Social groups in society. Social groups, their role in the life of society

A person is a part of society. Therefore, throughout his life he contacts or is a member of many groups. But despite their huge number, sociology distinguishes several main types of social groups, which will be discussed in this article.

Definition of social group

First of all, you need to have a clear understanding of the meaning of this term. A social group is a collection of people who have one or more unifying features that have social significance. Another factor of unification is participation in any activity. It should be understood that society is not viewed as an indivisible whole, but as an association of social groups that constantly interact and influence each other. Any person is a member of at least several of them: family, work collective, etc.

The reasons for creating such groups may be the similarity of interests or pursued goals, as well as the understanding that when creating such a group, you can achieve more results in less time than alone.

One of the important concepts when considering the main types of social groups is the reference group. This is a really existing or imagined association of people, which is the ideal for a person. This term was first used by the American sociologist Hymen. The reference group is so important because it influences the individual:

Normative. The reference group is an example of the norms of an individual's behavior, social attitudes and values.
Comparative. Helps a person to determine what place he occupies in society, to assess his own and others' activities.

Social groups and quasigroups

Quasigroups are randomly formed and short-lived communities. Another name is mass communities. Accordingly, several differences can be identified:

Social groups have regular interactions that lead to their sustainability.
A high percentage of people cohesion.
Group members have at least one common feature.
Small social groups can be a structural unit of broader groups.

Types of social groups in society

Man as a social being interacts with a large number of social groups. Moreover, they were completely diverse in composition, organization and pursued goals. Therefore, it became necessary to highlight which types of social groups belong to the main ones:

Primary and secondary - emphasis depends on how the person interacts with the group members emotionally.
Formal versus Informal - the allocation depends on how the group is organized and how the relationship is regulated.
Ingroup and outgroup - the definition of which depends on the degree of belonging to them a person.
Small and large - selection based on the number of participants.
Real and nominal - the selection depends on the features that are significant in the social aspect.

All these types of social groups of people will be considered in detail separately.

Primary and secondary groups

The primary group is one in which communication between people is of a high emotional nature. Usually it consists of a small number of participants. It is the link that connects the individual directly with society. For example, family, friends.

A secondary group is one in which there are many more participants than the previous one, and where interactions between people are needed to achieve a specific task. Relationships here, as a rule, are impersonal, since the main emphasis is on the ability to perform the necessary actions, and not on character traits and emotional connections. For example, a political party, a work collective.

Formal and informal groups

A formal group is one that has a certain legal status. Relations between people are governed by a certain system of rules and regulations. There is a clearly fixed goal and a hierarchical structure. Any actions are carried out in accordance with the established procedure. For example, a scientific community, a sports group.

An informal group usually arises spontaneously. The reason may be a community of interests or views. Compared to the formal group, it has no formal rules and no legal status in society. Also, there is no formal leader among the participants. For example, a friendly company, lovers of classical music.

Ingroup and outgroup

Ingroup - a person feels a direct belonging to this group and perceives it as his own. For example, "my family", "my friends".

An outgroup is a group to which a person has nothing to do; accordingly, there is identification as “alien”, “other”. Absolutely every person has their own outgroup assessment system: from neutral to aggressive-hostile. Most sociologists prefer to use the rating system - the social distance scale created by the American sociologist Emory Bogardus. Examples: "someone else's family", "not my friends".

Small and large groups

Small group - a small group of people, the unification of which occurs to achieve a result. For example, a student group, a school class.

The basic forms of this group are the forms "dyad" and "triad". They can be called bricks of this group. A dyad is an association in which 2 people participate, and a triad consists of three people. The latter is considered to be more stable than the dyad.

Small group traits:

A small number of participants (up to 30 people) and their permanent composition.
Close relationships between people.
Similar ideas about values, norms and patterns of behavior in society.
Identify the group as "mine".
Control is not governed by administrative rules.

A large group is one with a large number of participants. The goal of uniting and interacting people, as a rule, is clearly fixed and clear to each member of the group. It is not limited by the number of people entering it. Also, there is no constant personal contact and mutual influence between individuals. For example, the peasant class, the working class.

Real and nominal

Real groups are groups that are distinguished according to some socially important criteria. For example:

age;
income;
nationality;
marital status;
profession;
location.

Nominal groups are allocated according to one common feature for conducting various sociological studies or statistical accounting of a certain category of the population. For example, find out the number of single mothers raising children.

Based on these examples of types of social groups, it can be clearly seen that absolutely every person has a connection with them or interacts in them.

Social structure

Social structure- a set of interrelated elements that make up the internal structure of society. The concept of "social structure" is used both in the concept of society as a social system, in which the social structure provides the internal order of combining elements, and the environment sets the external boundaries of the system, and in describing society through the category of social space. In the latter case, the social structure is understood as the unity of functionally interrelated social positions and social fields.

