CMD 211: GROUP TECHNIQUES AND ANALYSIS

SOCIAL GROUP DEFINITION.

Harry M. Johnson says that ‘a social group is a system of social interaction’

Marshal Jones is of the opinion that social group is ‘two or more people between whom there is
an established pattern of interaction’.

R.M Maclever and page define social group as any collection of human beings who are brought
into human relationships with one another.

Ogburn and Nimkoff define it as “whenever two or more individuals come together and
influence one another, they may be said to constitute a social group”.

INTERGROUP DYNAMICS.

Intergroup dynamics refers to the behavioral and psychological relationship between two or
more groups. This includes perceptions, attitudes, opinions, and behaviors towards one’s own
group, as well as those towards another group. In some cases, intergroup dynamics is pro
social, positive, and beneficial (for example, when multiple research teams work together to
accomplish a task or goal). In other cases, intergroup dynamics can create conflict. For example,
Fischer & Ferlie found initially positive dynamics between a clinical institution and its external
authorities dramatically changed to a 'hot' and intractable conflict when authorities interfered
with its embedded clinical model. [43] Similarly, underlying the 1999 Columbine High School
shooting in Littleton, Colorado, United States, intergroup dynamics played a significant role
in Eric Harris’ and Dylan Klebold’s decision to kill a teacher and 14 students (including
themselves)

CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL GROUPS.

1. Collection of individuals. Social group consists of people. Without individuals there can
be no group. Just as we cannot have a college or a university without students and
teachers we cannot have a group in the absence of people.

2. Interaction among members. Social interaction is the very basis of group life. Hence
mere collection of individuals does not make a group. The members must have
interaction. A social group is in fact a system of social interaction. The limits of social
groups are marked by the limits of social interaction.

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3. Mutual awareness. Group life involves mutual awareness. Group members are aware of
one another and their behavior is determined by this mutual recognition. This may be
due to what Giddings calls ‘the consciousness kind’.

4. “We feeling” ‘we-feeling’ refers to the tendency on the part of the members to identify
themselves with the groups. It represents group unity ‘We- feeling’ creates sympathy in
and fosters cooperation among members. It helps group members to defend their
interest collectively.

5. Group unity and solidarity group members are tied by a sense of unity. The solidarity or
integration of a group is largely dependent upon the frequency, the variety and the
emotional quality of the interactions of its members. A family or a friends group or a
religious group is highly united and integrated because its members are related by
several common interests and have frequent social contacts with one another and
express a high degree of morale and of loyalty. Unity is maintained more often by
conscious effort.

6. Common interests. The interests and ideals of the group are common. Groups are mostly
formed or established for the fulfillment of certain interests. In fact men not only join
groups but also form group for the realization of their objectives or interests. Form of the
groups differs in depending upon the common interests of the group. Hence there are
political groups, religious groups, economic group’s, educational groups, racial groups,
racial groups, national groups and so on.

7. Similar behavior. The members of group behave in more or less similar way for the
pursuit of common interests. Social groups represent collective behavior.

8. Group norms. Every group has its own rules or norms which the members are supposed
to follow. These norms may be in the form of customs, folkways, mores, traditions,
conventions, laws, etc. They may be written or unwritten norms or standards. Every
group has its own ways and means of punishing or correcting those who go against the
rules. The continued group life of a man practically becomes impossible without some
norms.

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 9. Size of the group. Every group involves an idea of size. Social groups vary in size. A
group may be as small as that of dyad (two member’s group e.g husband and wife
family) or as big as that of a political party .Size will have its own impact on the
character of the group.
10. Groups are Dynamic. Social groups are not static but dynamic. They are subject to
changes whether slow or rapid. Old members die and new members are born. Whether
due to internal or external pressures or forces, groups undergo changes.

11. Stability. Groups are stable or unstable; permanent or temporary in character. Some
groups like the crowd mob audience spectators group e.t.c are temporary and unstable
in character.

12. Influence on personality. Social groups directly or indirectly shape the personality of
their members. They also provide opportunities for the expression of individuality.

SOCIAL BONDS- THE FACTORS OF GROUP LIFE.

Man becomes man only among men.

It is true that man everywhere lives in groups. Group life is almost inevitable for him. Man fails
to develop human qualities in the absence of a human environment. Man can become man only
among men .The one who fails to live in human groups fails to develop human traits. One or
two instances may corroborate this point.

The case of the wolf children. In 1920, two Hindu children were traced out in a wolf den one at
the age of eight and the other under two. The younger child died within a few months of
discovery. But the elder one called kamala survived until 1929. Kamal had developed no
human qualities when she was discovered. She could walk only on fours possessed no
language and was shy to meet or face people. After some sympathetic training she was taught
basic social habits. Before her death she had slowly learned some simple speech, human eating
and dressing habits and the like. This wolf child had no ‘sense of human selfhood’ when she
was discovered but it emerged gradually. The emergence of individuality was altogether
dependent upon her membership in human group or society.

The case of Anna.

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Another such example is that of Anna an illegitimate American child who had been placed in a
room at the age of six months. She was isolated there until her discovery five years later in
1938. During her confinement Anna was fed but received no training and had no contacts with
other human beings. After five years of this cruel social isolation Anna was allowed to go out.
But she could not walk or speak. She was completely indifferent to people around her. As in the
case of Kamala, Anna was given some training to which she responded. She become
humanized much more rapidly before she died in [Link] improvement showed that
socialization could do a great deal towards making her a “person”. Not only these two, but
many other instances have convingcily proved that a man becomes social only in social groups.

The factors of group life.

Various forces are at work to make man social. Particulary, the psychological biological kinship
and physical factors have enforced man to lead group life. These factors can be called social
bonds.

1. Psychological factors. The psychological bond that promotes group life is what Professor
Giddings calls “the consciousness of kind”. It means the recognition of similarities. It
compels men to come together and live in groups. Further, man is psychologically
equipped to live together. Solitary life is unbearable for him. Groups provide
opportunities not only for the development of man’s personality but also for the
expression of his individuality. It is an environment of groups only that man discovers
his capacities learns new ideas and new habits and new attitudes.

2. Reaction to fear is another psychological force that drives man to lead a group life.
Solitary life brings man not only boredom but also fear. As Hebert Spencer has pointed
out the fear of the living produced the state (Political group) and the fear of the dead
created religion.

3. Biological Factor. Unlike other animals human beings are susceptible to sexual pressures
throughout their life. Sex desire on the one hand and the desire for progeny on the other,
have drawn nearer men and women into group called family. Thus strong sexual
impulses the natural biological process of procreation and upbringing of children have
made family almost universal and inevitable.
The prolonged human infancy coupled with the helplessness of the new born baby have
further added to this inevitability.

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4. Kinship bond
Kinship is popularly known as blood relationship kinsmen are regarded as people who
are related by ‘blood’ through descent from some human or mythical ancestor. Kinsmen
are better united have a sense of identity. In primitive societies the element of kinship is
more effective in bringing people together than in civilized societies. But still the social
bond of racial kinship also promotes group life. However in modern times the influence
and the hold of the kinship factor are declining due to urbanization, industrialization
and other processes.

5. Geographic factor. The geographic factors such as climate, soil, Natural Resources Rivers
Mountains play their role in helping people to have social relations with others. The fact
of living in a particular physical area has made possible for people to have regular
contacts. These contacts are the basic requirements of social group.
Ancient civilizations for example flourished on the banks of rivers while dense forests,
barren lands, dry desserts are uninhabited by the people even today. Groups are rarely
found in such places.
6. Cultural factors
A common cultural outlook and group interests together have long constituted a
significant element in promoting group life. Common language common historic
traditions, common literature, common faith, beliefs, values attitudes, customs
traditional and educational heritage have all served to bring people together and cement
them into groups.
7. Economic factors
Experience has taught man that his basic economic needs – the need for food clothing
and shelter –can be fulfilled by being in groups than alone. The major economic
processes of production distribution and exchange take place primarily in groups.
Economic groupings have become more prominent especially after industrial revolution
of the19th century.

8. Religious factors
Man is a religious or spiritual being also. His soul craves for religious experience.
Worshipping meditation, prayer, singing songs in praise of God e.t.c are the essence of
religious groups in the name of God or some supernatural force. A sense of belonging to
a religion hold people together.

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 9. Political Factors. The need for safety, security of life, liberty and property and pursuit of
happiness has brought people together into political groups. Particularly, the modern
democratic set up encourages people to have their own political groups. State the basic
political group has become today the most powerful of all the groups.

IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL GROUPS.

The study of human society is essentially the study of human groups. Society consists of groups
of innumerable kinds and variety. No man exists without a society and no society exists
without groups. Groups have become a part and parcel of our life. Out of necessity and
inevitably human beings are made to live in groups. Knowingly or unknowingly or
unwillingly, with pleasure or contempt, people live in groups and societies. Man’s life is to an
enormously extent lived and controlled by groups of different kinds.

Survival becomes problematic without groups. Groups have become so necessary that our very
survival becomes problematic and doubtful in their absence. Groups are complementary to the
development of human faculties’ traits and human nature. Man by birth itself has the biological
potentially of becoming man – social being.

