the disadvantaged group.