Social Group and Social Organization Source: Sociology and Anthropology An Introduction by Isabel Panopio The essential units

s in the process of socialization are small groups characterized by intimate face-to-face association and cooperation. These are primary in the sense that they are fundamental in forming the nature and ideas of an individual. They are called the nursery of human nature by Cooley (1957:233). Examples of these groups are the family and the peer group, ones friendship group be it in the community, school or any other formal organization. FAMILY -main link between the individual & society; this is where a baby gains experiences in love, kindness, sympathy and the like. -parents exert a great influence in the childs attitudes, norms, values and standards of right and wrong; performance of soci ally accepted behavior is rewarded, while socially undesirable ones are punished. -family is an ever pervasive influence on the individuals behavior, even up to adulthood, more especially in simple and agric ultural societies. PEER GROUP Peer group, gang, tropa, barkada grouping of two or more members of more or less the same age with a loosely organized structure. -the child learns to make decisions as he/she is introduced to a world often in conflict with the adult world; child learns to develop self-sufficiency as his outlooks and perspectives differ from his parents (Shepard, 1984:162). -the camaraderie provides for stable personality;, developing among the members a sense of belonging and strong we-feeling. -gang identity is symbolized by tattoo or burned mark on the skin; among the values observed were utang na loob, pakikisama and damayan, or concern over the difficulties or misfortunes of one another. SCHOOL -primary agent for weaving the child from home & introducing him into society; the child gets his formal instructor and acquires skills in reading, writing & arithmetic. -agency for transmitting the cultural heritage, the selective knowledge and collective values, recreational and intellectual skills, preparing the children for the role of adults (Light & Keller, 1982; 130). -in the Philippine Constitution, it states that: All of educational institution should aim to inculcate love for our country; teach the duties of citizenship; & develop moral character, personal discipline & scientific, technological & vocational efficiency. MASS MEDIA -functions are primarily to inform, entertain & educate. -television has a strong effect on the childs behavior and attitudes. Doronila (1986, 63) found out however that the developm ent of appreciation of cultural products like language, art and literature is a positive influence of television. -MTRCB shows & programs on local televisions have were given definite guidelines and certain rate for the viewers. WORKPLACE -employee is socialized in accordance with its role expectations. -Some provide formal training in the form of apprenticeships, orientation session, & training courses. As one interacts with his co-employee & boss, he is oriented into the organization- its values and perspectives. Should he find the place dull and oppressive, he then leaves the place. SOCIOLOGY IN THE PHILIPPINE SETTING by Chester L. Hunt et, al. Nature and Character of Groups In human groups, there is a level of consciousness that accompanies the process of group formation. Humans worry about whether they are in the right company, whether marriage with a person of another race or religion is the right thing and they verbalize their pleasure in getting to know you. Much of human behavior is influenced by this consciousness as people attempt to initiate and sustain desirable relations and to terminate or avoid undesirable ones. Much of what we call human nature are really traits and characteristics acquired through cultural exposure and interaction with others. Speech is one example. Children are not born predisposed to speak one language or another. This is illustrated by an apocryphal story, concerning a deliberate attempt to avoid language socialization. 700 yrs ago, Frederick II, holy Roman emperor, conducted an experiment to determine what language children would grow up to speak if they have never heard a single spoken word. Would they speak Hebrew-then thought to the oldest tongue-or Greek or Latin or the language of their parents? He instructed foster mothers and nurses to feed and bathe the children but, under no circumstances to speak or prattle to them. The experiment failed for every one of the children died. THE HUMAN GROUP Man is a social being. He is born in a group, grows up in groups, socializes with a group, learns many things in a group and he will die in a group. For the last time, his own group will follow to pay their last homage to him. This illustrates the sociability and gregariousness of man. As the song goes, no man is an island; no man stands alone; each man is my brother; each man is my friend. The desire to be with others gives rise to the belief that sociability is part of the human condition.

