Page 137 - Essencials of Sociology

Vienna: Social Structure and Social Interaction

These photos that I took
We live our lives within social structure. Just in Vienna, Austria, make visible
as a road is to a car, providing limits to where some of social structure’s
it can go, so social structure limits our behav- limiting, shaping, and direction-giving. Most of the
ior. Social structure—our culture, social class, social structure that affects our lives is not physi-
statuses, roles, group memberships, and social cal, as with streets and buildings, but social, as with
institutions—points us in particular directions norms, belief systems, obligations, and the goals held
in life. Most of this direction-giving is beyond out for us because of our ascribed statuses. In
our awareness. But it is highly effective, giving these photos, you should be able to see how social
shape to our social interactions, as well as to interaction takes form within social structure.

what we expect from life.

Vienna provides a mixture of the old and the new. Stephan's Dom
(Cathedral) dates back to 1230, the carousel to now.
And what would Vienna be without its wieners? The word
wiener actually comes from the name Vienna, which is Wien
in German. Wiener means "from Vienna."

The main square in Vienna,
Stephan Platz, provides a
place to have a cup of coffee,
read the newspaper, enjoy the
architecture, or just watch the
hustle and bustle of the city.