The Human Group

Common Concepts of Group

1. A group is composed of two or more persons
interacting with each other, guided by a set of
norms. Sociologists point out that social
interaction or interpersonal behavior of group
members are the most important criteria in
the concept of group.
2. 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 as the
purpose of the association or grouping is.
 Group vs. Social Group
Group
is often used to refer to two or more people
coming together
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
3. Three meanings are always implied by the
term group.
a. Some people use it to refer to a set of individuals
with some similar characteristics, such as age or
occupation. This meaning emphasizes the sharing
of traits and better called a social category.
b. Individuals 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 an organizational meetings.
c. Still others use to mean a “ specific number of
individuals,” where each recognizes members
from non-members; each sense of what others
do I think as well as what the purpose of the
association is.
It emphasizes three elements:
1) Common association
2) Awareness of others
3) Socially shared goals
 Characteristics
Title of Groups
1. Permanence beyond meetings and members-
that is, even when members and dispersed
2. Means for identifying members
3. Mechanisms for recruiting new members
4. Goals or purposes
5. Social statures and roles, i.e., norms for
behavior.
6. Means for controlling members’ behavior.
 Joseph Fitcher’s Characteristics of Group
1. The social unit called a group must be
identifiable: as such, both by its members
and outside observers.
2. The group has a social structure in the sense
that each member, or person, has a position
related to other positions.
3. There are individual roles in the group.
4. Reciprocal relations are essential to the
groups.
5. Every group has norms of behavior that
influence the way in which the roles are
enacted.
6. The members of group have certain common
interests and values.
7. Group activity, if not the very existence of the
group itself, must be directed towards some
social goal or goals.
8. A group must have relative permanence, that
is, a measurable duration over a period of
time.
 Common Bases for Groups
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.
2. Territorial proximity. People comprising a
group must be limited to a physical territory.
3. Bodily characteristics. The similarity of
biological characteristics is closely allied to
tthe facts of common ancestry, as well as
common racial features are still a basis of
imposed social groupings.
4. Common interest is the basis for a great
variety of modern social groupings. In facts,
the “interest group” is sociologically more
significant than the other groups.
Basic Classification of
Social Groups
 Primary and Secondary Groups
Primary group
a group that is characterized by “ intimate
face-to-face relationships and close
association, and cooperation.
Secondary Group
group in which relationships are impersonal
and widely separate. They are characterized
by much less intimacy among the members.
 Primary and Secondary Groups
Primary group Secondary Group
• Small number • Big number
• Long duration • Short duration
• Intrinsic valuation • Extrinsic valuation
• Inclusive knowledge of • Specialized and limited
other persons knowledge of other persons
• Feeling of freedom and • Feeling of external
spontaneously constraints
• Operation of informal • Operation of formal
controls controls
 Primary and Secondary Groups
Primary Group Secondary Group
Sample Relationship Sample Relationship
• Friend – friend • Clerk – customer
• Husband – wife • Announcer – listener
• Parent – child • Performer –spectator
• Teacher – pupil • Officer – subordinate
Sample Group Sample Group
• Play ground • Nation
• Family • Church hierarchy
• Neighborhood • Professional association
• Work-team • corporation
 In-groups and Out-groups
In-group
a group that members use as a point of reference
. There is a “we” feeling generated among other
member of the group, who immediately aware of
those who do not belong – the “they” group.
Out-group
exists in the perception s of the in-group
members ad and takes on a social realty as result
a result of behavior by in-group who use the
other as a negative point of reference
 Informal and Formal Groups
Informal group
it arises spontaneously out of the interactions of
two or more persons. There are unplanned, have
no explicit rules for members and recruitment,
and do not have specific objectives to be attained
Formal group
group where the purpose and objectives explicitly
labeled. Roles and statures of individuals in the
group are specifically defined.
 Gemeinschaft and Gesselschaft
Gemeinschaft
the members live together and develop common
experiences, interests, memories, and histories.
There is a very strong tendency of identification
with the community
Gesselschaft
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 of the daily lives.