P.A. Sorokin noted that “...history does not give us a person outside the group. We do not know an absolutely isolated person living outside of communication with other people. We are always given groups...”. Society is a collection of very different groups; large and small, real and nominal, primary and secondary. The group is the foundation of human society, since it itself is one of such groups. The number of groups on Earth exceeds the number of individuals. This is possible because one person is able to belong to several groups at the same time.
Social group is a collection of people who have a common social sign and performing a socially necessary function in general structure social division of labor and activity. Such characteristics include gender, age, nationality, race, profession, place of residence, income, power, education, etc.
This concept is generic in relation to the concepts of “class”, “social layer”, “collective”, “nation”, as well as in relation to the concepts of ethnic, territorial, religious and other communities, as it captures the social differences that arise between individual groups people. The first attempts to create a sociological theory of groups were made in late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century by E. Durkheim, G. Tarde, G. Simmel, L. Gumplowicz, C. Cooley, F. Tennis.
IN real life the concept of "social group" is given the most different interpretations. In one case, the term is used to refer to a community of individuals physically and spatially located in one place. An example of such a community is individuals traveling in the same carriage, located at a certain moment on the same street or living in the same city. Such a community is usually called an aggregation. Aggregation- this is an unĸᴏᴛᴏᴩᴏᴇ number of people gathered in a certain physical space and not carrying out conscious interactions.
Some social groups appear unintentionally, by accident. Such spontaneous, unstable groups are called quasigroups. Quasigroup- this is a spontaneous (unstable) formation with short-term interaction of any one type.
The significance of a social group for an individual lies primarily in the fact that a group is a certain system of activity, given by its place in the system of social division of labor. According to the place in the system public relations In sociology, large and small social groups are distinguished.
Large group is a group with a large number of members, based on various types of social connections that do not necessarily involve personal contacts. Several types of large groups can be distinguished. First of all, these are nominal groups. Nominal groups(from lat.nomen - name, denomination) - a set of people identified for the purpose of analysis on some basis that has no social significance. These include conditional and statistical groups - some constructions used for ease of analysis. If the characteristic by which groups are distinguished is chosen conditionally (for example, blondes and brunettes), then such a group is purely conditional. If the attribute is significant (profession, gender, age), it approaches real groups. Secondly, large real groups. Real group- these are communities of people who are capable of initiative, ᴛ.ᴇ. can act as a single whole, are united by common goals, are aware of them and strive to satisfy them through joint organized actions. These are groups such as class, ethnic group and other communities that are formed on the basis of a set of essential characteristics.
Small group- this is a small group in which relationships are in the form of direct personal contacts and whose members are united general activities, which is the basis for the emergence of certain emotional relationships, special group norms, values, ways of behavior. The presence of direct personal contacts (“face to face”) of each with each other serves as the first group-forming feature that transforms these associations into a socio-psychological community, the members of which have a sense of belonging to it. For example, a student group, a school class, a team of workers, an airplane crew.
There are different approaches to classifying small groups. There are primary and secondary groups. Primary group- variety small group, characterized by a high degree of solidarity, spatial proximity of its members, unity of goals and activities, voluntariness of joining its ranks and informal control over the behavior of its members. For example, family, peer group, friends, etc. The term “primary group” was first introduced into scientific circulation by C.H. Cooley, who considered such a group as the primary cell of the entire social structure of society.
Secondary group- is a social group social contacts and the relationships between its members are impersonal.
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Emotional characteristics in such a group fade into the background, and the ability to perform certain functions and achieve a common goal comes to the fore.
The classification of small groups also distinguishes reference groups and membership groups. Reference group(from Latin referens - reporting) - a real or imaginary group with which an individual relates himself as a standard and to the norms, opinions, values of which he is guided in his behavior and self-esteem. Membership groups- these are the groups to which the individual actually belongs. In everyday life, there are often cases when someone, being a member of some groups, begins to focus on completely opposite values of other groups. For example, this is how the problem of “conflict between fathers and children” arises; as a result, interpersonal connections are broken, which may be impossible to restore again.
Social groups - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Social groups" 2017, 2018.
In the 1960s young people are becoming the main consumers of fashion (for example, in 1967 in the West, 60% of all fashion products were purchased by girls aged 17-20 years). The rapid development of youth culture was caused by demographic reasons (the generation born in 1945-1946 has matured),... .