THE CONCEPT OF A GROUP 1. A group is composed of two or more persons interacting with each other, guided by a set of norms. Sociologists point out hat social interaction or interpersonal behavior of group members are the most important criteria in the concept of a group. The members of a group exist through their consistent, coordinated action directed toward the achievement of some common objectives, the achievement of which will bring gratification to the participating members. A group is a specified number of individuals where each recognizes members as distinct from non-members; each has a sense of what others do and think as well as what the purpose of the association or grouping is. The word group is often used to refer to two or more people coming together. However, a social group consists of two or more people who interact recurrently in a patterned way and who recognize that they constitute a distinct social unit. For a social group to exist the individual must interact with other individuals and with one another according to established patterns in terms of statuses and roles they recognize. The members develop roles expectations of proper behavior from people occupying different positions in the social group. The people have a sense of identity and realize they are different from others who are not members. Social groups have a set of values and norms that may or may not be similar to that of a larger society. 3 meanings are always implied by the term group: a. Some people use it to refer a set of individuals with some similar characteristics, such as age or occupation. This meaning emphasizes the sharing of traits and is better called a social category. b. Individual sometimes speak of a group as any number of individuals who meet occasionally or regularly and have a sense of who is present or absent, such as in organizational meetings. This meaning stresses two meaning in a group life: (1) common presence and (2) a minimum awareness of others. c. Still others use group to mean a specific number of individuals, where each recognizes members from non -embers; each has a sense of what others think and do as well as what the purpose of the association is. This meaning emphasizes three elements: (1) common association, (2) awareness of others and (3) socially shared goals. This third meaning is the essence of the third group. To sociologists, what make a group is not just the traits among individuals or the physical proximity of individuals, but rather the fact that people interact. To anthropologists, what is important in a social group is the product of their association, the culture that is formed.

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Experts argues that social groups have common (CH. 4; bottom, page 63) governing how one becomes a member or terminates membership in a group. People agree as to who will lead them as well as to what each person is responsible for doing. They develop ways of getting everybody to understand what is commonly believed and expected of them as well as the mechanisms for ensuring conformity. Social groups differ from social aggregates, which are mad of people who happen to be in the same place but share little else. The term social aggregate may refer to people who might be assembled in a certain place waiting for their ride, whether at the bus terminal waiting for a ride or at the marketplace. These people dont interact with each other nor to have their temporar y association to have any meaning. They do not share a purpose. A social group also differs from a statistical group which consists of people classified together because they share certain characteristics. If this similarity is unknown or unimportant to those in the category, it is not a social group. Involvement with others cannot be developed until one is aware of them. In this light Kurt Lewin made the following point: Similarity between persons merely permits their classification, their sub -assumption under the same abstract concept, whereas belonging to the same social group means concrete, dynamic interrelation among persons. A husband, a wife and a baby are less similar to each other in spite of their being a strong natural group, than the baby is to other babies. Social groups can be large or small, temporary or permanent or long lasting. The family is a group, as is your bowling club; any association or club to which you belong or the barkada with which you hang around. it is difficult for anyone to participate in any society if he does not belong to other groups. CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPS Generally social groups, regardless of their nature, have the following characteristics: Permanence beyond meetings and members-that is, even when members are dispersed. Means for identifying members. Mechanisms for recruiting new members Goals or purposes Social statuses and roles, i.e., norms for behavior Means for controlling members behavior Joseph Fitcher some characteristics of group as the following: The social unit called a group must be identifiable: as such, both by its members and by outside observers. This does not mean that every member must be known personally ton every other member or to non-members. Secret societies, lodges and fraternities have a recognizable existence although their membership might be exclusive and hidden. The group in a large city are so numerous that no individual could have personal knowledge of all of them; but they are knowable, that is, it is possible to find out about them. The group has a social structure in the sense that each member or person has a position related to other positions. Thus social stratifications or social status is present even in the smallest informal groups. There is always a trace of subordination or super division even in the most equalitarian groups. There are individual roles in a group. In fact this is what group participation signifies and it is the aspect under which participation is studied. When the members cease top enact the roles the group ceases to exist. A group in which there is no personal action of a patterned sort is socially unthinkable.

