By Sally Raskoff
I saw this sign on my campus
recently:
It makes people giggle when they first see it since it is
right next to a door that they could certainly access in order to exit the
building. It is an unlocked door that opens, thus it is accessible.
This sign is a reflection of social structure.
The sociological concept of social structure is sometimes a
tough one to understand. Social
structure is not necessarily something you can point to, yet it exists all
around us. It is in patterned relationships and interactions, the societal
institutions, culture, policies, rules, and norms.
The previous sign and this next one are both reflections of
social structure since they exist for very specific reasons. Does this next
sign help give more of a hint as to how they reflect social structure?
The “accessible” in the first sign was not about whether or
not anyone could access or go through
the door. It has to do with whether everyone
could get in and out of the building through that door.
Local, state, and federal laws and
policies exist to ensure buildings, especially public buildings, have
appropriate entries and exist for everyone.
In particular, the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA) lays out what accommodations must be made to
ensure equal opportunity and avoid discrimination against people with
disabilities.
The ADA is under the purview of the Department of Justice,
Civil Rights Division. Thus it is part of the federal governmental structure
whose responsibility revolves around public goods.
Public goods are those things in society to which everyone
should have access, no matter what. Getting in and out of buildings. Clean air,
clean water and sewage systems. National defense. Education. Some countries
also include health care as a public good.
Public organizations and institutions are designed to
provide public goods for the good of society. For-profit (corporations and
business) organizations produce goods for which people must pay – and for which
a profit can be generated and pocketed. Non-profit organizations exist in a
middle ground. Their goods and services are provided for a limited number (not
necessarily everyone), have some benefit to society, and any profits they yield
serve the mission of the non-profit.
The signs above reflect the governmental
laws about non-discrimination and equal opportunity for everyone.
What about this next photo, which was taken in the same
building? What about these wall placards are a reflection of social structure?
The “Exit Route” sign is in the same color scheme of the
previous signs. These signs (Exit Route) are next to each door that is closest
to the nearest door out of the building. Thus a classroom in the middle of the
building has both doors labeled as exit routes. Those classrooms that are next
to a door that goes outside the building have this sign only on the classroom
door closest to the outside door.
Note the dots below the words – those are “Exit Route” in
Braille.
This sign is most likely required by the ADA and possibly other
laws or policies far beyond the organization in which
these signs exist.
The sticker on the wall plate below the Exit sign says
“Conserve Energy Turn off Lights” It is about energy conservation and encourages
people to be more ecologically responsible and financially conservative. That
sticker is related more to campus and school district policies, rather than to federal
laws.
The pink and yellow sheets above relate to a safety program
on campus that put maps and safety information for bomb threats, earthquakes,
and other disasters next to each door in every classroom on campus. These may
be there because of local or state regulations or policies.
(I found it much easier to find the federal policies for
these aspects of social structure compared to the local or state policies.)
While an abstract concepts in many ways, social structure is
apparent if you look carefully enough. The labels on our food and clothing, the
fine print we can barely read or hear in advertisements, the reason we are
expected to go to school from Kindergarten through 12th grade, are
all examples of social structure. It creates patterns in our behavior, social
norms about what we should be doing, it shapes and is shaped by culture.
Look around your environment to see what reflections of
social structure surround you. What can you find?