Chapter 2 TYPES OF SOCIAL GROUPS Social groups can be considered as communities of people with stable interactions and the presence of mutual expectations, coordination of actions, cooperation and solidarity regarding common goals and cultural patterns. Every individual in... .
Chapter 3 SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS Even a superficial look at human society allows us to say that most social groups exist in the form of organizations. Even in ancient times, people realized the significant advantage organized groups. Victory... .
Chapter 1 THE EMERGENCE OF SOCIAL GROUPS All people (regardless of race or culture) find self-expression in group life. A baby becomes a person as soon as he takes his place in the family, and the absence of a human group is the most in a negative way affects...
People live in a society, so they are influenced by the groups of people around them. Man does not live by his own laws.
Let's consider the concept of social groups in modern society influencing the opinions, norms of behavior, values, principles of people, and the formation of their point of view. The number of social groups is 1.5 - 2 times greater than the number of people on Earth. One person can belong to several groups at the same time. Not only society, but also an individual lives according to the laws of the group. The foundation of social life is laid in the group. A person needs a group and depends on it. People survive only together. Since ancient times, people have lived in groups. And today a person cannot imagine himself without a group. There are so-called social categories that are used for statistical population accounting, for example, commuter train passengers living in separate or communal apartments, registered in a mental hospital. Such groups are artificially constructed. They can also be called conditional groups. Real groups are called so because the criteria for their identification are real existing characteristics, for example, income: rich, poor; nationality; age: children, adults, teenagers, old people; profession; place of residence: city dwellers, rural residents. You can note populations of people identified on the basis of behavioral characteristics. These include the audience, the public, and some different types of crowds. Such groups refer to random gatherings of people.
Social groups also include social organizations (artificially constructed communities of people). They are created to fulfill a specific purpose, for example, the production of goods or the provision of paid services.
Small groups are a small community of people who are in direct personal communication with each other.
People never act alone. Often they perform their actions together, collectively. One of characteristic features modern society is its mass character. For example, we live in “anthill” houses, walk along streets full of people, go to supermarkets, like many people, and stand in traffic jams. The mass nature of the holiday means that we spend our free time, i.e. we relax in the same place as other people: in discos, cinemas, stadiums, beaches, cafes, etc. In mass society collective activity becomes a common form of social life; mass production, education, culture, communications, religiosity and much more. There are types of collective activity, for example, mass action, collective behavior, collective action. People act similarly, although independently of each other.
In the case of mass actions, people act individually, guided by their goals, intentions, and motives. But such actions are taken very a large number of of people. For example, when a person goes to a store, he chooses exactly what he needs and likes, also what he can afford, but at the same time many people make similar decisions and perform similar actions. Likewise, when we vote in elections, we are guided by our personal beliefs, but at the same time millions of other people vote. New words are very quickly introduced into the existing language of a particular country, neologisms enter people’s speech and become fixed, making constant changes to the language. Computer slang and Internet slang appear; the introduction of English words is very popular, which people over time begin to perceive as purely Russian words.
Acting people may find themselves in the same space and experience the influence of the same situation. They still act alone, on their own. This is called collective behavior. An example is crowd behavior. A crowd is a multitude of individual people. Which do not know each other, are not connected with each other in any way, they are united only by the unity of their location and reason. For example, rallies, concerts, football matches: the behavior of fans if their team loses. Everyone acts as if separately from each other, but the spatial proximity and identity of the situation in which individual units act become factors that have a significant influence on these actions. In a crowd, people act more emotionally and spontaneously and do not think about whether their actions make sense, but succumb to the momentary mood. People simply give vent to their feelings and emotions. There is no purpose in their actions. This can be called "herd behavior" or "social contagion." Another type of collective behavior is the public. People who came to watch a concert, movie, play, etc. in this case, people are aware that others are acting the same way. There is a lack of spatial proximity, simultaneity of actions and synchronicity of actions. Between people of similar interests, passions, tastes, artistic inclinations, a certain connecting thread appears, which allows us to talk about communities that rest on the fact that people equally like or dislike the same things. Generations can also be classified as categories of collective behavior. A generation is a group of people who witnessed the same historical events. For example, people who survived an economic crisis, war, revolution, etc.
