Large social group examples. Social groups and communities

Society is a collection of the most different groups: large and small, real and nominal, primary and secondary. The group is the foundation of human society, since it itself is one of the groups, but only the largest. The number of groups on Earth exceeds the number of individuals.

In science there is no unity in understanding which concept is broader: "social community" or "social group". Apparently, in one case, communities are a kind of social groups, in the other case, groups are a subtype of social communities.

Typology of social groups

Social groups- These are relatively stable groups of people with common interests, values ​​and norms of behavior, which are formed within the framework of a historically defined society. All the diversity of social groups can be classified on a number of grounds, such as:

• - band size;
• - socially significant criteria;
• - type of identification with the group;
• - the rigidity of intragroup norms;
• - the nature and content of the activity, etc.

So, depending on the size, social groups are distinguished big and small. The first include social classes, social strata, professional groups, ethnic communities (nation, nationality, tribe), age groups (youth, pensioners). A specific feature of small social groups is the direct contacts of their members.

Such groups include a family, a school class, a production team, a neighborhood community, a friendly company. According to the degree of regulation of relations and the vital activity of individuals, groups are divided into formal and informal.

• Large social group is called the totality of all carriers of one social status in the social structure of society. In other words, these are all retirees, believers, engineers, etc. The classification of large social groups includes the two largest subspecies:
  • 1) real groups. They are formed on the basis of features that are set objective criteria. These characteristics include all social statuses: demographic, economic, professional, political, religious, territorial.

Real such a feature is considered that exists independently of the consciousness of a member of this group or of the consciousness of a scientist who singles out these groups. For example, young people are a real group that stands out according to the objective criterion of age. Consequently, there are as many large social groups as there are statuses;

2) nominal groups, which are allocated only for statistical accounting of the population and therefore they have a second name - social categories.

For example:

• - commuter train passengers;
• - registered in the mental hospital;
• - buyers of "Ariel" washing powder;
• - single-parent, large or small families;
• - having a temporary or permanent residence permit;
• - living in separate or communal apartments, etc.

Social categories- these are groups of the population artificially constructed for the purposes of statistical analysis, which is why they are called nominal, or conditional. They are essential in business practice. For example, in order to properly organize the suburban movement of electric trains, you need to know the total or seasonal number of passengers.

Social categories are collections of people, distinguished by similarities in the nature of behavior, lifestyle, position in society or outside world... Similar features or criteria for distinguishing groups can be very different properties of people. One of the most powerful and fruitful is hobbies or addictions. On the basis of this feature, a number of categories of people can be distinguished. Each hobby group, in turn, is divided into subgroups (according to the subject of hobby) and gradations (according to the intensity of the hobby).

So, collectors are divided into philatelists, collectors of paintings, labels, badges, etc. Amateur collectors differ from professional collectors not only by the intensity of their passion, but also by the degree of organization: philatelist clubs, philatelist markets, where stamps turn into a means of enrichment. Theater-goers - amateurs over time professionalize, the subject of hobby becomes a sphere of occupation. They regularly go to the theater, some become theater critics.

Nominal groups(social categories) are distinguished by artificial signs, which depend on consciousness, but not a member of this group, but a scientist classifying the group. For example, all residents of two-room apartments or all residents with a full range of utilities. Such a feature, and there are many of them, are not recognized by the members of the group as a sufficient reason to identify their belonging to the specified group. In other words, those who live in two-room apartments and have a full range of utilities do not necessarily realize that they are an independent group by some of the scientists, and do not behave in accordance with this feature. On the contrary, the real criterion realized by people or representatives of the group, most often makes one behave in accordance with this criterion.

For example, the group unemployed belongs to the category of real, as it stands out according to an objective criterion. The unemployed status applies only to those who applied to the employment service and registered as unemployed, i.e. entered a community or a collection of people endowed with appropriate rights and responsibilities. But for one reason or another, of the total number of unemployed, only a small part (25 to 40%) apply to the employment service and receive the formal status of unemployed. And where to include those people who are not really employed in social production, but did not apply to the employment service? How do these groups differ? We are talking about potential and real unemployment, unregistered and registered. The real group here is the formally registered unemployed. There is also the so-called part-time employment, characterizing an independent set of people. It does not intersect with either the first or the second group. It is often said that real employment figures are hidden in Russia, since the authorities are interested in lowering the unemployment rate: in reality, it is not 2%, but 8-10 times more.

Partly employed are classified as nominal unemployed, since this group was identified by sociological researchers interested in building a model, and this group exists only in the minds of these scientists. Consequently, this group is nominal.

Real group Is a large population of people, which stands out on the basis of really existing signs:

• floor- men and women;
• income - rich, poor and well-to-do;
• nationality- Russians, Americans, Evenks, Turks;
• age - children, adolescents, youth, adults, old people;
• kinship and marriage- single, married, parents, widows;
• profession(occupation) - drivers, teachers, military personnel;
• place of residence - townspeople, villagers, fellow countrymen, etc.

These and some other signs are among socially significant. There are much fewer such signs than statistical ones, their set is countable. Since these are real signs, they not only exist objectively(biological sex and age or economic and economic income and profession), but also realized subjectively. Young people feel their group identity and solidarity in the same way that pensioners feel theirs. Representatives of the same real group have similar stereotypes of behavior, lifestyle, value orientations.

Into an independent subclass of real groups sometimes the following three types are distinguished:

• stratification- slavery, castes, estates, classes;
• ethnic- races, nations, peoples, nationalities, tribes, clans;
• territorial- people from the same locality (fellow countrymen), townspeople, villagers.

