A group is a community of people, which is created on the basis of some factors: joint activities, characteristics of the organization, social belonging.

Group definition and their classification

All groups are divided into two categories: large and small social groups. Large social groups include people who create a certain part of society - professional groups, social strata, ethnic communities, age groups.

So a striking example of a large group based on age indicators is the group of pensioners. Small groups include families, neighborhood communities, and friendly companies. The basis of small groups is the interpersonal relationships of their members.

Man in a group

Man is the main link in every social group. Belonging to a social group has a positive effect on a person. Both small and large groups contribute to the development of his personality.

So thanks to the group, a person is socialized, which favorably affects his existence, and also facilitates the education of future generations. It is in a group that a person can fully engage in his activities - this is facilitated by both competition and team spirit.

Belonging to a social group satisfies a person's expressive needs for approval, respect, and trust.

group laws

The social laws of a group are stable rules of behavior for members of large and small groups that are necessary for their interconnection. Group laws did not arise consciously - they were formed in the course of historical development social groups.

So a person, without realizing it, adheres to the basic laws of a particular social group. The laws of groups are necessary in order to most effectively improve the situation of group members, as well as exercise control over them.

Team spirit of the group

Often, members of each social group have common goals that guide their joint activities. On this basis, the team spirit of the group arises. The team spirit of the group is inherent in both large and small groups.

Thanks to the team spirit, group members can consolidate their efforts, unite their activities in order to achieve all the interests and goals of the group.

Essential elements social structure Societies are social groups and social communities. Being forms of social interaction, they are such associations of people whose joint, solidarity actions are aimed at meeting their needs.

social group- ϶ᴛᴏ a set of people who have common social characteristics, performing a socially necessary function in the structure of the social division of labor and activity. Social groups are characterized by:

- sustainable interaction, contributing to the strength and stability of their existence;

- a relatively high degree of unity and cohesion;

- clearly expressed homogeneity of the composition, suggesting the presence of signs inherent in all members of the group;

The possibility of entering into wider social communities as structural units.

Since each person in the course of his life is a member of a wide variety of social groups that differ in size, nature of interaction, degree of organization and many other features, it becomes extremely important to classify them according to certain criteria.

There are the following types of social groups:

1. Given the dependence on the nature of the interaction - primary and secondary.

primary group is a group in which the interaction between members is direct, interpersonal in nature and has a high level of emotionality (family, school class, peer group, etc.). Carrying out the socialization of the individual, the primary group acts as a link between the individual and society.

secondary group- this is a larger group in which interaction is subordinate to the achievement of a specific goal and is formal, impersonal.
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In these groups, the main attention is paid not to the personal, unique qualities of the members of the group, but to their ability to perform certain functions. Organizations (industrial, political, religious, etc.) can serve as examples of such groups.

2. Taking into account the dependence on the method of organization and regulation of interaction - formal and informal.

formal group - ϶ᴛᴏ a group with a legal status, interaction in which is regulated by a system of formalized norms, rules, laws. These groups have a consciously set goal, a normatively fixed hierarchical structure and act according to the administratively established order (organizations, enterprises, etc.).

informal group arises spontaneously, on the basis of common views, interests and interpersonal interactions. It is deprived of official regulation and legal status. These groups are usually led by informal leaders. Examples are friendly companies, informal youth associations, rock music lovers, etc.

3. Taking into account the dependence on the belonging of individuals to them - ingroups and outgroups.

Ingroup- ϶ᴛᴏ a group to which the individual feels a direct belonging and identifies it as ʼʼmyʼʼ, ʼʼourʼʼ (for example, ʼʼmy familyʼʼ, ʼʼmy classʼʼ, ʼʼmy companyʼʼ, etc.).

Outgroup- ϶ᴛᴏ a group to which this individual does not belong and therefore evaluates it as ʼʼalienʼʼ, not one's own (other families, another religious group, another ethnic group, etc.). Each ingroup individual has his own outgroup rating scale: from indifferent to aggressive-hostile. For this reason, sociologists propose to measure the degree of acceptance or closeness towards other groups according to the so-called Bogardus ʼʼscale of social distanceʼʼ.

Reference group- ϶ᴛᴏ real or imaginary social group, the system of values, norms and evaluations of which serves as a standard for the individual. The term was first proposed by the American social psychologist Hyman. The reference group in the system of relations "personality - society" performs two important functions: normative, being for the individual a source of norms of behavior, social attitudes and value orientations; comparative, acting as a standard for the individual, allows him to determine his place in the social structure of society, evaluate himself and others.

