SOCIOLOGY is the systematic study of the development, structure, interaction and collective behavior of organized groups of human beings.
SOCIETY is derived from the latin word“socios” or “socials”– meaning fellow, companion or associate.
It is a group of individuals with well-defined limits which persists in time, thus enabling them to develop a set of common ideas, attitudes, interact and of techniques for living and fitting together.
The members think of
themselves as a social unit. The society is formed based on man’s
gregariousness or the tendency or desire of people to be with other people.
CONCEPT OF GROUPS
GROUP is a unit of interacting personalities with independence of
roles and status existing between them.
KINDS OF GROUPS
1. Primary group is
characterized by intimate, face to face, informal, personal relationship among
members. It is also characterized by the so called “we feeling.”
EX. family
2. Secondary group is
characterized by impersonal, formal, contractual business-like, and casual
relationship. Large in size, of short duration, the members are physically and
spatially distant from one another.
Ex. Religion, school
3. In group is the group
where the individual identifies himself and is given a sense of belongingness.
It can be as small as the family or as big as a nation.
This group is further
characterized by ethnocentrism or the belief that one’s group is superior over
the other chauvinism – excessive ethnocentrism.
4. Out-Group is a group
in which one has a feeling of indifference, avoidance, strangeness, dislike,
antagonism and even hatred.
Ex. Religious groups
5. Peer group is the
group where the members are of the same age and socio- economic status.
Types of Peer Groups
Play-group is characterized by spontaneity, and informality and
with minimum or no adult supervision at all. It is common among children.
Gang has a recognized leader, pass word, rules of behavior, definite place and time of meeting and planed activities. It is also characterized by deviant, anti-social behavior.
Clique is composed of persons with the same interest or line of
thinking.
6. Reference group – a
group to which the individual refers and with whom he identifies himself either
consciously or unconsciously. It is more of identification rather than actual
membership.
7. Voluntary associations
– members joined together due to their common decisions or needs.
Personal interest group – caters to people with the same interest
Ex. Ball clubs
Social service groups – for community services Ex. NGO’s, Rotary, Lions, etc.
Political action group – for the promotion of a political agenda or candidacy of a political leader
Ex. Aksyon Demokratiko
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION is the system or process of assigning men their respective ranks in a society based on income or wealth, education, occupation and lifestyle.
SOCIAL MOBILITY is the process of moving from one social stratum to another, may either be horizontal, vertical or lateral.
SOCIALIZATION is the process by which the individual acquires the
social and cultural heritage of his society. Through this, the individual
learns his social position in the society.
LEVELS OF SOCIALIZATION PROCESS
1. Vegetative Level – the stage characterized by the preoccupation with food.
The desire is primarily for survival.
2. Sentient Level – geared towards the satisfaction of sensual passions and desires.
3.
Rational
Level – a person has already acquired morality and a sense of justice.
LANGUAGE plays a vital role in the socialization of the individual
and without this, man would not be able to integrate the values of his society.
Language is also considered as the basic difference between man and animals.
STATUS AND ROLE
STATUS is the position a person occupies in a society by virtue of
his age, birth, sex, marriage, occupation, achievement.
Types of Status
1. Ascribed – position assigned to an individual without reference to his innate differences and abilities. This is assigned at birth.
Ex. sex, race, age, etc.
2. Achieved – it is not assigned to an individual from birth, but is left open for competition and individual effort.
Ex. One’s profession
ROLE is the part that the individual is expected to play in his social group. It is the sum of the culture patterns associated with a particular status.
SOCIAL DEVIATIONS refer to the failure of the individual to play
the role expected from him by the society.
INTERNALIZATION is the process of making an attitude or a practice a part of one’s automatic and unthinking responses.
SOCIAL ORDER is the way the individual is expected to behave in a
society where he belongs in order to preserve and maintain the tranquility of
his social milieu.
SOCIAL CONTROL is the means by which people are led to fill their
expected roles in the society even against their will just to achieve social
order.