These groups are called the main however, with no less reason, any other real group can be included among the main ones. Indeed, we are talking about interethnic conflicts that have swept the world in the past and present centuries. We are talking about a generational conflict, implying that the conflict between the two age groups is serious. social problem which humanity has been unable to resolve for many millennia. Finally, we are talking about gender inequality in wages, the distribution of family functions, and social status. Thus, real groups are real problems for society. Nominal groups do not provide a spectrum of social problems comparable in scale and nature.

Indeed, it is difficult to imagine that society was shaken by the contradictions, say, between the passengers of long-distance and short-distance trains. But the problem of refugees or "brain drain" associated with real groups, distinguished by territoriality, worries not only armchair scientists, but also practitioners: politicians, government, social protection bodies, ministries.

Behind real groups are social aggregates- a set of people, identified on the basis of behavioral signs. These include the audience (radio, television), the public (cinema, theater, stadium), some types of crowd (crowd of onlookers, passers-by), etc. They combine the features of real and nominal groups, therefore they are located on the border between them. The term "aggregate" (from Latin aggrego - I attach) means a random gathering of people. Aggregates are not studied by statistics and do not belong to statistical groups.

Moving further along the typology of social groups, we meet social organization... This is an artificially constructed community of people created by someone for the sake of fulfilling some legitimate goal, for example, the production of goods or the provision of paid services, using institutionalized mechanisms of subordination (hierarchy of positions, power and subordination, reward and punishment). Industrial plant, collective farm, restaurant, bank, hospital, school - all these are social organization... In terms of size, social organizations are very large (hundreds of thousands of people), large (tens of thousands), medium (from several thousand to several hundred), small or small (from one hundred to several people).

In essence, a social organization is an intermediate type of uniting people between large and small social groups. On them the classification of large groups ends and the classification of small groups begins. Here lies the border between secondary and primary groups in sociology: only small groups are classified as primary, all other groups are secondary.

Small groups Are small populations of people united by common goals, interests, values, norms and rules of behavior, as well as constant interaction. Small groups really exist: they are accessible to direct perception, observable in their size and time of existence. Their study can be carried out through specific methods of working with all members of the group (observation of interaction in the group, polls, tests for the characteristics of group dynamics, experiment).

If we build social-group continuum, then the two poles on it will be occupied by completely opposite phenomena: large and small groups. The main socio-psychological feature of small groups is cohesion, large groups - solidarity(fig. 6.1).

Cohesion we show in real actions, knowing each member of the group, for example, when we go to the head of the department to protect his colleague, whom he intends to fire. Small group unity is tilted by everyday communication and interaction. Should friends leave for different cities, stop communicating, as after a while they forget each other, cease to be a close-knit group. Solidarity manifests itself not between acquaintances who know each other well, but between representatives of the same social group as social masks. For example, a Moscow policeman defends Tambov's only because they both belong to the same professional group and are not necessarily family friends.

Rice. 6.1.

Russian sociologists already in the XIX - early XX century. great attention was paid to the development of the idea of ​​consent through cooperation, solidarity, integration, cooperation and mutual assistance (N. K. Mikhailovsky, P. L. Lavrov, L. I. Mechnikov, Μ. M. Kovalevsky, etc.). In particular, for Μ. M. Kovalevsky's doctrine of solidarity is at the center of sociological theory. By solidarity, he understood peace, reconciliation, harmony as opposed to struggle. He believed that in the normal course of social life, the clash of class and other social interests is prevented by an agreement, a compromise, in which the guiding principle is always the idea of ​​solidarity among all members of society.

Both cohesion and solidarity are based on the same foundation, which is identification a person with his group. Identification can be like positive(solidarity, cohesion of the group) and negative(it is understood in sociology as alienation, rejection, distancing). The problem of identity and identification is quite fully reflected in the works of V. A. Yadov.

The classification of small groups generally includes laboratory and natural, organized and spontaneous, open and closed, formal and informal, primary and secondary groups, membership and reference groups, etc. In sociology, groups are divided into primary and secondary, informal and formal.

Primary group Is a small association of people with an emotional bond (eg, family, group of friends). The term "primary group", introduced into sociology by Charles Cooley, characterizes communities in which there is trust, "face to face" contact and cooperation. They are primary in several senses, but mainly because they play a fundamental role in the formation of the social nature and ideas of man.

The main features of primary relationships are - uniqueness and integrity... Uniqueness means that a response addressed to one individual cannot be forwarded to another. A child cannot replace his mother, and vice versa; they are irreplaceable and unique. The same is the relationship between husband and wife: they are fully responsible to each other, love and family absorb them entirely, and not partially or temporarily. To describe group integrity, the pronoun "we" is used, which characterizes a certain sympathy and mutual identification of people.

Secondary group represents a number of regularly meeting people whose relationships are mostly impersonal in nature. They are distinguished by the criterion of immediacy - the mediation of contacts between people.

For example, the relationship between a seller and a buyer. They can be redirected: the seller can make contact with another or other buyers, and vice versa. They are not unique and interchangeable. The seller and the buyer enter into a temporary contract and have limited liability to each other. This is also the relationship between workers and employers.

Primary relationships are deeper and more intense than secondary ones, they are more complete in the ways of manifestation. The face-to-face interaction involves symbols, words, gestures, feelings, reason, needs. So, family relationships deeper, fuller and more intense than business or production. The first are called informal, the second - formal. In formal relationships, one person serves as a means or goal to achieve what is not in informal, primary relationships. Where people live or work together, primary groups emerge on the basis of primary relationships: small work groups, family, friendly companies, play groups, neighborhood communities. The primary groups arise historically earlier than the secondary ones; they have always existed, they still exist. As C. Cooley notes, there are fewer primary relations in the reality around us than secondary ones. They are less common, although they play a more important role in people's lives.