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Reciprocal relations are essential to the group. In other words, there must be contact and communication among the members of the group. This must be a mutual or reciprocal process, even if it is only limited to two persons in the group at any given time. Every group has norms of behavior that influence the way in which the role is enacted. This need not to be written rules or regulations but they are usually certain patterns of behavior which are understood and followed by the members. Thus there is necessarily a modification of behavior of the individual when and because he is in the group. The members of the group have certain common interests or values. In some cases they may only be vaguely defined, but that they are present is seen in the fact that a conflict in values will almost invariably split the group. Group activity of not the very existence of the group itself must be directed towards some social goal or goals. This answers that specific question of why and what purpose does the group exist. A group must have relative permanence that is a measurable duration over a period of time. This is one of the most important distinguishing marks between a transient social aggregate and a social group.

COMMON BASES FOR GROUPS One of the most widely used system of group classification and perhaps the simplest to grasp for and introductory understanding is that of the common bases for group association. These four bases upon which all people associate in group life according to Fichter are: 1. Common Ancestry is traditionally the strongest tie that binds human beings in their social relations, although its importance has been greatly lessened in the modern, complex and large scale societies. The groups based upon common ancestry are sometimes called blood groups, those in which members are related at birth, marriage or adoption. Both the immediate conjugal family, including cousins aunts, uncles and others are of this type. Extended families are also included. 2. Territorial Proximity is a good basis for a groups classification. People comprising a group must be limited to a physical territory. The sociological neighborhood, not merely an aggregate and the true community are examples of social groups. These groups are identifies by the name of the place where they are. 3. The classification of a group based on bodily characteristics of members are widely used in modern societies and the listing of groups under this heading would be interminable. In the primitive societies the similarity of physical characteristics is closely allied to the facts of common ancestry, as well as common territory. In the complex modern societies common racial features are still the basis of imposed social groupings. For example, this groupings may apply to athletic groups who may be similar in terms of bodily traits. 4. The sharing of common interests is the basis for a great variety of modern social groupings. In fact the interest group is sociologically more significant than the other groups. The proliferation of scientific, business and professional associations is merely one indication of the tremendous number of the number and variety of this kind of group. BASIC CLASSIFICATION OF SOCIAL GROUP Groups may be classified into different categories depending on the purpose of classification: Primary and secondary groups. Charles H. Cooley defined primary group is a group that is characterized by intimate faceto-face relationships and close association and cooperation. These groups are primary in several instances, but chiefly in that they are fundamental in the social nature of ideas of the individual. The result of intimate association is fusion of individualities in a common whole so that ones very self f or many purposes at least is the common life and purpose of the group. Perhaps the simplest way of describing this wholeness is by saying that it is a we; it involves the sort of sympathy and mu tual identification for which we is the natural expression. Primary groups are groups in which relationships are spontaneous, personal and intimate. They involve 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. Primary groups are; therefore characterized by intimate face-to-face association that is basic to the development of social self and the continued adjustment of the members. Primary groups involve interaction among members in a very intimate manner because of the smallness of the group homogeneity among members, intimacy and related factors. Cooley identified three primary groups: the family, the childrens play groups and neighborhood or community groups. Primary groups serve to bind individuals together with a sense of community, particularly in an ethnic neighborhood where ones choice of those with whom interacts is by propinquity. Meanwhile, in primary groups to which individuals elect to belong because of a particular ideology, the group may form a basis for political activity either to defend or oppose the status quo. Where primary groups channel goals and their activities to serve the ends of community, institutions or state they act as an integrative force; where act as barriers, they facilitate conflict rather than consensus. Secondary groups, on the other hand, are groups in which relationships are impersonal and widely separate. They are characterized by much less intimacy among the members. They usually have specific goals and are formally organized and impersonal. Secondary groups tend to be larger than primary groups and their members dont necessarily interact with all other members. In fact many members often do not know one another at all; to the extent that they do, rarely do they know more about one another than about their respective social identities. Members feelings about, behavior toward one another are patterned mostly by their statuses and roles rather than by personality characteristics.

