Module 3:
FUNCTIONS OF
COMMUNITIES IN TERMS
OF STRUCTURES,
DYNAMICS AND
PROCESSES
COMMUNITY STRUCTURES
1. Community Social Structure
2. Community Cultural Structure
3. Community Economic Structure
4. Community Political Structure
1. Community Social Structure
It refers to the rules and
expectations that people develop
in the community over time to help
regulate and manage their
interaction with one another.
Elements Community Social Structures
• Social Institution - Established
patterns of beliefs and behavior that are
centered on addressing basic social
needs of people in the community.
• Social Group - Consist of two or
more people in the community who
regularly interact with one another.
Elements Community Social Structures
• Status - Position or rank a person
hold in relation to other members of
the community. ( Ascribed, Achieved )
• Role - Obligation or behavior
expected from an individual based on
one’s status in life.
2. Community Cultural Structure
It refers to the institutionalized
patterns of life that are shared,
learned, developed and
accepted by people in the
community.
Elements Community Cultural Structures
• Symbols - Shared words, gestures,
objects or signals which people in
community use to convey and develop
recognizable meanings.
• Language - A symbolic system that
allows people to develop complex
thoughts and record and explain new
ideas.
Elements Community Cultural Structures
• Norm – refers to specific cultural
expectation on how to behave in
a given situation.
• Values - the abstract standards in a
community that define the ideal
principles of what is good, just and
desirable.
Elements Community Cultural Structures
• Beliefs – shared ideas of what is held
collectively true by people in a
community.
• Rituals – refer to the established sacred
or secular procedures and ceremonies
that people in the community regularly
perform.
• Artifacts – any objects or things
that have special meaning for
people in the community.
3. Community Political Structure
It refers to the people’s established
ways allocating power and making
decisions in running and managing
community affairs.
Elements Community Political Structures
• Political Organization – pertains
either to political parties or political
groups in the community who
engaged in political activities
• Citizenship Norms – a shared set of
expectations about citizen’s role in
politics.
Elements Community Political Structures
• Power Relations – pertains to how
different groups in the community can
interact with and control other groups.
• Leadership Structure – refers to the
composition of recognized leaders in
the community and the lines or
workflow of their authority.
4. Community Economic Structure
It pertains to various organized ways
and means through which the people
in the community produce goods, and
services, allocate limited resources
and generate wealth in order to satisfy
their needs and wants.
Elements Community Economic Structures
1. Capital Assets – a property or anything
that is owned and has an economic value
which is expected to generate profit for a
long period of time.
• Human Capital – labor force in the
community.
• Social Capital - the collective value of
social networks and connections and
inclinations that arise to provide
mutual support.
• Natural Capital - land, water and
resources, trees and forest products.
• Physical Capital - Infrastructure
(transport, roads, vehicles, buildings,
water supply and sanitation, energy
communications).
• Financial Capital - Savings, credit and
debt, remittances, pensions and
wages.
Elements Community Economic Structures
2. Vulnerability Context – The insecurity in
the well-being of individuals and
household in the community.
3. Trade – it involves the sale and
purchase of goods, services and
information.