Formal group- This is a group, the position and behavior of individual members of which are strictly regulated by the official rules of the organization and social institutions. Unlike informal groups arising within the framework of a formal social organization on the basis of interpersonal relations, common interests, mutual sympathies of their members, a formal group is a type of organization of social relations characterized by a division of functions, an impersonal, contractual nature of relations, a strictly defined goal of cooperation, extreme rationalization of group and individual functions, low dependence on traditions. The task of the formal group is to ensure high orderliness, planning, controllability of the actions of its members in achieving the goals of a social institution or organization. The set of formal groups within one institution is ordered in a certain way hierarchical structure. Interpersonal relationships in a formal group are formed within the established official framework: authority is determined by the position, and not by personal qualities.

Large social groups are the area where social statuses, in small groups are implemented personal statuses.

• For details see: Kovalevsky Μ. M. Contemporary sociologists. SPb., 1905.

A person participates in public life not as an isolated individual, but as a member of social communities - a family, a friendly company, a work collective, a nation, a class, etc. His activities are largely determined by the activities of those groups in which he is included, as well as interactions within and between groups. Accordingly, in sociology, society acts not only as an abstraction, but also as a set of specific social groups that are in a certain dependence on each other.

The structure of the whole public system, the totality of interrelated and interacting social groups and social communities, as well as social institutions and relations between them is social structure society.

In sociology, the problem of dividing society into groups (including nations, classes), their interaction is one of the cardinal and is characteristic of all levels of theory.

Social group concept

Group is one of the main elements of the social structure of society and is a collection of people united by any essential feature - common activities, general economic, demographic, ethnographic, psychological characteristics. This concept is used in jurisprudence, economics, history, ethnography, demography, psychology. In sociology, the term "social group" is commonly used.

Not every community of people is called a social group. If people are just in a certain place (on a bus, at a stadium), then such a temporary community can be called “aggregation”. A social community that unites people only according to one or several similar characteristics is also not called a group; the term "category" is used here. For example, a sociologist might classify students between the ages of 14 and 18 as youth; elderly people to whom the state pays benefits, provides benefits for the payment of utilities - to the category of pensioners, etc.

Social group - it is an objectively existing stable community, a set of individuals interacting in a certain way based on several characteristics, in particular, the shared expectations of each member of the group in relation to others.

The concept of a group as an independent one, along with the concepts of personality (individual) and society, is already found in Aristotle. In modern times, T. Hobbes was the first to define a group as "a known number of people united by a common interest or common cause."

Under social group it is necessary to understand any objectively existing stable set of people connected by a system of relations governed by formal or informal social institutions. Society in sociology is viewed not as a monolithic entity, but as a set of many social groups interacting and being in a certain dependence on each other. Each person during his life belongs to many similar groups, including a family, a friendly team, a student group, a nation, etc. The creation of groups is facilitated by similar interests and goals of people, as well as the realization of the fact that by combining actions, a significantly greater result can be achieved than by individual action. Wherein social activities each person is largely determined by the activities of those groups in which he is included, as well as interaction within and between groups. It can be argued with complete confidence that only in a group does a person become a person and is able to find complete self-expression.

Concept, formation and types of social groups

The most important elements of the social structure of society are social groups and . Being forms social interaction, they represent such associations of people, joint, solidarity actions of which are aimed at meeting their needs.

There are many definitions of the concept of "social group". So, in the opinion of some Russian sociologists, a social group is a collection of people with common social characteristics, performing a socially necessary function in the structure of the social division of labor and activity. The American sociologist R. Merton defines a social group as a set of individuals who interact in a certain way with each other, who are aware of their belonging to this group and who are recognized as members of this group from the point of view of others. He identifies three main features in a social group: interaction, membership and unity.

Unlike mass communities, social groups are characterized by:

• stable interaction, contributing to the strength and stability of their existence;
• a relatively high degree of unity and cohesion;
• clearly expressed homogeneity of the composition, suggesting the presence of signs inherent in all members of the group;
• the possibility of entering broader social communities as structural units.

Since each person in the process of his life is a member of a wide variety of social groups, differing in size, nature of interaction, degree of organization and many other characteristics, it becomes necessary to classify them according to certain criteria.

There are the following types of social groups:

1. Depending on the nature of the interaction - primary and secondary (Appendix, Scheme 9).

Primary group, by definition Ch. Cooley, is a group in which the interaction between members is direct, interpersonal and differs high level emotionality (family, classroom, peer group, etc.). Carrying out the socialization of the individual, the primary group acts as a link between the individual and society.

Secondary group- this is a larger group, in which interaction is subordinated to the achievement of a specific goal and is of a formal, impersonal nature. In these groups, the focus is not on the personal, unique qualities of the group members, but on their ability to perform certain functions. Organizations (industrial, political, religious, etc.) are examples of such groups.

2. Depending on the way of organizing and regulating interaction - formal and informal.

Formal group Is a group with a legal status, interaction in which is regulated by a system of formalized norms, rules, laws. These groups have a deliberately set goal, statutory hierarchical structure and act in accordance with the administratively established order (organizations, enterprises, etc.).

Informal grouparises spontaneously, based on common views, interests and interpersonal interactions. It is deprived of official regulation and legal status. These groups are usually led by informal leaders. Examples are friendly companies, youth associations, rock music lovers, etc.

3. Depending on the individuals belonging to them - ingroup and outgroup.

Ingroup- this is a group to which the individual feels a direct belonging and identifies it as “mine”, “our” (for example, “my family”, “my class”, “my company”, etc.).

Outgroup - this is a group to which a given individual does not belong and therefore evaluates it as “alien”, not his own (other families, another religious group, another ethnic group, etc.). Each individual of the ingroup has its own scale for evaluating outgroups: from indifferent to aggressively hostile. Therefore, sociologists propose to measure the degree of acceptance or closeness in relation to other groups according to the so-called "Scale of social distance" Bogardus.

