Introduction to Sociology

Module 5: Society and Groups

 Why It Matters: Society and Groups

• If we use our sociological imagination to examine France’s history, we might

recall that sociology began with August Comte’s question “What holds society
together?”
• We can think about other countries that have massive income disparities and ask
“What holds these societies together?”
• Explanations of society can be seen through theories advanced by Karl Marx,
Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber
Introduction to the Fundamentals of Society

• Examining society from a macrosociological point of view can be difficult but major shifts
helped early sociologists examine societies
• September 11, 2001 affected not only the United States but societies around the world because
of global markets and communication
• The 2018-2019 government shutdown also provides an example of the impact not just on the
immediate government workers but the ripple effect of contractors and everyone depending on
the closed government agencies
Society, Culture, and Social Institutions
• Culture describes a group’s shared norms and values and society descries a group of people
who live in a defined geographical area who interact and share a common culture
• Social institutions are mechanisms or patterns of social order focused on meeting social
needs
• Generally, we do not think about the rules of behavior as we go through our day unless we
are confronted with a different norm that focuses our attention to what is accepted in our
culture
• Social institutions can be most visible when they break down, such as when teachers go on
strike, the government shuts down, or the definition of family norms change
Types of Societies

• Sociologist Gerhard Lenski (1924 - ) defined societies in terms of their technological

sophistication
• As a society advances, so does its use of technology (application of science to daily problems)
• Societies with rudimentary technology depend on the fluctuations of their environments
• Industrialized societies have more control over the impact of their surrounding and thus develop
different cultural features
• Sociologists generally classify societies along an industrialization spectrum from preindustrial to
industrial to postindustrial
Pre-Industrial Societies
• Societies were small, rural, and dependent largely on local resources with few specialized
occupations
• Hunter-Gatherer Societies: demonstrate the strongest dependence on the environment and
were the basic structure of human society until about 10 to 12 thousand years ago
• Hunter-gatherers relied on their surroundings for survival and were nomadic as they moved
to new areas when resources became scarce
• Today, only a few hundred hunter-gatherer societies remain in existence, including
indigenous Australian tribes and the Bambuti in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Pre-Industrial Societies, continued (1)

• Changing conditions and adaptations led some societies to rely on the domestication of
animals
• Pastoral societies like the Maasai villagers of East Africa rely on the domestication of
animals for survival
• Pastoral groups were able to breed livestock for food, clothing, and transportation, creating a
surplus of goods
• Herding, or pastoral societies remained nomadic because they followed their animals to
fresh feeding grounds
• Horticultural societies formed in areas where rainfall and other conditions allowed them to
grow stable crops based on the newly developed capacity to grow and cultivate plants
• Horticultural societies largely depended on the environment for survival but were able to
start permanent settlements, creating more stability and became the basis for the first
revolution in human survival
Pre-Industrial Societies, continued (2)
• Agricultural societies relied on permanent tools for survival
• Around 10,000 B.C.E., the Agricultural Revolution made farming possible and profitable as
farmers learned to rotate crops and reuse waste products and developed new longer lasting tools
• People also had more time and comfort to engage in more thoughtful activities, known as the
“dawn of civilization”
• Those with more resources could afford better living, and differences in social standing between
men and women increased
• Feudal societies contained a strict hierarchical system of power based around land ownership
and protection
• Nobility placed vassals in charge of land (fiefdoms), cultivated by the lower class
• Peasants were guaranteed a place to live and protection in return for maintaining the land
• Ultimately, the social and economic system of feudalism failed and was replaced by capitalism
Industrial Society
• In the 18th century, Europe experienced a dramatic rise in technological invention, ushering in
the Industrial Revolution
• Within a generation, tasks that had previously required months of labor became achievable in
a matter of days
• In 1782, James Watt and Matthew Boulton created the steam engine and steam power began
appearing everywhere
• Agricultural productivity soared, products such as paper and glass became readily available,
and quality and accessibility to education and health care increased
• One of the results of increased productivity and technology was the rise of urban centers
• As capitalism expanded, so too did social mobility
Industrial Society, continued
• During the 18th and 19th centuries of the Industrial Revolution,
sociology was born
• Large amounts of people were moving to new environments and often
found themselves faces with horrendous living conditions
• During this time, social scientists began to study the relationship
between the individual members of society and society as a whole
• During this time, power moved from the hands of the aristocracy and
“old money” to business-savvy newcomers who amassed fortunes in
their lifetimes
• Concerns over the exploitation of workers led to the formation of labor
unions and laws focused on working conditions
Post- Industrial Society
• Information societies, sometimes known as postindustrial or digital societies, are a recent
development
• Information societies are based on the production of information and services in contrast to
industrial societies that are rooted in the production of material goods
• Since the economy of information societies is driven by knowledge and not material goods
• Power lies with those in charge of storing and distributing information
• Members of a postindustrial society are likely to be employed as sellers of service
• Social classes are divided by access to education
Introduction to Theoretical Perspectives on Society

