Chapter 2
Terms , concepts and their use in Sociology

Social
Control
Status
Roles

We do not equate
sociological
knowledge with
common sense.
Many concepts reflect
the concern of the
social thinkers to
understand and map
the social changes.
Just there are different
kinds of individuals and
groups in society so also
there different kinds of
concepts and terms.

Class
Conflict

Solidarity
Collective
Conscience

Micro interaction
**studying human
behavior by starting
with individual .
Macro structures
**such as class,
caste ,market ,state
,or even
community

Social Groups and Society

A social group is a collection of two or more persons
who are continuously interacting and share common
interests and a sense of loyalty within a given
society.

. Quasi Groups
***
An aggregate or combination which lacks
structure or organization and whose members
are unaware or less aware of existence of
grouping .

.
Quasi Groups
***

Social Category: It refers to a statistical grouping
of people or classification of people on the basis
of similar characteristics. For example, all men
having the same occupation, or all girls having a
height of 5 ft. and above.

.
Both Aggregates as well as Social Category are quasi-groups which can
sometimes become a social group over time. For example, all domestic
workers in a locality may over time form a union and become organized
and develop a. common identity as a social group.

. Social Group Quasi Group
1. Social group is a collection
of
continuously interacting
persons
who share common interest,
culture, values and norms
within a
given society.
• Social groups have sense of
belongingness.
• E.g.: family, peers etc.
• Quasi group/aggregates is a
group
of people who are at the
same
place at the same time but
share
no connection with each
other and
have no structure.
• Quasi groups lack sense of
belongingness.
• E.g.: Passengers standing on
railway station

.
Social Group Quasi Group
1. Social group is a collection of
continuously interacting persons
who share common interest,
culture, values and norms within a
given society.
• Social groups have sense of
belongingness.
• E.g.: family, peers etc.
• Quasi group/aggregates is a group
of people who are at the same
place at the same time but share
no connection with each other and
have no structure.
• Quasi groups lack sense of
belongingness.
• E.g.: Passengers standing on
railway station

.
(1)Primary and secondary group
(2) In group and society or association
(3) Community and society or association
(4) Reference group
(5) Peer group
Types of Social Group

.
Primary Group
Primary group refers to
small group of people
connected by intimate and
face-to-face association
and co-operation. for e.g.
family, village and
groups.
• Secondary group is the
group in which there is lack
of intimacy, e.g.,
different political group,
economic association etc.
Secondary Group

.
Primary Group Secondary Group
❖ Small size of group
❖ Physical proximity
❖ Continuity and stability
of relationship
❖ General responsibility
❖ Common-aim
❖ Large size
❖ Indirect relationship
❖ Fulfilment of special interest
❖ Limited responsibility
❖ Impersonal relationship

.
Difference between In Group and Out Group:
In Group Out Group
(1) "We feeling" exists. (1) Lack of "We feeling".
(2) Face to face relationship. (2) No face to face relationship
(3) Feeling of sacrifice and (3) Lack of feeling of sacrifice and
cooperation among members. cooperation among members
(4) Domestic and perfect (4) Working relationship and
relationship. imperfect relationship.

.

.
Community and Society
Society Community
It refers to human relationships that are
impersonal, superficial and transitory.
It refers to human relationships that
are highly personal, intimate,
enduring.
Society has no definite boundary. It is universal
and pervasive.
It is a group of people living together particular locality.
Society is abstract. Community is concrete.

.
Community and Society
Community Society
It is group of people living in a particular
locality and having a feeling of oneness.
Society network of relationships which
cannot be seen or touched.
E.g.: Hindu Community, Parsi
Community etc.
E.g.: Arya Samaj Society, Harijan Society.

.
Reference Group

.
Peer Group

. Activity
**Do your friends or others
of your own age group influence you?
**Are you concerned about their approval or disapproval
about you?
**Do they influence the way you dress, behave and
even the kind of music you hear ?

.
Activity
**Do you feel the need to please to be a part of a approved
group ?
**Is the Peer pressure stopping you from being your real self?
**DO you feel the peer pressure ?
**Is it always hard to say “no” to friends ?
** Is there such a thing as positive peer pressure ?
** Does peer group influence affect your academic
achievement .

Social stratification
 Society is divided based on economic, social, religious and
other aspects.
 Heterogeneity in the society is called as Social Stratification.
 The concept of “Social Stratification” is made use of to refer to
such classification or degree and placement of people in society.
 Stratification assumes three main forms; caste, class and race.

