What is a Social Group?

 

What is a Social Group?

What is group?

Two or more individuals interacting and interdependent who have come together to achieve particular objectives.

According to show (1981) – A group can be defined as a collection of two or more peoples who meet regularly and influence one another over a period of time, perceive themselves as a distinct entity distinguishable from others share common values and strive for common objectives.

Types of Groups

Formal group

It is established by the magnet and is expected to perform well defined task to achieve original objectives.

 Informal group

These groups grow out of the need for friendship, affiliation companionship and communication between people.

Formal group

Hask group

        It is a temporary formal group that is solved. To solved specific groups.

Command Group

It is a form of Permanent group in the organization directed by structure of the organization.

Informal group

Friendship group

These groups are based or common characteristics like age, common value and college affiliations.

Interest Group

These groups compose of individuals who share a mutual interest and group together to try to achieve their objectives.

Why do people form groups

Social Identity theory: – perspective says considers when and why individuals consider why themselves members of groups.

In-group favouritism: – perspective in which we see members of our in group as better than other people and people not in our group as all the same.

Functions of a group

Task Functions

                    Group’s carryout certain task function to achieve organisational goals.

Maintenance Functions

These functions are performed to take care of personal needs and expectations of member and individual

Models of Group development

Tuckman’s 5 steps model of group Development:-

 

Properties of Group

There are 6 group properties:-

Social groups

Two or more persons in interaction constitute a social group. It has common aim. In its strict sense group is a collection of people interacting together in an orderly way on the basis of shared expectations about each other’s behaviour. As a result of this interaction the members of a group feel a common sense of belonging.

A group is a collection of individuals but all collectivises do not constitute a social group. A group is distinct from an aggregate (people eating at railway station or bus stand) members of which do not interact with one another. The essence of the social group is not physical doneness or contact between the individuals but a consciousness of joint Interaction.

Definition Of Social Group

1. Williams: – “is a given aggregate of people playing interrelated roles and recognized by themselves or others as a unit of interaction.”

2. McKee: – “a plurality of people as actors involved in a pattern of social interaction, conscious of sharing common understanding and accepting some rights and obligations that occur only to members.”

3. Green-“A group is an aggregate of individuals which persist in time, which has one or more interests and activities in common and which is organised.

4. Maclver and Page: – Any collection of human being.” who are brought into social relationship with one another.”

Thus a social group consist of such members as whole:-

• Reciprocal. Relations.

• Members are bound by a sense of unity.

• Their Interest is common, behaviour is similar.

• They are bound by common consciousness of interactions.

• Viewed in this way, a family, a village, a nation, a political party or a trade union is a social group.

In short a group means a group of associated members, reciprocally interacting on one another. Viewed in this way, all old man between fifty or sixty or men belonging to a particular income level are regarded as aggregates ‘or quasi-groups .They may become groups when they are in interaction with one another

Characteristics of social group

• Mutual awareness.

• Sense of unity.

• Similarity of behaviour.

• One or more common Interests

• We-feelings

• Group Norms

Difference between social group and quasi group/Patential group

Social group

It is an aggregation of Individuals in which definite relations exists between individuals composing it. Each individual is conscious of the group itself and its symbols.

Whereas

Quasi Group

It is an aggregate or position of community which has no recognizable structure or organisation. And whose members may be unconscious or less conscious of the existence of the grouping.

Classification of groups

Different sociologists have classified groups in different ways.

Various thinkers have chosen may criteria or bases for the classification social groups – such as size, kind of contact, nature of interests, degree of organisation and degree of permanence etc.

 Dwight Sanderson

He has classified groups into three types on the bases of structure are as follows:-

1. Involuntary: – Group is that to which man has no choice, which is based on kinship such as family, tribe or cian.

2. Voluntary: – a group is one which a man joins of his volition or wishes.

3. Delegate: – It is one to which a man joins as a representative of a number of people either elected or nominated by them. Parliament or assembly is a delegate group.

F-H. Giddings

1. Genetic: – The genetic group is the family in which a man is born involuntary.

2. Congregate: – It is the voluntary group to which he joins voluntarily.

George Hasen

He has classified group into four types on the cells of their relations to other groups.

1. Unsocial: – is one which largely lives to itself and for itself and does not participate in the larger society of which it is a part. It does not mix up with other groups and remains aloof from them. But it never goes against the Interest of larger group.

2. Pseudo-social:- this group participate in the larger group of which it is a part but mainly for its own gain and not for the greater good.

3. Anti-social:-  It is one which acts against the interest of larger group of which it is a part.

4. Pro-social:- It is- the reverse of antisocial group. It works for the larger interest of society of which it is a part.

 CH. Cooley

1. Primary group: – Face to Face, close and intimate relationship among the members such as Family.

2. Secondary Group: – the relationship among the members are interest, impersonal and superficial such as -political party, city, trade union.

W.G.Summer

He has made the division of groups into two types:-

1. In-groups:- the group to which the Individual identifies himself are his in-group such as family, tribe, college, occupation etc.