• Three sociologists are considered fundamental to the field of sociological research:

Émile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber

• These three theorists developed theories that still provide useful tools for us to
understand the events around us
Functionalism and Society
• Social solidarity (the social ties that bind a group of people together) and social facts (the
laws, morals, beliefs, customs, ritual, and cultural rules governing life) are both used by
functionalists to analyze society
• Émile Durkheim stressed the necessary interconnectivity of all of its elements
• Collective conscience: communal beliefs, morals, and attitudes of a society
• Durkheim likened society to that of a living organism with each organ playing a necessary
role in keeping the being alive
• Members of society who violate social norms are necessary to the well-being of society
because punishments for deviance affirms the collective conscience
Functionalism and Society, continued
• Durkheim was primarily concerned that the cultural glue that held society together was
failing and people were becoming more divided
• Preindustrial societies were held together with mechanical solidarity, a type of social
order maintained by the collective consciousness of a culture where things are done
mostly because they have always been done that way
• Industrial societies had organic solidarity, which is social order based around an
acceptance of economic and social differences with division of labor becoming
specialized
• This transition from mechanical to organic is advantageous for society in the long run
• Anomie is a situation in which society no longer has the support of a firm collective
consciousness that is experienced in times of social uncertainty
• As societies reach an advanced stage of organic solidarity, it has finished its
development
Conflict Theory and Society
• Conflict theory looks at society as a competition for limited resources
• This macro-level approach is identified with Karl Marx who saw society as made up of
individuals in different social classes competing for resources and leisure time
• For Marx, society’s constructions were predicated on the idea that a society’s economic
character forms its base, upon which rests the culture and social institutions, the superstructure
• Marx saw conflict in society as the primary means of change
• Conflict exists between the bourgeoisie (owners) and the proletariat (laborers)
• Marx maintained these conflicts appeared consistently throughout history during times of
social revolution or “class antagonisms”
Conflict Theory and Society, continued (1)
• In the mid 19th century, the bourgeois industrial employers
became more and more exploitative toward the working class
proletariat
• Frederick Engels, Marx’s colleague and friend wrote The
Condition of the Working-Class in England(1844) describing the
horrid conditions in detail
• Marx and Engels referred to capitalism as the “dictatorship of the
bourgeoisie”
• Marx believed that what we do defines who we are and the
bourgeois revolution resulted in workers working for wages alone
Conflict Theory and Society, continued (2)
• Marx described modern society in terms of alienation, the condition in which the
individual is isolated and divorced from society, work, or sense of self
• Alienation from the product of one’s labor: An industrial worker does not have the opportunity to related
to the product he labors on
• Alienation from the process of one’s labor: A worker does not control the conditions of the job
• Alienation from others: Workers compete rather than cooperate
• Alienation from one’s self: Loss of connectivity between a worker and occupation
• False consciousness is a condition in which the beliefs, ideals, or ideology of a
person are not in the person’s best interest
• Class consciousness is the awareness of one’s rank in society
Symbolic Interactionism
• Max Weber’s primary focus on the structure of society was in the elements of class, status, and
power
• Weber believed that status and class determined power and formed the “base” of society
• A rational society is one built around logic and efficiency rather than morality or tradition
• Weber was also interested in how individuals experienced societal divisions more and reflect
the symbolic interactionism theory
• Iron cage, in which an individual is trapped by institutions and bureaucracy is the culmination
of industrialization, rationalization, and the like
Practice Question 1

An organization and structure of a group of people is called a __________, while the beliefs and
practices of those people would be considered __________.

a. relativism; xenocentrism
b. society; culture
c. culture; society
d. community; society
Practice Question 1 Answer

An organization and structure of a group of people is called a __________, while the beliefs and
practices of those people would be considered __________.

a. relativism; xenocentrism
b. society; culture
c. culture; society
d. community; society