Definition of Social Stratification
 Raymond W Murray – “Social stratification is a horizontal division of society into
higher and lower social units”.
 Ogburn and Nimkoff – “The process by which individuals and groups are
ranked in a more or less enduring hierarchy of status known as stratification”.
 Ginsberg – “Social Stratification is the division of society into permanent groups
or categories linked with each other by the relationship of superiority and
subordination”

Types of Social Stratification
It can be divided into
 Caste System – social
 Class system – economic
 Race – hereditary

Caste system
 In India, a special type of Social Stratification in the form of caste.
 The caste is an inseparable aspects of the Indian Society.
 It is peculiarly Indian in origin and development.
 Origin of the word – the “Caste” origin into Spanish word ‘casta’ which
means “breed, race, strain or a complex of hereditary qualities”.

Definition of Caste
 C.H. Cooley – “When a class is somewhat strictly hereditary,
we may call it a caste”.
 Willams – “Caste is a system in which an individual’s rank and
its accompanying rights and obligations is ascribed on the basis
of birth into a particular group”.
 D.N. Mazumdar and T.N. Madan – “Caste is a closed group”.

Origin of Caste system
 It is difficult to trace the origin of caste system – it originated in
India – various theories to explain the origin of caste system.
 Racial theory Political theory Occupation theory Traditional
theory Guild theory Religious theory Evolutionary theory

Racial theory (Varna)
 According to Mazumdar Caste system originated after the arrival of Aryans in India.
 Indo-Aryans used the term ‘Varna’ which means ‘colour’. In order to differentiate the groups of
people.
 They called it Dasa Varna – Dasa people.
 Rigvedic literature stresses very significantly the difference between the Arya and Dasa, not only
in their color but also in their speech, religious practices, and physical features.
 They divided Brahma, Kshatra and Vaishya – Sudra on the basis of Varna (race).

1. Occupational theory
2. ο Occupation is the base for the origin of caste system.
3. ο Those who carried out better and respectable profession were
considered superior.
4. ο Nesfield views – Functions and Function alone is responsible for the
origin of caste structure in India.
5. ο Occupational differentiation and numerous subcaste such as lohar,
sonar, chamar, nai, mali etc.,

Traditional Theory
ο The caste system is of divine (godly) origin.
ο According to this theory castes were created by
Brahma in order to make human beings to harmoniously
(part of body) perform various social functions necessary
for the maintenance of society.

Varna and Jati:
Sociological studies of villages in 1950s-70s revealed that caste as it
actually functions at local level is different from the Varna scheme.
Varna Jati, a broad pan-Indian aggregative are actually existing
hierarchies at classification and is uniform throughout level, but varies
from region to region.
In India there are only four Varnas —a complex division in each area.

There are actually hundreds of castes and sub-castes in contemporary Indian villages.
Studies show that the caste system in contemporary India has two main aspects:
1. Ritual aspect: It is based on ideas of purity. It is derived from religious texts.
2. Secular aspect: It takes both the economic and political aspects into account. Therefore,
caste position in local hierarchies depends on a number of factors.
•Rituals and customs of a caste
•Food habits (vegetarian or non-vegetarian. Pork eating or non-pork eating)
•Occupation
•Land holding.
•Political power etc.
At local level, very often intermediate and lower level castes try to rise up in the caste
hierarchy through the process of Sanskritisation.

•Concept of Sanskritisation was introduced by Mr. M.N. Srinivas.
•It refers to the process by which a “low” Hindu caste or tribe tries to
achieve upward mobility in the local hierarchy by emulating the
customs, rituals, and way of life of the “twice born castes”. For
example, giving up liquor, taking up vegetarianism etc.

•Caste is ascribed:
•Caste is determined by birth.
• A person is bom into the caste of one’s parents. Caste is not a matter of choice. One can not change one’s caste or
leave it.
•Caste is endogamous, i.e., marriage is restricted to members of the group.
•Strict rules about food and food sharing: Caste membership involves rules about food and food sharing, what kind of
foods may or may not be eaten is prescribed and whom one may share food with is also prescribed.
•Hierarchy of rank and status: All castes are arranged in a hierarchy of rank and status while the hierarchical position of
many castes may vary from region to region.
•Segmental organization: Caste involves sub-divisions within themselves, that is, caste almost always have sub-castes
and sub-castes may have sub-sub castes.7. Traditionally linked to occupation: A person born into a caste could only
practice the occupation associated with that caste. So, occupations were hereditary under caste system.