The activities of people in groups proceed not only in parallel, but also jointly. This happens when people are aware of their goals and desire to achieve something, in which case they will act together or with the help of other people. There may also be a leader or leader in the group. This is called collective action. We are dealing with joint activities, more lasting, focused, long-term and motivated. Actions of this type can be aimed at achieving a variety of goals.
There is another type of collective action - social movements. They are aimed at implementing some type of social change, such movements are developing within informal systems. This is something between collective behavior and professional activity.
Social movements today are very numerous. For example, the environmental movement, anti-war, against the proliferation of atomic weapons.
Our society is becoming a society social movements. This is due to certain characteristics of modern society. Firstly, a huge concentration of people in relatively small areas. Cities have become a space for intense contacts, interactions, and communications between people. This made it easier to formulate common views and ideologies. People in a similar situation life situation solving similar problems and issues can formulate a common opinion. The development of modern technologies also affects the mobilization of social movements and their recruitment of participants. The media influences opinion, telecommunications, the Internet helps to establish contacts and connections between people.
In modern society, the proportion of dissatisfied and disadvantaged people is growing (both in absolute terms, in the sense of poverty, misery, unemployment, and in relative terms, when people feel it is impossible to achieve the desired heights of wealth and success). They formulate various reproaches and demands. All this pushes them to organize a joint struggle to improve living conditions. People's search for the meaning of life, guidelines, and how to act lead to the organization of religious movements, movements for moral renewal and self-improvement. The emphasis on subjectivity, that people are the creators of history, social movements are formed in which people tend to take public destinies into their own hands.
Democracy gives freedom of speech, association, and assembly. And this is what gives people the opportunity to spread their ideologies.
Social movements can now be divided into “old” and “new”. Previously, movements prevailed that clearly represented segments of the social structure: classes, estates, professional environment. The interests of such groups were mainly related to wages, standard of living. For example, trade unions.
New social movements are, first of all, differences in the assessment and understanding of values, which divides society into groups professing different principles of morality, differing in lifestyle, tastes, etc. These include environmental, movements for peace, against war, for human rights. People of different types meet here social status: poor, rich, old, young, scientists, workers, etc. But in order for contradictions of this kind to become the motivation for common actions, they must become part of the collective consciousness, i.e. "community of beliefs." All these differences in interests and values must be seen, comprehended, and experienced emotionally. At the heart of many social movements one can find three most characteristic feelings arising from the current situation in society: a feeling of inequality, injustice and infringement. Such ideas are usually formed on the basis of comparison of one's own position with the position of others. American researchers Ted Gurr and James Davis talk about the feeling of relative disadvantage as the most important psychological factor stimulating readiness for mass protests and riots. This feeling occurs when achievements do not meet expectations. Feelings of disadvantage arise in typical situations, such as when living conditions deteriorate and do not correspond to the standard of living to which people are accustomed. This happens during an economic crisis, in conditions of rising unemployment. Also another example, the emergence of disadvantage occurs with increasing openness of society, that is, the ability to see favorable conditions in which other societies or groups within society find themselves.
But historians of revolutions have discovered that revolutions do not occur when people’s lives are worst, but, as a rule, during periods of improvement in the situation. This is because people have hopes for further continuous improvement. If any breakdown occurs in such a situation, then a feeling of infringement arises, becoming the motivation for collective action - the struggle to realize lost hopes.
Sources: Peter Sztompka "Sociology"
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Society is a collection of very different groups: large and small, real and nominal, primary and secondary. The group is the foundation of human society, since it itself is one of such groups. The number of groups on Earth exceeds the number of individuals. This is possible because one person is able to belong to several groups at the same time.
Social group
This is a set of people who have a common social characteristic and perform a socially necessary function in the general structure of the social division of labor and activity. Such characteristics may be gender, age, nationality, race, profession, place of residence, income, power, education, etc.
This concept is generic in relation to the concepts "class", " social layer", "collective", "nation", as well as in relation to the concepts of ethnic, territorial, religious and other communities, as it captures the social differences that arise between individual groups of people. The first attempts to create a sociological theory of groups were made in the late 19th - early 20th century by E. Durkheim, G. Tarde, G. Simmel, L. Gumplowicz, C. Cooley, F. Tennis.
In real life, the concept of “social group” is given a variety of interpretations. In one case, the term is used to refer to a community of individuals physically and spatially located in the same place. An example of such a community could be individuals traveling in the same carriage, located at a certain moment on the same street, or living in the same city. Such a community is called an aggregation. Aggregation
This is a number of people gathered in a certain physical space and not carrying out conscious interactions.
