SOCIAL GROUPS AND SOCIAL INTERACTIONS

“All actual life is encounter.” 

-Martin Bubber

• Group-is composed of two or more persons who have something in common, are interacting with each other, and are guided by a set of norms.

• Guided by their norms, members of a group interact recurrently and take each other into account.• Their interactions become pattern.

HUMAN CLUSTERS:

• Aggregates-It’s very characteristics is the common physical location in space. Though they are in a particular place, they are not concerned with the feelings of others.

E.g. Street corner waiting for a jeep or bus, nakapila,

• Social Category-there are agglomerations where members possess common identifying status characteristics but do not interact socially.

• E.g. The reference to the males and females of the societ, the slum dwellers, middle class, the millionaires and others.

HUMAN CLUSTERS:

•Collectivity- are clusters of people interacting with each other but the interactions are passing or short-lived. This cluster is not governed by the established norms of culture. • E.g. Rally

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE GROUPS:

• Motivational based by individuals-the motives for a group formation cover the entire range of social needs, desires, interest activates and etc.

• Size of Group-The designation of whether a group is small or large is arbitrary.

• Type of group goals- It is often held that structural patterns of social groups are affected by its goals.

• The kind of group cohesion-refers to the degree to which the members of a group have the ability to function and interact together towards the pursuit of their goals.

SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS

It is viewed as a process of bringing order and meaning into human social life. It has its roots in social interaction. This social relationship becomes increasingly regulated, patterned and orderly. A stable pattern of relationship is called social org.

Characteristics of social organizations:

• A system of norms and values govern the social activities.

• Control: some persons control the behaviors of others, and a system of sanctions maintains orderly behavior.

• Differentiation in statuses and roles on the basis of sex age and ability w/c may be observed in the activities of different types of people.

• Repeated activities and behavior.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

• Refers to the independent network of roles and the hierarchy of statuses w/c define reciprocal expectations and the power arrangement of the members of the social unit guided by norms.

• Social status-refers to member’s positions or ranks in the role.

• Role- refers to the sum total of behavior expectation and activities associated w/ a social position which a holder is supposed to carry out and perform. It is interdependent and each individual member plays his or her role in relation to others.

SOCIAL FUNCTION

• Refers to the result of action that occur in relation to a particular structure and includes the results of activities of individuals occupying particular statuses.

•  In the case of Philippines society, the basic element of social structure is the family and its related kinship groups.

TYPES OF SOCIAL GROUPS

This vary in size, quality of group interaction, purpose, structure, or combination of these.

• Primary group-those face to face structures such as the family and friendship groups where personalities are fused into a common whole.

• Secondary groups-the interactions among members are impersonal, business-like, contractual and casual. The relationships are valuable only insofar as they facilitate the attainment of one’s end or objectives.

TYPES OF SOCIAL GROUPS

• Gemeinschaft-is a community of intimate, private and exclusive living and familism. Filipinos have used the terms “damay” and “bayanihan”. It implies mutual helpfulness and the sharing pleasure as well as of sorrow.• Gesselschaft-is “public life” or the world itself. This type

of group is characteristics by impersonal, secondary, contractual and rationalized relationships.

TYPES OF SOCIAL GROUPS

• In-group and out group- they are not actual groups but a kind of relationship that exists in the mind, the concept of “We-They”. In-group is the group with which the individual identifies and which gives him a sense of belonging solidarity, camaraderie, esprit de corps and protective attitude towards the other members. On the other hand, out-group is commonly viewed as the outsiders by the in group.

• Informal groups- arises spontaneously out of the interactions of two or more persons, has no explicit rules for membership, and does not have specific objectives to be attainable.

e.g. Barkadahan, peer group and etc.

TYPES OF SOCIAL GROUPS

• Formal groups- these groups are deliberately formed and their purpose and objectives are explicitly defined. This kind of group is important in industrialized, complex societies. The administrative structure of this group is called Bureaucracy- : a large group of people who are involved in running a government but who are not elected: a system of government or business that has many complicated rules and ways of doing things. It is also often associated with inefficiency, red tape, delay or under the table arrangement.

 REFERENCE GROUP

• Refers to one’s membership group, the one to w/c one is officially attached or recognized as belonging, like the family, peer group, school group, sorority or fraternity, religious org., political group, occupational group or civic group.

•Peer group and family are important reference groups.• Individuals follow the norms and values of their reference

group w/c are reinforced by a system of reward or punishment.

SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

• It is an abstraction w/c is an organized systems of norms, beliefs, values, and material objects formed around the social needs of people. All societies have institutions such as family, religion, education to meet certain social organization.• E.g. Religion is an institution while Catholic Church is an

organization.

SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

Configurations• 1. Common reciprocating attitudes and their

conventionalized behavior patterns.• 2. Cultural objects of symbolic value w/c represents social

institutions.• 3. Utilitarian value w/c satisfy the wants of the individual.• 4. Oral and written language or traditions.

SOCIETIES

• Includes the totality of social organization and the complex network of interconnected, interdependent, and overlapping social relationships. •Aspects of the reality of society •Society is external to the individual.•The members perceive society and its experiences as a constraint upon the lives.