4. Taking into account the dependence on the quantitative composition and the form of the implementation of ties - small and large.

small group- ϶ᴛᴏ directly contacting a small group of people, united to carry out joint activities.

The small group can take many forms, but the initial ones are ʼʼdyadʼʼ and ʼʼtriadʼʼ, they are called the simplest molecules of the small group. The dyad consists of two people and is considered an extremely fragile association, three people actively interact in the triad, it is more stable.

The characteristic features of a small group are:

- small and stable composition (as a rule, from 2 to 15 people);

- spatial proximity of group members;

- stability and duration of existence:

- a high degree of coincidence of group values, norms and patterns of behavior;

- the intensity of interpersonal relationships;

- developed sense of belonging to the group;

- Informal control and information richness in the group.

large group- ϶ᴛᴏ a group that is large in composition, which is created for a specific purpose and the interaction in which is mainly indirect in nature (labor collectives, enterprises, etc.). This also includes numerous groups of people who have common interests and occupy the same position in the social structure of society. For example, social-class, professional, political and other organizations.

team(Latin collectivus) is a social group in which all vital connections between people are mediated through socially important goals.

Character traits team:

- a combination of the interests of the individual and society;

- a commonality of goals and principles that act for the members of the team as value orientations and norms of activity. The team performs the following functions:

- objective - the solution of the problem for which it is created;

- social and educational - a combination of the interests of the individual and society.

5. Given the dependence on socially significant features - real and nominal.

Real groups- these are groups allocated according to socially significant criteria:

- gender - men and women;

-​ age - children, youth, adults, the elderly;

- income - rich, poor, prosperous;

- nationality - Russians, French, Americans;

-​ marital status- married, single, divorced;

- profession (occupation) - doctors, economists, managers;

- place of residence - townspeople, rural residents.

Nominal (conditional) groups, sometimes called social categories, are allocated for the purpose of conducting a sociological study or statistical accounting of the population (for example, to find out the number of passengers-benefits, single mothers, students receiving nominal scholarships, etc.).

Along with social groups in sociology, the concept of ʼʼ quasigroupʼʼ.

Quasigroup- ϶ᴛᴏ informal, spontaneous, unstable social community, which does not have a definite structure and value system, the interaction of people in which, as a rule, is of a third-party and short-term nature.

The main types of quasigroups are:

Audience is a social community united by interaction with a communicator and receiving information from him. The heterogeneity of this social formation, due to the difference personal qualities, as well as the cultural values ​​and norms of the people included in it, determines and varying degrees perception and evaluation of the information received.

Crowd- a temporary, relatively unorganized, structureless accumulation of people united in a closed physical space by a common interest, but at the same time devoid of a clearly perceived goal and interconnected by a similarity of emotional state. Allocate General characteristics crowds:

- suggestibility - people in the crowd are usually more suggestible than outside it;

- anonymity - an individual, being in the crowd, as if merges with it, becomes unrecognizable, believing that it is difficult to "calculate" him;

- spontaneity (contagiousness) - people in the crowd are subject to rapid transmission and change of emotional state;

- unconsciousness - the individual feels invulnerable in the crowd, out of social control, in connection with this, his actions are "impregnated" with collective unconscious instincts and become unpredictable.

Given the dependence on the method of crowd formation and the behavior of people in it, the following varieties are distinguished:

- a random crowd - an indefinite set of individuals that formed spontaneously without any purpose (to watch a celebrity suddenly appear or a traffic accident);

- conventional crowd - a relatively structured collection of people under the influence of pre-planned predetermined norms (spectators in the theater, fans in the stadium, etc.);

- expressive crowd - a social quasi-group formed for the personal pleasure of its members, which in itself is already a goal and result (discotheques, rock festivals, etc.);

- an active (active) crowd - a group that produces some kind of action, which can act as: a gathering - an emotionally excited crowd gravitating towards violent actions, and an insurgent crowd - a group characterized by particular aggressiveness and destructive actions.

Social groups and their classification - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Social groups and their classification" 2017, 2018.

One of general forms social interaction is a social group in which the behavior of each member is tangibly conditioned by the activities and existence of other members.

Merton defines a group as a set of people who interact with each other in a certain way, are aware of their belonging to this group and are perceived by its members from the point of view of other people. The group has its own identity from the point of view of outsiders.