Reference group - it is a real or imaginary social group, the system of values, norms and assessments of which serves as a standard for the individual. The term was first coined by the American social psychologist Hyman. The reference group in the system of relations "personality - society" performs two important functions: normative being for the individual a source of norms of behavior, social attitudes and value orientations; comparative, acting as a standard for the individual, it allows him to determine his place in the social structure of society, to evaluate himself and others.

4. Depending on quantitative composition and forms of communication - small and large.

Is a directly contacting small group of people united for the implementation joint activities.

A small group can take many forms, but the original are "dyad" and "triad", they are called the simplest molecules small group. Dyadconsists of two people and is considered an extremely fragile association, in triad actively interact three persons, it is more stable.

The characteristic features of the small group are:

• small and stable composition (as a rule, from 2 to 30 people);
• spatial proximity of group members;
• stability and duration of existence:
• a high degree of coincidence of group values, norms and patterns of behavior;
• the intensity of interpersonal relationships;
• a developed sense of belonging to a group;
• informal control and information saturation in the group.

Large group Is a group that is large in composition, which is created for a specific purpose and the interaction in which is mainly mediated ( labor collectives, enterprises, etc.). This also includes numerous groups of people who have common interests and occupy the same position in the social structure of society. For example, social class, professional, political and other organizations.

A collective (Latin collectivus) is a social group in which all vital connections between people are mediated through socially important goals.

Characteristic features of the team:

• combination of interests of the individual and society;
• commonality of goals and principles that act for team members as value orientations and norms of activity. The team performs the following functions:
• subject - the solution of the problem for which it is created;
• socio-educational - combination of interests of the individual and society.

5. Depending on socially significant features - real and nominal.

Real groups are groups distinguished according to socially significant criteria:

• floor - men and women;
• age - children, youth, adults, elderly;
• income - rich, poor, well-to-do;
• nationality - Russians, French, Americans;
• marital status - married, single, divorced;
• profession (occupation) - doctors, economists, managers;
• place of residence - townspeople, villagers.

Nominal (conditional) groups, sometimes called social categories, - allocated for the purpose of conducting a sociological study or statistical accounting of the population (for example, to find out the number of passengers on privileges, single mothers, students receiving personal scholarships, etc.).

Along with social groups in sociology, the concept of "quasigroup" is distinguished.

A quasigroup is an informal, spontaneous, unstable social community that does not have a definite structure and value system, the interaction of people in which is, as a rule, an external and short-term nature.

The main types of quasigroups are:

AudienceIs a social community united by interaction with a communicator and receiving information from him. The heterogeneity of the given social education due to the difference personal qualities, as well as cultural values ​​and norms of the people included in it, determines the different degrees of perception and assessment of the information received.

- a temporary, relatively unorganized, unstructured accumulation of people united in a closed physical space by a community of interests, but at the same time devoid of a clearly perceived goal and related similarities emotional state... Highlight the general characteristics of the crowd:

• suggestibility - people in a crowd are usually more suggestible than outside;
• anonymity - the individual, being in the crowd, as if merges with it, becomes unrecognizable, believing that it is difficult to "calculate";
• spontaneity (infectivity) - people in a crowd are subject to rapid transmission and change in emotional state;
• unconsciousness - the individual feels invulnerable in the crowd, out of social control, so his actions are "saturated" with collective unconscious instincts and become unpredictable.

Depending on the way the crowd is formed and the behavior of people, the following types are distinguished in it:

• random crowd - an indefinite collection of individuals, formed spontaneously without any purpose (to observe a suddenly appeared celebrity or a traffic accident);
• conventional crowd - a relatively structured gathering of people influenced by planned predetermined norms (spectators in the theater, fans in the stadium, etc.);
• expressive crowd - a social quasigroup formed for the personal pleasure of its members, which in itself is already a goal and a result (discos, rock festivals, etc.);
• active (active) crowd - a group that performs some action, which can act in the form of: gatherings - an emotionally agitated, violent crowd, and the revolted crowd - a group characterized by special aggressiveness and destructive actions.

In the history of the development of sociological science, various theories have emerged that explain the mechanisms of crowd formation (G. Le Bon, R. Turner, and others). But for all the dissimilarity of points of view, one thing is clear: to manage the command of the crowd, it is important: 1) to identify the sources of the emergence of norms; 2) identify their carriers by structuring the crowd; 3) to purposefully influence their creators, offering the crowd meaningful goals and algorithms for further actions.

Among quasigroups, social circles are the closest to social groups.

Social circles are social communities that are created for the purpose of exchanging information between their members.

Polish sociologist J. Szczepanski distinguishes the following types of social circles: contact - communities that constantly meet on the basis of certain conditions (interest in sports competitions, sports, etc.); professional - gathering to exchange information exclusively on a professional basis; status - formed about the exchange of information between people with the same social status (aristocratic circles, women's or men's circles, etc.); friendly - based on the joint holding of any events (companies, groups of friends).

In conclusion, we note that quasigroups are some transitional formations that, with the acquisition of such characteristics as organization, stability and structuredness, turn into a social group.

Various schools and researchers distinguish many private classifications of groups, mainly of a dichotomous sense. So, groups are distinguished laboratory and natural, formal formal and informal informal (by the way of origin), organized and unorganized (by the degree of regulation of relations and life activity), reference groups and membership groups (in terms of their value for the participant), primary and secondary (from the point of view of immediacy - the mediation of contacts), large and small.

Let us dwell on the last dichotomy.

At first glance, the number of members of the group is behind this uncomplicated typology. A small number of participants is a small group, many participants are a large group. However, in the domestic tradition, the division of these two types of groups has more weighty reasons. Large and small social groups do not just differ in the number of members, it is fundamentally different types groups.

