RURAL SOCIOLOGY

Many students of rural sociology at the introductory level in many universities in Nigeria have not
had any previous significant learning experience in the study of sociology; hence it is necessary to
explain the basic concepts or terms often used in the field of sociology. These concepts are not the
final subject matter of rural sociology, but are intellectual tools for analyzing social situations in
rural society. Some of the concepts are as follows;
1. Sociology is the scientific study of society.
2. Society is a group of people who have lived together, sharing common values and general
interests, long enough to be considered by others and by themselves as a unit.
3. Rural sociology is the systematic study of rural life. It is the systematic body of knowledge
which had resulted from the application of the scientific method to the study of the rural
society, its organization, structure, social processes, basic social systems, institutions and
dynamics.
4. Agricultural sociology is the application of sociology to the agricultural profession. It is the
scientific study of the social lives of the people who are engaged in the agricultural occupation.
As majority of those who are engaged in agriculture live and work in the rural area,
Agricultural Sociology focuses largely on the use of rural sociological concepts
5. Structure is the systematic arrangement characteristic of a society, the smallest parts arranged
to form a large discernible unit. A society’s structure is composed of such parts as groups,
institutions (e.g. government and schools), neighbourhoods and communities, organizations
and collectives.
6. Groups are defined as two or more people in reciprocal information with one another.
7. Primary groups are small in size with face to face relationship of members and are informal in
nature.
8. Secondary groups are large in size, formal in nature and characterized by impersonal
relationships among the members.
9. Institutions are “Crystallised mechanisms” -clearly defined ways in which society meets its
needs-that have existed long enough to become embedded in the social structure. Examples of
social institutions are government bodies, school systems, village council and religious
systems.
10. Organisation are groups with special concerns and interest that have developed a structure
involving specific roles for various members, and have a more or less formal set of rules and
regulations for operation. An example is the village development organisation.
11. Communities and neighbourhoods are groups of people living within a contiguous geographic
area, sharing common values and a feeling of belonging to the group, who come together in
the common concerns of daily life.
12. Culture is the total way of life of people-their pattern of thoughts and behaviour-and constitutes
the man-made environment as opposed to the natural environment. Within this wide area called
culture fit sub-concepts such as culture traits.
13. Cultural traits are the units which make up a culture. Examples of cultural traits in
contemporary Nigerian Society are hoes, cutlasses, village residence and scattered settlements,
various food, etc.
 The Development of Rural Sociology
Rural sociology is the scientific study of the social behaviour of rural people. Rural sociology was
established as sub-discipline towards the beginning of the twentieth century, primarily in the
United States of America. Early beginnings of rural sociology date to at least 1908, when United
States President T. Roosevelt appointed the County Life Commission. The President was
influenced in his decision to set up the commission by Sir Horace Plunkett, who had observed the
deterioration of rural life in Ireland and feared that if nothing were done about it the United States
might face the same situation.
After the Second World War, rural sociology became established in European academic and
research institutions. In most African countries rural sociology was introduced as an invention of
western civilization during the colonial era, particularly in the British territories. It was not until
the early 1960s that sociology was established as a component of higher education programmes in
Africa. There are indications; however, that rural sociological research was conducted in many
African countries as historical or anthropological studies long before sociology was established
formally as a discipline in its own right.
Prior to 1960, when Nigeria became independent of British rule, no attempt was made to teach
Rural sociology as a discipline in the only Nigeria University, the University of Ibadan, which was
established in 1948. Although a Department of Agricultural Economics was established, rural
sociology has been taught as a subject in the department since 1966. In 1968 when a department
of Agricultural Extension services was created in that University, the teaching of rural sociology
was transferred to the department.
SOCIAL PROCESSES
Interaction among the people of a society occurs within the structure of society in certain specific
forms, referred to as social processes.
Social interaction is, “society in action” and has been defined as the “dynamic interplay of forces
in which contact between persons and groups result in a modification of the attitude and behaviour
of the participants” (Suntherland, 1961).
Social interaction which assumes a repetitive pattern in a specific direction becomes a social
process. Social processes then refer to “repetitive forms of behaviour which are commonly found
in social life”.
Basic forms of social processes
The following are the basic forms of social processes: Competition, conflict, cooperation,
accommodation, assimilation, acculturation.
Competition
Competition is the social process or form of social interaction in which two or more individual or
groups strive against each other for the possession or use of some material or non-material good.
The focus is primarily on the achievement of the objective desired by both and secondarily on each
other. The goal or objective by its nature, quality or quantity may be such that only one can achieve,
or secure it, making the competition more intense.
According to Horton, 1964 competition is the struggle for possession of material and /or non-
material items that are in limited supply and has been defined as “the process of seeking to
monopolize a reward by surpassing all rival”. There is competition in nature among plants and
animals, and “survival of the fittest” is based on competition for commodities that are in short
supply. Those commodities may be material such as money, land, residences, or non-material as
those that have prestige value, or give status and power, such as the executive position in
government or industry, national champion, Member of Parliament or office bearer of a leading
political party, etc.