Consist of a small number of people between whom there are stable emotional relationships, personal relationships based on their individual characteristics. Secondary groups are formed from people between whom there are almost no emotional relationships, their interaction is due to the desire to achieve certain goals, their social roles, business relationship and means of communication are clearly defined. in critical and emergency situations people give preference to the primary group, show devotion to the members of the primary group.

People join groups for a variety of reasons. The group performs:
as a means of biological survival;
as a means of socialization and formation of the human psyche (one of the main functions of the group is the function of socialization);
as a way to do certain work, which cannot be performed by one person (instrumental function of the group);
as a means of satisfying a person's need for communication, in an affectionate and benevolent attitude towards oneself, in obtaining social approval, respect, recognition, trust (an expressive function of the group);
as a means of reducing unpleasant feelings of fear, anxiety (supportive function of the group);
as a source of norms of behavior, social attitudes and value orientations of a person (the normative function of a group);
as a source of a standard by which a person can evaluate himself and other people (comparative function of the group) I as a means of information, material and other exchange. “The totality of individuals who are in mental interaction constitutes a social group, and this interaction comes down to the exchange of various ideas, feelings, desires, mental experiences” (P. Sorokin).

There are several types of groups:
1) conditional and real;
2) permanent and temporary;
3) big and small.

Conditional groups of people are united on a certain basis (sex, age, profession, etc.). Real individuals included in such a group do not have direct interpersonal relationships, may not know anything about each other, even never meet each other.

Real groups of people that really exist as communities in a certain space and time are characterized by the fact that its members are interconnected by objective relationships. Real human groups differ in size, external and internal organization, purpose and social significance. The contact group brings together people who have common goals and interests in a particular area of ​​life and activity. A small group is a fairly stable association of people connected by mutual contacts.

Small group - a small group of people (from 3 to 15 people) who are united by common social activities, are in direct communication, contribute to the emergence of emotional relationships, the development of group norms and the development of group processes.

At in large numbers people group, as a rule, is divided into subgroups. Distinctive features of a small group: spatial and temporal co-presence of people. This co-presence of people enables contacts that include interactive, informational, perceptual aspects of communication and interaction. Perceptual aspects allow a person to perceive the individuality of all other people in the group, and only in this case can one speak of a small group.

Interaction is the activity of everyone, it is both a stimulus and a reaction to everyone else.

Joint activity implies the presence of a permanent goal. The realization of a common goal as a kind of anticipated result of any activity contributes in a certain sense to the realization of the needs of everyone and at the same time corresponds to the general needs. The goal as a prototype of the result and the initial moment of joint activity determines the dynamics of the functioning of a small group. There are three types of goals:
1) near prospects, goals that are quickly realized in time and express the needs of this group;
2) secondary goals are longer in time and lead the group to the interests of the secondary team (the interests of the enterprise or the school as a whole);
3) long-term perspectives unite the primary group with the problems of the functioning of the social whole. The socially valuable content of joint activities should become personally significant for each member of the group. What is important is not so much the objective goal of the group as its image, that is, how it is perceived by the members of the group. Goals, characteristics of joint activities "cement" the group into one whole, determine the external formal-target structure of the group.

The presence of an organizing beginning in the group is provided. It may or may not be personified in one of the members of the group (leader, head), but this does not mean that there is no organizing principle. It's just that in this case the leadership function is distributed among the members of the group, and leadership is situation-specific (in certain situation a person who is more advanced in this area than others assumes the functions of a leader).

Separation and differentiation of personal roles (division and cooperation of labor, power division, i.e., the activity of group members is not homogeneous, they make their own, different contribution to joint activities, play different roles).

The presence of emotional relationships between members of the group that affect group activity, can lead to the division of the group into subgroups, form the internal structure of interpersonal relations in the group.

The development of a specific group culture - norms, rules, standards of life, behavior that determine the expectations of group members in relation to each other and determine group dynamics. These norms are the most important sign of group integrity. It is possible to speak about the formed norm if it determines the behavior of the majority of the members of the group, despite all the differences between the members of the group. Deviation from group standards, norms, as a rule, is allowed only to the leader.

The group has the following psychological characteristics: group interests, group needs, etc. (Fig. 9).

The group has the following general patterns:
1) the group will inevitably be structured;
2) the group develops (progress or regression, but dynamic processes occur in the group);
3) fluctuation - a change in a person's place in a group can occur repeatedly.

According to psychological characteristics, there are:
1) membership groups;
2) reference groups (reference), the norms and rules of which serve as a model for the individual.