Small groups include various social associations of people with a small and finite number of participants, which in one form or another are included in the existing system of social production and control (we will turn to the formal definition of a small group just below).

Small groups are work teams, scientific laboratories, educational associations, sports teams, etc. Small groups really exist: they are accessible to direct perception, observable in their size and time of existence. Their study can be carried out through specific methods of working with all members of the group (observation of interaction in the group, polls, tests for the characteristics of group dynamics, experiment). And what is very important: you can isolate the specific purpose of the existence of such groups (activity pattern), since they are organized about some kind of activity, material or spiritual.

Large groups include significant in terms of the number of participants and changing human communities, whose members are not in direct contact and generally may not know about each other's existence. Members of a large group are united by certain signs of non-psychological properties: living in one territory, belonging to a certain social stratum (economic situation), being in a certain place at a certain hour, and more. Large groups, in turn, are divided into two subtypes.

The first includes ethnic groups, classes, professional groups. They are distinguished by the duration of their existence, the regularity of their emergence and development from the point of view of social history.

The second includes the public, the crowd, the audience - communities that have arisen by chance and exist for a short time. However, in them people are included in the general emotional space for some time. It is difficult to imagine an ethnos in the form of a large group of people settled on some kind of gigantic platform, as well as all circus performers or the entire middle class, even if only a certain state.

There are, of course, interesting examples. For example, in Cuba, during the heyday of Fidel Castro's rule, once a year, an incredible rally was held, to which the entire adult population of the island flocked (that's hundreds of thousands of people!). It is difficult to say what this totality of people represented at that moment - a crowd or a large group called "the people of the Republic of Cuba".

The fundamental difference between large groups of the first and second subtypes is in the mechanisms that regulate intragroup processes.

The so-called organized large groups are governed by specific social mechanisms: traditions, customs, mores. It is possible to isolate and describe a way of life typical for a representative of such groups, peculiarities of character, self-awareness.

Unorganized large groups are governed by socio-psychological mechanisms of an emotional nature: imitation, suggestion, infection. They are characterized by a commonality of feelings and moods at a certain point in time, which, however, does not indicate a deeper psychological community of participants in this kind of social formations.

For almost 100 years, the small group has remained the subject of lively interest of various socio-psychological schools and trends, a huge number of theorists, researchers and practitioners in America, Eurasia, Australia. There are many approaches, definitions, problem statements, and even more - criticism of opponents. It is difficult to imagine a definition that would suit everyone without exception and at the same time have at least some specific content.

We turn to the approach proposed by the Moscow socio-psychological school. Following G.M. Andreeva, we define a small group as small in composition, whose members are united by common activities and are in direct personal contact, which is the basis for the emergence of group norms, processes and interpersonal relations.

So, in accordance with this definition, two features create the basis for the emergence of a small group as a psychological phenomenon: joint activity in its psychological aspect (values, goals, tasks and methods of interaction) and direct contact, that is, the possibility of organizing interpersonal communication. On this basis, a small group itself arises and develops as a socio-psychological phenomenon.

Researchers are studying its various properties and characteristics. So, A.I. Dontsov, developing this definition, identifies eight features that characterize the behavior of people in a small group.

• 1. Regular and continuous contact face to face, without intermediaries.
• 2. Have a common goal, the implementation of which allows them to satisfy their significant needs and interests.
• 3. Participate in common system distribution of functions and roles in intragroup interaction.
• 4. Share general norms and rules of interaction within the group and in intergroup situations.
• 5. Are satisfied with the group membership and therefore have feelings of solidarity with each other and gratitude to the group.
• 6. Have a clear and differentiated understanding of each other.
• 7. Bound by stable emotional relationships.
• 8. Present themselves as members of the same group and are similarly perceived from the outside.

Thus, a small social group is an integral independent subject of functioning and development, which has the following properties.

• · Consists of a limited, small number of people.
• · It arises in the context of uniting participants with a common goal and interpersonal communication.
• · Endows the people in it with some cognitive and emotional content.
• · Determines the features of their behavior in intra- and intergroup situations.

"Small in composition", "small number of people" ... How many people make up a small group? Can you name a specific number or at least a formula to determine it?

Interest in these questions arose a little later than intensive research in the field of small groups began. As a result, we can state the following: most of studies of small groups were carried out in dyads, that is, in pairs, but there is every reason to believe that a "true small group" begins with a triad.

The dyad is a very specific small group, many structures and processes unfold and do not take place in it in full, acquire a "truncated" form. It turns out that "de jure" a small group starts with three people, and "de facto" - with two. Attempts to establish an unambiguous "upper limit" for the small group may also be considered unsatisfactory. It is clear that it is not higher than the level of two or three dozen, but where exactly? For the training group - one limit, for the training group - another, for the sports team - the third ...

The most successful is the functional approach to determining the upper boundary of a small group. Its essence is as follows: there can be as many people in a group as can be effectively united to achieve a given specific goal. The psychological content of joint activity determines the possible number of participants in a given group.

Social structure

Social structure- a set of interrelated elements that make up the internal structure of society. The concept of "social structure" is used both in the concept of society as a social system, in which the social structure provides the internal order of combining elements, and the environment sets the external boundaries of the system, and in describing society through the category of social space. In the latter case, the social structure is understood as the unity of functionally interrelated social positions and social fields.

Apparently, the first to use the term "social structure" was Alexis Tocqueville, a French thinker, political and statesman, one of the founders of the liberal political theory... Later, Karl Marx, Herbert Spencer, Max Weber, Ferdinand Tönnis, and Emil Durkheim contributed greatly to the creation of the structural concept in sociology.

