Group

Category: Fields of research

A group is any collectivity of individuals that is gathered for some purpose and is interconnected, most often, through face-to-face interactions. Groups vary in their level of formal organization. Informal groups, such as a group of friends, are informal and have no stated membership criteria. Formal groups usually possess formal membership criteria, have reciprocal and defined roles for members, and have a common identity. Social scientists study various aspects of groups: group dynamics, group processes, group identity, roles and statuses within groups, group cooperation and competition, exchange relations within groups, group legitimacy, etc.

Georges Gurvitch argues that there are two kinds of groups - structured groups and organized groups. Structured groups do not have a formal organization, but rather represent a grouping of people according to a statistical category, while organized groups have specific organizations that fight for the interests of the group. In this sense, for example, social classes can be structured without being organized.

Groups in the Perspective of Formal Sociology

Ferdinand Tönnies, in Community and Society (1887), presented the dichotomous division into "community" (Gemeinschaft) and "society" (Gesellschaft- also sometimes translated as „association“) as the two main ideal types of human groups. The community was the first, in the historical sense, and it is created by the „natural will“ (Wesenwille). The community is a place of common life, and the best examples of the community are household and family, neighborhood, village and rural life, and ethnic communities (which are connected by customs, language, and religion). Society emerged with the rise of urban culture, customs, and attitudes of the capitalist class (the third class at the time of the French Revolution). Society is characterized by „rational will“ (Kürwille), and the main examples are the city, joint stock companies, scientific institutions, and the like. The community is similar to a living organism, while society is transitory and superficial, and similar to a mechanical aggregate or artifact. A community is formed spontaneously through long-term "organic" development and is determined by emotions, customs, traditions, solidarity, trust, and intimacy. Societies are created by planned, conscious, and rational action, and the relations of rationality, calculation, selfishness, and emotional distance prevail in them. While relations and order in the community are maintained through tradition and solidarity, society is governed by formal regulations and external sanctions.

Albion Small argues that individuals sometimes have common and sometimes conflicting interests. In order to realize their interests, individuals unite in groups. Since its inception, the state has alleviated the conflicts of opposing groups by establishing the rules of the struggle for the realization of interests. The state also leads to the establishment of cooperation between citizens and an increase in the importance of higher types of interests. Small saw sociology as a science that deals with the study of the group basis of social life. Social groups act as the core of organized interests and thus form the basic units of the social process. The function of the social process is the realization of vital human interests.

Leopold von Wiese's sociology introduced the concept of "plurality patterns" (gebilde). Plurality patterns are relatively permanent social structures that regulate interpersonal relationships. The plurality patterns differ in relative duration and degree of abstraction. The three main types of plurality patterns are: crowds, groups, and abstract collectivities. Crowds can be concrete, and in that sense, they represent visible and time-limited aggregations without leadership; and abstract, when they have no form and no time limit (one example is "public"). The groups are characterized by homogeneity, solidarity, and relatively long duration. Georg Simmel views society as an area of psychological interaction between individuals and groups.

Groups in the Perspective of Symbolic Interactionism

In Social Organization (1909), Charles Cooley introduces the term "primary group", which refers to a group in which there are close relationships and direct communication. Examples of primary groups are: family, neighborhoods, smaller communities, etc. These groups are most important for shaping a person's social nature and values. Although primary groups are influenced by the values of the wider society in which they exist, all primary groups have some characteristics that are the same, or universal, for all of them. All primary groups develop the ideals of freedom, solidarity, equality, fidelity, and truthfulness. In addition, all primary groups have the same communicative structures. Cooley believes that democracy is a reflection of the values that develop in primary social groups and that non-democratic societies represent failures in building a moral social order. Communication and organization are key to transferring the values of primary groups to the level of the wider social order.

George Herbert Mead argues that self and the mind exist only in relation to the social group to which they belong, and both are created through conscious participation in everyday social life, so both are, thus, social creations of everyday life. By assimilating the roles of others, the child takes on collective roles. The group that represents the source of socialization, i.e., the source for learning these collective roles, Mead calls "generalized others". An organized and united self is created by successfully taking over the views of the group to which it belongs, that is, generalized others. Both social acts and the self have elements of stability, but they also show great reflexivity and creativity.

