Society

This term has been derived from a Latin word 'socious' that means association or companionship. Thus society
means 'A larger group of individuals, who are associative with each other'.
Two primary components of a society are its culture and its social structure. Society is one of the basic
sociological terms. In simple sense, society is a large grouping that shares the same geographical territory, shares a
common culture and social structure, and expected to abide by the some laws.
Individual is the basic component of society. The interaction of individuals with each other gives birth to group.
The social groups interact with each other and develop relationships with each other, leads to a society. The
players in football or other games came together is not a society, but just an aggregate of people. Within the
society there are patterns and groupings on the basis of likeness and differences. "Likeness" creates a chain of
relations among the individuals having similarity in one or more conditions' like same profession, same residence,
same caste, family and kinship, college, age, sex etc."
Consciousness of kind is developed and the people of similar interests are joined together rustling in the
formation of various groups and categories. Without difference in cultural conditions of a society the human life
would have been monotonous and probably limited in which little change is predictable. The system of give and
take relationship creates reciprocal roles in human life. These differences lead to variety of human behaviors and
social division of labor; the process of specialization is developed. Man is dependent on society for basic needs
satisfaction i.e. food, protection, education, etc. There are societies on local as well as on national levels.

Some scholars are of the opinion that society exists only when the members know each other and possess common
interests or objects.
Society is the fellow feeling, co-operation friendship and sympathy among two or more persons who live together
with common feelings, bonds and aspirations. Thus, Society is an organization of persons which guarantees
security to the members of their individuality and existence. Society is a dynamic entity. Social entity or society
has its own political, economical, cultural and religious ideologies according to which it provides more
opportunities to develop each individual in the society.

Man is social animal’, said Aristotle centuries ago.

Man needs society for the attainment of his optimum happiness and where he can work and enjoy his life.
More broadly society may be illustrated as an economic, social of industrial infrastructure, made up of a varied
collection of individuals. Members of a society may be from different ethnic groups.
Some definitions of the term “society” are given below:
Horton and Hunt, “A Society is a relatively independent, self perpetuating human group which occupies a
territory, shares a culture and has most of its associations within group”.
Maclver and page, “society is a system of usages and procedures, authority and mutual aid, of many groupings
and divisions, of human behavior and of liberties”
Prof. Giddings, “society is the union itself, the organization, the sum of formal relations in which associating
individuals are bound together.”
Linton: Any group of people who have lived and worked together long enough to get themselves organized and
to think of themselves as a social unit with well defined limits".
A.W. Green: It is the largest group in which individual have relationships.
Maclver: It is a web of social relationship, which is always changing.
Prof Wright: It is a system of relationships that exists among the individuals of the groups.
Nature of Society
Society is abstract
Society may be visualised as the behaviour of human beings and the consequent problems of relationships and
adjustments that arise. According to Renter, “Society is an abstract term that connotes the complex of
interrelations that exist between and among the members of the group. In this way, society exists wherever there
are good or bad, proper or improper relationships between human beings. These social relationships are not
evident, they do not have any concrete from, hence society is abstract.
Society consists of people
 Society is composed of people. Without people there can be no society, no social relationship and no social life at
all.
Mutual awareness and mutual interaction
Society is a group of people in continuous interactions with each other. A social interaction is made possible
because of mutual awareness. Society is understood as a network of social relations. Thus, social relationship
implies mutual awareness.
Society depends on likeness
The principle of likeness is essential for society. It exists among those who resemble one another in body and
mind to some extent. Just as the birds of same feather flock together, men have many things in common. It implies
consciousness of kind.
Society rests on differences too
If men are exactly alike, their social relationships would be very limited people differ from one another in their
looks, personality, ability, talent, attitude, aptitude, interest, taste, faith and so on. People pursue different activities
because of these differences.
Co-operation and division of labor
Division of labor involves the assignment to each unit or group a specific share of a common task. For example:
Common task of providing the banking service involves counter services, accountancy, loan lending etc. division
of labor is possible because of co-operation. Thus, divisions of labor and co-operation have made social solidarity
of social cohesion.
Society functions interdependently too
Social relationships are characterized by interdependence of elements of society. Family is an example of
interdependence of member for its smooth functioning. Today, not only individuals are interdependent upon one
another, but communities, social groups and nations are also interdependent.
Society is dynamic
Society is not static, but it is dynamic. Changeability is an inherent quality of human beings. No society can even
remain constant for any length of time. Changes may take place slowly and gradually of suddenly and abruptly.
Social control
Absolute freedom makes man’s life like other animal beings. So society has its own ways of controlling the
behavior of its members. For this, society has formal and informal means of social control. Customs, traditions,
mores folkways, manners are the informal means of social control, whereas law, police, constitution, police are
formal means of social control.
Characteristics of society