One of the earliest and most comprehensive analyzes of social structure was carried out by K. Marx, who showed the dependence of the political, cultural, and religious aspects of life on the mode of production (the basic structure of society). Marx argued that the economic basis determines to a large extent the cultural and political superstructure of society. Subsequent Marxist theorists, such as L. Althusser, proposed more complex relations, considering that cultural and political institutions are relatively autonomous and dependent on economic factors only in the final analysis ("in the last instance"). But the Marxist view of the social structure of society was not the only one. Emile Durkheim introduced the idea that various social institutions and practices played an important role in ensuring the functional integration of society into a social structure that unites different parts into a single whole. In this context, Durkheim identified two forms of structural relationships: mechanical and organic solidarity.

Structure social system

The structure of a social system is a way of interconnecting the subsystems, components and elements that interact in it, ensuring its integrity. The main elements (social units) of the social structure of society are social communities, social institutions, social groups and social organizations.

The social system, according to T. Parsons, must meet certain requirements (AGIL), namely:

A. - must be adapted to the environment (adaptation);

G. - she must have goals (goals of achievement);

I. - all its elements must be coordinated (integration);

L. - values ​​in it must be preserved (maintaining the sample).

T. Parsons believes that society is a special type of social system with high specialization and self-sufficiency. Its functional unity is provided by social subsystems. To the social subsystems of society as a system, T. Parsons includes the following: economics (adaptation), politics (achievement of goals), culture (maintaining the model). The function of the integration of society is performed by the system of "societal community", which contains mainly the structures of standards.

Social group

Social group- an association of people who have a common significant social feature, based on their participation in some activity related to a system of relations that are regulated by formal or informal social institutions.

The word "group" got into the Russian language at the beginning of the 19th century. from Italian (it. groppo, or gruppo - knot) as a technical term of painters used to designate several figures that make up a composition. This is exactly how his dictionary of foreign words of the early 19th century explains it, where, among other overseas "wonders", the word "group" is also contained as an ensemble, a composition of "figures, a whole, and so adjusted that the eye looks at them at once."

The first written appearance of the French word groupe, from which its English and German equivalents later came, dates back to 1668. Thanks to Moliere, a year later, this word penetrates into literary speech, while still retaining its technical connotation. The widespread penetration of the term "group" into the most different areas knowledge, its truly common character, creates the appearance of its "transparency", that is, intelligibility and general availability. It is most often used in relation to some human communities as a set of people, united by a number of signs of a certain spiritual substance (interest, purpose, awareness of their community, etc.). Meanwhile, the sociological category "social group" is one of the most difficult to understand due to a significant discrepancy with everyday ideas. A social group is not just a collection of people united on formal or informal grounds, but a group social position that people occupy.

Signs

Commonality of needs.

The presence of joint activities.

Formation of your own culture.

Social identification of members of a community, their self-assignment to this community.

Types of groups

Large, medium and small groups are distinguished.

V large groups includes the aggregates of people existing on the scale of the whole society as a whole: these are social strata, professional groups, ethnic communities (nations, nationalities), age groups (youth, pensioners), etc. Awareness of belonging to a social group and, accordingly, its interests as their own occurs gradually, as organizations are formed that protect the interests of the group (for example, the struggle of workers for their rights and interests through workers' organizations).

TO middle groups include production associations of employees of enterprises, territorial communities (residents of one village, city, district, etc.).

Diverse small groups include such groups as family, friendships, neighborhood communities. They are distinguished by the presence of interpersonal relationships and personal contacts with each other.

One of the earliest and most famous classifications of small groups into primary and secondary was given by the American sociologist C.H. Cooley, where he distinguished between the two. "Base group" refers to those personal relationships that are direct, face-to-face, relatively permanent, and deep, such as those in a family, a group of close friends, and the like. "Secondary groups" (a phrase that Cooley did not actually use, but which came about later) refers to all other face-to-face relationships, but especially to groups or associations such as industrial, in which a person relates to others through formal , often a legal or contractual relationship.

Structure of social groups

A structure is a structure, a device, an organization. The structure of the group is a way of interconnection, its interposition component parts, elements of a group that form a stable social structure, or a configuration of social relations.

The acting large group has its own internal structure: "core" and "periphery" with a gradual weakening as the distance from the core of the essential properties by which individuals identify and are nominated this group, that is, by which it is separated from other groups allocated according to a certain criterion.

Specific individuals may not possess all the essential features of the subjects of a given community, they constantly move in their status complex (repertoire of roles) from one position to another. The core of any group is relatively stable, it consists of the carriers of these essential traits - the professionals of symbolic representation. In other words, the core of a group is a set of typical individuals who most constantly combine the nature of its activity, the structure of needs, norms, attitudes and motivations, identified by people with a given social group. That is, the agents occupying the position must take shape as a social organization, social community, or social corpus that has an identity (recognized self-image) and is mobilized around a common interest.

Therefore, the core is a concentrated exponent of all the social properties of the group, which determine its qualitative difference from all others. There is no such core - there is no group itself. At the same time, the composition of the individuals included in the "tail" of the group is constantly changing due to the fact that each individual occupies many social positions and can move from one position to another situationally, due to demographic movement (age, death, illness, etc.). or as a result of social mobility.

A real group has not only its own structure or construction, but also its composition (as well as decomposition). Composition- organization of social space and its perception. The composition of a group is a combination of its elements that form a harmonious unity, which ensures the integrity of the image of its perception as a social group. The composition of a group is usually determined through indicators of social status.

Decomposition- the opposite operation or the process of dividing the composition into elements, parts, indicators. The decomposition of a social group is carried out by projection onto various social fields and positions. Often, the composition (decomposition) of a group is identified with a set of its demographic and professional parameters, which is not entirely true. It is not the parameters themselves that are important here, but to the extent that they characterize the status-role position of the group and act as social filters that allow it to exercise social distancing, so as not to merge, not to be "blurred" or absorbed by other positions.