Explanation of answer:
A society is an organization and structure of a group of people while a culture includes the
beliefs and practices of the people within the society.
Practice Question 2

According to Durkheim, __________ was a key feature of preindustrial societies while

__________ was a key feature of industrial societies.

a. mechanical solidarity; organic solidarity

b. organic solidarity; mechanical solidarity
c. organic solidarity; social solidarity
d. social solidarity; social facts
Practice Question 2 Answer

According to Durkheim, __________ was a key feature of preindustrial societies while __________
was a key feature of industrial societies.

a. mechanical solidarity; organic solidarity

b. organic solidarity; mechanical solidarity
c. organic solidarity; social solidarity
d. social solidarity; social facts

Explanation of answer:
Mechanical solidarity was a key feature of preindustrial societies with strong bonds of kindship and a
low division of labor and organic solidarity was a key feature of industrial societies where social order
is based around an acceptance of economic and social differences.
Practice Question 3

The concept of the “iron cage”, a circumstance where the individual feels trapped by the
bureaucracies and institutional constraints of a hyper-rational capitalist society, was popularized
by which of the following sociologists?

a. Émile Durkheim
b. Karl Marx
c. Max Weber
d. Solomon Asch
Practice Question 3 Answer

The concept of the “iron cage”, a circumstance where the individual feels trapped by the
bureaucracies and institutional constraints of a hyper-rational capitalist society, was popularized
by which of the following sociologists?

a. Émile Durkheim
b. Karl Marx
c. Max Weber
d. Solomon Asch

Explanation of answer:
For Weber, the culmination of industrialization and rationalization, and the like results in what
he referred t as the iron cage, in which the individual is trapped by institutions and bureaucracy.
The McDonaldization of Society
• The McDonaldization of Society (Ritzer 1993) refers to the increasing presence of the fast
food business model in common social institutions, including government, education, and even
relationships.
• The model includes efficiency (the division of labor), predictability, calculability, and control
(monitoring)
• While McDonaldization has resulted in improved profits and an increased availability of
various goods and services to more people worldwide, it has also reduced the variety of good
available in the marketplace while rendering products uniform, generic, and bland
• Contemporary efforts can be referred to as “de-McDonaldization”: farmers markets,
microbreweries, and various do-it-yourself trends. And with recent advertising and products
emphasizing individuality, even McDonald’s seems to be de-McDonaldizing itself.
Think About It: McDonaldization

• Choose two of the four characteristics of the McDonaldization of

Society (efficiency, predictability, calculability, and control) and show
how these concepts can be applied to other aspects of our lives.
Introduction to Organizations and Groups

• Another way to advance understanding of society is to examine formal organizations and

groups
• We live in a time when the pace of change and technology are requiring people to be more
flexible and less bureaucratic in their thinking while also a developing trend to bureaucratize
and conventionalize local institutions (McDonaldization of society)
• Group size, leadership styles, and connections all impact how individual members act
Types of Formal Organizations
• Formal organizations are large and impersonal such as schools, businesses, healthcare,
and government and fall into three categories (Etzioni, 1975)
• Ideal-type is a model or collection of characteristics describing most examples of an item
under discussion
• Normative organizations: Also called voluntary organizations, these are based on shared
interests and membership is rewarding
• Coercive organizations are groups that we must be coerced, or pushed, to join
• Utilitarian organizations are joined because of the need for a specific material reward
Bureaucracies
• Hierarchy of authority places one individual or office in charge of another, who in
turn answers to superiors with tasks and duties flowing downward and responsibility
upward
• Clear division of labor: each individual has a specialized task to perform
• Explicit rules are the ways in which rules are outlined, written down, or standardized
• Impersonality: Takes personal feelings out of professional situations
• Meritocracies: Hiring and promotion is based on proven and documented skills rather
than nepotism or random chance
• Bureaucracies are intended to improve efficiency and equal opportunity but lack
flexibility and perpetuate the existing power balance
• Iron rule of oligarchy happens where an entire organization is ruled by a few elites
Types of Groups
• Group is any collection of at least two people who interact with some frequency and who
share a sense that their identity is somehow aligned with the group
• Aggregate is a non-group consisting of people who exist in the same place at the same
time without interactions or shared identity
• Category is a non-group that shares similar characteristics but are not tied to one another
in any way
• Non-groups can become groups
• Primary groups (i.e. families) play the most critical role in our lives and is usually fairly
small and made up of individuals who generally engage face-to-face in long-term
emotional ways, serving emotional needs (expressive functions)
Types of Groups, continued (1)

