Definitions of Group

What is Group? It is a collection and a number of the units. Then social group is the collection of individuals with common interest binding them. Group is important for human beings to exist because no man can live in isolation. Man by nature is social and he has certain needs for which he joins groups. He is not only a member of one but many groups to fulfill his different wants or needs. There should be mutual awareness too without which common interest alone cannot form a social group. The society relationship of man is very wide.

“Society is a web of social relationship”. – Mac Iver

In family itself there are 15 types of social relationship as said by a psychologist. In society there is both co-operation and conflict & both area important for group and some society. The group should have some likeness and they should have a social goal for the good of societies.

Animals too live in group but they do not learn it, but it is inborn in them but man learns to forms groups so as to fulfill his desires.

Difference in society is a must because there would be not society without it. A man co-operates and only then can a group be formed. This can be direct or indirect. The mutual awareness too can be direct or indirect. Conflict too is important. If everyone was to co-operate then there would be no society.

According to Mac Iver & Page – “By group we mean any collection of human beings who are brought into social relationship with one another.

Elliot & Merril – “The social group may be defined as two or more persons who are in combination over one applicable period of time and who act in accordance with a common function or purpose.

Ogburn & Nimkoff – ‘Whenever two or more individual come together and influence one another, they may said to constitute a social group’.

Bogardus – “A social group may be thought of as a number of persons, two or more, who have some common objects of attention, who are stimulating to each other, who have common loyalty and participate in similar activities.

Bennet & Tumim – “A group is a number of people is definable and persisting interaction directed towards common goal and using agreed upon means”.

Biersteadt – Social groups are those in which people actually associate with one another and have social relationships with one another.

Elridge & Merril – “A social group may be defined as 2 or more persons who are in communication over an appreciable period of time and act in accordance with common function or purpose”.

Sheriff & Sheriff – “A group is social unit which consists of a number of individuals, whose stand in (more or less) definite status and role relationship to one another & posses a set of values or nouns of its own regulating the behavior of the individual member at least in matter of consequences of the group”.

R.M. Williams – “A social group is a given aggregate of people, playing interrelated roles & recognized by themselves or others as a unit of interaction”.

Edward Sapir – “Any group is constituted by this fact that there is some interest which holds in, members together. The essence of social group is not physical closeness but a consciousness of joint – interaction”.

Characteristics of the group

For a group there should be two or more persons. Man cannot do things himself for the realization of his wishes he needs co-operation and help from others which leads to the formation of groups. There should be reciprocal activity in it and there should be a give and take attitude. Each individual should follow the rules & norms of the group. This is a voluntary action and any individual can enter and leave a group when he pleases. When small a child has relationship with family then neighborhood, village, countries etc social goals is a must for group and this goal must be for the good of society and not against the society such groups are not social groups but anti-social group. Every individual works for the others in the group. For group there should be we feeling and a feeling of integrity (unity). The group not only consists of the physical aggregation but also of mutual agreement etc.

1. 1. For a group there is necessity of two or more people. It cannot be formed if there is one person because one man cannot fulfill his aims or desires. So there must be more than one person.
   2. It is reciprocal ” group satisfies our wants give and take relationship”.

1. Voluntary or organization ” Nature & necessity impels man to live in society “.
2. Social goals , Goals for the society, it won’t be against the group people will work for the welfare of society. There must be some goals which has to be fulfilled.
3. Sense of the feeling for a group there must be sense of unit. If we feeling is not there then the group members will clash among themselves.
4. Norms & Regulations-They must follow the norms and regulations of the group. He won’t be allowed to stay in the group if he fails to follow the norms and regulations of the group.
5. If not only consists of physical aggregation but also of mutual agreements etc. (mutual awareness).
   

   Classification of Social Group

   A person; is a member of different groups and these groups satisfy our desires we may either start a group or become a member. Many sociologists have classified

   According to G.Simmel he has divided group on basis of number of people in the group. He is a German sociology. According to him there are two groups (i) smaller collection of people (ii) larger scale collection of people

   Dwright Sanderson classifies group on the basis of structure of the group. According to him there are three groups.

    

   1. involuntary group
   2. voluntary group
   3. delegate group
   4. in which people become the member involuntarily. People have no choice like family.If we are born in the family we belong to the family.
   5. people have their own choice membership of one’s own choice to become or join any group like professional group (can join or resign)
   6. Representative – If a person becomes a member he has to represent the whole group or whole group should make him the representative of the group like Parliament (M.P.), Legislative Assembly (M.L.A.)