1. In society we can find commonness in terms of peoples understanding, their aims, their life style and
responsibilities.
2. A society is based on social relationship so people live together in communities there are social rules and
regulations which should be followed by all members of society.
3. There is a sense of belongingness between members of society. They live together with a sense of oneness. So
unity is the major characteristic of a society. The proverb suggests birds of a feathered flock together.
4. In a society people live with the feeling co- operate that means they co- operate others and help others.
5. Division of labors and social rules.
In a society everyone has a particular duty to perform as per his level, caste and education, eg, sweepers usually
clean the streets. So we can find assigning duties or job or work.
6. Diversity: As it said unity in diversity yes it is there in Indian society. People of different religion, culture live
together a society but we can also find diversity in terms of different values, beliefs, life styles and language
economy etc. though we are united in diversity.
7. Dynamic: As life is dynamic everything changes in society one generation after another generation. So there is
change in everything including life style economy language culture way of believing in god different religions,
economy and so on .So society is dynamic.
8. Competition: Various types of competition has been found in society every field of survival in the society.
9. Conflict: There are conflict lie in between two neighbors, or for the requirements of justice etc...so there are
conflicts both positive and negative. eg environmental organization and global warming are the universal conflict
for all societies.
Characteristics of Society
 Society consists of people
 Mutual interaction and mutual relation
 Society depends on likeness
 Society rests on differences to
 Co-operation and Division of Labour
 Society implies Dynamic
 Social control
 Culture

By nature man is social. His whole life is a gift of society. He has learnt speech, reading, writing and behaving
with others from the society. He is indebted to society for his life and development. An individual, isolated
completely from society, will not survive for long.
The following points can also be used to explain the concept of Society
Generally people living together in communities’ .They have same/common life-style, attitude, heritage,
common aim, norms, and religion. We are living in a particular society where in we follow rules and regulations,
and customs. We have our own purpose, set of aims and religion. We know that a group of people living together
is also a society. It does not matter that they have different religion, beliefs and purposes.
Community
Community is the combination of two words ’Com’ and Munis’ While com means together and Munis means to
serve. It means to serve together. It is a place where people live close to one another in the place where distance
they follow the same rules and regulation customs, etc..
MacIver defines community as ‘an area of social living marked by some degree of social coherence ’. he
further says “whenever the members of any group, small or large, live together in such a way that they
share not this or that particular interest, but basic conditions of a common life, we call that group a
community .”
Lundberg- Community is a human population living within a limited geographical area and carrying on a
common inter-dependent life.
Bogards-Community is a social group with some degree of ‘we feeling’ and ‘living in given area.’
It is a kind of society. Society is a broad term and community is a kind of it. One sociologist (Kingsley Davis)
defined community in this way.”A community is the smallest group of territory that embraces all the aspects of
society” Dimensions of the society builds a system in the society.
Elements of a Community
 Group of people
 Locality
 Community Sentiments
 Permanency
  Naturality
 Likeness
 Wider ends
 A particular name
 No legal status
Size of Community
A community may be big or small. A big community such as a nation will contain within a member of small
communities and groups more close bonds of unity and more numerous common qualities.
Let’s understand in brief the difference between society and community

Difference between Society and Community

Definition
Society is a group of people with a common territory and culture, interacting with one another while community
is a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. This is the
basic difference between society and community.
People
The members of a society are diverse since it consists of many different communities while the members in a
community necessarily share common characteristics among each other.
Interactions
Interactions among members is a core element in society since it determines the connection between vast
networks of people whereas interactions among members in a community happen involuntarily since these people
share many things in common.
Diversity
There is a high diversity among the society members; hence, it is heterogeneous. Conversely, there is minimum
diversity among those in a community; hence, it is rather homogenous. This is another difference between society
and community.
Size
Size is a major difference between society and community. Comparatively, a community is smaller than society,
and society is larger than a community.
Locality
In a society, locality is not defined, and it is not an essential element to shape a society. For a community, definite
locality becomes an essential factor, and it provides a definite shape to the community.
Conclusion
Society and community are two basic elements in sociology. They are, therefore, inter-related concepts.
Nevertheless, there is a difference between society and community based primarily on its members, their
interactions, locality, etc. Hence, the main difference between society and community is that society is built upon
interactions with varied people whereas community is the collection of people with similar interests essentially
residing in one geographic place.

