role
role, social role, role theoryRole is a key concept in sociological theory. It highlights the social expectations attached to particular social positions and analyses the workings of such expectations. Role theory was particularly popular during the mid-20th century, but after sustained criticism came to be seen as flawed and became less widely used. However the concept of role, properly understood, remains a basic tool for sociological understanding.
There are two rather different approaches within role theory. One develops the social anthropology of Ralph Linton and gives a structural account of roles situated within the social system. Here, roles become institutionalized clusters of normative rights and obligations: Talcott Parsons's celebrated account of the sick role is a good example. An alternative approach is more social-psychological in tenor and focuses upon...
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