Functions of social groups

There are various approaches to the classification of the functions of social groups. American sociologist N. Smelzer distinguishes the following functions of groups:

Socialization: only in a group can a person ensure his survival and upbringing of the younger generations;

Instrumental: consists in the implementation of a particular activity of people;

Expressive: consists in meeting people's needs for approval, respect and trust;

Supportive: is that people strive to unite in difficult situations for them.

Social groups now

A feature of social groups in countries with developed economies is their mobility, the openness of the transition from one social group to another. The convergence of the level of culture and education of various social and professional groups leads to the formation of common sociocultural needs and thereby creates conditions for the gradual integration of social groups, their value systems, their behavior and motivation. As a result, we can state the renewal and expansion of the most characteristic in modern world- the middle class (middle class).

Group dynamics

Group dynamics- processes of interaction between group members, as well as a scientific direction that studies these processes, the founder of which is considered to be Kurt Lewin. Kurt Lewin coined the term group dynamics to describe the positive and negative processes taking place in a social group. Group dynamics, in his opinion, should consider issues related to the nature of groups, the patterns of their development and improvement, the interaction of groups with individuals, other groups and institutional formations. In 1945, Levin founded the Group Dynamics Research Center at MIT.

Since the members of the group interact and influence each other, processes arise in the group that distinguish it from the totality of individuals. Among these processes:

-the formation of subgroups by interests;

-the emergence of leaders and their departure into the shadows;

- making group decisions;

- rallying and conflicts in the group;

-changing the roles of group members;

- impact on behavior;

-the need for connectivity;

-the disintegration of the group.

Group dynamics is used in business training, group therapy, and flexible software development methodology.

Quasigroup (sociology)

Quasigroup is a sociological term for an unintentionally social group in which there are no stable ties and social structure between members, there are no common values ​​and norms, and the relationship is one-sided. Quasigroups exist for a short time, after which they either completely disintegrate, or under the influence of circumstances turn into stable social groups, often being their transitional type.

Signs of quasigroups

Anonymity

Suggestibility

Social contagion

Unconsciousness

Spontaneity of education

Instability of relationships

Lack of variety in interaction (either it is only reception / transmission of information, or just an expression of your disagreement or delight)

The short duration of joint action

Types of quasigroups

Audience

Fan group

Social circles

Social group concept. Types of social groups.

Society is a collection of very different groups. A social group is the foundation of human society, and society itself is also a social group, only the largest. The number of social groups on Earth exceeds the number of individuals, because one person is able to belong to several groups at once. Under a social group it is customary to understand any set of people who have a common social characteristic.

Man is a social being. There are few people who can endure loneliness for a long time and feel comfortable at the same time. Friends, enemies, relatives, colleagues, casual interlocutors - a person is connected with society by thousands of invisible threads, woven into society, like a knot in a knitted pattern.

Small social group - what is it?

These connections form small and large social groups. They constitute what is called the human circle of communication.

A large social group is any community of people of significant size that has common interests and goals. Fans of one football team, fans of one singer, city dwellers, representatives of one ethnic group. Such communities are united only by the most common goals and interests, often no similarities can be found between their randomly selected representatives.

The concept of "small social group" presupposes a limited, small community of people. And the connecting features in such associations are much more pronounced. Typical examples of small groups are colleagues, classmates, courtyard friends, family. In such communities, uniting motives are clearly visible, even if their participants themselves are completely different people.

Types of small social groups

Exists different kinds small social groups. They can differ in the degree of formality - formal and informal. The first are officially registered associations: labor collectives, training groups, families. The latter arise on the basis of personal attachments or common interests: friends familiar with a common hobby.

Groups can be with a constant composition - stationary, and with a random - unstable. The first are classmates, colleagues, the second are people who have gathered together to get the car out of the ditch. Natural groups arise on their own, the state does not make efforts to form them. These are groups of friends, family. Artificial small social groups are created forcibly. For example, a team of researchers created specifically to solve a specific problem.

Reference and indifferent groups

According to the degree of significance for the participants, small social groups are subdivided into reference and indifferent. In the first, the group's assessment of the individual's activities is of great importance. It is very important for a teenager what friends think of him, for an employee - how colleagues will react to his decisions and actions. Indifferent

groups are usually just strangers to the individual. They are not interested in them, and therefore, their opinions and assessments do not matter. The football team is also a small social group. But for a girl attending a ballroom dance club, their opinion about her hobby will not matter. Usually unattractive and alien groups are indifferent to people. Therefore, there is simply no need to adopt their rules and traditions, just as there is no need for a reading lover to memorize the names of football teams, even if there is a stadium nearby.

Influence of small social groups on personality

In fact, it is these seemingly insignificant associations that turn out to be the most significant. It is small social groups that play a significant role in the formation of a person's character and worldview. because greatest influence people have either personalities with undoubted authority in their eyes, or the closest environment. Public opinion as such is an abstract concept, and its influence on the human psyche is greatly overestimated. When they say that everyone approves or disapproves of this or that action, they still mean the circle of acquaintances, and not really “all” - unknown and incomprehensible. When performing an act and thinking about how it will be evaluated, a person imagines the reaction of friends, neighbors, colleagues, family. A small social group is practically all communities that have a real impact on the choice of an individual of this or that decision. And family is one of them.

Family is a small social group

The family forms the basis of the personality, the school class and the company of courtyard friends provide initial socialization, teach the basics of behavior outside the circle of relatives. And the work collective is people with whom you have to spend more time than with the closest people. Of course, it is their influence that largely determines the style of behavior, moral attitudes of a person.