Groups in the Perspective of Durkheim’s Social Morphology

Mauss and Durkheim coauthored the essay Seasonal Variations of the Eskimo (1979, in French 1905). The authors apply the rules of social morphology, the approach introduced by Durkheim, to the study of Eskimo (Inuit) societies. Social morphology studies what they call the "material substrate" of society: the size and density of the population, its distribution, organization of society, and the intensity of interactions in a society. Eskimo societies go through seasonal variations that affect many aspects of social life: religious rituals, customary law, family organization, economic life, etc. During the summer, Eskimos live separately in single families, and in that period, the intensity of social life and contacts are at a minimum, while in winter, they gather in larger groups, so the intensity of social life is highest and the community is renewed. Quantitative changes in population density and interactions lead to qualitative changes in group consciousness and solidarity. The authors believe that a similar relationship of seasonal variations can be observed in other societies, and even European cities and villages (in winter, rural life is more isolated, while in summer it is filled with joint economic activities and social celebrations).

Groups in the Perspective of Social Exchange Theory

George Homans dedicated the first part of his career to the study of social structures and processes in small groups. The most important book from this period of his work is The Human Group (1950). In it, Homans builds an inductive strategy for deriving abstract theoretical generalizations. The basis for these generalizations are descriptions of the behavior of different groups. He thoroughly analyzed five case studies (done by other researchers) that looked at very different groups: a group of factory workers, a juvenile gang from Chicago, a tribal family group from the island of Tikopia, and a community of immigrants in New England. Homans opposed the view of the "cultural uniqueness" of each society and believed that there were some general principles that united all these groups. To analyze the behavior of people in these five groups, he used four categories: activities - what people do in certain situations; interactions - how one person's activity affects another's behavior; sentiments - activities that reflect the inner psychological states of people who participate in activities and interactions; and norms - values that guided behavior. These four categories make up the internal system of that group, and a change in one leads to changes in the other categories. After applying these categories to these five case studies, Homans singled out several general rules that describe the empirical regularities of these groups. Some of the regularities Homans found are: the frequency of interaction between people reinforces their sentiments of mutual liking; the more similar social statuses individuals have, the more frequent their interactions will be. Although the content of the behavior itself varies from case to case, the regularity of the relationship between the variables is constant in all cases studied.

Peter Blau contributed to the development of Social exchange theory, especially with the book Exchange and Power in Social Life (1964). Social exchange theory is based on the study of interpersonal interaction in small groups. He believes that there are four basic processes of exchange: attraction, competition, differentiation, and integration, each of which takes place both between individuals and between collectives. These processes of exchange, when they take place in personal interaction, are guided by the rewards that individuals receive from that interaction. Rewards can be tangible or intangible (emotional). The social structure grows out of the established relations of exchange within the group. The individual search for awards leads to differentiation, but also cohesion in the group. Individuals who have a greater ability to give rewards to others grow into group leaders.

Richard Emerson sought to challenge the dominant view of power in the social sciences, the view that power is possessed by individuals and institutions that control the most important resources. He believed that power lies in the very relationship between individuals and institutions, therefore, that power is a relational phenomenon. Emerson names this concept the power-dependency relationship. The power of one person over another person is commensurate with the level to which the other person depends on the resources that the first person possesses. To define such a view of power, Emerson introduces the notion of "power-dependence relations." Such power relations are always manifested within the network of human relations.

Barry Markovsky and Edward Lawler, in the book Social Psychology of Groups (1993a), developed the theory of group solidarity. These two authors, to better define solidarity, first define group cohesion as the level to which group members are directly interconnected to each other. Solidarity exists in groups with high cohesion and small intra-group conflicts. Defining solidarity through the structural features of the group enables the use of mathematical tools and computer simulations to analyze and predict the behavior of social networks.

Groups in the Perspective of Dramaturgical Approach

In his book Frame Analysis (1974), Erving Goffman partially introduced the concept of "organized frames", making the distinction between the theatrical situation and everyday activities that do not require a role. Role-playing takes place only when there is specific permission from the audience to show the drama. Such permission provides a framework that determines performance characteristics. People use these organized frameworks, which they have imposed on themselves, to keep the group together. Frames serve to organize our experience by determining exactly which form of communication takes place. "Primary frameworks" are those that relate to the real reality of communication. Primary frameworks can be " keyed " when the meaning of the primary frame is misinterpreted. "Fabrications" are frameworks designed to deceive other interlocutors. To prevent misinterpretation of the frames and for the audience to accept them as real, people implant the frames in the current reality.