Association
An association is a group of people organized for a particular purpose or a limited number of purposes. A group
of people or organizations who work together for a particular purpose. An organization formed through people
with a common purpose and having a formal structure.
A group of people these people must be organized one a common purpose
Difference between Association and Society
The points of difference between society and associations are given below:-
1) Society is a system of social relationships whereas an association is a group of people.
2) Society is abstract. It cannot be seen or touched. But association is concrete.
3) Society is natural, but associations are artificial. It is deliberately formed by the people for achievements of
some definite interests.
4) Society may be organized or unorganized but association must be organized.
5) Membership of society is compulsory. Man cannot live without society. On the other hand, membership of an
association is voluntary. Man many live without being a member of any association at all.
6) Society is marked by both co-operation and conflict whereas association is based on co-operation alone.
7) Society is almost permanent. It will exist as long as man exists. But association may be transitory.
8) Society comprehends all conscious and unconscious relations. But the basis of association consists of
conscious feeling and thought.
9) The aim of society is general. It comes into existence for the general well being of the individuals. But the aim
of association is particular. An association is formed for the pursuit of some particular purpose or purposes.
10) Society is older than association. It comes to existence since men appeared on the earth. But association arose
of a later stage when people learnt to organise themselves for the pursuit of some particular purpose.
Organization
The term of ‘Organization’ means an arrangement of persons or ports. In this arrangement the persons or parts are
interrelated and independent. An organization is a group of people who work together, like a neighborhood
association, a charity, a union, or a corporation. You can use the word organization to refer to group or business,
or to the act of forming or establishing something. Thus family, church, college, political party, united nations etc.
all are examples of an organization.
 Social Structure
Social structure demonstrates how people in society develop a code of conduct in regards to living in society.
There are specific elements and frameworks that we use to fit into mainstream society and to develop the concept
of social structure.
Social structure is the organized set of social institutions and patterns of institutionalized relationships that together
compose society. Social structure is both a product of social interaction and directly determines it. Social structures
are not immediately visible to the untrained observer, however, they are always present and affect all dimensions
of human experience in society.
It is helpful to think about social structure as operating on three levels within a given society: the macro, meso, and
micro levels.
Social Structure: The Macro Level of Society
When sociologists use the term "social structure" they are typically referring to macro-level social forces including
social institutions and patterns of institutionalized relationships. The major social institutions recognized by
sociologists include family, religion, education, media, law, politics, and economy. These are understood as
distinct institutions that are interrelated and interdependent and together help compose the overarching social
structure of a society.
These institutions organize our social relationships to others and create patterns of social relations when viewed on
a large scale. For example, the institution of family organizes people into distinct social relationships and roles,
including mother, father, son, daughter, husband, wife, etc., and there is typically a hierarchy to these
relationships, which results in a power differential. The same goes for religion, education, law, and politics.
These social facts may be less obvious within the institutions of media and economy, but they are present there
too. Within these, there are organizations and people who hold greater amounts of power than others to determine
what happens within them, and as such, they hold more power in society. The actions of these people and their
organizations behave as structuring forces in the lives of all of us.
The organization and operation of these social institutions in a given society result in other aspects of social
structure, including socio-economic stratification, which is not just a product of a class system but is also
determined by systemic racism and sexism, as well as other forms of bias and discrimination.
The social structure of the U.S. results in a sharply stratified society in which very few people control wealth and
power — and they have historically tended to be white and male — while the majority has very little of either.
Given that racism is embedded in core social institutions like education, law, and politics, our social structure also
results in a systemically racist society. The same can be said for the problem of gender bias and sexism.
Social Networks: The Meso Level Manifestation of Social Structure
Sociologists see social structure present at the "meso" level — between the macro and the micro levels — in the
social networks that are organized by the social institutions and institutionalized social relationships described
above. For example, systemic racism fosters segregation within U.S. society, which results in some racially
homogenous networks. The majority of white people in the U.S. today have entirely white social networks.
Our social networks are also a manifestation of social stratification, whereby social relations between people are
structured by class differences, differences in educational attainment, and differences in levels of wealth.
In turn, social networks act as structuring forces by shaping the kinds of opportunities that may or may not be
available to us, and by fostering particular behavioral and interactional norms that work to determine our life
course and outcomes.
Social Interaction: Social Structure at the Micro Level of Everyday Life
Social structure manifests at the micro level in the everyday interactions we have with each other in the forms of
norms and customs. We can see it present in the way patterned institutionalized relationships shape our
interactions within certain institutions like family and education, and it is present in the way institutionalized ideas
about race, gender, and sexuality shape what we expect from others, how we expect to be seen by them, and how
we interact together.
Conclusion
In conclusion, social structure is composed of social institutions and patterns of institutionalized relationships, but
we also understand it as present in the social networks that connect us, and in the interactions that fill our everyday
lives.

