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lecture 5 Social Organization Social Groups

The document discusses the significance of formal organizations and groups in sociology, highlighting their impact on society and culture. It categorizes organizations into normative, utilitarian, and bureaucratic types, and describes various group dynamics, including primary and secondary groups, in-groups, out-groups, and reference groups. Additionally, it examines leadership styles and emphasizes the importance of social interaction in forming social structures.

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3 views

lecture 5 Social Organization Social Groups

The document discusses the significance of formal organizations and groups in sociology, highlighting their impact on society and culture. It categorizes organizations into normative, utilitarian, and bureaucratic types, and describes various group dynamics, including primary and secondary groups, in-groups, out-groups, and reference groups. Additionally, it examines leadership styles and emphasizes the importance of social interaction in forming social structures.

Uploaded by

malik2912112
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Sociology

Social Organization
and Groups
Introduction to Organizations and
Groups
• Another way to advance understanding of society is to
examine formal organizations and groups
• We live in a time when the pace of change and
technology are requiring people to be more flexible
and less bureaucratic in their thinking while also a
developing trend to bureaucratize and conventionalize
local institutions
• Group size, leadership styles, and connections all
impact how individual members act
Types of Formal Organizations
• Formal organizations are large and impersonal such as
schools, businesses, healthcare, and government
• Normative organizations: Also called voluntary
organizations, these are based on shared interests and
membership is rewarding
• Utilitarian organizations are joined because of the
need for a specific material reward
Bureaucracies
• Hierarchy of authority places one individual or office in charge of another,
who in turn answers to superiors with tasks and duties flowing downward
and responsibility upward
• Clear division of labor: each individual has a specialized task to perform
• Explicit rules are the ways in which rules are outlined, written down, or
standardized
• Impersonality: Takes personal feelings out of professional situations
• Meritocracies: Hiring and promotion is based on proven and documented
skills rather than nepotism or random chance
Types of Groups
• Group is any collection of at least two people who interact with some
frequency and who share a sense that their identity is somehow aligned
with the group
• In sociology, a group refers to "any number of people with similar norms,
values, and expectations who interact with one another on a regular
basis.
• Primary groups (i.e. families) play the most critical role in our lives and is
usually fairly small and made up of individuals who generally engage face-
to-face in long-term emotional ways, serving emotional needs (expressive
functions)
Types of Groups
• Secondary groups are often larger and impersonal, task-focused and
time limited, serving an instrumental function that is goal or task
oriented
• In-group (Sumner): a group in which an individual feels belonging and
sees it as integral to self
• Out-group (Sumner): a group someone doesn’t belong to and may
feel disdain or competition towards
• While group affiliations can be neutral, they can also explain some
negative behaviors (bullying, white supremacist movements)
Types of Groups
• Reference group is one to which
people compare themselves and
provides a standard of
measurement
• Most people have more than one
reference group
• Reference groups can be one’s
cultural center, workplace, family
gathering, parents and can convey
competing messages
Leadership Styles
• Instrumental leaders are goal-oriented and largely concerned
with accomplishing set tasks
• Expressive leaders are more concerned with promoting
emotional strength and health and ensuring people feel
supported
• Democratic leaders encourage group participation in all
decision making and work hard to build consensus before
action
• Authoritarian leaders issue orders and assign tasks and are
clear instrumental leaders with a strong focus on meeting
goals
Why Study Social Groups and Social
Organizations?

• Social groups are crucial to the transmission of culture in society. Due


to this, studying them has become an essential component of
sociological research.
• When we interact with others in our groups, we impart our ways of
thinking and acting - from language and values to styles, preferences,
and recreational pursuits.
• Groups can also comprise formal social organizations, which have
specific and varied impacts on society and culture.
Social Interaction and Social
Relation
• Social interaction is the basis for creating patterned social
relationships called social structures.
• Social interaction can also be seen as a social process in
which it orients itself to others and acts in response to what
other people say and do.
• In sociology, social interaction is a dynamic, changing
sequence of social actions between individuals or groups
• A social interaction is an exchange between two or
more individuals and is a building block of society.
• Social interactions can be studied between groups of
two, three or larger social groups.
• By interacting with one another, people design rules,
institutions and systems within which they seek to live.
Discuss: What if the Internet
Stopped Working?
• What would like be if the Internet just stopped working?
Describe how this event would impact two different
social institutions.

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