Some social groups appear unintentionally, by accident.
Such spontaneous, unstable groups are called quasigroups. Quasigroup
This is a spontaneous (unstable) formation with short-term interaction of any one type.
The significance of a social group for an individual lies primarily in the fact that a group is a certain system of activity, given by its place in the system of social division of labor. In accordance with their place in the system of social relations, sociology distinguishes large and small social groups.
Large group
This is a group with a large number of members, based on various types of social connections that do not necessarily involve personal contacts. Several types of large groups can be distinguished. First, there are nominal groups. Nominal groups
(from Latin nomen - name, denomination) - a set of people identified for the purposes of analysis on some basis that has no social significance. These include conditional and statistical groups - some constructions used for ease of analysis. If the characteristic by which groups are distinguished is selected conditionally (for example, blondes and brunettes), then such a group is purely conditional. If the sign is significant (profession, gender, age), it approaches real groups.
Secondly, large real groups. Real group
These are communities of people who are capable of initiative, i.e. can act as a single whole, are united by common goals, are aware of them and strive to satisfy them through joint organized actions. These are groups such as class, ethnic group and other communities that are formed on the basis of a set of essential characteristics.
Small group- this is a small group in which relationships take the form of direct personal contacts and whose members are united by common activities, which is the basis for the emergence of certain emotional relationships, special group norms, values, and ways of behavior. The presence of direct personal contacts (“face to face”) of each with each other serves as the first group-forming feature, transforming these associations into a socio-psychological community, the members of which have a sense of belonging to it. For example, a student group, a school class, a team of workers, an airplane crew.
There are different approaches to classifying small groups. There are primary and secondary groups. Primary group
A type of small group, characterized by a high degree of solidarity, spatial proximity of its members, unity of goals and activities, voluntariness in joining its ranks and informal control over the behavior of its members. For example, family, peer group, friends, etc. The term “primary group” was first introduced into scientific circulation by C.H. Cooley, who considered such a group as the primary cell of the entire social structure of society.
3.1 Introductory remarks
Society is a collection of very different groups: large and small, real and nominal, primary and secondary. A group is the foundation of human society, and it itself is one of the groups, but only the largest. The number of groups on Earth exceeds the number of individuals. This is possible because one person can be a member of several groups at once.
A social group is usually understood as any collection of people identified according to socially significant criteria. These are gender, age, nationality, race, profession, place of residence, income, power, education and some others.
A social group is a kind of intermediary between an individual and society as a whole. But a group is also the environment in which collective processes arise and develop. Below we will consider such forms of collective behavior as crowds, public, panic, rumors, riots, etc.
3.2 Group meaning
The social world differs from the natural world in many ways. It has its own topography, where points of curvature, condensation and rarefaction are marked. It turns out he also has a kind of metric. For example, the number of stars in the sky exceeds the number of possible star clusters, and the number of elements is always more number sets, groups and classes into which they actually belong. This is true in the natural world. But human society in this sense is an exception.
Not only society, but also an individual lives according to the laws of the group. Scientists have proven that many human characteristics - abstract thinking, speech, language, self-discipline and morality - are the result of group activity. In a group, norms, rules, customs, traditions, rituals, and ceremonies are born. In other words, the foundation of social life is laid. Man needs and depends on the group, perhaps more than monkeys, rhinoceroses, wolves or shellfish. People survive only together.
Thus, the isolated individual is the exception rather than the rule.
Already in ancient times, people lived in groups: mobile societies of primitive hunters and gatherers numbering 20-30 people, leading a nomadic lifestyle, moved across the surface of the planet in search of food. And today a person does not think of himself outside the group. He is a member of a family, a student class, a youth party, a production team, a sports team.
3.3 Classification of social groups
The whole variety of social groups can be classified depending on:
group sizes (large, medium, small),
socially significant criteria (nominal, real).
Nominal groups. They are singled out only for statistical purposes of population accounting, and therefore they have a second name - social categories. They belong to large social groups. For example:
commuter train passengers;
registered in a mental health clinic;
buyers washing powder"Ariel";
single-parent, large or small families;
having temporary or permanent registration;
living in separate or communal apartments.