In his book Forms of Talk (1981), Goffman explores different forms of speech and pays special attention to the "footing of talk". This term refers to the projection of the selves that the interlocutors have during the conversation. He views society as loosely integrated through everyday conversation, which is based on the ritual affirmation of a shared reality. Conversation plays a key symbolic role here, helping to define, strengthen, and maintain the structure of social groups and patterns of interaction. Everyday communication is maintained through symbolic and routine elements of decency. Institutional and interactive orders are loosely connected through a common ground in symbolic and ritual forms that connect the individual with ingrained sacred and moral values. The social structure does not define cultural practices or rituals, but helps individuals to choose from an already available repertoire.

Groups in the Perspective of Sociometry

Jacob Moreno is best known for his theoretical and methodological approach of “sociometry”. Sociometry is a methodological tool for uncovering the social and emotional structures of small groups. This is done by giving questionnaires to every member of a group and asking them to write in the answers to the question of who, from other members of the same group, would they choose or avoid in specific roles. Answers in both options (choose or avoid) were to be put in a hierarchical order of three to five members of a group. These ratings are called ‘‘choices.’’

After processing all the answers of all of the members of the group, the questionnaire arrives at a pattern of group preference and avoidance that can be displayed as a diagram called a “sociogram.” Moreno believed that these sociograms could be used to organize the group in such a manner to improve group performance and everyone's satisfaction, and personal growth. Analyzing choices allowed researchers to identify specific patterns of an association like: “social isolates” (individuals who chose no one and weren’t chosen by anyone); “mutual pairs” (two individuals who choose each other); “pairs with unreciprocated choices”; “transitive triads” (three individuals who all choose each other); “sociometric stars” (individuals receiving most choices); and “cliques” (a set of individuals choosing only each other).

Sociometry also studied factors that influence choices. Those factors are called “principles” and they are: 1) “proximity” of members in their daily life; 2) “reciprocity” in positive or negative preferences; (3) “perceived similarity” of members; and (4) “status” of the individual members (within or outside the group). The first two principles increase the number of reciprocal pairs, while the last two principles produce more unreciprocated choices. Sociometry can be used to measure, predict, and improve social relations within a group or organization.

Moreno also created psychodrama, his group therapy method. Psychodrama is based on the assumption that better therapeutic results can be gained if people act out their problems, instead of only talking about them. Psychodrama requires a protagonist (client who wants to resolve the traumatic experience); auxiliary egos (members of the therapeutic group who assume the roles of people in the protagonist’s life); an audience (group members who are there to observe and react to reenactment); and a director (the therapist). The protagonist selects a traumatic event and gives all the necessary information for the reenactment. After the reenactment, all members of the group partake in a discussion about events and reactions they witnessed. The role of the therapist is to direct and facilitate reenactment and to help the patient gain a new perspective from the psychodrama.

Groups in the Perspective of Social Psychology

Eliot Aronson researched the rituals of initiation in closed groups, where he found that an unpleasant initiation leads to a better opinion of the group by the person who has undergone this initiation. Floyd Allport argues that group norms do not direct individual behavior because people adopt them as internal moral rules, but they follow the rules simply to preserve the social structure they are engaged. Allport saw social psychology as an experimental science focused on individual behavior in the group.

Counterculture Groups

Milton Yinger, in his book Countercultures (1982), sees counterculture as a set of norms and values of a group that drastically oppose the dominant norms and values of the society in which that group is a part. He believes that countercultures express three types of protests against the wider society: direct opposition to dominant values, opposing power structures, and opposing established patterns of social exchange.

References:

Homans. The Human Group (1950);

Markovsky. Social Psychology of Groups: A Reader (1993a);

- „The Seeds of Weak Power: An Extension of Network Exchange Theory”, in American Sociological Review (1993b);

- „A New Theory of Group Solidarity”, in Advances in Group Processes (1994);

- „Power in Exchange Networks: Critique of a New Theory”, in American Sociological Review (1997);

- „Power and the Perception of Social Networks”, in Social Networks (2011);

Mauss. Seasonal Variations of the Eskimo: A Study in Social Morphology (2013, in French 1905);

Mead. Mind, Self, and Society: From the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist (1934);

Merton. Social Theory and Social Stucture (1949);

Park. Introduction to the Science of Sociology (1921);

Shaw. Brothers in Crime (1938);