During the last weekend, I decided to go to the beach which is among the most common places with a view

to observe social relations and group interactions within a sociological context. For this exploration, the
location of the study was the beach with the soft sand and never ceasing motion of the waves. Everyone in
the beach from children playing with their families to friends playing beach volleyball to observe. I was
interested in observing behavior of people in public places and identify cases of sociological phenomena.
However, there was a difference in the interaction patterns of friends and young adults as compared to the
elderly. The youths gathered in the circles, sometimes they danced, and at other times they engaged in active
games such as volleyball or frisbee. The interaction in these groups was thus more concrete, and the groups
themselves more shifting, with members coming and going at a higher rate. These groups had a more relaxed
and happy interactions, and they used a lot of laughter, playing, and movement. As for the patterns of the
people’s positioning, it was noticed that people grouped themselves based on their relations and roles, the
analysis of the groups of people along the shore illustrates this. It is the families, which are one of the most
integrated structures in the society, who use umbrellas, towels, and coolers to organize their territories and
create mobile dwellings. Children were seen chasing each other and playing near their parents as some of the
children were even seen wading in the water with the parents watching over them. It was also possible to see
that these family groups were closely related as everyone was following the lead of the parents, children
playing with siblings, and everyone seemed to be watching out for each other. Some of the groups that were
formed were based on the activities or interest that the members had. For example, a group of surfers is a
concrete example of a subgroup that has been formed based on the liking of the surfing.
The same can also be seen especially in the beach where there is visible separation of the genders. It was
also noted that gender relations in the work sphere within families are also stereotyped – women were
mainly responsible for cooking and raising children and taking care of them, while men performed such
tasks as assembling tents or playing games. This can be related to sociological theories on the current gender
roles in the society today. I wanted to point out that there were rather clear divisions between ‘us’ and ‘them’
on the beach. The in-groups were usually comprised of people who were related or at least acquainted with
each other, and were in contact daily, for example, family and friends.
The visit to the beach described several sociological theories, therefore, drawing attention to some pertinent
issues. They’re seen peculiar in-group and out-group are in line with the social identity theory stressing that
group membership affects the self-image (Tajfel & Turner, 2019). Dramatization of the various family
scenarios and dealings underlined the necessity of family as the key facilitator of socialization and social
learning whereby it acted as the major disseminator of norms and values (Little, 2016). Also, the division of
people in terms of recognized social status, as well as the differences in the availability of resources among
the participants of the leisure activity, demonstrated how social inequality influenced people’s decision to go
to the beach. These observations relate beach behaviors to other sociological themes and works.
These groups also had a feeling of oneness and interactions as evident by their gestures and the conversation
they were carrying on. They socialized, ate together and made sure that each other’s needs were met.
However, out-group refers to the individuals who were sunbathing alone or individuals who were seemingly
alone as they were not affiliated with large groups of people. However, there were some people who had
relatively more interactions with other people, but they were not as integrated or as close to the in-group as
the latter. This division pointed out that there are clear distinctions in the society especially when it comes to
a common area like the beach. For example, people who were either reading a book or a couple lying down
some distance from other people who were in groups were identified as out-groups.
It was observed that people were involved in a lot of social interaction, talking with friends and family
members, engaging in conversations with other people at the beach, as well as making new friends.
These interactions ranged from the simple ones which include greetings and other form of exchanges which
are common in the society to the complex ones which are very intimate in nature thus proving that the social
interaction of human is very complex.
I would like to make some observations about the possibilities of interactions that can occur in public places,
and I would like to make them based on my experience going to the beach. Consequently, I was also able to
identify the in-groups and out-groups during the observation of the group behaviors and apply my
sociological understanding of the current order of the society.
References
Litti, W. 120161, Introduction to Sociplogy : 2nd Canadian Edition. BCcampus.