Man becomes man only among men. Man becomes man only among men. Various studies have
convincingly proved that man fails to develop human qualities in the absence of human
environment. The famous case of Kasper Hauser, a youth who was bereft of human contacts
because of political mechanization, the most interesting feral case of the two Hindu female
children Kamala and her sister found in a wolfs den and the pitiable case of Anna, an
illegitimate American child which was kept away from human contacts for more than five
years and several other instances have proved beyond doubts that only a human environment
makes a man; a biological animal, a human being. The biological potentiality of man to become
a ‘person’ does not happen on its own automatically even in the absence of a human
environment. The biological potentiality blossoms only in social situation to be more precise
only in the context of groups. Added to this the prolonged human infancy and the helplessness
of new born baby have almost made it a prisoner of the most elementary social group that is
family.

Groups help in social survival also. Not only from the point of view of survival but also from
the view point of leading a successful life man depended on groups. By engaging himself in
constant relations with others he learns things and mends his way. He keeps his eyes wide
open lends his eras to what others say tries to keep his memory ever fresh to remember the

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good things of the past and to refrain from repeating the blunders of the past. In brief from
birth to death man is engaged in the process of socialization. Socialization or the process of
humanization helps man to develop a personality of his own.

Groups contribute to the development of personality. Personality is the product of the group
life. The self that every individual develops though unique is itself a product of the group no
self arises in isolation. Groups provide scope for the individuals to express their real nature,
their talents and abilities. Hidden potentialities can find their expression only in the context of
social groups. What latent become manifest only in groups. The group shape mans attributes
his beliefs, morals and his ideals. Emotional development intellectual maturity satisfaction of
physical and social needs is unthinkable without groups. Group is part of our mental
equipment and we are a part of a group.

Classification of social groups.

Social groups are not only innumerable but also diverse. It is not possible to study all the
groups. A systematic study of groups demands a scientific classification. But such a
classification is difficult to be made because of the very complex nature of the group.
Sociologists have not been successful in providing a satisfactory classification of groups. We
have not one but several classifications. Some thinkers have given simple classification while
others have given an elaborate classificatory scheme.

The criteria of classification.

Classification of any kind in any field is always made on some basis. But social groups are
classified not on the basis of any one factor, but on several factors. Different sociologists have
classified social groups on the basis of different criteria. Groups have been classified variously
on the basis of factors such as racial features, religious beliefs, territory, nature of government,
size, caste, sex, age, class, occupation, blood relationships, degree of organization, nature of
social interaction, range of group interests, permanent or temporary nature, degree of mobility
and so on. A single criterion may be taken or a combination of some factors may be preferred
for a classification. The following are some of the main classifications. Of course, they are not
mutually exclusive and they do overlap.

The Classifications.

“In-groups and out-groups” W.G. Summner in his folkways differentiates between in-groups
and out-groups is simply the we-group and out-group the ‘They group’. This classification is
more subjective; in the sense it depends on the tendency on the part of an individual to identify
himself with a particular group in a particular situation for a particular reason. For example for
a Hindu all the other Hindus constitute his in-group and members of other religious groups,

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out-group. For a Lingayat the other Lingayats may constitute his in-group and other people, his
‘out-group’ and so on.

Involuntary and voluntary group’s institutional and non-institutional groups temporary and
permanent groups. Charles. A. Ellwood in his ‘psychology of human society’ has mentioned
these three categories. Involuntary groups include the groups such as family, city the state the
community caste, race e.t.c and the voluntary groups include political parties, trade unions,
youth associations, religious associations, cultural associations and so on. Institutional groups
are mostly permanent in nature and include church, state caste the school and so on while non-
institutional groups are temporary in nature and include groups such as crowds, mobs, public,
and audience and so on.

Horizontal groups and vertical groups. P.A Sorokin has divided groups into two major types
the horizontal and the vertical. The former are large, inclusive groups; such as nations religious
organizations and political parties. The latter are smaller divisions, such as economic classes
which give the individual his status in society.

Territorial groups and non-territorial groups. Park and Burgess have distinguished between
territorial groups.(e.g communities and states) and non-territorial groups(e.g classes, castes,
crowds and public).

Crowds, groups and collectivities. Leopold Von Wiese and Howard Becker classified human
groups into three categories 1) crowds which are described as loose textured and transitory 2)
Groups aggregation of long duration and 3) abstract collectivities such as a state of a church.

Primary groups and secondary groups. On the basis of nature and quality of social interaction
groups have been classified into primary and secondary. The name of C.H. Cooley is very
much associated with this classification though in actuality, he has not made any such
classification. Cooley introduced the term ‘primary group’ and spoke nothing about ‘secondary
group’. The secondary groups are regarded as a residual ‘category’.

Social groups, social category and statistical aggregate. A distinction is also made between
social groups; social categories and statistical aggregate i) social groups are those which are
characterized by some established pattern of interaction. Example: Peer groups classrooms
groups family, political party e.t.c ii) A social category refers to the people who share a
common status. Example: Bank officials, soldiers, teachers, farmers, women e.t.c iii) A statistical
aggregate include people who share similar interest. Example cricket fans subscribers of a
magazine.

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Genetic Groups and Congregate group. F.Q Giddings has introduced this classification.
Genetic groups are involuntary in nature and the individuals are born in them. Congregate
groups are voluntary in nature and the parties, trade unions, e.t.c are congregate groups.
individuals are at liberty to join them or not. Family groups, racial groups, ethnic groups are
genetic groups, political parties, trade unions, e.t.c are congregate

Tonnies classification of communities (or groups). A German sociologist Ferdinand Tonnies

has classified communities into “Gemeinshaft” and “Association” respectively. Tonnies made
the distinction between ‘community’ and ‘association’ at two levels. The distinction was
applied to both ( i) to the social groups within a society. ii) to the societies themselves.

Gemeinshaft (community).The Gemeinshaft is characterized by intimate private and exclusive

living together”. It represents a community or social groups in which individuals are involved
in the process of interaction as ‘persons’. They feel that they can satisfy all or most of a wide
range of purposes in the group. The family, kin group the neighborhood the rural village the
friends group represents the geimeinshaft. In such groups intimate, friendly and personal
relations are found among the members.

Gesellshaft (association).The gesellshaft is defined as “public life” as something which is

purposefully entered upon. Tonnies says that these associations largely represent group with
economic interest’s .The gesellshaft or the ‘association’ represents relationships that are specific,
partial and utilitarian. Business contract, legal pacts between individuals represents the
gesellshaft relationships. Business companies’ corporation’s cities, town’s e.t.c represents
Gesellellschaft type groups. In these groups the individuals are not wholly involved in the
group life. They look to the group for the satisfaction of some specific and partial ends.

Thus, Gemeinschaft or the community is united by kind of feeling or sentiment between

individuals. It acts as a cementing factor. On the other hand Gesellschaft or the Association is
united by a rational agreement of interests. This classification of communities made by Tonnies
is very much akin to the classification of groups into ‘primary groups’ and ‘secondary groups’.

Small groups and large groups. George Simmel introduced this classification. Size is the basis
of this classification. Small groups include ‘dyad’, ‘triad’ and other small groups. Large groups
represent racial groups, political groups, nation and other big collectivities.

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Other classifications. In addition to the above, there are also other classifications such as the
following:

 Organized groups and unorganized groups.

 Congregated groups and dispersed groups.
 Majority groups and minority groups.
 Open groups and closed groups.
 Independent groups and dependent groups.
 Formal groups and informal groups.

SUMMNERS CLASSIFICATION OF SOCIAL GROUPS: IN-GROUPS AND OUT-

GROUPS.

American sociologist W.G Summner in his book “folkways” has classified groups into “in
groups” and “out groups”. This classification depends more on the psychological factors rather
than on the external physical factors. The group which an individual belongs (or feels that he
belongs) is an “in group” the rest of the groups are “out groups” Example one’s own family
peer group friendship group religious, caste, linguistic, occupational e.t.c are in groups and
other out groups.

The explanation of what constitutes an in-group and an out group is very much personal
Horton and Hunt write.”Three are some groups to which I belong my family, my church, my
clique, my profession, my race , my sex, my nation any group which I precede with the
pronoun “my”. These are in-group because I feel belong to them. There are other groups to
which I do not belong – other families, cliques, occupations, races, nationalities, religious, the
other sex. These are ‘out-groups’ for I am outside them.

Two aspects of this classification.

This classification hinges on two important factors. Firstly an individual’s mental preparedness
or readiness to identify himself with a group or a set of groups and to separate himself from
other groups. Secondly the classification depends on an attempt to identify the boundaries of
groups which serve as ‘in-groups’ Ian Roberston too has pointed out “all groups however, tend
to maintain their boundaries by developing a strong sense of the distinction between the “we”
of the group and the “they” who are outside the group.

In group and out group relationships are overlapping.

In the simple tribal societies ‘in- and out-group’ relationships are very simple and direct. All
those who belong to the same class or totemic group, or kin group are identified as members of
‘in groups’ and others out-siders.

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In modern society, people belong to so many groups that a number of their in-group and out-
group relationships may overlap. For example a person in the urban neighborhood may
consider all the people (who belong to different social classes caste groups, religious groups,
political groups, linguistic groups e.t.c) Living in his neighborhood as members of his in-group
for some limited purposes. When the question of his caste interest or linguistic interests or
religious interests arises the same person may consider people who belong to his own caste or
linguistic or religious group as members of his in-group and others are outsiders.

Relative influence of in-groups and out-groups.