    

   Miller Classifies group on the basis of stratification in the society 1. Vertical 2. Horizontal

   1. Differences in position, ranks, status vertically. Like class or caste. Some think that there is higher caste. Caste is divided into sub-caste and even in that they think they are above in the society, post and prestige.
   2. All equal. Every member is equal like teachers same qualification (economic position may differ a criciticsm).

    

   Summer- On the basis of intimacy of relationship 1. In group 2. Out group.

   1. Intimacy in your own, oneness on feeling. I am in this group i.e. we feeling. Any person of any group should be in group (a member of), friendliness, solidarity, loyalty among members & sympathy towards each other, pleasure on feeling should also be there. Members do not like to hurt anyone and to be hurt by anyone.
   2. There is indifference. The group from which I maintain a distance and out group (in which I don’t like to be a member). These express themselves as ‘they’. We are democratic and they are communist. Lack of sympathy to an extent, solidarity, avoidance, indifference, competition instead of co-operation, conflict. All this is found in out group. Eg. Caste, color difference. – White think that they are superior. In religion there are social distances. We are Indian and he is Chinese. So caste, religion, nationality are its example.

    

   F,Tonms – basis of community and society. His classification into 2 is :

   1. Gemienschaft – Urban character – industrialization
   2. Gesselschaft – Mental standard low – rural
   3. Temporary group which is formed for some time like crowd, public mob-
   4. Permanent group – Village, State – we live permanently.
   5. Regional group – State, nation
   6. Cultural group – groups for some cultural purpose, recreational, educational group, religion.

    

   Fichter – in his book “Sociology” describes about 4 types of group.

   1. Common Ancestry Group (related with blood group, almost same to Gillin)
   2. Common Territory Group (regional group, permanent group) same as Gillin only leading different.
   3. Similar bodily characteristic age sex , social group
   4. Common interest group related with cultural group fulfill some Common culture purpose – Recreation group, education group, religious group, economic group, political group.

    

   According to Mac Iver & Page – He mentions 3 groups

   1. On the basis of territory and interest territorial unities (you live in a particular territory like village, town, country or city).
   2. Interest conscious unities without definite organization – people have the same interest and are conscious about the aim but they don’t have a definite organism. Like Refugee group. People have different psychological group.
   3. Interest conscious unities with definite organization (here they have responsibility towards each other. Members are limited in this group. Everyone one same aim like cricket club, relationship with each other good.

    

   Murdock – into 3 groups

   1. Structural or quasi – structural group. Any group has some structure, organized and developed spontaneously developed automatically. Here he says about tribes, state or class group.
   2. Occasional or circumstantial group – Transitory group, temporary public mob (we feeling but no definite organization) crowd.
   3. Artificial group – The groups formed and we become members deliberately like political group, educational group etc.

    

   George Hasan – into 3 groups

   1. Unsocial group – Aloof from other groups, you don’t go to other group
   2. Pseudo social group – People in that group go to other group but for their own interest.
   3. Antisocial group – against the interest of society. You become against the interest of society and make your own group e.g. Terrorist, strike group etc.

    

   Charles Cooley: On the basis of relationship (1) primary and (2) secondary. He classified these 2 groups in his book “Social Organization”. He is an American sociologist in 1909.

   C.H. Cooley: American sociologist classified group as primary and secondary in 1909 in his book “Social organization”. Primary group small in size, intimate relationship, co-operation among members – family, play group. There should be limited, own interest, should fulfill the need of others, mutual understanding direct (face to face) relationship for a common decision, closeness is there, spirit of give and take. ‘Face to face’ is not a characteristic of primary group – some sociologists have said. R.C. Farris has criticized – he says physical proximity is not primary group like Kinship. In this we do not have a face to face relation but while taking a decision we keep everyone in mind with whom we have blood relationship. R.C. Farris another e.g. in a court the judge lawyer, criminal – all are face to face but not a primary group because there is no feeling.

   Definition of Primary Group

   Cooley – “By primary group I mean those characterized by intimate face to face association and co-operation. They are primary in several senses, but chiefly they are fundamental informing social nature & ideals of the individual” 

   Lundberg in his book “Sociology” – “Primary group means two or more person behaving in relation to each other in a way that is intimate, cohesive and personal.

This group has developed recently Hyman used it in 1942 in his book “Psychology of status”. Man a social being, belongs to many groups and wants to belong to some other groups for which he tries to follow the rules and norms of that particular group so that he too may be identified as a member of that group – this group is reference group. R.K.Murton, Newcomb, Turner, Johnson, Sherieff & Sherieff also used the term ‘ref group’. Thinking broadly we find only two kinds of groups (1) Membership group and (2) Reference group.

