Groups & Formal organizations

1. Groups & Formal organizations Who makes you?

2. Primary & Secondary • Group – composed of at least 2 or more people who have one or more goals in common and share common ways of thinking and behaving • Are in regular contact with one another • Share some ways of thinking, feeling or behaving • Take one another’s behavior into account • Have one or more interests/goals in common

3. Primary & Secondary • Groups range from small to large, formal to informal • Groups also tend to draw lines around themselves creating insiders and outsiders • Some have tighter and more defined boundaries than others • i.e. African Americans and whites in the south in the 1960s

4. Primary & Secondary • Along with Groups, there are also SOCIAL CATEGORIES – PEOPLE WHO SHARE A SOCIAL CHARACTERISTIC • SOCIAL AGGREGATE – PEOPLE TEMPORARILY IN THE SAME PLACE AT THE SAME TIME • I.E. STUDENTS BUYING TICKETS FOR A CONCERT *ALTHOUGH CATEGORIES OR AGGREGATES ARE NOT GROUPS, SOME OF THE MEMBERS MAY FORM A GROUP* • I.E. WITNESSES OF A DISASTER (AGGREGATE) MAY WORK TOGETHER TO COPE WITH AN EMERGENCY • I.E. CITIZENS OF A STATE (SOCIAL CATEGORY) MAY BIND TOGETHER IN A RECALL

5. Primary GROUPS • Remember our friend Charles Horton Cooley?? He came up with the idea of a primary group – composed of people who are emotionally close, know one another well and seek one another’s company • SOCIAL AGGREGATE – PEOPLE TEMPORARILY IN THE SAME PLACE AT THE SAME TIME • Have a “we” feeling and enjoy being together • Characterized by primary relationships – interactions that are intimate, personal, caring, and fulfilling *THE MOST IMPORTANT SETTING FOR SOCIALIZATION!*

6. Primary GROUPS • How do primary groups develop? • SMALL SIZE – THE CHANCES OF GETTING TO KNOW EVERYONE IN THE GROUP IS GREATER IF THE SIZE IS SMALLER • Face-to-Face contact – People who can see each other and who can experience non-verbal communication develop closer ties • Continuous contact – Most of us require repeated social contact with people in order for the relationship to develop • Proper Social environment – You don’t form a relationship with your Kroger cashier if your only interaction with them is customer to employee

7. Primary GROUPS • WHAT DO THESE primary groups PROVIDE? • EMOTIONAL SUPPORT – STRONG EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ALLOWS FOR MEMBERS TO FEEL CONNECTED AND INVESTED BEYOND ANYTHING (I.E. Nazi soldiers during WWII) • Socialization – Think back to what we discussed!! This promotes you from those childhood institutions to adult ones (i.e. going to college, taking a new job, entering a new social class, etc.) • Encourage conformity – Groups not only teach the appropriate norms and values, but also pressure to conform

8. SECONDARY GROUPS • SECONDARY group – composed of people who SHARE ONLY PART OF THEIR LIVES WHILE FOCUSING ON A PARTICULAR GOAL OR TASK • WORK GROUP, VOLUNTEERS DURING DISASTERS, ETC. • Members interact impersonally, sharing only the things that are required to complete the shared goal or task • Members can be friends, but again, in this relationship, the focus is on completing the shared goal or task • i.e. If members of a sports team focus more on personal relationships rather than the game, this can create conflicts and interfere with the shared goal of winning *Primary and secondary relationships can emerge in either group*

9. REFERENCE GROUPS & SOCIAL NETWORKS

10. Primary & Secondary • More than the groups that we belong to, we also use some groups to evaluate ourselves • REFERENCE GROUPS – GROUP USED FOR SELF-EVALUATION AND THE FORMATION OF ATTITUDES, VALUES, BELIEFS AND NORMS • Can include families, classmates, professional sports teams, bands, etc. • We aspire to be a member of this group, but we are not members • I.E. MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS LOOKING UP HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS IN TERMS OF HOW TO ACT • Reference groups do not have to be positive • Again, theses groups are for self-evaluation, so by observing a particular groups behavior (i.e. violent gang), you can get an idea of the type of behaviors to avoid

11. IN-GROUPS & OUT GROUPS • IN-GROUP – EXCLUSIVE GROUP THAT REQUIRES EXTREME LOYALTY OF ITS MEMBERS • OUT-GROUP – GROUP TARGETED BY AN IN-GROUPS FOR POOPOSITION, ANTAGONISM OR COMPETITION • Often divided into “we” vs “they”

13. IN-GROUPS & OUT GROUPS • These groups can be found anywhere in any stage of your life – work circles, social circles, Greek life, high school, career choice, etc. • Who decides who’s in and who’s out? The In-Group! • Think about it, for there to be an “other” or a “them,” the in-group has to be the one to say what distinguishes “us” from “them” • How are these groups maintained? • Intense loyalty and commitment from the group

14. SOCIAL NETWORKS • SOCIAL NETWORKS – A WEB OF SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS THAT JOIN A PERSON TO OTHER PEOPLE AND GROUPS • In sociology world, Social networks include everything from family, classmates, work colleagues, close friends, your drycleaner, etc. • As we know, with the expanse of the internet, social networking also refers to groups that connect you through the web – twitter, Facebook, Instagram, periscope, snapchat, etc. • This kind of social networking promotes a feeling and sense of membership…even if you’re really not. • i.e. how many of your Facebook friends do you really know? Have you met all your followers on TWITTER? IS ALL YOU KNOW ABOUT SOMEONE AND YOUR PERCEPTION ABOUT THEM BASED OFF OF THEIR INSTAGRAM?