In group and out-group relations lead to some consequences. Members tend to regard their
own group the in-group as being something special more worthy more intimate helpful
dependable and so on. On the contrary an out-group to which other people belong is
considered less worthy less intimate not dependable and it may even be viewed with hostility.
Exclusion from an in-group can be a brutal process. Most primitive societies treated outsiders
with hostility. The word stranger meant for them nothing but “enemy” (even the Nazis during
Hitler regime treated Jews with outmost hostility and animosity).

In groups and out groups affect behavior.

In groups and out-groups are important because they affect behavior. From fellow members of
an in-group we expect recognition, loyalty and helpfulness. From outsiders our expectation
varies with the kind of out-group. We expect hostility from some out-groups a more or less
friendly competition from some others from still a few others total indifference.

As far as in-groups are concerned they draw the members together and increase the solidarity
and cohesion of the group. In the presence of a common enemy real or imaginary, in-group
plays vital role in uniting people against the common ‘danger’.

In-group and out-groups and social distance.

People keep different social distances between different in-groups and out-groups. People are
not equally involved in all of their in groups. One might for example be an ardent admirer of a
political party and be a rather indifferent Rotarian. Nor do the people feel equally distant from
all their out-groups.

Summner also stressed upon the fact that strong in –group solidarity and identity often lead to
the development of ethnocentric attitudes. Strong sense of in-group loyalty may induce the
members to judge other people’s behavior from the standard of the in-group. Because of the

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ethnocentric attitude, “out-group is often shown in stereotyped ways which emphasizes their
imperfections” (Horton and hunt pg 193)

Primary groups and secondary groups .

The classification of social groups into “primary” and “secondary” groups has become very
popular today. An American social psychologist Charles Horton Cooley has introduced the
term ‘primary group’ in his book ‘Social Organization’ He has given a detailed analysis of the
concept of primary group and has not even mentioned the term ‘secondary group’ in his book.
Sociologists like Kingsley Davis, Orgburn, Maclver and others have popularized the concept of
secondary group. According to them groups other than those of primary ones can be called
‘secondary’. Hence the secondary groups are treated as residual category. This classification of
groups into primary and secondary is however made on the basis of the nature and character of
social interaction. It means, it depends on the nature of social contact and the degree of
intimacy among the members concerned. Primary groups are also called ‘face-to-face’ groups
and secondary groups the ‘derivate group’.

The classification of social groups into ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ resembles Summner
classification of in-groups and out-groups and Ferdinand Tonnies’ classification of in groups
into the ‘Gemeinschaft’ community and the ‘Gesellschaft’ (society). But the distinction between
primary groups and secondary groups is only relative but not absolute. Both the kinds of
groups are in a way ‘ideal types’. In the actual world the groups may not posses such distinct
characteristic and satisfy all the conditions. The group that we call ‘primary’ are those in which
we find the dominance of primary relations and in the same way, the secondary’ groups
exhibit the dominance of secondary relations. It is relevant here to make a distinction between
two types of social contacts namely ‘sympathetic contact’ and ‘categorical contact’, which play
an important role in the analysis of ‘primary groups’ and ‘secondary groups’.

Sympathetic contact and categorical contact.

It is on the basis of the nature of social contacts and social relations that the group can be
classified into “primary” and “secondary”,’ in- groups, and ‘out-groups’ and so on. The social
contacts sre of two types; sympathetic contact and categorical contact

Sympathetic contact. Sympathetic contact is a kind of contact between two or more persons
characterized by some degrees of mutual understanding and interest in the whole personality
of the other. It represents one’s personal involvement in the affairs of another. Example:
contacts between the mother and the child, parents and children, close relatives, close friends
e.t.c represent sympathetic contacts. Individuals among whom such type of contacts exists are

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mutually helpful cooperative sympathetic and merciful. The primary groups are characterized
by sympathetic contact.

Categorical contact. A categorical contact is a contact between two people whose interaction is
governed by the positions which they occupy. The interaction is limited to what is appropriate
to these positions. Example; contacts between lawyer and client, store keeper and customer,
doctor and patient, bank officer and the peon, teacher and student so on. Such a contact may be
bereft of intimacy, friendliness, sympathy and mutual helpfulness. It does not indicate ones
personal interest in the other person. In the secondary groups the categorical contacts are
predominantly.

THE PRIMARY GROUPS.

The meaning of primary group. The concept of primary groups’ is a significant contribution of
C.H. Cooley to the social thought. Primary groups are found in all the societies. The primary
direct contact with one another. These persons meet face to face for mutual help,
companionship and discussion of common questions.

Cooley used the term ‘primary groups’ to mean a social group characterized by ‘face to face
relationship mutual aid and companionship. By primary groups, Cooley meant the intimate
personal ‘face to face’ groups in which we find our companions and comrades as the members
of our family and our daily associates. These are the people with whom we enjoy the more
intimate kinds of social relations. The primary groups can be referred to as the ‘We’ groups.
Cooley explained that a primary group involves the sort of sympathy and mutual identification
for which ‘we’ is the natural expression.

Cooley writes-“By primary groups I means those characterized by intimate face to face
association and cooperation. They are primary in several senses but chiefly in that they are
fundamental in forming the social nature and ideals of the individual...”

Primary groups are universal groups functioning in all states of cultural development. They are
the chief basis of what is universal in human nature and human ideals. The ‘self’ is developed
and molded by the primary group relations. Primary groups socialize the individuals. As
Maclver says they are ‘the breeding ground of our mores and the nurse of our loyalties.’ In
primitive culture, and even in advance cultures before the growth of cities, the majority of
associations occur in primary groups. Example for primary groups: Family, neighborhood,
children’s play ground. Local brotherhood, friends club, peer group etc.

Chief characteristics of primary groups.

The characteristics features described below throw more light on the nature and character of
primary groups.

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Dominance of face to face relations.

Primary groups are characterized by close and intimate relationship. There exists a face to face
relationship among the members. In primary groups everyone knows everyone else; ones name
and fame, ones status wealth occupation level of education etc. Close contact between them
increases intimacy among the members. Face to face relations are commonly observed in small
groups like family, children playgroup, and neighborhood and so on.

The character of primary relations.

I. Identity of ends. Members of the primary groups have more or less identical desires and
attitudes. They work together for the attainment of their common ends without
disagreement. They look at the world through the same eyes. Every member of the
group pursues as one of his ends the welfare of the other. The identification of ends is
connected with the fusion of personalities within the group.
II. The relationship is an End in itself. The primary relationship is regarded as an end in
itself but not a means to an end. It is neither utilitarian nor motivated by any economic
gain. It is intrinsically enjoyable. True love between husband and wife or genuine
friendship between two individuals is for example beyond the consideration of nay
selfish motive.
III. The relationship is personal. In the primary group the interests of each is centered in
others as persons. The relationship disappears if the particular person disappears from
it. As Kingsley Davis says, ‘the primary relationship is a matter of persons it exists
because of the person not despite him’. The relationship is non-transferable and
irreplaceable. For example the relationship between the husband and wife is such that
no third persons can replace any one of the two.
IV. The relationship is Inclusive. The individual in a personal relationship is not an
abstraction. Individuals are treated as complete human beings. All persons of the group
are fused together completely. Individuals know each other very well. Different sides of
member’s personality are known to all the other members.
V. The relationship is spontaneous. A purely primary relationship is voluntary. It is not
planned. It is not based on any contract. Relationships develop between members
naturally and spontaneously. The relationships that develop between the mother and the
child, friend and a friend husband and wife and a child are for example, purely
voluntary and spontaneous.
VI. Small size.
Primary groups are smaller in size. Effective participation of the members is possible
only when the group is of a small size. Other factors being equal the smaller the group
the more intimate it is. The character of the group tends to change with its size. The

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 increase in the size of the group will have a negative effect on the intimacy of the
members.
VII. Physical proximity or nearness. Face-to-face relations can be found only when members
reside in a particular area more or less permanently. Seeing and talking with each other
facilitates the exchange of ideas, opinions and sentiments. It makes possible the
‘conversation of gestures’ of which mead speaks. Eating and dwelling together playing,
travelling, and studying together-all tend to be regarded as external symbols of close
solidarity. Physical proximity provides an opportunity for the very development of
primary groups.
VIII. Stability of the group. A primary group is relatively a permanent group. Other things
being equal the longer the group remains together, the more numerous and deeper are
the contacts between its members. Social ties deepen in time. Although a husband and
wife may have quarreled for ten years the very fact that they have lived together for that
long together makes it hard for them to do without each other.
IX. Similarity of background.
The members of a primary group must have more or less the same background. There
must be some approximation in their levels of experience. Each must have something to
contribute to give as well as to take. The person “who is too far above or below it
disturbs the process of group participation.” This is essential even for the easy interplay
of the personalities in the family, the play group, the gang etc.
X. Limited self interests. Members of the primary group subordinate their personal
interests to the interests of the group. The common interests of the group. The common
interests of the group are strong enough to control individual interests. The commonness
of interests provides mental pleasure and contentment to the members.
XI. Intensity of shared interests. Members of the primary group subordinate their personal
interests to the interests of the group. The common interest of the group is strong
enough to control individual interest. The commonness of interests provides metal
pleasure and contentment to the members.
XII. Communication. Communication in the case of primary group like family or children’s
play group, for example is very quick and effective. Direct or face-to-face contact helps
easy communication between the members.
XIII. Unspecialized character of the primary group. A primary group is not deliberately
created nor is it specialized in character. It has not come into being for the pursuit of any
particular interests of the people. On the other hand the interests of primary groups are
always comprehensive. Hence the group is unspecialized in character.
XIV. Direct cooperation. Direct cooperation characterizes primary group. Members work
directly and in cooperation with each other to achieve their common interests. They do
not act independently, but all participate in the same process. Division of labor as it is
understood in a complex industrial society does not exist in a primary group. Work is

15
 essential ‘a mode of sharing a common experience’. The group is ‘a unity in the
performance of its function’.