2. Out-groups:- All other groups to which he does not belong are his out-group.

P.A.Sorokin

An American sociologist, has divided groups into two major types

1. Vertical: – include persons of different strata or statues. Like- nation

2. Horizontal: – includes persons of the same status. Like a class

Besides there above, the groups can be classified further divided into the following categories:-

• Permanent and Transitory group

• Disjunctive and overlapping groups

• Contractual and Non-contractual

• Territorial and Non-territorial groups.

• Open group and closed groups.

• Homogenous and Heterogeneous

In-group and out-group:- William Graham Dumner an American sociologist in his book ‘Folkways’ made difference between In-group and Out- group from the individual point of view and it is based on preferential.

Gonds (ethnocentrism] among the members of group.

In groupness produces among the members the sense of belonging together which is the core of group life.

-In-group attitudes contain some element of sympathy and a sense of attachment to other members.

-It embodies the collective pronoun ‘we’. The members of in-group display cooperation, goodwill, mutual help and respect for one another rights.

WG Summer also said that ethnocentrism is a characteristic of in-group.

Ethnocentrism is that view of things in which one’s own group is the centre of everything and others are scaled and rated with reference to it.

It is an assumption that values, the ways are superior to others of lipe and attitude of one’s own group are superior to others.

Out-group:- He uses they’ or others’ with reference to his cut-group. Toward the members of out-group we feel a sense of indifference, audience, disgust, hostility, competition or outright conflict.

Primary Group the concept of primary group was introduced by Charles Horton

Cooley in his book social organisation’ published in 1909.

-though Cooley has never used the term ‘secondary group’ but while Discussing the groups ethers than those of primary, some sociologist k.Davis, Ogbum, MacIver have popularised other groups such as secondary groups.

Hence the classification of primary and secondary group is made on the basis nature of social contact, degree of Intimacy, size and the degree of org etc.

Primary group

It is the most simple and universal form of association. Primary Group is nucleus organisation.  It is a small group in which a small, number of persons come into direct contact with one another. They meet ‘Face-to-face’ for mutual help and discussion of common questions.

In the words of Cooley: – “By primary group I mean those characterised by intimate Face to face association and cooperation. They are primary in several sense.

Characteristics of primary group

1. Closeness or physical proximity.

2. Relationship is inclusive.

3. Identity of ends.

4. Relationship is an end in itself.

5. Relationship is personal.

Importance of primary Group

Individual point of view

PG plays a commanding role in the development of human personality.

It is fundamental in forming the social nature and ideas of the individual.

It is regarded as the nursery of human nature.

The development of self – the core of personality depends on case, intimate and personal contacts.

These groups not only satisfies the human needs but also provide a stimulus to each other in the pursuit of interest.

Society point of view

PG acts as an agency of social control. It not only provide security to members but also control their behaviour and regulate their relations.

The attitude of kindness, sympathy, love, tolerance, mutual help and sacrifice which provide the cementing force to social structure are developed in the primary group.

The members are taught by primary group to work in the society according to their roles with efficiency.

Secondary Group

These groups are of special significance, in modern industrial society. They have become almost inevitable today.

Their appearance is mainly due to growing cultural complexity.

We may define secondary groups as those associations that show impersonal or secondary relations and specialization of functions.

Definition of  Secondary Group

Davis :- He defined the secondary group as the opposite of everything already said about primary groups.

Robert Bierstadt: – SG are all those that they are not primary.”

Cooley: – SG are wholly lacking in Intimacy of association and usually in most of other primary and quasi- primary characteristics.”

Characteristics of secondary group

• Lange in size

• Formality

• Impersonality

• Indirect cooperation

• Voluntary membership

• Status depends upon role

Advantages

• Efficiency

• Wider cut lock

• Wider opportunities

Reference Group

• Herbert Haymar coined the term Reference Group in 1942 to apply to the group against which an individual evaluates his or her own situation or conduct.

• He distinguished between the membership group, to which people actually belong, and the reference group, which people use as a basis for comparison.

• A reference group may or may not be a membership group.

• Muzaffar Sheriff introduced the term reference into the literature on small groups in his book An Outline of Social Psychology.

Rik Merton and Timer subsequently elaborated the concept.

• Strictly speaking a reference group is one to which we do not actually belong but with which we identify ourselves or to which we would like to belong.

• We may actually belong to a group, yet we accept the norms of another group to which we refer but to which we do not actually belong.

• R. Moisten highlighted the importance of the reference group concept  in his theory of ‘relative deprivation’ and ‘reference group’.

He argues that we onint our behaviour in terms of both membership and non-membership i.e. reference group.

• When our membership group does not match our reference group we may experience a feeling of relative deprivation — discontent which arises from experiencing the gap between what we have (the circumstances of our group membership )and we believe we should have [the circumstances of our reference group]

• Feelings of relative deprivation provide fertile soil or collective behaviour and social movements.