Reference groups may be real or imagined, positive or negative, may or may not coincide with membership, but they do:
1) the function of social comparison, since the reference group is the source of positive and negative samples;
2) a normative function, since the reference group is a source of norms, rules, to which a person seeks to join.
According to the nature and forms of organization of activities, the following levels of development of contact groups are distinguished (Table 5).

Unorganized (nominal groups, conglomerates) or randomly organized groups (viewers at the cinema, random members of excursion groups, etc.) are characterized by a voluntary temporary association of people based on the similarity of interests or common space.

Association - a group in which relationships are mediated only by personally significant goals (a group of friends, acquaintances).

Cooperation is a group that is distinguished by its actually acting organizational structure, interpersonal relations are of a business nature, subject to the achievement of the required result in the performance of a specific task in a certain type of activity.

A corporation is a group that is united only internal goals that do not go beyond its scope, striving to achieve its corporate goals at any cost, including at the expense of other groups. Sometimes a corporate spirit can take place in work or study groups, when the group acquires the features of group egoism.

The team is a time-stable organizational group of interacting people with specific governing bodies, united by the goals of joint socially useful activities and the complex dynamics of formal (business) and informal relationships between group members.

Thus, real human groups differ in size, external and internal organization, purpose and social significance. As the size of the group increases, the role of its leader increases.

The interdependence of the parties, members of the group in the process of interaction may be equal, or one of the parties may have a stronger influence on the other. Therefore, one- and two-way interaction can be distinguished. Interaction can cover both all spheres of human life - total interaction, and only one specific form or sector of activity. In independent sectors, people may not have any influence on each other.

The direction of the relationship can be solidary, antagonistic or mixed. With solidary interaction, the aspirations and efforts of the parties coincide. If the desires and efforts of the parties are in conflict, then this is an antagonistic form of interaction, if they coincide only partially, this is a mixed type of direction of interaction.

It is possible to distinguish between organized and unorganized interactions. Interaction is organized if the relations of the parties, their actions have developed into a certain structure of rights, duties, functions and are based on a certain system of values.

Unorganized interactions - when relationships and values ​​are in an amorphous state, therefore, rights, duties, functions, social positions are not defined.

Sorokin, combining various interactions, identifies the following types of social interaction:
- organized-antagonistic system of interaction based on coercion;
- an organized solidarity system of interaction based on voluntary membership;
- an organized-mixed, solidary-antagonistic system, which is partly controlled by coercion, and partly by voluntary support for an established system of relationships and values.

“Most organized socially interactive systems, from the family to church and state,” Sorokin notes, “belong to the organized-mixed type. And they can also be disorganized and antagonistic; unorganized solidarity; unorganized-mixed type of interactions.

In long-term organized groups, Sorokin distinguished 3 types of relationships: family type (interactions are total, extensive, intense, solidary in direction and long-lasting, internal unity of group members); contractual type (the limited time of action of the parties interacting within the framework of the contractual sector, the solidarity of relations is selfish and aimed at obtaining mutual benefit, pleasure, or even getting “as much as possible for less”, while the other side is considered not as an ally, but as a certain “tool” that can provide a service, make a profit, etc.); coercive type (antagonism of relations, various forms of coercion: psychological coercion, economic, physical, ideological, military).

The transition from one type to another can be gradual or unpredictable. Mixed types of social interactions are often observed: partly contractual, familial, coercive.

Sorokin emphasizes that social interactions act as socio-cultural: 3 processes simultaneously proceed - the interaction of norms, values, standards contained in the minds of a person and a group; interaction of specific people and groups; interaction of materialized values ​​of social life.

Depending on the unifying values, we can distinguish:
- one-sided groups built on the same set of core values ​​(biosocial groups: racial, gender, age; sociocultural groups: gender, language group, religious group, trade union, political or scientific union);
- multi-stakeholder groups built around a combination of several sets of values: family, community, nation, social class.

It is possible to classify groups in terms of the specifics of the dissemination of information and the organization of interaction between members of the group.

So the pyramidal group is:
a) a closed system;
b) is built hierarchically, i.e. the higher the place, the higher the rights and influence;
c) information goes mainly vertically, from bottom to top (reports) and top to bottom (orders);
d) each person knows his hard place;
e) traditions are valued in the group;
f) the head of this group must take care of subordinates, in return they unquestioningly obey;
g) such groups are found in the army, in established production, as well as in extreme situations.

A random group where everyone makes decisions independently, people are relatively independent, moving in different directions, but something unites them. Such groups are found in creative teams, as well as in a situation of market uncertainty, are typical for new commercial structures.

