Social Groups

Muhammad YaqoobRN, BScNLecturer

Institute of NursingDow University of Health Sciences

December 07, 2013

Session Outline

• Social Groups• Group Characteristics and Dynamics• Types of Social Groups Primary group and secondary group. In-group, Out-group Reference group Caste Ethnic group Pressure group Vested interest group and others.

Social Groups

A collection of two or more people who:• Interact frequently.• Share a sense of belonging.• Have a feeling of interdependence.

Group Size

Dyad Group composed of two members.

Triad Group composed of three members.

Formal organization

Highly structured secondary group formed for the purpose of achieving specific goals

Possible Interactions Based on Group Size

Cooley’s Primary and Secondary Groups

Primary groupEmotion-based interaction overextended period.Example: family

Secondary group

Impersonal, goal-oriented relationships for a limited time.Example: students of an academic class

Group members differ in the ways they interact with one another as well. This determines whether a group is Primary or Secondary. These differ in the following ways.

Emotional Intensity:Primary: Strong emotional attachment among members, loveSecondary: Little emotion felt among members toward one another

ScopePrimary: An individual’s entire personality is important to the group. Secondary: Only a small piece of an individual’s personality is important to the group. Can they do the job assigned?

Particularism/ UniversalismPrimary: Each individual is important to the group. The group is particular about who can be a memberSecondary: Membership is open to all

InteractionPrimary: very informal. Members feel relaxed around one anotherSecondary: formal. Rules exist to explain how and when interaction takes place

AimsPrimary: goal is simply to enjoy one another’s companySecondary: the group meets for a specific reason. Members may have little in common beyond the reason for the group’s existence

Rules & RegulationsPrimary: Rules may be understood rather than written down and are very flexible. Punishments for breaking them are also flexible.Secondary: Rules are formalized and each member must follow the same rules. Punishments also are applied in a standard way for all members.

Comparison of Primary and Secondary Groups

Sumner’s Ingroups and Outgroups

IngroupGroup to which a person belongs and feels a sense of identity.

Outgroup Group to which a person doesn’t belong and feels a sense of hostility towards.

Examples of the above: rival gangs, rival teams or their fans; cliques at school

Reference Group

• Influences a person’s behavior and attitudes, regardless of whether they are a member.

• We may act more like members of a group we want to join than members of groups to which we already belong.– In this case, reference groups are a source

of anticipatory socialization.

A Transitory Group is when several people happen to be in the same place at the same time but who may never be again. Their interaction is minimal.Examples: people crossing the street at the same time at the same intersection; people getting onto the same elevator; people waiting in line at the checkout at airport

A Recurrent Group is one that meets regularly.Examples: the field hockey team; an annual family gathering; a monthly professional meeting

A Formal Group is one that has rules and regulations, scheduled meeting times, official roles assigned to members (such as treasurer, coach, etc.), official membership list, etc.Examples: Professional club; Parliament; academic class

An Informal Group lacks the formality of the formal group. There may be unwritten rules, etc.Examples: a group of friends; a family; commuters sharing a bus

Membership in these groups overlap. A group could be recurrent, formal and secondary (student council). It might also be recurrent, informal and primary (a married couple). Members might belong to a formal group (co-workers on the job) but form informal groups (co-workers who become friends). They might interact in a primary and secondary way with differing members of the same group.

Develop a unique example of each of the following combinations:

• Recurrent, informal, secondary• Recurrent, formal, secondary• Recurrent, informal primary• Recurrent, formal, primary• Transitory, informal, secondary• In-group• Out-group

Do not repeat the examples already given in class.

Pressure groups

•Groups of people sharing common interests and concerns who try to pressure political decision makers and influence the government policies and decisions

Vested interests groups

• Those groups that seek to maintain or control an existing system or activity from which they derive private benefit.

Ethnic group

• A social group or category of the population that, in a larger society, is set apart and bound together by common ties of race, language, nationality, or culture.

Caste

• A division of society based on differences of wealth, inherited rank or privilege, profession, occupation, or race

References

• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/194248/ethnic-group

• http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/caste

• Schaefer R.T (2007). Sociology. McGrew Hill