Usually, when talking about the family and its role in society and the state, they forget that it is -

small social group. They just remember the common phrase that they are a social institution. Of course, many simply do not think about the meaning of the definition, they use a well-established expression. But a social institution is a complex of norms, dogmas, rules and attitudes, both formal and informal. It is designed to ensure the normal functioning of society.

Social groups and social institutions

The task of social institutions is to give society the opportunity to effectively establish the production of material values, to exercise control over public order, provide communication functions... Well, and guarantee the proper rate of reproduction of members of society. That is why to social institutions include not only the economy, religion, education and politics, but also the family. In this context, its meaning is absolutely utilitarian.

The family, as a small social group, has no purely demographic tasks. This follows from the definition: the community formed as a result

the emergence of close emotional contact, moral responsibility, love and trust. A family may not have children at all, because of this it does not cease to be a family, although this issue was rather controversial, the opinions of sociologists in this regard differed. And there may be no closely related ties. Husband and wife are not blood relatives, and the great-aunt, raising an orphan grandson, in fact, is almost a stranger to him. But they will consider themselves a family, even if the documents for guardianship or adoption have not yet been drawn up.

Family as a subject of interest for sociology

The eminent American psychologist and sociologist gave a wonderful definition of the term "group", which allows you to bypass the moment of formality, registration of relations. People interacting with each other, influencing each other and realizing themselves not as a set of “I”, but as “we”. If you look at the problem from this angle, then the family, as a small social group, can really consist of people who do not have close family ties. Affection and emotional contact are all determinants.

When a family is viewed in such an aspect that Special attention pay exactly

relationships and their impact on group members. In this, sociology has much in common with psychology. Establishing such patterns makes it possible to predict an increase or decrease in the birth rate, the dynamics of marriage and divorce.

Sociological studies of the family also play an important role in the formation of the norms of juvenile law. Only by examining the relationship between relatives, it is possible to draw conclusions about a favorable and unfavorable climate for a child, its influence on personality development. The society forms the family, but the family also forms the society in the future, raising children who will create a new society. Sociology explores these interconnections.

Family and society

The family, as a small social group, fully reflects any change in society. In a strict, patriarchal state with a clearly defined vertical of power, intra-family relations will be just as linear. Father is the undisputed head

families, the mother is the keeper of the home and children obedient to their decisions. Of course, there will be families built within the framework of other traditions and ways, but these will be, rather, exceptions. If society considers this organization of relations to be normal, correct, it means that it thereby sets certain standards. And family members, willingly or unwillingly, fulfill them, considering them the only possible and acceptable.

But as soon as the norms change, then the internal, household rules also change. Changes in gender policy at the national level have led to the fact that more and more families exist in conditions of at least formal equality of both spouses. The strict patriarchal way of life in the Russian family is already exotic, but quite recently it was the norm. The structure of small social groups has adapted to changes in society by copying general trend to smooth out gender differences.

The influence of society on family life

The traditions of the Don Cossacks, for example, assume that only a woman does all the housework. A man's lot is war. Well, or physically difficult, unbearable work for a woman. He can mend a fence, but he won't feed the cow or weed the garden. Therefore, when such families moved from their usual habitat to the cities, it immediately turned out that the woman went to work and did all the housework. But a man, coming home in the evening, can rest - after all, he simply does not have adequate responsibilities. Perhaps fixing plumbing or nailing a shelf - but this is rare, and you need to cook every day. If a man is not engaged in hard, physically exhausting work in production, such a family way of life quickly ceases to correspond to the norms accepted in the city. Of course, the behavior of adult family members is unlikely to change. Small social groups are dynamic, but not so dynamic. But a son who grew up in such a family, most likely, will no longer adhere to patriarchal foundations. Just because it turns out to be in the minority will turn out to be "wrong." His standards will not suit potential brides, and the guys around willingly help their chosen ones. Under the pressure of society, he will simply have to admit that the way he is used to is no longer relevant and change the standards laid down by the family.

Why do you need a family

At the beginning of the twentieth century, it was fashionable to argue that the institution of the family had exhausted itself. This is an unnecessary, unnecessary formation, a relic of the past. With proper social protection, people do not need a family, and therefore it will die out, disappear just like the clan or tribal way of life. Only the years go by, and people still get married, even if they are completely financially independent. Why?

Those who argued so missed one point. A person needs to feel needed and loved. This is a deep psychological need, without which a person cannot function properly. No wonder that one of the most severe punishments is confinement in solitary confinement, complete desocialization. And the emergence of warm trusting ties is possible only in a narrow, permanent circle. This is what distinguishes small and large social groups. The family is the guarantee of the emotional involvement of the individual.

Is a civil marriage a family?

Of course, then the question arises - is it really necessary that the fact state registration? At what point does a family become a family? From a sociological point of view, no. If people live together, take care of each other, fully aware of the full measure of responsibility and not avoiding it, then they are already a family. From the point of view of the law - of course, you need official document, because emotions, as they say, cannot be sewn to business. A family living in a civil marriage, the characteristics of small social groups allow us to consider it an informal stationary natural and reference group.

The influence of the family on the child

In relation to children, the family acts as a primary group. It provides initial socialization, teaches the basics of interaction with other people. The family is the only community that can form human personality complex. Any other social groups affect only a specific area of ​​a person's mental activity.

The ability to learn, the ability to build relationships with other people, the main features of behavior, even in a certain sense, the perception of the world - all this is laid in deep childhood, and therefore in the family. The rest of the social groups are just developing, polishing what was already present in the personality. And even if childhood experience extremely unfavorable, and the child categorically does not want to reproduce the scenario familiar from childhood - this is also a kind of formation, just with a minus sign. If parents are thirsty, grown-up children can avoid alcohol, and poor families with many children can grow up to be committed childfree.