- "An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain individual behavior."
Established systems or structures in society that organize and regulate behaviour, such as family, education, and religion.
Family: The study of family as a social institution focuses on how families are formed, their behavior patterns, and how they shape culture and society.
Education: This topic explores how education is structured and how it contributes to social inequality, as well as how education helps shape the cultural beliefs and values of a society.
Religion: Religion is a defining aspect of many societies, and its study seeks to understand how it shapes cultures and how it influences and is influenced by social and political institutions.
Politics: Politics deals with structures and processes of political institutions, political culture, and political behavior.
Media: The media is a social institution that has a significant impact on culture, and its study seeks to understand how it represents and shapes society.
Healthcare: Healthcare is an essential social institution because it provides medical services and shapes the health of the population. This topic examines the structures and dynamics of medical institutions.
Law: Law is a system of rules and regulations that governs society. The study of law seeks to understand how it operates as a social institution, the role and responsibility of the legal system in different societies, and how law can shape cultural values.
Economy: The economy refers to the social institution that regulates the production, distribution, and trade of goods and services within a society.
Gender: Gender studies examine how gender roles, norms, and expectations are formed, reinforced, and perpetuated, as well as how these elements shape culture and society.
Race & Ethnicity: The study of race and ethnicity helps understanding the history of discrimination, inequality, and social identity. It also examines how race and ethnicity affect social institutions and how social institutions can mitigate or exacerbate the effects of race on society.
Family: A social institution that refers to a group of people who are related by blood, marriage, or adoption and who live together and function as a single unit.
Government: An institution that refers to the various forms and structures of authority that organize and regulate human societies.
Education: The social institution responsible for transmitting the knowledge, skills, and values that are deemed essential for individuals to function effectively in society.
Religion: A social institution that involves beliefs, practices, and rituals related to a higher power or divine being.
Economy: A social institution that refers to the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services in a society.
Media: A diverse range of institutions and practices that include television, radio, print, and digital platforms, used to convey information, ideas, and entertainment to the public.
Health Care: A social institution that refers to the systems, organizations, and individuals responsible for ensuring the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.
Legal System: A social institution that refers to the set of laws, rules, and regulations that are enforced by governments to regulate behavior and resolve disputes.
Military: A social institution that refers to the organized forces of a country or society that are trained and equipped to protect and defend their interests against external or internal threats.
Sports: A social institution that refers to organized physical activities that entail competition and entertainment, and that often reflect cultural values and expectations.
- "All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity."
- "Laws, rules, social conventions, and norms are all examples of institutions."
- "Institutions vary in their level of formality and informality."
- "Political science, anthropology, economics, and sociology...science of institutions, their genesis, and their functioning."
- "Primary or meta-institutions are institutions such as the family or money that are broad enough to encompass sets of related institutions."
- "Institutions are also a central concern for law, the formal mechanism for political rule-making and enforcement."
- "Historians study and document the founding, growth, decay, and development of institutions as part of political, economic, and cultural history."