B A Part 1 SOCIAL GROUPS INTRODUCTION DEFINITIONS

B. A. Part -1 SOCIAL GROUPS INTRODUCTION DEFINITIONS & TYPES

INTRODUCTION Ø Ø Ø All human life is group life. It is also found in animals. Early humans lived an associated life. These are mainly for food, sex and protection. These dependence proves the necessity of group life.

DEFINITION According to Mac. Iver and Page (1949) “By group, we mean any collection of human beings, who are brought into social relationships with one another”. � According to Ogburn and Nimkoff (1955) “Whenever two or more individuals come together and influence one another, they may be said to constitute a social group”. �

CHARACTERISTICS Ø Ø Ø Following are the main characteristics of social groups: Two and more than two persons. Some kind of regular and conscious interaction through direct or indirect communication. Some common interest or some common object of attention.

CHARACTERISTICS Ø Ø Ø Some degree of reciprocity. A feeling of unity (similar norms, values and expectations). Some measure of mutual awareness. Common understanding. Collective behaviour.

TYPES OF SOCIAL GROUPS Ø Ø Ø In-groups and out-groups Primary and Secondary Groups Quasi Groups Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft Reference Groups

In-groups and Out-groups In-groups An in-group is a social category to which persons feel they belong and share a consciousness or awareness of kind. In other words, these are groups for which we precede with the pronoun ‘my’ such as my family, my nation, my caste, my occupational groups, etc.

Important characteristics of ingroups: Ø Ø Ø Mutual sympathy towards one another. Mutual cooperation, help and goodwill. Respesct for mutual benefits and rights. Sentiment of solidarity and we-feeling. Feeling of tolerance, compassion and generosity. Preferential behaviour with the members.

Out-Groups Ø Ø Ø An out-group is a group or category to which people feel they do not belong. We treat most members of out-group as ‘others’. We have the feeling of indifference, avoidance, disgust, competition, suspicion and scorn towards them.

Characteristics Ø Ø In-group tends to stereotype, label the outgroup members such as racists, barbarians, spendthrifts, anti-capitalists, revolutionaries, rich and greedy. Any threat from out-group increase solidarity of in-group.

Primary and Secondary Groups A primary relationship is one in which intimate face-toface association and cooperation predominate. These relations are based on ties of affection and loyalty, involve many different aspects to people’s lives and endure over long period of times. According to CH Cooley (1909) “By Primary group I mean those characterized by intimate face to face association and co-operation. They are primary in several senses, but chiefly they are fundamental informing social nature and ideals of the individual”.

E. A. Shills (1951) “By primary group we mean a group characterised by a high degree of solidarity, informally in the code of rules which regulate the behaviour of its members, and autonomy in the creation of these rules. The members with one another and with any symbols of the group which might have grown up”.

Characteristics of a Primary Group Ø Ø Ø Physical proximity Small size Stability Similarity of background Limited self-interest Intensity of Shared interests

Example of Primary groups Ø Ø Ø Family Childhood friends Neighbourhood

According to Ogburn and Nimkoff, “groups which provide experience lacking in intimacy can be called Secondary group”. According to Frank D. Watson, “the secondary group is larger and more formal, is specialized and direct in its contact and relies more for unity and continues upon the stability of its social-organization than does the primary group”.

Characteristics of Secondary Groups Ø Ø Ø Ø Large in size Less physical proximity Impersonal or secondary relation Membership Specific ends or interests Indirect communication Social control

Example of Secondary groups Ø Ø Ø Ø Members of same profession Teachers or students union Trade union Mohallah fellows Residents of the same city or village Members of the same political party People offering prayers in the mandir or masjid. , etc

Difference between Primary and Secondary group Ø Ø Meaning: Primary group is the nucleus of all social organizations. It is characterized by intimate face-to-face association and cooperation. But secondary groups are large scale groups in which the relationships are relatively casual, impersonal and competitive. Size: A primary group is very small in size and is confined to a small area but secondary group is very large and spread all over the world.

Ø Ø Ø Stability: Primarygroups are relatively stable or durable whereas secondary group may be temporary or permanent. Co-operation: The members of a primary group directly co-operate with each other. But the members of a secondary group indirectly cooperate with each other because there exists indirect relations among the members. Structure: Primary group is based on an informal structure and is very simple. On the other hand secondary group is based on formal structure and is regulated by a set of formal rules and regulations.

Ø Ø Ø Relationships: There exist direct, intimate and personal relationships among the members of a primary group whereas among the members of a secondary group exist indirect and impersonal relations. Methods of social control: Primary group exercises control over its members through informal means such as customs, folkways, mores, etc. Secondary group have limited control over its members. It controls the behaviour of its members through formal means such as police, jail, court, law, etc. Goal: Goal of a particular member is considered as the goal of all other members in a primary group whereas in secondary groups each member has his or her own goals or aims for the fulfillment of which he or she joins the group.

Ø Ø Ø Personality: Primary group has greater influence on the development of personality. But secondary group is mainly concerned with a particular aspect of the personality of an individual. Physical Closeness: Members of a primary group live in physical proxity to each other. There exists face-to-face relations among the members. Physical distance is a characteristic feature of secondary group. The relationship among the members of a primary group is spontaneous in nature whereas the relationship among the members of a secondary group is governed by external forces.

Quasi Groups These groups stand in between the primary and secondary groups. Quasi groups are collection of people which lack organisation and structureand members do not have much awareness about the existence of their group. Social classes, status groups, sex groups, racial groups, crowd, public, audiences are some of the examples of quasi group

Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft Somewhat similar to the concepts of Primary and secondary groups are the concept of gemeinschaft and gesellschaft. These are German terms and used to represent community and society. These concepts were developed by German sociologist Ferdinard Tonnies (1887) to differentiate between urban and rural life.

Tonnies’s contribution of the nature of social system is based on his distinction between the Gemeinschaft (communal society) and the Gesellschaft (associational society). In the rural, peasant societies that typify the Gemeinschaft, personal relationships are defined and regulated on the basis of traditional social rules. People have simple and direct face=to-face relations with each other that are determined by Wesenwille (natural will) – i. e. , natural and spontaneously arising emotions and expressions of sentiment.

The Gesellschaft, in contrast, is the creation of Kurwille (rational will) and is typified by modern, cosmopolitan societies with their government bureaucracies and large industrial organizations. In the Gesellschaft, rational self interest and calculating conduct act to weaken the traditional bonds of family, kinship, and religion that permeate the Gemeinschaft’s structure. In the Gesellschaft, human relations are more impersonal and indirect, being rationally constructed in the interest of efficiency or other economic and political considerations.

REFERENCE GROUP Musthafa Sherif (1953) defined reference group as “those groups to which the individual relates himself psychologically”.

Ø Ø Ø The term ‘reference group’ was coined by Herbert Hyman. Reference group which is used as a basis for comparison and evaluation. A reference group may or may not be a membership group.

Types of Reference Group Ø Ø Positive reference groups: These are the ones we want to be accepted by. Thus, if we want to be a film actor, we might carefully observe and imitate the behaviour of film actors. Negative reference groups: These groups we do not want to be identified with. We try to avoid resembling members of a particular group.

THANK YOU DR. KAVITA KUMARI Assistant Professor Department of Sociology R. M. College, Saharsa