IMPORTANCE OF PRIMARY GROUPS.

Primary groups are of great individual as well as social importance. They are the medium
through which we learn our culture. They prepare the individuals to lead a successful social
life. They socialize individuals and give proper shape to their personality. Some of the primary
groups may secure certain external advantages such as better wages, production efficiency,
workers morale counseling and guidance and so on.

a) Primary Group- A great humanizing agent. The primary group enacts the role of a
humanizing agency. Family is the immediate primary group in which a child finds itself
as soon as it’s born. The family, peer groups and the neighborhood play an important
role in socializing or humanizing the child. Primary groups teach the child the social
norms, standards, morals, beliefs values and ideas of the society. They introduce to the
child the culture of the society. They emotionally condition the Childs personality. The
animal drives of man become human only through constant training. The primary
groups as Maclver says are ‘the nursery of human nature’
b) Development of personality. [Link] is of the opinion that the primary group
particularly the family is the chief molder of the human personality. The primary group
is the source of our notions of love, freedom, justice and the like. ’The qualities of
behavior that a child picks up during the early years in primary groups find their
expressions in his adult life. Fair play, free expression, submission to the will of the
group and willingness to sacrifice for it are characteristics of family groups. These have a
great impact on the personality development of the individuals primary groups mould
our opinions, guide our affections, influence our actions and in large measure determine
our loyalties. These are not the groups in which we merely work or play. These are
groups in which we live and have our being.
c) Satisfaction of psychological needs. Primary groups satisfy many psychological needs
of the individuals. Individuals get mental happiness contentment and security from the
primary groups. They get the advantages of companionship sympathy and exchange of
thoughts and feelings. They reduce mental tensions and emotional stresses and strains.
An individual finds his nearest and the dearest companions in the primary groups. He
also realizes from his experiences that the primary group is his noble center of human
affection, love and sympathy.
d) Provision of stimulus. The primary group not only provides satisfaction and happiness
to the individuals but it also provides a stimulus to pursue their interests. With
confidence and courage the individual members work, strive and struggle to achieve
their goals. Everyone feels that he is not alone pursuing the interests but there are others

16
 who along with him are devoted to same pursuit. This feeling stimulates him to keener
efforts.
e) United in process. The primary group is cohesive group. Direct cooperation
characteristics the face to face group. Hence the members participate in the same group
process. The group is essentially a “mode of sharing a common experience”. There is a
unity in the performance of its function. Hence it meets the physical as well as
psychological needs of its members. It is better equipped to face crisis also.
f) Strengthens the democratic spirit. The primary group serves the needs of society also.
Primary groups help the individuals to acquire basic attitudes towards people, social
institutions and the world around him. The attitude of kindness, sympathy, love,
tolerance mutual help and sacrifice which provides the cementing force to social
structure are developed in the primary groups. From such experience and attitudes
spring the desire for democracy and freedom. The very democratic spirit is developed
and reinforced in primary groups.
g) Acts as an agent of social control. From the point of view of society the primary group
acts as an agency of social control. Primary groups not only provide security to the
members but also control their behavior and regulate their relations. For example family
neighborhoods, peer group or friends group control much of the activities of their
members.

THE SECONDARY GROUPS.

An understanding of the modern industrial society requires an understanding of the secondary

groups. The secondary groups are almost the opposite of primary groups. The social groups
other than those of primary groups may be termed as ‘secondary groups’. They are a residual
category. They are often called ‘special interest groups’ Maclver and Page refer to them as
‘great associations’. They are of the opinion that secondary groups have become almost
inevitable today. Their appearance mainly due to the growing cultural complexity.

Primary groups are found predominantly in societies where life is relatively simple. With the
expansion in population and territory of a society, however, interest become diversified and
other types of relationships which can be called ‘secondary’ or ‘impersonal’, become necessary.
Interests become differentiated The service of experts is required. Techniques are elaborated
and the average member has neither the time nor the energy nor the skill to attend to them. The
new range of the interest demands a complex organization. The members are numerous and
too scattered to conduct their business through face to face relationships. Specially selected
persons must act on behalf of all and hence arises a hierarchy of officials called ‘bureaucracy’.
These features characterizes the rise of the modern state, the great corporation, the large

17
church, the factory, the army, the lab our union, a university, a nation -wide political party and
so on. These are secondary groups.

Meaning of secondary groups.

Orgburn and Nimkoff say that the groups which provide experience lacking in intimacy’ can be
called secondary groups.

Frank D. Watson writes, the secondary group larger and more formal is specialized and direct
in its contacts and relies more for unity and continuance upon the stability of its social
organization than does the primary group.

Characteristics.

A. Dominance of secondary relations. Secondary groups are characterized by indirect,

impersonal contractual and non-inclusive relations. Relations are indirect because
secondary groups are bigger in size and the members may not stay together. Relations
are contractual in the sense; they are oriented towards certain interests or desires.
Further members are bound to one another by impersonal because members are not very
much interested in other members as ‘persons’. They are more concerned with their self-
centered interests than with other persons. Relations are non-inclusive because they are
partial and have limited range. These kinds of relations among people can be found in
big factories, business corporations, governmental offices, banks, universities, political
parties, trade unions, international association.
B. Largeness of the size. Secondary groups are relatively largely in size. City nation
political parties, trade unions, corporations, international associations, such as the rotary
club lions club, Society of Jesus. There may not be any limit to the membership in the
case of some secondary groups.
C. Membership. Membership in the case of secondary groups is mainly voluntary.
Individuals are at liberty to join or to go away from the groups. For example they are at
liberty to join political parties, international associations like rotary club, lions club, and
business corporations and so on.
D. No physical basis. Secondary groups are not characterizedby physical proximity. Many
secondary groups are not limited to any definite area. There are some secondary groups
like the Rotary Club and the Lions Club which are almost international in character. The
members of such groups are scattered over a vast area.
E. Specific Ends or Interests. Secondary groups are formed for the realization of some
specific interests or ends. They are called ‘special interests groups’ Members are
interested in the groups because they have specific ends to aim at.
F. Indirect communication. Contacts and communications in the case of secondary groups
are mostly indirect. Mass media of communication such as radio, telephone, television,

18
 newspaper, movies, magazine, post and telegraph etc. are resorted to by the members to
have communication. Communication may not be quick and effective even. Impersonal
nature of social relationship secondary group is both the cause and the effect of indirect
communication.
G. Nature of group control. Informal means of social control are less effective in regulating
the relations of members. Moral control is only secondary. Formal means of social
control such as law, legislation, police, court etc. are made use of to control the behavior
of members. The behavior of the people is largely influenced and controlled by public
opinion, propaganda, rule of law and political ideologies.
H. Group structure. The secondary group has a formal structure. A formal authority is set
up with designated powers and a clear cut division of labor in which the function of
each specified in relation to the function of all. Secondary groups are mostly organized
groups. Different statuses and roles that the members assume are specified. Distinctions
based on caste, color, religion or region, class, languages etc. are less rigid and there is
greater tolerance towards other people and group.
I. Limited influence on personality. Secondary groups are specialized in character.
People’s involvement in them is also of limited significance. Member’s attachment to
them is also very much limited. Further people spend most of their time in primary
groups than in secondary groups. Hence secondary groups have very limited influence
on the personality of the members. Maclver is of the opinion that the specialized
character of the secondary groups is an obstacle to the realization of the individual’s
fuller life and the development of his humane impulses.

IMPORTANCE OF SECONDARY GROUPS.

The secondary groups are playing a very important role in the modern civilized and
industrialized societies. For long time the primary groups could meet the essential
requirements of people. Due to the growth of cities and population complexity of socials
structure and differentiation of interests secondary groups have become a necessity.
Particularly the process of industrialization and urbanization has added to the unprecedented
expansion and growth of society. As a result the simple face to face groups could no longer
serve the basic needs of the people. Secondary groups have replaced the earlier primary groups
in many fields.

The industrialization revolution modern science and technology on the one hand and the new
political and religious outlook and ideologies on the other have changed the very character of
the modern society. There has been a radical change in the attitudes and outlook interests and
tastes’ needs and necessities, ideas and ideologies of the people. Secondary groups of
innumerable kind have come into being in order to cater to the needs and demands of the

19
modern society. Not only the number but even the varieties of the secondary groups are
increasing. People are becoming more and more dependent on these groups now.

Our life is today to great extent, lived and controlled by large number of secondary groups. Our
social set up is such that we are often inevitably dragged into one kind of secondary group or
another. For example, a laborer working in a factory is forced to join a trade union whether he
wants it or not. It becomes almost a necessity for the laborer to join one union or the other to
protect his rights and fulfill his interests. Secondary groups have entered almost all the fields –
political activities and achievements are carried on through secondary groups. They provide
opportunities for us to develop our faculties and express our talents. They liberate and limit our
energy. Much of our attitudes and outlook, ideas and ideologies are shaped and molded by
them. The modern civilized life is such that men have started establishing primary groups
within the broader secondary groups. Small ‘cliques’, ‘gangs’, ‘unions’ consisting of a few may
be found in the form of informal groups within the larger secondary groups.