Social categories are population groups artificially constructed for the purposes of statistical analysis. That is why they are called nominal, or conditional. They are necessary in economic practice. For example, in order to properly organize suburban train traffic, you need to know what the number of passengers is - total or seasonal.
Real groups. They can be large or small. They are called so because the criterion for their identification is the signs that are recognized by people as really existing signs:
gender - men and women;
income - rich, poor and prosperous;
nationality - Russians, Americans, Evenks, Turks;
age - children, teenagers, youth, adults, old people;
kinship and marriage - single, married, parents, widowed;
profession (occupation) - drivers, teachers, military personnel;
place of residence - townspeople, rural residents, countrymen.
These and some other signs are considered socially significant. There are much fewer such signs than statistical ones (they are said to be a countable set).
Since these are real signs, they not only exist objectively (biological - gender and age, or economic - income and profession), but are perceived subjectively. Young people feel their group affiliation and solidarity in the same way that pensioners feel theirs. Representatives of the same real group have similar behavioral stereotypes, lifestyles, and value orientations.
Three types are sometimes distinguished into an independent subclass of real groups and called the main ones:
stratification - slavery, castes, estates, classes;
ethnic - races, nations, peoples, nationalities, tribes, clans;
territorial - people from the same area (compatriots), city dwellers, villagers.
However, with no less justification, any other real group can be included among the main ones. Indeed, we are talking about interethnic conflicts that swept the 20th century. We talk about a generational conflict, meaning that the contradiction of two age groups is a serious social problem that humanity has been unable to resolve for many millennia. Finally, we talk about gender inequality in wages, distribution of family functions, position in society, and in this connection we call patriarchy and feminism.
Thus, we can conclude: real groups are real problems for society. Nominal groups do not provide a comparable range of social problems in scale and nature.
Indeed, it is difficult to imagine that society would be shaken by contradictions, say, between passengers of long-distance and short-distance trains. But the problem of refugees or “brain drain” associated with real groups identified on a territorial basis worries not only armchair scientists, but also practitioners: politicians, government, authorities social protection, ministries.
Behind the real groups are aggregates. This is the name given to groups of people identified on the basis of behavioral characteristics.
These include the audience (radio, television), the public (cinema, theater, stadium), some types of crowd (crowd of onlookers, passers-by). They combine the features of real and nominal groups, and therefore are located on the border between them. The term "aggregate" refers to a random gathering of people. Aggregates are not studied by statistics and therefore do not belong to statistical groups.
This is an artificially constructed community of people. It is called artificial because the organization was created by someone to fulfill some legitimate purpose, for example, the production of goods or the provision of paid services, using institutionalized mechanisms of subordination (hierarchy of positions, power and subordination, reward and punishment). Industrial enterprise, collective farm, restaurant, bank, hospital, school, etc. - types of social organization.
In size they are very large (hundreds of thousands of people), large (tens of thousands), medium (from several thousand to several hundred), small or small (from a hundred people to several people). Essentially, social organizations are an intermediate type of association of people between large social groups and small groups. In other words, the classification of large groups ends with them and the classification of small ones begins.
Here lies the boundary between secondary and primary groups in sociology. Only small groups are classified as primary, and all others are classified as secondary.
Small groups are small collections of people united by common goals, interests, values, norms and rules of behavior, as well as constant interaction.
Before moving on to a more detailed consideration of social groups, let us clarify the term “social community”. It is used in two meanings, and you will find both in literature. In a broad sense, it is synonymous with a social group in general. In the narrow sense, only territorial groups are called social communities. Sociologists define with this term a set of people who have a common and permanent place of residence, who interact, exchange services, depend on each other and jointly satisfy common needs.
3.4 Ethnic communities
These communities are also called consanguineous. These include clans, tribes, nationalities, nations, families, and clans. They are united on the basis of genetic connections and form an evolutionary chain, the beginning of which is the family.
Family is the smallest consanguineous group of people related by common origin (grandmother, grandfather, father, mother, children).
Several families entering into an alliance form a clan. The clans were united into clans.
A clan is a group of blood relatives bearing the name of an alleged ancestor. The clan maintained common ownership of the land, blood feud, and mutual responsibility. As relics of primitive times, they remained in some areas of Scotland, among the American Indians, in Japan and China. Several clans united to form a tribe.