An open group, where everyone has the right to take the initiative, everyone openly discusses issues together. The main thing for them is a common cause. There is a change of roles freely, emotional openness is inherent, informal communication of people is growing.

A group of a synchronous type, when all people are in different places, but everyone is moving in the same direction, since everyone knows what to do, everyone has one image, one model, and although everyone moves by himself, everything is synchronously in one direction, even without discussion or agreement. If any obstacle is encountered, each group enhances its distinctive feature:
- pyramidal - enhances order, discipline, control;
- random - its success depends on the abilities, potential of each member of the group;
- open - its success depends on the ability to reach agreement, negotiate, and its leader must have high communicative qualities, be able to listen, understand, agree;
- synchronous - its success depends on the talent, the authority of the "prophet", who convinced, led people, and people endlessly believe and obey him. It is generally accepted that the most optimal group in terms of size should consist of 7 + 2 (i.e. 5, 7, 9 people). It is also known that a group functions well when it has an odd number of people, since in an even number two warring halves can form. The team functions better if its members differ from each other in age and gender. On the other hand, some management psychologists argue that groups of 12 people work most effectively. The fact is that groups of large numbers are poorly managed, and teams of 7-8 people are the most conflicted, since they usually break up into two warring informal subgroups; with a larger number of people, conflicts, as a rule, are smoothed out.

The conflict of a small group (if it is not formed by people close in spirit) is not least due to the fact that in any work collective there are 8, and if there are not enough employees, then someone has to play not only for themselves, but also for “that guy ", which creates conflict situation. The team leader (manager) needs to know these roles well. This is:
1) a coordinator who is respected and knows how to work with people;
2) a generator of ideas, striving to dig to the truth. He is most often not able to translate his ideas into practice;
3) an enthusiast who takes on a new business himself and inspires others;
4) a controller-analyst who is able to soberly assess the idea put forward. He is dutiful, but more often avoids people;
5) a profit-seeker who is interested in the external side of the matter. Executive and can be a good intermediary between people, since he is usually the most popular member of the team;
6) a performer who knows how to bring an idea to life, is capable of painstaking work, but often “drowns” in trifles;
7) a hard worker who does not seek to take anyone's place;
8) grinder - it is necessary so that the last line is not crossed.

Thus, in order for the team to successfully cope with the work, it must not only consist of good specialists. The members of this collective, as individuals, must in their totality correspond to the required set of roles. And in the distribution of official positions, one must proceed from the suitability of individuals to perform a particular role, and not from the personal likes or dislikes of the manager.

Lecture:

Social groups

Social groups are one of the elements of the social structure of society. Social groups are associations of people interconnected by common characteristics (sex, age, nationality, profession, income, power, education, and many others), interests, goals, activities. There are more social groups on Earth than individuals, because one and the same individual is included in several groups. Pitirim Sorokin noted that history does not give us a person outside the group. Indeed, from birth, a person is in a group - a family, whose members are connected by consanguinity and common life. The circle of groups expands as they grow older, yard friends appear, a school class, a sports team, labor collective, party and others. The social group is characterized by such characteristics as internal organization, common goal, joint activities, rules and regulations, interaction (active communication).

In sociology, along with the term social group, the term social community is used. Both terms characterize the association of people, but the concept of community is broader. A community is an association of various groups of people according to some sign or life circumstances. The main difference between a community and a group is that there is no stable and repetitive relationship between members of the community, which is in the group. Examples of social community: men, children, students, Russians, etc.

transitional provision between social community and a social group is occupied by a quasi-group - this is an unstable short-term community of people, which is of a random nature. Examples of quasi-groups are a concert audience, a crowd.

Functions of social groups

American sociologist Neil Smelser identified four socially significant functions of social groups:

1. The function of human socialization is the most important. Only in a group does a person become a person and acquire a socio-cultural essence. In the process of socialization, a person masters knowledge, values, norms. Socialization is closely related to education and upbringing. A person receives education at school, college or university, and upbringing is mainly in the family.

2. The instrumental function is to carry out joint activities. Collective labor in the group has importance for the development of man and society, because a lot of people are not able to do alone. By participating in a group, a person acquires material resources and self-realization.

3. The expressive function of the group is to satisfy the needs of a person for respect, love, care, approval, trust. Communication with group members gives a person joy.

4. The supporting function is manifested in the desire of people to unite in complex and problematic life situations. The feeling of group support helps a person to ease unpleasant feelings.