Men have started showing their loyalties towards their larger groups the spirit of sacrifice
helpfulness, service, cooperation, dedication, sympathy, fair play etc. Which we consider to be
the characteristics qualities of primary group are also often found to a very great extent in
secondary groups. Commitment to a political party or religious association, loyalty to the
nation, sense of duty towards society, identification with trade union, allegiance to the army
etc. are qualities which are found commonly in many secondary groups.

PRIMARY GROUPS AND SECONDARY GROUPS: DIFFRENCES

Groups: Differences

The classification of social groups into ‘primary groups’ and ‘secondary groups’ is not rigid.
These groups are not watertight compartments. The groups having preponderance of primary
or face-to-face’ relations are primary groups. And the groups other than those of the primary
groups are secondary groups. They constitute residual category. Differences between the two
are relative but not absolute. Even in secondary groups we find some elements of primary
relations. Secondary groups too posses to some extent some attitudes of loyalty devotion, faith,
cooperation, sympathy, kindness etc. without which they cannot function. Members of primary
groups such as family neighborhood are also members of political parties, trade unions,
religious associations and so on. Still these two types of groups can be distinguished on some
grounds.

Primary groups Secondary

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 Meaning: Groups which are characterized Groups which provide experience lacking in
by face to face relations mutual aid and intimacy are secondary groups. Ex political
companionship are primary groups: Ex parties, trade unions religious associations
family, neighborhood, community, children the state, city, corporation, factory, rotary
playground, local brother hood. club lions club etc.
Nature of social relations: Social relations Social relations are indirect impersonal non-
are face-to-face direct intimate, personal intimate, contractual, specialized, partisan
contractual, non-specialized, non-partisan and more economic in nature.
and non-economic in character.
Size: Primary groups are smaller in size. Secondary groups are relatively bigger in
They are localized or limited to a definite size. They are not necessarily restricted to a
area. small area.
Physical Proximity: Groups are confined to a Groups are not characterized by a physical
small geographic area. area.
Communication: Since members stay Since members are spread over a vast area
together communication is not only direct direct communication is difficult. It is
but also quick and effective. mostly indirect in nature.
Group interest: Interests of the members are Interests of the member are more specific.
not specific but general. Everyone is Hence groups are often called special
interested in the welfare of everyone else. interests groups.
Nature of cooperation: Cooperation is direct. Cooperation is mostly indirect. Cooperation
Members work together, play together, is an intended act to serve a particular need.
enjoy together and in times of crisis struggle It is limited to that purpose only. It’s not
together. Cooperation is natural and spontaneous but deliberate and cultivated.
spontaneous.
Group structure: Group structure is very Group structure is formal. The group is
informal members are not particular about regulated by a set of formal rules. Statuses
their rights and powers or statuses and and roles, rights and powers of the members
prestige. No formal or detailed rules are are well defined. The organization of the
drafted as guidelines. The group is not very group is carefully planned and worked out.
much organized in the modern sense.
Durability: Groups are relatively durable Groups may be temporary or permanent.
Effects on personality: The group has a long- The impact of the group on the personality
lasting influence upon the personality of the members is rather limited.
development of the members.
Nature of group control: Primary groups Secondary groups have limited control over
control the behavior of the members to a the behavior of the members. Informal
great extends. Informal means of social means are not enough and hence formal
control are enough to regulate the relations. means of social control are resorted to for
maintaining the group control.

ORGANISED GROUPS AND UNORGANISED GROUPS.

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Social groups have been classified on the basis of their degree of organization into organized
groups and unorganized groups. Some social groups have well built organizations while others
do not have any organizational basis at all. The former ones are organized groups while the
latter can be regarded as unorganized groups.

Organized groups.

Organized groups are often called associational groups. These groups come to be through a
formally articulated process known as organization. Here the word ‘organization’ does not
refer to social organization nor does it specifically mean “bureaucracy”. It only means the
organization of associations. Organization is an important phenomenon of modern complex
societies.

i. Element of organization. In modern complex societies a very large number of social

relations and social interactions among people are conducted in organized groups. As
Orgburn and Nimkoff have said an organization is an active group device for getting
something done. It helps us to interact with others for the pursuit of a common goal. It
assigns us statuses and roles. It regulates our relations and controls our behavior. It
decides who shall command and who shall obey in a group. It adds to the stability of the
group and makes it durable. It is the factor of organization that makes our life livable in
innumerable groups.
ii. Size of the groups. Organized groups may be as small as the family; the neighborhood
children play group or as big as political parties, trade unions, international associations
and so on. Organized groups may be locally limited or they may be spread over a vast
area.
iii. Nature of social relations. The social relations in the case of the organized groups may
be personal or impersonal, intimate or non-intimate, direct or indirect, specialized and
non-specialized contractual or non-contractual economic or non-economic in nature. In
this sense all the primary groups and majority of the secondary groups come under the
category of organized groups.
iv. Durability of the group. Organized groups are comparatively durable. They are not
impermanent nor are they transitory. The durability of the group helps the member to
pursue their specific interest. Members cooperate among themselves to a great extent for
the realization of their ends. Identity of interest may also contribute to a feeling of unity
or to a sense of belonging.
v. Group structure. The structure of the organized groups may be simple as it is in the case
of family or it may be complex as in the case of the modern business corporations or
industries. Organized groups may be formal or informal in nature. The social relations
among the members may be formal and specialized as it is in the case of trade unions or

22
 political parties or the relations may be highly informal and unspecialized s it is in the
case of friends clubs children play groups peer groups cliques and so on.
vi. Further organized groups may be found in the institutional and non-institutional,
territorial and non-territorial, voluntary and involuntary, in-group and out-group and
other forms or types. Modern civilized societies consist of a number of such organized
groups.

UNORGANIZED GROUPS.

Social groups that conspicuously lack the attribute of organization can be called unorganized
groups. They are unorganized in the sense they do not have any well defined pattern of social
interaction. Social interaction in the case of unorganized groups is characterized by
indefiniteness, uncertainty, irregularity and unpredictability .These groups are not deliberately
created or established. They are not born out of a careful planning and systematic work. On the
other hand they may come into being suddenly or spontaneously. They are purely temporary
in character. They are not centered on any commonly felt need or carefully planned objective or
end. Crow, mass, mob, public are some of the examples of unorganized groups.

Though the unorganized groups are temporary in character, sociologists have evinced great
interest in them for they appear and disappear in society every now and then. Through them
are often expressed, some of mans keenest and his most deeply seated attitudes. Moreover , the
anticipated irrational and often undesired behavior of these groups reflects, in a large degree,
the particular characteristics of the community organization, the institutional arrangements, the
mores and the social cleavages of a given time and place. The unorganized groups have become
an object of interest not only for the sociologists but also for the political scientists and social
psychologists. The nature of unorganized groups can be better understood by an analysis of the
characteristics of ‘crowd’ and the ‘public’, the two main examples of unorganized groups.

Crowd as an unorganized group.

The group represents an unorganized group. Crowd is a collectivity of substantial number of

individuals responding within a limited space to some object of attention. It is a temporary or a
transitory and unstable group. The main characteristics of crow are as follows:

Characteristics: 1. Crowd consists of people. Individuals are physically present in a particular

place reacting or responding to a particular object of attention. Examples: People thronging
near theater to get tickets, people gathering in a big number in a fish market, people gathering
in a big number near the road to witness a circus or to listen to a speech. 2. A crowd is
spontaneously formed and is temporary in its nature Example; people, who gather to witness
the roadside circus, disperse the moment the circus is over. 3. A crowd has no definite leader,
objective social norms plan of actions, purpose. The interaction among the individuals is

23
unsystematic.4. The people who constitute a crowd are together by accident. A road accident
the sight of an immoral act a fire alarm, a clash between two or more individuals, a house
amidst fire etc, may be their objects of attention. These common objects provide common
orientation to the people.5. The individuals in a crowd act in an impulsive way. They are highly
emotional and suggestible.

The psychology of crowd behavior.

It is interesting to note that an individual behaves differently in a crowd than when he is alone.
Psychologists like Le Bon have tried to explain crowd behavior by means of the ‘group mind’ or
‘crowd mind’. I. An individual in a crowd is susceptible to the inter-stimulation of suggestions.
There exist heightened emotions and intense excitements. Drums, trumpets, flags, banners,
placards, slogans and songs may be used to make people to become emotional and to get
exicetd.2. The size of the crowd also influences the conduct of its members. Individuals behave
in an irresponsible way. There is a loss of personal identity in a crowd. 3. A crowd is more
emotional highly suggestible and impulsive. It is credulous brutal irrational instinctive
uncritical and impulsive social phenomenon. It is more destructive than constructive. It lacks
self-consciousness. It is spontaneous and uncontrollable. It is temporary and has no culture or
tradition of its own. Still the crowd is not always evil or cruel.

The public.