A tribe is a higher form of organization, covering a large number of clans and clans. Tribes have their own language or dialect, territory, formal organization (chief, tribal council), and common ceremonies. Their number reached tens of thousands of people.
In the course of further cultural and economic development, tribes were transformed into nationalities, and those - at higher stages of development - into nations.
A nationality is an ethnic community that occupies a place on the ladder of social development between tribes and a nation. Nationalities emerge during the era of slavery and represent a linguistic, territorial, economic and cultural community. The nationality is larger in number than the tribe, consanguineous ties do not cover the entire nationality, and their significance is not so great.
A nation is an autonomous political grouping, not limited by territorial boundaries, whose members are committed to common values and institutions. Representatives of one nation no longer have a common ancestor and common origin. They don't have to have mutual language, religion.
The nation emerges during the period of overcoming feudal disunity and the emergence of capitalism. During this period, those who have achieved high degree maturity of political organizations, the internal market and a unified economic structure, own literature, art. Nations are more numerous than nationalities, and number tens and hundreds of millions of people. On the basis of a single territory, language and economy, a single national character and mental makeup are formed. There is a very strong feeling of solidarity with your nation. National-patriotic and national liberation movements, interethnic strife, wars and conflicts arise as a sign that a nation has formed and is fighting for its sovereignty.
3.5 Public
The main exponent of the sociological approach to the public at the turn of the 20th century was the French sociologist Gabriel de Tarde (1843-1904). In the book "Opinion and the Crowd" (1901) he compared the two social education- crowd and public. Unlike a crowd, whose mental unity is created by physical contact, the public is a spiritual community: individuals are physically dispersed, but spiritually connected to each other. The basis is a similarity of opinions.
According to G. Tarde, the public is a product of new times. Its origins are in the secular salons and clubs of the 18th century. However, the real flowering of the public begins with the advent of newspapers, and later radio and television. Technical media, publicly available secondary and higher education turned the public into the most numerous form of association of people. If in the crowd the personality is leveled, then in the public it gets the opportunity to express itself. Thanks to the media, hundreds of millions of people can actively participate in political and cultural events and express their opinions.
Millions of dollars are spent by industrial companies on advertising, market surveys, and television campaigns in support of one candidate or another. All of them are addressed to the public.
3.6 Crowd
A crowd is any short-term gathering of people who are gathered in one place by common interest.
The crowd does not have a group structure in the form of a system of statuses and roles, there are no uniform norms and habits of behavior, there is no previous experience of interaction.
When the interest that brought people together disappears, the crowd disperses. After graduation football match a huge number of fans leave the stadiums; after the supermarket closes, a crowd of buyers leaves the premises. In a crowd, people behave not like loved ones and acquaintances, but like strangers.
The French scientist Gustav Lebon (1841 - 1931) saw a destructive force in the crowd. A group of people gathered in one place, inspired by common feelings, is ready to follow any leader, especially if he has some abilities psychological impact(Hitler).
The distinctive qualities of the crowd are anonymity, mental infection, suggestion and imitation. The train of thought in a crowd is directed by the general mood and most often obeys base instincts.
Crowd and small group
Sociologists have proven that in a group a person can do what he cannot do alone.
The longer a person stays in a crowd, the weaker rational control is manifested, the stronger the susceptibility to any evil.
Another feature is the physical contact of people and crowding. Excessive density causes first psychological and then physical discomfort. Typical example- crush.
A crush occurs in a crowded bus, subway car, or in a queue. It is characterized by negative social interaction- swearing, insults, conflicts, fights. There are four main types of crowds:
random;
conventional;
expressive;
active.
Random is such a cluster where everyone pursues immediate goals. These are the queues in a store or at bus stop, passengers on the same train, plane, bus, walking along the embankment, onlookers watching a transport incident.
A conventional crowd consists of people gathered in a given place and in given time not by chance, but with a predetermined goal.
Religious service participants, spectators theatrical performance, listeners symphony concert or an academic lecture, football fans adhere to certain norms and rules that regulate their behavior, making it orderly and predictable. They have a lot in common with the public.
Theater audiences know that during a performance it is forbidden to talk or comment on what is happening, enter into polemics with the actors, sing songs, etc. On the contrary, football fans are allowed to shout loudly, talk, sing songs, get up, dance, hug, etc. This is an informal agreement (convention) about appropriate behavior in specific situations that has become a custom. When sports officials decided to break this custom in the 1980s and forbade fans from loudly expressing their emotions, Soviet stadiums plunged into mournful silence. Football has ceased to be a festive spectacle, and attendance has plummeted.
