social groups as described in sociology. A man can’t be social by himself unless he has lived with others. Man’s life is too vain enormous extent a group life. Nature of Groups, Types of Social Groups, primary - secondary, in - out, formal - informal etc. groups

1. By- Harsh Agrawal

2. Sociology is the study of social relations. It is
primarily concern with the social groups. A man
can’t be social by himself unless he has lived
with others. Man’s life is too vain enormous
extent a group life. The groups we belong to are
not all of equal importance to us. Some groups
tend to influence many aspects of our life and
bring us into personal and familiar association
with others.

3. “A small collection of people
who interact with each
other, usually face to face,
over time in order to reach
goals.”

4.  Interact
 Be interdependent -
members rely on one
another
 Interact for a length of time
 Be a particular size
 Have hopes of achieving one
or more goals

5. All social groups contain the following:
1. Permanence beyond the the meeting of the
group
2. Means for identifying members
3. Ways of recruiting new members
4. Goals and purposes
5. Social statuses, roles = norms for behavior
6. Means of controlling members’ behavior

6. – these are the
initial groups that a person joins.
Examples are the family, the barkada or
peer group, play group, cliques, gangs,
immediate school group.

7. interaction among members who have
an emotional investment in one
another and in a situation, who know
one another intimately and interact
as total individuals rather than
through specialized roles. (FAMILY)
 Charles Horton Cooley (1909) called primary
groups the nursery of human nature.
 Described by saying “we”; it involves the sort of
sympathy and mutual identification for which
“we” is the natural expression
 Family members interact in terms of their entire
personalities, not just as specific statuses

8.  These are small groups where relationship is
informal and personal.
 There is face-to-face association and
cooperation.
 There is fusion of individualities into a
common whole.
 There is sympathy and mutual identification.
 These groups are the nursery of human
nature.

9. – these are
the groups that an individual may join in
the latter part of his life.

10. characterized by much less intimacy
among its members. It usually has
specific goals, is formally organized, and
is impersonal.
e.g. Political parties, co-workers, church
members, town residents etc.

11.  These are large groups.
 Contacts may be face-to-face, indirect,
fleeting, or in longer duration.
 Relationship is important insofar as they
facilitate attainment of the goal.
 There is some sort of contractual
relationship based on the attainment of the
goal of the group.
 Loyalty and sense of belonging does not
develop spontaneously.

12.  These are not actually physical groups.
 These are only mental perspectives of
the “WE” and the “THEY”.
 The We are the in-groups; while the THEY
are the out-group.

13.  Formal groups - these are social
structures deliberately organized for the
attainment of specific goals which meet
the fundamental needs of the members.
 Examples:
› Schools, churches, hospitals, industrial
establishments, trade unions, government
agencies, political parties, military, and civic
organizations

14.  Informal groups - these are smaller
groups formed within the Formal group.
 They may be dyads or triads.

15.  Individual Goals - the motives of each
individual group member
 Group goals – the ultimate outcome the
group hopes to accomplish