Conflict
Conflict refers to the struggle in which competing partners, attempting to reach a goal, strive to
eliminate an opponent by making the other party ineffectual or by annihilation. Victory is at
expense of the opposing party. Conflict has been defined as “the process of seeking to monopolise
rewards by eliminating or weakening the competitors” (Horton, 1964).
Social conflict takes many forms in rural areas. These are: Herders-farmers conflict, class struggle,
inter-family and inter-clan conflict, conflict over land, person-to-person common conflict, etc.
Difference between conflict and competition: the difference is based on the focus and manner
of achieving the goal. In competition the primary focus is the goal, and interaction is according to
culturally defined rules of behaviour and procedure. In conflict, the focus is on the annihilation or
incapacitation of the opponent, so that the way is cleared for achieving of the goal.
Cooperation
Cooperation means working together toward common objectives or goals. The word is derived
from two Latin words- “Co”, meaning together and “operate”, meaning to work. Thus, where two
or more individuals or groups work or act together jointly in pursuit of a common objective, there
is co-operation. Cooperation may be brought about by several motivating factors and by situations
involving such factors such as: Personal gain, common motives, situational necessity,
achievements of goals of greater values.
Accommodation
Accommodation is the adjustment by a person or group to a conflict or threat, resulting in the
recognition and acceptance of the relations which define the status of a person or persons in the
group or a larger social organization.
According to Horton, 1964 accommodation is “a process of developing temporary working
agreements between conflicting individuals or group”. The conflicting parties arrange for
alternatives to conflict to bring about termination of hostilities or conflicting relationship and to
enable some form of cooperation.
Thus, accommodation may be viewed both as a process of social interaction as well as the result
of social interaction, and it is one of the important and inevitable outcomes of a social situation of
competition or conflict. Accommodation, then refers to permanent or temporary termination of
rivalries’ parties to function together without open hostility at least in some respect.
Accommodation may be achieved in various ways and take several forms. The more important of
these are as follows: Compromise, conversion, tolerance, arbitration, truce, subordination and
super ordination, displacement etc.
Assimilation
Assimilation has been referred to as the fusing or blending process, whereby cultural differences
tend to disappear and individuals and group once dissimilar become similar. Assimilation implies
complete merging of divergent cultural groups within a society and has been defined as “a process
of mutual cultural diffusion through which persons and groups become culturally alike” (Horton,
1964). The process takes place when two different cultures meet, with the dominant culture
assimilating the other. Thus, immigrants to the United States of America from different cultures
of the world undergo assimilation into the American culture as they get increasingly
“Americanized”.
Different kinds of assimilation have been identified, but three kinds are listed as follows:
1. A socialized individual in one culture may later move to another culture. In course of time, he
becomes assimilated into this second culture.
2. Two cultures merge into a third culture which, while somewhat distinct, has features of both
merging cultures. Examples, rural and urban cultures which are radically different in western
and developing countries are, with rapidly increasing communication, merging as differences
continue to disappear although they still exist.
3. In small groups - even in the family between husband and wife - assimilation may bring about
a similarity of behaviour. The tendency is to conform to the others behaviour pattern and
differences in time may largely disappear.
Acculturation
Acculturation is closely related to the sociological concepts of assimilation and accommodation is
the concept of acculturation, referring to the changes in culture that results from continued contact
between two cultures. This is the acquisition of new cultural traits by individuals or groups and
utilization of these in their new patterns of living.
Acculturation refers specifically to changes in their culture; their behaviour (knowledge, attitudes,
and skills). Thus before assimilation between groups occurs, acculturation must take place. It does
not follow; however, that acculturation invariably leads to assimilation.
Acculturation does not imply movement toward a completed process or condition, or that
individuals will move toward acceptance of each other. Both implications do exist in assimilation.
Acculturation, in fact, may be in process when groups are in conflicts, each learning from the other.
Cultural changes in turn may give rise to the need for accommodation involving readjustment of
relationships of affected groups, rather than assimilation.
Acculturation has no biological connotation included in it. Whereas, to some sociologists,
assimilation involves some biological mixing of a people with his new culture. Introduction and
diffusion of new agricultural technologies is a form of acculturation in many societies, because it
involves blending the culture of the country from where the technology was developed with that
of the recipient society, in relation to the specific farm practice. For instance, the introduction of
the hybrid maize into Nigeria through the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA is
expected to have a widespread impact in maize production culture in Nigeria. The techniques of
producing this maize is expected to influence the cutlass-hoe system of maize production by many
farmers in the country.
Conclusion
The interaction of people in the rural area is within the context of some dynamic processes.
Sometimes the rural people join hands to accomplish some tasks such as digging of a community
source of water through cooperation. The few community members who are hereby deprived of
their usual source of water for irrigating their farm might disagree with others on this proposal.
Their resistance might lead to open hostility or conflict. Farmers who successfully grow their dry
season vegetables by obtaining irrigation water from other sources than that used by the
community might attract the same group of customers to buy their products through the process of
competition. When some cultures coexist in a society through mutual adoption, they are able to do
this through the process of accommodation. One culture may absorb the other through assimilation.
When two cultures are blended, the process involved is acculturation. It is therefore important that
a student of the rural sociology should understand how these and other rural social processes are
operating.