We all live in society, or, in scientific terms, in society. Even before the creation of the science of sociology, it was possible to conditionally divide people into groups. Now there are a lot of them, and one person can relate to several at once. It all depends on what attribute unites people. Consider the concept and typology of social groups, we analyze by examples.
The concept
A social group is a collection of individuals in a society united by some socially significant attribute. Such a sign may be gender, age, nationality, profession and so on.
A social group is a kind of mediator between the individual and the whole society. Being a member of such a group, the individual goes through a certain socialization. In a social environment, through internal interaction in a group, norms of collective behavior are formed, as well as characteristic features.
Typologies of Social Groups
There are a lot of communities in society. Indeed, the signs for the separation of individuals can be very, very many. The following is the most common typology of social groups in sociology:
Classes and strata by social status (peasants, workers, entrepreneurs, public servants, intelligentsia, bourgeoisie).
Communities by ethnicity (nation, nationality, tribe and others).
Sociocultural communities (fans of various subcultures, lovers of rock music, clubs created by fans, collectors).
Individuals united by territorial factor (residents of towns, cities, other various settlements, countries, continents, parts of the world).
Religious (Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and others, as well as various sects and groups of people who are united by some rites).
According to the profession (doctors, teachers, drivers, lawyers, programmers and other groups of professions and specialties).
Socio-demographic (youth, senior citizens).
Political associations (members of parties or political movements, liberals, conservatives, and others).
Family and household groups (family, life, their various types and forms).
This is the simplest classification, which is given as an example even in the school curriculum on the subject of social studies.
Salient Features and Symptoms
If you describe social groups (concept and typology) briefly, then all of them should have the following features:
A specific way of interaction between individuals. For example, students of a certain group at a university can discuss laboratory work, lectures, and be all involved during a seminar.
Each member of the group is aware of their belonging to it (the national figure skating team of a country must have a sense of loyalty and duty to its state, to defend the country's honor in various competitions and championships).
The existing awareness of unity (the troupe of theater actors is perceived as a whole by themselves, and the audience, and critics, and employees of this theater).
Variety of society
It would be inappropriate to describe in the article only one, the most common type of typology of social groups. After all, there are a lot of classifications.
For example, consider the differentiation of social groups according to C. Cooley. According to his classification, they can be primary and secondary. What does it mean? Let's consider in more detail:
Primary. In such groups, close, direct ties and cooperation are established between its members. We can say that the connection in this case is established at a certain psychological level, all individuals in this group can say “we” about it. These include family, neighborhood, children in kindergarten or the adult generation of a family.
Secondary In the secondary groups, the emotional component of the relationship between individuals is practically absent. Each secondary is united by the pursuit of a specific goal. Therefore, the ability of each individual to perform specific functions, rather than personal qualities, comes to the fore.
Another typology of social groups and communities is formed on the basis of the method of organization and regulation of interaction between individuals:
Formal ones are communities with legal status. The interaction within such a group is regulated by a set of rules, laws. They have a goal, a hierarchical structure, and all actions are carried out in accordance with the established administrative order (legal organizations, enterprises).
Informal. These groups do not have legal status and are devoid of official regulation. They arise spontaneously and exist on the basis of some common interests (informal youth groups, fans of rock music and others). Sometimes a leader is present in such communities.
If we consider the typology of social groups briefly on the part of the individual’s attitude to it, then one’s affiliation can be expressed in different ways. Let's consider in more detail:
Ingroup - a person is aware of his belonging, perceives the community as his own and calls it "mine" (my family, my team, etc.).
Outgroup - all the way around. The individual does not belong to this community and perceives it as a “stranger” (another family, another nation). Moreover, the views on these other, not their own, communities in relation to can range from indifferent to hostile-aggressive.
Next, we analyze the typology of social groups and communities according to the degree of objectivity of their existence:
Nominal - a set of people, artificially isolated on some basis. There are no real relationships and interactions between these people, they usually come together to carry out some scientific, practical or socially significant tasks (for example, voters, people with higher education, buyers of a certain brand of soap and others).
The real one is a community of individuals between whom there are real connections and interactions, and the group itself may have relationships with others. All participants in this set of people clearly identify with her (family, class, etc.).
Finally, we got to the concept and typology of social groups, which are worth considering in more detail. So, big and small communities.
Large social groups
A large social group is an association of participants who do not directly interact with each other, but are connected by the psychological mechanisms of group communication. Large social groups have certain symptoms:
Structural and functional organization.
The vital activity of such communities is regulated by group consciousness, customs and traditions.
Established mental warehouse and group psychology.
May influence the formation of personality type.
A set of social norms operates within the group. They regulate interaction.
A typology of large social groups also takes place. There are several classifications.
By the nature of relations within and between large social groups:
Objective - individuals are united by bonds that are independent of their consciousness and will.
Subjective psychological - people in such macrogroups unite consciously.
By the duration of existence:
Long existing (nations).
Temporarily existing (people in the lecture room).
By degree of organization:
Organized (political parties).
Unorganized (crowd of protesters).
By occurrence:
Arising spontaneously (crowd in the subway).
Organized according to plan, consciously (parties, associations).
By the degree of contact of people within the community:
Conditional - groups united by a common attribute (gender, profession, etc.). In such communities, there are no contacts within between individuals.
Real big - in such groups there are contacts between people, quite close. But often they are united by some specific goal (rallies, meetings).
Depending on the degree of difficulty of joining a particular community, making a decision of a future participant about entering and leaving the community:
Open.
Closed.
The social psychology of groups, the typology of groups, as it relates to large aggregates, includes a set of certain elements depending on the areas of the psyche: life values, goals and social. attitudes, public consciousness, mentality, public opinion, public customs, behavioral stereotypes, motives of activity, general needs and interests. And much more.