Fitcher and associates give the following comparative relationships in these types of groups: PRIMARY GROUPS 1. Small number Long duration 2. Intrinsic valuation of the relation intrinsic valuation of the relation inclusive knowledge of other members feeling freedom and spontaneity operation of informal controls 3. Friend-friend Husband-wife Parent-child Teacher-pupil 4. Play group Family Village or neighborhood Work-team Sample Groups nation church hierarchy professional association corporation Sample Relationships clerk-customer announcer-listener performer-spectator officer-subordinate Social Characteristics extrinsic valuation of the relation extrinsic valuation of other members specialized and limited knowledge of other persons feeling of external constraints Physical Conditions Big number Short duration SECONDARY GROUPS

operation of formal controls

In groups and out-groups. Some groups go a long way toward distinguishing themselves and other groups. These distinctions may be based on unique racial, ethnic, religious or social class characteristics or special interests, residential location or unique common experience. According to William Graham Sumner, any such groups is called an in-group, a group members make as a point of reference. Their definition of who they are is closely related and associated with the in-group. There is a we feeling generated among the members of the group who are immediately aware of those who do not belong-the they group. On the other hand, those who do not belong to the in-group are part of the out-group, which exists perceptions of the ingroup members who use that out-group as a negative point of reference. As an in-group member, one rejects out-group people or at least do not think of them as having a standing equal to that of his in-group members. Informal and formal groups. The classification is based on the form of organization of the group. An informal group arises spontaneously out of the interactions of two or more persons. These are unplanned, have no explicit rules for members and recruitment, and do not have specific objectives to be attained. They possess the characteristics of a primary group and the members are bound by emotions and sentiments rather than by formal ties. The members exchange confidence and trust, share a feeling intimacy and acquire a sense of belonging. Social ties develop around individuals not necessarily around positions. On the other hand, formal groups are groups where the purpose and objectives explicitly labels. Roles and statuses of individuals in the group are specifically defined. Norms of behavior are formalized in the form of policies and regulations. These groups have names and are often governed by constitutions and by-laws. It is possible that within this formal structure informal groups may exist and operate. These small informal groups may introduce a new unofficial goal. Gemeinshcaft and gesselschcaft. These concepts of group or community were espoused by Ferdinand Toennis. He looked at the pattern social ties and organizations in order to typify a society as either a gemeinschaft or gesselschaft. In a gemeinschaft type of society, relationships are close, durable and highly valued by the members. The most important unit of society is the family with kinship networks serving as the basis is social organization. Social control is maintained by customs and tradition. Individuals are agents of conformity. Such a set of social ties is usually typical of a pre-industrial or communal society in which there is a little or no division of labor and only minimal specialization of roles. In a gemeinschaft society, the members live together and develop common experiences, interests, memories and histories. There is a very strong tendency of identification with the community. There is a high degree of conformity with the customs, folkways and values of the community. The unity is based on similarity of objectives, traits and experiences-the type of social unit called mechanical solidarity by Durkheim. On the other hand, on the gesselschaft society, social relationships tend to be impersonal and segmented. Social networks other than the family tend to be pivotal points around which individuals organize the major part of their daily lives. Social ties become associational, springing from an elaborate division of labor. The work environment is governed by contract and highly specialized roles. The locus of social control is law with appeal to formal agents of enforcements. Such a mix of social networks and organizations is typically fund in societies undergoing urbanization and industrialization. However, Richmond added another type of society that arises as a result of recent technological innovations in electronics and jet and rocket propulsion that are rapidly changing the modes of transportation, communication and production of the world. To describe the social patterns of modern networks and organization on a post industrial society, Richmond coined the German term