The public represents another kind of unorganized group. According to Ginsberg, the word
‘public’ refers to an unorganized aggregation of persons “who are bound together by common
opinions desires but are too numerous for each to maintain personal relations with others”. It
does not depend upon physical contact. In a public there occurs ‘contagion without contact’.
What exactly constitutes a ‘public’ in any context depends upon the issue that we have in our
mind. If the issue is election, the public consists of registered voters. Thus, for a religious leader,
public may mean all devotees, for an industrialist all the consumers of his product and so on.
Thus, public is a social area of interaction with non-intimate group making interest. These
social areas of interaction may be occupational recreational political economic educational
religious artistic, literary in nature.

Characteristics.

The public is a dispersed group.1. Physical proximity is not found here. 2. The relationship
among the individuals is indirect, non-intimate and impersonal. 3. Indirect or mass media of
communications such as radio, television, post and telegraph, telephone, newspaper and
journals movies and platforms speeches are made use of to keep in contact with the members.
4. The public at least in theory is based upon a rational difference of opinion. It is a discussion
group par excellence. ’Here, there is scope for discussion, debate, disagreement, disapproval,

24
criticism and condemnation. The decisions are marked by rational calculations. However it is
possible to heighten the degree of suggestibility of the group by mean of the mass media of
communication.

Public and the crowd: Differences.

Public Crowd
The public is not based on physical proximity The crowd is based on physical proximity.
One can be a member of several publics One can belong to only one crowd at a time
simultaneously
Ideas cannot be communicated quickly Ideas can be communicated very quickly
There is less suggestibility and more rationality. The crowd is highly suggestible, emotional
There’s scope for debate and discussion and rational and impulsive. There is no scope of
disagreement. discussion.
The public is bound by norms. It forms various The crowd is bound by no norms. It behaves
organizations. Hence the behavior of people is more impulsively. Hence people behavior is irregular
regular and predictable. and unpredictable. It may even become violent.

Organized groups and unorganized groups; Differences.

Organized groups Unorganized groups

Organized groups possess the attribute of Unorganized groups do not posses
organization. Ex Trade unions, political organization Ex: Crowd, mob, audience,
parties, religious organization etc public etc.
They are established purposefully for the Unorganized groups are not established
fulfillment of some specific interest deliberately. They are mostly spontaneous in
their formation
Here the social interaction among the Social interaction is not systematized.
member is systematic, orderly and Behavior is unpredictable especially in crowds
patterned hence the behavior is and mobs.
predictable.
Groups have their own definite social Definite social norms may not be observed.
norms
Groups possess definite structure. They Groups may not have any definite structure
may be simple or complex and formal or Even the structure of the public is vague.
informal in nature.
Members have understanding and may Since the members do not have any specific
work and corporate together for the interest as such the question of working
realization of their specific interests. together does not rise.
Groups are relatively more durable Groups like crowd mob are purely temporary.
Some groups may cover the entire range of Groups rarely cover the entire life of the
one’s life. Their impact on personality is members. Their impact on personality is
considerable, because they have definite negligible , they do not have any specific

25
 membership. membership as such.

REFERENCE GROUPS.

The term ‘reference group’ was introduced into the literature on small groups by Muzafer

Sherif in his text books “An outline of social psychology”-[Link] used the term in contrast to
the term membership group. Membership group refers to a group to which a person belongs,
while the ‘reference groups’ refers to a group that affects his behavior. The two of course may
coincide.

Acc ording to Ogburn and Nimkoff, “Groups which serve as points of comparison are known
as reference groups”. They have further added that the reference groups are those groups from
which “we get our values, or whose approval we seek”

As Horton and Hunt have pointed out, “A reference group is any group to which we refer
when making judgments – any group whose value-judgments become our value judgments”.
They have further said, “groups which re important as models for ones ideas and conduct
norms …’ can be called reference groups.

The concept of “reference group” arises essentially from the fact that any person acting in any
situation may be influenced not only by his membership groups but also by his conception of
other groups of which he is not a member. These other groups exert their influence as reference
groups in a purely passive or silent way that is simply by being thought of. They do not, of
course entirely exist as reference groups but they are called so only from the point of view of
their capacity in exerting influence. The young child in the family is interested in the reactions
of everyone in the family with who it is in contact. The family is both a membership group and
a reference group for the child. But when the child becomes mature he selects particular groups
which are understood here as reference groups whose approval or disapproval he especially
desires.

The concept reference groups as distinct from membership groups, has particular relevance for
modern complex heterogeneous society with its high rates of physical and occupational
mobility. In such a complex society a person may be a member of one group but prefer
membership or aspire for membership in another. In a small folk society the distinction
between membership or aspire for membership in another. In a small folk society the
distinction between membership group and reference groups is less common and may be none-
existent.

Only under certain circumstances a group may become reference group for the members of a
particular social group .H.M. Johnson has mentioned four such circumstances.

26
When some or all the members of a particular group aspire to membership in the reference
group. Example, the ambitious upper middle class people are always interested in joining the
rank of upper-class people. In order to get an admission into upper class they may show their
prejudice and even aggressiveness towards low-ranking groups.

When the members of the particular group struggle to imitate the members of reference group
or try to make their group just like the reference group at least in some respect Example: the
lower caste people in Kenya who suffer from a sense of inferiority are found to be emulating
some of the styles and practices of the rich to feel equal to them at least in some respects.
Similarly, members of the minority groups may try to incorporate in their personality
dominant-group standards to help better their relationship with the dominant majority group.

When the members of the particular group derive some satisfaction from being distinctive and
unlike the members of reference group in some aspects. Further they may try to maintain the
difference between the two groups or between themselves and the members of the reference
group.: Example: If whites as a status group are a reference group for Negroes, so are Negroes a
reference group for whites because both want to retain their difference. Whites want to remain
unlike the Negroes and so is the case with Negroes.

When the members of a particular group consider the reference group or its members as a
standard for comparison. Example: The teachers of a city college may always make references
to the most prestigious college of the city as a measuring rod to assess their position, service
condition, performance and so on. Such contemplation of reference groups may have some
consequences for the moral of the group.

COMMUNITY GROUPS.

Community group is a group of members at least a minimum of five people who have
voluntarily come together with a spirit of cooperation to work together to form a mutual social
or economic benefit or to achieve a common goal. These groups are initiated managed and
owned by the community members themselves.

Types of community groups.

Community groups can either be formal or non-formal.

Formal groups

These are registered by government authorities and are governed by leadership structures with
a binding constitution. They have a legal status e.g. registered women groups, youth groups,
self help groups and welfare societies.

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Non-formal groups.

These are unregistered groups with loose management structures usually guided by cultural
value of common good. They have no legal status, e.g

Clan groups

Traditional/cultural institutions

Benefits of community groups.

a. When people form themselves into groups they create opportunities for identifying and
analyzing their needs and problems for better understanding of their situations to find
lasting solutions t their needs/problems.
b. Group members can pull together limited resources which they can own and manage
themselves in order to address community needs/problems such as poverty, food
shortage, lack of water, poor health, illiteracy e.t.c
c. Any project developed by the group is owned by them. This gives group members a
sense of ownership which is very important for success and sustainability of the projects.
d. Community groups are built on the cultural tradition of self help hence will be easy to
mobilize and organize them.
e. It is not easy to facilitate community development process through individuals. Groups
are easily accessible by development partners. Stakeholders have easy access to goods
and services and move faster in activities than an individual’s basis.
f. Community groups serve to empower the poor by giving them a platform for a
collective voice. They build power among themselves with which to confront the
powerful economic, social and political forces, which are normally used to maintain the
community in silence and poverty.
g. Groups provide opportunities for members to talk matters over with those whom they
intimately know and trust, and therefore get the much needed information for decision-
making.

In addition to traits of superior leadership in any discipline especially in community groups,

such as integrity and responsibility, here are ten characteristics that are particular to excellent
community leaders:

1. Maximize Individuals’ Strengths

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Community leaders often work with volunteers. They may be elected by members of the
community, assigned to work with a group, or they simply step forward and want to help. In
any case, community leaders rarely have the luxury of choosing who they work with.

Your job involves being able to identify the strengths and interests of each person on your
leadership team and maximize those talents and skills in a way that keeps your team engaged
in the work. Your fellow leaders need to feel that they are making a meaningful contribution to
the group, the community and the work.

2. Balance the Needs of Your Leadership Group

Some individuals may have a strong need for control. Others may have a deep need to be
appreciated for their time and service. As a community leader, your job is to balance everyone’s
needs, as well as keep your sights focused on the work that needs to be done for the group to
move forward.

3. Work as a Team

Let’s face it, community leadership is slow work. It is much less efficient than, say, military
leadership, where underlings simply obey the orders of their superior officers. Community
leadership means that one person does not do it all.

It can be useful to teach your leadership team the difference between efficiency and
effectiveness. An efficient leader will take a task away from someone who is not completing
their work in a timely manner. An effective leader will ensure that the person gets the support
they need to complete the task. Effectiveness often takes more time than efficiency. Community
leadership is about building relationships and working together. Being patient with one
another and supporting one another process builds capacity and relationships. But be
forewarned, this takes much more time than simply being efficient.

4. Mobilize Others

Even a leadership team cannot do it all. You will likely have to work with staff and volunteers
to undertake big projects. Community leadership is part education, part inspiration, part
motivation and part mobilization.

5. Pitch In

There is a myth that leaders lead, and doers do. But in a community, leading by example is
often the most effective way to get full buy-in for projects. Don’t schedule a community clean-
up unless you are willing to get out there with garbage bag yourself.

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Community leaders are rarely having the luxury of focusing only on policy and governance.
This kind of work involves arriving early, staying late, cleaning up, and generally rolling up
your sleeves to pitch in.