Types of Social Structure

Sociologist Talcott Parsons produced one of the best-known theoretical foundations for studying society. Parsons
believed that society best functions in four ways, and these four elements are necessary in forming the social
structure of society.

1. Adaptation: The way we adapt to our environments is one of the ways we function through survival in
society. For example, jobs, economy, family.
2. Goal attainment: The need to set goals and achieve them in society.
3. Integration: The need to relate to other human beings who share similar interests.
4. Latency: The need to have people motivate us toward our goals of achievement.

Social System
Society may be viewed as a system of interrelated mutually dependent parts which cooperate to preserve a
recognizable whole and to satisfy some purposes or goal. Social system may be described as an arrangement of
social interactions based on shared norms and values. Individuals constitute it and each has place and function to
perform within it.
Meaning of Social System:
It is Talcott Parsons who has given the concept of ‘system’ current in modern sociology. Social system refers to’
an orderly arrangement, an inter relationships of parts. In the arrangement, every part has a fixed place and
definite role to play. The parts are bound by interaction. System signifies, thus, patterned relationship among
constituent parts of a structure which is based on functional relations and which makes these parts active and
binds them into reality.
Society is a system of usages, authority and mutuality based on “We” felling and likeness. Differences within the
society are not excluded. These are, however, subordinated to likeness. Inter-dependence and cooperation are its
basis. It is bound by reciprocal awareness. It is essentially a pattern for imparting the social behaviour.
Elements of Social System:
The elements of social system are described as under:
1. Faiths and Knowledge:
The faiths and knowledge brings about the uniformity in the behaviour. They act as controlling agency of
different types of human societies. The faiths or the faith is the result of the prevalent customs and beliefs. They
enjoy the force of the individual are guided towards a particular direction.
2. Sentiment:
Man does not live by reason alone. Sentiments – filial, social, notional etc. have played immense role in investing
society with continuity. It is directly linked with the culture of the people.
3. End Goal or object:
Man is born social and dependent. He has to meet his requirements and fulfill his obligations. Man and society
exist between needs and satisfactions, end and goal. These determine the nature of social system. They provided
the pathway of progress, and the receding horizons.
4. Ideals and Norms:
The society lays down certain norms and ideals for keeping the social system intact and for determining the
various functions of different units. These norms prescribe the rules and regulations on the basis of which
individuals or persons may acquire their cultural goals and aims.
In other words ideals and norms are responsible for an ideal structure or system of the society. Due to them the
human behaviour does not become deviant and they act according to the norms of the society. This leads to
organization and stability. These norms and ideals include folkways, customs, traditions, fashions, morality,
religion, etc.
5. Status-Role:
Every individual in society is functional. He goes by status-role relation. It may come to the individual by virtue
of his birth, sex, caste, or age. One may achieve it on the basis of service rendered.
6. Role:
Like the status, society has prescribed different roles to different individuals. Sometimes we find that there is a
role attached to every status. Role is the external expression of the status. While discharging certain jobs or doing
certain things, every individual keeps in his mind his status. This thing leads to social integration, organization
and unity in the social system. In fact statuses and roles go together. It is not possible to separate them completely
from one another.
7. Power:
Conflict is a part of social system, and order is its aim. It is implicit, therefore, that some should be invested with
the power to punish the guilty and reward those who set an example. The authority exercising power will differ
from group to group; while the authority of father may be supreme in the family, in the state it is that of the ruler.
8. Sanction:
It implies confirmation by the superior in authority, of the acts done be the subordinate or the imposition of
penalty for the infringement of the command. The acts done or not done according to norms may bring reward
and punishment.
Ideology means the sum total of the general schemes and means which can lead a society towards the attainment of
perfection and its summum bonum (the highest good).