Society, Social Groups and

Organization
SOCL 109 Introduction to
Sociology
 Society
• Traditional definition of society is space-bound: “a group
of people who interact in a defined space and share a
culture.”
e.g. Chinese society???

The same society may contain diverse

cultures.
 Society
• A more up-to-date definition should include a
common purpose and/or common values that
make a group society.
SOCIAL GROUPS
 Social Groups
• Social group: “two or more people
who identify and interact with one
another” (p.162).

• Social group members have shared

experiences, loyalties, interests.

• Members of the social groups

maintain their individuality while
continue to think themselves as a
special “we.”
 Social Groups according to C. H. Cooley
Primary groups Secondary groups
• A small social group whose members
share personal, intimate and probably • A large and impersonal social
enduring relationships. group whose members pursue a
specific interest or activity.
• Members “be themselves” without
paying attention to the impressions they
create in the eyes of the group • Impersonal, polite relations
members. between members.

• The group identity is an end itself.

• The group membership is a
• A stronger sense of “identification” with
members.
means for an end; goal-oriented.

• Uniqueness and irreplaceability of • Short-term, goal-oriented.

members (what matters is who they
are).
• Narrow, limited activities to
• Broad, multiple activities to involve in engage with the group.
• Primary and secondary group categories are
idealizations; in real life, majority of the
groups carry elements of both.

• Earlier view in sociology:

– Primary groups: rural, pre-industrial societies
– Secondary groups: urban, industrial societies
• Later view:
– Both primary and secondary groups can be find in
both settings
e.g. ethnic neighborhoods.
 Group pressure and conformity
• Group conformity: The power of group
pressure shapes the human behaviour
– Asch’s research
– Milgram’s research
– Zimbardo’s research
 Group Conformity I
• Asch’s research on conformity, 1951
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sno1TpCLj6
A

Pay attention to specific

Conditions of conformity:
- Anonymity?
- A partner in “crime”?
 Group Conformity II
• Milgram’s research, 1965
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcvSNg0HZwk

Original video:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xlllu7_stranley-
milgram-obedience_school#.UTynSBzvvxg

Pay attention to conditions of conformity

- to whom and why?
 Group Conformity III
• Zimbardo experiment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0jYx8nwjF
Q
How and when to do you feel pressure for
conformity with your group?
 Reference Group
• Often we evaluate ourselves by
comparing ourselves with a
reference group.

• Reference group: a social group

that serves as a point of reference in
making evaluations and decisions.

• Who constitutes the reference

group?
– The groups you belong to a
– Also groups you do not belong to
Different Types of Reference Groups
• Contactual reference group: Individuals are the members of this reference
group; they actively contact with the other group members and value the
group’s values and standards.

• Aspirational reference group: Individuals are not members of this

reference group and they are not in contact with the group’s members;
yet, they share the group’s values, standards.

• Disclaimant reference group: Individuals are members of this reference

group; yet, they do not value the group’s values or attitudes.

• Avoidance reference group: Individuals are not members of this reference

group, they do not contact with the members of this group and they avoid
or develop opposite attitudes to the group’s values and attitudes.
 Group Size: Form to Content
• The number of the group is
important in showing the
number of possible relations,
i.e. quantity of the relations.

• Moreover, the number of the

group members have an
influence in the content of the
interaction. In other words, the
quantity influences the quality.
 Georg Simmel
Dyad, triad, large groups
• Group size and depth of interaction, persistence
and stability of the group, role of the
characters, rules of the group
• Dyad: A social group with two members
• Triad: A social group with three members
• Larger groups

» Which group is more for personal satisfaction

and not for task accomplishment?
» Which group is more stable? Dyads or triads?
 Social groups and diversity
• Composition of the group determines its
interactions:
– Large groups turn inwards: The larger a group,
the more its members turn into exclusive relations
with itself. The smaller a group, the more its
members try to reach out for outsiders.
– Heterogeneous groups turn outwards:
– Physical boundaries promote social boundaries
SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
 ORGANIZATIONS
• Formal Organizations are the large,
secondary groups that are organized to
achieve goals efficiently. The purpose is to
achieve complex goals rather than meeting
personal needs.
 Types of Formal Organizations

• Utilitarian organizations:
– provide material rewards to their members
• Normative organizations:
– help pursue morally worthwhile goals
• Coercive organizations:
– involuntary membership, for punishment or
treatment
• Total organizations:
– For transforming an individual’s total sense
of self
– Radical re-socialitization by segregating from
outside and involving in a new set of
controlled relationships
 Bureaucracy
• Bureaucracy is an organizational model
rationally designed to perform complex tasks
efficiently
 Characteristics of bureacracy
– Specialization
– Hierarchy of offices
– Rules and regulations
– Technical competence
– Impersonality
– Formal and written communications

versus
 May bureaucracy lead to informal relations?

• Principle in bureaucracy: power resides in

offices (not people)
Reality: Leadership may become important
- authoritarian
- democratic
- laissez-faire leadership
 May bureaucracy lead to informal
relations?
• Principle in bureaucracy: Informality in
communications
Reality: Informal networks to spread information
faster
 May bureaucracy lead to informal
relations?
• Principle in bureaucracy: rigid bureaucratic
structures
Reality: Employees modify rigid structures:
“Whistleblowers”, “ratebusters”, “chisellers”
Problems of Bureaucracy
• Bureaucratic alienation
dehumanization
• Bureaucratic inefficiency
and ritualism
• Bureaucratic inertia
Perpetuating itself
• Bureaucratic abuse of
power
Oligarchy
 “McDonaldization of the society”
• Ritzer’s term
• Organizational system introduced by McDonalds
started to dominate all societies
• 4 principles:
– Efficiency
– Calculability
– Uniformity and predictability
– Control through automation
• Risk: Result will be increased dehumanization and
disenchantment of the world
 Humanizing bureaucracies
• Social inclusiveness
• Sharing of responsibility
• Expanding opportunities for advancement
 Social Networks
• Networks: web of social ties that links people who
identify with one another.
• In social networks people connect with each other
without a group sense of belonging or boundaries.
• Social networks are like social webs expanding
outwards, without any boundaries but with nodes
(key points) and ties (links).
 Social Network analysis
• Social network analysis: examination of
– Number of ties
– Diversity of ties
– Frequency of ties
– Intensity of ties
– Direction of ties

• Tightly-bound, densely-knitted or think and loose

networks

• It is about who you know.

 “Network Society”
• Castells, 1996
• A society based on computers and information
technologies, and characterized by new
networks of relations.
 “Network Society”
• In the information age, the older patterns of
relationships have evolved as information
technology bring in several new features:
– Information as the raw material to act on
– Pervasiveness of information technologies
– The network logic of any system (e.g. not linear,
straightforward)
– Flexibility (being open to rapid changes)
– Convergence of technologies