An expressive crowd, unlike a conventional crowd, gathers not in order to enrich itself with new knowledge, impressions, ideas, but in order to express their feelings and interests.
City dance floors, youth discos, rock festivals, holiday celebrations and folk festivals (the brightest take place in Latin American countries) provide examples of expressive crowds.
An active crowd is any of the previous types of crowd that manifests itself in action.
Football fans who cause mayhem after a match are an active, or aggressive, crowd. Another example: the storming of the Winter Palace in 1917. An active crowd gathers to take part in the action, and not just to observe events or express their feelings.
3.7 Small group
When we talk about the fate of civilization, world society, or conduct comparative analysis societies, we characterize the megaworld of sociology.
When we describe the fate of one country, we analyze it social structure or the interaction of large social groups, we are invading the macroworld of sociology.
But it turns out that there is another level, without knowledge of which the social picture of society will remain incomplete.
This is a microcosm of sociology - a small group and interpersonal relationships that characterize a person’s immediate social environment.
A small group is a small number of people who know each other well and constantly interact with each other.
Example: sports team, school class, nuclear family, youth party, production team.
A small group is also called primary, contact, informal. The term "minor group" is more common than "primary group". The following definitions of a small group are known:
* J. Homans: a small group is a certain number of individuals interacting with each other over a certain period of time and small enough to be able to contact each other without intermediaries.
* R. Merton: a small group is a collection of people who interact with each other in a certain way, are aware of their belonging to it and are considered members of this group from the point of view of others.
* R. Bales: a small group is a number of people actively interacting with each other over more than one meeting, face to face, so that everyone gets a certain understanding of everyone else, sufficient to distinguish each person personally, react to him or during the meeting, or later, remembering it. The number of definitions of a small group in the literature is approaching one hundred. When getting to know them, one notices their composite nature: as a rule, each of them combines several features of the phenomenon being studied.
Most often, scientists point to the following signs of a small group:
Limited number of group members. The upper limit is 20 people, the lower is 2. If the group exceeds the “critical mass”, it breaks up into subgroups, cliques, factions. According to statistical calculations, most small groups include 7 or fewer people.
Composition stability. A small group, unlike a large one, is based on the individual uniqueness and irreplaceability of the participants.
Internal structure. It includes a system of informal roles and statuses, a mechanism of social control, sanctions, norms and rules of behavior.
The number of connections increases in geometric progression if the number of terms increases in arithmetic progression. In a group of three people, only four relationships are possible, in a group of four people - 11, and in a group of 7 - 120 connections.
The smaller the group, the more intense the interaction within it. The larger the group, the more often relationships lose their personal character, become formalized and cease to satisfy group members. In a group of 5 people, its members receive more personal satisfaction than in a group of 7. A group of 5-7 people is considered optimal. According to statistical calculations, most small groups include 7 or fewer individuals.
The size of the group depends on the nature of the group's activities. Financial committees of large banks, responsible for specific actions, usually consist of 6-7 people, and parliamentary committees engaged in theoretical discussion of issues include 14-15 people.
Belonging to a group is motivated by the hope of finding satisfaction of personal needs in it. A small group, unlike a large one, satisfies the largest number of vital human needs. If the level of satisfaction received in the group falls below a certain level, the individual leaves it.
Interaction in a group is only sustainable when it is accompanied by mutual reinforcement of the people participating in it. The greater someone's individual contribution to the group's success, the more he motivates others to do the same. If one ceases to make the necessary contribution to meeting the needs of others, he is expelled from the group.
The group provides everyone with the maximum available benefits, since it is an association of individuals who are equally useful to each other. Each of them receives from being in this group more benefits than in any other.
3.8 Small group forms
A small group takes many forms, up to very complex, branched and multi-tiered formations. However, there are only two initial forms - dyad and triad. They can be called the simplest molecules of a small group, which, like the genetic code, set other properties and characteristics of the small group.
A dyad consists of two people who form stable interpersonal relationships based primarily on feelings - love, hatred, goodwill, coldness, jealousy, pride. For example, couples of lovers. They constantly meet, spend leisure time together, exchange signs of attention and symbols.
