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Lecture V Social Group 2014 Lecture V Social Group 2014 Nobel College, Pokhara University, Kathmandu Nepal Basu Prasad Subedi 5/3/2014 Specific Objectives After the completion of this lecture student will be able to Share the meaning and definition of social groups Explain the characteristics of group Describe the types social groups Explain the influencing factors of group formation Understand the importance of group for business promotion Group: Meaning A small collection of people who interact with each other, usually face to face, over time in order to reach goals is called group. Two or more people who are bound in stable patterns of social interaction, with a sense of unity are generally known as a group. In the social sciences, a social group is two or more humans who interact with one another, share similar characteristics, and have a collective sense of unity. This is a very broad definition, as it includes groups of all sizes, from dyads to whole societies. A society can be viewed as a large group, though most social groups are considerably smaller. Society can also be viewed as people who interact with one another, sharing similarities pertaining to culture and territorial boundaries. A social group exhibits some degree of social cohesion and is more than a simple collection or aggregate of individuals, such as people waiting at a bus stop or people waiting in a line. Characteristics shared by members of a group may include interests, values, representations, ethnic or social background, and kinship ties. One way of determining if a collection of people can be considered a group is if individuals who belong to that collection use the self-referent pronoun "we;" using "we" to refer to a collection of people often implies that the collection thinks of itself as a group. Examples of groups include: families, companies, and circles of friends, clubs, local chapters of fraternities and sororities, and local religious congregations. Human beings never live in isolation. He rarely exists alone. Human life is essentially a group life. As a social animal he always lives in group. He begins his life as a participating member of the group i.e. family. He born, live, grows and dies in group. He forms group to fulfill his different needs and to attain common goals. Groups play an important role in shaping personality, in the development of social organization and socialization. That is why the study of group is very important in understanding the behavior of men and women. Hence group is one of the basic concepts in sociology. The concept of group may be considered from both individual and society‟s point of view. Famous Sociologists W.G. Sumner, C.H. Cooley, T.M. Newcomb and R.K. Merton made important contributions to the development of the concept of group. The term social group consists of two terms i.e. social and group. Ordinarily by social group we mean a collection of human beings. But the term social refers to social relationships or shared behaviors. Similarly, in the words of E.S. Bogardus the term “group refers to a number of units of anything in close proximity with one another”. Accordingly, it may refer to a group of trees, a group of houses, a group of horses etc. But in case of human beings as Maclver and Page says a group refers to “any collection of human beings who are brought into social relationships with one another”. Accordingly, a social group is a collection of interacting individuals who participate in similar activities and have a consciousness of joint interaction. There exists some degree of reciprocity and mutual awareness among the individuals. A social group is an organized one. Besides having mutual interaction and reciprocity the members of a social group have similar goals. The members of a social group interact according to some established patterns. Definite relations exist among individuals which constitute a social group. In the truest sociological sense a group refers to a collection of individuals who are brought into social relationship with one another and organize themselves for the fulfillment of common aims. But to have a complete understanding of the term social group it must be distinguished from the terms like social aggregates, social category, potential group or quasi group. A social aggregate is a mere collection of individuals who are in a particular place at a particular time but share no definite relations with one another e.g. passengers in a train. But a social category refers to a collection of individuals who have some common characteristics e.g. caste, sex, age and occupational groups. A potential or quasi group consists of a group of individuals having some common characteristics who does not possess any recognizable structure. But a potential or quasi group became a social group when it becomes organized. A social group has an organizational aspect i.e. rules, regulations, rivals, structure etc. and a Psychological aspect i.e. awareness or consciousness of the members. Members of a social group linked together in a system of social relationships with one another and they interact with each other according to norms of the group. A social group is also dynamic in nature. Renowned social psychologist Muzafer Sherif formulated a technical definition of a social group. It is a social unit consisting of a number of individuals interacting with each other with respect to: 1. common motives and goals; 2. an accepted division of labor; 3. established status relationships; 4. accepted norms and values with reference to matters relevant to the group; and 5. the development of accepted sanctions, such as raise and punishment, when norms were respected or violated. Explicitly contrasted with a social cohesion-based definition for social groups is the social identity perspective, which draws on insights made in social identity theory. The social identity approach posits that the necessary and sufficient conditions for the formation of social groups are "awareness of a common category membership" and that a social group can be "usefully conceptualized as a number of individuals who have internalized the same social category membership as a component of their self-concept.” Stated otherwise, while the social cohesion approach expects group members to ask "who am I attracted to?” the social identity perspective expects group members to simply ask "who am I?” A social group consists of two or more people who interact with one another and who recognize themselves as a distinct social unit. The definition is simple enough, but it has significant implications. Frequent interaction leads people to share values and beliefs. This similarity and the interaction cause them to identify with one another. Identification and attachment, in turn, stimulate more frequent and intense interaction. Each group maintains solidarity with all to other groups and other types of social systems. Groups are among the most stable and enduring of social units. They are important both to their members and to the society at large. Through encouraging regular and predictable behavior, groups form the foundation upon which society rests. Thus, a family, a village, a political party a trade union is all social groups. These, it should be noted are different from social classes, status groups or crowds, which not only lack structure but whose members are less aware or even unaware of the existence of the group. These have been called quasi-groups or groupings. Nevertheless, the distinction between social groups and quasi-groups is fluid and variable since quasi-groups very often give rise to social groups, as for example, social classes give rise to political parties. Some Definitions of Group A group is a social unit which consists of number of individuals who stand in (more or less) definite status and role relationships to one another and which possesses a set of values or norms of its own regulating the behavior of individual members at least in matter of consequence to the group. -Sheeriff and Sheeriff A social group may be thought of as a number of persons two or more, who have some common objects of attention, which are stimulating to each other, who have common loyalty and participate in similar activities. -Bogardus Whenever two or more individuals come together and influence one another, they may be said to constitute a social group. - Ogburn and Nimkoff A group is a collection of individuals who have relations to one another that make them interdependent to some significant degree. As so defined, the term group refers to a class of social entities having in common the property of interdependence among their constituent members. -Dorwin Cartwright and Alvin Zander (1968: 46) According to A.W. Green, “A group is an aggregate of individuals which persists in time, which has one or more interests and activities in common which is organised”. According to Horton and Hunt, “Groups are aggregates or categories of people who have a consciousness of membership and of interaction”. According to Maclver and Page a social group is “any collection of human beings who are brought into human relationships with one another”. According to Williams, “A social group is a given aggregate people playing inter-related roles and recognized by themselves or others as a unit of interaction”. According to E.S. Bogardus, “A social group may be thought of as a number of persons two or more, who have some common objects of attention that are stimulating to each other, who have common loyalty and participate in similar activities”. In part differences in definition occur because writers often select those things that are of special importance in their work and then posit „these as the criteria for group existence‟ (Benson 2001: 5).
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