Social Groups

    Social groups - the meaning, characteristics, classification                                                  and other details

The meaning

    When two or more persons are in interaction, they constitute a social group. It’s considered a social group when the persons on the group have the same interest and they share reciprocal relations, for example, at school and with family.

  These men, who had influence in the American Sociology, say: “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.” (Green); “A number of persons, two or more who have common objects of attention, who are stimulating to each other, who have common loyalty and participate in related activities are called as group.” (Bogardus)

Characteristics

•  Reciprocal relations – the persons on the group must be related to each other. A small gathering of people can’t form a group;
•  Common interests – on a group, the interests and ideals are common;
•  We-feeling – usually, the members use the word “we” feeling among them and they treat each other as friends. “We-feeling” is related to sympathy and loyalty;
•   Sense of unity – to develop a feeling or sense of belongingness it’s necessary to have sense of unity;
•   Group norms – each and every group has its own rules and norms. The members are supposed to follow these;
•   Similarity of behaviour – on a group, the interests and values are common so the people behave in more or less similiar way.

Classification

    Primary group – it consists on small groups with intimal relations (ex: family) and they established direct or indirect contact with one another. Direct contact is, usually, “face to face” because the persons ask for mutual help and discuss common question. Indirect contact is when we talk, via e-mail, with a family member, who is in another country.

  Secondary group – it consists on big groups, who have just formal and institucional relations. Some of them can last years but frequently they disappear after a short time. The intimacy within the group is lower than that in primary. The examples of secundary groups include a city, nation, corporation...

   Reference group – this group may not be an actual group, it may be an imaginary one. A reference group is one where we don’t have to belong directly but with which we identify ourselves or we would like to belong.

Social groups

Meaning:

    A social group is defined by two or more people who interact with one another, share equivalent characteristics and collectively have the spirit of unity.

Characteristics:

• Interaction, such as relationship interaction (social support) and task interaction (action executed by group members).
• Goals, because it’s easier to accomplish a goal as a group by the increasing of focus on a single goal.
• Interdependence, that can be mutual (flowing back and forth between members) or more linear/unilateral.
• Structure, that involves the need of regularities, norms and roles to form a group. If people fail to accomplish their expectations or fulfil their roles, they may not accept the group, or be accepted by other group members.
• Unity, a group is better than the total of its individual parts. A group is never speaked by its individualities, but always by a whole.

                

Classification:

    Primary group- a small social group whose members share personal and lasting relationships, showing real concern between them. As example, the family is the most important primary group. Lasting friendships are in primary group too.
    Secondary group- large groups involving formal relationships involving weak emotional ties and almost none personal knowledge of each other. Most secondary groups are short term.
    Intermediate group- complementarity between primary and secondary group, like school.

↬Social Groups↫

The meaning of Social Group:

➤It’s a group of formal, structured and continuous interactions between social agents that are bound by the same interests, activities and behavior, sharing common understanding. On these groups, everyone has their own position/status, derived from different functions. A family, a village, a nation, a political party or a trade union, are examples of social groups.

Characteristics of Social Groups:

➤Each group has an objective and functional structure, where all the members are organized according to:

1.      Mutual Awareness- Between the members of a social group there must be a mutuality and reciprocal relationship.

 

2.      One or more common interests- To start and proceed an ideal social group its essential to exist common interests.

 

3.      Sense of unity- In each social group there are vital factors that must exist, more specifically a sense of belongingness, loyalty and affection.

 

4.      We-feeling- The members of a social group share the same interests, which they defend as an unity.

 

5.      Similarity of Behavior- To accomplish a we-feeling, it’s important that the social group in question, share collective manners.

 

6.      Group Norms- The members should always follow a group of rules and norms; otherwise they will be punished.

  Classification of Social Groups:

➤Social Groups can be classified according to the structure (social rule; relationship between members and sense of belonging that an individual has in a group) or non-structure (social aggregates or categories).

1.      Social Rule: It refers to the following groups: family (socialization work); business (productive function); political (construction of the social model), religious (spiritual mission); recreative (cultural and sportive activities); etc.

 

2.      Relationship between members: It’s divided in primary groups (there is face-to-face and close relationship among the members and affective terms, so there is an informal relationship, for example the family), and secondary groups (it has the effectiveness and success as a finality, using formal and impersonal relationship, for example monopolies, military organizations or workers).

3.      Sense of belonging that an individual has in a group: It can be distinguished in ingroup (the individual inserts himself in it, for example family, college, occupation); outgroup (the individual does not belong in it and it’s adverse) and reference group (the individual wants be included in it, because its values constitute an evaluation model that he wants to acquire and interiorize through socialization).

And Other Details:

➤More Classifications: 

      1.   Involuntary, voluntary and delegate groups: involuntary group (when a person has no choice, based on relationship such as the family), voluntary group (when a person joins according to his will), delegate group (when a person joins as a representative of a number of people either elected or nominated by them such as parliament or assembly).