• Secondary groups are often larger and impersonal, task-focused and time limited, serving
an instrumental function that is goal or task oriented
• In-group (Sumner): a group in which an individual feels belonging and sees it as integral to
self
• Out-group (Sumner): a group someone doesn’t belong to and may feel disdain or
competition towards
• While group affiliations can be neutral, they can also explain some negative behaviors
(bullying, white supremacist movements)
Types of Groups, continued (2)
• Reference group is one to which people
compare themselves and provides a standard
of measurement
• Most people have more than one reference
group
• Reference groups can be one’s cultural center,
workplace, family gathering, parents and can
convey competing messages
Group Dynamics
• Dyads (Simmel)are two member groups with high intensity but low stability because it is
dependent on both members’ commitment
• Triads (Simmel) has lower intensity, higher stability since one member can leave, but also has
the chance for two members to hold majority opinion
• Small groups generally have strong internal cohesiveness and a sense of connection but may
struggle to achieve large goals compared to larger groups
• Conformity is the extent to which an individual complies with group norms and expectations
(Asch and Milgram research)
Practice Question 4

Groups that members join in order to gain a reward are called

a. voluntary or normative organizations

b. coercive organizations or total institutions
c. utilitarian organizations
d. a bureaucracy
Practice Question 4 Answer

Groups that members join in order to gain a reward are called

a. voluntary or normative organizations

b. coercive organizations or total institutions
c. utilitarian organizations
d. a bureaucracy

Explanation of answer:
Utilitarian organizations, which, as the name suggests, are joined because of the need for a
specific material reward.
Practice Question 5

Sarah is a young adult who watches a daytime television drama where people in her age group
have upscale places to live, nice cars, beautiful clothes, and lots of leisure time without
appearing to have a job. She wants to be like these people and by comparing herself to these
beautiful people, she has established a/an

a. out-group
b. primary group
c. in-group
d. reference group
Practice Question 5 Answer

Sarah is a young adult who watches a daytime television drama where people in her age group have
upscale places to live, nice cars, beautiful clothes, and lots of leisure time without appearing to have a
job. She wants to be like these people and by comparing herself to this group, she has established a/an

a. out-group
b. primary group
c. in-group
d. reference group

Explanation of answer:
A reference group is a group to which an individual or another group is compared. In this case, Sarah is
comparing herself to this group of people in the daytime drama.
Discuss: Advertising and Groups

• How does advertising play on the idea of in-groups and out-groups to

sell products and services?
Leadership Styles
• Instrumental leaders are goal-oriented and largely concerned with accomplishing set
tasks
• Expressive leaders are more concerned with promoting emotional strength and health
and ensuring people feel supported
• Democratic leaders encourage group participation in all decision making and work hard
to build consensus before action
• Laissez-faire leaders are hands-off and allow group members to self-manage and make
decisions
• Authoritarian leaders issue orders and assign tasks and are clear instrumental leaders
with a strong focus on meeting goals
Putting It Together: Society and Groups
• Groups like political parties are prevalent in our lives and provide a significant way to
understand and define ourselves
• Groups are enduring social units that help foster shared value systems and are key to the
structure of society
• The functionalist perspective is a big-picture, macro-level view that looks at how different
aspects of society are intertwined
• The conflict perspective is a microanalytical view that focuses on the genesis and growth of
inequality
• The symbolic interaction perspective analyzes groups on a micro-level, looking at the day-to-
day interactions of groups
Discuss: What if the Internet Stopped Working?

• What would like be like if the Internet just stopped working? Describe
how this event would impact two different social institutions.
Quick Review
• What is the relationship between culture, society, and social institutions?
• How do you identify and define social institutions?
• What are the difference between preindustrial, industrial, and postindustrial societies?
• What is Durkheim’s functionalist view of society?
• What are the differences between mechanical solidarity from organic solidarity’?
• What is the conflict theory view of society?
• What are Karl Marx’s concepts of class and types of alienation?
• How do symbolic interactionists understand society?
Quick Review, continued
• What are the components of McDonaldization?
• What are the different types of formal organizations?
• How is bureaucracy an ideal-type?
• What are the functions of a variety of groups (i.e. primary/secondary, in-groups/out-
groups, and reference groups)?
• How does size influence group dynamics?
• How is conformity impacted by groups?
• What are the similarities and differences between the different styles of leadership?