Unit 17 Different types of social groups

1. What are the major types of social groups?

Sociologists have identified several types of social groups, distinguished by their different effects on the members' attitudes, feelings, and behaviour. For example, in-groups are those with which a person identifies and in which he or she feels at home. Out-groups are the opposite: groups with which a person does not identify and in which he or she does not feel at home. Almost any social characteristic shared by more than a few people can give rise to an in-group: ethnic heritage, family name, age, economic status, occupation, drug use, or leisure activities. In-groups develop a sense of " we" -ness - togetherness, common perceptions and evaluations, and a consciousness of kind.

An important step in the formation of an in-group—and in its separation from out-groups—is the creation of a social boundary that distinguishes in-group members from the rest of society. These social boundaries are implicitly understood lines that demarcate who is in from who is out. Such

boundaries have two consequences: they keep outsiders from interacting with the in-group, and they inhibit insiders from moving out to interact with nonmembers. Group boundaries are established and made visible in several ways: members of an in-group symbolise their membership visually by wearing distinctive items (a fraternity pin or a nun's habit) or by talking in distinctive slang; conflict with out-groups also draws members together in the confrontation with a common enemy, and makes clear the line between inside and out.

Charles Horton Cooley distinguished primary groups from secondary groups. The best examples of primary groups are families and small-town neighbourhoods. Primary groups have five characteris­tics: continuous face-to-face interaction, strong personal identity with the group, strong ties of affection among group members, multifaceted relationships (that is, on many different levels), and long-lasting or enduring relationships within the group. Cooley chose the word " primary¹¹ for these kinds of groups because of the functions they perform: primary groups are the " first" agents of socialisation in the life course; they are important agents of social control in that they are respon­sible for the enforcement of social norms; and they satisfy people's basic emotional and psychologi­cal needs.

Secondary groups are the opposite of primary groups. They have the following five characteris­tics: limited face-to-face interaction, modest or weak personal identity with the group, weak ties of affection among members, limited relationship (that is, on only one level), and temporary existence. Typically, students who attend a large lecture class for a semester constitute a secondary group. The dichotomy of primary and secondary is considered more accurately as a continuum or a scale: actual groups have primariness or secondariness to some degree rather than absolutely.

Reference groups are those to which we look when evaluating and shaping our behaviour, but to which we do not necessarily belong. Reference groups have two functions: they provide stan­dards for evaluating ourselves and our accomplishments, and they serve a normative function by furnishing guidelines for how to think or act. A high-school basketball player who aspires to a professional career might adopt the Boston Celtics as a reference group. He takes their values and performances as the standard for evaluating his own progress as a basketball player and for guiding his behaviour, even though he is not (yet) a member of the Celtics.

2. Why is commitment from members important for group survival?

All social groups need some degree of commitment from members if they are to survive. That is, members must be willing to give needed resources-their time and money, their labour, or even their " hearts and minds" -so that the group can accomplish its objectives. Some groups, like the Old Order Amish described in the textbook, require very high levels of commitment from their members. The Amish are an example of a greedy group-those groups that make exclusive, all encompassing claims on members for their hearts, minds, and undivided loyalties. Most social groups want only part of their members' time, energy, and resources, but greedy groups want all of these things.

How can greedy groups succeed in obtaining undivided, all encompassing loyalties and commit­ment from their members? Kanter identifies six commitment mechanisms that are prevalent in successful greedy groups. The following mechanisms are features of the greedy groups' ideology or social organisation that serve to increase the members' levels of commitment: 1) Sacrifice: group members are required to give up something of value in order to join the group, something that is readily available in the outside world. (Amish people are asked to forego " conveniences" of the modern world, such as electrical appliances or cars.) 2) Investment: members are required to contribute tangible resources such as money or labour to the group. (The Amish are expected to donate their labour freely in barn raisings on neighbouring Amish farms.) 3) Renunciation: members of the group are expected to relinquish all personal relationships with those (usually outsiders) who could interfere with members' obligations to the group. (Amish wear distinctive clothing so that they are easily recognised when they move about in everyday society.) 4) Communion: members come together as a group in rituals or other joint, symbolic activities. (Amish people celebrate their we-ness in a full calendar of holidays that call for collective gatherings.) 5) Mortification: members of the group are expected to let the private self die. (Mort is the French word for death; the Amish condemn any displays of personal pride, preferring to emphasize collective rather than personal or individual successes.) 6) Transcendence: members feel a special power or virtue as members of the group. (Amish people believe that they are living the life God intended for humanity.)