6. Practice Stewardship

This is about getting people to take responsibility for their physical space and surroundings.
This includes natural areas, structures and spaces. Stewardship means working together to
protect, preserve and take care of your community. This involves renewing, repairing,
rebuilding and constantly reviewing your physical community to ensure that it is healthy,
strong and well-maintained.

7. Be Accountable to the Community

Above all else community leadership is about the people who live with you and near you. The
people who form the community are the beneficiaries, but also those who whom you, as a
leadership are accountable.

Community leadership is not just about policies, processes or procedures. More than anything,
it is about people.

Often when I guide community leaders in my work, I will ask “What do you think will happen
at the next Annual General Meeting if this does — or does not — move forward?” This keeps
the leadership team focused on why they are doing what they do, and why they are really
making decisions.

8. Think forward

There is a saying in some Aboriginal communities about thinking five generations ahead. Being
a community leader means not only thinking for today, or even tomorrow, but being able to
make wise decisions that will still benefit the residents long after the current leadership team is
gone.

9. Recruit and Mentor New Leaders

Speaking of the current leadership team being gone, community leaders often get so caught up
in all the work that needs to be done today, that they forget to think about tomorrow. Planning
for the future is an important aspect of community leadership. Having a healthy base of
volunteers and having individuals ready to take on new positions are indicators of a healthy
community.

Community leadership work means building a succession plan to keep the community strong
as you move forward into the future.

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10. Walk Beside, Don’t Lead From Above

In some models, leadership is a position in a hierarchy. Those at the top of the hierarchy have
the power and make the decisions. Community leadership is about developing every person’s
capacity for leadership, starting with self-leadership and self-responsibility. Those who have
positions of leadership must demonstrate principles and practices of good leadership by living
the example. So, the community leader does not take the prime parking spot out of a sense of
entitlement. There are no special privileges that put community leaders above others who live
in the community. Every member of the community has responsibilities and rights. Community
leaders walk beside others and listen to them.

A community leader’s job is not to take on all the problems of the world themselves and fix
everything, but rather to work together with everyone in the community, to mobilize and guide
others, to facilitate solutions and thing about the long-term health of the community and its
people.

These are very general characteristics which leave room for groups to take one of several legal
structures. The structure you choose will depend on what kind of work you plan to undertake.

Belief domains that contribute to group conflict.

Through an extensive literature review, Roy J. Eidelson and Judy I. Eidelson, identified
parallels between individuals and the collective world views of groups on the basis of five key
belief domains.

a) Superiority: At an individual level, this belief revolves around a person's enduring

conviction that he or she is better than other people in important ways. At the group level,
superiority includes shared convictions of moral superiority, entitlement, being the chosen and
having a special destiny. Being chosen, the belief that one's own group has a superior cultural
heritage (e.g., history, values, language, tradition) is common among groups who base their
identity on their ethnicity. The development of Hitler's ideology of Aryans as a "master" race is
one example of this belief. This belief can be unconscious, with group members unaware – "The
power and influence of such a worldview are directly related to its operation as an invisible
veil, which makes it difficult for individuals, groups, and institutions to see their harmful
consequences". These authors noted that several committees studying racism were using the
term ethnocentric mono-culturalism to describe this belief in the superiority of your own
group's cultural heritage (including history, values, language, traditions, arts and crafts, etc.)
over that of other groups. As part of this belief system they also noted a corresponding belief in
the inferiority of all other group's heritage, the ability to impose their standards and beliefs on
less powerful groups, evidence of the group's core beliefs and values in their practices,

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programs and policies as well as in the institutions and structures of the group's society, and
that they were able to operate outside the level of conscious awareness.

b) Injustice: At the individual level, this belief revolves around perceived mistreatment by
others, and/or the world at large. At the group level, this translates to a world view that the in
group has significant and legitimate grievances against an out group. This belief is seen as
contributing greatly to the impetus for war over the past two centuries, as the majority of wars
in that time period have centered on issues of justice rather than security or power (Welch,
1993). Injustice, in a group setting, can be based on the shared belief that their group has not
achieved desired outcomes due to the actions or inactions of a more powerful group that has
created a biased or undesirable outcome, and not due to the inadequacies or actions of the
group itself. Volkan termed the phrase Chosen Traumas to refer to the "mental representation
of an event that has caused a large group to face drastic losses, feel helpless and victimized by
another group"[18] that are distorted to perpetuate the injustice belief.

c) Vulnerability: At the individual level, vulnerability refers to a person's belief that he or she is
perpetually in harm's way. At the group level, this belief is manifested in the form of fears
about the future. This vulnerability can manifest itself in a group as catastrophic thinking –
when the envisioned worst-case scenario is seen as being inevitable. Chirot (2001) notes that the
genocides of Armenia, Germany, Cambodia, and Rwanda shared a common belief that "if they
did not destroy their real or imagined enemies first, they would themselves be annihilated"
(p. 10).

d) Distrust: At the individual level, this belief focuses on the presumed intent of others to cause
harm and/or exhibit hostility. The notion of trust is often seen by psychologists as the first
challenge of psychosocial development. At the group level, this worldview focuses specifically
on the perspective that out groups are dishonest, untrustworthy and have negative intentions
toward the in group. In more extreme manifestations, this belief is similar to collective
paranoia, which is defined as collectively held beliefs, either false or exaggerated that cluster
around ideas of being harmed, harassed, threatened, or otherwise disparaged by malevolent
out groups .Even when no such hostility exists, this distrust belief can cause group members to
see any behavior by the other as hostile and malevolent.

e) Helplessness: At the individual level, helplessness focuses on the belief that even carefully
planned and executed actions will fail to produce the desired outcome. When taken at the
group level, it translates into a collective mindset of powerlessness and dependency. The group
shares a pessimistic approach which focuses on their own weaknesses, and attributes setbacks
to their own limitations. Helplessness, when it exists as a shared belief within a group, serves as
a constraint on organized political movement, as those who participate in a social movement
must see themselves as capable of righting the wrongs they perceive.

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SOURCES OF CONLICT IN A GROUP.

1. Task conflict: Task conflict arises when intra-group members disagree on issues that are
relevant to meeting shared goals. Effective groups and organizations make use of these
conflicts to make plans, foster creativity, solve problems and resolve misunderstandings.
However, people who disagree with the group do so at their own peril, even when their
position is reasonable. Dissenters often receive a high level of animosity from other group
members, are less well-liked, assigned low-status tasks, and are sometimes ostracized.
2. Process conflict: Process conflict refers to disagreement over the methods or procedures the
group should use in order to complete its tasks. It occurs when strategies, policies, and
procedures clash. For example, some group members may suggest discussing conflicting
ideas, while other group members prefer to put conflicting ideas to a vote. In essence,
during procedural conflicts, group members disagree on how to disagree. Situations of
procedural conflict can be preemptively minimized by adopting formal rules (e.g., bylaws,
constitutions, statements of policies) that specify goals, decisional processes, and
responsibilities.
3. Personal conflict: Personal conflicts, also known as affective conflicts, personality conflicts,
emotional conflicts, or relationship conflicts, are conflicts that occur when group members
dislike one another. Personal dislikes do not always result in conflict, but people often
mention their negative feelings toward another group member when complaining about
their groups. Also, there is evidence that a large proportion of group conflicts are indeed
personal conflicts. One study of high level corporate executives revealed that 40% of
disputes were due to "individual enmity between the principals without specific reference
to other issues" (Morrill, 1995, p. 69). Criticism, when one person evaluates another, or
his/her work negatively, is one common cause of personal conflict.

SIGMUND FREUD VIEWS ON GROUPS.

In this monograph, Freud describes psychological mechanisms at work within mass

movements. A mass, according to Freud, is a "temporary entity, consisting of heterogeneous
elements that have joined together for a moment." He refers heavily to the writings
of sociologist and psychologist Gustave Le Bon (1841-1931), summarizing his work at the
beginning of the book in the chapter "Le Bon's description of the group mind"). Like Le Bon,
Freud says that as part of the mass, the individual acquires a sense of infinite power which
allows him to act on impulses that he would otherwise have to curb as an isolated individual.
These feelings of power and security allow the individual not only to act as part of the mass,
but also to feel safety in numbers. This is accompanied, however, by a loss
of conscious personality and a tendency of the individual to be infected by any emotion within

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the mass, and to amplify the emotion, in turn, by "mutual induction". Overall, the mass is
"impulsive, changeable, and irritable. It is controlled almost exclusively by the unconscious.

Freud distinguishes between two types of masses. One is the short-lived kind, characterized by
a rapidly transient interest, such as trends. The other kind consists of more permanent and
enduring masses, which are highly organized, such as the Church or the military. "The masses
of the former type, so to speak, ride on the latter, like the short but high waves on the long
swell of the sea." However, the same basic mental processes operate in both kinds of masses.

Freud refers back to his theory of instincts and believes that masses are held together
by libidinal bonds. Each individual in the mass acts on impulses of love that are diverted from
their original objectives. They pursue no direct sexual goal, but "do not therefore work less
vigorously".[4][5]

Freud initially called the (largely unconscious) identification with the other individuals of the
mass, all of whom are drawn in the same way to the leader, a binding element.
The ego perceives a significant similarity with others in the group and identifies with them. In
addition, admiration and idealization of the leader of the group takes place through the process
of idealization. The narcissistic libido is displaced to the object which is "loved because of its
perfection which the individual has sought for his own ego". Also, a process of identification
with the aggressor can take place, for example, as happens in regression.