verbindungsnetzchaft, which he translates as social and communication networks. If gemeinschaft is typical in pre-industrial society and gesselschaft of industrial society, then verbindungsnetzchaft are characteristic of post-industrial society. According to Richmond, in this type of society, interaction takes place through social networks and communication channels that are not necessarily limited to primary and secondary groups in terms of relations. The electronic church, for example, that televises religious services into ones home, removes the individual from primary and secondary group interaction that h e or she would participate in at a conventional church service. These social and communication networks are maintained not only by television but by other means of rapid communication such as the telephone and telex, and even the fax machines, aided by jet propelled and space satellites. In the words of Richmond: Such interactions are not dependent upon face-to-face contact in a territorial community, nor do they necessarily involve participation in social organizations. This does not mean that they eliminate communities or associations but that they compete effectively with them for the individuals attention and involvement. THE GROUPS INFLUENCE ON THE INDIVIDUAL Individuals in the presence of others become aroused or motivated to perform some kind of physical and social skills are higher level of excellence than they would if they were alone. For instance athletes perform what is expected as team work when they play and are motivated further to realize their teams objectives in the presence of their cheerers. They are seen as always exerting more efforts and performing better than before the crowd in the height of competition. Usually the students who take the examination in class do better than those taking the examination alone. A situation in which an individual is stimulated by the presence of others is called social facilitation. On the other hand, the presence of others may inhibit the learning of new subject matter; individual can assimilate information more rapidly by themselves. This situation is called social inhibition in which the presence of others blocks or retards ones performance. Group pressure also exerts a powerful influence on the members opinions. People tend to be willing to voice the same questions as others, even though they differ privately. Because of group pressure, people may modify privately held opinions to conform to those of others. Some people may change their privately held opinion, become converts and proselytize. This push toward conformity of opinions is seen among members of a religious community. The members publicly adopt a common set of doctrinal belief, such as a creed or a code of moral conduct. Some members may publicly espouse commitment to these articles faith although privately they question selected tenets or interpretations. Others may, through the process of repetition and public confession comes to accept the truthfulness of the tenets. Still others may restructure their beliefs, experience some sort of awakening or conversion and become vigorous protagonist. Group discussion also pays an important role in shaping ones attitude and behavior. This process of attitudinal change is more easily accomplished in a group context rather than individually. For instance, Mao-Tse-Tsung recognized the importance of the group discussion in public confession as a way to punish acts of deviance and in publicly reorganizing the inviolate nature of the group norms. Why do people conform? What are their reasons for not violating the norms? Norms develop and conformity occurs because individuals seek others with similar characteristics. This search for similarity stems from a persons desire for information about similar experiences, actions taken, and success and failure as well as fee lings and interests. Based on Aristotles notion of distributive justice, it can be said that rewards in society are passed out according to what one does. A more recent version of the social exchange perspective is that when persons engage in activities, they see action as an investment or cost. Further, they expect to be compensated or rewarded for their actions proportionally to the expenditure of effort. Presumably, if an action is not likely to achieve a profit, that action will not occur. Conformity is seen to be rewarding because it confers social acceptance, whereas deviancy is viewed as costly because it brings social discomfort and may result in various forms of punishments. In short, individuals in

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KINDS OF GROUP LIFE Human social groups may be classified in numerous ways. Many attempts have been made toward classification, with the most common basis of differentiation being function and structure. Social groups may be voluntary or involuntary, social or antisocial, permanent or impermanent, public or private. However, all groups regardless of the basis of their classification may be considered under the heading of primary or secondary. PRIMARY GROUPS Primary groups are small face-to-face groups in which contacts are direct, personal and immediate. They are characterized by a strong we feeling. The term primary group was popularized in sociological literature by Charles Cooley, who called them the nursery of human nature. He describes them as: . . . those characterized by intimate face to face association and cooperation. They are primary in several senses, but chiefly in that they are fundamental in forming the social nature and ideals of the individual. The result of association, psychologically, is a certain fusion of individualities in a common whole, so that ones very self, for many purposes at least is the common life or the purpose of the group. Perhaps the simplest way of describing this wholeness is by saying that it is a we; it involves the sort of sympathy or mutual identification for which we is the national expression. One lives in the feeling of a whole and finds the chief of his will in that feeling. These groups become very effective because they are personal in nature; they have the feeling of intimacy. Although such a direct contact as a face-to-face relationship is generally present, it is not absolutely indispensable. What is indispensable is intimacy and the fusion of personalities. It is possible that two persons may carry on a correspondence, as between pen pal, having all the elements of primary relationship even when they have not met. The relationship involves identification and subordination of o nes wishes and ambitions to the good of the group.

