"An essential prerequisite for the study of any community is an understanding of their social structure. By social structure is meant the whole network of social relations in which are involved the members of a given community at a particular time. It defines on the one hand the forms in which people are grouped for social purposes in that society, and on the other the socially recognized ties reflected in the behavior of individuals to one another and to their social groups. Notes and Queries on Anthropology, 1967:63.

In a study of social organization two factors need to be considered... status and role. Status is a position or place in a social system including its accompanying rights and duties. Contrary to our normal narrowed meaning of the term, ALL members have status. In fact they occupy many of them. Some statuses are totally or partially inclusive... housewives are always female, but not all housewives are mothers. Some are totally exclusive... a son is never a daughter. Some statuses are prescribed in that we are born that way... male, female; black, white, oriental, Indian. Others are achieved... married, missionary, lawyer, janitor, farmer.

Obviously statuses carry with them cultural values. "Lawyer" has a higher stigma in our minds than "farmer" as an occupational status. These statuses are often recognized by other signals in our culture. We never imagine a lawyer in a court dressed in overalls and we never hear someone spoken to in a derogatory way... "you lawyer!" Though knowing some lawyers, maybe we should!

"Role is the behavior, attitudes, and values associated with a particular status. Every status has a role but the two are not the same thing." Cultural Anthropology, a Christian Perspective, Grunlan & Mayers, 1988:128. Doing the activities of a particular status doesn't mandate that status to a person. For example, a baby-sitter does activities associated with the status of mother, but is viewed socially as one only when she gives birth to her own child.

"In order to function properly in a new culture people need to know, not only the symbols of a status, but also the pattern of behavior or role that goes with it." (Grunlan & Mayers 1988:129) That knowledge will lesson the "culture jolts" of wrongly assuming that the role of "employer" in Latin America is the same as it is in the U.S.. But it will also enable us to see more clearly what the Holy Spirit may be wanting to change in a particular status as we plant a church.

Social Organization consists of three areas of consideration... classifying factors, daily routine and kinship. Classifying factors simply refer to the elements by which a culture tends to arrange or classify itself socially. Daily routine refers to the "normal" routine for these classifications. Kinship refers to the system by which "family" and "non-family" is defined.

We relate differently according to WHERE we live. Relationships between members of the same household differ from their relationships outside that household. Relationships between members of the same village (community, valley, country, etc.) are different from relationships outside that group. Here are some examples of spatial organization in other cultures.

We relate differently according to biological factors as well. In some societies a whole new set of social rules come into play when a person enters a new life stage. These social divisions can be based on biological changes and stages such as: life cycle, age, or sex. Even in our own society there are certain rights and expectations when someone reaches the age of 21, or 63, or certain expectations for you because of your age or sex. In many cultures these social groupings often involve complicated ceremonies (sometimes called "rites of passage") that rarely exist in our society. These ceremonies are common for certain stages of life... naming, puberty, parenthood, etc. The fact that we to some degree ignore these stages may have a numbing effect on our desire to understand them and their importance in a tribal culture. Notice these contrasts of biological factors as a means of classifying people socially.

The largest factor in institutional groupings is obviously the family. It is culture that determines who we will marry, what is proper behavior in courtship, where newlyweds will live and what is expected of them by their new families. There are other institutional groupings however... lodges and secret societies. One American man can simultaneously belong to the following institutions... male; carpenter; husband; Christian; Baptist; member of the Rotary Club; etc., , ad-infinitum!

A correlation exists between a person's social status and daily routine. Even in our own culture those of higher social status often have more freedom and even legislate the routine of those on a lower level.

Therefore, a study should also be made of the typical daily routine of the people. Records should be based on men and women well known to the missionary. An approximate calendar or time-table of village and household life can be constructed including hours of rising, retiring, beginning and ending work, preparing and taking meals... any habitual or seasonal activities.