Apparently, the first to use the term "social structure" was Alexis Tocqueville, a French thinker, political and statesman, one of the founders of liberal political theory. Later, Karl Marx, Herbert Spencer, Max Weber, Ferdinand Tönnis, and Emil Durkheim contributed greatly to the creation of the structural concept in sociology.

One of the earliest and most comprehensive analyzes of social structure was carried out by K. Marx, who showed the dependence of the political, cultural, and religious aspects of life on the mode of production (the basic structure of society). Marx argued that the economic basis determines to a large extent the cultural and political superstructure of society. Subsequent Marxist theorists, such as L. Althusser, proposed more complex relations, considering that cultural and political institutions are relatively autonomous and dependent on economic factors only in the final analysis (“in the last resort”). But the Marxist view of the social structure of society was not the only one. Emile Durkheim introduced the idea that different social institutions and practices played an important role in ensuring the functional integration of society into a social structure that unites different parts into a single whole. In this context, Durkheim identified two forms of structural relationships: mechanical and organic solidarity.

The structure of the social system

The structure of a social system is a way of interconnecting the subsystems, components and elements that interact in it, ensuring its integrity. The main elements (social units) of the social structure of society are social communities, social institutions, social groups and social organizations.

The social system, according to T. Parsons, must meet certain requirements (AGIL), namely:

A. - must be adapted to the environment (adaptation);

G. - she must have goals (goals of achievement);

I. - all its elements must be coordinated (integration);

L. - values in it must be preserved (maintaining the sample).

T. Parsons believes that society is a special type of social system with high specialization and self-sufficiency. Its functional unity is provided by social subsystems. To the social subsystems of society as a system, T. Parsons includes the following: economics (adaptation), politics (achievement of goals), culture (maintaining the model). The function of the integration of society is performed by the system of "societal community", which contains mainly the structures of standards.

Social group

Social group- an association of people who have a common significant social feature, based on their participation in some activity related to a system of relations that are regulated by formal or informal social institutions.

The word "group" got into the Russian language at the beginning of the 19th century. from Italian (it. groppo, or gruppo - knot) as a technical term of painters used to refer to several figures that make up a composition. This is exactly how the dictionary of foreign words of the early 19th century explains it, where, among other overseas "wonders", the word "group" is also contained as an ensemble, a composition of "figures, a whole, and so adjusted that the eye looks at them at once."

The first written appearance of the French word groupe, from which its English and German equivalents later came, dates back to 1668. Thanks to Moliere, a year later, this word penetrates into literary speech, while still retaining its technical connotation. The wide penetration of the term "group" into the most diverse areas of knowledge, its truly common character create the appearance of its "transparency", that is, intelligibility and general availability. It is most often used in relation to some human communities as a set of people, united by a number of signs of a certain spiritual substance (interest, purpose, awareness of their community, etc.). Meanwhile, the sociological category "social group" is one of the most difficult to understand due to a significant discrepancy with everyday ideas. A social group is not just a collection of people united on formal or informal grounds, but a group social position that people occupy.

Signs

Commonality of needs.

Joint activities.

Formation of your own culture.

Social identification of members of a community, their self-assignment to this community.

Types of groups

Large, medium and small groups are distinguished.

IN large groups includes the aggregates of people existing on the scale of the whole society as a whole: these are social strata, professional groups, ethnic communities (nations, nationalities), age groups (youth, pensioners), etc. Awareness of belonging to a social group and, accordingly, its interests as their own occurs gradually, as organizations are formed that protect the interests of the group (for example, the struggle of workers for their rights and interests through workers' organizations).

TO middle groups include production associations of employees of enterprises, territorial communities (residents of one village, city, district, etc.).

Diverse small groups include such groups as family, friendships, neighborhood communities. They are distinguished by the presence of interpersonal relationships and personal contacts with each other.

One of the earliest and most famous classifications of small groups into primary and secondary was given by the American sociologist C.H. Cooley, where he distinguished between the two. "Base group" refers to those personal relationships that are direct, face-to-face, relatively permanent, and deep, such as those in a family, a group of close friends, and the like. "Secondary groups" (a phrase that Cooley did not actually use, but which came about later) refers to all other face-to-face relationships, but especially to groups or associations such as industrial, in which a person relates to others through formal , often a legal or contractual relationship.

Structure of social groups

A structure is a structure, a device, an organization. The structure of a group is a way of interconnection, interposition of its constituent parts, elements of a group that form a stable social structure, or a configuration of social relations.