The emotional attachment of lovers makes them treat each other with care, i.e. build an exchange according to the principle: do to another what you would like him to do to you. By giving his love, the partner hopes that in return he will receive no less reciprocal feeling. And so in everything: from the exchange of gifts to the exchange of greetings and feelings.
Thus, the initial law of interpersonal relations in a dyad is the equivalence of exchange and reciprocity. In large social groups, say, in a production organization or a bank, such a law may not be observed: the boss demands and takes from the subordinate more than he gives in return.
The dyad is the realm of subjective preferences, where the social principle is just emerging. The triad is a different matter.
A triad is an active interaction of three people. When in a conflict two oppose one, the latter is faced with the opinion of the majority. He reasons like this: one person can make a mistake in assessing my actions, but two people can hardly. They express rather an objective opinion about me.
It’s the same in society: when someone points out your shortcomings, his opinion can be assessed as the view of an ill-wisher or an envious person. One is capable of making mistakes. But when many people say the same thing, it seems that their opinion borders on objective truth.
The law of human relations says: the opinion of the majority is most likely to be perceived as reliable. The opinion of one or a minority can be perceived as both true and false. This is why it is so difficult to fight the opinion of the majority alone.
If this is so, then there is a fundamental difference between a dyad and a triad. In a dyad, the opinion of one can be considered both false and true in equal measure. Only in the triad does a numerical majority appear for the first time. And although it consists of only two people, the point is not in quantity, but in quality. In the triad, the phenomenon of the majority is born, and with it, the phenomenon of the majority is truly born. social attitude, social origin.
A dyad is an extremely fragile association. Strong mutual feelings and affection instantly turn into their opposite. A loving couple breaks up with the departure of one of the partners or a cooling of feelings.
The triad is more stable. There is less intimacy and emotion, but the division of labor is better developed. A more complex division of labor gives more independence to individuals. Two people unite against one on some issues and change the composition of the coalition on others. In a triad, everyone alternates roles and as a result, no one dominates.
A social group is characterized by a pattern: the number of possible combinations and roles increases much faster than the size of the group expands. In a dyad there is only one line of interaction, in a triad there are four. In a group of 6 people, 15 dyads are possible, i.e. connections between two individuals. You can calculate the number of possible dyads in school class, student group, sports team or family according to the formula
where R is the number of dyads, n is the number of group members.
Try applying the formula to your small group, and the results may surprise you!
3.9 Small group structure
The structure of connections and relationships in a small group is studied using the sociogram method. Let's imagine a student group where we need to conduct a survey. We asked each student to indicate with whom exactly he would like to work together, with whom to spend leisure time, go on a hike, with whom to date, etc. Mutual choices are plotted on a special map: each type of connection is indicated by a special color or line shape.
In the figure we see that Andrey received the largest number of elections. He is the leader of the group. A smallest number elections for Sergei and Olya. They are outsiders.
Sociogram of a small group
The leader is the member of the group who enjoys the greatest sympathy and makes decisions in the most important situations.
Therefore, he has the greatest authority and power. The leader is not appointed, he is nominated due to his personal qualities. The term "leader", according to the Oxford Dictionary, appeared around 1300. However, other experts, in particular Ralph Stogdill, believe that it is unlikely that this happened earlier than 1800.
If there is usually only one leader in a small group, then there may be several outsiders.
When there is more than one leader, the group splits into subgroups. They are called cliques.
Although there is only one leader in the group, there may be several authority figures. The leader relies on them, imposing his decisions on the group. They form public opinion groups and form its core. If, for example, you need to throw a party or go on a hike, then the core acts as organizers.
So, the leader is the focus of group processes. Group members seem to delegate (by default) to him the power and right to make decisions in the interests of the entire group. And they do it voluntarily.
Leadership is a relationship of dominance and submission within a small group.
A leader's typical behavior - a system of techniques for influencing and controlling others - is called leadership style.
There are three main leadership styles:
democratic - soft techniques, encouragement of initiative, joint discussion and decision-making, general control;
conniving - removal from real leadership, non-interference in the actions of wards, anarchy.
Let us draw conclusions about the small group: it is at the end of the typology of social groups, since it has the smallest size. The initial molecules of the small group are dyad and triad. Larger formations break up into them. The structure of small groups is described using a sociogram, and the dynamics within the framework special direction called group dynamics.