ABSTRACT
This chapter explores that every society has a culture and a social structure that are closely linked to each other. Culture consists of common knowledge, beliefs, values, and norms, whereas social structure consists of a set of social arrangements. These arrangements consist of interlinked social positions organized into a set of institutions. Each social position, or status, carries behavioral expectations known as roles. Social positions also carry unequal rewards, which are a part of society's system of stratification by which scarce resources are distributed unequally. Both functionalists and conflict theorists agree, for different reasons, which culture and social structure are usually in harmony with each other, but sometimes at odds. According to functionalists, culture and structure can become imbalanced with respect to each other through the combination of structural change and cultural lag. Cultural diffusion resulting from contact with another society can bring a similar result. Through cultural diffusion, the values of subcultures can spread into the larger society.