1. Any group of which we are member i.e. I belong to that group and I am member and satisfy my aims. R.K. Murtonse book goal for ref. group
2. Not members but we are psychologically attached to that group (the adivasis feel they belong to the Kshatriya Class & of which they indeed are members then this is membership group. Now the example of (2) is the students admire the personality of their teacher and want to imitate i.e. they are psychologically attached to the group that the teacher belongs to i.e. perhaps the fashion).
   In this there is a physical presence. Sometimes it so happens that the reference group becomes a membership group – this changes with time, place and situation.

Sherieff & Sheriff – “Reference group is the group to which an individual relates himself or aspires to relate himself psychologically”.

H.M. Johnson – “A reference group is based on the psychological association of a person or group to other group”.

R.K. Murton – “Man act in social frame of reference provided by which they are member, they may or may not belong to that group but psychologically attached towards that group”. He pays focus to structure function to the social environment in which they are located. People takes the standard of signifying others as self appraisal. He uses the term ‘Marginal Man’. While discussing reference group i.e. the person who belongs to the reference group and he wants to relate to the reference group. He imitates the reference group in every manner but he is a member of the reference group but since he is so much like the reference group that he is considered out of the reference group and therefore he is left nowhere and has to go through a lot of tension. He wants to be a member of the reference group to raise his status a position in his group i.e. he aspires to that group – ‘Relative deprivation’ is another term he uses. When a man feels deprived within his group and so he wants to refer to another group to get emotional satisfaction. (he feels his views and wants are not paid attention to – he thinks the other group may be sympathetic and thus gives his emotional support). Norms too is important for reference group. Every group has its own rules, norms, regulations and procedures. This man follows the rules and regulations of his own group as well as that of the other group. The terms ‘Westernization’, Sanskritization are used by Srinivas A Kshatriya – if he wants to become a Brahmin – he imitates the Brahmin group and wants to be considered are – this is sanskritization (all this is as an example for reference group). Ionization – Indians try to imitate the English and thus the English become the reference group.

Turner describes reference group as role taking process i.e. our changes one’s role according to the group from which he wants to identify himself psychologically (Turner is in reference to ionization).

Newcomb – Explains 2 types of reference group (1) +ve & (2) –ve. 1. Positive – the group with which we want to identify myself to raise my status, position and to have my emotional satisfaction. I am positively related to that group. 2. Negative – the group I belong to the –ve group for the +ve group.

H.Hymen – “There are some particular individuals in society whose standards or values become the ideal for the other people and are imitated by them”. (He stresses on reference group behavior). In general a reference group is one which an individual perceives as holding interests, attitudes and valves in common. He takes that group as a basis for self evaluation. A attitude formation.

 

Characteristics of Reference Group

1. Psychological attachment
2. Certain norms, rules & regulations – we follow these of our own group and also that of the reference group. This gives emotional satisfaction. Sanskritisation is an example (the lower castes follow rules and regulations of higher casters).
3. Ideal Person – Example of Mahatma Gandhi – when you read about the Mahatma you want to be like him. He is the ideal person in your view.
4. Every person or group may have different reference group. One may like or dislike a particular group. If you like you imitate and if you don’t you don’t imitate.
5. Reference group changes with time, situation etc. For a particular time you may have one reference group and at another time you may not like that group and do don’t make it your reference group.
6. When he is not satisfied with the group to which he belongs he wants to join another group and so you imitate. This gives rise to ‘Marginal Man’.
7. Mahatma Gandhi and reference group may vary from time to time therefore sometimes the reference group could become your Mahatma Gandhi.
8. Social adjustment – when we follow the norms etc. of the reference group we are actually adjusting to that group and this leads to us adjust more easily to our society.
9. Social control –
10. Social transformation – development a betterment of society.

Murton – There are 3 criteria for the formation of reference group.

1. Relative or comparative depreciation
2. Visibility of norms of acceptability
3. Design of living
   1. When you feel you are being ignored in your group you make another group your reference group so that you may be paid attention to.
   2. Following the norms of your reference group like Adivasis try to follow norms of higher classes to be like them.
   3. When you don’t like the standard of living in your group you try to live like the reference group which you prefer like Indians live in a ionized manner.
   4. What is the use of reference group? Is it impact one never refers to a group ranking lower than his own group.