Institution

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Institution

An Institution is an organized system of thought/conception, administration, and behaviour that structures thinking and behaviour with a view towards meeting various individual and societal needs. Institutions are created by and operate within a specific Institutional Framework.

Concept Map

Types

Institution >

• Administrative Framework
• Authentic Institution
• Inauthentic Institution

Related LP Terms

Institution >

Non-LP Related Terms

Institution >

• Human Development
• Institutional Framework

Notes

Elements

Substantive Elements of Institutions

An institution is a set of norms, rules, roles, expectations, incentives, and sanctions that systematically organize human behaviour towards some specific end. To be specific, institutions contain the following substantive elements:

• Norms are the unwritten social standards that we all, more or less, follow: arrive on time, raise your hand, wait your turn, don’t interrupt, respect personal space, work hard, use your indoor voice, etc.
• Rules are the explicit, often written prescriptions and prohibitions we are expected to honour: don’t plagiarize, don’t cheat, no phones, no bullying, meet deadlines, attend daily, dress appropriately, and so on.
• Roles are the distinct social positions or “parts” that people play in life: teacher, student, principal, janitor, etc.
• Expectations are broader role-based or predictive beliefs we have about what should happen we follow the institutions norms, play by the institutions’ rules, and adopt the institutions roles. As students, we expect teachers to prepare lessons and grade fairly, and we expect that if we study hard and pass, we will graduate and get a good job.
• Incentives are the rewards or deterrents that motivate compliance with the norms, rules, and roles of an institution. These include, depending on the institution, stars, grades, praise, awards, scholarships, graduation, college admissions, money, power, sex, control over someone’s life or death, and so on, and so forth.
• Sanctions are the actual consequences for violations of norms and rules. These include detention, suspension, expulsion, failing grades, loss of credit, and informal consequences like shame, gossip, ostracism, and exclusion. Together, these norms, rules, roles, expectations, incentives, and sanctions systematically organize how people behave in schools towards some future goal.

Theory

Institutions are foundational structures within society that serve to organize and facilitate various aspects of human activity, addressing both individual and societal needs. They can be effectively analyzed through three primary frameworks: the conceptual, administrative, and behavioural frameworks. This analytical approach provides a comprehensive understanding of how institutions function, their underlying principles, and their impact on society.

Institutions may be categorized as an Authentic Institution or an Inauthentic Institution

Although we are often born into institutions, institutions themselves do not exist without tacit individual approval and acceptance of behavioural patterns. Teachers, for example, recreate the institution of education on a daily basis by their formal and informal participation in the behavioural patterns associated with the institution. It is the same with all institutions. An institution exists only when individuals voluntarily (or involuntarily) participate in the behavioural patterns. In other words, the behavioural patterns of institutions do not exist independently of the institution. We (and by "we" I mean the witting or unwitting participants in institutional behaviours) are taught the "ways" and behaviours of a specific institution. Teachers for example spend many extra years in school not only learning the technical component of teaching, but also the expected behaviours. The same can be said of any institution in society. The behaviours, norms, and values associated with particular institutions are "passed on." This process of learning the institutional ropes is known as Socialization.

For more on institutions, see Institutional Framework

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• All About Institutions

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Footnotes

References