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Institutional Grooves

Institutional Grooves

by David H. Kessel





The following is a visual (yes, a tad crude!) of how institutions operate and change. It stems from Peter L. Berger's precise description of social institutions from Invitation to Sociology. This description is portrayed in Berger's statement:

"Institutions provide procedures through which human conduct is patterned, compelled to go, in grooves deemed desirable by society. And this trick is performed by making these grooves appear to the individual as the only possible ones." (p. 87)



For an outline of Berger's fuller thoughts on Institutions...go HERE