Small social groups
A small social group is a closely interconnected association of people who are united by joint activities, have the same goals and interests. It is the presence of direct interaction with each other that is a group-forming factor for this type of community. Such groups are also called contact groups.
Small social. groups have the following characteristic features:
The number of community members is small, usually no more than 15.
Close communication between the individuals of the group.
Interests, goals, activities - all this is common and joint, that unites the participants of such a community.
They are clearly localized in a certain place in space and are stable in time.
A clear division of labor, functions and group roles between community members, coordination of their activities.
They are mentally united by norms of behavior, attitudes, values, life guidelines and principles.
The specific structure of organization and management.
From the point of view of individuals not included in this small population - a clear identification of the community.
The typology of small groups in social psychology is not too different from the typology of large ones. Here you need to understand what exactly is the defining feature. Briefly typology of social groups can be represented as follows.
Depending on the type of organization (definition above):
Formal.
Informal.
By the nature of the predominant activity of groups:
Internal - the activity of the community is directed inward, towards its participants (children's clubs, psychotherapeutic groups).
External - the nature of the activity of the community is directed outward (associations of volunteers, Masonic movements.
As well as large ones, by the time of their existence:
Temporary - the association of participants is limited in time (conference participants).
Stable - the relative constancy of which is determined by their purpose and long-term functioning goals (family, students of the same group).
As in the big social. communities:
Open.
Closed.
We examined the typology of groups in social work. For various sociological studies, these classifications and the division within them are used. This applies to large and small groups. The following are the types of small social communities according to the level of general consciousness and their definitions.
Types and definitions of small social groups
In this case, they are as follows:
- The group is a conglomerate. Its members are not familiar with each other, but ended up at the same time on the same territory. We can say that they have not yet realized that the goal of their activity is general and uniform.
- Nominal group. This is a collection of people who come together and get a common name.
- A group is an association. These people are united only by a common goal and joint activity. There are no signs of a psychological connection.
- The group is cooperation. A community of people actively interacting with each other. They are connected by a goal - to achieve a certain result in their activities. Distinctive features are group experience and preparedness.
- The group is autonomy. This is a holistic and isolated set of people who work to achieve a common goal. For them, satisfaction is important not only with the result, but also with the pleasure of activity within the community.
- The group is a corporation. The same as cooperation, but the difference lies in the presence of organizational and psychological unity. Such a group is characterized by hyper-autonomy, isolation, closeness and isolation from other communities.
- The collective. A group with a high level of social development and the principles of high humanism. Team members achieve a common common goal by harmonizing individual, group and social goals.
- Gomfoterny ("brought down") collective. The same as the team, only psychophysiological compatibility is added to all other signs and qualities. An example is the crew of a spacecraft.
Professional social group. Example
Consider lawyers as a social and professional group and a typology of lawyers. What is meant by this?
A lawyer is a person knowledgeable in the field of jurisprudence, who has professional knowledge and skills in the field of law and is able to put them into practice.
Signs of a socio-professional group of lawyers:
A lawyer is a person who has a diploma in law (qualification is a specialist), or who actually works in legal practice.
Lawyers belong to the intelligentsia. This is an activity where a highly qualified specialist is primary.
They have such signs as a coincidence of interests, goals, and unity of action that the entire socio-professional community of lawyers has, as well as individual elements of a professional group.
They embody the connection between the state and law.
Their work has a special content (interpret legal actions, draw up legal documents).
There is an interesting typology of lawyers (names are conditional):
Enthusiast - skillfully combines the spirit and letter of the law, strives for excellence.
The clerk is the same enthusiast, but without the desire to change the law and practice.
The pragmatist is an understanding of the law, but primarily seeks to "go through" the case.
Weather vane - may allow deviation from legal grounds under pressure from managers.
Pedant - strictly guided by the letter of the law.
Antipedant - is guided by the spirit of the law, but allows a departure from its letter.
The bureaucrat - allegedly "does not notice" the letters of the law, does everything for his convenience and tranquility.
Careerist - may give up the letter of the law for the sake of promotion;
Cynic - shows a neglect of the spirit and letter of the law, violates the norms of morality and professional ethics in a rude manner.
False lawyer - enjoys official position, can use the law for personal purposes.
We have analyzed the social group (concept, types, typology) of lawyers. You can also take as an example completely different communities of people.
Leadership in social groups
In any association (including social) there is always an explicit or implicit leader. The following describes the concept and typology of leadership in a social group.
We will understand the term. A leader is a participant in a community that advances based on the interaction of individuals within a group. He has a higher level of involvement, participation, decision making within the framework of a specific achievable task.
Briefly describe the typology of leadership.
In terms of leadership:
Business leadership (solves organizational problems, has business authority).
Emotional leadership (inspires confidence, inspires confidence, creates an atmosphere of psychological comfort).
"Informational" leadership (scholar, has a high level of knowledge, can assist in finding the right information).
By executable roles:
Organizer (group integration).
Initiator (putting forward new ideas and solutions).
Generator of emotional mood (forms the mood of the group).
Standard (example, idol).
Master (specialist in a certain type of activity).
Scrabble (possessor of extensive knowledge).
These are the main classifications. There are several more. The main thing is that a social group must go through the following stages of leader formation: 1) identification; 2) its development; 3) taking into account the interests of the group; 4) informal leadership; 5) elimination of the destructive leader.
Conclusion
The article considers various typologies of social groups. Why is it important to have a concept about them, to be able to distinguish if a person is not a sociologist? We are all parts of society, and each of us belongs to a particular social group. Typologies are diverse, each type has its own characteristics, features, membership conditions. This is interesting and concerns each of us.