Question

CHCDV002 identify five major social and cultural institutions in Australian society and write a paragraph on the function of each

Answer 1

Ans. Social Institutions

Social institutions have been created by man from social relationships in society to meet such basic needs as stability, law and order and clearly defined roles of authority and decision making.

Every organisation is dependent upon certain recognised and established set of rules, traditions and usages. These usages and rules may be given the name of institutions. These are the forms of procedure which are recognised and accepted by society and govern the relations between individuals and groups.

Definition:-

Horton: An institution is an organized system of social relationships which embodies certain common values and procedures and meets certain basic needs of society.

Landis: Social institutions are formal cultural structures devised to meet basic social needs.

Characteristics

i. Institutions are the means of controlling individuals.

ii. Institutions depend upon the collective activities of men.

iii. The institution has some definite procedures which are formed on the basis of customs and dogmas.

iv. Institution is more stable than other means of social control.

v. Every institution has some rules which must be compulsorily obeyed by the individual.

Five major institutions in rural sociology are political, educational, economic, family and religion.

1. Political: Government as political institution, administers the regulatory functions of Law and order, and maintains security in society. Form of government and its method of working depends on the accepted patterns of behaviour in a society. Development work is now-a-days a major responsibility of the government. For effective implementation of programmes, government may decentralise its functioning by creating local self-government like panchayats at different level.

2. Education: is the process of socialisation, which begins informally at home and then formally in educational institutions. Education as an institution helps develop knowledge, skill, attitude and understanding of the people and strive to make them competent members of the society. Education widens the mental horizon of the people and make them receptive to new ideas. .

3. Economic: Economy provides basic physical sustenance of the society by meeting the needs for food, shelter, clothing, and other necessary supply and services. Economic institutions include agriculture, industry, marketing, credit and banking system, co-operatives etc.

4. Family: is the most basic social institution in a society, and is a system of organized relationship involving workable and dependable ways of meeting basic social needs.

5. Religion: -is belief in supernatural. Religion constitutes a set of beliefs regarding the ultimate power in the universe, the ideal and proper pattern of behaviour, and ceremonial ways to expressing these beliefs. Religion also provides a foundation for the mores of the society. Taboos in various cultures have religious sanction. Religion provides a means by which individuals can face crises and ups and downs in life with strength and fortitude.

Function

1. Sex regulation.

2. Reproduction and perpetuation of the family and human race.

3. Socialisation

4. Provision of economic maintenance and livelihood in many cultures.

5. Provision of love, affection and security to the individual.

6. Provision of class status to the individual of the family into which he has been  born.

Culture institution :-

A cultural institution or cultural organization is an organization within a culture/subculture that works for the preservation or promotion of culture. The term is especially used of public and charitable organizations, but its range of meaning can be very broad. Examples of cultural institutions in modern society are museums, libraries and archives, churches, art galleries.

Museum :- A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these items available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. The largest museums are located in major cities throughout the world, while thousands of local museums exist in smaller cities, towns, and rural areas. Museums have varying aims, ranging from serving researchers and specialists to serving the general public. The goal of serving researchers is increasingly shifting to serving the general public.

The purpose of modern museums is to collect, preserve, interpret, and display objects of artistic, cultural, or scientific significance for the education of the public. From a visitor or community perspective, the purpose can also depend on one's point of view. A trip to a local history museum or large city art museum can be an entertaining and enlightening way to spend the day. To city leaders, a healthy museum community can be seen as a gauge of the economic health of a city, and a way to increase the sophistication of its inhabitants. To a museum professional, a museum might be seen as a way to educate the public about the museum's mission, such as civil rights or environmentalism.

Library :- A library is a curated collection of sources of information and similar resources, selected by experts and made accessible to a defined community for reference or borrowing, often in a quiet environment conducive to study. It provides physical or digital access to material, and may be a physical location or a virtual space, or both. A library is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution, a corporation, or a private individual. Public and institutional collections and services may be intended for use by people who choose not to—or cannot afford to purchase an extensive collection themselves, who need material no individual can reasonably be expected to have, or who require professional assistance with their research. In addition to providing materials, libraries also provide the services of librarians who are experts at finding and organizing information and at interpreting information needs.

Archive :- An archive is an accumulation of historical records in any media or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of that person or organization. Professional archivists and historians generally understand archives to be records that have been naturally and necessarily generated as a product of regular legal, commercial, administrative, or social activities. They have been metaphorically defined as "the secretions of an organism and are distinguished from documents that have been consciously written or created to communicate a particular message to posterity. In general, archives consist of records that have been selected for permanent or long-term preservation on grounds of their enduring cultural, historical, or evidentiary value. Archival records are normally unpublished and almost always unique, unlike books or magazines of which many identical copies may exist.

Chruch :- A church building or church house, often simply called a church, is a building used for Christian religious activities, particularly for Christian worship services. The term is often used by Christians to refer to the physical buildings where they worship, but it is sometimes used as an analogy to refer to buildings of other religions. In traditional Christian architecture, a church interior is often structured in the shape of a Christian cross. When viewed from plan view the vertical beam of the cross is represented by the center aisle and seating while the horizontal beam and junction of the cross is formed by the bema and altar.

Towers or domes are often added with the intention of directing the eye of the viewer towards the heavens and inspiring a range of thoughts and emotions in visitors and worshippers. Modern church buildings have a variety of architectural styles and layouts; many buildings that were designed for other purposes have now been converted for church use, and, conversely, many original church buildings have been put to other uses.

Art museum :- An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily concerned with visual art, art galleries are often used as a venue for other cultural exchanges and artistic activities, such as performance arts, music concerts, or poetry readings. Art museums also frequently host themed temporary exhibitions which often include items on loan from other collections.

In distinction to a commercial art gallery, run by an art dealer, the primary purpose of an art museum is not the sale of the items on show.