CLASS

Class as a System of Stratification:
•Class refers to a group based on sharing of similar economic resources, that is,
wealth, income or property.
•Members of the same class share:
• Similar economic interests so that they may form organizations. For example,
Trade Unions are formed by factory workers in an industrial society.
• They share similar lifestyles.
•They would also share similar life chances as they have similar kinds of access to
health, education etc.

Conflict Theory
Marx-social classes are
defined by what relation
they have to means of
production.
Weber – Used the term
life chances, which
refers to the awards
and advantages afforded
by market capacity
Structural
/Functionalist
theory
Durkheim -No society is
classes less or
unstratified
Social stratification was
universally present in all
societies to motivate
individuals

Features of class:
•As opposed to caste system, class does not have any
religious or legal sanction.
•It is an open system of stratification. Social mobility is
relatively easy.
•Membership of class is primarily based on achieved
status.

Status And Role

Status: It is refers to the position an individual occupies in a
group or in society. Each status has certain defined rights
and duties assigned to it. Examples of status—Doctor,
mother, teacher etc.

Achieved Status Ascribed Status
(i) It is achieved by an individual on merit
and effort
(i) It is assigned to us on the basis of
birth, biological inheritance, parents’
status etc.
(ii) It is based on individual’s choice
(ii) A person does not choose this
status.
(iii) It can change qualifications, income
etc.
(iii) It is difficult to change status
(v) It plays an important role in modern
societies
Eg. Class
(iv) It plays an important role in
traditional societies.

MULTIPLE STATUS AND STATUS PROGRESSION
In a modern complex society such as ours, an individual may occupy multiple
statuses during the course of his/her life. This is sociologically termed as status set.
For example, you as a school student may be a student to your teacher,
a customer to your grocer, a passenger to the bus driver, a brother or sister to your
sibling and a patient to the doctor.
Individuals also acquires different status at various stages of life.
This is called a status sequence for it refers to the status, which is attained in
succession or sequence at various stages of life. For example, a son becomes a
father, a grandfather, and then great grandfather and so on.

STATUS AND PRESTIGE
*Status and prestige are interconnected terms. Every
status is accorded certain rights and values.
*Values are attached to the social position, rather than
to the person who occupies it or to his/her performance
or to his/her actions.
*The kind of value attached to the status or to the office
is called prestige.

Role:
Status and role are inter-connected because role is the
behavioral aspect of status. It is the expected behaviour
associated with a status. For example, the status of a student
has certain expected behavior attached to it. However, while a
status is occupied, role is played.

Socialization:
Role Conflict: Each individual performs a number of roles in society. Role conflict occurs
when performance of one role conflicts with that of another. Eg. Modern working woman
very often finds that her role as a professional conflicts with that of a mother and wife.
Role Stereotyping:
It refers to reinforcing of certain roles. For example, the role of breadwinner for the husband
and that of homemaker for the wife is often stereotyped in ads and films.
Social roles and status are not fixed. People do make efforts to change the role and status
(even ascribed status) assigned to them by society. For example, Dalits have been
opposing the low status assigned to them on the basis of caste.

Society and Social Control

SOCIAL CONTROL
*Social control refers to the various means used by a society to bring its
recalcitrant or unruly members back into line. It is the social process,
techniques and strategies by which the behaviours of individuals or a
group are regulated.
*It can be the use of force to regulate the behaviour of the individuals or
enforcement of values in the individual to maintain order in society.

MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL

MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL

Social
Control
Formal Informal

FORMAL MEANS
*When the codified, systematic and other formal mechanism of
control is used, it is known as formal social control.
*There are agencies and mechanism of formal social control, for
example, law and the state.
In a modern society formal mechanisms and agencies of social
control are emphasized.

The Conflict theorist
see social control a
mechanism to impose
social control of
dominant social
classes on the rest of
the society
Law would be seen as
the formal writ of the
powerful and theory
interests in society
The use of force to
regulate the
behaviour of the
individual and
groups
Enforcing of values
and patterns for
maintain order in
society

**Social control refers to the social process, techniques and strategies
which the behaviours of Individual or group are regulated .
**It refers to use of both force to regulate the behaviour of the
Individual and groups to maintain social cohension

INFORMAL MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL
It is personal, unofficial and uncodified.
They include smiles ,making faces ,
body language ,frowns ,criticism
ridicule laughter etc.

INFORMAL MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL
However ,in some cases informal
methods of social control may
not be adequate thus family ,religion
Kingship take the reigns of control