16. TYPES OF SOCIAL INTERACTION WHICH DO YOU RECOGNIZE?

17. SOCIAL INTERACTION • SOCIAL INTERACTION IS CRITICAL to groups – how else do you learn what is unique, valued, believed, etc. about the group? • 5 TYPES OF SOCIAL INTERACTION: • Cooperation – individuals or groups combine their efforts to reach the same goal • CONFLICT – WORK AGAINST ONE ANOTHER FOR A LARGER SHARE OF THE REWARDS • SOCIAL EXCHANGE – VOLUNTARILY DO SOMETHING FOR ANOTHER EXPECTING A REWARD IN RETURN • COERCION – SOCIAL INTERACTION IN WHICH INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS ARE FORCED TO GIVE IN TO THE WILL OF THE GROUP • CONFORMITY – YOU MATCHING UP WITH THE GROUPS EXPECTATION

18. conflict • Why is conflict a good thing? • Can bring members of a group even closer together because you now have not only a shared goal, but a shared and obvious enemy • i.e. think of the American Revolution – it started to united random groups together to help form the identity of being “AMERICAN” • Draws attention to inequalities • i.e. getting civil rights legislation passed in the 1960s • Be Beneficial in changing social norms or values • i.e. women’s protests in the 1960s and 1970s changed the perception and acceptance of women and their “place” in society

19. Social exchange • In social exchange, the benefit is earned rather than the focus being on the relationship • i.e. when you do something for someone, they now owe you and now the basis of the relationship is on reciprocity

20. conformity • When we conform, we are matching our adapting our behavior to those around us • Without conformity, there would be no churches, universities, governments, etc. • HOW OFTEN DO WE CONFORM? MORE OFTEN THAN YOU THINK… • Think about it, how often are you willing to go along with an answer or an idea even if you think its wrong because you fear being the “outside” one?

21. conformity • There’s also this dangerous thing called, groupthink – self-deceptive thinking that is based on conformity to group beliefs and created by group pressure to conform • Pressures towards uniformity discourage members from expressing their concerns about group decisions • i.e. the Kennedy administration and the bay of pigs (*horribly failed*) invasion

22. WHERE DID YOU SEE IT?

23. FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS

24. What are formal organizations? • Formal organizations – a group that is deliberately created to achieve one or more long-term goals • I.E. High Schools, colleges, corporation, etc. • The most formal of the formal organizations are called bureaucracies – formal organizations based on rationality and efficiency

25. BUREAUCRACIES • Allbureaucracies have certain characteristics • 5 major characteristics: • DIVISION OF LABOR BASED ON THE PRINCIPLE OF SPECIALIZATION – EACH PERSON IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CERTAIN FUNCTIONS OR TASKS AND THAT’S IT! • Hierarchy of authority – the greater amount of authority is concentrated in a few hands at the very top of the group (think pyramid) • System of rules & procedures – help to stabilize the organization because they coordinate activities and provide guidelines • Written records of work & activities – essential provides the “memory” for the group; essential in ensuring that the group functions smoothly • PROMOTION ON THE BASIS OF MERIT & QUALIFICATIONS – MERIT NOT FAVORTISM

26. BUREAUCRACIES • Remember our friend Max Weber? He actually feared the dehumanizing effects of bureaucracies, but as the world began to industrialize, he found some pros • Why would the characteristics that we just looked at be beneficial in an industrial or post-industrial society??

27. Iron law of oligarchy • In order for an organization’s goals to be achieved, power must be exercised. • Power – the ability to control the behavior of others • Sometimes, this power may be grabbed by individuals for their own purpose • Iron law of oligarchy – a theory formulated by German sociologist Robert michels in that power increasingly becomes concentrated in the hands of a few members of any organization • Michels argued that you could take any organization and no matter how democratic it was, there would be a few members that would eventually gain control • I.E. THINK BACK TO THE ACTIVITY THAT WE DID AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS UNIT!

28. Iron law of oligarchy • 3 FACTORS THAT ENCOURAGE OLIGARCHY: • ORGANIZATIONS NEED A HEIRARCHY OF AUTHORITY TO DELEGATE DECISION MAKING • THE ADVANTAGES HELD BY THOSE AT THE TOP ALLOW THEM TO MERGE THEIR POWERS – CREATE A STAFF WHO IS LOYAL TO ONLY THEM, CONTOL THE CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION, USE THE ORGANIZATION TO INCREASE THEIR POWER, ETC. • OTHER MEMBERS OF THE ORGANIZATION TEND TO DEFER TO LEADERS…AND TEND TO GIVE IN TO THOSE WHO TAKE CHARGE