The primary groups, because of their intimate contact, exercise a tremendous influence on the individual members. They exert a direct and lasting influence upon the origin and growth of a persons basic ideals in life. The family, the neigh borhood group, the work group, the school group and the play group of children are examples of primary group. It was Cooleys view that primary groups are the central and crucial unit of social organizations down to the ages and in all societies. They are fundamental because they express and respond to a universal human nature. Cooley pointed out that no matter how rational, formalistic and complex a society grows the need for small, informal, responsive, affective, inclusive and spontaneous relationships always exists. Primary groups will persist in a secondary dominated world because the human need for intimate, sympathetic association is continuous. People cannot function well unless they belong to a small group of people who really care about what happens to them. Whenever people are ripped from family and friends and thrust into large, anonymous, impersonal groups as in college dormitory or an army camp, they feel such a need for primary groups that they promptly build them again. PRIMARY GROUPS AS INSTRUMENT OF SOCIALIZATION The family provides companionship and fellowship. Its members acquire the we feeling; their contacts are intimate, personal and face-to-face. In the family, the members learn to cooperate with one another and learn to recognize the feeling of responsibility and duty to the group. Children are born into the group as helpless beings devoid of knowledge of the social world, though born with certain potentialities, tendencies, muscular coordination and reflex mechanisms. The close and intimate associations with parents and with other people develop feelings, attitudes and habits. As they act, those around them react by giving encouragement approval and praise when they are good; when they are bad, they may be rebuked, frowned upon, blamed or punished. Through the process of reward and disapproval, the child learns early in life the patterns of behavior expected by primary group. PRIMARY GROUPS AS SOURCES OF FUMDAMENTAL SOCIAL IDEALS We have mentioned that a group consists of a number of interacting personalities. Interaction consists of cooperation or conflict. In the life of an individual, he/she experiences clashes of interests; wishes, values and attitudes with others. At the same time he/she learns about cooperation through the process of adjustment as fundamental human values emerge in the personality of an individual. This situation constantly occurs within the primary groups. In quarrels of childhood, individual obtains his/her first lessons in tolerance, sympathy, understanding, cooperation and regard and respect for others. Within the family group the child learns the fundamental and basic patterns connected with sex, parenthood and kinship. The ideals of service, freedom, justice and tolerance are formed largely in the experiences of neighborhood life. SECONDARY GROUPS Secondary groups are those which do not necessarily involve face-to-face association or intimate and personal relations. The members are aware of these relationships and take cognizance of them, but they do not feel that their lives are bound up in them except in time of social crisis. The members may be separated from one another by distance or by lack of personal physical contact. Their contact may be through correspondence, radio, telephone or other means. The essential characteristic of secondary group is the members casualness in contact. Relationship s within the secondary group lack the intimacy and the we feeling so conspicuous with those in the primary group, but the face-to-face contact may not be excluded. For instance, students in large classes see and hear lectures but may never get to know them. Many teachers and business people join professional organization but their participation may not extend beyond paying the annual fees. Secondary groups may be governmental units, political parties, religious organizations, athletic and social club and business corporations. The possibilities are varied and numerous; society is full of different types of groups. Primary groups existed from primitive times and from eons, were the only forms of human associations. Secondary groups are later development and did not emerge until civilization as far advanced. Primary groups are concerned with relationships; secondary groups are concerned with their goals. A good mahjongg group is one that has fun; a good business corporation is one that makes money. The concepts of primary and secondary groups are often confused because the two overlap. A work group, for instance may have both primary and secondary aspects. The work group is organized to get a job done and this is a trait of the secondary group. However, the work group is also concerned with relationships and pakikisama. Its members tell stories, crack jokes, and encourage intimacy in first-name basis. This is a primary group aspect and it may either reinforce the secondary groups goals or work against them. If the group sees its interests and those of the employer as the same, it will mutual helpfulness in reaching production goals but if conflict is present, the group may limit production and hold back ambitious workers who are regarded as rate busters. Most secondary groups also harbor primary groups and, thus, are committed both to goal attainment and to fostering pleasant primary relationships. The factory, office or school has definite secondary goals to meet but also develop small scale associations of mutually agreeable persons who derive an emotional satisfaction from the relationship.