Signs of Structure

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 12^th 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?