Society as a Structure of Relationships.

If we view society as an unseen force, we now have to think about - and explain - both the nature of this force and how it is created and reproduced over time. In this respect we need to think about society as a structure and, in this sense we need to understand it as a framework of rules and relationships.

Firstly, whenever we enter into a relationship with someone - either through choice or through necessity - we create some kind of invisible bond between us and the other person.

There are probably hundreds of different relationships that you could identify between yourself and other people in society. Some of these relationships are very personal (such as when you say "This is my lover") and some are very impersonal (such as when you watch someone on television), but the important thing is that all of these relationships affect you in some way, shape or form.

Secondly, it should be apparent that the relationships we form are significant to us only because of the meaning we give to them. In a way, it’s as if we are all involved in an elaborate game, where we pretend to both ourselves and to each other that the relationships we form are real, in the sense of having some sort of physical existence.

The idea of social relationships and the meaning they have for us is a key one in Sociology. This is because we can use this idea to suggest a theoretical solution to the problem of how to explain the apparent contradiction that exists between the fact that:

a. We are all unique, conscious (thinking) individuals with our own unique range of individual characteristics.

b. Human behaviour is highly organised, generally predictable and involves a great deal of broad similarity.