By- Harsh Agrawal

Sociology is the study of social relations. It is

primarily concern with the social groups. A man

can’t be social by himself unless he has lived

with others. Man’s life is too vain enormous

extent a group life. The groups we belong to are

not all of equal importance to us. Some groups

tend to influence many aspects of our life and

bring us into personal and familiar association

with others.

“A small collection of people

who interact with each

other, usually face to face,

over time in order to reach

goals.”

Interact

Be interdependent -members rely on one another

Interact for a length of time

Be a particular size

Have hopes of achieving one or more goals

All social groups contain the following:

1. Permanence beyond the the meeting of the group

2. Means for identifying members

3. Ways of recruiting new members

4. Goals and purposes

5. Social statuses, roles = norms for behavior

6. Means of controlling members’ behavior

– these are the

initial groups that a person joins.

Examples are the family, the barkada or

peer group, play group, cliques, gangs,

immediate school group.

interaction among members who have an emotional investment in one another and in a situation, who know one another intimately and interact as total individuals rather than through specialized roles. (FAMILY)

Charles Horton Cooley (1909) called primary groups the nursery of human nature.

Described by saying “we”; it involves the sort of sympathy and mutual identification for which “we” is the natural expression

Family members interact in terms of their entire personalities, not just as specific statuses

These are small groups where relationship is informal and personal.

There is face-to-face association and cooperation.

There is fusion of individualities into a common whole.

There is sympathy and mutual identification.

These groups are the nursery of human nature.

– these are

the groups that an individual may join in

the latter part of his life.

characterized by much less intimacy

among its members. It usually has

specific goals, is formally organized, and

is impersonal.

e.g. Political parties, co-workers, church

members, town residents etc.

These are large groups.

Contacts may be face-to-face, indirect, fleeting, or in longer duration.

Relationship is important insofar as they facilitate attainment of the goal.

There is some sort of contractual relationship based on the attainment of the goal of the group.

Loyalty and sense of belonging does not develop spontaneously.

These are not actually physical groups.

These are only mental perspectives of

the “WE” and the “THEY”.

The We are the in-groups; while the THEY

are the out-group.

Formal groups - these are social structures deliberately organized for the attainment of specific goals which meet the fundamental needs of the members.

Examples: › Schools, churches, hospitals, industrial

establishments, trade unions, government agencies, political parties, military, and civic organizations

Informal groups - these are smaller

groups formed within the Formal group.

They may be dyads or triads.

Individual Goals - the motives of each

individual group member

Group goals – the ultimate outcome the

group hopes to accomplish