Chapter IV

Social Groups
 Nature and Definition of Group
 A person might belong to a business group, a voters group, a
religious group.
 Each group has its own special behavior patterns, and each is
composed of individuals.
 A group is a member of individuals who interact recurrently
according to some pattern of social organization.
 Sociologist identify these norms, that define appropriate
behavior for group members; a system of sanctions that
maintains social control;
 A ranking system that assigns different degrees of importance of
particular roles.

Characteristics of Social Groups

 Members interact with one another significantly more than with
non-members.
 Members share a common identity, a sense of belonging.
 Members expect one another to adhere to a special and distinct
set of norms.
 Smaller Groups Versus Larger Groups

► Small groups are primary source of social order.

► They are also powerful means of social control because of
their psychological hold over members.
► A person likely to conform to small group pressures because
he or she wants the emotional satisfactions, the sense of
belonging, identity and self esteem they can provide.
► Unity and morale tend to de higher in small groups than in
large ones.
► A small group consists of two or more people who repeatedly
interact face to face
► As a group grows larger, members tend to split into
subgroups, interaction becomes chaotic, roles tend to become
more specialized, and coordination of interrelated parts arises,
essential communication among the parts becomes more
necessary, personal relationships tend to become less
intimate and organization becomes more formal.
 Types of Groups

A. Ferdinand Tonnies B. Emile Durkheim C. Contemporary

Sociologists
1. Gemeinschaft – 1. Mechanical Solidarity 1. Primary Groups – The
translated roughly as – refers to the bond felt members know each
“community in a group”. by individuals toward other as human beings.
each other in
communities that are
small and stable.

2. Gesselschaft– 2.Organic solidarity – 2. Secondary Groups –

Characterized by the implies that ties are members recognize each
pursuit of self interest, based on the functions other as performers of
impersonal attachment, people perform for each specific task or roles.
efficiency and progress. other.
 Group Dynamics
 The study of the relationship between members of a group.
 Primary groups more likely to develop a strong sense of identity
than secondary groups.
 The in groups is a collection of people with whom one feels kinship
for some reason, while the out group is any group with which one
does not identify.
 A stereotype is an image shared by members of one group about
another group.
 Reference groups are those from which one models or patterns
behavior, without necessarily belonging to that group.
 Communication is the transmission of a message non verbal or
verbal.
 Sociograms – used by teachers in drawing up seating plans and
by industry concerned with productivity and group satisfaction.
 Sociometry: A Tool of
Sociology
 An objective technique for assessing patterns of attraction,
indifference, or even rejection among the members of a specific
group.
 A more common technique involves the use of questionnaire, in
which members of the group are asked to the name of the
individual with whom the would most likely engage in some
specific form of activity.
 The data obtained are often represented in the form of a
sociogram, which indicates symbolically the patterns of choice
existing between the members ate the time the data are
gathered.
 The Principal Components of a
Social Organization
The patterns of expectation that regulate group behavior fall into four general
categories.

1. Groups established general rules or norms which apply more or less uniformly to
all members of the group.
2. To achieve a necessary division of labor, groups also develop a system of roles
to specialize rights, duties and obligations.
3. To ensure that members will behave according to both the general rules and the
specialized role expectations.
4. Groups developed a ranking system by which members are accorded different
levels of prestige, power, and privilege.
 Group Tension and Conflict
 Social instability and disorder can stem from a variety of
causes, many of them related to group structures.
 A conflict in goals, breakdown in the usual channels of
interaction and communication, normative confusion, role
conflict and strain, the ineffectiveness of available
sanctions and disturbances in status relations are but a few
of the possible sources of tensions and disharmony within
groups and between groups.
 Consequences of conflict

Conflict is disturbing to the individuals involves and disruptive of the group in

which it occurs.
1. Conflict can clarify issues – problems affecting the members of a group cannot
be solved until they are seen or examined.
2. Conflict can integrate a group – intergroup conflict could reduce tensions
within a group by providing an external target for refreshments and hostilities.
3. Conflict can stimulate change – labor conflict has helped improve working
conditions, raise the standards of living and create the machinery for settling
disputes that might disrupt the economy.