A community can be understood from different perspectives. It is a sociological construct that has fuzzy boundaries and can exist within a larger community. A community consists of individuals with many differences that can cause divisions and conflicts. These differences include factors like religion, ethnicity, gender, class, education and more. From a social science perspective, communities have been conceptualized as ideal political units or analyzed in terms of the roles of institutions in maintaining social order. Communities can also be understood from an institutional perspective in terms of the social institutions that arise from shared agreements and shape collective behaviors and functions.

1. COMMUNITY IN
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
MR. CARL PATRICK S. TADEO
SHS TEACHER

3. Nature of a Community
It is a sociological construct.
It has fuzzy boundaries
It can exist within a larger community.
It may move.

4. A community is…
‘super-organic organism or system,’ made
up of the thoughts, outlook and conduct of
individual human beings full of divisions
and conflicts brought about by differences.
Differences: religion, ethnicity, gender, access to resources, class,
educational level, income level, ownership of properties, language,
personality, etc.

5. ETYMOLOGICAL ORIGIN
Community – Late Middle English Term
-Latin – ‘communitas’ – fellowship
- Latin roots – communis – common
- com – with or together
- munire – to strengthen, to fortify

6. COMMUNITY IN DIFF. PERSPECTIVE
•Social Science Perspective
•Institutional Perspective
•Civil Society Perspective
•Organic/ Grassroot Level Perspective

7. SOCIAL SCIENCE PERSPECTIVE
Political Science
•Conceptualized the ideal (political) community
•Polis (city-state) – composed of various classes, each
performing roles and functions in pursuit of communal
goals (Plato)
•Aristotle – emphasized the role of political institutions in
maintaining and sustaining order within a community

8. SOCIAL SCIENCE PERSPECTIVE (cont.)
GEMEINSCHAFT GESSELSCHAFT
- ‘community’
- Is a community with a
tighter and more
comprehensive social
entity brought about by
‘variety of will’
- ‘society’ or ‘association’
- Is a group where individual
participate as members
driven solely by self-
interest
SOCIOLOGY: Types of Human Association
FERDINAND TONNIES (1887) –German Sociologist

9. SOCIAL SCIENCE PERSPECTIVE (cont.)
A community is a group of people whose connections
and relations are formed by their shared history,
experiences, geographies and identities.
MAN SOCIALIZATION COMMUNITY
developsthrough

10. INSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Social Institutions – arise from voluntary shared agreements among individuals that generally
also shape their behaviors as collective; perform functions of community
Institutions – established rules that ensure the regular and predictable behavior