Thus, Freud came to the conclusion: "A primary mass is a number of individuals who have put
one and the same object in place of their ego ideal and consequently identify with each other."

Group formation.

Group formation starts with a psychological bond between individuals. The social cohesion
approach suggests that group formation comes out of bonds of interpersonal attraction. In
contrast, the social identity approach suggests that a group starts when a collection of
individuals perceive that they share some social category (‘smokers’, ‘nurses,’ ‘students,’
‘hockey players’), and that interpersonal attraction only secondarily enhances the connection
between individuals. Additionally, from the social identity approach, group formation involves
both identifying with some individuals and explicitly not identifying with others. So to say, a
level of psychological distinctiveness is necessary for group formation. Through interaction,
individuals begin to develop group norms, roles, and attitudes which define the group, and are
internalized to influence behaviour.

Emergent groups arise from a relatively spontaneous process of group formation. For example,
in response to a natural disaster, an emergent response group may form. These groups are
characterized as having no preexisting structure (e.g. group membership, allocated roles) or

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prior experience working together. Yet, these groups still express high levels of
interdependence and coordinate knowledge, resources, and tasks.

Group membership and social identity.

The social group is a critical source of information about individual identity. An individual’s
identity (or self-concept) has two components: personal identity and social identity (or
collective self). One’s personal identity is defined by more idiosyncratic, individual qualities
and attributes. In contrast, one’s social identity is defined by his or her group membership, and
the general characteristics (or prototypes) that define the group and differentiate it from
others. We naturally make comparisons between our own group and other groups, but we do
not necessarily make objective comparisons. Instead, we make evaluations that are self-
enhancing, emphasizing the positive qualities of our own group (see in-group bias). In this
way, these comparisons give us a distinct and valued social identity that benefits our self-
esteem. Our social identity and group membership also satisfies a need to belong. Of course,
individuals belong to multiple groups. Therefore, one’s social identity can have several,
qualitatively distinct parts (for example, one’s ethnic identity, religious identity, and political
identity).

Optimal distinctiveness theory suggests that individuals have a desire to be similar to others,
but also a desire to differentiate themselves, ultimately seeking some balance of these two
desires (to obtain optimal distinctiveness). For example, one might imagine a young teenager in
Kenya who tries to balance these desires, not wanting to be ‘just like everyone else,’ but also
wanting to ‘fit in’ and be similar to others. One’s collective self may offer a balance between
these two desires. That is, to be similar to others (those who you share group membership
with), but also to be different from others (those who are outside of your group).

Group cohesion.

In the social sciences, group cohesion refers to the processes that keep members of a social
group connected. Terms such as attraction, solidarity, and morale are often used to describe
group cohesion. It is thought to be one of the most important characteristics of a group, and has
been linked to group performance, intergroup conflict, and therapeutic change.

Group cohesion, as a scientifically studied property of groups, is commonly associated with

Kurt Lewin and his student, Leon Festinger. Lewin defined group cohesion as the willingness
of individuals to stick together, and believed that without cohesiveness a group could not
exist.

Black sheep effect.

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Beliefs within the in-group are based on how individuals in the group see their other members.
Individuals tend to upgrade likeable in-group members and deviate from unlikeable group
members, making them a separate out-group. This is called the black sheep effect. The way a
person judges socially desirable and socially undesirable individuals depends upon whether
they are part of the in-group or out-group.

This phenomenon has been later accounted for by subjective group dynamics
theory. According to this theory, people derogate socially undesirable (deviant) in-group
members relative to out-group members, because they give a bad image of the in-group and
jeopardize people's social identity.

In more recent studies, Marques and colleagues have shown that this occurs more strongly with
regard to in-group full members than other members. Whereas new members of a group must
prove themselves to the full members, to become accepted, full members have undergone
socialization and are already accepted within the group. They have more privilege than
newcomers but more responsibility to help the group achieve its goals. Marginal members were
once full members but lost membership because they failed to live up to the group’s
expectations. They can rejoin the group if they go through re-socialization. Therefore, full
members' behavior is paramount to define the in-group's image.

Bogart and Ryan surveyed the development of new members' stereotypes about in-groups and
out-groups during socialization. Results showed that the new members judged themselves as
consistent with the stereotypes of their in-groups, even when they had recently committed to
join those groups or existed as marginal members. They also tended to judge the group as a
whole in an increasingly less positive manner after they became full members. However, there
is no evidence that this affects the way they are judged by other members. Nevertheless,
depending on the self-esteem of an individual, members of the in-group may experience
different private beliefs about the group’s activities but will publicly express the opposite—that
they actually share these beliefs. One member may not personally agree with something the
group does, but to avoid the black sheep effect, they will publicly agree with the group and
keep the private beliefs to themselves. If the person is privately self-aware, he or she is more
likely to comply with the group even if they possibly have their own beliefs about the situation.

Outcasts who behave in a way that might jeopardize the group tend to be treated more harshly
than the likeable ones in a group, creating a black sheep effect. Full members of a fraternity
might treat the incoming new members harshly, causing the pledges to decide if they approve
of the situation and if they will voice their disagreeing opinions about it.

Group influence on individual behavior.

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Individual behavior is influenced by the presence of others. For example, studies have found
that individuals work harder and faster when others are present (see social facilitation), and
that an individual’s performance is reduced when others in the situation create distraction or
conflict. Groups also influence individual’s decision-making processes. These include decisions
related to in-group bias, persuasion ,obedience and groupthink. There are both positive and
negative implications of group influence on individual behavior. This type of influence is often
useful in the context of work settings, team sports, and political activism. However, the
influence of groups on the individual can also generate extremely negative behaviors, evident
in Nazi Germany.

Group structure.

A group's structure is the internal framework that defines members' relations to one another
over time. Frequently studied elements of group structure include roles, norms, values,
communication patterns, and status differentials. Group structure has also been defined as the
underlying pattern of roles, norms, and networks of relations among members that define and
organize the group.

Roles can be defined as a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a
particular way. Roles may be assigned formally, but more often are defined through the
process of role differentiation. Role differentiation is the degree to which different group
members have specialized functions. A group with a high level of role differentiation would be
categorized as having many different roles that are specialized and narrowly defined. A key
role in a group is the leader, but there are other important roles as well, including task roles,
relationship roles, and individual roles. Functional (task) roles are generally defined in relation
to the tasks the team is expected to perform. Individuals engaged in task roles focus on the
goals of the group and on enabling the work that members do; examples of task roles include
coordinator, recorder, critic, or technician. A group member engaged in a relationship role (or
socioemotional role) is focused on maintaining the interpersonal and emotional needs of the
groups' members; examples of relationship role include encourager, harmonizer, or
compromiser.

Norms are the informal rules that groups adopt to regulate members' behaviour. Norms refer
to what should be done and represent value judgments about appropriate behaviour in social
situations. Although they are infrequently written down or even discussed, norms have
powerful influence on group behaviour. They are a fundamental aspect of group structure as
they provide direction and motivation, and organize the social interactions of members. Norms
are said to be emergent, as they develop gradually throughout interactions between group
members. While many norms are widespread throughout society, groups may develop their

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own norms that members must learn when they join the group. There are various types of
norms, including: prescriptive, proscriptive, descriptive, and injunctive.

a) Prescriptive Norms: the socially appropriate way to respond in a social situation, or

what group members are supposed to do (e.g. saying thank you after someone does a
favor for you)
b) Proscriptive Norms: actions that group members should not do; prohibitive (e.g. not
belching in public)
c) Descriptive Norms: describe what people usually do (e.g. clapping after a speech)
d) Injunctive Norms: describe behaviors that people ought to do; more evaluative in nature
than a descriptive norm

Why do People form and Join Groups?

Groups are formed and joined for a variety of reasons. The most popular reasons for forming and joining
a group are related to our needs for safety and security, relatedness or belonging, esteem, power and
identity. A brief description of these follows :

1. Safety and Security Needs: Groups provide protection to their members from outside pressures. That is
why workers join trade unions to feel safe and secure. Even in the nursery class, when the teacher asks
the small kids who broke the toy, he seldom gets an answer. What happens is all the kids keep mum or
quiet. Although young, they protected their member by not disclosing any body's name or pointing out at
any one in group.

2. Relatedness or Belongingness Needs : People being social beings, belonging to or relating to groups
satisfies a number of their social needs. In every organization, there are many persons who are very
isolated or who prefer to be absent from work most of the times. Studies show, such phenomena occur
more where people are unable to belong to groups.

3. Esteem Needs : When one is a member of a group and does some good piece of work, gets a praise
from others. This, in turn, brings a sense of recognition to the group member, on the one hand and also a
sense of fulfillment of one's need for growth towards higher achievement of work and better career
prospects, on the other.

4. Power : One of the appealing aspects of groups is that they represent power and also offer power to
their members. Workers enjoy much greater power by joining groups than they do as individuals. This is
because of at least two reasons :

(i) There is strength in numbers and

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(ii) United we stand, divided we fall.

5. Identity : As a member of a group, an individual gets identity "Who am I" In practice we understand
ourselves through the behaviour of others towards us. For example, when others praise us, we feel we are
great, if others laugh at us, we see ourselves as funny ones.

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