2.4 Social Roles and Status

• Status (position): any socially-defined location in a group — the place. Ralph Linton's pair: ascribed status (given at birth or by life-course: sex, caste, son, elder) vs achieved status (earned: advocate, judge, graduate). A master status dominates all others (in Nepal, historically: caste; today, often occupation or party affiliation).• Role (behaviour): the dynamic aspect of status — the rights and duties enacted by the status-holder. Role set (Merton): each status carries a bundle of roles (a teacher is also examiner, colleague, employee, citizen).• Role dynamics (exam favourites):role conflict (incompatible expectations — the judge whose relative appears before the court; the daughter-in-law who is also a wage worker); rolestrain (difficulty within one role — a first-time advocate alone before a full bench); role exit (retirement, widowhood, renunciation).Legal connection (one line, use it): legal capacity is status written into law — and anti- discrimination law (equality clauses; the 2074 Codes) is the state's attack on the unfair ascription of statuses (by caste, sex, disability).