The acting large group has its own internal structure: the "core" and "periphery" with a gradual weakening with distance from the core of the essential properties by which individuals identify themselves and the given group is nominated, that is, by which it is separated from other groups distinguished according to a certain criterion ...

Specific individuals may not possess all the essential features of the subjects of a given community, they constantly move in their status complex (repertoire of roles) from one position to another. The core of any group is relatively stable, it consists of the carriers of these essential traits - the professionals of symbolic representation. In other words, the core of a group is a set of typical individuals who most constantly combine the nature of its activity, the structure of needs, norms, attitudes and motivations, identified by people with a given social group. That is, the agents occupying the position must take shape as a social organization, a social community, or a social corpus with an identity (recognized self-image) and mobilized around a common interest.

Therefore, the core is a concentrated exponent of all the social properties of the group, which determine its qualitative difference from all others. There is no such core - there is no group itself. At the same time, the composition of the individuals included in the "tail" of the group is constantly changing due to the fact that each individual occupies many social positions and can move from one position to another situationally, due to demographic movement (age, death, illness, etc.). or as a result of social mobility.

A real group has not only its own structure or construction, but also its composition (as well as decomposition). Composition- organization of social space and its perception. The composition of a group is a combination of its elements that form a harmonious unity, which ensures the integrity of the image of its perception as a social group. The composition of a group is usually determined through indicators of social status.

Decomposition- the opposite operation or the process of dividing the composition into elements, parts, indicators. The decomposition of a social group is carried out by projection onto various social fields and positions. Often, the composition (decomposition) of a group is identified with a set of its demographic and professional parameters, which is not entirely true. It is not the parameters themselves that are important here, but to the extent that they characterize the status-role position of the group and act as social filters that allow it to exercise social distancing, so as not to merge, not to be "blurred" or absorbed by other positions.

Functions of social groups

There are various approaches to the classification of the functions of social groups. American sociologist N. Smelzer distinguishes the following functions of groups:

Socialization: only in a group can a person ensure his survival and upbringing of the younger generations;

Instrumental: consists in the implementation of a particular activity of people;

Expressive: consists in meeting people's needs for approval, respect and trust;

Supportive: is that people strive to unite in difficult situations for them.

Social groups now

A feature of social groups in countries with developed economies is their mobility, the openness of the transition from one social group to another. The convergence of the level of culture and education of various social and professional groups leads to the formation of common socio-cultural needs and thereby creates conditions for the gradual integration of social groups, their value systems, their behavior and motivation. As a result, we can state the renewal and expansion of the most characteristic in the modern world - the middle stratum (middle class).

Group dynamics

Group dynamics- processes of interaction between group members, as well as a scientific direction that studies these processes, the founder of which is considered to be Kurt Lewin. Kurt Lewin coined the term group dynamics to describe the positive and negative processes taking place in a social group. Group dynamics, in his opinion, should consider issues related to the nature of groups, the patterns of their development and improvement, the interaction of groups with individuals, other groups and institutional formations. In 1945, Levin founded the Group Dynamics Research Center at MIT.

Since the members of the group interact and influence each other, processes arise in the group that distinguish it from the totality of individuals. Among these processes:

-the formation of subgroups by interests;

-the emergence of leaders and their departure into the shadows;

- making group decisions;

- cohesion and conflicts in the group;

-changing the roles of group members;

- impact on behavior;

-the need for connectivity;

-the disintegration of the group.

Group dynamics is used in business training, group therapy, and flexible software development methodology.

Quasigroup (sociology)

Quasigroup is a sociological term that denotes an unintended social group in which there are no stable ties and social structure between members, there are no common values and norms, and the relationship is one-sided. Quasigroups exist for a short time, after which they either finally disintegrate, or under the influence of circumstances turn into stable social groups, often being their transitional type.

Signs of quasigroups

Anonymity

Suggestibility

Social contagion

Unconsciousness

Spontaneity of education

Instability of relationships

Lack of variety in interaction (either it is only reception / transmission of information, or just an expression of your disagreement or delight)

The short duration of joint action

Types of quasigroups

Audience

Fan group

Social circles

Social group concept. Types of social groups.

Society is a collection of very different groups. A social group is the foundation of human society, and society itself is also a social group, only the largest. The number of social groups on Earth exceeds the number of individuals, because one person is able to belong to several groups at once. Under a social group it is customary to understand any set of people who have a common social characteristic.

The study of society is based on several basic phenomena or approaches that make it possible to simplify and at the same time systematize existing connections. For example, this is the division of society into various social groups. First you need to understand what it is about. So, social groups of the population are a set of people who act as a single subject of action. Moreover, they differ in the presence of a unifying principle: interests, views, needs, values, etc.

Please note that social science distinguishes social groups and communities. What is the difference? There are several different definitions. But they all agree that social groups are characterized by a certain stability, ideological community, more or less regular contacts, and the presence of organizational resources. They are usually formed consciously.

What examples can be given here? These are the fans of a particular football club, various professional associations that have appeared to protect members of their interests. Or entrepreneurs who are interested in bringing their products to the market at a lower cost.

At the same time, social communities, as a rule, are much larger (nation, inhabitants of a certain region, etc.). They are formed completely by chance, can be unstable, and easily disintegrate. Such social formations are often distinguished by ideological diversity. They lack some kind of plan of action, development. Much is chaotic here.

Nevertheless, social communities, social groups have common characteristics. The former and the latter have something in common. They may also have the same goals, needs, etc. For example, the passengers of the same train in the event of an accident face the same difficulties. Like social groups, social communities come in different sizes, and they can also shrink and grow. In many ways, both there and there there is an element of spontaneity. Large and small social groups

Groups are small and large. The transition of some to others due to merger and disintegration has become a normal sociological phenomenon. Sometimes a small formation can be included in a larger one, while maintaining its entire integrity. Large social groups in modern Russian society are Orthodox Christians, pensioners, and admirers of Putin's policies.

It can be noted that it is quite easy to confuse large social groups and their types (according to political, religious or age criteria) with communities. Even professionals often make such mistakes.

However, large groups are characterized by relative homogeneity and stability. For example, if we compare a nation with each other, in which there may be people with very different needs, income levels, interests, life experience, etc. with such a group as “retirees,” then the latter will have more unifying factors. Thus, as a phenomenon of social groups, large social groups in particular have some stability.

And even large social groups are difficult to organize and control due to their size. Therefore, they are often divided into small subgroups for better understanding.

In the general concept of social groups, small social groups are also distinguished. Scientists draw attention to the fact that the phenomenon itself is quite relative in terms of numbers. So, small social groups are 2-3 people (family), and several hundred. Different understanding gives rise to conflicting interpretations.

And one more thing: existing small groups are able to unite into larger formations in order to achieve some goals. Sometimes this is how a single structure appears. And from time to time they retain their heterogeneity, but after the achievement of the task, they again disintegrate.

What are Primary Social Groups?

When considering the concept of social groups, types, different classifications, one cannot ignore the division into primary and secondary. What about the former? They presuppose direct contacts, mutual assistance, common tasks, a certain equality. These can be friends, classmates, etc.

Secondary ones appear with further socialization. They are more formal in nature (a group of women who gave birth in the same year in the same city, an association of lawyers, a union of owners of summer cottages). One and the same person can belong to several secondary groups at the same time.

Other types

The main classifications are listed above. However, they are far from the only ones. There is a division according to the way of organization: formal and informal. The former willingly submit to public control, they usually have an action plan, they are officially registered, they can even act as legal entities. For example, trade unions, official fan clubs of famous sports teams, etc.

In contrast, informal people are spontaneous in many respects. Their representatives classify themselves as one or another group (goths, punks, fans of Hollywood action films, esotericism), there is no control over the number, as well as a development plan. Such an education can spontaneously appear and disappear, losing popularity.

In social science, the division according to the principle of the individual's belonging into ingroups and outgroups is also considered. The first is closely related to the concept of "mine". My family, school, class, religion, etc. That is, everything that is identified with.

The second category is alien groups, another nation, religion, profession, etc. The attitude can range from indifferent to aggressive. A benevolent interest is also possible. There is also the concept of a reference group. This is a kind of education, the system of values, views and norms of which serve as a kind of standard for the individual, an example. With them, he checks his life guidelines, draws up a plan (admission to a prestigious university, raising the level of income, etc.)

Depending on social significance, real and nominal groups are distinguished. The first category includes those groups that are formed on the basis of criteria that are significant from a social point of view. These are gender, age, income, profession, nationality, residence, etc.

As for the nominal, we are talking about a rather conditional allocation of the population into separate groups. For example, a plan to study the target audience and its purchasing power suggests that you need to research everyone who bought detergents in such and such a store. As a result, a conditional category of buyers "Asi" appears in the "Auchan" supermarket.

Nomination does not imply that the members of this group are generally aware that they have been assigned to some kind of community. Since only one criterion is being studied, then people who have been selected as a result of such a selection may naturally have almost nothing in common, adhere to different views, have different values, etc.

When studying social groups, it is also worth considering such an association as a quasigroup. It can have all or most of the features of such a combination, but in fact it is formed chaotically, persists for a short time, but easily disintegrates. Striking examples are the audience on

A person is a part of society. Therefore, throughout his life he contacts or is a member of many groups. But despite their huge number, social ...

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11.04.2018 21:00